The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-08-14
THE TAI MAHAL HOTEL,
I Bombay, the biggeat hotel OF II
Ear East.

Far East.
of tho world are so great that we do
not need those OF either Europe or
America"
"Your ather. established some OF tho
first spinning mills, did he dot?"
Not the first. There was cotton
mill at Calcutta in 1918. and the first
at Bombay was established In 1851.
My father established HIS original mill
much later. Hc was one OF tho firss
to start mills in the interior. He
founded one at Nagpur in 1874, and.
when he died. he was Interested In
many, not only here, but III other
parts OF the country He was then.
employing altogether in his cotton
mills alone about 5000 hands. Those
we'll My father was tho first to In.
troduce ring spinning into India, and
in this he revolutionized the industry"
Wages OF Cotton Workers.
Tell me something about your labor
element, Mr.. Tata? Can the Hindoos
handle machinery?''
Yes. They are excellent factory
hands. Our boys are especially good.
We have many little children OF ten
or twelve In the mills whose supple
fingers can do quite as well as those
OF the fun-srown women employed at
Manchester. Indeed. think they do.
better
What are the wages paid In tho
mills?'
Tho average is is rupees a month.
That means about Sc. or over 4 s cents
day. That is good wages for India
a native can live on less than SO g.
month. and all no makes over that is
clear profit Our chief trouble Is that
the hands win stop work II they get
money ahead. They will labor Tor two
or three mon this. and then lay or and
spend what they have saved II
man has 100 rupees (s33) ahead. he
will, like as not leave the mills and
go back to his native village and
spend a year or moro In riotous liv-
Ing. When he has spent all he has
and all he Gun borrow, he will come
We do what we can to keep our
hands. and to educate them for their
work. We have a pension fund, and
also q savings fund. to which the men
s can contr butte a certain percentage
of their incomes. the company paying
them dividends upon their savinEs.''
Tho Worlds Second Cotton Port.
Coming back from my Interview
with Mr.. Tata to the Tai Mahal Hotel,
~ passed long lines OF bullock carts
carrying cotton through the city. A
continuous procession Of these may be
seen here at oil hours Of the day
throughout the year Bombay's pros
sperity Is founded upon cotton. It
4 has an enormous market, and It's ship
ments OF raw cottons and cotton goods
approximate S5o.00O,ooO a year. It has
cotton mills here and there throughout
/ no ri ~ hat
to be seen everywhere. This province
is one Of the largest OF the cotton
producers, and 1t does more spinning
and weaving than any other. There
are about ninety mills in Bombay
alone. or more than one-third OF all
the cotton mills OF the country. The 4
largest mill owners are the Tatas,
the Sassoons. and other millionaire
Parsees. The capital Invested In the
business. all told. amounts to 100000
600. or more.
founded on Our Civil War.
j. IN .eotton. industry OF India was made by
our Civil War. They were growing cotton
long before that. but tho exports never aver.
aged more tn an SIS. 900. 600 q year. When the
war began and our cottons were shut out OF
England. those OF India leaped to the front
and tho year the war closed they had reach.
cd the. enormous total of SIS, 900 coo. That
was the booming time for Bombay. The
theirgprosperity. Land went up several hun
dred per cent, and every one thought that
this would be the great port OF the world
Then came the surrender OF Lee. and cotton
dropped like a shot. twas 40 conts a pound
and it went down to 22c., and continued to
drop This made q panic In Bombay. The
Parsee banks failed for mi lions. and thous-
ands were bankrupt, Tho cotton exports
steadily fell. and in 1879 they amounted to
only so, 0oo, 900. Since that time most of the
present mills have been built. and the ex-
IA terl1a Ma ntt
are now running at something like ,s5. 900, 900
a year, while the exports OF manufactured
goods are ss5. oo0. 900. lSs
India Needs o Tariff. 858
NJ What the Industry needs Is q prote tive