The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1909-02-10
THE COTTON INDUSTRY.
By FREDERIC J. HASKIN.
By FREDERIC ]. HASKN.

A few months less than 100 years ago
the Secretary Of the Treasury submitted
to Congress the first Official report on
cotton manufacturing. This showed that
there we're then 2Ss cotton manufacturing
establishments scattered through eighteen
States and Territories. and that these
operated 500 spindles- The majority OF
the cloth then Used gzes OF home manu-
facture. the homes putting out l650o,oee
yards a year, against possible 10000
Yards OF factory-made cotton goods. The
motive power was chiefly water, though
many Of the Southern mills and few
Of the Northern ones used animal power.
To-day the number Of cetton-using man
ufactories is given as 1.sl, and the &C
tive number Of spindles as over Z7,5o0.ooo-
With the exception OF remote mountain
regions and far rural communities OF the
South. there is practically 10 home spin
ming and weaving done now, ana the
amount OF cotton cloth made IN the home
Is a negligible quantity. Now over Se,-
Gao. square yards Of cotton goods are
exported annually. to say nothing Of the
amount used within the States. Besides
the amount made by It's own factories
for home use, the United States imported
last year manufactured cotton goods 70
the value of over SIS. co. oe. most OF which
had been made from American cotton
shipped abroad and returned in the shape
Of laces. enbroideries, and fine cloth
Eighty per cent Of the worlds cotton
Is grown in the Southern States Of the
United States, practically fourteen fur
nishing the product. The other % Per
cent is grown in the Orient. in India. and
South America Foodstuffs vary TO suit
the needs Of the various peoples Of the
world. but in the matter Of clothing cot
ton viii always be preemineat. The nat
uraI resources OF a country may be de-
pletsd in q few years. in century. at
most China is an ever-present reminder
OF the fate Of nation that VIII destroy
IFS forests and make a desert OF its val
ieys and its once fertile fields. Minerals
may some day be exhausted Forests
may be permanently destroyed Cotton
IS a permanent product It Is said that
the land on which cotton is grown is
practically inexhaustible; that the rich
alluviai lands Of the Mississippi Valley,
where crops have been grown for years
without rotation, are as good as they
were al first On the uplands the tillase
Of q century has begun 70 tell on the
land. for improved machinery is not IN
the reach OF the small farmer, and he
has not yet learned the value Of fertilizer
and Of building up the soils He has too
hard a struggle with nature for the ex-
Silence OF himself and his family.
The majority OF the cotton raised in
America IS grown on the land OF the
small farmer. TIE shsre-cropper. the
renter. It is a peculiar satire on Amer
lean Industry that the men who produce
the most stable and the richest product
OF TIE nation are. as a rule, its poorest,
It's most Handicapped. Cts most unsn-
Hghtened citizens Each farmer who
rents a piece OF land from some more
sfHueut person has a hard row 10 hoe.
His land viii probably produce a half
or quarter Of q bale TO the acre in
some Of the uplsnds. where humble bee
cotton is more noticeable than the bet
ter kind Generally half OF this cotton
must go TO the landlord. Another gen
erous amount must 60 for provisions.
and that leaves very little Tor the care
Of his stock, for the clothing. and proper
care Of his family The small farmer
has many doctors bills, Is a rule, for
the only sanitation known 70 The small
cotton grower is that afforded by nature
Typhoid and malaria are often very
close 10 his home Whether tie Presi-
dents farm commission viii be able 70
reach and improve these conditions re-
mains 70 be seen The best way 70 reach
them seems { he IN putting more stable
prices on the cotton, abOlishing the mid
dIeman. and allowing the farmer % see
more immediate returns for his long
years work.
II has been estimated BY a student
OF the subject that II all the world S
inhabitants should become civilized and
wear clothes after the fashion that civ
Tizauoa DEGREES, It would increase the
I3.oo0.Oo0 bales raised last year IN the
United States 10 z, 10000 bales Of 800
hounds each. That would mean al in
crease of the cotton crop Of America
practically threefold. and L IS said by
those who have made a study of the sub
fect that the cotton lands OF the South
are not only capable OF sustaining this
increase. but even & greater one II the
need arose. for The land can Be built
I'd and made more productive through
the principles OF scientific agriculture.
n 17s4 America shipped eight bags OF
cotton into Liverpool and these were
promptly seized on the grounds that
America could not possibly produce so
much cotton il one year. In the last
fiscal year 401e,poa bales, forty-four per
cent Of the exported crop OF the United
States. went into the United Kingdom.
and there was no question then in the
mind Of the Briton as TO whether America
could raise SO much in a year. He knows
that this IS a little over third Of the
amount annually produced in America
and that II is less than one-tenth OF what
the Southern States could produce under
ideal conditions.
Daniel ]. Sully, writing recently in q
popular magazine, declared that the
waste IN planting. cultivating, ginning,
handling. and marketing. cotton costs the
South S100. 10000 annually. What better
argument than this can be offered for
revolutionizing the methods in cotton
planting and cotton marketing7 The re-
moteness OF many Of the small cotton
farms in that land OF magnificent dis
tances below Mason and Dixon's line IS
responsible for the slow arrival OF the
improvements known 20 the farmer who
is nearer social centers and in closer con-
tact with the national and state depart
ments Of agriculture There are many
hundreds OF these small farmers who still
use the plow with wooden stock, who
have rarely seen two mules put &c one
Dlow. OF who know the value OF sub
soil ploW. The need Of these methods and
tools IS unknown. and as they have only
-. --..olo-+ ~ r,foDco- Fo4h.-e 80