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COTTON GOODS AND
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See also:COTTON GOODS AND See also:YARN The two See also:great sections of the cotton See also:industry are yarn and See also:cloth, and in Great See also:Britain the See also:production of both of these is mainly in See also:South See also:Lancashire, though the See also:area extends to parts of See also:Cheshire, See also:Yorkshire and See also:Derbyshire, and there is a Scottish See also:branch, besides certain isolated ventures in other parts of the See also:country. Though there are See also:local rivalries there is nothing in cempetitive See also:division to compare with the See also:northern and See also:southern sections in See also:America, and the See also:British industry is, for its See also:size, more homogeneous than most of the See also:European See also:industries. Both operatives and employers are highly organized and both parties are able to make articulate contribution to the See also:solution of the various problems connected with the See also:trade. Cotton Yarn.—The yarn trade is mainly in the hands of limited companies, and a private See also:firm is looked upon as something of a survival from the past. The two great centres of production are See also:Oldham, in which See also:American cotton is chiefly, though not exclusively, spun, and See also:Bolton, which spins the finer See also:counts from See also:Egyptian or See also:Sea See also:Island cotton. See also:Spinning See also:mills are established, however, in most of the large Lancashire towns as well as in some parts of Cheshire and in Yorkshire, where there is a considerable industry in doubling yarns. The centre of trade is the See also:Manchester Royal See also:Exchange, and though some companies or firms prefer to do business by means of their own salaried salesmen, managers or See also:directors, most of the yarn is sold by agents. Frequently a single See also:agent has the See also:consignment of the whole of a See also:company's yarn, but many spinners, especially those whose business connexion is not perfectly assured, prefer to have more outlets than can be explored by an individual. At times of See also:bad trade even those who usually depend on their own resources seek the aid of experienced agents, ,who sometimes find a grievance if their services are rejected when trade improves and sales are made correct to say that this See also:system or want of system is satisfactory, easily. but the trade manages to rub along very well with it, although Yarn is sold upon various terms, but a See also:regular See also:custom in the inconveniences and disagreements sometimes arise when prices See also:home trade is for the spinner to allow 4% See also:discount, for See also:payment have advanced or declined considerably. Thus when prices have in 14 days, of which 21 goes to the buyer, who is commonly a advanced the manufacturer may find it difficult to obtain delivery of the yarn that he 'had bought at See also:low rates, for some spinners have a curious, indefensible preference for delivering their higher-priced orders; and, on the.other See also:hand, when prices have fallen the manufacturer sometimes ceases to take delivery of the high-priced yarn and actually purchases afresh for his needs. Yet See also:positive repudiation is very rare though compromises are not uncommon, and a See also:good many illogical arrangements are made that imply forbearance and amity. Litigation in the yarn trade is very unusual, and Lancashire traders generally have only vague notions of the bearing of See also:law upon their transactions, and a wholesome dread of the experience that would See also:lead to better knowledge. manufacturer, and 11 to the agent for See also:sale and guaranteeing the See also:account. In selling yarn for export it is usual to allow the buyer only 11% for payment in 14 days, or in some cases the discount is at the See also:rate of 5 % per annum for 3 months, which is See also:equivalent to I4 %. The great bulk of the yarn spun in Great Britain ranges between comparatively narrow limits of See also:count, and such staples as 32' to 36' twist and 36' to 46° weft in American, 50° to 6o° twist and 42 ° to 62' weft in Egyptian, make up a large See also:part of the See also:total. It is nevertheless the experience of yarn salesmen that Lancashire produces an increasingly large amount of specialities that indicate a continued differentiation in trade. The tendency to spin finer counts has been to some extent counteracted by the development of the See also:flannelette trade, for which heavy wefts are used, and there has been again a tendency lately to use "condensor" or See also:waste 'wefts, which has worked to the disadvantage of the spinners of the regular coarse counts spun at See also:Royton and elsewhere. The demand for cloths which require careful handling and regularity in See also:weaving has helped to develop the See also:supply of See also:ring yarns which will stand the See also:strain of the See also:loom better than See also:mule twists. A great amount of doubled and trebled yarn is now sold, though it does not appear that See also:recent expansions have added much to doubling spindles, and considerable developments continue in the use of dyed and mercerized yarns. Yarns are sold according to their "actual" counts, though when they are See also:woven into cloth they frequently attain nominal or See also:brevet See also:rank. There has been a See also:long-continued discussion, which between buyer and seller sometimes degenerates into a dispute, on the subject of moisture in yarns, and the difficulty is not confined to the Lancashire industry. The amount permissible, according to the recommendation of the Manchester Chamber of See also:Commerce, is 8%, but while it may be assumed that yarns at the See also:time of their sale rarely contain less than this, they frequently contain a good See also:deal more. It is a See also:matter of experience that cotton yarns which when spun contain only a small percentage of moisture will absorb up to about 8 % when they are exposed to what may be rather vaguely described as natural conditions. The exigencies of competition prompted the See also:discovery that if yarn were sold by See also:weight fresh from the spindle its See also:comparative dryness made such See also:early sale less profitable than if it were allowed to "See also:condition." Between loss and delay the spinner found an obvious