TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION F. 601 
Section F.—ECONOMIC SCIENCE AND STATISTICS. 
PRESIDENT oF THE Secrion.—Rh. H. [news Parerava, F.R.S., F.S.S. 
[For Mr. Palgrave’s address see p. 605. | 
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20. 
The following Papers were read :— 
1. The Cotton Trade: its Condition and Prospects.' By Epwtn Gururie. 
For a number of years now the cotton trade has suffered severe depression. In 
spite of the improved appliances of the present day as compared with those of ten 
or twenty years ago, by means of which improvements the cost of converting 
cotton into yarn is at least a halfpenny per pound weight cheaper, the profit 
obtainable is less than it was, until now; simple interest is all that is generally 
made upon the capital employed in the trade, which is not a proper rate of 
compensation for all the contingencies incident to fixity of costly plant. 
The following tables show the course of our trade in relation to that of other 
three positions of manufacture—yiz., Continental Europe, the United States, and 
India :— 
TABLE I.—CONSUMPTION OF COTTON IN GREAT BRITAIN, CONTINENT OF EUROPE, 
AND UNITED STATES, FROM 1836, IN AVERAGE PERIODS OF FIVE YEARS. 
average! | mate nate} Rate] || Rate 
aaa Abso- |of in- ean Abso- |of in-} Conti- | Abso- |of in- United Abso- | of in- 
Years “ | lute in- | crease Britain lute in- |crease} nent of | lute in- {crease States lute in- | crease 
400 Ib. | crease | per ze crease | per | Europe} crease | per | crease | per 
Balen cent. cent, cent. | cent. 
| 
1836-40 |1,780,000) — — 1,014,000! — — 521,000 242,000 — 
1841-45 |2,350,000] 570,000] 32:00}1,303,000) 289,000] 28-50] 668,000] 147,000} 28-214 381,000 129,000} 57-44 
1846-50 |2,777,000] 427,000] 18-17 }1,424,000, 121,000] 9:28] 751,000) 83,000] 12-42] 601,000 220,000} 57-74 
1851-55 |3,707,000] 930,000} 33:49 41.875,000, 451,000 | 31-66 {1,128,000| 377,000] 50:20] 703,000 102,000 | 16-97 
1856 -60 |4,834,000)1,127,000] 30°40 12,368,000 493,000 | 26-29 11,568,000) 440,000] 39:00] 897,000) 194,000 | 27°59 
1861-65| — = pe asi ae a = ae 
1866-70 |5,023,000] 189,000] 3:9112,434,000} 66,000] 2-79 11,633,000} 65,000] 415) 955,000 58,000) 6°46 
1871-75 |6,525,000|1,502,000| 29-90|3,071,000, 637,000 | 26°18 12,141,000 508,000] 31-10}1,312,000 357,000] 37-38 
}1876-80 |7,418,000] 993,000] 15-22]3,137,000) 66,000} 2:14 12,567,000] 426,000] 19-90 1,714,000. 402,000] 30-64 
1881-82 |8,902,000|1,484,000] 20-00 [3,626,000) 489,000 | 15°58 jB139,000 572,000 | 22-28 f2,137,000 423,000] 24-68 
4 
> 
ed 
TABLE IIJ.—CONSUMPTION OF COTTON. 
(Bombay Presidency Report.) 
Absolute Rate of increase 
Bales 400 lbs. increase. per cent, 
STi T1084 = > . 222,440 
1878-79 . é - 207,509 pe ‘ 
1679-80. “Ga 960 ce ae 
1880-81 . . : . 297,148 
For the purposes of this writing, which are general rather than particular, these 
tables are sufficient. The author does not propose to burden the paper with any 
further statistics. 
1 The paper has been published by the author as a pamphlet (Irelands, Man- 
chester). ' 
