The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1907-05-23
The Cotton Industry.
Some Hindrances in the Way of
Greater Development and Pros
perity-False Attitude of the
Cotton Growers of the South
With Regard to immigration.
New York journal of Commerce.

New York journal of Commerce.
We are giving large portion of
our space to the proceedings of the
annual meeting of the American Cot
! ton Manufacturers Association be-
cause many subjects Of interest and
Importance to what ought to be our
greatest industry are there undergo,
ing discussion 10y practical business
men who know what they are talking
about. The United States ought to
become the greatest cotton manu-
facturing country in the world, for
the simple reason that it is favored
with Il climate and soil in u large
section OF its area which enable it to
produce three-fourths of all the raw
material OF that industry for the
world. There is no single product
for which there is such u widespread
demand and one so likely to grow in
the future. 1t will not only grow
with the increase OF population in
civilized countries, but it will grow
with the spread OF industrial and
commercial civilization over vast
acres that have been backward or
stagnant in their development. Cot
ton furnishes the cheapest and most
universally needed material for the
clothing OF mankind, and no definite
limit can be fixed to the possible de-
mand for fabrics made from it. To
meet this demand the resources of
the world for the raw material will be
sought out and availed OF. Sooner
or later sources of supply will be de-
veloped and extended wherever the
cotton plant can begrOwn to advan-
tage, for the highly developed man
ufacturing countries of Europe will
not rest content with the risk OF so
great dependence upon the Ameri-
can fields. But tlere is no danger
that the advantage of the United
States in this respect will be over
come if it's people have the foresight
and enterprise to make Iull use of 1t.
We have in a broad belt of our
Southern States means of supply
ing ourselves with cotton up to the
limit of our capacity for making use
OF 1T to meet our own needs and fur
nish a surplus for the rest of the
world such as no other nation has or
can acquire. We have almost unlim-
tied water supply, great deposits OF
coal in easy reach and the material
for making machinery, and we pride
ourselves upon the energy and skill
necessary for building up industries
and trade. Yet with every advan-
tage imaginable for cotton manufac-
turing, the rank of the country in
that respect is relatively low. Two
thirds of our production of the raw
material is carried across the ocean
for use in other countries, and con-
siderable part of the product of their
capital and labor is sent back here
and sold to our own people. For the
finest fabrics, in which the cost is
chiefly in labor, skill and taste, and
not in the material, we are largely
dependent upon the forei On manu-
facturers In this direction they are
in advance of us. In the export of
the finished product we are away be-
hind and our surplus consists mainly
of the coarser and cheaper fabrics,
which are bulky in proportion to
value and in which the chief cost is in
the material and not in the labor
and skill bestowed upon it. Among
our claims to superiority in an in
dustrial way is supposed to be in
genuity in devising laborsaving ma
chinery and readiness to adopt new
and efficient devices for increasing
production and lowering labor cost;
but in that respect we are by no
means in advance of others. We are
rather behind Great Britain in the
application of improved machinery
and the most effective methods for
getting the best results at the least
outlay of energy.
There seems to be something lack
ing that our progress should be SO
slow in cotton manufacturing and
that we should be so far outstripped
by countries which have to rely upon
US mainly Y for their raw material. At
the present time the industry is re-
gardeds as prosperous because the
demand for it's products is greater
than our facilities can supply and
prices are we'll maintained, and yet
it is relatively less flourishing in this
country than in Great Britain or
Germany. There the facilities are
expanding more than they are here.
The pressure of a worldwide demand
is felt which incites to energy and
activity in DrOyidinr for it. Our