COMMERCE AND FINANCE, AMERICAN, IN 1882. 



113 



449, a decrease of 1,691,905. The smaller sup- 

 plies of 1881-'82 caused an advance in price 

 which was carried to the highest point by 

 speculative forestallers of the market. The 

 gross cost in the winter was $7.58 per 100 

 pounds, against $5.80 the preceding season. 

 In the beginning of the summer-packing sea- 

 son of 1882 the expectations of a short supply 

 were not realized, for more hogs, and of greater 

 weight than the preceding spring, were sent to 

 market. 



COTTON. The cotton-crop of 1881-'82 was 

 5,435,845 bales. The exports amounted to 

 3,595,031 bales, and the takings of American 

 spinners to 1,661,206 bales ; leaving a stock on 

 hand on the 1st of September of 120,722 bales. 

 The crop of 1880-'81 reached 6,589,329 bales ; 

 the stock on hand, September 1, 1881, 212,233 

 bales. The movement of the crop compared 

 with the previous season was as follows : 

 shipped to Great Britain, 2,311,790 bales, 

 against 2,843,957; to Channel ports, 80,060, 

 against 56,210; to France, 381,186, against 

 556,344; to other foreign countries, 821,995, 

 against 1,139,768; total exports, 3,595,031, 

 against 4,596,279 ; shipments from Tennessee, 

 etc., direct to manufacturers, 477,481, against 

 510,239 bales ; manufactured in Southern mills, 

 238,000, against 205,000; shipped overland, 

 1,134,788, against 1,090,067. The overland 

 movement had increased very greatly in the 

 three years preceding 1881, but in that year, 

 with an increase in the crop of 14'25 per cent, 

 the rail shipments were 7'71 less than the year 

 before. In 1882, although the crop was 17'50 

 per cent smaller than the previous years, the 

 quantity shipped overland was 4 - 10 per cent 

 greater. The average weight of bales in 1881- 

 '82 was 475.67 pounds, against 485.88 pounds 

 in 1880-'81. The crop was of high average 

 quality, dry and clean. 



The Sea Island crop was 38,552 bales, 

 against 36,442 in 1880-'81, and 26,704 in 

 1879-'80. Florida and Georgia produced more 

 and South Carolina less than the previous sea- 

 son. American spinners consumed 14,762 bales 

 of this staple, 3,492 bales more than in 1880- 

 '81 ; the exports were 24,756 bales, against 24,- 

 395 in 1880-'81. 



The new crop of 1882 was about two weeks 

 late in planting, and continued backward till 

 the harvest. The planting was large, and the 

 season remarkably favorable and free from 

 drought or caterpillars, and with less shedding 

 than usual. The boll-worm did considerable 

 damage, however, west of the Mississippi. Al- 

 though the growth was excessively vigorous, 

 the plants matured well. Frosts were later 

 than usual, but prevented a portion of the 

 bolls from ripening in the northern part of the 

 cotton belt. The weather of the picking sea- 

 son was exceptionally favorable. The Decem- 

 ber report of the Bureau of Agriculture makes 

 the approximate size of the crop of 1882-'83 

 6,700,000 bales of 460 pounds. 



The takings of Northern spinners were 

 VOL. xxii. 8 A 



1,661,206 bales, against 1,686,804 in 1880-'81. 

 The consumption for the year is estimated at 

 1,986,206 bales: 1,748,206 bales in the North- 

 ern and 238,000 bales in the Southern mills. 

 The estimated consumption of 1880-'81 was 

 1,855,000 bales. For the manufacturers of 

 printing cloths at least the year was an unsatis- 

 factory one. The mills were kept in operation 

 during the whole crop year, except slight 

 stoppages on account of strikes at Cohoes and 

 Fall River. The increased consumption was 

 far short of the enlarged capacity of the mills. 

 There were about 575,000 new spindles added 

 during the year; new and improved spindles 

 were largely introduced, which raised the 

 average capacity per spindle to, perhaps, 67 

 pounds in the Northern and 153 pounds in the 

 Southern mills. In the census year their ca- 

 pacity was estimated by E. Atkinson at 65-83 

 pounds North and 149*77 pounds South. The 

 total number of spindles in this country on the 

 1st of September is estimated at about 12,000,- 

 000. The speculation in cotton placed the 

 manufacturers at a disadvantage. One effect 

 of the speculation which prevailed in 1881-'82 

 was that the price of American cotton was 

 lower during the whole year in Liverpool than 

 it was to American spinners. Wages had risen 

 considerably since 1878. The manufacturers, 

 to preserve their margin of profit, resorted to a 

 reduction of wages/ although the cost of living 

 had recently been greatly enhanced. As soon 

 as the crop of 1881-'82 was estimated in the 

 fall of 1881, and known to be only about 4,500,- 

 000 bales, speculators took possession of the 

 cotton market. Southerners particularly were 

 confident that a cotton famine would result, 

 and many expected the price to go up to 

 twenty cents a pound. Contracts for future 

 delivery were taken without limit. The Eng- 

 lish dealers and manufacturers had enough on 

 hand to defer their purchases until they had 

 tired out the speculators. The corners conse- 

 quently broke down in the spring. A few 

 months later, when the world's stock was 

 really running very low, speculation rose to a 

 still greater height. 



Altogether the cotton market suffered almost 

 as much as the wheat export and milling trades 

 from the disturbing effects of speculative gam- 

 bling: although the foreign trade could only 

 be retarded, not permanently lost, as when the 

 export of surplus breadstuffs is interfered with. 

 The price of middling uplands was forced up 

 to 13 cents by a corner during that interval 

 between the old crop and the new, which is 

 the usual opportunity of speculators. From 

 that price, in July, it fell to 10-f cents when 

 the new crop began to move, and between the 

 1st of September and the last of December the 

 exports exceeded those of the previous year by 

 over 500,000 bales. Many of the cotton-mills 

 were obliged to close, or work part time. 



Notwithstanding improved machinery, and 

 wages so low that the cost of labor per pound 

 of cotton cloth, when genuine, is no higher 



