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diff --git a/29048.txt b/29048.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e26bc93 --- /dev/null +++ b/29048.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3368 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Fabric of Civilization, by Anonymous + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Fabric of Civilization + A Short Survey of the Cotton Industry in the United States + +Author: Anonymous + +Release Date: June 5, 2009 [EBook #29048] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FABRIC OF CIVILIZATION *** + + + + +Produced by Audrey Longhurst, ronnie sahlberg and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +[Illustration: GUARANTY TRUST CO'S COTTON PRICE CHART. +_Spot Prices, New York, Middling Uplands_] + + + + +The Fabric of Civilization + + + + + +A Short Survey +of the Cotton Industry in the +United States + + +Guaranty Trust Company of New York +140 Broadway + +FIFTH AVENUE OFFICE MADISON AVENUE OFFICE +Fifth Avenue and 43rd Street Madison Avenue and 60th Street + + LONDON OFFICES LIVERPOOL OFFICE + 32 Lombard Street, E. C. 27 Cotton Exchange Buildings + 5 Lower Grosvenor Pl., S. W. + +PARIS OFFICE HAVRE OFFICE BRUSSELS OFFICE +1 and 3 Rue des Italiens 122 Boulevard Strasbourg 158 Rue Royale + + + + +COPYRIGHT, 1919 + +GUARANTY TRUST COMPANY OF NEW YORK + + + + + The cotton industry touches the lives of + the vast majority of the peoples of the + earth. The ensuing survey does not pretend + to cover the field in all its diversity. It + aims to give, in brief compass, such + general facts concerning the industry in + the United States as may enable the reader + quickly to familiarize himself with its + broader outlines. + + + + +Contents + +CHAPTER PAGE + I The Importance and Power of Cotton 5 + II Where Cotton is Grown and Spun and Why 10 + III The Raw Cotton Market 17 + IV The Cloth Market 27 + V Financing Cotton and Cotton Cloth 33 + VI American Cloth in Foreign Markets 38 + VII Some of the Grower's Problems 41 + VIII In the Cotton Mill 45 + IX The Finishing Operations 57 + + + + +The Fabric of Civilization + + + + +CHAPTER I + +The Importance and Power of Cotton + + +Cotton is the fabric of civilization. It has built up peoples, and has +riven them apart. It has brought to the world vast and permanent wealth. +It has enlisted the vision of statesmen, the genius of inventors, the +courage of pioneers, the forcefulness of manufacturers, the initiative of +merchants and shipbuilders, and the patient toil of many millions. + +A whole library could be written on the economic aspects of cotton alone. +It could be told in detail, how and why the domination of the field of +its manufacture passed from India to Spain, to Holland, and finally to +England, which now shares it chiefly with the United States. The +interdependence of nations which it has brought about has been the +subject of numerous books and articles. + + +Genius that Served +The World's Need + +Nor is the history of the inventions which have made possible to-day's +great production of cotton fabrics less impressive. From the unnamed +Hindu genius of pre-Alexandrian days, through Arkwright and Eli Whitney, +down to Jacquard and Northrop, the tale of cotton manufacture is a series +of romances and tragedies, any one of which would be a story worth +telling in detail. Yet, here is a work that is by no means finished. +Great inventors who will apply their genius to the improvement of cotton +growing and manufacture are still to be born. + +The present purpose, however, is to explain, as briefly as may be, the +growth of the cotton industry of the United States, in its more important +branches, and to endeavor, on the basis of recognized authority, to +indicate its position in relation to the cotton industries of the +remainder of the world. + + +America the Chief +Source of Raw Material + +For the present, and for the future, as far as that may be seen, the +United States will have to continue to supply the greater part of the +world's raw cotton. Staples of unusual length and strength have been +grown in some foreign regions, and short and inferior fibers have come +from still others. But the cotton belt of the Southern States, producing +millions of bales, is the chief source of supply for all the world. + +The following table, taken from "The World's Cotton Crops, 1915," by J. +A. Todd, gives the comparative production of the great cotton-growing +areas, for the 1914-1915 season: + + America 16,500,000 bales of 500 pounds + India 5,000,000 " " 500 " + Egypt 1,300,000 " " 500 " + Russia 1,300,000 " " 500 " + China 4,000,000 " " 500 " + Others 1,300,000 " " 500 " + ----------- + Total 29,400,000 " " 500 " + +The American crop is thus approximately fifty-six per cent. of the +world's total. The other producing countries have shown since the +beginning of the century an interesting, if not a remarkable growth, that +of China being the largest in quantity, and that of Russia, the largest +in proportion. The American increase has been larger, absolutely, than +that of any other region, and there is little indication that it will not +continue to hold first position. + + +English Spinners +Dominate World Market + +In the manufacture of cotton, Great Britain's supremacy, while not so +great proportionately as that of America in growing it, is for the +present not likely to be challenged. The following table of the number of +spindles in the chief manufacturing countries is based on English figures +compiled shortly before the outbreak of the World War. The number of +spindles is the usual basis upon which the size of the industry is +judged. It is not a perfect method, but it has fewer objections than any +other: + + Great Britain 55,576,108 + United States 30,579,000 + Germany 10,920,426 + Russia 8,950,000 + France 7,400,000 + India 6,400,000 + Austria 4,864,453 + Italy 4,580,000 + Latin America 3,100,000 + Japan 2,250,000 + Spain 2,200,000 + Belgium 1,468,838 + Switzerland 1,398,062 + Scattering 2,499,421 + ----------- + Total Spindles 142,186,308 + +Such figures can be only approximate. The war has brought growth in the +United States and in Japan, but has certainly reduced the numbers of +spindles in Germany, Austria, and Russia. It is doubtful, moreover, how +well the French industry has been able to maintain itself. But the +tabulation is accurate enough to show the relative standing of the +various countries. There are, as has been indicated, other standards than +the number of spindles. The United States, through the fact that it +specializes, generally speaking, on the coarser fabrics, uses about +5,000,000 bales of cotton annually, as compared with Great Britain's +4,000,000. The British product, however, sells for much more. Thus the +value of the spindle standard is affirmed. England, then, produces well +in excess of one-third of the cotton cloth of the world; the United +States considerably more than one-fifth of it, with the other countries +trailing far behind, but prospering nevertheless. + + +The Individuality +of the Cotton Fiber + +[Illustration: _The cotton fiber--a highly magnified view, showing the +twist_] + +It is a curious ruling of fate which makes the spinning of cotton fiber +possible. There are many other short vegetable fibers, but cotton is the +only one which can profitably be spun into thread. Hemp and flax, its +chief vegetable competitors, are both long fibered. The individuality of +the cotton fiber lies in its shape. Viewed through the microscope, the +fiber is seen to be, not a hollow cylinder, but rather a flattened +cylinder, shaped in cross-section something like the figure eight. But +the chief and valuable characteristic is that the flattened cylinder is +not straight, but twisted. It is this twist which gives its peculiar and +overwhelming importance to cotton, for without this apparently fortuitous +characteristic, the spinning of cotton, if possible at all, would result +in a much weaker and less durable thread. The twist makes the threads +"kink" together when they are spun, and it is this kink which makes for +strength and durability. + +Though the cotton plant seems to be native to South America, Southern +Asia, Africa, and the West Indies, its cultivation, was largely confined +at first to India, and later to India and the British West Indies. At the +beginning of the eighteenth century, the West Indies, because of their +especial fitness for growing the longer staples were supplying about +seventy per cent. of the food of the Lancashire spindles. The United +States having made unsuccessful attempts to produce cotton in the early +days of the colonies, first became an important producing country toward +the end of the eighteenth century. American Upland cotton, by reason of +its comparatively short staple, and the unevenness of the fibers, as well +as the difficulty of detaching it from the seed, was decidedly inferior +to some other accessible species. The Southern planters who grew it, +moreover, found it next to impossible to gin it properly, the primitive +roller gin of the time being unsuited to the task, and the work of +pulling off the fibers by hand being both tedious and expensive. In 1792, +the amount exported from the United States was equivalent to only 275 +bales. + +[Illustration: _Eli Whitney, the schoolmaster inventor of the cotton +gin_] + +The next year, 1793, is the most important in the history of cotton +growing in the United States. In the autumn of 1792, Eli Whitney, a young +Massachusetts man who had just been graduated from Yale College, sailed +from New York to South Carolina where he intended to teach school. On +shipboard he met the widow of Nathaniel Greene, the Revolutionary +general. Mrs. Greene invited the youth to begin his residence in the +South on her plantation at Mulberry Grove, Georgia. Here one evening, +some officers, late of General Greene's command, were discussing the +great wealth which might come to the South were there a suitable machine +for removing stubborn Upland fiber from its green seed. The story goes +that while the discussion was at its height, Mrs. Greene said: + +"Gentlemen, apply to my young friend, Mr. Whitney. He can make +anything." + +Whitney commenced work on the problem. A room was set aside as his +workshop, and it was not long before he had produced the beginnings of +the gin. He fixed wire teeth in a board, and found that by pulling the +fibers through with his fingers he could leave the tenacious seed behind. +He carried this basic idea further by putting the teeth on a cylinder and +by providing a rotating brush to clean the fiber from the teeth. + +The changes which followed immediately upon the introduction of the +cotton gin were tremendous in scope and almost innumerable. There was a +time, before cotton became a staple, when the South led New England in +manufacturing. That time passed almost immediately. Iron works and coal +mines were abandoned, and men turned their energies from the culture of +corn, rice, and indigo largely to the raising of the cotton. + + +Expansion in +Production + +The following figures, giving production in the equivalent of 500 pound +bales for the year at the close of each ten-year period, give some idea +of the tremendous expansion which ensued. + + _500 Pound + _Year_ Bales_ + 1790 3,138 + 1800 73,222 + 1810 177,824 + 1820 334,728 + 1830 732,218 + 1840 1,347,640 + 1850 2,136,083 + 1860 3,841,416 + 1870 4,024,527 + 1880 6,356,998 + 1890 8,562,089 + 1900 10,123,027 + 1910 11,608,616 + 1917 11,302,375 + +By this table it will be seen that the Civil War and the freeing of the +slaves held up production only temporarily. In 1914, the banner year, the +crop reached the tremendous total of 16,134,930 bales of five hundred +pounds each. + +Some little spinning had been done in the seventeenth century, but in +1787-88 the first permanent factory, built of brick, and located in +Beverly, Massachusetts, on the Bass river, was put into operation by a +group headed by John Cabot and Joshua Fisher. This factory failed to +justify itself economically, chiefly because of the crudeness of its +machinery. But Samuel Slater, newly come from England with models of the +Arkwright machinery in his brain, set up a factory in Pawtucket in 1790. +From that time forth the growth was steady and sure, if not always +extremely rapid. + +The following table,[A] which covers the whole country, relates +particularly to New England in the years before 1880, because the cotton +manufacturing industry until then was largely concentrated there. It +shows how the manufacturing interests of the country profited by the +discovery that brought wealth to the agricultural South: + + =======+=======+============+=========+=============+============== + |_Number| |_Cotton | | + | of | _Number | Used | _Number | _Value of + _Year_ | Estab-| of | in | of | Product in + | lish- | Spindles_ | Million | Employes_ | Dollars_ + | ments_| | Pounds_ | | + -------+-------+------------+---------+-------------+-------------- + 1810 | | 87,000 | | | + 1820 | | 220,000 | | | + 1830 | 795 | 1,200,000 | 77.8 | 62,177 | $32,000,000 + 1840 | 1240 | 2,300,000 | 113.1 | 72,119 | 46,400,000 + 1850 | 1094 | 3,600,000 | 276.1 | 92,286 | 61,700,000 + 1860 | 1091 | 5,200,000 | 422.7 | 122,028 | 115,700,000 + 1870 | 956 | 7,100,000 | 398.3 | 135,369 | 177,500,000 + 1880 | 756 | 10,700,000 | 750.3 | 174,659 | 192,100,000 + 1890 | 905 | 14,200,000 | 1,118.0 | 218,876 | 268,000,000 + 1900 | 973 | 19,000,000 | 1,814.0 | 297,929 | 332,800,000 + 1910 | 1208 | 27,400,000 | 2,332.2 | 371,120 | 616,500,000 + 1918 | | 34,940,830 | 3,278.2 | | + =======+=======+============+=========+=============+============== + + [A] This tabulation includes spinning and weaving + establishments only. + +The North, having this growing interest in an industry struggling against +the experience and ability of the more firmly established English market, +sought naturally for the protection given by a high tariff. The South, +having definitely dropped manufacturing, pleaded with Congress always for +a low tariff, and the right to deal in human chattels. + +There is little need to go further into the rift which began to develop +almost immediately. In 1861 the split occurred. The war between the +States caused hardly more suffering than the blockade which cut off the +spinners of Manchester from the vegetable wool which supplied them the +means of living. Cotton proved its power and its domination. It was a +beneficent monarch, but it brooked no denial of its overlordship. + + +Early Exports +to England Heavy + +The invention of the Whitney Gin, as we have just said, found the United +States able to use but a small part of the cotton grown. What became of +the remainder? Obviously, it was exported to provide the means for +operating the English mills. Here is a table which shows how American +cotton left the Southern ports for England and the Continent in the +alternate decennial years beginning in 1790, three years before the +invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney. The figures are exclusive of +linters. + + _Exports in + Equivalent of 500 + _Year_ Pound Bales_ + + 1790 379 + 1810 124,116 + 1830 553,960 + 1850 1,854,474 + 1870 2,922,757 + 1890 5,850,219 + 1910 8,025,991 + 1917 4,587,000 + +In 1910 American cotton made up almost exactly three-quarters of the +whole amount imported into Great Britain. The other countries of Europe +have developed a spinning industry by no means inconsiderable. American +cotton is sent to almost all those European countries which spin and +weave. + +Such a movement had of course a profound effect upon the currents of +world trade. The cotton crop is the second in value of all the crops +produced in the United States, and such a large part of it is exported +that the credit it gives to its sellers enables them to buy in return +some of the most valuable of the products manufactured in Europe. + +The following table gives the amount of cotton, expressed in the +equivalent of 500 pound bales, exported to the various countries named in +the decennial years: + + ======+=========+=========+========+=======+========+========+========= + |_United | | | | |_Nether-| + _Year_| Kingdom_|_Germany_|_France_|_Italy_|_Russia_| lands_ |_Belgium_ + ------+---------+---------+--------+-------+--------+--------+--------- + 1821 | 175,438| 1,496| 54,878| 1,796| 609 | 8,372| + 1830 | 419,661| 2,246| 150,212| 471| 223 | 17,135| + 1840 | 989,830| 18,317| 358,180| 7,805| 4,406 | 21,698| 25,780 + 1850 | 863,062| 10,090| 251,668| 18,707| 8,677 | 8,590| 25,492 + 1860 |2,528,274| 132,145| 567,935| 54,037| 43,396 | 25,515| 29,601 + 1870 |1,298,332| 173,552| 306,293| 14,549| 30,341 | 17,050| 3,452 + 1880 |2,433,255| 308,045| 359,693| 59,126|204,500 | 65,325| 17,896 + 1890 |2,905,152| 837,641| 484,759|129,751|193,163 | 17,438| 93,588 + 1900 |2,302,128|1,619,173| 736,092|443,951| 54,950 | 74,635| 148,319 + 1910 |2,444,558|1,887,657| 968,422|393,327| 67,203 | 18,823| 102,346 + 1917 |2,387,101| | 658,553|369,213| 15,945 | 10,098| + + + + +CHAPTER II + +Where Cotton is Grown and Spun and Why + + +We have seen (page 5) that the world's cotton crop is produced chiefly by +the United States, with 56%; India, with 17%; China, with 13-1/2%; Egypt +and Russia with 4-1/2%, the remaining 4-1/2% being made up by Brazil, +Mexico, Peru, Turkey, Persia, Japan, and several other countries. + + +Primitive Methods of +Growing in India + +India is the first country wherein, so far as we have record, the growing +of cotton reached the stage of an industry. There conditions are almost +ideal, apparently, for the production of a great crop; yet, for many +years the crop was a small one, and was utilized locally in the domestic +manufacture of the light clothing worn by the people. Nothing remotely +resembling the present modern factory system developed during all the +thousands of years that the Indians had the field practically to +themselves. The plant grown in India for a long time produced a short, +uncertain staple, difficult to gin and still more difficult to spin. The +greater part of the cotton growing districts are still given over to the +short staple varieties (about 3/4 inch) but in recent years certain +varieties of Egyptian and American cotton have been produced with some +success. About 20,000,000 acres are given over to the culture of the +plant, but the methods used are to a great extent primitive in the +extreme. Most of the crop, being unsuited to the needs of the British +spinners, is either manufactured in Indian mills, of which the number is +constantly growing, or exported to Japan. Before the war, Germany was a +large consumer of Indian cotton. + +The figures given as representing