their most powerful competitor; for, since 1800, cotton has been so developed as to form two-thirds of the whole material used for modern clothing. The immense and rapid increase in the culture of cotton, and its successful application to purposes of wearing apparel, come so obtrusively upon the public, that all are aware of the progress so made; but it is not generally borne in mind that the aggregates of the four other prime raw materials, including hemp, increase nearly as fast in supply as does cotton, and that the price of each is materially influenced by the supply of each of the others. During the first half of the present century, England has been the work-shop of the world, and although in other countries the development of manufactures has, in the last forty years, very rapidly increased, the production in England has maintained its supremacy. Hence, if we take a total of the quantities of each of the five great raw materials imported into England, for the use of her manufactories, we shall have results as follow: It will be observed that England was a large wool-producing country, and gradually her trade so increased as to use up all her own produce, and require annually increasing supplies; but her trade did not increase rapidly until in 1827, when the prohibition of the export of wool was removed. The supplies since then have been large. In 1825 the silk trade was thrown open, and the quantity of raw silk required by the manufacturers tripled in twenty years. If now we regard England as the great work-shop of the world, and make a table of the imports of the five great materials, we shall have an indication of the relative supply of each of the five materials to the whole: IMPORTS OF RAW MATERIALS FOR TEXTILE FABRICS INTO GREAT BRITAIN. 82,971,700 139,801,600 Price Upland in Liv Cotton, lbs. erp'ol. 326,407,692 104d 531,197,817 6 721,979,953 41 714,502,600 44 *91,751,963 Total four Wool, lbs. articles, lbs. 41,718,514 160,014,463 50,002,976 276,137,256 103,416,400 159,562,300 4,866,528 76,813,855 344,258,785 119,462,100 204,928,900 5,411,934 74,326,778 404,137,912 186,270,912 145.511,437 7,548,659 99,300,446 388,631,454 142,613,525 189,792,112 8,236,685 116,211,392 456,863,714 1,023,886,304 169,004,562 209,953,125 12,718,867 129,749,898 521,426,452 969,318,896 184,316,000 144,439,332 6,635,845 127,216,973 462,608,150 1,076,519,800 241,917,760 160,388,144 12,578,849 133,284,634 548,169,387 1,225,989,072 140,910,600 128,176,000 10,811,204 148.396,597 428,293,301 1,086,670,900 150,802,800 116,696,00 40,671.208 164,200,637 442,371,445 982,068,670 131 170,720,700 157,354,500 18,095,268 192,058,241 533,228,709 526,813,700 252 Hemp. lbs. Flax, lbs. 1885 72,352,200 81,916,100 1840 Silk, lbs. 1845 1850 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860. 1861 1262 54 6 71 71 67 7 Thus, each of all the great raw materials has increased in the quantity consumed; and the weight of the four first, wrought up in England, has doubled in quantity in the fifteen years up to 1850, or increased in the same ratio as cotton. The influence of gold discovery was now apparent upon the supplies of the articles named, and in 1857, the year of the panic, the imports of flax and silk were very large, carrying the aggregate of the four materials to nearly 60 per cent of cotton. Since that year there seems to have been no material increase in their receipts in the United States. From 1840 to 1850 the cotton culture did not materially increase, that is, in ten years it only increased 3 per cent per annum. The culture of linen, and its employment throughout Europe, has been very large, quite as large, in proportion, as in England. Taking Europe and England together, therefore, it may well be questioned whether the actual weight of the four minor raw materials had not increased faster than that of cotton up to 1850. The events of the last quarter of a century have tended to promote supply, more particularly in the last fifteen years, in which time the Chinese trade has become more regular in the supply of silk for European use, and Australia has become the great wool country, while the United States cotton power has been immensely developed. In the same period, also, the industry of Russia has received a more intelligent development, causing a greater supply of hemp and flax at cheaper rates. All these sources enhanced the supply of raw material for textile fabrics fifty per cent in ten years to 1850, and perhaps somewhat faster than the demand for the goods produced would take them up. The influence of one material upon the other has been continually made more effective by the ingenious combinations of the cheapest among them into the new fabrics. Thus, fabrics of silk and wool, wool and cotton, silk and cotton, silk, cotton and wool, have all assumed different textures, and different proportions of each material, according to the relative cheapness of each. Consequently, the price of any one has always been