alter-native in damping the yarn artificially. As it was often clearly to the See also:advantage of the buyer that he should receive immediate delivery he did not See also:object to See also:water in moderation, but See also:art soon began to run a little ahead of nature. The essentially dishonest practice of deluging yarn with water, which has sometimes even degenerated into the use of weighting materials deleterious to weaving, has been recognized as a great See also:nuisance, but while various attempts have been made to protect the buyer the question seems to have See also:pretty well settled itself on the principles which commonly See also:rule the sales of commodities between those who intend to do business continuously. The spinner who persists in over-weighting his yarn finds it difficult to obtain "repeat" orders. A remarkable point in the Lancashire yarn trade is the looseness of the contracts between spinner and manufacturer. Doubt-less some See also:kind of sale See also:note or See also:acknowledgment usually passes between them, but in the home trade at least it is quite usual to leave the question of delivery an open one. It would not be The See also:average yearly values of the exports of cotton, yarn and cloth from Great Britain for the decades 1881-1890 and 1891-1900 respectively, are given by See also:Professor See also:Chapman in his Cotton Industry and Trade, in million pounds: 1881-189o. 1891-1900. Cloth . £6o.4 £57.3 Yarn . 12.3 9.3 Total . . £72.7 £66.6 During the earlier See also:decade the prices of cotton were comparatively high The whole of the cloth exports represent, of course, a corresponding home trade in yarns. The following table, taken from the Manchester See also:Guardian, gives in thousands of lb the amounts of cotton yarns exported from Great Britain during 1903, 1904 and 1905 respectively, according to the See also:Board of Trade returns, together with the average value per lb for each of the countries: It should be understood, however, that in some cases the Board of Trade figures represent only an approximation to the ultimate See also:distribution, as the exports are sometimes assigned to the inter-mediate country, and in particular it is understood that a considerable part of the yarn sent to the See also:Netherlands is destined for See also:Germany or See also:Austria. The large business done in yarns with the See also:continent of See also:Europe is in some respects an See also:extension of the British home trade, though certain countries have their own specialities. A considerable business is done with European countries in doubled yarns and in See also:fine counts of Egyptian, including " gassed " yarns, which are also sent intermittently to See also:Japan. " Extra hard " yarns are sent to See also:Rumania and other Near Eastern markets, and See also:Russia, as the average See also:price indicates, See also:buys sparingly of very fine yarns. The trade with the Far See also:East, which, though not very large for any one See also:market,' is important in the aggregate, is a good deal specialized, and since the 000 omitted. 1903. 1904. 1905. Pr Price Price lb. i per lbice lb 1 per lb. per lb. lb. d. d. d. Russia . 814 30.22 713 30.71 557 3o•66 See also:Sweden . 1,526 II.00 1,486 12.55 1,512 II•I2 See also:Norway . 1,656 9.54 I,51I 11.05 1,606 9.73 See also:Denmark 2,429 8.91 2,368 to. 18 2,86o 9.51 Germany 27,239 16•o5 40,295 16.27 39,513 16.38 Netherlands . 29,591 9.10 29,384 10.48 37,341 8.93 See also:Belgium . 3,970 15.89 5,864 16.5o 7,205 16.12 See also:France . 3,974 17.59 3,084 20.01 3,518 22.64 See also:Italy 204 21.78 174 24.70 204 22.21 Austria-See also:Hungary 2,662 II.6o 3,329 14.36 3,066 13.36 Rumania. 4,608 8.55 5,072 10.13 7,856 9.73 See also:Turkey . 12,966 8.93 14,253 10.05 17,389 9.37 See also:Egypt . . 4,590 8.66 4,381 9.83 4,382 8.59 See also:China (including Hong-See also:Kong) 4,66o 9.45 2,457 10.24 8,441 8.70 Japan . . 1,406 12.98 681 II.46 4,071 13.99 British See also:India- 6,286 Io•8o 8,145 II.88 13,112 Io.86 Bombay See also:Madras 6,683 11.07 8,288 12.48 10,930 11.91 See also:Bengal 6,777 11.04 6,596 I2.82 II,o68 II .20 See also:Burma 5,611 12.17 3,388 12.39 4,211 12.31 Straits Settlements 1,945 Io•81 1,137 11.57 2,149 10.71 See also:Ceylon . . 33 11.92 44 16.51 42 13.55 Other countries 21,129 12.39 21,252 13.28 23,970 12.43 Total and average . 150,758 11.79 163,901 13.11 205,001 I2•o8 development of See also:Indian and See also:Japanese cotton mills some of the trade in the coarser counts has been lost. The various Indian markets take largely of 4o° mule twist and in various proportions of 30' mule, water twists, two-folds See also:grey and bleached, fine Egyptian counts and dyed yarns. China also takes 40' mule, water twists and two-folds. The See also:general export of yarn varies according to influences such as See also:tariff charges, spinning and manufacturing development in the importing countries and the price of cotton. A particular effect of high-priced piece-goods is seen in various Eastern countries that are still partly dependent on an indigenous hand-loom industry. The big price of imported cloths throws the native consumer to some extent upon the local goods, and so stimulates the imports of yarn. It appears that as the native industries decline the weaving See also:section persists longer than the spinning section. Cotton Goods.—Cotton goods are of an See also:infinite variety, and the titles that experience or See also:fancy have evoked are even more numerous than the kinds. Descriptions of the following fabrics, which are not of course invariably made of cotton, will be found in See also:separate articles: See also:BAIzE, See also:BANDANA, See also:BOMBAZINE, See also:BROCADE, See also:CALICO, See also:CAMBRIC, See also:CANVAS, See also:CHINTZ, See also:CORDUROY, See also:CRAPE, See also:CRETONNE, See also:DENIM, See also:DIMITY, See also:DRILL, See also:DUCK, FLANNELETTE, See also:FUSTIAN, See also:GAUZE, See also:GINGHAM, See also:LONGCLOTH, See also:MOLESKIN, See also:MULL, See also:MUSLIN, See also:NANKEEN, See also:PRINT, See also:REP, See also:TICKING, See also:TWILL, See also:VELVETEEN. The following are notes on other varieties. Grey cloth is a comprehensive See also:term that includes unbleached cotton cloth generally. It may be a See also:nice question whether " yellow "' would not have been the more nearly correct description. A very large proportion of the Lancashire export trade is in grey goods and a smaller yet considerable proportion of the home trade.
