The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-08-14

lions in India awaiting investment II the
people can be sure that the money will
pay dividends without danger of loss. l
don't know that you have heard of In
dia's buried wealth. 1t is enormous.
have seen estimates that gold to the
amount of $4,000. 100000 Is buried under
the ground. There are millions which are
headed in the shape of jewelry, and a
great amount is hidden away In small
sums. We want to get this money Into
circulation and hope to do so some day.
At the same time we have many rich
men; and there is no reason why we
should go outside for capital
The conversation here turned to the
cotton mills in which the Tatas are SO
largely interested and which the faith or
of D. ]. Tata built up. l asked MI.
Tata as to the condition of the bust
ness.
1T is rapidly growing" said he. I'VE
now have here in India oevr 200 mills
and 200 more could be esta blished ana
run at a profit. Most of our mills work
day and night and we cannot supply the
demand. Our home market Is enormous.
We have 3o0,oo0,o00 people and they all
dress in cottons. Just over the way is
China, which is waking up to the west
ern civilization and increasing its
wants. There are 400,O00,000 there VINO
wear cottons. There is a big market
in Farthed India, and the west of us
as well as in Africa. Indeed, the mar
kets for the cotton mills of this part
of the world are so great that we do
not need those of either Europe or
America.
your father established some of the
first spinning mills, did he notT'
Not the first There was a cotton
mill at Calcutta in 1918 and the first at
Bombay was established in 1851. My
father esta blished his original mill
much later. He was one of the first to
start mills in the interior. He found
ed one at Nagpur In 1874, and. when
he died, he was interested In many, not
only here, but In other parts of the
country. He was then employing alto
gether in his cotton mills alone about
5000 hands. Those mills are still work.
ing and are doing we'll. My father was
the first to introduce ring spinning into
India and in this re revolutionized the
industry"
Wages of COttan 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 10 or IL
years in the mills whose supple fingers
can do quite as well as those Of the
full grown women, employed at Man
chester. Indeed, I think they do bet
ter"
What are the wages paid in the
mills7"
THE average is is rupees month
That means about IS. or over 15 cents
day. That is good wages for India. A
native can live on less than So month,
and all he makes over that is clear profit
Our chief trouble Is that the hands will
stop work II they get money ahead They
will labor for two or three months, and
then lay off and spend what they have
saved. If a man has 100 rupees $3.50
ahead he will, like as not, leave the mills
and go back to his native village and
spend year or more In riotous living
When he has spent all he has, and all he
can borrow. he will come back half starry
ing and ask for place. We do what
we can to keep our hands, and to educate
them for their work. We have q pension
fund. and also a savings fund, to which
the men can contribute certain percent
age of their incomes the company pay
Ing them dividends upon their savings"
The Worlds Second Cotton Port
Coming back from my interview with
Mr.. Tata to the Tai Mahal hotel, l
passed along lines of bullock carts carry
ing cotton Through the city A continu-
GUS procession of these may be seen here
at all hours of the day throughout the
year Bombay's prosperity is founded
upon cotton. 1t has an enormous mar
ket, and it's shipments of raw cottons and
cotton goods approximate $0,0oO0c0 a
year. 1t has cotton mills here and there
throughout the city, and their smoke
stacks are to be seen everywhere This
province Is one of the largest of the
cotton producers, and it does more spin
ming and weaving than any other. There
more than one-third of all the cotton
mills of the country. The largest mill
owners are the Tatas, the Sassoons. ana
other millionaire Parsees. The capital in