In Asia the chief crops before the war, apart from India, were in China and Asiatic Russia, including Transcaucasia. Sta- tistically, the Chinese crop has always been a mystery, and its amount can only be guessed at about two million bales. The Russian crop had before the war risen rapidly to nearly i| million bales, part of which was of indigenous varieties similar to the Indian, and the remainder of good American quality; but this crop had been almost wiped out by the war, and it was not likely to recover as long as Russia remained in chaos.
The Cotton Industry. The growth of the cotton industry throughout the world has already been indicated by the figures of spindleage given in the appended tables. Perhaps the most interesting feature up to 1921 had been the development of the American, Japanese and Indian sections of the trade. The first was largely due to the growth of the Southern mills, which had increased from ten million spindles in 1910 to 15 millions in 1920. In Japan the percentage increase of spindles had probably been greater than in any other country, though the total in 1921 was still comparatively small. The output of the Indian mills had also advanced in recent years, both in quality and quantity; but this unfortunately raised bitter controversy with regard to the Excise duties, which were imposed on the product of Indian mills in 1896 to balance the 35% Customs duty 1 imposed for Revenue purposes on cotton goods imported into India. In 1917 the import duty was raised to 75% without a corresponding increase in the Excise duty; and in 1921 the differentiation was still further increased by an addition of 35 % to the import duty. Table D shows the growth of the Indian cotton industry since 1911.
The facts with regard to the foreign trade of Great Britain in cotton and cotton goods are shown in Table B(See p. 769).
Number of Operatives. In Table F are given the latest figures obtainable in 1921 as to the number of British operatives engaged in the cotton trade since the date of the Census of Production in 1907:
TABLE F. Numbers employed (in thousands).
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Date.
Males.
Females.
Total.
1907 July 1914 .... Nov. 1918 .... July 1920 .... Nov. 1920 ....
218 274 144 218
211
359 415 349 396 376
577 689
493 614
587
The controversial question of the employment of half-timers in the trade moved a step forward in England by the Education Act of 1918, which provided for their gradual abolition.
Wages. With regard to wages, the outstanding feature of the British cotton industry was for many years the excellent organization both of masters and men, as the result of which wage disputes in the trade have, ever since the famous Brook- lands Agreement of 1893, been reduced to a minimum. It is
1 Both duties were originally 5% in 1894.
perhaps also due to this organization that, as a class, the cotton operatives of Lancashire are the most highly skilled, and enjoy the highest standard of living, of any section of the industry throughout the world.
In the Report (1909) by the Board of Trade in England into the Earnings and Hours of Labour of workpeople in the Textile Trades in 1906 (Cd. 4545) the average wages earned in the cotton trade for a full working-week were given as follows:
Men.
Lads and Boys.
Women.
Girls.
All Workpeople.
26s gd
ns6d
i8s8d
losid
igs7d
The total wages bill for a full week at that time was 512,000 and the total number of operatives employed 523,030. It was also calculated that in 1906 the average annual earnings per head in the cotton trade were about 48. The number of hours constituting a full working-week at that time was 555. Wages in the cotton trade in the United Kingdom are calculated on the basis of certain standard lists, the chief of which are known as the Bolton List and the Oldham List for cotton-spinning, and the Uniform List for cotton-weaving. In 1906 the wages actually paid were 5% above list prices for the Bolton and Oldham Lists and list prices for the Uniform List. Table G shows the changes since that date:
TABLE G. Changes in Wages of Cotton Operatives, 1906-21.
Dates.
Cotton Spinning.
Cotton Weaving.
Bolton List.
Oldham List.
Uniform List.
List Prices.
List Prices.
List Prices.
End of 1906
+ 5
+ 5
1907 and 1908
+ 10
+ 10
1909 to 1911
+ 5
+ 5
1912 and 1913
+ 5
+ 5
+ 5
July 1914
+ 5
+ 5
+ 5
June 1915
+ 10
+ 10
+ 5
Jan. 1916
+ 10
+ 10
+ 10
June 1916
+ 15
+ i5
+ 10
Jan. 1917
+ 15
. + 15
+ 15
Feb. 1917
+ 25
+ 25
+ 15
July 1917 Dec. 1917
-r- 25 + 40
+ 25 + 40
+ 25 + 40
Tune 1918*
+ 65
+ 65
+ 65
Dec. 1918
+ "5
+ H5
+ "5
July I9i9f May 1920
+ H5 +215
+ H5 +215
+ 145 +215
June 1921
+ 155
+ 155
+ 155
Dec. 1921
+ 145
+ 145
+ 145
- From June 10 to Aug. 3 1918 the bulk of the operatives were
working 40 hours, and from Aug. 3 to Oct. 26 453 hours, in place of the normal 55} hours per week.
f In July 1919 the week was reduced from 55, hours to 48.
The changes made in wages during the war and since are described in Henderson's History of the Cotton Control Board above cited, from which the figures in the above lists since July 1914 have been taken.
TABLE D. Indian Cotton Industry, 1911-21.
1911-2
1912-3
I9I3-4
I9I4-5
I9I5-6
I9I6-7
1917-8
1918-9
1919-20
1920-1
Number of Mills
258
266
264
255
267
267
269
264
Number of Spindles _ 1
6,427
6,495
6,621
6,598
6,676
6,670
6,614
6,591
Number of Looms . \ thousands <
87-6
91-6
96-7
103-3
108-4
no-8
114-8
116-1
Number of Employees J
237
259
261
260
292
277
284
290
Cotton consumed : bales
2,050
2,096
2,143
2,103
2,198
2,198
2,086
2,044
Yarn produced : Ib. \
625
688
683
652
722
68 1
66 1
6i5
636
660
Goods produced : Ib.
267
285
274
277
352
378
38i
350
384
367
Yarn exports: Ib. . > millions {
151
204
198
J34
1 6O
169
122
64
152
83
Piece goods exports: yd.
81
87
89
67
H3
264
189
H9
197
Piece goods imports: yd. '
2,428
2,986
3,159
2-4'9
2,118
1,892
1,523
1,097
1,064
1,491
Classification of Yarns spun in India.
Nos. I to 25 ] [ . .
617
59'
66 1
608
578
538
564
592
Nos. 26 to 40 > million Ib. j
62-7
58-4
59-2
68-5
76-3
72-0
67-9
65-6
Nos. over 40 {
3'4
2-2
2-0
4-6
5-8
4-8
3-6
2-1
Classification of Yarns imported.
Nos. i to 25 1 [ . .
2-1
1-9
0-7
8-5
0-8
8-0
Nos. 26 to 40 \ million Ib. !
27-3
17-4
10-6
18-8
7-5
26-6
Nos. over 40 J [
7-9
4-9
3'6
6-7
3-6
5-o
Customs Duty \ . / . Excise Duty L!!iSLL
1,041
325
1,282
374
1,420 363
I,O24 329
902
328
1,194 297
2,556 508