checked by that of the others, and the value of all has been influenced by collateral circumstances. The above table gives in pounds' weight the quantities of raw material imported into Great Britain from all countries in each year. It does not include the wool used of home growth, or the increasing supply of Irish flax, but it indicates the demand that England has annually made upon the countries that produce raw materials for the means of supplying the large demands made upon her factories for goods. The stimulus everywhere given to the production of exchangeable values, and the diminished cost of transportation, as well as the more liberal policy of governments, have left to the producer a larger share of the products of his own industry, and this has shown itself in a demand for clothing. It is to be observed in the table that up to 1850 the proportion of the four other articles increased faster than cotton. Those articles, worked more and more into fabrics, that before had been exclusively of cotton, the result was cheaper fabrics that gradually glutted the markets, and the price of cotton fell from 104 cents in 1835, almost year by year, to 44 cents in 1848, the extreme low price being the effect of the famine. In that period of time, however, the purchases of cotton had doubled in England, and of the other four articles they had tripled. These are the receipts of raw materials into the work-shops of England only. Those of the continent have received similarly increased quantities. Since 1850—that is to say, since the discovery of gold-a change has, as we before stated, taken place. The supply of raw materials has increase in magnitude, but the demand for clothing has apparently increased in a greater degree, since an aggregate quantity of raw materials in 1857, 50 per cent greater than the large supply of 1850, sold at a rise of 75 per cent in price, or at a rate of 74d. per pound for cotton, against 44d. Such was the progress of events up to 1861, when political events in the United States cut off the supply of American cotton, and reduced by one entire third the quantity of materials required by England alone for clothing. It may be observed that the progress of spinning had been very rapid, and probably far exceeded the regular demand for goods, causing most markets to be glutted. When, therefore, the cotton growth of the United States was witheld from the markets, and diminished consumption was forced upon all manufactures alike, the direct tendency was to appreciate the value of all goods, as well linen, woolen, and silk, in all markets. All those who held stocks of goods were benefittedthe operatives alone suffering for want of work. The effect of this rise in prices was, also, to reduce the rate of consumption, causing the existing stocks to last longer than they otherwise would have done. That process has a limit, however, since the quantity of cotton used by all nations being reduced, they have been compelled to use more of other materials, and as a consequence have been able to spare less of those materials for the general markets. Hence the aggregate importation of the four articles have not much increased since cotton has been withheld. The export of cotton from the United States has been as follows: Had the United States supplied in 1861 and 1862 the same quantity that they supplied in 1859 and 1860, Europe would have had 3,154,154,894 pounds more material-equal to 15,000,000,000 yards of cloth. Inasmuch as none was derived from the United States, England exported as follows: August, 1860, to December, 1861, 17 months....yards 4,239,903,766 January, 1862, to July, 1863, 17 months... 2,227,170,173 2,012,733,593 3,101,000,000 2,750,000,000 7,863,733,593 Reduced supply of cotton cloth.... This iminense reduction in the supply of clothing is, to some extent, counteracted by economy in consumption, but also in the larger use of articles from other materials. The effect of the reduced supply upon prices has been to double the prices of cotton goods in England, and proportionately to raise the value of other commodities, and, consequently, by a well known law of trade, to diminish the use of all. The production of goods in the Northern States, according to the census, was, in 1860, as follows: Thus, of the raw material, 80 per cent was cotton, which was used alone and in mixtures with wool in New England in the proportion of one-seventh and in the Middle States of 40 per cent. There were also imported 80,000,000 yards of linen, and, when the supply of cotton ceased, many of the manufacturers had large stocks and all had considerable supplies of cotton goods, the manufacture of which has now comparatively ceased for two years. The withdrawal of so large a quantity of goods from the markets was necessarily a cause of a great rise in prices, which, in New York, reached nearly four times the usual price. The rise was doubtless caused not altogether by the short supply of cotton, but