Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-02-28
BRITISH COTTON TRADE
Comprehensive Summary Of COndl'
tiODS In Manchester
MACHINERY GETS IN GRADUALLY

There Has Been a Great Shortage o
Raw Material, and the Mills Ar,
Kept In Check With the Supplies
Hours Of Labor Great and Import
, ant Question to be Adjusted.
This recent mail letter from Man.
chester, England, to a large and re-
sponsible commercial publication
throws interesting and accurate light
on the reorganization of the cotton in
dustry in Manchester, England:
The raw cotton supply has now i'm
proved sufficiently to allow of more
machinery being run. Mills using
American cotton may now work 81
| per cent Of their spindles, as against
IS per cent under the former order Of
the control board and mills using
Egyptian 80 per cent, as compared
with 80 per cent previously. Manu-
facturers are now permitted to run
rs per cent Of their looms, no matter
on what class Of work they may be
whereas, formerly fhe limit was IS pei
cent, and the provision whereby still
more may be run in the case of looms
on fine yarns remains in force.
Cotton Supplies Improve.
The additional machinery which
the board Is now allowing owners tc
put into operation, does not, however
accurately reflect the improved posi-
ton of the cotton supply. The stocks
in Liverpool and Manchester, and the
shipping prospects, are now such as
would justify an even greater relax
alton of the boards restrictions, but
the shortage of labor does not for the
moment make that practicable. How
ever, the board has a rehabilitation
sub committee at work, and Is doing
its .best to secure the return of cotton
workers from the army. The number
of pivotal men now with the forces is
estimated at $1,000, and the Ministry
of Labor has promised to deal with
them Immediately it receives their
names.
The movement for shorter working
hours. which is at present so wide
spread among the wage earning class
has not left the cotton industry un-
touched. Today shorter hours Is the
most important issue with which the
trade is faced. For generations the
4S-hours week has been an ideal OF
the cotton operatives, and it Is IL
years since the ideal was put into the
bill and introduced into the house OF
commons. 1t made no progress, how
ever, and met with similar fate when
reintroduced on several subsequent
occasions. But now the cotton work
ers. like those in many other trades
Gaye shelved the g4s-hours week as
something that falls short Of mod
ern requirements and aspirations, and
their program today Is for a working
week of A hours. This represents a
reduction Of III hours, and the oper-
atives propose that 1t should be ac-
companied by a 25 per cent increase In
wage in order that they may not suf-
fer as a result of lessened production
Shorter Hours in Sight.
It may be taken as certain that the
present working week of 55a hours Is
doomed, but whether the coming re-
duction will be as drastic as that de-
manded by the trade unions Is, OF
course, another question. Opinion In
favor of shorter hours in industry has
greatly developed as a result of wal
experience and experiment, and the
new thought has permeated the cottor
trade. Some months ago the Associa-
ton of Textile Managers passed res
olution in favor Of an experiment WIFI
the 4S-hours week and the present
week Of 55a hours has not many de-
tenders. A point which is bound te
weigh with employers Is the erec'
which the length Of the working day
has on the popularity of the cottor
industry as compared with other In
dustries. Before the war labor for the
mills was becoming scarce, and un'
doubtedly one reason was that cottor
mill hours were longer than those II
any other important trade. Recent!
other trades have had the working da!
still further reduced. In engineering
for instance, the hours have just beer
cut down from 81 to AZ per week, ane
the engineering industry, 1t must p'
remembered is very largely found slo'
bv side with cotton. The example OF
the engineers Is thus having consid
erable influence with the cotton opera
tives, who feel that they have lagse'
behind their fellows generally in th'
matter of hours. In support OF thi'
hours have only been reduced py ON
per week since 1875.
T The Textile Mercury, which repre-
sent the commercial point OF vie"
admits that, on the question OF hours
Il has changed it's views in recen
wears. and has now come to the opln
ion that "a 4S-hour week will sooi
be an accomplished fact" At the sam
time It points out that the operative
have presented their demand at
time when the state OF the "ori'
market calls for greater productiol
than ever. 1.-THE questions of increas
ing production in the cotton traue y
make up for a shorter working aa:
is one that can be more easily taiNe'
about than achieved" says the Mer
curry. I'm some cases, mostly IN con
nection with weaving and its alile'
machinery, it is not at all an impos
sible matter to increase the proou'
ton per operative by the greater us
of labor-saving devices, but peopi
would hesitate to state that the spec
and productive capacity Of spinnlnl
machinery could be further increased
spindles are running at top speed
Production could be Increased Wy 'i'
greater use of the ring frame "rerei'
one spindle is equal in productioh y
one and a half spindles in the Hul'
but the ring frame has its limits in Tn
hi re