Shirting, which has long since ceased to refer exclusively to See also:shirt cloths, includes a large proportion of Lancashire manufacture. Grey and See also: The principal China market for shirtings and other staple goods is See also:Shanghai, which holds a large stock and distributes to See also:minor markets. A considerable trade is also done through Hong-Kong and other Far Eastern ports. The principal Indian markets are See also:Calcutta, Bombay, See also:Karachi and Madras. Shirt-cloth is the term more commonly applied to what is actually used in the manufacture of shirts, and it may be used for either See also:plain or fancy goods. Sheeting has two meanings in the cotton trade: (I) the See also:ordinary See also:bed sheeting, usually a stout cloth of anything from 45 in. to 120 in. wide (the extremes being used on the one hand for See also:children's cots or See also:ship bunks and on the other for old-fashioned four-posters), which may be either plain or twilled, bleached, unbleached or See also:half-bleached; (2) a grey calico, heavier than a shirting, sent largely to China and other markets, usually 36 in. by 40 yd. and weighing about 12 lb. American sheetings compete with Lancashire goods in the China market. The See also:Cabot is a kind of heavy sheeting, and for the See also:Levant markets the name as a trade See also:mark is said to be the exclusive property of an American firm, although the general class is known by the name and supplied by other firms. Mexican is a plain, heavy grey calico, sometimes heavily sized. The origin of the word is doubtful, and it seems to be an arbitrary term. Mexicans are exported to various markets and also used in the home trade. For export the dimensions are commonly 32 or 36 in. by 24 yd., and a usual count is 18 X18. In the Mexican the yarns were originally of nearly the same weight and number of threads to the in., an arrangement which gave the cloth an even See also:appearance., thus differing from the " See also:pin-See also:head " or See also:medium makes. Now, however, Mexicans areoften made with lighter wefts, though the name is usually applied to the better class of cloths of the particular See also:character. Punjum is a Mexican, generally 36 yd. in length, sent mainly to the South See also:African market. T Cloth is a plain grey calico, similar in kind to the Mexican and exported to the same markets. There is no See also:absolute distinction between the two cloths, but the T cloth is generally See also:lower in quality than the Mexican. The name seems to have been originally an arbitrary See also:identification or trade mark. Domestic, a name originally used in the sense of " home-made," is applied especially to home-made cotton goods in the See also:United States. In Great Britain it is employed rather loosely, but commonly to describe the kind of cloth which if exported would be called a Mexican. It may be either bleached or unbleached. Medium is a plain calico, grey or bleached, of medium weight, used principally in the home and colonial trade. The word is sometimes particularly applied to cloths with a comparatively heavy weft, the distinction being made between the even " Mexican make " and the " pin-head " or " medium-make." Raising-cloths are of various kinds and may be merely mediums with a heavy weft, or " condensor " weft made from waste yarns. The essence of the raising-cloth is a weft that will provide plenty of See also:nap and yet have sufficient fibre to maintain the strength of the See also:web. See also:Wigan is a name derived from the See also:town Wigan and seems to have been originally applied to a stiff canvas-like cloth used for lining skirts. Now it is commonly applied to medium or heavy makes of calico. See also:Double-warp, as its name implies, is a cloth with a twofold warp. It is usually a strong serviceable material and may be either twilled or plain. Sheetings for home trade are often double-warp, and double-warp twills and Wigans were and are used for the old-fashioned type of men's See also:night-shirts. See also:Croydon, which seems to be an arbitrary trade name, is a heavy, bleached, plain calico, usually stiff and glossy in finish. It used to be sold largely in the Irish trade as'well as in the See also:English home trade, but it has been supplanted a good deal by softer finishes. See also:Printing-cloth is a term with a general significance, but it is also particularly applied to a class of plain cloths in which a very large trade is done both for home trade and export. The See also:chief See also:place in Lancashire for the manufacture of printing-cloths is See also:Burnley, and in the United States, Fall See also:River. The Burnley cloths range in width from 29 in. to 40 in., and are usually about' r2o yd. in length. The warp is commonly from 36' to 448, the weft from. 36' to 54', and the threads from 13)(13 to 20X 20 to the 4 in. Cheshire printers, which are made at See also:Hyde, See also:Stockport, See also:Glossop and elsewhere, are commonly 34 in. to 36 in. wide, the warp is from 32° to 36', the weft 32° to 40', and the counts 16X16 to 19X22. Jacconet.is understood to be the corruption of an Indian name, and