The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1937-07-17
JAPAN TO USE
MORE COTTON
FROM ABROAD
Independent Textile Indus,
try Not Possible, Contr-
airy To Reports

dry ~ iNSFoAeo
TOKYO, July II. (UP)-Un-
less some nation is Wiling 10
cede or lease to Japan develop
ed area that will produce at least
100000 bales of American type
cotton annually, Japan will con-
tinue buying indefinitely large
amounts of United States cotton
for the weaving of the better
class textiles, it is apparent here.
Since no such territory exists
outside the United States, Japan's
status as a customer is likely to
continue for decades. 1t will buy
American cotton according to
needs and means, in the opinion
of Japanese and foreign cotton
experts. Price will be an import
ant but not necessarily a ruling
factor. ,
Reports have been circulated
abroad that Japan has under way
great developments to make its
textile industry independent of
foreign producers. No such prof.
Gets have been financed and no
concrete plans have been formu-
lated. Neither the land nor the
money is available at present.
However. the purchases from
India totalled 2,l9S,762 bales or
an increase of 525,059 bales.
Back of the increased proper
ton of purchases in India are rea-
sons having little or nothing TO
do with midas purchases OF
Japanese textile and other manu-
facturers.
Chief among the reasons were
the high price of American cot
ton and the limited amount avail
able for exports.
Indian cotton is of short staple
and is useable in stuffing mat
tresses, quilts, making sail cloths
and fishing nets and weaving the
common kimonos. =,
4. American cotton is used for the
finer textiles that are used for
the better cotton clothing and the
cotton fabrics that are sold to
good dressmakers abroad.
If American cotton had been
available in abundance at the In,
liam price, mattresses, quilts ana
the common kimonos would have
been made of better cotton.
PRICE REDUCES QUANTITY
To meet the higher cost and
limited supply of American cot
ton, the manufacturers simply re-
duced the quantity of American
cotton in the commoner articles
They made quilts and mattresses
almost exclusively Of Indian cot
ton.
Stores offered for sale more
bats of Indian cotton for families
that make their own bedding ana
the floor cushions which are the
equivalent of chairs in the west.
With price increases all along
the commodity line, the Japanese
people had to retrench. The man
ufacturers had to offer them the
kind of goods that would enable
them to do so.
India could sell cotton cheaply
and acknowledgements could
not.
In the first three months OF
1887 the same general SITUATION,
has prevailed. From the United
States, Japan imported 5OS,37S
boles compared with 63O,3O6
bales in the first quarter of 1886.
INDIA PURCHASES UP
The figures for India are $685.
625 bales in the first quarter OF
this year and 565,921 bales in the
corresponding period of 1886.
Japan's purchases from Brazil
are small because Brazils produc,
ton is light, total some 100000
bales annually. The cotton is de-
sirable because it is similar to
that of United States cotton
Purchases from Egypt are also
light because Egyptian cotton is
of highest quality, hence higher in
price. =. =.
China is in position by itself
1t does not produce sufficient cot
ton for internal needs and the
japanese mills in China. However,
Chinese cotton, which is of long
er staple than the Indian product,
is protected by an imported duty
of Id per cent. This keeps the
price of Chinese cotton higher
than that of India. 6a.
The same causes that have re-
tarded the expansion of cotton
production in Asia are behind
Japan's failure to have a vast de-
velopment program. .s..y,,