The Republican journal., 1922-03-02
COTTON AND THE STRIKE

In each and every year since 1909 the
cotton mills of the South have consumed.
In manufacturer, more cotton than was
consumed in the mills of New England.
The amount of cotton consumed, In
manufactures, in the mills OF the above
sections is little more than SO per cent
of the entire mill consumption OF the
limited States. This percentage Is based
an . period of six years, 1915 to 1920,
Inclusive. In 1920 the Southern nils
.,.ed about IS r cent. the New England
lille about e6 per cent and the other
,;,,s of the United States about per
can't of the cotton consumed In manu-
seizures of the cotton mill industries OF
chi. country. Since 1910 there has been
,o great increase in the cotton used IN
che New England mills while since then
there has been an increase OF about oo
.r cent in the Southern mills, and there
s,.s been a comparatively small increase
IN the mills outside of the cotton growing
States and New England. Even super
.sic;al view of the situation will show the
reasons why cotton manufacturing has
made such notably great progress in the
S-otton growing States in competition
with the mills of New England. Our
mills used GIT, TOT tons of cotton in 1920
The mills in the cotton growing States
Used o28, 600 tons. The average extra
railroad haul of cotton used in New Eng
zand mills was at least 600 miles more
than to the Southern mills. The South
mas coal. New England has not. Living
expenses are less in the South than here.
Labor conditions favor the cotton grow
xnQ States. They have few, if any, o.
hour weeks There have been no general
strikes of the mill workers there. The
weekly wage scale is less. All these
handicsps operate heavily against the
cotton mill industry in New England and
Northern capital has, in consequence,
been going in increasing volume, for sew
.eral years, into cotton manufacturing in
the South. This has brought up to-date
machinery and up to date methods to the
front in Southern factories, with the re-
suit that the grade of goods put on the
market has been so vastly improved that
some of them compare on equal terms
with the output of most of our New Eng
land mills in the markets of the world.
While the above outlines the domestic
situation in regard to cotton, the inter
national situation is worl by of serious
attention.
The average wage of cotton mill opera
1ives in England is about one half that of
the United States. In Belgium it is con-
siderably less than in England In Japan
and China the average wage is about one
fourth that of the United States. China
produces annually, on an average, about
500, 0O0. 600 pounds of raw Gotten at
labor cost which would be a mere pit
s4ance in this country. A great many
millions of American capital have gone
into China and Japan to develop cotton
textile industries in those countries where
cheap raw cotton can be obtained close at
hand. Already Chinese and Japanese
cotton factories are driving the cotton
textiles of New England out of the
Orient They are also actively absorbing
q considerable share of the cotton textile
trade in our Pacific States. Brazil pro-
cduces about So 600. 600 pounds of raw
cotton annually and is weaving it into
snch common textiles as are in general
use in. that country. In-view of all the
above. figures which are nearly all taken
! from official sources, it does not seem
arrange that the output of New England
cotton mills, as a whole. has not been
materially increased during the past ten
wears. Instead it seems to be probable
that during the next ten years, they can !
not hold their own against foreign cheap
1abor without reduction in wages and
protective tariff, which will protect the
American market from deluge OF foreign
cotton textiles. 1t seems to US that the
New England mills will be fortunate II
thew can hold their own against the
Southern mills for many years longer
We think the operatives in the Maine
cotton mills acted wisely when they de-
cided not to take part in general strike
which is fore doomed to failure