Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-06-22
AMERICAN COTTON GOODS.
Statistics Show Considerable Increase
of Exports.

OF Exports
Exports Of cotton goods to China are
again increasing. China is, as a rule,
the largest purchaser Of American cot
tons, but in the years 1907 and 1908 the
exports Of cotton cloths to that country
fell to a small fraction Of those Of the
Immediately preceding years. Exports
of cotton cloths to China averaged In
the fiscal years 1905 and 1906, 4S6 mil
lion yards per annum; in 1907 and 1908
they average but 6S millions per an
mum, or one-seventh as much as the
average of 1866. In the fiscal year
1906 the quantity Of cotton cloths ex-
ported to China aggregated 498,521, ,402
yards; in the fiscal year 1908, only two
years later, the quantity was 1885,
GIL, or just one-tenth as much as In
1906
This large falling off in the exports of
cotton cloths to our formerly largest
customer, China, was due, chiefly at
least, to the fact that the imports OF
that country in 1905 and 1906 were alb
normally large and far in excess Of the
actual consuming power Of that market.
North China, especially Manchuria,
supplies the principal market OF that
country for American cottons, and
when the termination Of the Russo
Japanese war indicated that the doors
of that section would again be opened
to commence the importations Of cot
tons, and especially American cottons,
into China were enormously increased,
and as q consequence our exports OF
cotton cloths to China advanced from
II million yards in 1904 to ATS millions
in 1905 and 499 millions in 1906. while
Chinese imports Of cottons from other
countries also enormously increased.
This large increase Of importations
proved to be far in excess Of the con-
suming power of China as whole and
especially of North China, whose finan-
cial conditions had been so affected by
events during the war as to reduce Its
purchasing power below the estimates
upon which the large importations had
been based. AS consequence, cotton
goods from all parts Of the world, and
especially from the United States, ac-
cumulated in enormous quantities OF
the "go- downs" as the warehouses of
the Orient are designated. Thus the
large reduction in purchases Of cotton
by China which followed this excess
sive importation Of 1905 and 1906, and
A. 70 nf
that country in 1907 and 1908, occa-
stoned little surprise to those familiar
with the facts above noted; while the
increase in the current fiscal year, 1909,
is in turn the natural result of the alb
sorption in that country Of the accu-
mulated stocks and a return to nor
NAL demands upon the sections of the
world from which China has been ac-
customed to draw her supplies of for
eign made cotton cloths.
The April export statement Of the
bureau of statistics of the department
of commerce and labor shows clearly
the marked increase Of exports Of cot
tons to China and the return toward
month Of April the quantity Of cotton
goods exported to China was 1885,
34S yards, against 7,237,119 in April OF
last year, and in the ten months end
ing with April, 1909, the total export of
cotton cloths to China was 100,116,737
yards against 3O,597,1OO yards in the
corresponding period Of 1908. This to-
tai Of 100 million yards Of cotton sent
to China in the ten months ending with
April, 1909, is larger than in any cor
responding period prior to 1899, and
has only been exceeded on six occasions,
namely in 1899, 1900, 1902. 1903. 1905
and 1906. For the month Of April alone
the exports of cottons to China are lar
ger than in that month Of any prior
year except 1902, 1903. 1905 and 1906.
The cotton goods trade with China
has shown during the last decade a
much greater fiuctuation than that
with other parts of the world. In the
decade ending with 1899 there was
steady upward trend, but no violent
changes. In 1899, however, the exports
suddenly increased, being more than
double those of the Immediately pre-
ceding year. while in 1900 they were
slightly less than in 1899. In 1901 the
total dropped to less than half that Of
1900 or 1899: in 1902 and 1903 1t again
attained a higher mark than in any
earlier years; in 1904 1t dropped to about
one-fourth that Of the average Of 1902
and 1903; in 1905 and 1906 was. as al
ready indicated. by far the largest in
the history Of that trade: in 1907 and
1908 dropped to small fraction Of the