The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-30
By HOLLAND

New York. July 29.-(Special)
 Mld- spring of this year was not a season of depression in one Ameri- can industry at least. While re- ports came from Washington show
 ing what seemed to be serious and possibly momentous falling off in our foreign trade in the spring
 months, yet there was one exception. Instead of decrease in the import
 of raw silk there was an increase. l This may seem to be somewhat | trifling incident associated with our entire foreign trade. Yet it is full of l significance; for in the first place 1t shows that in spite of depression some of which was not well founded,
 an American industry was taking the lead in imports and if it were inn porting a large amount of raw mate rial it must be doing that in order to furnish the manufactures in
 which this industry is carried on
 with ample supplies.
 But if these factories have been getting an unprecedented amount of
 raw material purchased in other lands and are about to convert it
 into commodities suitable for domes-
 tic and foreign markets, then it must
 be that those who manage these in- dustries are confident that there will come a large demand for their prod ucts.
 It is the silk industry of the United l States which has made possible different chapter in the history of our foreign trade for the past five or six months, from other chapters
 which told of a falling off in that l trade. It is not so many years ags i that the Cheneys were persuaded
 al hn hi Ia tn r,,a ture in the United States certain
 kinds of silk goods which would find
 ready market and might success fully compete with like goods man ufactured in other countries. Upon these foreign manufactured silks, United States was compelled to de- pend uptil the Creneys demonstrated
 that we could make as good silks
 in the United States of a certain
 kind as those that come from facto-
 ries in foreign lands and could mar ket them successfully In competition
 with these foreign silks.
 Forty years ago the silk manuca-
 turers of the United States had an output estimated to have been of
 $40, 000,0 900. This represented in con siderable measure the results of the lessons earlier taught by the Che neys. At that time it was predicted that the United States could become
 the greatest silk manufacturing na-
 ton in the world. That prediction
 however was regarded as without Justification, because not pound or raw silk was produced in the United States. It would be necessary 10 go
 to China, Japan and some other countries in order to procure the raw
 material. That involved heavy trans portafion exDense
 Making and Selling silk
 And vet the prediction is likely to
 be Justified. The industry would not have imported a little under o,o00,- 0oo. 900 pounds of raw silk in sln-
 gle month of this spring had there not been confidence that thls great
 industry was again on it's Ieet, so ,o
 speak It was one Of the flrst to
 exnerience the change for the worst
 which began in the year following the armistice. Apparently 1t IS now settjng the example of change TOT tbe better to other industries, for II Inc manufature and marketing or
 history as silk making nation silk have entailed the largest lmpor, of raw silk in single month III ali
 orr history as a silk making natlon f. must be that other industries Will he directly or indirectly stimulateu by this industry.
 A Hundred Per Cent Increase The import of raw silk in mid- spring of this year was one huhorea per cent greater than the import ol this material year ago. What Was the peculiar impulse wnich eauseu this ouickening of one of the great act If American industries, although many other industries were reporting tha f their output was not more than 50 per cent normal.
 Cotton has not yet responded to this impulse and the wonder IS wny if the silk industry has doubled us imnort of raw material, the cotton manufacturing industry which de- bends to some extent upon raw cot ton which has fibre unlike the fibre which is in the cotton which IS produced in the southern states
 should have imported only about one half as much of raw cotton in the spring of this year as it did in like period of a year ago.
 This great industry is chiefly con fined to eastern Pennsylvania, north ern New Jersey and the important manufacturing district in Connecti- cut, of which Hartford is the center. l In this entire silk manufacturing dis 1 trict of the United States the value 1 of the silk which was manufactured in 1890 was little under $90,000, ,000.
 Within 10 years this had increased
 to $170.OO0.0 900. Ten years later, the output of the American silk industry
 was $200.0r0,t>1. an increase in 10 years which with the exception of the automobiles and one or two oth-
 CT industries, 1t was without parallel. i How important a factor in our en- l tire industrial life Is the silk indus l try as zthat has grown from 1890 Is
 shown by the fact that our silk out
 put two years ago was of the money
 value of nearly s700.000.000. Perhaps
 some other country can report fig
 ures which would compare with this.