the first jacconets were probably of Indian origin. They now make one of the principal staple trades of Lancashire with India. The jacconet is a plain cloth, lighter than a shirting and heavier than a mull. When bleached it is usually put into a firm and glossy-finish. A nainsook is a jacconet bleached and finished soft. It also goes largely to India. Dhootie is a name taken from a See also:Hindu word of similar See also:sound and referred originally to the See also:loin-cloth worn by See also:Hindus. It is a See also:light, narrow cloth made with a coloured border which is often so elaborate as to.require a dobby loom for its manufacture. The finer kinds, made from Egyptian yarns, are called mull-dhooties. The dhootie is one of the principal staples for India and is exported both white and grey. See also:Scarf is a kind of dhootie made usually with a taped or corded bcrder, Madapolam or Madapollam is a name derived from a suburb of Narsapur in the Madras See also:presidency where the cloth was first made. It is now exported grey or white to India and other countries. In weight it is lighter than a shirting, and it is usually ornamented with a distinctive coloured heading. Raft, probably of See also:Persian derivation, and originally a fine cloth, is now a coarse and cheap cloth exported especially to See also:Africa. Sarong, the See also:Malay word for a garment wrapped See also:round the lower part of the See also:body and used by both men and See also:women, is now applied to plain or printed cloths exported to the Indian or Eastern See also:Archipelago for this purpose. See also:Jean, said to be derived from See also:Genoa where a kind of fustian with this See also:title was made, is a kind of twilled cloth. The cloth is woven "one end up and two ends down," and as there are more picks of weft per See also:inch than ends of warp the See also:diagonal lines pass from selvage to selvage at an See also:angle of less than 45 degrees. The weft See also:surface is the See also:face or wearing surface of the cloth. Jeans are exported to China and other markets, and are also used in the home trade. Jeanette is the converse of jean, being a twill of "two ends up to one down"; the diagonal passes from selvage to selvage at a greater angle than 45 degrees and the warp makes the wearing surface. See also:Oxford is a plain-woven cloth usually with a coloured See also:pattern, and is used for shirts and dresses. The name is comparatively See also:modern, and is, no doubt, arbitrarily selected. Harvard is a twilled cloth similar to the Oxford. Regatta is a stout, coloured shirt cloth similar in make to a jeanette. It was originally made in See also:blue and white stripes and was used largely and is still used for men's shirts.
Fancy cotton goods are of great variety, and many have trade names that are used temporarily or occasion-ally. Apart from the large class of brocaded cloths made in See also:Jacquard looms there are innumerable simpler kinds, including stripes and checks of various descriptions, such as Swiss, See also:Cord, Satin, Doriah stripes, &c. Mercerized cloths are of many kinds, as the See also:mercerizing See also:process can be applied to almost anything. See also:Lace and lace curtains are made largely at See also:Nottingham. Various light goods are madein See also:Scotland, such as See also:book muslin, a fine light muslin with an elastic finish, so called from 'being folded in book-See also:form.
Among the fancy cloths made in cotton may be mentioned: See also:matting, which includes various kinds with some similarity in appearance to a matting texture; matelasse', which is in some degree an See also:imitation of See also:French See also:dress goods of that name; pique, also of French origin, woven in stripes in See also:relief, which See also:cross the width of the piece, and usually finished stiff; See also:Bedford cord, a cheaper variety of pique in which the stripes run the length of the piece; oatmeal cloth, which has an irregular surface suggesting the See also:grain of oatmeal, commonly dyed cream See also:colour; See also:crimp cloth, in which a puckered effect is obtained by uneven shrinkage; grenadine, said to be derived from See also:Granada, a light dress material originally made of
See also:silk or silk and See also:wool; brilliant, a dress material, usually with a small raised pattern; See also:leno, possibly a corrupt form of the French linon or See also:lawn, a kind of fancy gauze used for veils, curtains, &c.; lappet, a light material with a figure or pattern
of themproduced on the surface of the cloth by needles placed in a sliding See also:frame; lustre, a light dress material with a lustrous face sometimes made with a cotton warp and woolen weft; zephyr, a light, coloured dress material usually in small patterns; bobbin-See also:net, a See also:machine-made fabric, originally an imitation of lace made with bobbins on a See also:pillow.
Some fancy cloths have descriptive names such as herringbone stripe, and there are many arbitrary trade names, such as See also:Yosemite stripe, which may prevail and become the designation of a regular class or See also:die after a few seasons.
