Evening star., 1937-03-28
WAR.BREEDINC RIVALRY
FOE OF TEXTILE PARLEY
Social Economy of Entire World and
l4.OOO,OOO Workers. Welfare May
Be Affected by Action Here.
BY JOHN C. HENRY.

AN
ton, directed at stabilizlng
one of the worlds greatest
~ industries, that OF textile
manufacturing, will get under way
tn Washington next Friday under
auspices Of the International Labor
Once.
The effort, unique in its direct i'm
portance to some 100000 workers
In 20 countries, to say nothing of its
indirect effect upon the social econ
omy OF the entire world. is being
watched closely by students of inter-
national relationships and world
economy.
If successful, ultimately it may
mark another step in the long and
discouraging process of smoothing
out international economic rivalries,
competitions which have been most
important factors in the worlds wars.
Mechanically, the form of the con-
ference follows:
More than 20 nations holding i'm
portant places in world textile pro-
duction have been invited by the
I. L. o. to send delegations here for
the two-Week session. Included in
those groups will be representatives
OF employers, of workers and of
government, all qualified to par
ticipate in the deliberations and vot-
ing of the conference With them also
will be economists and technicians
familiar with all phases of the in
dustry.
FYhauStive Survey pranora
As the basis for their deliberations
the delegates will have before them
what is considered the most exhaus-
tive survey ever made of a major
worldwide industry, such being un-
der preparation by the staff of the
I. L. o. since last June.
Among the nations invited to par
ticipate, with acceptances already
received from most of them, are Ar
gentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil,
Canada, China Czechoslovakia,
France, Germany, Great Britain, In
dia, Italy, Japan Mexico, the Meth
erlands, Poland, Spain, Switzerland,
Soviet Russia and the United States.
While the conference itself will not
have power to propose labor treaties
TO governments it is expected to
recommend adoption by the Interna-
tional Labor Conference at Geneva
In June of a draft convention for
standard working conditions in the
industry.
The Importance of the textile in
dustry as background for interna-
tional industrial negotiation and agree
ment is obvious on the basis of the
most casual survey of the industry
For instance, four countries. the
United States. Great Britain, Japan
and Germany, each employs more
than 100000 workers in it's textile
industry; France and Russia are close
to this figure, with India and Italy
estimated over 100000. In 1888 not
fiourishing year, the value of Ameri-
can textile production constituted
per cent of the net value of all
manufacturing in this country Great
Britain's valuation on her textile pro-
duction amounts to about. IA per cent
of total, with that of Japan running
as high as 26 per cent.
World Offers Raw Materials.
I'm its comprehensive report, the
International Labor Office makes the
following observation
Its (the textile industry's) raw ma
terials are drawn from all over the
world. The manufacture Of it's semi
finished and finished products is ex-
tremely widespread. It's products enter
into all market outlets, from backward
al al ~ IN
industrial countries. The prices, both
of its raw materials and of its finished
products, are formed in world markets
by competitive process which has
steadily grown in extent and in
tensity Textiles, in fact, are the
staples of world trade par excellence
From the mills of the United King
dom, Japan, France, Germany and
other countries there pours forth a
stream of textile products converging
on the markets of the whole world
The competition among the principal
textile exporting countries thus acts
as medium which transmits to the
whole world structure the effects of
changes in wage rates, of currency de-
probation, of the erection or the
breaking down of tariff barriers, etc.
In word, so many countries have
become so largely dependent for their
economic well-being upon the success
or failure with which they carry on
one or more branches of textile pro-
duction and commerce that the indus
try may be said to be true nerve
center of the present system of inter-
national economic relations"
That these international economic
relations have been passing through
years Of f1ux and convulsion that have
threatened even the peace OF the
world is evident from a glance at
some Of the developments since the
war. The I. L. O. cites some Of these
fluctuations as follows
The decline of British productive
capacity by nearly Is per cent from
1918 to 1886 and the increase of
Japanese capacity by nearly 400 per
cent, During the same years the
Chinese market, once one of the most
important, has become increasingly
self-sufficient in the increase OF
Chinese textile productive capacity by
about $50 per cent. Russia also has
made its important entry into the
textile picture during these years.
In Germany and Italy, where the
national economy has been completely
overturned and rebuilt, monetary fluc-
tuations and new policies of foreign
exchange have affected their supply
Of raw materials, no appreciable part
Of which they now produce themselves
q. s. Has Own Complications.
In the United States and India
internal movements Of the industry
from high cost to low cost areas have
given rise to complications which
could not but have repercussions on
The industry Internationally 0ne of