208 COTTON TEXTILES IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 



Any kind of cotton textile, embroidered, in which not less than 12 

 per cent, and not more than 50 per cent, of silk is employed, the rates 

 per 100 kilograms are as follows : 



Any kind of cotton cloth embroidered with gold or silver threads, or 

 gilt or silvered threads, 500 lire per 100 kilograms, besides the duty on 

 the cloth. Any kind of cloth embroidered with ordinary metal threads, 

 200 lire per 100 kilograms, in addition to the regular duty ou the cloth. 

 I beg to give Mr. Willy Hasenbalg, a young German cotton merchant, 

 at present residing in G^noa, my sincere thanks for valuable assistance 

 in the compilation of the statistics above submitted. 



JAMES FLETCHER, 



Consul. 

 UNITED STATES CONSULATE, 



Genoa, July 17, 1889. 



MESSINA. 



REPORT BY CONSUL JONES. 



ITALIAN versus FOREIGN COTTONS. 



Messina was deprived January 1, 1880, by act of Parliament, of its 

 ancient privileges, and ceased to be a free port. Under the old regime 

 Messina was the distributing point for Sicily and Calabria, and through 

 this artificially stimulated trade large fortunes were made by importers. 

 Since 1880, all merchandise entered at this port has been subject to the 

 tariff existing for the whole kingdom, and the imports from abroad of 

 cotton textiles, as well as of many other articles, have greatly de- 

 creased, their place being taken by national industrial products. ^ The 

 latter, first, from being protected for a number of years by the premium 

 on gold during the legal tender period (1874-'83), and, secondly, by 

 the increase in import duties, have developed rapidly and have reached 

 such a point as to successfully meet foreign competition, especially as 

 concerns shirtings, gray long cloth, ect., that constitute the principal 

 articles of consumption in Sicily. Foreign fancy articles still retain 

 their supremacy, but their sale is not very large. 



Formerly England and Switzerland supplied this market almost en- 

 tirely ; they have gradually lost ground, and the imports from these 

 countries have fallen off at least 75 per cent, since 1880, 