Cotton linings include See also:silesia, originally a See also:linen cloth made in Silesia and now usually a twilled cotton cloth which is dyed various See also:colours; See also:Italian cloth, a kind of jean or sateen produced originally in Italy. Various cotton cloths are imitations of other textures and have modified names which indicate their superficial character, frequently produced by See also:finishing processes. Among these are sateen, which, dyed or printed, is largely used for dresses, linings, upholstery, &c.; linenette, dyed and finished to imitate coloured linen in the See also:north of See also:Ireland and elsewhere; hollandette, usually unbleached or half-bleached and finished to imitate linen See also: 1903. 1904. 1905. Country. Thousands Price Thousands Price Thousands Price of Yards. per Yard. of Yards. per Yard. of Yards. per Yard. Germany . 60,650 3.77 60,129 4.02 65,842 3.98 Netherlands 47,570 3'57 46,187 3.68 56,639 3.47 Belgium 52,199 4'34 56,237 4'42 67,509 4'41 France 17,552 4.61 17,759 4'39 14,875 4'65 See also:Portugal, See also:Azores and See also:Madeira. 32,824 2.70 29,440 2.92 29,867 3'03 Italy . . . . 6,363 5.07 7,904 5'19 8,746 5'31 Austria-Hungary 2,405 3'44 2,102 3'40 I,905 3.60 See also:Greece. 40,973 2'64 32,658 3•II 28,190 3.20 Turkey 305,61I 2.45 379,557 2.53 376,209 2.53 Egypt . 229,704 2.41 283,521 2.57 272,737 2.53 See also:Algeria 709 2.74 438 2.71 455 2.63 See also:Morocco 52,368 2.28 51,262 2.44 44,407 2.44 See also:Foreign See also:West Africa 64,589 2.92 55,131 3.12 69,163 3.08 See also:Persia 34,859 2'46 33,119 2.67 38,647 2.59 Dutch East Indies . 156,905 2'45 185,196 2.72 226,586 2.57 Philippine Islands . 25,558 2.59 25,969 2.86 42,876 2.66 China, including Hong-Kong . 477,691 2'83 548,974 3'34 799,732 3•o6 Japan . 67,315 3.08 42,373 3'34 128,725 2.99 United States of America 72,360 6.8o 52,391 7.18 65,563 7.40 Foreign West Indies . 86,349 2'08 98,797 2.21 80,679 2.24 See also:Mexico 19,327 3.10 21,679 3.42 21,028 3.31 Central America 40,879 I.97 53,018 2.21 49,523 2.29 See also:Colombia and See also:Panama 44,299 2'25 44,648 2.54 31,798 2.41 See also:Venezuela . 52,330 I.87 52,934 2.07 32,717 2.11 See also:Peru . 28,962 2.66 32;430 2.85 39,035 2.78 See also:Chile . 84,118 2.50 80,836 2.57 96,996 2.62 See also:Brazil . 152,402 2.64 134,841 2.89 131,504 2.50 See also:Uruguay 44,062 2.79 35,670 2.85 56,770 2.95 See also:Argentine See also:Republic . 151,003 2.91 186,022 3.04 159,115 3'24 See also:Gibraltar . 11,961 2.39 10,578 2'47 3,960 2.73 See also:Malta . 4,065 3' 11 3,659 3.45 4,006 3.3I British W. Africa 69,795 3.27 69,308 3'43 74,392 3'40 S. 61,778 3.61 29,670 4'03 50,592 3.69 British India- Bombay . 678,684 2.07 818,261 2.23 908,619 2.24 Madras . 132,825 2.48 141,675 2.63 131,145 2.62 Bengal . 1,122,004 1.97 1,215,607 2.18 1,280,314 2.18 Burma 64,654 2'84 79,765 3.10 72,528 3'13 Straits Settlements) . 112,006 2.61 100,230 2.84 121,690 2.71 Ceylon . 17,395 2.75 19,336 2.95 24,991 2.94 See also:Australia Io6,000 3'83 128,247 4.01 136,481 3'85 New See also:Zealand . 38,499 3'58 33,538 3.81 32,315 3.63 British West India Islands, 47,439 4'15 49,903 4.25 45,189 4'47 See also:Bahamas and British See also:Guiana 49,614 2'49 43,487 2'61 47,173 2.21 Other countries . 188,662 2.84 197,339 3'14 226,971 3'03 Total . 5,157,316 2.57 5,591,822 2.75 6,198,200 2.74 See also:butter cloth, See also:mosquito netting, handkerchief, blanket, towelling, See also:bagging. Among the See also:miscellaneous cloths made or made partly of cotton may be mentioned: waste cloths, made from waste yarns and usually coarse in texture; See also:khaki cloth, made largely for military clothing in cotton as well as in woollen; cottonade, a name given to various coarse low cloths in the United States and elsewhere; lasting, which seems to be an See also:abbreviation of " lasting cloth," a stiff, durable texture used in making shoes, &c.; bolting cloth, used in bolting or sifting; brattice cloth, a stout, tarred cloth made of cotton or wool and used for bratticing or lining the sides of shafts in mines; sponge cloths, used for cleaning machinery; See also:shoddy and mungo, which though mainly woollen have frequently a cotton admixture; and splits, either plain or fancy, usually of low quality, which include any cloth woven two or three in the breadth of the loom and " split " into the necessary width. Cotton is used too for many miscellaneous purposes, including the manufacture of See also:lamp wicks and even of billiard balls. British Cotton Cloth Exports.—The See also:main lines of the Lancashire export trade in cotton goods are indicated in the Board of Trade returns. The table on p. 278 compiled from them is taken from the Manchester Guardian. It gives in thousands of yards the quantities of cotton goods exported from Great Britain during 1903, 1904 and 1g05 respectively, together with average value per yard for each of the countries. The following table gives, approximately, in thousands of yards the quantities exported of the four main divisions of cotton cloths: 1903. 1904. 1905. Thousands Thousands Thousands of Yards. of Yards. of Yards. Grey or unbleached . 1,880,321 2,033,895 2,336,018 Bleached . 1,326,255 1,528,165 1,710,742 Printed 1,027,925 1,036,901 1,053,900 Dyed and coloured . 922,735 993,009 1,097,540 In the See also:case of cloth, too, the Board of Trade returns must not be taken as an absolute See also:record of imports to the particular countries, as the ultimate recipient is not always determined. The development of the Eastern trade has been one of the most remarkable features of the cotton trade in the 19th See also:century. Professor Chapman writes in his Cotton Industry and Trade: "In 1820 Europe received about half the cotton fabrics which were sent abroad, while the United States received nearly one-tenth and eastern See also:Asia little more than one-twentieth. By 188o Europe was taking less than one-twelfth, the United States less than one-fiftieth, and eastern Asia more than a half." Naturally a trade tends to find out the most See also:direct means of distribution, and Manchester merchants are now generally in direct connexion with native dealers in India. Bombay was the See also:pioneer