The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-03

l per cent of all the cotton grown In the l world. We have monopoly of this
 branch of the agricultural industry, and
 we are called upon to supply the world i with raw material with which to clothe l the human race.
 We should stop a moment to take a retrospective view of our past achieve
 ments fin order that we may understand the present prospects of the Southern cotton producer.
 Southern Progress The first cotton was raised in Virginia 1 In 172l. and in 17S4 the first export con-
 sisted of eight () bales of cotton sent to
 England. Eli Whitney invented the cot l ton gin in 1795, and with it came the
 negro and the mule.
 This era marked the beginning of the
 greatness of the south. A tabuIated statement will give a comprehensive
 view of the cotton industry in the United | States:
 Bales Exported-lsO0 155,55e; 1850, 2,ssg,- l 7lS; 1880, 5.76l,25219o0 9,436S16; 1910. Ill., l 965, ,962.
 United States Manufactured--1s0o. -: 1850, 595.o0o; 1880, 1,795,ooo; 1900, 3,644,00o; 1 1910, d.5515S9.
 1 South Manufactured 1900. -; 1850,
 ; 1880. 11s,OOo; lsoQ 1858, GOO; 1910, D.
 55o,o0O; 1911. 100000.
 In 911 the south manufactured over one 1 half of the cotton goods in the United 1 States, and with this advantage the United States only sent out in exports 3la
 per cent of it's manufactured cotton tex l tiles.
 | Tn 1911 there were 1906 establishments
 engaged in the manufacture of cotton
 textiles, of this number 800 were located l in the south.
 l The world consumed in 1910 in manufac- tured cotton goods twenty million (20.00O,- COO bales of cotton.
 1 England sells her cotton textiles to the l following named countries, and the value
 of schipmenrs come in order in which the countries are named. to-wt l China British India and the United 1 States. Our country ranks fourth and is ] one of England's best customers. notwith- standing England comes to our shores | for her cotton, takes 1t home. spins and
 weaves it into cloth, pays q tremendous l tariff on the goods to get them into the American market, and then sells her pro- duct to us al a less cost than we can buy i the goods manufactured at home. 1 One other matter of great interest to us
 and that is the rapid growth of the manu- 1 featuring industry of cotton textiles in the l south. shall mention the states in the
 order in which they rank in the manufac.
 ture of raw material Massachusetts, South Carolina, North Carolina, Rhode Island. Georgia; the remaining states are not of the greatest importance in the manufacture of the finished product. 1 Tn the last ten years the southern states have increased in the manufacture of l cotton textiles 6S per cent, while the east ern states have increased only 12 per cent 1 in the same industry.
 Proud as we are of the unparalleled prog
 ress made In the manufacture of cotton 1 textiles, we cannot deny that the cotton mill business has been overdone in this
 country. There are too many mills to
 supply our home markets. 1 Not only that but there is too much manufacturing machinery in this country.
 England sells a large proportion of the
 machinery used in our cotton mills, not withstanding she pays 45 per cent 70 get 1 1t over the tariff wall of the United States 1 into our market.
 High Cost of Living | There is hardly a manufacturing plant 1 in the country that does not stand idle at
 some time during the year. Too many people have been lured away from the l simple life of the farm and have gone to l the cities to work in the factories A diminished supply of all food products; l greater consumption and less supply: .lrl 1 advance in wages to meet daily obiga- l tions brought about by an increased cost | of food clothing and shelter-high cost of living-whereyer increased wages have | not been allowed. discontent, unrest. and agitation are to be found. and often re- 1 sulting in strikes and bloodshed 1 Of the twenty t20) South American re- publics we sell to three t3) of them the largest amount of cotton goods they use