The farmer and mechanic., 1911-07-18
AGE STOPS SPIN
DIES.


mast year except the cotton mill in
dustry Not few mills have had
- dose down part of the time, 9th
ers have run at little OF no profit,
ana some have been on the verge Of
bankruptcy. Why? Ask the first
half dozen cotton mill men or bust
ness men or bankers You chance to
see and you will get as many different
answers as you ask the number of
nersons to whom you go seeking an
explanation. Nobody knows. All
see that there is lack of demand for
the goods produced, but as there is
general prosperity and people buy
other things and seem to have money
for everything else, why is the de-
mana poor for cotton goods? At
last the query is answered and an
swered by distinguished South Car
Glinion, president of the American Cot
ton Manufacturers Association. Last
week he was invited to speak on "The
Present Conditions IN the Cotton Mill
Industry to Georgia manufacturers.
He did so, and in the course of his
depression in the cotton mill busi-
ness, and, like every man since Adam
put the blame on the Ewes. He
said:
The present stagnant condition Of
the cotton mill business, however. is
not only a question of Over-prOduc
tion and the results Of high priced
cotton, but We are also confronted
with an under-consumption of cot
ton fabrics, and when 40, 900, 600 wo-
men in the United States stop wear
ing petticoats, and use only five yards
of cloth to make a skirt instead Of II
to IS yards, and when no sleeves are
worn, and they use no braid or trim
mings on their skirts, then the braid
mills suffer, the yarn mills suffer and
the cloth manufacturers suffer and
it is to be deVoutly hoped that the
fashion pendulum will swing in the
other direction, and that larger de-
mand will be made by the women for
the production of the Southern mills.
And SO the only hope, according to
this Mr.. Smyth, who puts a ~ i'll
the North Carolina name Of Smith,
seems to hold out no hope for an
Improvement in the cotton mill bust
ness until the women see fit to change
the fashions. Is Mr.. Smyth right?
The columbia State seems to think
its South Carolina friend is right in
part, but it is not inclined to put
all the blame on the women but
Indicates it's belief that by curtail-
ment of certain garments worn by
men they must bear their share of
the blame for the cotton mill stagna-
ton and indeed set women the ex-
ample that she improved upon.
Discussing this very important ques-
tion the State says:
"One is impressed at first blush,
that Captain Smyth, in this pungent
and comprehensive sentence, nearly
apprOa ches to laying bare the secret
OF the prevailing textile depression IN
all its nake0ness If forty million Wo-
men in the United States have stopped
wearing -pettIcoats, one can perceive
nothing else than imminent disaster
If forty million women in the United
States are curtaling their sklrtalllng
from seven to ten Yards each. little
is to be hope from the curtalllng or
the mills for two or three weeks IN
the year If these same forty million
women instead of rolling up their
sleeves, have abtured their sleeves
and raising their lovely arms III
the "altogether' to protest against the
higher cost of living, it is hard to
think of anything that the manu1ac-
turers can DO to circumVent them
agreeable as circumVention would be
Finally if the forty million women
have formed the stern resolve TO OPP
pose in a simplenesS marked by Tree
dom from braids and trimmings the
expense of fine raiment, the situation
Is pregnant with dire forebod1nS.
One regrets that one can not agree
that this deplorable condition Is due
to the pendulum Of fashion. Inc
suspicion will not down that more
sinister and profound motive under-
lies it. Women never have been dis
posed to pack them selves in many