in the custom, followed now by Calcutta and Karachi, by which deliveries of goods from British merchants remained under the See also:control of the See also:banks until the native dealers took them up. Manchester business with India, China, &c., is done under various conditions, however, and a good many firms have branches abroad. The regular "indent" by which most of the Manchester Eastern business is conducted now implies a definite offer for shipment from the dealer abroad, either direct or through the exporter's agents, and commonly includes See also:freight and See also:insurance. The term "See also:commission agent" is now discredited, and buying done by Manchester houses on See also:simple commission terms is unusual though not unknown. This has been so since the famous law case of See also:Williamson v. See also:Barbour in 1877, when it was established that whatever might be the custom of the trade a commission agent was not entitled to make a profit over his commission on the various processes, such as handling and packing, which are a necessary part of the exporter's See also:work. A good deal of business is done, however, for South America and other markets in which the goods are bought for delivery in the Manchester warehouse, all charges for packing, &c., and See also:carriage being extra. Transactions with distant markets are now done almost entirely by See also:cable, and a remarkable development of the telegraphic See also:code has enabled merchants to See also:pack a good deal into a brief See also:message. A cable sent to India in the evening may bring a reply next See also:morning, and in these days of rapid cotton fluctuations See also:mail advices are confined mainly to general discussion, hypothetical inquiry, See also:advice, admonition and complaint. Some Manchester export business is done through See also:London, See also:Glasgow, and See also:continental towns, of which See also:Hamburg is the principal. Glasgow buys largely of yarns and cloth, some considerable part of which is dyed or printed, for India and elsewhere, and has an indigenous manufacture and trade in fine goods such as book-muslins and lappets, a somewhat delicate See also:department of manufacture which necessitates a slower See also:running of machinery than is usual in Lancashire. Besides the indent business there is, of course, purely See also:merchant business by Manchester exporters, who buy on their own initiative at what they consider to be opportune times or on recommendations from their houses or correspondents abroad. In the Indian trade, especially in the Calcutta trade, a large proportion of the total amount is done by a few houses who buy in this way, and there is some difference of See also:opinion as to whether the method, which had fallen out of See also:fashion, may not further develop. It is more speculative than the indent business, but the dealing with large quantities which it involves gives the opportunity to buy very cheaply. A good many firms venture occasionally to buy in anticipation of their customers' needs, especially when they expect a rising market. During the great trade "See also:boom" of 1905 there was a good deal of buying by exporters in advance of their indents because manufacturers continued to See also:contract engagements which threatened to exclude See also:dilatory buyers. On the whole, however, what may be called the speculative centre of gravity of Great Britain's export business in cotton goods is not in Manchester but abroad. The terms on which business is conducted are various even in a single market, and it is sometimes a reproach that British firms are old-fashioned in their reluctance to give See also:credit. The so-called enterprising methods of some See also:German traders are, however, condemned by many experienced English traders, and it is said that in China, for instance, the seeming successes of the new-comers are delusive. The See also:Tientsin developments of German business on credit terms are said to have proved unsatisfactory, and heavy losses were suffered in Hong-Kong some years ago by merchants who endeavoured to initiate a bolder system of trading. The very See also:common complaint of British consuls that British firms neglect to send out travellers may have some See also:foundation, but a commercial See also:house naturally follows the See also:line of least resistance to the development of its trade, and cannot be expected to work remote and barren ground when better opportunities are near at hand. On the whole it appears that the British cotton trade continues to increase to a satisfactory degree in fancy and See also:special goods, which require for their production a comparatively high degree of technical skill, and are more lucrative than some of the simpler products in which competitors have been most formidable. Various finishing processes, and particularly the mercerizing of yarn and cloth, have increased the possibilities in cotton materials, and while staples still form the bulk of our foreign trade, it seems that as the stress of competition in these grows acute, more and more of our See also:energy may be transferred to the production of goods which See also:appeal to a growing See also:taste or fancy. British Home Trade.—The home trade in cotton cloths is a great and important section, but it is not comparable in See also:volume to the export trade. It involves more numerous and more elaborate processes, and the qualities for home use are generally finer and more costly than those for export. Of course by far the larger part of the yarn spun in Lancashire is woven in Lancashire, but of the cotton cloth woven in Lancashire it is roughly estimated that about 20% is used in Great Britain. Not only is the average of quality better, but the variety of kinds and designs is greater in the home trade than in the export trade. A good home trade connexion is considered an extremely valuable asset, and as the trade is highly differentiated the profits are usually good. Some manufacturers devote themselves exclusively to the home trade, and some exclusively to foreign trade, but there is a large class with what may be called a margin of See also:alternation, which serves