The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-01-15
DECREASE IN sP1NDLEs
New England Is More Active in Cotton Manufacturing Than Southern states--Number of spindles
 Installed In South
 By PRESTON c. ADAMS .

It Is in obedience to a natural business law that the ocean carriers are to go or increasing in size. The cost of carrying freight and passengers does not increase in anything like the same proportion with the size of the ships and In these days of small profits the results are in. evitable. Ships must increase in size un- til the limit of economy Is reached.
 The only thing that stands in the way of 1000 foot ships now Is lack of harbor fa- cilities to care for so huge vessel and on this point MT. Booth says: But as- suming that a particular trade can be carried on with markedly great economy in ships larger than the ports concerned can accommodate will these ports not be forced sooner or later to provide the nec- essary facilities? If we are again to judge by the past the answer can only be that they will be so forced. Harbor authorities therefore. like a reformed house of lords, will have the power of delay, but not of absolute veto, It would indeed be a dispiriting thought if we were really approaching the end af our tether For myself, J decline ti admit any such thing.
 One of the interesting developments of the cotton spinning industry for 1910 is that twice as many new spindles were put into operation in the New England States as in the Southern States.
 New England claims 469,7l4 spindles in stalled in 1910. as compared with 599000 In 1909, a decrease of p per cent, whereas the Southern states report only 214022 spindles this year, as compared with 527,527 spindles last year, decrease of 60 per cent. Two-thirds of the new spin dles installed in the United States in 1910 are to be found in New England. This is the result of the well known con ditions in the trade. The manufacture of coarse goods has been hit the hardest by the advance in the price of cotton, be- cause so large a part of the cost of such goods is for raw material. In the cost of fine goods, on the other hand, labor is a much more important item than In low goods. Thus 1t is that an increase in the cost of raw cotton affects the pro- duction of low grade goods most. AS a result we find the development of cotton retarded chiefly in the south, where a much larger proportion ot the product of the cotton mills consists of fine goods.
 According to statistics specially com piled by The Journal of Commerce, the new companies organized in the Eastern
 
 million dollars or more, as well as in- creases in capital will involve $1,967, 450 This is much larger than the aggregate of any previous year since 1906, when the total was $2297 970,0O0. The banner year for interpretations was 1901 when the gigantic Steel Trust was formed and the charters taken out In different states reached the phenomenal total of $3,714- 105, ,G00 Interpretations outside of those of the Eastern States swell the 1910 total to $2. 222, ,757, $50. Adding companies in all the states of a capital of S100,0O0 and over but under s1,000,000 the grand total would be brought up to s2,S69, ,073, TAP, of interpretations. t
 That the brewers of the United States are facing the worst shortage of hops in years is a fact the trade is being made to realize rather forcibly by the recent occurrences in the hop market Those who have been following the statistical situation closely have foreseen a time during the present year when suplise should be likely to run altogether too low but they were not prepared to come upon it thus early. Conservative estimates by the local hop trade place the total stocks unsold in this country at only $500 bales, in comparison with 47, 600 at this time last year Prices have been advancing of late with a steadiness that has impressed itself on consumers.
 The total stock of Oregon hops remain Ing unsold is said to be less than 1500; In Washington there are about 1000 bales, In California 5000 and in New York State less than 1000 bales These constitute all the hops in the country outside of the re- serve stock in brewers hands, and while these are estimated as sufficient for their rrir mi a nau q pxr roi l. able so there will be no actual beer fa- mine, it leaves the outlook an uncertain one for next year.
 Total dividend and interest payments during 1910 have reached S1,613, ,OOO, 900 a new high record This total is S95, 900 00O in excess of the new capital issued dur ing the year. A different comparison was shown a year ago, the disbursements then having totaled $1,324, 900. .000, against new securities issued of S1, 6S2, 900, 900, or s35s. .00O, 900 below the new flotations. Not all the complaints of poor times during 1910 the volume of business handled has been away above the aver age; indeed, in many directions new records have been established. The in- crease of $289, 900 in dividend and in- terest disbursements, 1t should be ex- plained, has been due, however, less to increase rates than in payments on the new stocks, bonds and notes issued dur ing the last eighteen months, although there have been notable advances in the dividends declared by numbers of i'm portant railroad systems and industrial If 1911 brings nothing worse than has been experienced in, 19lt stockholders will have little reason tc grumble.
 During 1910 Ss3 new banks were sorgari- zed and began business in the south with aggregate capital of H,430.O( Fifty-dve banks that began business pre-. vious to 1910 increasd their capita. s2,544.oO0 in the aggregate during the veal just closed, making total accession tt the banking capital of the south of s9,s64 300: The total number of new banks in cludes 50 national and 343 state and pri yate banks and trust companies
 Sales of stock on the New York Stocl Exchange for the full year 1910 will az gregate in round figures SIG. 800, ,000, coo against s-., 500, 900 GOO in 1909, decrease O S5. .OoO, ,OO0 GOO. On the 1-S of per cent ba sis the falling off in commissions would be equal to $6,250.000.
 London is still the worlds banker. Tha ''Economist's'' annual statement of new capital applications show an increase fl financing foreign enterprise by Britigl capital in all R115, 900 OB75. .0o0. 600 has been invester fin foreign countries during the year which E85.0O0.000 (s425 GOO .000)nnore than last year, and e126 00D GOO (y1So. 900 o00) more than In 1908, whicl heretofore has held the high record il total capital hotations on the Britisl market.
 The total applications for 1910 easily es tablish a new record. They aggregatt e267, 900 900 t31. .3sS7 1s5, ,5oo) or an, increasi singularly the rubber cress is regtop sible f roless than fas'Qoo. dQ 0s5, 5,ooo. .ooo