Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-04-23
Washington Ticker

BY the Associated Press.
Current reports of midtown labor
difficulties from the hill country of
Tennessee and the CarolinaS serve to
emphasize the rapid transfer of the
textile industry with its attendant
problems to Southern territory. Latest
Government figures, relating particularly
to the cotton branch of the industry,
give another aspect bringing out the
same fact. In seven years the numbers
of active cotton spindleSs have varied In
the following way:
March Iagc y3SJyy'
In cotton-growings States. 1e.73s,s3o 16,o74.9sd
In New England States. 15,012,382 l8,ao6,33S
BY another test, based on comparison
between cotton milled in Southern
States, and in all the rest Of the
country, in the same years, the Southern
predominance is even more sharply
marked. The figures are, for cotton In
bales, as follows:
March, 1929. March, 1922.
~ ing States 4so,517 bales. ss74s7 bales.
states ....... . 152,2sl bales. 1s2.2s2 bales,
"There is a manifest trend toward
putting the cotton mill closer to the
crop" said Senator Ransdell, Demo-
crat, Louisiana, who has long studied
all cotton matters with exceeding close
ness. "a number Of factors account
for the speed of development in late
years. One is transportation cost. 1t
costs 81 or SIS bale to take the raw
cotton East or North and transporta-
ton charges are relatively more irnpor-
tant now than 10 years back.
"Then labor Is less expensive, our
l. L. yS1anr y Lee kI]Nk &@x1lx
in the industrial East. Living costs are
lower because there isn't the need for
expensive housing that colder climates
require.
"There is also cheaper fuel, which
means cheaper power: natural gas in
my State and hydroelectric resources
elsewhere.
Lastly, and don't leave that out"
the Senator instructed, lis proximity to
Latin America gained by Southern
plants They get an extra advantage
in one of the great markets for all
classes of cotton goods.
'I've noted the outbreaks of indus
trial strife at one or two of the other
important Southern milling centers,
though none have been down in my
country, but don't believe that will
seriously disturb an economic trend of
this importance, now established. Those
things, it is to be assumed, will mark
the history of the industry anywhere. %
A study of plant location lists Of arti-
fetal silk producers, like the du Point,
Viscose and Tubize corporations, shows
likewise thick sowing of such enter
prises in Southern territory, running
down as far as Rome, Ca, and marked
In Virginia and West Virginia. Neverthe-
less, many artificial silk establishments
show up as located in old manufacture
ing territory, while the raw material
utilized, being both cotton linters-the
short strands from the cotton seed
and wood pulp. is not monopolized by
any section Wooden mills are not NOV
ing on any scale brought out by the
statistics.
Washington will witness next week
the seventeenth annual meeting of the
United States Chamber of Commerce,
which promises to bring for attendance
a distinguished and numerous group of
business leaders from all over the coun-
try Tentatively, discussions on tariff.
credit, foreign policy and Industrial
matters have been slated to be led by
prominent opponents IN each field for
the gathering
u