to redress the See also:balance as business in one or other of the sections is good or bad. Certain kinds of light goods made for India and other Eastern markets are not used in the home trade, and the typical Eastern staples are not generally used in their particular "sizings," but with these exceptions and various specialities almost every kind of cotton cloth is used to some extent in Great Britain. Grey calicoes for home use, except the lowest kinds, are comparatively pure, and of See also:late years the heavy fillings which used to be common in bleached goods have become discredited. The housewife long persisted in deceiving herself by purchasing filled calicoes, and the •movement in favour of purer goods owes a good deal, strangely enough, to the increase in the making-up trade and the consequent inconveniences to workers of sewing See also:machines, whose needles. were constantly broken by hard filled calicoes. This development of the making-up trade has become an important See also:element in the home trade, and it has greatly reduced the See also:retail sale of piece-goods. The See also:purchase of ready-made shirts, underclothing, &c., corresponds to a See also:change in the habits of the See also:people. The factories which have been erected in the north of Ireland, on the outskirts of London and elsewhere turn out millions of garments that would, under the old conditions, have been made at home. It is not necessary here to balance the advantages and disadvantages of the two systems, and it must not be supposed that made-up cotton garments are necessarily cheap and inefficient. The chief distributing centre of cotton made-up goods is London, though a considerable trade is done through wholesale houses in Manchester and elsewhere. Large warehouses in the See also:city of London carry on the trade and frequently supply Lancashire with her own goods. Of course the partial loss of the piece-goods trade by the shops is not a loss in aggregate trade, as they are the ultimate distributors of the made-up garments, which are probably at least as profitable to retail as calico or flannelette sold in lengths. The normal course of home trade piece-goods is from manufacturer to bleacher, See also:dyer, printer or finisher, either on account of a merchant to whom the goods are sold or on the manufacturer's own account. By far the See also:majority of Lancashire manufacturers sell their goods as they come from the loom, or, as it is called, in the " grey See also:state," but an increasing number now cultivate the trade in finished goods. Usually the manufacturer sells either directly or through an agent to a merchant who sells again to the shopkeeper, but the last twenty or See also:thirty years have seen a considerable development of more direct dealing. Some manufacturers now go to the shopkeeper, and this has made it difficult for the merchant with a limited See also:capital and therefore a limited assortment to survive. The great general houses such as See also:Rylands's, See also:Philips's and See also:Watt's in Manchester, and See also:Cook's and Pawson's in London, some of which are manufacturers to a minor degree, continue to flourish because under one roof they can supply all that the See also:draper requires, and so enable him to economize in the time spent in buying and to See also:save himself the trouble of attending to many accounts. Some general merchants, indeed, supply what are practically " tied houses," which give all their trade in return for pecuniary assistance or special terms. The tendency to eliminate the middleman has not only brought a good many manufacturers into direct relation with the shopkeeper, but in some exceptional cases the manufacturer, adopting some system of broadcast See also:advertisement and postal delivery, has dealt with the consumer. Naturally, the merchant resents any developments which exclude him, and some mild forms of See also:boycott have occasionally been instituted. In the United States there has been an arduous struggle over this question, and combinations of merchants have sometimes compelled favourable terms. In See also:England, though the merchant has maintained a great part of the trade with shopkeepers, the developing trade with makers of shirts, underclothing, &c., is mainly done by the manufacturers directly, and perhaps the simplification of relations by direct dealing in the cotton trade has now reacheda point of fairly See also:stable See also:compromise. The tendency to direct trading is naturally controlled by the exigencies of capital. Those manufacturers who See also:act as merchants aim to retain the merchant profit and must employ a merchant capital in See also:stocks. There has been a tendency, indeed, to make the manufacturer the stock-keeper, and some merchants do little more than pass on the goods a See also:stage after taking See also:toll. The great improvement in trade during rgos and 1906 checked this tendency, and probably the manufacturing extensions owed something to the capital set See also:free by the reductions of stocks. It must be noted, however, that while most of the spinning concerns are worked by limited companies or individuals with a considerable capital, a good many small manufacturers exist who have little capital and are practically financied by their agents or customers. This is so in both the export and home trades. The home trade merchant or merchant-manufacturer See also:works largely through agents and travellers, and though railway facilities continue to improve, some shopkeepers rarely visit their markets. The difficulty that is naturally experienced by a traveller in finding sufficient support on a sparsely populated "ground" has brought into See also:vogue the traveller on commission who represents several firms. The traveller with See also:salary and allowances for expenses survives, but the quickening induced by an See also:interest in the amount of sales has caused many firms to adopt the principle of commission, which may, however, be an addition to a minimum salary. Of course, such travellers are not See also:peculiar to the cotton trade, but cotton goods in various forms are an important See also:factor in the home trade.