the Chinese crop probably are not any +more accurate than the usual statistical figures concerning China. The +Chinese are still largely in the domestic system of manufacture, and much +of their crop--probably a larger proportion than in India--is spun and +woven in the neighborhood where it is grown, without ever appearing in +statistical tables. The methods of growing are equally primitive. The +fiber is short, and the mills of the country import more raw cotton, +yarn, and textiles than they export. + + +The Growing Importance +Of Egyptian Staples + +The Egyptian crop is one of the most interesting, both in the methods +of culture, and in the product. From the point of view of +statistics--remembering the uncertainty of the size of the Chinese +crop--Egypt is the third cotton growing country of the world. This is +the more interesting because it was not until about 1820 that Egypt was +considered as a source of supply. The present area, under extremely +intensive cultivation, is about 1,800,000 acres, and nine-tenths of this +is in the Nile delta. + +Climatic conditions are radically different from those of the United +States. Little rain falls during the growing season, but an elaborate +system of irrigation provides a sufficient and probably more satisfactory +water supply, insomuch as the quantity of water can be regulated, and +there is little danger of either too much or too little moisture. The +regions where the soil is not composed exclusively of the black delta +mud, but is a mixture of sand and mud, produce the best crops. The land, +after being plowed, is thrown up into ridges about three feet apart. +Channels for water are formed at right angles to the ridges. The seeds, +before being sown, in March, are thoroughly soaked, and after the +seedlings appear there is frequent hoeing and watering. The total water +is equivalent to a rainfall of about 35 inches. There is little +cultivation in the American fashion, hand labor being employed almost +exclusively. The result of all this intensive effort is an abundant crop +of long-stapled cotton with an extremely strong fiber, bringing in the +open market a price second only to that of the American Sea Island +variety. Much of the Egyptian cotton is used in the manufacture of +hosiery and other knit goods, sateens, sewing thread, etc., but recently +it has also been found to be exceedingly well fitted for the manufacture +of the fabric used in pneumatic tires, and for the duck or filter cloth +used in such industries as the refining of sugar. + +[Illustration: _Pickers in Delta Field_] + +Russian cotton, so-called, is really grown largely in Turkestan though a +small amount is produced in the Southern Caucasus. The culture has been +under way since very early times, but had little more than local +significance until about 1875 when the Russian Government took steps to +foster it, distributing American seed of the Upland variety, importing +the necessary equipment, and providing instructors, frequently Americans. +Railroads to handle the crop were built, and, with all this favorable +assistance, progress was rapid. About one-third of the cotton used in the +Russian mills up to the time of the war was grown on Russian soil, the +remainder being brought largely from the United States. + + +The American Crop +As the World's Basis + +But the bulk of the world's supply is the cotton grown in the United +States. The price for American Upland Cotton governs the price of the +other varieties. The acreage devoted to the cultivation of the cotton +crop in the United States is approximately 34,000,000. The increase since +1839, when census figures covering this point were first obtained, has +been about seventeen fold. The 1916 acreage, of the various States, +together with figures giving the value of the crop and the comparative +rank, is here given: + + ================+==========+==============+========+=============== + | | _Gross | | _Crop Value + | |Equivalent 500|_Approx-| Including + _States_ | _Acreage_| Pound Bales | imate | Seed + | | Exclusive of |Percent-| and Linters_ + | | Linters_ | age_ | + ----------------+----------+--------------+--------+--------------- + Alabama | 1,977,000| 517,890 | 4.6 | $86,940,000 + Arizona | | 21,737 | 0.1 | 6,300,000 + Arkansas | 2,740,000| 973,752 | 8.6 | 164,840,000 + California | | 57,826 | 0.5 | 9,410,000 + Florida | 183,000| 37,858 | 0.3 | 10,260,000 + Georgia | 5,195,000| 1,883,911 | 16.7 | 322,600,000 + Louisiana | 1,454,000| 638,729 | 5.7 | 102,260,000 + Mississippi | 2,788,000| 905,554 | 8.0 | 152,270,000 + Missouri | 345,000| 60,831 | 0.5 | 10,100,000 + North Carolina | 1,515,000| 617,989 | 5.5 | 103,940,000 + Oklahoma | 2,783,000| 959,081 | 8.5 | 150,270,000 + South Carolina | 2,837,000| 1,236,871 | 10.9 | 207,220,000 + Tennessee | 882,000| 240,525 | 2.1 | 40,130,000 + Texas |11,092,000| 3,125,378 | 27.7 | 495,590,000 + Virginia | 50,000| 18,777 | 0.2 | 3,140,000 + All Other States| | 5,666 | 0.1 | 970,000 + +----------+--------------+--------+-------------- + Totals |33,841,000| 11,302,375 | 100.00 | 1,866,240,000 + ================+==========+==============+========+============== + +There are generally speaking, two kinds of cotton produced in the United +States--Upland cotton, and Sea Island cotton. The former makes up the +great bulk of the crop, the relative percentages in 1917 being 99.2 and +.8. + + +The Constant Search +For Long Staples + +A few years ago the terms short-staple and Upland were practically +interchangeable, but the great demand for long staple, chiefly from the +manufacturers of thread and of pneumatic tire fabrics has led to a +successful attempt to grow the longer fibers in the Upland districts, so +that now more than a million bales annually are being produced in the +Upland districts of cotton with a staple length of 1-1/8 inches and more. +The world's total production of long staple is in the neighborhood of +2,250,000 bales. Egypt is the chief producer outside the United States, +her product being approximately 1,000,000 bales of 500 pounds every year. +Although the product is small, the best Sea Island produced in the United +States grows upon the small islands off the coast of South Carolina. The +long-staple Upland is grown chiefly in the Mississippi delta, where the +product is called "Peeler," "benders," etc., though the percentage of +long-staple produced elsewhere is steadily increasing. The success of +certain Arizona growers in producing long-staple from Egyptian seed is +being watched with great interest. More than 3,000 bales came from this +source in 1916, the fiber averaging 1-1/2 inches in length. There has +recently been developed there, the new and important Pima variety, which +is superior to the native Egyptian cotton, being both longer and whiter, +and the growers are now planting Pima almost exclusively. + +The following table, taken from the Encyclopedia Brittanica, gives the +comparative length of staple of the more important varieties of cotton. +The order in which they are given represents, roughly, their relative +commercial value: + + _Length of Staple + Sea Island Cotton in Inches_ + Carolina Sea Island 1.8 + Florida Sea Island 1.8 + Georgia Sea Island 1.7 + Barbados Sea Island 2. + + Egyptian Cottons + Yannovitch 1.5 + Abassi 1.5 + Good Brown Egyptian (Mitafifi) 1.2 + + American Cotton + Good Middling Memphis 1.3 + Good Middling Texas 1.0 + Good Middling Upland 1.0 + + Indian Cottons + Fine Tinnevelly .8 + Fine Bhaunagar 1.0 + Fine Amraoti 1.0 + Fine Broach .9 + Fine Bengal .9 + Fine ginned Sind .8 + Good ginned Kumta 1.0 + +The table of the number of spindles in each country in the world, given +on page 6, gives some idea of the relative position of the United States +in the field of cotton manufacturing. We have seen how the English +industry, having the prior start, grew to imposing proportions and helped +to bring about a change almost as great in its effects as the French +Revolution, which was occurring at almost the same time. British +supremacy in cotton manufacturing has never been truly challenged, but +there has been an appreciable growth in several other countries, and in +Germany and Japan, at least, the recent development has been little short +of phenomenal. New figures will probably show that in the future Japan +will be the chief competitor of England and the United States for a share +of the cotton trade of the world. + +[Illustration: _Fall River, Massachusetts_] + + +The Home Market +Created An Industry + +The chief factor in the growth of the American industry was probably not +the nearness of the source of supply, cheap fuel or labor, nor any of +these factors which operated in the case of England, such as climate, +geographical position, and shipping control, but more than anything else +the presence of a market close at hand which grew so rapidly, more +rapidly indeed than the industry could grow to meet it. Aided to some +extent by an import tariff, the manufacturers have weathered some short +periods of depression, but in the main the industry has grown in direct +ratio to the growth of the country. + +[Illustration: _A typical Southern mill_] + + +New England As Home +Of American Spinning + +The cotton mill, as we have seen, early chose New England as its +domicile. Mills are scattered more or less throughout the entire region, +but there are several localities which stand out beyond all others, and +almost deserve the title they have acquired as the centers of the +industry. Premier place for a long time was held by Fall River, and even +now the race between that city and New Bedford is strong, with the lead +slightly in favor of the former city. + +Bristol County, Mass., in which these two centers, and Taunton, are +located, Providence, R. I., and Middlesex County, Mass., together +contained 10,086,686 spindles in 1917, or 29.5% of the country's total of +34,221,252. + +The growth in this one locality is due probably to the advantages which +come with centralization, as well as to the natural advantages they +possessed. These latter, which include particularly water power and a +moist climate, are not as important now, With steam power and mechanical +humidifiers as they were a generation ago. + +In the Middle Atlantic States, the number of plants and the spindlage +have remained about stationary over a long period of years, and are even +showing a tendency to decrease. Small weaving establishments which buy +their yarn are particularly numerous around Philadelphia, and there are +large cotton duck mills in and near Baltimore. + + +Mills in the Midst of +Cotton Plantations + +It has been in the South, however, that the growth of the cotton +manufacturing industry in the last few decades has been most phenomenal. +In 1860 there were 324,052 spindles in the cotton growing States compared +with 8,632,087 in New England. In 1917, the figures were: Northern +States (including Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, +New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and +Vermont), 19,835,662 spindles devoted to the spinning of cotton +exclusively; Southern States (including Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, +Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, +and Virginia), 14,292,918 spindles devoted to cotton exclusively. + +The census figures do not give the number of spindles in each city except +when the confines of the city and of the county happen to coincide. But +the appended table is presented as showing the spindlage of counties +having more than 100,000 spindles devoted to the spinning of cotton. + +About 1880, the Southerner saw the opportunity that awaited him when he +should manufacture his own cotton. At that time he was consuming only +188,748 bales, while New England took 1,129,498. In ten years, he was +utilizing more than half a million bales, while New England had just +passed the million and a half figure. In 1905, the South consumed +2,140,151 bales, while New England had climbed to only 1,753,282. The +figures are Scherer's, who points out that the race was won in +twenty-five years. However, as competition with the South increased, New +England, following the earlier lead of Old England, has tended always to +produce a finer and finer quality of cloth, leaving the coarser grades of +sheeting, drills and ducks to the Southern mills. Thus, while the South +is consuming an ever larger proportion of the cotton crop, she is still +far from receiving for her product the money that comes to the New +Englander, who with a higher grade of labor and greater variation of +output is constantly catering, with dress fabrics and fine stuffs of +various kinds, to a discriminating well-to-do patronage. + + _Spindles + _County_ (Number)_ + Bristol, Mass. 7,294,221 + Providence, R. I. 1,709,713 + Middlesex, Mass. 1,082,752 + Hillsborough, N. H. 907,245 + Spartanburg, S. C. 831,476 + Windham, Conn. 780,232 + Worcester, Mass. 766,110 + Greenville, S. C. 758,144 + Essex, Mass. 645,020 + Hampden, Mass. 642,096 + Gaston, N. C. 603,102 + Kent, R.I. 594,380 + Anderson, S. C. 582,464 + Berkshire, Mass. 521,408 + New London, Conn. 512,170 + Oneida, N. Y. 419,255 + York, Me. 408,600 + Androscoggin, Me. 402,471 + Muscogee, Ga. 346,740 + Pittsylvania, Va. 346,320 + Union, S. C. 330,656 + Strafford, N. H. 318,160 + Cabarrus, N. C. 315,810 + Mecklenburg, N. C. 272,198 + Guilford, N. C. 262,862 + Richland, S. C. 244,660 + Essex, N. J. 232,291 + Albany, N. Y. 226,564 + Madison, Ala. 225,168 + Greenwood, S. C. 217,744 + Pickens, S. C. 211,320 + Bristol, R. I. 210,488 + Hampshire, Mass. 198,792 + York, S. C. 198,404 + Fulton, Ga. 198,016 + Aiken, S. C. 193,989 + Laurens, S. C. 193,312 + Richmond, Ga. 192,914 + Rockingham, N. C. 191,810 + Durham, N. C. 172,532 + Newberry, S. C. 168,040 + Chambers, Ala. 164,000 + Cherokee, S. C. 163,820 + Kennebec, Me. 163,815 + Alamance, N. C. 153,176 + Knox, Tenn. 152,100 + Lancaster, S. C. 151,768 + Richmond, N. C. 149,748 + Chester, S. C. 146,692 + Stanley, N. C. 146,000 + Rutherford, N. C. 143,400 + Calhoun, Ala. 138,048 + Troup, Ga. 136,204 + Floyd, Ga. 126,264 + Cleveland, N. C. 125,182 + Cumberland, Me. 124,392 + Spalding, Ga. 121,252 + Talladega, Ala. 115,448 + Philadelphia, Pa. 114,547 + Merrimack, N. H. 113,316 + Davidson, N. C. 110,564 + Baltimore City. 106,008 + Halifax, N. C. 104,116 + Hall, Ga. 102,588 + +The wealth of the world--at least up to the time of the Great War--was +constantly increasing and while there is little likelihood that the +demand for the coarser grades of goods will fall off, the need for finer +stuffs, not only in the United States, but abroad, is constantly growing. +The greatest development of the South is probably still to come. + +The locations of the world's cotton markets have been dictated by the +location of the growing fields and the manufacturing centers. Thus we +find that the great raw cotton markets of the United States are in New +York and New Orleans. In Europe they are at Liverpool, Bremen and Havre. +Because of conditions imposed by the German government, the Bremen market +is largely dependent upon New York and Liverpool. The other great world +market is that of Alexandria, which, although it handles but a +comparatively small part of the world's crop, is important on account of +the quality of the staple which makes up the Egyptian bale. + +The two chief American markets, New York and New Orleans, are sharply +differentiated. The New Orleans market is a true trader's market. The +great bulk of the sales made on the New Orleans floor are bona-fide +sales, in which cotton actually changes hands. The New York market on the +other hand is a merchants' and manufacturers' market, in which business +transactions are protected against loss by the purchase or sale of +"futures", though, of course, there is always a large amount of +speculating. Delivery is rarely demanded. The function of the exchange, +therefore, is largely that of insurance. The intricacies of this market +will be discussed later. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +The Raw Cotton Market + + +Because of the ramifications of the cotton industry, the cotton itself, +on its devious way from planter to consumer, is successively the concern +of a series of individuals and corporations. The immense value of the +product, the expense of growing, handling, manufacturing, and selling it +all mean that great quantities of capital are utilized in bringing it at +last to its final consumer. At any stage of the process, cotton +represents no inconsiderable part of the nation's wealth, and to expedite +its journey, merchandising and financial methods of a highly specialized +technique have been developed. There are two very clearly marked stages +in this process. The first has to do with the raw cotton, as it goes from +planter to mill. The second has to do with the journey from mill to +consumer. The first is usually called the Raw Cotton Market, and the +second the Cloth Market. + +The planter begins his work early in the spring. His crop is dependent +upon his ability to secure and pay for the labor to work it, for the +tools and machinery which are used, and his own expenses. Small planters +are rarely sufficiently in funds to enable them to go through the growing +season without financial assistance. They must borrow money, and they +usually borrow it with the growing crop as a basis. + + +The Local Grower +And the Charge Account + +They may borrow from the country merchant in the town near which their +plantations are located. Credit here is usually furnished through the +"charge account" system, whereby the merchant supplies the planter's +wants for the growing season, even to the extent of giving credit to his +farm hands. Tenant farmers live almost entirely on credit furnished by +the store-keepers of the vicinity. When the picking season begins, in +July, August, or September, according to the region concerned, the +merchant, in lieu of money, may take the cotton as it comes from the +gins, crediting the grower thereof at the market price. The cotton thus +accumulated is sold to local buyers, or, occasionally, to shippers or +exporters. In the case of the larger plantations, or groups of +plantations operated by syndicates or corporations, the cotton is +frequently shipped direct to the mill or, more often, to a warehouse. The +larger producers, instead of getting their credit from the local stores, +as their tenant farmers do, are financed either by their banks, or by +their buyers, who in turn are financed by their bankers. + + +The Street Buyers +Of Texas Towns + +In some districts, particularly in Texas, there is the small or local +buyer, usually called a "street buyer," who operates in the smaller +towns, buying his cotton at the gins in lots of from one to ten bales, +either from the small planters, or from the country merchants. This +buying gives a certain concentration to the crop, and enables the larger +buyers to deal in lots of comparatively uniform quality from certain +regions, the general type of whose product is known. + +[Illustration: _Street buyer in a Southern town_] + +Cotton bought from the planters or from the country merchants is almost +invariably paid for in cash. + +Cotton is frequently sold at the compress point, rather than at the gin, +this course being pursued in the case of large producers, or when the +original buyer is a mere local operator. One of the most important +operations, commercially as well as industrially, is the grading of +cotton, which takes place as a rule at the compress point under the +supervision of the buyer, who employs experts for this purpose. Cotton +mills as a rule operate on certain specified grades of cotton, and any +deviation from this grade means either a readjustment of machinery or +disgruntled and dissatisfied employes, or, perhaps, an inability to fill +an order for cloth of certain types. The manufacturer will usually refuse +to accept any grades save those he has specifically commissioned the +buyer to obtain for him. The actual grades, and the terms describing them +have been established by the United States Government, and are rigidly +adhered to by the trade. Prices are established on the grade known as +"middling" as a basis, and variation from this basis is taken up in the +price. + + +Standardization of +American Cotton Grades + +The grades, for white cotton, as established by usage and confirmed by +Governmental standardization are: + + Middling Fair Strict Low Middling + Strict Good Middling Low Middling + Good Middling Strict Good Ordinary + Strict Middling Good Ordinary + Middling + +For yellow tinged stock the grades are: + + Strict Good Middling Middling + Good Middling Strict Low Middling + Strict Middling Low Middling + +For yellow stained and blue stained there are only three grades quoted, +good middling, strict middling, and middling, the inference here being +that stained cotton below the basic grade, is unsuited for most +commercial purposes. + +With cotton selling around thirty cents a pound, the difference between +the cost per pound of middling fair, the highest market grade of white +cotton, and good ordinary, the lowest market grade, may amount to twelve +or thirteen cents. The value of the shipment, and its use as a basis for +credit, is dependent upon its proper classification. + +The large cotton buyers purchase for the account of mills, for exporters, +or for clients abroad. They are usually firms of strong financial +standing, and as we have seen, they are bankers or factors themselves, +financing growers or small buyers during the growing of the crop, and the +first concentration of the cotton. But when the large movement of cotton +is on, it is frequently necessary that they, like the local banks, must +be financed in order that they may execute their orders, or, as is +frequently the case, accept cotton sent to them on consignment. Cotton +sent on consignment must be stored until a market is found for it, and in +order that proper storage facilities may be supplied, the provision of +suitable warehouse facilities is an important matter. + + +Warehousing as +Industry's Great Need + +Until recently, warehousing in its relations to the textile trade, had +not been developed to the extent which might have been expected in those +methods which would make it of the greatest use and advantage to textile +interests. By means of the facilities which could properly be afforded by +warehouses, manufacturers, or merchants should be able, at times of +favorable markets, to lay in large stocks of materials, and to finance +them safely and easily. + +Today, this need is being met in constantly increasing measure by the +Independent Warehouses, Inc., affiliated with the Textile Banking Co., +and having, like the latter, the support of the Guaranty Trust Company of +New York, and the Liberty National Bank of New York. + +Modern warehouses of approved type, with all requisite facilities, will +be established by this company at various ports of entry throughout the +country, as well as at the important concentration points in the cotton +belt, and also in the great textile manufacturing centers. + +[Illustration: _Weighing cotton on the compress platform_] + +Thus it is seen that the cotton merchant has an important economic +function to perform. His is the duty of gathering up the great aggregate +of cotton, from all parts of the cotton belt, and distributing it in +exactly the quantity and grade needed to the cotton manufacturers of the +world. In the performance of this function, and in order that the supply +of cotton may be fed out exactly as it is needed by the manufacturers, +the cotton merchants have found it convenient, and even necessary to +establish great common markets where they may meet and enter into the +transactions with each other and the whole world which are necessary to +bring the cotton into the channels of commerce and keep it moving to its +multitudinous destinations. These markets are in addition to the numerous +local markets where the preliminary concentration takes place, and to +some extent they are subsidiary to the latter, where the cotton of the +actual quantity and quality they are seeking is to be had in the first +instance. Yet it is the great markets which establish the prices, for it +is they which are in close and immediate touch with all the other markets +of the world, and it is on their floors that the merchants and brokers +meet who deal in great quantities. It is their connection with the +numerous sources of information which gives these great markets their +importance, for it is they which register immediately and most accurately +the resultant of the sum total of all the economic forces which +determine the price. + +[Illustration: _The New York Cotton Exchange_] + +The great cotton markets of the world are those of New York and New +Orleans, in the United States; Liverpool, in England; Bremen, in Germany; +Havre, in France; Alexandria, in Egypt; and Bombay, in India. There are +differences between these markets which give a greater importance to some +of them. Bremen, which serves a large territory, operates under +governmental restrictions which make it necessary for Bremen merchants to +deal in other markets as well. Havre serves chiefly the needs of France, +which is not one of the large cotton consuming countries. Alexandria +deals only in Egyptian cottons, and Bombay, whose dealings are confined +mostly to the native staples, has neither the responsiveness nor the +completeness of the remaining markets. Thus, by elimination, the three +great markets of the world, wherein cotton of all kinds is dealt in, and +all forms of transactions in it are common are those of New York, New +Orleans, and Liverpool. To these, the cotton world looks for guidance +from day to day. The prices established on their several floors are the +prices of the world. + +[Illustration: _Cotton train going from gin to compress_] + +The Liverpool Exchange, under different names, has existed since 1841, +having taken approximately its present form in 1870, in the attempts to +stabilize conditions after the great speculative period which resulted +from the American Civil War. The New York and New Orleans Exchanges were +both organized the following year. The uniformity of rules and practices +in the trade which resulted from the establishment of the exchanges have +been of inestimable benefit to the industry and to the world, and this +despite occasional abuses, which have usually been corrected as methods +for correction have been evolved. + + +Spot Markets and Those +Which Deal in "Futures" + +The New Orleans Cotton Market, and those of lesser cities, are largely +spot markets, that is, the dealings which takes place in the Exchanges at +those points involve the actual transferring of cotton which is on hand, +or, at least, contracted for. The New York market deals preponderantly +in what are known as contracts for future delivery, or, in the language +of the Exchange, "futures." The Liverpool Cotton Market is both a great +"spot" cotton market, and a great "futures" market. The striking thing +about these "futures" contracts is that but few of them are fulfilled by +actual delivery. + +The question then arises, what function is fulfilled by the New York +Exchange that it should have such an important place in the cotton +market? To the uninitiated the speculative features of the market have +often served to condemn it, and at times of speculative fever, or of +manipulation such as has occurred on one or two occasions, there has been +public agitation calling for legislation against dealing in futures. Yet +the New York Exchange performs a very definite and valuable service, and +its trading methods have served to stabilize the whole industry, and to +remove from it much of that very speculation which is frequently charged +against the Exchange itself. + +The justification of the Exchange is found in the fact that the futures +contracts common on its floor afford the cotton merchant and manufacturer +a chance to insure themselves against losses occasioned by fluctuations +in the market. The method by which this is done is called hedging. + + +Why the Merchant +Must Hedge His Sales + +For the cotton merchant, the situation as it develops is approximately +this: buying, as he must, all grades and quantities of cotton, he may +have an immediate market with the spinners whom he serves for only +certain of these grades, and thus may have left on his hands a large +supply of cotton of other grades which came to him in his purchases which +he has no call for at the time. These "overs" are subject to the risk of +a decline in value unless the merchant can find some way to protect +himself. Nor is this risk the only one run by the cotton merchant. The +spinners frequently contract for months ahead for the output of their +mills, and it is part of the merchant's task to see that the cotton is +available at a contract price when the spinners are in need of it. Such +contracts for future deliveries are not only common but customary. If it +were impossible for the spinner to make such contracts, it would, of +course, be impossible for the weaver to make future contracts for the +delivery of cloth. Such a condition unsettling the distributing markets, +would be intolerable. Hence, the necessity of future contracts between +merchants and spinners. The situation would otherwise be a very difficult +one for the merchant whose supply of cotton, and the price he must pay +for it, are subject to the vagaries of nature, which may grant a +bountiful crop one year, and a short and inferior one the next, with +consequent fluctuations in price sufficient not alone to wipe out his +profit but his capital as well. + + +The Hedge As a +Credit Transaction + +Hedging, as has been said, affords the protection, against serious loss +which these varying conditions make probable. + +"It may almost be said," observes Arthur R. Marsh, former President of +the New York Cotton Exchange, "that as the main business of banks today +is not dealing in money, but in credits, so the main business of the +cotton exchanges is now in credit transactions in cotton, toward which +the actual cotton 'on the spot' stands in much the same relation as the +money in the banks to the sum total of their transactions in credit. It +serves as a reserve at once for the satisfaction of unliquidated credit +balances and for the maintenance of sound credit values in all the credit +operations." + +Elsewhere, Mr. Marsh describes the hedging process in these words: "A +hedge is the purchase or sale of contracts for one hundred or more bales +of cotton for future delivery, made not for the purpose of receiving or +delivering the actual cotton, but as an insurance against fluctuations in +the market that might unfavorably affect other ventures in which the +buyer or seller of the hedge is actually engaged." + +[Illustration: _The floor of the New York Cotton Exchange_] + + +How Merchants Secure +Protection by Hedging + +The cotton merchant, in making a hedge, would proceed in this fashion. +Having made an actual sale of cotton to a spinner for future delivery, +the price being fixed according to current quotations in New York for +deliveries to be made in the month specified in the contract, he would +buy futures for a corresponding amount of cotton on the New York Cotton +Exchange. + +If the price of cotton should have advanced when the time for the +delivery of the actual cotton comes, he will be able to sell his futures +contract at a higher price, thus offsetting the loss sustained upon the +deal in actual cotton. Or, if he prefers, he may hold the "futures" +contract until its maturity and sell it at the then prevailing figure. +The first course would be the customary one for a bona-fide merchant, +whose sole concern is protecting himself against loss by fluctuations in +price. + +If, on the other hand, cotton should fall before the merchant bought to +fulfill his actual contract, he would make a profit upon his sales to the +spinner. He would, however, suffer a loss upon his futures contract, for +the seller would be able to purchase the cotton to fulfill the contract +at a lower point than the contract called for, and would consequently be +able to deliver to the merchant who made the hedge, cotton which the +latter would be forced to accept at a price higher than the then +prevailing one, and thus again the profit and loss would balance each +other. The usual custom is, not for the merchant to accept delivery, but +to pay over to the seller of the futures contract the difference between +the contract price and that prevailing. This would be just the difference +between his own purchasing and selling price in his actual dealing with +the spinner, and so would eliminate the profit, due to change in price, +made in that transaction. Thus, by the hedging process, the merchant +loses a possible profit on a falling market, but at the same time fails +to suffer a loss when the market is against him. + + +Hedging as Practiced +By Cotton Manufacturers + +The manufacturer's hedging is necessarily somewhat different in practice, +though the same in principle. If he accepts orders for cloth requiring +more cotton than is being held in his warehouse, he may buy futures +contracts to the amount of the additional cotton he will need. Then in +the event that his actual purchase of cotton may be at a figure which +would tend to reduce or eliminate his profits on the sale of the cloth, +already fixed by contract, he may sell his futures contract at a +corresponding profit, thereby preventing loss. Should the price of cotton +fall in the interim, his profit on the sale of the cloth will be larger, +but the settlement of his futures contract will be expensive to the same +extent. Thus he sacrifices the chance of a greater possible profit in +order to be insured against loss. + +[Illustration: _Compress bales bound for New Orleans_] + +It is probably more common for the cotton merchant to hedge than for the +manufacturer to adopt that proceeding. The manufacturer, as a rule, has +been accustomed to buy his cotton during the buying season, that is, in +October, November, December, and January, and he makes his arrangements +with his selling agents on the basis of the price paid, trusting to his +own judgment, and the comparatively small fluctuations in the price of +cloth in normal times, to protect him against loss. It is usually +believed that the Southern mills, being newer, and frequently of a +different financial standing, have found it more desirable to have +recourse to this form of insurance than their older competitors in the +North. Then, too, the rapid development of the cotton warehousing system +has made it less necessary for the manufacturers to tie their money up in +great quantities of cotton, as they can buy when the market appears +favorable. + + +Protection for Mills +Running for Stock + +A very important point, however, and one which all manufacturers would do +well to consider carefully is the protection which a "futures" market +gives to a manufacturer making plain goods for stock, particularly on a +falling raw material market, which, of course, would also mean a falling +goods market. To stop the mill because values were falling would be +impossible without utter disorganization, and its attendant heavy loss, +while to keep on manufacturing stock goods with a certainty that they +would be worth less each succeeding month is a disheartening prospect for +the mill. + +If, however, the manufacturer sells "futures" for the succeeding months +to the extent of the cotton which he would require each month to +manufacture the goods, he can run his machinery as usual and have a +perfectly free mind, as he has safeguarded himself against any loss due +to a falling value of the raw material. Suppose, for instance, the cotton +market fell off, say one cent a pound each month, with a corresponding +fall in the value of the woven goods. In such an event, the manufacturer +could, as each month arrived, buy a contract for an amount corresponding +to what he had sold, and at a proportionately less price, thus making a +profit on the "futures" which he had sold to an extent which would +correspond, approximately, to the smaller value which his manufactured +goods would then have in the market. Thus the profit on the one side +would take care of the loss on the other. If the market rose instead of +falling, he would make a loss in replacing his futures contract, but his +goods would then command a higher value, and again no loss would be +experienced. + +This method of hedging is the regular and standard practice of the +English cotton mills, and, of course, of many of our domestic mills, but +there are some manufacturers who, through their unfamiliarity with the +operations of the futures market, are quite unaware of the protection +which they thus have at hand. + + +The Responsiveness of +the Great Exchanges + +The great exchanges, and the New York Exchange in particular, are thus +used by cotton merchants and manufacturers in every part of the world to +protect themselves in their buying and selling operations. The value of +middling cotton in New York is kept upon par with the value of the same +cotton in any growing or manufacturing point, such factors as freight, +insurance, brokerage, etc., being allowed for in the quoted price. +Quotations on the Liverpool Exchange are thus higher than quotations in +New York by the difference between the amount it costs to deliver cotton +in Liverpool and to deliver it in New York. Thus the merchant and +manufacturer is able to buy and sell hedge contracts on the New York +Exchange, knowing that operations at the New York price in New York are +on a parity with operations at the Liverpool price in Liverpool, or at +the Havre price in Havre. Thus the hedge contract which a Southern +merchant sells in Atlanta, through his broker on the New York Exchange, +may be bought by a spinner in Tokyo or Manchester, anxious to insure his +supply of cotton at a price which would make his contracts profitable. + +In normal times the selling of merchants and the buying of manufacturing +engaged in actual and bona fide hedging transaction has been estimated by +competent authorities to make up fully seventy-five per cent. of the +trading done on the New York Exchange. The remaining twenty-five per +cent. may thus be attributed to speculative operations, that is +operations entered into by outsiders through brokers, on the chance of a +rise or a fall in the market. Nor is such speculation without its value. +It is the speculators, as a rule, who are the first to take advantage of +crop reports or weather conditions, or news likely to affect the market +favorably or unfavorably, and buy or sell as their judgment dictates. +Their operations serve to discount such changes to some extent, or at +least to make the breaks and rises more gradual than they would otherwise +be. + +In abnormal times, that is times of great scarcity and great demand, or +bumper crops and small demand, the speculative element plays a larger +part, for it is in such times that the greatest fluctuations in price +take place. Merchants or manufacturers holding hedging contracts are +under a greater incentive to buy or sell, as they see their opportunities +for profit growing greater or less, as the case may be, and in +consequence more contracts are made, and they pass from hand to hand with +greater rapidity, the gain or loss thus being distributed among a greater +number of persons than would otherwise be the case. It is the operations +of speculators, and the manipulation that once or twice during its +history has been possible by unscrupulous traders which has brought about +at such times public agitation for the abolition of the Exchange. Recent +changes in the form of the cotton contract have made it almost impossible +for such operations, if repeated, to be successful, and thus there is +little likelihood that the very important economic function of the +Exchange will be interfered with by legislation. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +The Cloth Market + + +The output of the manufacturer finds its way to the ultimate consumer +through a variety of channels. What these are will depend upon the manner +in which the various mills are organized, and their respective policies +as to the marketing of their products. Some mills, usually very large +organizations, will have plants completely equipped, in every department, +spinning, weaving, dyeing, printing, finishing, etc., and will process +all of their goods themselves in every detail, offering them on the +market in their finished form. Some of these may make a wide variety of +fabrics suitable for one class of trade, or for many classes of trade, +while others will specialize on a few articles. A good many concerns that +are not of the largest size, but which confine their production to a few +articles, may also put the goods through every operation themselves. + +Then there are a great number of cotton mills, many of them of very large +size, which do no weaving at all, but confine themselves to spinning, +finding a market for their yarns with the many weaving mills which have +no spinning plants. + + +Many Large Mills +Do No Finishing + +Numerous mills, both large and small, manufacturing, principally, goods +of a staple grade, which may either be of fine or coarse character, sell +their entire product in the gray, or unfinished state, because they do +not wish to burden themselves with the task of putting the goods through +the various finishing treatments necessary to fit them for the market. +This method of disposing of the product appeals to many for it reduces +the manufacturing operations to the spinning of the yarn, and to the +weaving of the cloth. The owners or managers of the mills may have had no +experience outside of these branches, and if they themselves were to +attempt to finish, or "convert," the goods they would be entering strange +fields. + +Whatever method of merchandising may be adopted, it is certainly obvious +that the product of large mills is so great that it must be disposed of +in a large way, and hence various channels of outlet have grown up to +satisfy the requirements of the case. + + +Dealing Direct With +Dry Goods Jobbers + +A substantial portion of the output of the mills (but nothing like what +it was years ago, and it grows relatively smaller every year), is +disposed of directly to dry goods jobbing houses, and by them to retail +dealers, who sell it by the yard to the consumer. This practice was +formerly more widespread, but has diminished greatly in recent years. A +further enormous yardage passes eventually through the cutting-up houses, +which manufacture garments of every kind, from overalls to pajamas, or +from raincoats to shirts, and dispose of their products to distributors, +who eventually sell them to the public. Then there are retailers whose +requirements for goods of particular kinds are so considerable that their +orders are of sufficient magnitude to warrant the mills in dealing with +them direct. + +Again, there are the great mail-order houses, with a gigantic annual +turnover, whose catalogues go to every part of the land, and which +handle great quantities of piece goods, as well as made-up garments, and +whose custom is eagerly sought for. + +[Illustration: _Thousands of looms in a single room_] + +Other mills make fabrics suitable for use in the military and naval +establishments of the country, and in other public channels, and which, +in selling these fabrics, will deal directly with the Government, or +indirectly through intermediaries. + +In addition to these, and other domestic outlets, there is a great +quantity of goods produced for export, which are handled through houses +specially organized for that trade. + + +Merchandising by +Dry Goods Jobber + +One of the oldest established agencies for handling mill products is the +dry goods jobber, and it is to be remarked that many large retail houses +do also a substantial jobbing business, though generally less so in +cottons than in other classes of fabrics. The jobber will buy finished +products from those mills which sell goods in that state, and will also +buy large amounts of gray goods. These he will sell principally to retail +distributors, but his transactions, in addition, will extend into a +multitude of channels, and, he will deal with small garment manufacturers +and makers of all kinds of wares, and will also sell considerable +quantities to the larger cutters when they are unable, for one reason or +another, to buy direct from the mills or from the converters. There are +also numerous small jobbing concerns which buy substantial quantities +from the larger jobbers as occasion may require. + +One of the greatest avenues of outlet is through a class of dealers known +as converters, and there are converters operating in every kind of fabric +from cotton to silk. In the last forty or fifty years, this business has +developed into immense proportions, and the converter performs a real and +important service in the trade. He is intimately acquainted with the +needs of his customers, and possesses a fair knowledge of the kinds of +goods put out by the various mills and the different constructions in +which they are sold, and is well acquainted with all of the market +dyeing, finishing, bleaching, and printing concerns, having also a fair +understanding of the various treatments accorded to the goods. He buys +his goods in the gray from the mills, and sends them to the finishers, +printers, etc., to be treated, according to his instructions. By a +careful studying of the fabric constructions, and of the subsequent +treatments, he is able to create fabrics of a suitable and marketable +character, which are in some respects different from those offered by any +of his competitors, and which are brought out with an exact knowledge of +the requirements of the trade to which he is catering. He is able to make +a profit, and generally a very substantial one, by handling the goods in +this way. + +Considerable capital is required by the converter, as goods bought in the +gray have to be paid for on practically a cash basis, and he may have to +carry them for a time before they are finally marketed. The converter +sells to the cutting-up houses, to jobbers, and to retailers, or, in +fact, to whatever trade he seeks. Large and profitable businesses have +thus been built up. Many converters have adopted their own distinctive +trade marks, and since the goods that they handle are known by these +trade marks, the identity of the mill which made them originally is often +entirely unknown to the ultimate consumer. The converter can give his +business to whatever mill, at the time, will give him the best value for +his money. + + +Jobbers Must Know +Status of Mills + +These operations are facilitated by the services of another class of +intermediaries, the cloth brokers. If a buyer, whether he be retailer, +jobber, converter, or what not, wishes to secure goods of a certain kind, +he would have a very difficult task if he had to canvass the entire +market, and ascertain what was being offered. Hence he is likely to go to +the cloth brokers. They are in touch with all the principal manufacturing +sources of supply, and will have daily quotations of the offerings of the +different mills; he will know which mills are "sold up," and which are +open for business, and what class of goods they desire to sell. +Consequently the cloth brokers are in a position to offer to would-be +purchasers a wide variety of the different cloths which are available on +the market, and it is their business to buy from the mills as cheaply as +they can, and so get the best possible price for their customers. The +transactions are handled on a small commission, and the average buyer, in +many kinds of goods, is able to do much better by working through a +broker than by opening negotiations directly with the mill. + + +Most Mills Have +Offices in Chief Markets + +Mills selling their products through brokers in this manner may, or may +not, have a representative stationed in the goods market, according to +circumstances. Mills, manufacturing a limited number of plain fabrics, +and which do not sell through brokers, may also be without +representatives in the primary goods market, and will dispose of their +product directly from the mills, partly by correspondence, and partly +through the efforts of their travelers. The great mass of the mills, +however, are regularly and efficiently represented in the great central +goods markets, principally New York, though also in Boston, Philadelphia, +Baltimore, and elsewhere, and their selling agencies are very highly +organized institutions. + +These establishments which have sufficient capital to enable them to +finance themselves--with or without the assistance of regular bankers' +loans--may maintain their own selling offices, and market their product +in their own names directly to their customers. The amount of capital +required to handle a business in this way is proportionately very large, +for the concern must be able to keep itself sufficiently supplied with +raw materials, and then to carry the expenses as these materials pass +through the slow stages of manufacture until the goods are finally +finished, after which they may have to be kept in stock for a time until +the delivery dates, and then, after shipment, the accounts have to be +carried until the bills are paid, so that, from the time the manufacturer +pays for his raw material until he finally receives pay for his goods is +a very long period. + + +Loans Made Upon +Warehouse Receipts + +The financing of a business conducted in this way can be assisted by +loans from warehouses upon stocks of raw material stored there, by bank +accommodation, and by facilities which certain banks give for the cashing +of a substantial percentage of those accounts on the books of the concern +which the customers have not discounted themselves. Also, in handling his +merchandise in this way, the manufacturer must have a thorough +understanding of the best means of marketing his product, and this care +of the selling end is, of course, an added burden upon his shoulders +which, in many cases, he may not feel competent to handle properly. + +Therefore, the comparatively few concerns which do have sufficient +capital to sell directly, in addition to the many from great to small who +have not, will market their product through what are known as dry goods +commission houses, sometimes referred to as factors, and simply as +commercial bankers. The commission house system, as we have it here, does +not exist anywhere else, and its great growth in the United States has +been largely due to certain peculiarities in our banking methods, which +have prevented mills--even those with a reasonably sufficient supply of +capital--from obtaining the amount of direct banking accommodation +necessary for their needs. + +The commission house, in its usual relations with its mills, undertakes +to conduct the sale of their products. Some commission agents insist upon +having the entire selling control of all of the goods the mill produces, +or at any rate, of all the goods of the kind which they are equipped to +sell. Others, again, will take over a partial selling control of the +product of a mill, and various lines of the same manufacturer may be +found offering through different channels. There are some obvious +disadvantages connected with this latter procedure. + +If the mill is a very large one, the selling agent may handle no goods +except the product of that mill, but in the great majority of cases, the +factor will represent a considerable number of mills. + +Immediately on receipt of the invoices of the goods consigned to the +selling agent, the mill can draw against them a percentage of their +value, previously agreed upon, usually about two-thirds of their net +selling price, and upon these loans interest at the rate of 6% is +charged. The difference between the rate at which the commission house +can borrow money, (in normal times perhaps 4 to 4-1/2%), and the 6% which +is usually charged to the mills, constitutes a considerable part of the +profits of the factor's business. + + +Factors Provide +Selling Facilities + +The factor often provides a store, together with a complete selling and +office force, and every facility for receiving, storing, selling, and +shipping the goods, and for financing the business. The salesmen of the +house travel throughout the country, reaching all the important markets, +and the managers of the different departments, who thus understand the +needs of the market, are in a position to advise the mill with +intelligence and exactness as to the kind of goods which should be made +to meet the requirements of the trade. The cost of warehousing and of +insurance on the merchandise is also paid by the commission agent. + +[Illustration: _Spinning room in a large mill. These are all ring +spindles_] + +The prices at which the goods are to be sold are fixed by the mill, but, +of course, they will finally sell at prices determined by the market +conditions. As the goods are sold, the amounts which they bring are +credited to the mill, less whatever has been advanced against them. The +selling agent also stands ready, no matter on what time and terms the +goods may be sold, to credit the mill with the net value of the sale, +less 6% interest for the unexpired time within which the customer may +pay, and from this interest charge also he secures part of his return. Of +course if bank rates are very high, as they sometimes are for short +periods, the factor may be out of pocket on the interest account, instead +of making profit. As the goods are sold, so are the equities in them +released, and the balance is credited to the mill. If, however, the goods +sell at a loss there will be no equities coming to the mill, and, in +fact, there are not infrequently deficiencies to make up. + +For these services, and according to the nature of the goods being sold, +various commissions are charged, usually ranging between the limits of 4 +and 8% of the net returns of the sales. Plain unfinished goods which are +marketed in large quantities are charged for at a relatively low figure, +while fancy goods, sold in smaller quantities and requiring more effort +and expense to sell them, are charged for at a higher figure. + +The selling agent also guarantees the credits of the firms to which he +sells, so that no losses for bad debts can fall upon the manufacturer, +but, at the same time, he will decline orders from any concerns except +those with whose credit he is entirely satisfied. + +Not infrequently when the manufacturer conducts his own selling +operations, he will use the facilities afforded by the commission house +for the financial part of the business only, taking advances on his +goods, having his sales cashed, and his credits guaranteed, etc. For +these lesser services, of course, the commissions charged are smaller. + +When goods are charged out, the bills are payable to the commission +house, and so, as far as the customer is concerned, the commission house +is the principal in the transaction. In many cases certain modified +arrangements are made, but in most instances the business is conducted as +herein described, and it may fairly be said that the bulk of the dry +goods of all kinds produced in the United States finds its way into the +market through commission house channels. + + +Making Plain Goods +for Future Orders + +It is the policy of most cotton mills, and certainly of those making +plain goods, to run steadily all the year round, and thus the commission +agent, whether he has secured advance orders on the goods or not, has +constantly flowing into his hands an assured stream of merchandise which +must eventually, when sold, pay him a commission. Thus the securing of a +good account means an assured source of revenue to the commission agent. + +There are no more important selling organizations for textiles than these +dry goods commission houses, many of them having an immense and +profitable turnover, and their businesses are conducted on a very high +plane of efficiency, and probity, although, in itself, there are many +evils attendant upon this method of the distribution of merchandise, and +which exercise at times a most adverse influence upon the well being of +the mills whose product is thus disposed of. + + +Strength of Agents +Makes "Paper" Acceptable + +It is evident that no ordinary capital would be sufficient for the +supplying of money on call to mills in the immense quantity needed, and +it is here that the banker's capital is called into use. The commission +house is usually a concern of substantial means, sometimes very rich, and +nearly always of a financial standing, which will give it, on its own +account, an assured credit. At certain times of the year the calls for +money from the mills are greater than at other times, and as shipments +come forward, and advances are required, the commission house, in order +to put itself in funds, will issue a series of its own notes in +convenient sized amounts, $5,000 to $10,000 each, for instance, and will +offer these for sale, through its note broker. + +This paper, which commands an advantageously low rate of interest, and +which is issued for convenient periods of time, averaging perhaps four +months, is much sought after by banks and other institutions in primary +markets and throughout the country wishing to invest current funds in a +safe and not unprofitable medium. This paper is so acceptable to banks +not only because the credit of the issuing firm is behind it, but also +because it is known that the money which is obtained for the notes will +be lent out to mills on ample collateral. The issuing house is in a +position so entirely safe that hardly ever can a question arise as to its +ability to take care of its borrowings. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +Financing Cotton and Cotton Cloth + + +No industry shows better than the cotton industry the economic importance +of banking service. No industry, perhaps, utilizes to such a complete +extent the modern instruments of credit, nor is so dependent upon these +instruments for its proper functioning. At no point in the progress from +seed to cloth is the capital represented by the cotton necessarily or +even customarily tied up. And not only may the cotton itself at any stage +be the basis of credit accommodation, but also, the actual added value +which the labor of any factor in the chain may give to the cotton may +itself be realized upon in advance. The credit possibilities of the +industry have grown with the admission of acceptances to rediscount in +the Federal Reserve Banks, and this admissibility has likewise played a +part in the present growth of the warehouse system, the lack of which was +a handicap to the industry in past years. + + +Credit Necessary from Seed +to Finished Product + +In considering the raw cotton and the cloth market it was necessary to +include some account of the financial and banking processes involved in +the various commercial transactions undertaken. It is perhaps advisable, +however, even at the risk of some repetition, to give a quick survey of +the financial and credit aspects of the industry as a whole from the time +the cotton is placed in the ground up to the actual sale to the cutter-up +or the jobber. + +The utilization of credit begins, as we have seen, with the very planting +of the crop. Many of the growers, even those who own their farms, are men +of limited means, and are not able to pay for the necessaries of life and +of labor during the long growing season. The country storekeeper, +accordingly, in return for a lien on the crop, allows them credit at his +store, usually charging interest based on the monthly statement of their +ledger accounts. He in turn receives the necessary accommodation for his +own purchases from the local bank, or from the local buyer or factor with +whom he is affiliated. The high prices prevailing during the past few +years have undoubtedly changed to some extent the small grower's +financial position. + + +Cash for the Grower +From the Local Bank + +The larger growers, or the great corporations which let out cotton lands +to renters, usually operate the stores in their villages upon the same +basis, credit being advanced against the renter's share of the growing +crop. Even these large corporations are seldom able to meet the heavy +demands of the growing season without recourse to the credit service of +those to whom they sell their cotton, or to the local banks. The banks, +or buyers, in turn discount at least a proportion of the commercial paper +thus created with their correspondent banks in New York, Boston, or other +financial centers. This credit arrangement, it will be seen, is almost +entirely based on a moral risk, the lien being made upon the growing +cotton which cannot be liquidated until it is grown, picked, and ginned. + +When the crop is picked, it is weighed by the merchant before it is +ginned, and the farmer is credited on the merchant's books with the +amount due him, the balance in his favor being given him in cash. His +concern with the cotton is thus ended. In the event that he is able to +finance himself through the season he takes the cotton directly to the +gin, and has it ginned and baled there, paying the ginnery for the +operation, and selling the cotton directly to a local buyer and the seed +to an oil mill. If the gin warehouse is available, and he desires to wait +for a more favorable opportunity to sell, he may store the cotton, taking +a gin receipt for it, against which the cotton will eventually be +delivered. The gin receipt may be collateral for a loan from a cotton +factor, or from a local bank. + +Thus, it will be seen that the grower receives accommodation throughout +his season, and is paid cash for his product when it is delivered. This +arrangement puts a heavy strain upon the cotton buyers, particularly upon +those who deal in large lots for the mills. The method by which the +buyers pay the growers is thus described: + +The buyers make arrangements with the local bankers where the gins are +located for the payment of the cotton, the banks furnishing the actual +cash against tickets issued by the buyer's representatives, holding the +tickets in question as their collateral in the meantime. When a +sufficient amount of cotton has been accumulated the local banker, at the +request of the buyer's agent, delivers the tickets in question to the +local agent of the railroad, who in turn issues a bill of lading covering +the shipment to the compress point, which then is attached to the draft +drawn by the buyer's agent upon the buyer's head office, which draft +includes the price paid for the cotton plus interest and exchange charged +by the local banker, who is reimbursed for the amount of the draft thus +drawn. When this cotton is ready for export (or for shipment to the mill +in the United States) local bills of lading, covering shipment from point +of origin to compress point, are exchanged by the cotton buyer's banker +for local bills of lading to port or for through bills of lading. + +[Illustration: "_Picked 100 pounds today_"] + +When cotton is bought at compress points, compress receipts instead of +tickets are delivered to the local banker, who pays for the cotton as +purchased by the buyer's representative from time to time. When a +sufficient amount of cotton is ready for shipment the compress receipts +are exchanged by the banker for local bills of lading to port (or to +mill), or through bills of lading, as the case may be. These bills of +lading are attached to the draft drawn by the representative on the head +office of the buyer, the local bank being reimbursed for the amount thus +drawn. + +Buyers must necessarily hold great quantities of cotton in storage, for +they buy whatever cotton is offered, and must sell, as we have seen, +certain grades and qualities to the mills in order that they may weave +the cloth for which their orders call. Cotton must, therefore, be held in +storage, either at the compress points, which is usual, or at warehouses +operated by factors, or by independent corporations, or in their own +warehouses. + +While the buyers by cash payments are concentrating the cotton necessary +to fill their domestic or foreign orders, their need for funds is a +pressing one. Their arrangements with local banks we have seen. When the +cotton is shipped, the local bank, by means of drafts on the buyer's head +office, is relieved of the burden it has been carrying, but the cotton +still represents capital, and if that capital is to continue to earn its +wages it must be the basis for credit. The factors and large banks in New +York or Boston, which have been assisting the local bank, must now assist +the buyer and the warehouseman. The methods by which this burden is +shifted to the larger banks are varied, and we can consider only one or +two of their aspects. + + +Same Mills Pay Cash, Relieving +Factors of Burden + +Some of the larger New England mills pay cash for the cotton which is +shipped to them, buying sufficient in the season to carry them through, +or nearly through, the year. Their buyers, therefore, need support, if +they need it at all, only during the period of concentration. They may +have their private banking arrangements, and may be able to utilize their +warehouse receipts or bills of lading, or their mere notes based upon +mixed collateral, for an advance of sixty to seventy-five per cent. of +the value of the cotton, the line having been arranged in advance. Credit +may be obtained by the buyer directly from the warehouseman, who thus +becomes a factor in his own right, being supported by arrangements +previously made with his own bank. Credit may also be obtained from a +bank, upon bills of lading which are exchanged for warehouse receipts +when the cotton is delivered at the port or at any warehousing point; or +the credit obtained from the bank may be settled and a new credit opened +with the warehouseman when the cotton is shifted from cars to storage. + + +Warehousemen as Factors of +Growing Importance + +The growing importance of the warehouseman has been mentioned. His +services have developed with the need of mills for greater credit, and +their unwillingness to tie up their working capital in cotton held in +their own warehouses. Mills which formerly bought all their year's supply +during the buying season, so-called, now take their cotton from +warehouses as they want it, buying it from their buyers, and making +payment according to the individual standing arrangements. The advent of +the warehouseman who is either a banker, or closely affiliated with a +bank, has undoubtedly done much to make the financing of cotton a more +elastic and feasible proposition, distributing the risk over a wider +circle and making credit more readily available at any point in the +succession. + +[Illustration: _Weighing gin bales in a ginnery yard_] + +[Illustration: _Cotton warehouses in the South_] + +The mill, we have seen, frequently pays cash for its raw stock, or else +buys upon short term notes. The average mill does not have a working +capital large enough to enable it to tie up the thousands of dollars +necessary for such a proceeding, as well as the funds which must +constantly be paid out for wages, for operation expenses of all kinds, +for upkeep, and all other overhead. Mills, as a matter of fact, are +frequent borrowers, either from general banks, or from textile banks or +factors, or from their selling agents, who, as we have seen, combine +their primary and original function of selling with that of supplying +financial assistance. + +Mills which purchase cotton from their buyers and pay cash, or +approximately cash, for it, usually buy such cotton to fill orders which +they have already received from their selling agents. They may, in +certain instances, obtain an advance from their agents of a proportion of +the whole selling price of the order, and out of that advance pay for the +purchase of cotton, or they may hold the cotton in warehouses, using it +only as needed, and putting up the warehouse receipts as collateral for +loans. + +The raw cotton itself, however, represents only a portion of the mill's +operating expenses and it cannot be the entire basis for financial +operations of the magnitude often needed. These broader financial wants +may be met out of the prospective selling price of the cloth by means of +loans from the selling agent; or, they may be met by direct relations +with a commercial bank, which may make loans on ordinary collateral, on +acceptances, or, as frequently happens in the case of mills of undoubted +integrity, on the mere note of the company operating the mill. + + +Selling Agent May Shift +Burden to Banks + +When the burden is assumed by the selling agent, or factor, he in turn +may shift it to the bank, either by indorsing the note of the mill, or by +indorsing the note of the purchaser of the cloth or by borrowing directly +from the bank on his own paper. + +The converter, as a rule, is not a factor, but a merchant pure and +simple, seeking accommodations from a factor or a bank as his needs may +require it. Inasmuch as he usually buys for cash or on short-term notes, +and sells to jobbers or retailers upon more extended terms, his needs are +frequently heavy. His relation with his factor may be, and frequently is, +upon the basis of accounts receivable, or he may borrow upon his own +collateral, or, if he is counted an "A1" risk, upon his unsecured note. + +These, in brief are the financial steps in the progress of cotton from +the grower to the jobber. A cursory view is all that is possible, because +in the words of a textile banker of standing "every textile banking +transaction is a law unto itself." Yet enough has been said to show the +all-important part which banking plays in the cotton industry, and to +indicate how dependent are the turning of wheels and the distribution of +cotton and of cloth upon the credit which banks and bankers are able to +provide. + + +Factors and Their Wide +Financial Service + +Frequent use has been made of the word factor, and no adequate definition +of its meaning has yet been given. The factor is, briefly, the commercial +banker of the industry, and his duty is to provide, at any stage of the +cotton process, the financial assistance which may be necessary, either +from his own resources or through his affiliations with some large bank. +It is true, of course, that some factors work only with those dealing in +raw stock, and some confine their services to mills. Some factors are +cotton buyers, some are selling agents, some deal with buyers and some +deal with selling agents. Some are employed only by the mills. Recently, +however, the tendency has been to develop under one roof a unit +institution capable of handling every textile banking transaction. It +will be interesting to enumerate here, briefly, the various functions and +facilities of one such institution: + + 1. It makes loans to cotton buyers and to mills + on cotton held in warehouses or in transit. + + 2. It checks the credit of the mill's prospective + customers. + + 3. It cashes accounts receivable. + + 4. It makes advances against merchandise for + the account of mill, converter, or jobber. + + 5. It finances merchandise and raw material requirements, + and current operations. + + 6. It deals in acceptances, specializing, of course, + upon paper arising out of transactions in the + textile industry. + + 7. It maintains an Industrial Department, which + includes: + + (a) the services of a consulting architect, expert + in mill construction. + + (b) the services of a production engineer, + skilled in the laying out of plants in the line + of greatest efficiency, and in diagnosing + and correcting the production mistakes + of an inefficient mill. + + (c) information as to the newest mill practice, + which it is ready to provide for its + clients and others. + + (d) readiness to assist customers in the expansion + of their business either by financing + new mill construction or by providing + sales representatives in other countries. + + (e) maintenance offices abroad, either for the + buying or selling of textiles or equipment, + or raw materials, or for the complete and + direct financing of such transactions. