The Mena weekly star., 1920-01-08
BIGGEST DEMAND FOR COTTON GOODS
Unprecedented World Demand Fol lows Four Years Shortage Cause by War-Lancashire, Eng
 land, Is Profiting.
R. FLOYD MACGR1FF. International News. Service Staff

Correspondent
 Manchester Jan. 2.~~The world is crying out for cotton eoods-it wants to be clothed and all Lancashire is trying to stop the cry at comforta- bIe profit
 Not only the worlds chest of draw CTS but it's back is bare. In Africa China, India. Australia. South America and Central Europe especially there Is q great dearth Of cotton goods. After five years of short supplies they are demanding goods win unexampled urgency. They are willing to pay from three to four times as much as they did five years ago, and the quantity they are prepared to take at such prices has no limit, manufacturers here say.
 Never in England's industrial history has there been such cotton boom as Lancashire is experiencing today. To be blunt. Lancashire is in a position to squeeze humanity and the opportu- nity is not being neglected.
 Statistics show that Lancashire owns and operates more than one third of the whole of the cotton yarn producing machinery in the world. Shortly before the war she was actu- ally had too many spindles, having in n fit Of optimism added l2,000,000 to her equipment in the previous ten years Hut today every spindle of her 57,000.0 .006 is working at high pressure.
 Although the cost of raw cotton is high, and there is q prospect of the best grades running short, no anyi- ety as to general supplies is felt in Manchester. Nor is there any seri- ous thought of foreign competition, especially by America and Japan, for these two competitors have almost inexhaustible markets close at hand France. Belgium, Germany and Aus tria have suffered such deterioration or destruction of weaving machinery in the past five years that they are put out Of the running for supplying the worlds need. immediately press ing, for some time
 Thus the Manchester cotton-weav- ing kings already have scored four points prodigious demand effective control of supply. no undue foreign competition and sufficiency of raw material The labor factor, the final one is not so roseate The workers steadily are demanding more pay
 A spinner's net earnings now run from seven pounds, ten shillings to niue pounds t$3710) week Most of the workers are now employed un- I der an agreement which expires in April 1920, and operators are prepared to be shocked by demand for 100 per cent wage increase. Others fear the workers may throw over the present agreement at any time The workers are dissatisfied because when they signed their present contract the pres ent boom had not gotten under way. 1, The operators may attempt to fore stall trouble by voluntarily boosting wages all around on January 1
 The hours of work were reduced | last July to forty-eight per week, and | since production is determined mainly | by the maehine-hours worked output | fell off one-seventh. The operators | want to prevent any further decrease | in hours of work. for they say they | can only increase production by ad- | ding more spindles, and equipping new min can be done at only four | times the 1914 cost
 But at present the manufacturers | are piling up mountainous profits | The value Of Lancashire's cotton out 1 put before the war was 10000, GOO ! pounds now 1t is estimated at nearly | 6S0, 0,0o0.0o0 pounds. nearly three bii- lion dollars.