The profits of manufacturers, merchants and shopkeepers are commonly very much less on the lower classes of cotton goods than on the higher ones. Thus while there may be a difference of id. ,per yd. between the qualities on a manufacturer's See also:list, the difference in cost may not be more than a See also:farthing; and, again, while the shopkeeper sometimes pays 21d. or even 28d. per yd. for a calico to retail at 21d., his next selling price may be 31d. for one which See also:costs him only 21d. or 3d. per yd. It appears, there-fore, that if the poorer classes of the community have, the discretion to avoid the lowest qualities they may obtain very good value in serviceable goods. In the matter of profits, however, there is a good deal of irregularity.
The Manchester Royal Exchange.—There are not many cotton mills or weaving sheds in Manchester, which is, however, the great distributive centre, and its Exchange is the See also:meeting-place of most classes of buyers and sellers in the cotton trade and various trades allied to it. As buyers of finished goods for London and the country do not attend it, certain departments of the home trade are hardly represented, but practically all the. spinners and manufacturers and all the export merchants of any importance are subscribers. Transactions between spinners and manufacturers are largely effected on Tuesdays and Fridays, the old "market days," when the manufacturing towns are well represented, but a large amount of business is transacted every See also:day. Besides the persons immediately concerned in the cotton trade and connected with allied trades, a large number of members find it convenient to use this great meeting-place as a means of approach to a body of responsible persons. Thus not only bleachers, See also:carriers, chemical manufacturers, See also: Since the Ship See also:Canal made; Manchester into a cotton See also:port there has been a steady development of the raw cotton trade in Manchester, and many cotton brokers and merchants have Manchester offices or pay regular visits from See also:Liverpool. The various expansions and developments have made it difficult to. maintain the ratio between See also:accommodation and requirements, and although overcrowding is troublesome only during some three or four See also:hours a See also:week, at "high 'Change" on market days, various complaints and suggestions provoked in 1906 an appeal from the chairman of directors to the Manchester See also:corporation. This took the form of a See also:suggestion that the Exchange should be worked as a municipal institution on a new site, and though such a development met with opposition it was apparent that Manchester must presently have a new or an enlarged Exchange. The See also:present See also:building is, however, the largest of the kind in the See also:world, and the See also:history of the various exchanges coincides with the expansion of the Lancashire industry. According to semi-See also:official records " the first building in the nature of an Exchange " was erected in 1729 by See also:Sir See also:Oswald Mosley, and though designed for " chapmen to meet and transact their business " it appears that, as to-day, encroachments were made by other traders until cotton manufacturers and merchants preferred to do their business in the See also:street. In 1792 the building was demolished, and for a See also:period of some eighteen years there was nothing of the kind. In 1809 the new Exchange was opened, and terms of membership were fixed at two guineas for those within 5 m. of the building and one See also:guinea for those outside this See also:radius. In the following See also:year plans for enlargement were submitted to the shareholders, and various extensions followed, particularly in 1830 and 1847. The present building was opened partly in 1871 and partly in 1874. The area of the great See also:room is 4405 sq. yds. The subscription was raised on the 1st of See also:January 1906 from three guineas to four guineas for new members, but the number of members continues to increase and early in 1906 amounted to 8786. Of course in this great mart a large variety of types is to be found and the members fall into some kind of rough grouping. Export buyers, attended by salesmen, are commonly more or less stationary and prominent; Burnley manufacturers abound in one locality and spinners of Egyptian yarns in another. The importance of the Exchange as a bargaining centre is fairly maintained, though buyers are assiduously cultivated in their own offices, and the See also:telephone has done a good deal to abbreviate negotiation: As to the amount of business transacted on the Exchange there is no record. The market reporters make some See also:attempt to materialize the current See also:gossip, and doubtless catch well enough the great movements in the ebb and flow of demand, but the sum of countless obscure transactions cannot be estimated. Some few years ago an attempt was made to mark more clearly the course of business in Manchester, and a See also:scheme was prepared for the recording of daily transactions. This could only have been a somewhat rough affair, but its originator maintained reasonably that it would be of interest if some indication of the daily movements could be obtained. For some time a memorandum of the total of daily sales reported was posted on 'Change, but the indifference of traders, together with the distrust that makes any innovation difficult, caused the scheme to be abandoned. It would be difficult in any attempt to estimate the volume of British home trade to distinguish what may be called the effective movements of goods. There is a considerable amount of re-selling both in yarn and cloth, and, though the bulk of cotton goods finds the way through regular and normal channels to the consumer, these channels are not always direct. A good many transactions on the Manchester Exchange are intermediate, without fulfilling any useful See also:function, and could be accomplished by the principals if they were brought together. Agents, of whom there are many, sometimes occupy a See also:precarious position, but they are protected in some degree by law as well as by the custom of the trade and the point of See also:honour. Points of honour in the Manchester business may seem to be arbitrarily selected, but they are an important part of the scheme. An immense amount of business is done without any apparent check against repudiation. It is, of course, the verbal bargain that binds, and large transactions are commonly completed without witnesses, though before the contract or memorandum of sale passes the fluctuations of the market may have made the bargain, to one See also:side or the other, a very bad one. (A. N. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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