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +American Cloth in Foreign Markets + + +We have seen that the American cotton grower supplies more than half of +the world's demand for raw cotton. The cotton manufacturer in the United +States is in no such position. This is not to say that American cotton +goods are not exported in very considerable amounts. From the inception +of the industry in this country varying percentages of the total product +have been sent abroad. The following table, taken from the United States +Statistical Abstract (1910) shows the average annual exports of cotton +goods for the five year periods named, expressed in millions of dollars: + + _Uncolored _Colored + _Total_ Cloth_ Cloth_ _Other_ + 1856-60 $7.5 $2.4 $2.3 $2.8 + 1861-65 3.7 .4 .9 2.4 + 1866-70 4.1 .9 .3 2.8 + 1871-75 3.1 1.7 .6 .7 + 1876-80 10.0 6.1 2.6 1.2 + 1881-85 13.0 8.0 2.9 2.1 + 1886-90 12.4 7.4 3.2 1.6 + 1891-95 13.3 7.7 3.0 2.5 + 1896-1900 20.4 11.6 4.4 4.3 + 1901-05 31.3 17.2 7.0 7.0 + 1906-10 35.1 16.8 7.2 11.0 + +The irregularity of the export trade, as shown by these figures, has been +explained on several grounds, the chief factors being, apparently, the +fluctuations in the prosperity and consequently in the buying power of +the home market, and the pressure upon the home market exerted by the +rapid growth of cotton manufacturing in the South. + +The normal position of the United States as an exporter of cotton goods +is shown by the following table, which gives the exports of the chief +manufacturing countries in the year before the war (the figures for 1915 +are also given because they show the changes which had already begun): + + 1913 1915 + + United Kingdom $618,000,000 $418,000,000 + Germany 117,000,000 30,100,000 + France 78,000,000 60,000,000 + Japan 58,000,000 95,800,000 + United States 55,500,000 60,200,000 + Switzerland 50,300,000 65,800,000 + Italy 47,800,000 30,500,000 + India 38,900,000 27,300,000 + Holland 30,900,000 + Austria Hungary 27,800,000 + Belgium 23,700,000 + Russia 22,500,000 19,700,000[B] + Spain 8,300,000 17,400,000 + China 1,400,000 2,100,000 + +----- + [B] Eleven months. + +Thus, despite the very remarkable growth which had taken place between +1910 and 1913, the United States ranked fifth among the nations exporting +cotton goods. The reasons for this might be summed up in almost a word. +The attractiveness and rapid growth of the home market provided an outlet +for practically the whole output of American mills. With high prices +prevailing in the home market, the manufacturer was not called upon to +exert himself to stimulate sales in regions where competition would +inevitably be keen and profits small. + + +Minor Handicaps to +Trade Development + +Supporting this main objection there have been others. Until recently the +banking facilities abroad were insufficient to the needs of a greater +commerce; and shipping facilities, in pre-war days, were not such as to +make regular shipments possible to many foreign markets. Over these +conditions manufacturers had not direct control, but there were other +matters in which their own short-comings were all too evident. There is +little need to list again the familiar complaints, known to every reader +of Commerce Reports and the export magazines. Faulty packing and +insufficient attention to orders were the most frequent. The former was +undoubtedly due to inexperience, and the latter to the tendency of the +manufacturer or merchant to consider the foreign market as a place for +disposing of a surplus unsalable at home. To this attitude may also be +attributed the frequency with which shipments for which orders had been +accepted have been delayed or overlooked altogether. + +[Illustration: _Compress bales awaiting export on a Savannah wharf_] + +The foreign market remained for the American manufacturer a prize so +distant and of such questionable value that he was simply not willing to +make the effort and spend the money that would be necessary to compete +with British, German, French, and other sellers. He would have had to +know local customs and tastes, and all the details that he had so +arduously acquired a knowledge of for the home market. The time was not +ripe. + + +U. S. Export Trade +As Affected By War + +The war served to disarrange the system of cotton cloth distribution of +the whole world. It is now a commonplace to say that the United States, +by the cutting off of the usual sources of supply, succeeded for the +first time in entering in force markets which hitherto had been closed. +It would probably be truer to say that foreign buyers, finding it +impossible to secure their customary supply from their regular sources, +came to the United States and asked American manufacturers to supply +their imperative wants. + +Just what this meant is found in the statement that while in 1913 our +total exports of cotton goods amounted to about 445,000,000 yards, in +1917 the figure was about 690,000,000 yards, an increase of fifty-five +per cent. The increase, moreover, has been in the colored cottons, the +uncolored cloths showing an actual decrease. + +The United Kingdom, during 1917, exported nearly 5,000,000,000 yards of +cloth, so there is no immediate prospect that the United States will be a +dangerous competitor for that country, except in a few limited lines and +in a few markets. The chief gain to the American cotton industry brought +by the war was the opportunity it gave merchants to introduce their goods +abroad at a time when loss was next to impossible. Operating at an +assured profit they were able to learn the markets without the long and +discouraging fight which would have been necessary had the competitive +power of the other nations been at full force. If, as seems likely, the +economic forces which projected the United States so suddenly and +dramatically into the world's markets shall continue to operate, then the +future will see a further development of our sales. + + +Future of Foreign Sales +And Probable Markets + +Our best and most permanent markets are probably to be found in such +countries as Cuba, Mexico, the Philippines, Central and South America, +and, to a certain extent, Canada and Australia, and parts of Asia and +Africa. To be sure, competition will have to be met both from European +countries and from Japan, whose development in the cotton industry in +recent years has been nothing short of phenomenal. She has practically +doubled the number of her spindles in the last ten years, and her +competition has already been felt, for instance, in China, where American +gray goods have been practically eliminated from the market. Other +growing markets for Japanese cotton goods are South Africa, Australia, +India, and the west coast of South America. + +In Cuba and the Philippine Islands, the United States has the advantage +of a preferential tariff agreement and excellent shipping facilities. In +Canada and Australia our cotton goods are popular but the tariff duties +are in favor of Great Britain. In the Dutch East Indies there is at +present a good opportunity for getting a foothold in the white goods +trade. Argentina has lately been our best market for cotton goods, and as +the imports of cotton products into that country amounted to $65,000,000 +in 1916, this trade is worth the intensive efforts which are now being +made to clinch it. + + +Future Development +Up to Merchants + +On the west coast of South America, as in the Manila market, there are +established American trading firms that are doing extensive development +work and their efforts have produced favorable results. In the other +Latin-American markets there are practically no local American firms and +in none of them have the possibilities of the trade been more than +touched. + +The general opinion seems to be that if the United States is to keep what +she has gained by the war in the cotton goods trade the same care and +aggressiveness will have to be shown in the foreign as in the domestic +trade. England's position today as the foremost exporter of cotton +manufactures is the result of careful study of foreign markets and their +requirements, of catering to the tastes of the people, of aggressive +advertising, of competent foreign salesmen, of reliability in filling +orders, of good packing, and of more or less liberal credit terms. +Manufacturers in the United States will have to follow the same procedure +if this country is to keep her present position in international trade. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +Some of the Grower's Problems + + +Early in the spring, the farm hands begin the work of getting the seed +beds ready. Upland fields have to be terraced, ditched, and drained by an +elaborate process before the work is well begun. Plowing and sub-soiling +are the least of the planter's worries. He must often chop last year's +stalks with a disc harrow or with a stalk cutter. The spike tooth or the +disc harrow must work again after the plowing is finished. It is +customary to plant cotton in a slightly raised bed, in order that +thinning may be more easily done, and that the soil may be more quickly +warmed. Much planting is still done by hand, one man dropping the seeds +in the long straight furrow and another following close behind him with a +hoe, covering them up; but of late years the one-horse planter and the +two-horse combined lister and planter have come into vogue, and, now that +the tractor is both cheap and serviceable, it is possible to plant two or +more rows at a time. + + +The Long Season of +Intensive Cultivation + +When the tiny seedlings first appear above the fragrant mellow soil, the +planter's work is well begun, but it is only begun, for then comes the +season of cultivating and thinning out. As soon as there are two or three +inches of growth, the first cultivation takes place. How many times the +field is cultivated depends on the planter, the nature of the soil, the +availability of labor and other factors. But the general rule is, the +more cultivations, the more cotton. The first cultivation scrapes away +the soil from the plants, leaving them on a small ridge, where the +thinning-out process can easily be done with a hoe. The stalks are left +from fifteen to twenty inches apart in the hill, the rows being usually +about three and a half feet apart. The next cultivation, usually with a +sweep, pushes the soil back against the plants. Then begins the farmer's +fight against the weeds, each of which seems sturdier and harder to +eradicate than its predecessor. Usually cultivation must take place about +every three weeks. + +In June, on the average, the bell-shaped blossoms appear. On the first +day they are cream colored or white; on the second day, they change to a +beautiful wild-rose pink, deepening toward evening to a deeper magenta or +carnation. On the third day they fade completely, and the development of +the boll begins. + + +The Many Enemies +of the Growing Boll + +Of the plants upon which humanity depends, the various species of the +genus Gossypium have probably more enemies, and more relentless enemies, +than any other. Besides army worms, cut worms, locusts, green flies, leaf +bugs, blister mites, and several others, nature has produced and rendered +extremely prolific and hardy, these two particular pests, the boll weevil +and the boll worm. It is said that the collective attacks of all the +insects which feed upon cotton cost the country in the neighborhood of +$60,000,000 every year at pre-war prices. The little gray beetle that the +world knows as the cotton boll weevil is responsible for most of this. +The mother weevil lays her eggs in the bud. As the grubs from the eggs +develop, the bud drops. If a weevil arrives on the scene after the bolls +have begun to form, she lays her eggs in those with a fine indifference. +These bolls will not drop, but the grubs ruin the cotton they contain. +There have been numerous investigations and experiments made to develop a +variety of cotton impervious to the weevil's attacks, as well as to find +another insect willing to meet him in combat and overcome him. Guatamalan +cotton is said to be immune and efforts are being made to transplant it +to the United States. A small ant-like creature called a "kelep" has also +been found, which attacks, kills and devours the weevil, but, +unfortunately, the kelep prefers a warmer clime, and pines away and dies +in even the mild winters of the cotton belt. The boll worm is very +similar to the corn worm with which all housewives are familiar, and +indeed corn is its favorite diet. But cotton will do in a pinch, and, +next to the weevil, he ruins more cotton than any other pest. The boll +weevil cost the country about $25,000,000 yearly, pre-war prices, and the +boll worm about $12,500,000 yearly, enough to justify an even greater +expenditure for investigation and eradication than has yet been made. + +Despite the ravage of insects and diseases, when a well-tended field of +cotton is ripening, one would think from the number of bolls per plant, +that the owner's fortune was surely made. Unfortunately, the plants shed +bolls as well as buds and flowers, in great numbers. It has frequently +been noted that even well-fertilized plants upon good, carefully +cultivated soil, will mature only fifteen to twenty per cent. of the +bolls produced. + +[Illustration: _Cotton blossoms and bolls at various stages of growth_] + +The planter will tell you that he would be willing to stand the boll +weevil, the dropped bolls, the extra cultivations, and all the remainder +of it, if he could only be sure that cotton which did mature would be +picked when it should be picked, and picked with rapidity and care. +Picking is the most laborious, as it is the most picturesque operation on +the plantation. Many types of machine pickers have been introduced, but +there are few planters who will admit that any of them suits his +particular needs. Now, as a hundred years ago, the picking is done by +hand. It is a simple operation, so simple that children ten years old can +do it, and women excel in it. But the best pickers rarely average more +than a hundred pounds a day, and most of them pull much less. Careless +work plays its part, too, for cotton is easily dropped from the boll and +soiled or lost altogether. Leaves and twigs as well as the shell of the +boll frequently cling to the fiber, and are picked with it, and all these +things tend to dirty and discolor it, and lessen its marketability. It +requires about three pounds of cotton with the seed in it, as picked, to +produce one pound of ginned or lint cotton. + +There were in the United States, in 1917, a total of 24,272 ginneries, of +which 3,921 were idle. Each active gin produced an average of 526 bales +running bales of cotton. The number of gins shows a tendency to decrease +every year, not rapidly, but surely, and this despite the opposite +tendency of the crop. The Whitney gin of the old days has been improved +beyond the dreams of its inventor. He boasted that one man could do as +much with his machine as ten men without it. Today's gin averages about +five bales a day--a quantity which the negro of old would find difficult +to turn out in a year. + +To the gin then, which is located either on the plantation or in the +immediate neighborhood, the mule drawn wagons, driven by negroes as a +rule, bring their loads of cotton. + +[Illustration: _Gin bale and compress bale showing reduced bulk of +latter_] + +As the downy lint, pulled from the tenacious seeds, rolls into the +receiving bin of the gin, the huge compressors are put to work. The +coarse jute bagging is on hand, and the steel straps spread out. The gin +balers as a rule turn out a bale measuring approximately 28 by 56 by 42 +inches, and weighing approximately 500 pounds including twenty pounds of +bagging and straps. The cotton, in being separated from its seeds, has +lost about two-thirds of its weight. But the first process in the long +series that manufacturing entails has been completed, and the cotton is +ready to begin its long journey to the mill. It is usually carted to the +nearest railroad station, and from there shipped to the compressing +point. + +The small farmer almost always gets his money for the cotton as it leaves +the gin. His interest in it, therefore, is ended when the buyer there +pays him the current price. The cotton is a market commodity from that +time forth. + +The compress is a large and powerful hydraulic press, whose function is +to force the loosely packed gin bale into a density that will make its +handling by the railroads, ships, and warehouses more easy and +economical. The compresses are frequently owned by the railroads. + + +Gin Bales and +Compress Bales + +Before being compressed, the bales are sorted according to grade, and are +then compressed into a smaller sized bale, measuring approximately 28 by +56 by 18 inches, with a density of from twenty-eight to thirty pounds a +square foot. It is this bale which is handled from that time forth, +whether it be for export, for consumption in Northern or Southern mills, +or whether, as sometimes happens, it is shipped from place to place as +market conditions change, and the price offered makes reshipment +profitable. + + +Movement for +Improving the Bale + +It is encouraging to note that the war brought about, under Government +auspices, a very definite movement for the improvement of the bale. The +proposal demands the installation of high pressure baling machines at the +gin, capable of producing a bale with a density of thirty-five pounds a +cubic foot. The trading unit in cotton is one hundred bales, and such a +compression would mean that one hundred bales could be loaded into a +single freight car, and shipped directly to the export point or +warehouse. The present practice requires three cars to carry the ginnery +bales to the compressor, and two cars to carry the compressed bales to +the port, warehouse, or mill. The saving in freight and handling is +obvious. It needs only a glance at the photograph of the two bales side +by side to see the possible saving in waste and "city crop," or tare. The +obstacles in the way of such an improvement are those which face any +revolutionary change in commercial methods. Established practice, +invested capital, and the natural conservatism of human nature militate +against quick improvement. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +In the Cotton Mill + + +The manufacture of cotton cloth may be divided into five departments: + + 1. Preparatory processes: Opening, carding, + combing, and drawing. + + 2. Spinning. + + 3. Spooling, warping, sizing, slashing, entering + or drawing-in. + + 4. Weaving. + + 5. Converting and finishing, including bleaching, + mercerizing, dying, printing, and finishing. + +Before the cotton fiber can be spun into the yarn from which the cloth is +woven, the bales must be broken open, the impurities removed, and the +fibers arranged so that they are parallel and contain no bunches or +tangles. Care in these processes has become more and more necessary and +important as the demand for a higher quality of cloth, possessing greater +strength and evenness, has been developed. Hence, some of the most +elaborate, complex, and admirable machinery in the mill is that devoted +to these preparatory processes. The principle involved is always that of +thoroughly cleaning the material, then opening it so that every fiber +shall be thoroughly separated from its fellows, and then straightening +out the fibers, no matter what types of machines may be used. + + +Conveying Fiber +By Air Blast + +The heavy laps of cotton are first thrown directly from the bale into the +breaker, and the cotton is then usually blown through large pipes from +the room in which the bales are broken to the room in which the openers +are located. + +The functions of the opener are two. The first is to clean from the +cotton the dirt and bits of leaf, pod, and foreign substances, which may +have clung to the fiber as it passed through the gin back on the +plantation. The second is to roll the cotton into a more or less regular +"lap," as it is called. + + +The Energetic +Opener At Work + +As the cotton goes into the opener (see diagram on following page), dusty +and dirty, it is seized by strong teeth fastened upon a large cylinder +(A), revolving rapidly, and is flung by centrifugal force against an iron +grid (B) time after time. Sometimes there is a strong current of air +blowing through the tangled mass, helping to loosen the particles. The +dirt comes out through the grid and is carried away, while the lint +itself, after being carried around an indefinite number of times, +gradually works its way along a channel, and finally out between two +large rollers (C), which compress it once more, so that it is, in effect, +a sheet of batting. This sheet, or lap, is rolled up in a large roll (G), +which may be two or three feet in diameter, and is then ready for the +first doubling or blending process. In mills where strength and evenness +of yarn are at a premium, the sheets from three or four laps may be fed +through another opener, usually called a "scutcher," which breaks them +all apart again, mixes up the fibers, cleans out more of the dirt, and +produces a more even lap. + +The cotton, as it comes from the opener and the scutcher, is much cleaner +and more attractive. It begins to look like the riches it contains. + +[Illustration: _Cross-section diagram of opener_] + +To convey the heavy opener-lap from the opener to the carding room, the +more modern mills are doing away rapidly with hand-power, and carry the +lap on a sort of travelling mono-rail conveyor. + +The fibers of the lap which comes from the opening room are by no means +parallel, but lie in all directions just as they happened to come from +the grid of the opener. The function of the card is to straighten them, +and at the same time to remove those which are knotted or immature and of +a length below that required for the yarn to be spun, and to take out +practically all of the impurities which may have escaped in the opening +operations. + +The principle of carding is one of the oldest of textile mechanical +principles, and all the improvements that have been made have been in +developments rather than in basic ideas. Hargreaves, inventor of the +jenny, and Sir Richard Arkwright both expended their ingenuity upon it, +the latter seeming to have been the first to provide a carding machine +operated by other than hand-power. The basic principle involved is the +straightening out of the fibers by combing or brushing them with wire +brushes or cards. + +[Illustration: _"Scutchers" at work_] + +In the revolving flat card, which dominates the field today, there are, +as a rule, three principal cylinders. The lap passes first under the +smallest of the three, called the taker-in, which is covered with very +fine saw-teeth all in one long strip of steel, wound and fixed spirally +in the surface of the cylinder. The taker-in receives the cotton from a +feed-roller (C) that turns above a smooth iron plate (D) called the feed +plate. The saw-teeth comb the fibers which are imbedded, so to speak, in +the lap, and deliver the loose ones to the second cylinder, which is the +largest of the group. This main cylinder is covered with wire teeth all +bent at exactly the same angle. The cotton clings to them, and is carried +around to the top of the cylinder, where it is engaged by teeth on the +revolving-flat card which are bent in the opposite direction. This +"card-clothing" arranged in strip, crosswise on a travelling lattice, +moves in the same direction as the cylinder but moves very slowly, and so +the fibers are carded between the two sets of wire points, the short and +immature fibers remaining on the card wires of the lattice and the +perfect and now almost entirely parallel ones being carried over from the +main cylinder to the doffer cylinder, the third of the trio. From this +they are removed by an oscillating comb (F), coming off in a light, +fleecy lap, which is condensed through a funnel into a soft untwisted +roping, or sliver, about the diameter of a man's thumb, and is then +coiled into a can, usually about 45 inches high by 8 inches diameter. + +[Illustration: _View of Modern Motor-Driven Opener Picker_] + +The conveying of the sliver (pronounced with a long or short i) into the +can is in itself an exceedingly ingenious operation, although a very +simple one. The device is attached directly to the card, and is called a +coiler. The sliver passes into it from the funnel. The hole from which +the sliver emerges is off the center of a steel plate which revolves +slowly, so that the sliver, as it comes out, has an eccentric motion +which causes it to fall into the can in regular coils. Tangling is thus +prevented, and ease of handling secured. + + +Combing Necessary in +Spinning Fine "Counts" + +Combing is necessary in the preparation of cotton for the spinning of +fine "counts" or coarser yarns where great smoothness and regularity are +desired. They are now quite extensively used in the United States, and it +is significant of the trend of the industry here that the number is +rapidly growing. The first cotton comber was invented by a Frenchman of +Alsace named Heilmann. The patent was issued in 1845. Now there are on +the market other machines, both English and American, similar in +principle but improved in many ways. + +[Illustration: _Revolving flat cards_] + +The first of these preliminary processes is that which is done by the +sliver-lapper. The slivers from 14 to 20 cans are drawn along +side-by-side, passing between three pairs of drawing rollers which will +be described later. From the drawing rollers the slivers now reduced in +size, pass between two pairs of calendar rollers from which they emerge, +not as a sliver, of course, but once more as a lap about a foot wide. +These laps are usually passed to a ribbon lapper, where six of them are +placed end-to-end, and unrolled simultaneously, passed between four pairs +of drawing rollers, and then superimposed, one upon the other, and, +calendered once more, issued as a lap a little less than a foot wide. +This process may be repeated as many times as the quality of the yarn +desired may require, for each drawing process served to straighten the +fibers and so to render the thread more even and capable of finer +spinning. + +Combing is exactly what its name implies. The lap is actually raked by a +fine-tooth comb with needle-like teeth of steel ranging from 16 to 90 per +inch. This involves breaking the lap again and the intricacy of the +comber rests in the mechanism which it employs for joining the separated +ends. + +[Illustration: _Cross-section diagram of revolving flat card_] + +Six or eight laps go through the machine at once, and the product is +combined, condensed, formed into a continuous sliver, and deposited once +more into cans. The process is not a fast one at best, and the chief +contribution of American inventors is in the direction of speed. Each nip +combs only 4/16 to 4/10 of an inch of fiber. The Heilman machine made +about 85 or 90 nips per minute. The American improvement makes 130 to +135. The width of the lap in the American machine is likewise increased, +and the saving in labor, therefore, is considerable. English improvements +have been in the same direction, the resultant saving being almost as +great. + +[Illustration: _Ribbon lappers_] + +Though many of the processes already described might be called drawing, +in a sense, insomuch as they involve a continual lengthening and +straightening of the lap or sliver, yet drawing in the strictest sense +has not yet begun. It may be done only once, for coarse and cheap yarn, +or it may be repeated a half dozen or more times to produce the finer and +more expensive products. The frame for each repetition is slightly +different, but several types may be isolated. They are, in the order of +their use, the drawing frame, the fly frame, or slubber, the intermediate +frame, and the roving and jack frames. + +For fine counts the slivers from the comber, and for other grades that +which comes directly from the card, are taken, then to the drawing frame. +The slivers from the cans, six or eight in number, are fed through one +aperture, and pass, thus combined, between several (usually four) pairs +of rollers, so arranged that each succeeding pair revolves at a more +rapid rate than that which preceded it. The last pair in the series +revolve probably six or eight times as fast as the first pair. This +combination of rollers pulls constantly on the more or less irregular +slivers, rendering them always more nearly uniform in diameter and +density, the thickness of one of the entering slivers serving to +counterbalance the thinness of the other. The drawing frame consists +usually of four or five "heads," and the sliver, after it passes through +one of these "heads," is put through a second one, along with other +slivers, so that the doubling and redoubling goes on constantly. There is +an electric device to stop the machine when a sliver breaks, either at +the back or the front of the frame. + +[Illustration: _Combers at work in a mill spinning fine counts_] + +From the last head of the drawing frame, the sliver passes to the fly +frame or slubber, which not only continues the drawing and doubling, +usually between three pairs of rollers, but through the aid of a device +which gives the sliver a slight twist and winds it, for the first time, +upon a spindle. This device is known as the flyer, and is, roughly, a +U-shaped piece of metal, which, revolving, inverted, over the spindle, +gives the thread a slight lateral twist as it coils upon the spindle. The +latter also revolves, but with a diminishing motion so that the amount of +twist may be kept uniform as the diameter of the coil upon the spindle +increases. The sliver, now being twisted, is called a sliver no longer, +but the slubbing. + +The slubbing is passed between the rollers in pairs, the emerging product +being less in diameter than the diameter of a single slubbing. The +machine combines the fourfold process of combination, attenuation, +twisting and winding. There are more spindles upon this frame than upon +the slubber. + +The last drawing frame, except for very fine yarns spun from Egyptian or +Sea Island staples, is the roving frame, similar in principle to the last +two but containing still more spindles. It receives the rovings from the +intermediate frame, combines two of them into one, twists them a little +more, and winds them upon the spindle tubes. The Jack frame is similar +except that its product is finer and smoother. + +[Illustration: _Sliver lappers in a Northern mill_] + +It is interesting to note, however, that the majority of improvements +have been the fruit of the brains, not of Americans, but of Englishmen. +Copeland points out that this may be due to the English desire to save in +the consumption of cotton, but that more probably it is due to the +development of fine spinning in England, in which most of the machines +here described are chiefly valuable; and he ventures the prediction that +now that American mills have definitely gone in for the finer counts, it +may be expected that engineers here will apply themselves to the +improvement of this machinery. + +[Illustration: _Drawing frames, turning slivers into roving_] + + +The "Mule" Versus +the Ring Spindle + +Spinning is the final process which turns the cotton into firm, coherent +yarn, sufficiently twisted, and ready for the loom. The twist given to +the thread by the previous machines has been only enough to make the +fibers hold together. They are still comparatively loose and fluffy, and +their tensile strength is slight. + +There are, in general, two types of spinning machines. The first, the +mule, an English product. The second, radically different, is entirely +American. It was invented in 1828 by James Thorpe, and immediately found +some favor, but it was not until the Civil War that it was received on +equal terms with the mule. Today, however, it dominates in the United +States, the comparative figures in 1917 being: ring spindles 30,264,074; +mule spindles 3,634,761. The disparity is growing greater every year, and +the use of the ring is firmly established in other countries as well. The +figures for 1907 were: + + _Mule_ _Ring_ + England (1909) 39,800,000 7,900,000 + Germany 5,740,000 3,722,000 + France 4,122,000 2,481,000 + Austria 2,307,000 1,277,000 + Italy 1,015,000 1,852,000 + Russia 1,031,000 1,320,000 + +The mule, by reason of the great size to which it has been developed, and +the impressiveness of its large, rhythmic motion, is one of the most +formidable of all cotton machines, as indeed it is one of the most +complex. It received its name from the fact that, performing two +principal functions--drawing and spinning--it was regarded as a hybrid, +just as the mule is a hybrid cross between the horse and the donkey. + +In the mule (see diagram on page 53), which is a long and wide machine, +carrying sometimes, in new models, as many as 1,300 spindles, the drawing +and twisting are not continuous but consecutive. The rovings (B) are held +on a creel (A) at the back of the machine, usually in three or four +tiers, or on long beams or spools. They pass from the creel, or spools, +between three pairs of drawing rollers (C.) Coming out of the rollers, +they are fed to the spindles on the carriage which backs away from the +creel and recedes somewhat faster than the rovings are unwound. This +receding is the essential motion of the mule, for thus the cotton +receives its final drawing. The spindles, meanwhile, are revolving +rapidly, spinning the yarn. The twist goes first to the thin places where +the least resistance is offered. Then, as the carriage carrying the +whirling spindles continues to back away, the thicker parts of the +thread, being comparatively untwisted are pulled down to the average +diameter and are twisted in turn. The carriage usually runs back about +sixty-three inches. At the termination of its run, or stretch, the +spindles increase their speed until the twisting is completed and the +carriage starts on its return trip. This reverses the spindles, and the +thread which has been wound upon them is unwound, the slack being taken +up by one guide wire (D) while the other guides the thread to the winding +point, and winds it up in the opposite direction on the cone-shaped cops +on the spindles. The rollers do not feed out more roving as the carriage +returns. Hence, there is no slack when the round trip is completed. + +[Illustration: _Slubbers, showing the U-shaped flyers_] + +Except for the use of drawing rollers, there is little similarity between +the mule and the ring frame. The latter has no movable carriage, none of +the splendid sweep of motion that makes the mule so fascinating to +watch. The ring-frame is simple and business-like, and its speed is +amazing. The bobbins holding the roving are placed directly over the +spindles. Around each of the latter is a steel ring. There are at least +112 spindles on each machine, and all the machine rings for the spindles +are fixed in a single frame. The upper edge of the ring is flanged, like +a miniature railroad track, and snapped over the flange is a small but +important C-shaped steel ring, called the traveler. + + +How Thread is Spun +on the Ring Spindle + +When the machine is in operation (See diagram on page 56) each roving (H) +leaving its bobbin, runs through the usual drawing rollers (G) then +through a guiding wire to the ring, where it is passed through its +traveler (B) which is always at the winding point on the spindle. As the +spindle and the rollers revolve, the roving is fed out at a considerably +slower rate than the spindle takes it up, so that there is always a +tension on the thread. The whirling spindle thus pulls on the traveler, +drawing it round and round on its flanged track (A). It revolves just a +little more slowly than the spindle and thus the yarn receives its twist. +Meanwhile, the frame (C) on which the rings are fixed moves slowly up and +down, so that the winding is properly regulated. + +It is possible to operate the spindles at a remarkable speed. So perfect +are the bearings which have been evolved that the average speed is ten +thousand revolutions a minute, and on fine yarns it is sometimes 12,000 +to 13,000 revolutions. The speed is limited by only two factors: the +first is the ability of the operator to make splicings when threads +break, and the second is the tendency of the traveler to fly off when the +speed is too high. The number of travelers consumed is high at best, and +in a mill which has long been in operation the floor in the front of the +frame is likely to be paved with the little steel rings which have fallen +and been ground into the planks by the heels of the worker. + +[Illustration: _Diagram of mule_] + +The battle between the advocates of the ring frame and those who favor +the mule is still on. For the American spinner the ring has undoubtedly +many advantages. Because it spins continuously, and not intermittently, +it turns out about a third more yarn per operator. It is usually +admitted, however, that the thread from the mule is more even in +diameter. Advocates of the mule say, moreover, that the thread from the +mule is softer and "loftier", and that cloth woven from it has a more +"clothy" feel. But others say they can produce soft yarn with the ring. +In the United States, where the labor cost is a vital item, the +ring-spindle has an assured place. + +[Illustration: _Mules at work_] + +The yarn is now a finished product. It may be sold by the spinner to the +weaver or it may be woven in the mill in which it is spun. Before it is +ready for the loom, however, there are a number of operations which must +be completed. + +The yarn from the ring frame, or mule, is wound in a large cop, or on a +bobbin. It must be put upon spools before it can be warped. The spooler +is a simple machine, but one that requires constant attendance. In the +spooler, bobbins are placed upon holders or spindles, and the thread is +passed over a series of guides to the spool, up above. The spool revolves +at a high rate of speed, and the thread is wound evenly upon it. The +operator must watch for broken threads, retie them, replace the empty +bobbins by full ones and see that the empty ones are gathered up +uninjured. She--the operator is usually a girl or woman--must be alert +and active, and especially nimble fingered. + +[Illustration: _"Close-up" of Ring Spindle in American mill_] + +One of the most important inventions, one that was received with acclaim +by the American manufacturer, and one which actually reduced his labor +cost on spooling no less than ten per cent. at one clip, is a tiny little +thing that is held in the palm of the hand. This is the Barber knotter. +When a thread breaks, the attendant places the two ends together in the +machine and by the mere pressure of her thumb ties the knot much better +than she could do it without the knotter. The economies which it effects +extend beyond the mere spooling, for better knots mean fewer breaks in +the warping process, and a better cloth at the end of weaving. + +The spools from the spooler are placed on a large frame, called a creel. +The creels have an average capacity of about 600 spools, and there are +usually 16 to 20 in one tier. The threads from the spools are drawn +between the dents of an adjustable reed, then under and over a series of +rollers. From here they are led down to the beam, upon which they are +wound. The revolving of the beam unwinds the yarn from the spools and +winds it regularly and evenly upon the beam itself. There is a device for +measuring the length of the warp wound, and stop motions for arresting +the operation should a thread break or other accident occur. + +[Illustration: _Each operator at these spoolers has a Barber knotter on +her hand_] + +The yarn of the warp must usually be impregnated with a sizing which will +smooth out and stick down its furry surface and add as well to the +tensile strength so that the strain of weaving may be withstood. For this +the most effective and most generally used machine is the slasher, the +chief feature of which is a roller, whose lower side is immersed in the +sizing solution. Threads from the warp beam are run around this roller +through the solution and then dried, after which it is finally wound on +another beam for the loom. A considerable number of loom beams can be +filled from one set of the warper beams mounted in the slasher. + +The lengthwise threads of a fabric are called the warp. The crosswise +threads are called the weft or filling. To make cloth, the warp and weft +must be interlaced with each other in a suitable manner. The operation is +called weaving, the machine in which it is performed is, of course, the +loom. The principal operations of weaving are as follows: + + 1. Shedding, or the raising and lowering of the alternate threads + of the warp, so that the weft may pass under and over them. + This is done by means of the harnesses and their heddles. + + 2. Picking, or placing a thread of the weft between the warp + threads so raised and lowered by means of the shuttle. + + 3. Beating-up, or pushing, each thread of the weft into its + position close against the thread which has preceded it by + means of the reed. + + 4. Letting-off, or permitting the warp to unwind from the beam only + just as fast as is needed by the speed of the weaving. This is + accomplished by friction bands and weights on the warp beam. + + 5. Taking-up, or winding upon a roller the cloth as it is + manufactured. + +In addition to these primary operations, the loom has attachments for +performing several other functions, such as stop-motions for stopping the +loom when warp or filling threads break, or when the shuttle fails to +cross the loom completely; temples for holding out the cloth laterally as +the weaving proceeds; a mechanism--in the most modern looms--for changing +the shuttles, or the cops in the shuttles, as the weft thread on the cops +becomes exhausted, etc. + +[Illustration: _Diagram of ring spindle_] + +The modern cotton loom, which automatically removes the filling bobbins +without stopping the loom, is rapidly displacing the older types, and one +weaver can now attend to a surprisingly large number of looms, being +greatly assisted also by the automatic warp and filling "stop motions." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +The Finishing Operations + + +Following the manufacture of the cloth, come the operations necessary to +prepare it for the market. These involve such treatments as bleaching, +printing, mercerizing, dyeing, and finishing (in the narrow sense). + +The number of machines involved in these various processes rivals the +number which are used in the actual spinning and weaving operations. + +Modern bleaching is a highly technical science, conceived and planned by +engineers, and carried out with elaborate machinery by skilled workers. + +Gray cloth, as it comes from the loom, is of an unattractive color, a +dirty grayish yellow, and contains not only those impurities which it has +picked up on its journey through the mill but those inherent in its +natural state as well, all totalling some five per cent. more or less, of +the total weight. In addition there may be numerous bits of leaf from the +boll which have clung to the fibers through all the processing, and which +appear finally in the cloth as little brownish specks, known to the trade +as motes. Finally, there is the sizing which was put into the warp. + +[Illustration: _Warping--The creel in the rear_] + + +Bleaching an Intricate +Chemical Process + +In the bleaching of cotton, there is a series of operations which have +for their object the elimination of the waxy, fatty matters embodied in +the fiber, as well as any dirt which it may have acquired. Then, there is +the actual whitening and the bleaching of the cloth which destroys any +coloring matter which it may contain and finally there are treatments +designed to neutralize the effect of the chemicals used in the bleaching. +Thus, the sequence of treatments might be: first, boiling in plain water, +which removes certain soluble substances; next, an extended boiling in a +strong alkaline solution, which saponifies the waxy, fatty matters in the +fiber, and thus removes them from the cloth or yarn. Third, a steeping in +a bleaching solution--a solution of chloride of lime being largely +employed for this purpose, and which treatment is known as the chemic. +Next, after another thorough washing there is a treatment in diluted +sulphuric acid to neutralize the effects of the chemic, and finally this +is followed again by another thorough washing with possibly an additional +mild alkaline treatment. The nature and the method of all these +treatments varies considerably, and depends upon the character of the +goods being treated, but, at the conclusion, if all has gone well, the +cloth should be a good white and should not be impaired in strength. + + +Singeing Necessary +in Some Finishes + +For a certain class of goods, where a clean, smooth surface is required, +it is desirable to singe the goods before the bleaching. This is +accomplished by passing the cloth, stretched out at full width, very +rapidly over heated plates, or through gas flames, so that the fine hairs +or fuzz are singed off, but the fabric itself has not had time to take +fire. Both sides may be singed and the goods may be passed more than once +through the flame. When yarns are singed, the threads are passed through +the flame very rapidly, being unwound from one set of bobbins and wound +up on another. + +[Illustration: _Front view of an automatic loom_] + +In the dyeing operation the cotton piece goods pass through a series of +machines, the goods being in rope form as already explained, so that a +number of pieces can be put into each machine, side by side. The wash +boxes, dye vats, etc. are equipped with overhead rollers, by means of +which the goods, which have been sewn end to end, so as to make a +continuous string of them, pass out of the dye, over the roller and down +into the bath on the other side, continuing to circulate around thus +until the desired results have been obtained. In addition to the +preparatory washing and boiling, mordanting and dyeing, there are +subsequent washings to free the goods from loose coloring matter, and +other special treatments are frequently accorded them. + +Finishing in its special and restricted sense, implies a series of +treatments, such as stretching, starching, dampening, drying, pressing, +smoothing, lustreing, glazing, stiffening, softening, and whatnot, which +are given to them according to the use to which they are to be put. + +The printing press is constructed with a large main cylinder (D), the +size being dictated by the number of colors which it must take care of. +As the printing operation is a continuous one, there must be a continuous +feeding of the cloth, a continuous inking of the engraved rollers (C), +and a continuous cleaning off of the unengraved surface after the +inking. + +Under each roller, where it is fixed in its place in the press, is a long +copper trough or pan carrying the coloring material, and in the pan under +the roller, and extending into the coloring matter, is an intermediate +roller known as the "furnisher" roller, and, as the press revolves, this +covers the surface of the copper roller with a heavy film of coloring. +The surplus coloring is scraped off as the roller revolves, by a long, +sharp blade or knife, known as "the doctor," and after the roller passes +this it is quite clean, no coloring remaining on it except that in the +engraved portion. + +Each roller has its color pan with its own color in it. Then, as the +cloth (A) passes between the main cylinder, properly covered by suitable +intervening materials and the series of rollers, each roller in turn +prints its own color, and, collectively, the finished pattern is +produced. + +[Illustration: _Diagram of cloth printing machine_] + +The goods then pass into a drying room and are afterwards introduced into +a steaming chamber, where they are given a good steaming at a slight +pressure. This steaming develops the colors and causes them to impregnate +the fibers more thoroughly. Subsequently, for good work, the goods should +be washed to get rid of the thickening matters that are mixed with the +coloring, and then the printing appears in all its beauty. + + +Printing on +Full Ground Colors + +The foregoing briefly describes the processes of direct printing. In this +case, the penetration of the colors to the opposite side of the goods is +not very good. If a solid and full ground color is needed both on the +face and back of the goods, it can be had either by the "Resist" or +"Reserve" method, or by the "Extract" or "Discharge" method. In the +"Resist" method, when a white figure is wanted on a black or colored +ground, the goods are first printed with some substance which will resist +the action of the dye stuffs. Then, when the goods are dyed, the treated +part does not take the color and the substance used as a resist is washed +out, and thus a white figure is obtained on a solid colored ground. + +In the "Discharge" method, the goods are first dyed in a solid color, and +are then treated with certain chemicals which destroy the dyed color +wherever they touch the fabric, these chemicals being subsequently washed +out where they have been applied, and thus again a white figure can be +had in the colored ground. By the "Discharge" method, moreover, colored +figures can also be printed on colored grounds, as certain colorings have +been developed which are not affected by the discharge materials used, +hence, a whole series of beautiful colors can be printed on goods +previously dyed with black or colored grounds, each color being mixed +with a suitable chemical for discharging the ground color, and thus the +colors of the printed pattern come out as desired. + +Another important process which is applied to both cotton yarn and cotton +fabrics is that known as mercerization, called after "Mercer" an English +chemist who introduced the process. Cotton when subjected to the action +of strong, caustic alkali contracts violently, but when again stretched +and straightened it is found to have acquired a distinct silkiness of +appearance, and under the microscope the twisted ribbon-like fibers of +the material--already referred to--will be found to have become straight, +glossy and rodlike, just as a bicycle tire would appear after air was +blown into it. + +Cotton may be mercerized either in the yarn, warp, skein, or in the +piece, the first being more effective. The best and most satisfactory +results are achieved when the material treated is made of fine long +staple cotton, either Sea Island or Egyptian, the shorter cottons being +relatively much less improved by the treatment. The mercerizing does not +diminish the strength of the material, and gives to it a greater affinity +for dye stuffs. + + +Internal Organization +of Cotton Mills + +The foremen are specialists in their particular departments. The +warehouseman, at one end, is a judge of cotton stock, and the foreman of +the weaving room at the other knows how many automatic looms may safely +be trusted to each weaver on his staff. + +In between these two there are, according to the individual mill, a dozen +or more other foremen, all reporting regularly to the superintendent, all +captains of their own companies of workers, and all keen, in the +interests of their own reputations, to operate their departments as +intelligently, as efficiently, and with as little friction with their +individual operators as possible. For it is generally recognized +throughout the cotton industry that profitable business depends as much +upon the whole-hearted cooperation of the wage-earners, as upon any other +single factor. + + +The Question of +Individual Efficiency + +As for the operators themselves, they are so varied, there are so many +problems which they have to face, and such difficulties which those who +employ and direct them have to solve, that anything like adequate +consideration is impossible. From the impersonal viewpoint, leaving out +of account the human elements, the problems of wages, and the correlated +problem of trade organization, there remains the question of individual +efficiency. It is that which we have chiefly to consider. + +[Illustration: _Inspecting finished cloth_] + +The number of men, women, and children employed in the cotton mills of +the country has increased at a very high rate, but there has been an +interesting diminution in the proportionate percentage of women and +children under sixteen years of age employed. + +The United States Census of Manufacturers gives the following figures: + +AVERAGE NUMBER OF EMPLOYES IN AMERICAN COTTON MILLS + + _Men_ _Women_ _Children_ _Total_ + 1870 42,790 69,637 22,942 135,369 + 1880 59,685 84,539 28,320 172,544 + 1890 88,837 106,607 23,432 218,876 + 1900 134,354 123,709 39,866 297,929 + 1910 190,531 141,728 38,861 371,120 + +In percentages these figures express themselves as follows: + + _Men_ _Women_ _Children_ + 1870 31.5 51.4 17.1 + 1880 34.6 49.0 16.4 + 1890 40.6 48.7 10.7 + 1900 45.1 41.5 13.4 + 1910 51.3 38.2 10.5 + +The question of nationality has had an important bearing upon the +development of the industry in the United States. The constant influx +into the country of successive waves of immigration from the different +countries of Europe has often served in a decade to change the whole +complexion of the labor question. In the original New England mills, the +employees were of almost pure English stock. The sons and daughters of +the Yankee farmers entered the mills, not as a permanent occupation, but +merely as a means of getting a start in life. + +Just before the Civil War, the Irish began to come rapidly, and the +actual advent of that struggle saw a great number of the remaining +natives leaving for the army, or thrown out of work. When the fighting +was over they did not return, but the Irish came in even greater numbers. +The next decade saw the arrival of the French Canadians in the New +England states, and there also came, in quick succession, natives of +Italy, and of the various states of eastern Europe. + +[Illustration: _Baled cloth being put aboard waiting freight cars_] + +This change in the national complexion had two very important results. It +brought into the country a constant stream of cheap labor, polyglot, and +lacking in homogeneity, and consequently slow at first to unionize and +strike. This characteristic brought another in its train--a lack of +stability, and a proneness to transiency. The second result was hardly +less important. It meant that though labor was relatively plentiful, much +of it was unskilled. This lack of skill put a premium upon quantity +production, and led to efforts to develop automatic machinery and +labor-saving devices of all kinds. It compelled most American +manufacturers to specialize upon the coarser kinds of yarns and cloths, +made in simple weaves and patterns, in the making of which the minimum +amount of skilled labor was required. + + +Native Stock +in Southern Mills + +Conditions in the South were somewhat different. From the beginning, the +employes here have been almost entirely of native stock. They came from a +class which previously had little opportunity for any employment of a +regular character outside of farming. When the mills were built these +folks were given, for the first time, an opportunity for continuous +employment. Whole families entered the mills, fathers, mothers and +children serving in different or in the same departments. The South at +first specialized on ducks, twills, denims, and such coarse work. Now, +however, there is a growing tendency to diversify the product. The reason +is found in the increasing capability of the workers, many of whom have +by now spent many years of their lives in the mills, and whose fathers +before them were operatives. Unless present conditions change and the +South becomes the mecca of immigrants--a development probably less likely +now than in the years before the war--there seems to be a strong +possibility that a class of operatives, rivalling eventually in skill +those of the English mill towns, will be developed. The stock is the +same, and the latent capabilities are all there. The determining factors +will probably be the economic changes of the next few years. + +A remaining factor in the organization of the mill is the size of the +individual plant, the number of spindles and looms it contains, the +number of workers employed, etc. It is in just this particular that some +of the most characteristic developments of the American industry are +found. About the time of the Civil War, the average New England mill had +less than ten thousand spindles. Today the average is probably between +fifty and one hundred thousand, and perhaps nearer the latter figure than +the former. Some of the mills have nearly, if not quite, a full million +spindles in several buildings. The average in the South is much less than +the New England average. The industry in the older section is definitely +localized, even to the extent of having whole towns devoted almost +exclusively to the manufacture of single grades of cloth. In the South +the mills are more widely scattered, advantage having been taken of labor +supply, water power, and other conditions. Local pride has sometimes +caused the establishment of mills in regions economically unfitted for +them. Such mills do not long survive. The advantage of large scale +production has thus been seized chiefly by the New England mills, but the +generally lower wages of the South have tended to equalize the +situation. + +[Illustration: _Original Whitney cotton gin, preserved in Smithsonian +Institute in Washington_] + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Fabric of Civilization, by Anonymous + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FABRIC OF CIVILIZATION *** + +***** This file should be named 29048.txt or 29048.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/9/0/4/29048/ + +Produced by Audrey Longhurst, ronnie sahlberg and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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