Fibres. 



18 



[July, 1910. 



and the other was the result of the 

 Committee's report upon the employ- 

 ment of labour in the Calcutta mills. 

 The election of President of the United 

 States of America entailed a revision of 

 the tariff, and it was of the utmost 

 moment to Dundee how the alterations 

 were to bear upon the jute and linen 

 goods entering that country. The two 

 outstanding problems eventually were 

 how cotton baggings and hessiaus were 

 to fare. As it turned out there were 

 many battles between parties on the 

 bagging question for the old duty being 

 reimposed and for this cloth being added 

 to the free list. Ultimately the latter 

 crave was negotiated, and the goods 

 now enter the States subject to the duty 

 as formerly fixed. , A change fraught 

 with consequence to the tiade was made 

 under the heading of hessiaus from 60 

 in. upwards. By the new tariff the duty 

 on these widths has been brought down 

 to the same level as the 40 in. width, 

 and without very much being said about 

 it this reduction has proved a rich 

 benefit to our local industry, and done 

 vast service in establishing these wide 

 goods on a higher basis than Otherwise 

 would be possible. 



The enactment which is to reduce the 

 working hours in the Calcutta mills by 

 about a third is a most sane and wise 

 provision, and come into operation when 

 it may well act as a mighty stimulus to 

 the trade, but the provoking aspect of 

 the case is that it will be apt to set the 

 capitalist abuilding at Calcutta, so as to 

 make up for the deficiency in spinning 

 and weaving power as compared with the 

 current arrangements. The beneficent 

 measure cannot too soon be instituted, 

 but in rearing mills let some regard be 

 paid to the harmonising of production 

 with the wants of the world, and not 

 crush the trade out of the profit-return- 

 ing list to the detriment of all connected 

 with it. 



Casualties, most of them furth of the 

 district, have had an influence during 

 the year of more or less import upon 

 values. Fires and shipwrecks have con- 

 tributed salvage goods in great abund- 

 ance, and told adversely upon certain 

 widths and kinds. Every now and again 

 there have been auction sales of damaged 

 jute, and various spinners who can take 

 up this class of material have been in 

 the habit of using it up to advantage. 

 Sometimes a fairly high price was paid, 

 but there happened to be a famine in 

 the commoner marks in the later stages 

 of last season, and this dried fibre came 

 in handily. About 1,000 tons saved from 

 a fire in London was the largest con- 

 signment in this category. The wreck 



of the " Maharatta " on Goodwin Sands 

 signified the loss of over 20,000 bales to 

 the trade, as out of a cargo of 23,000 

 bales only 1,000 or 2,000 bales could be got 

 at and utilised. Such a disaster among 

 the jute liners is almost unheard of. 

 The Golando cyclone was little short of 

 a ten days' wonder. Damaged hessiau 

 recovered from the ship-hold has been a 

 factor of a tar-reaching nature in the 

 incidence of the trade, and was present 

 to an extent hitherto unknown. In this 

 particular the embargo fell upon 40 in. 

 hessians, and it is estimated that 60,000 

 cuts went to displace sound goods and 

 depreci ite their cost. 



In dealing with the subject of the jute 

 supply for the year, damaged and in- 

 ferior material comes at once into pro- 

 minence. This is not as it should be. In 

 buying jute Dundee does not buy water, 

 and is not going to have it. An attempt 

 was made last season to bale the jute in 

 the case of several of the native baliug 

 firms with rove ropes, or, in fact, any- 

 thing else that would hold it together, 

 but the trade rightly rebelled, and on a 

 parcel of VG Lightning, arbitrated 

 upon and appealed, Is. 6d. per ton 

 was allowed. The seller repudiated this 

 as not being conform to contract, but 

 afterwards accepted the decision. There- 

 after a provision was inserted in the 

 Dundee contract, making it necessary 

 that the jute be " bound with ropes 

 made of raw jute only, or actual tare 

 to be allowed," and in the London con- 

 tract, which declares that the jute must 

 be " bouud with ropes made of raw 

 jute only, or a tare of 6 lbs. per bale 

 to be allowed," Since the introduction 

 of this clause not a single parcel of 

 jute has been received in ropes other 

 than raw jute. When the matter of 

 excessive moisture came up before the 

 Association there was considerable 

 discussion as to whether the words in 

 the contract, "the jute to be in fair 

 marketable condition," could be held to 

 include excessive moisture, and even- 

 tually arbiters were made free to deal 

 with any flagrant case. None bad 

 enough has come under observation since 

 this power was given. 



This is the most delicate and difficult 

 of all the essentials connected with the 

 condition of the jute that has yet been 

 brought up, and some in the trade are 

 of opinion that it should be provided 

 for specifically in the contract. To 

 draw the liue as to the amount of mois- 

 ture to be allowed is a task that needs 

 careful thinking out. There is an idea 

 that 7£ to 8 per cent, ought not to be 

 exceeded, but this opens the door to 

 the application of the art of watering 