in some degree, also, by the state of the currency. Exactly where the one cause ceased to act and the other commenced it is difficult to say. The combined effect was greatly to retard consumption, or to make the same stock of goods last for a much longer period. The stocks of goods gradually diclined, but importations have not been much enhanced, for the reason that all nations have suffered similar difficulties. Each nation being deprived of its usual supply of cotton, has been thrown back upon its other materials, and the surplus tohremtairels that could be afforded for the general markets has been small. It is no doubt the case that the cotton countries have exerted themselves to spare as much cotton as possible at the ruling high prices. The receipts into England have been as follows: United States. Brazil. Egypt. East Indies. Other places. Total. 1860.. 1,008,382,220 17,864,700 44,148,700 205,068,900 22,144,080 1,897,109,600 1861.. 823,159,000 17,682,101 41,084,600 370,562,700 10,021,160 1,262,508,670 1862.. 13,584,600 23,443,290 59,275,900 394,407,410 $5,602,750 526,313,700 1863..5 mos. 891,450 9,951,100 52,881,700 108,283,950 27,097,425 138,605,625 The high prices of cotton has drawn larger quantities from the other cotton growing countries, but not in so great a degree as might have been expected. Those countries are, however, deriving large profits from the trade. Brazil receive last year over $7,000,000 for cotton, when in ordinary years' she gets but $1,500,000. Egypt sold cotton for $15,000,000, and the East Indies drew from England $95,000,000 for cotton, instead of $12,009,000 for ordinary sales. Those countries which profit so largely by the present condition of things are not anxious for its discontinuance. They cannot, however, furnish the requisite material for the goods wanted. The cotton required by the trade of the world is of three divisionsthe long staple, the medium staple, and the short staple. The long staple is that long fiber used for making warp, and is indispensable to make á thread finer than No. 50. The best of this description is grown only on the coast of Georgia and South Carolina. An inferior quality is also grown, in small quantities, in Australia, and another species is that grown in Egypt. That of Brazil is long staple, but harsh and coarse. The quantities of long staple cotton required are not large. The medium staple is that used for low numbers of warp, and for the weft. The difference between warp and weft is, that the former requires strength and length of fibre; the latter, softness and fulness. A piece of cloth contains five times as much weft as warp, and the quantity required is in that proportion. This description of cotton is obtained in the Southern States only. The short staple cotton is used for wick yarns, and in some cases for weft. It is dry, harsh, fuzzy, like rough wool. If used for cloth alone, after washing, it has a thin, meagre look. This is the East India or Surat cotton. It is incurably bad. An experience of fifty years, of great expense, have established the fact that no other kind of cotton can be grown in the East Indies. American planters and American "saw-gins" have been sent over, and American seed has been planted; and the result has been a sensible amelioration in cleanliness and color, and some slight increase in length of fiber, but scarcely any change in specific character. The dry, fuzzy, woolly characteristics remain. Sometimes the first year's samples nearly resemble the American article, but the resemblance never becomes permanent. This description of cotton is that on which England and the world is now dependent, and the distress in the districts of France and England is very great. It is not unlike the potato famine of Ireland in 1846-47. Up to that time, an immense population had become solely dependent upon the one article of potatoes for life. They planted their little patches, and the produce afforded food for the year. Suddenly the ret set in, and swept away that sole dependence. The consequence was the death of hundreds of thousands by famine, and the next census showed loss of 1,700,000 population in Ireland. In Lancashire, the cotton trade employs : 28,000,000 spindles... Working capital Total..... Persons dependent.... $126,000,000 36,000,000 100,000,000 $262,000,000 The sole support of this business was United States cotton, of which the crop has failed, and famine has overtaken the crowds of workers, and the most fearful distress is apparent in all quarters. The utmost efforts have been made to remedy this distress, and among those efforts has been the attempt to work India cotton; to which, however, the operatives have an unconquerable aversion. A writer states: "This feeling appears to be general in all the mills, and arises from the constant liability of the India fiber to break during the process of manufacture; in consequence of which, it is difficult to work it so evenly as the American cotton." |