Page:EB1911 - Volume 07.djvu/294

services are rejected when trade improves and sales are made easily.

Yarn is sold upon various terms, but a regular custom in the home trade is for the spinner to allow 4% discount, for payment in 14 days, of which 2½ goes to the buyer, who is commonly a manufacturer, and 1½ to the agent for sale and guaranteeing the account. In selling yarn for export it is usual to allow the buyer only 1½% for payment in 14 days, or in some cases the discount is at the rate of 5% per annum for 3 months, which is equivalent to 1¼%.

The great bulk of the yarn spun in Great Britain ranges between comparatively narrow limits of count, and such staples as 32^s to 36^s twist and 36^s to 46^s weft in American, 50^s to 60^s twist and 42^s to 62^s weft in Egyptian, make up a large part of the total. It is nevertheless the experience of yarn salesmen that Lancashire produces an increasingly large amount of specialities that indicate a continued differentiation in trade. The tendency to spin finer counts has been to some extent counteracted by the development of the flannelette trade, for which heavy wefts are used, and there has been again a tendency lately to use “condensor” or waste wefts, which has worked to the disadvantage of the spinners of the regular coarse counts spun at Royton and elsewhere. The demand for cloths which require careful handling and regularity in weaving has helped to develop the supply of ring yarns which will stand the strain of the loom better than mule twists. A great amount of doubled and trebled yarn is now sold, though it does not appear that recent expansions have added much to doubling spindles, and considerable developments continue in the use of dyed and mercerized yarns.

Yarns are sold according to their “actual” counts, though when they are woven into cloth they frequently attain nominal or brevet rank. There has been a long-continued discussion, which between buyer and seller sometimes degenerates into a dispute, on the subject of moisture in yarns, and the difficulty is not confined to the Lancashire industry. The amount permissible, according to the recommendation of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, is 8%, but while it may be assumed that yarns at the time of their sale rarely contain less than this, they frequently contain a good deal more. It is a matter of experience that cotton yarns which when spun contain only a small percentage of moisture will absorb up to about 8% when they are exposed to what may be rather vaguely described as natural conditions. The exigencies of competition prompted the discovery that if yarn were sold by weight fresh from the spindle its comparative dryness made such early sale less profitable than if it were allowed to “condition.” Between loss and delay the spinner found an obvious alternative in damping the yarn artificially. As it was often clearly to the advantage of the buyer that he should receive immediate delivery he did not object to water in moderation, but art soon began to run a little ahead of nature. The essentially dishonest practice of deluging yarn with water, which has sometimes even degenerated into the use of weighting materials deleterious to weaving, has been recognized as a great nuisance, but while various attempts have been made to protect the buyer the question seems to have pretty well settled itself on the principles which commonly rule the sales of commodities between those who intend to do business continuously. The spinner who persists in over-weighting his yarn finds it difficult to obtain “repeat” orders.

A remarkable point in the Lancashire yarn trade is the looseness of the contracts between spinner and manufacturer. Doubtless some kind of sale note or acknowledgment usually passes between them, but in the home trade at least it is quite usual to leave the question of delivery an open one. It would not be correct to say that this system or want of system is satisfactory, but the trade manages to rub along very well with it, although inconveniences and disagreements sometimes arise when prices have advanced or declined considerably. Thus when prices have advanced the manufacturer may find it difficult to obtain delivery of the yarn that he had bought at low rates, for some spinners have a curious, indefensible preference for delivering their higher-priced orders; and, on the other hand, when prices have fallen the manufacturer sometimes ceases to take delivery of the high-priced yarn and actually purchases afresh for his needs. Yet positive repudiation is very rare though compromises are not uncommon, and a good many illogical arrangements are made that imply forbearance and amity. Litigation in the yarn trade is very unusual, and Lancashire traders generally have only vague notions of the bearing of law upon their transactions, and a wholesome dread of the experience that would lead to better knowledge.

The average yearly values of the exports of cotton, yarn and cloth from Great Britain for the decades 1881–1890 and 1891–1900 respectively, are given by Professor Chapman in his Cotton Industry and Trade, in million pounds:—

	1881–1890.	1891–1900.
Cloth	£60.4	£57.3
Yarn	12.3	9.3
	——	——
Total	£72.7	£66.6

During the earlier decade the prices of cotton were comparatively high.

The whole of the cloth exports represent, of course, a corresponding home trade in yarns. The following table, taken from the Manchester Guardian, gives in thousands of ℔ the amounts of cotton yarns exported from Great Britain during 1903, 1904 and 1905 respectively, according to the Board of Trade returns, together with the average value per lb for each of the countries:—

	1903.		1904.		1905.
	℔.*	Price per ℔.	℔.*	Price per ℔.	℔.*	Price per ℔.
		d.		d.		d.
Russia	814	30.22	713	30.71	557	30.66
Sweden	1,526	11.00	1,486	12.55	1,512	11.12
Norway	1,656	9.54	1,511	11.05	1,606	9.73
Denmark	2,429	8.91	2,368	10.18	2,860	9.51
Germany	27,239	16.05	40,295	.27	39,513	16.38
Netherlands	29,591	9.10	29,384	10.48	37,341	8.93
Belgium	3,970	15.89	5,864	16.50	7,205	16.12
France	3,974	17.59	3,084	20.01	3,518	22.64
Italy	204	21.78	174	24.70	204	22.21
Austria-Hungary	2,662	11.60	3,329	14.36	3,066	13.36
Rumania	4,608	8.55	5,072	10.13	7,856	9.73
Turkey	12,966	8.93	14,253	10.05	17,389	9.37
Egypt	4,590	8.66	4,381	9.83	4,382	8.59
China (including Hong-Kong)	4,660	9.45	2,457	10.24	8,441	8.70
Japan	1,406	2.98	681	11.46	4,071	13.99
British India—
Bombay	6,286	10.80	8,145	11.88	13,112	10.86
Madras	6,683	11.07	8,288	12.48	10,930	11.91
Bengal	6,777	11.04	6,596	12.82	11,068	11.20
Burma	5,611	12.17	3,388	12.39	4,211	12.31
Straits Settlements	1,945	10.81	1,137	11.57	2,149	10.71
Ceylon	33	11.92	44	16.51	42	13.55
Other countries	21,129	12.39	21,252	13.28	23,970	12.43
Total and average	150,758	11.79	163,901	13.11	205,001	12.08

* 000 omitted.

It should be understood, however, that in some cases the Board of Trade figures represent only an approximation to the ultimate distribution, as the exports are sometimes assigned to the intermediate country, and in particular it is understood that a considerable part of the yarn sent to the Netherlands is destined for Germany or Austria. The large business done in yarns with the continent of Europe is in some respects an extension of the British home trade, though certain countries have their own specialities. A considerable business is done with European countries in doubled yarns and in fine counts of Egyptian, including “gassed” yarns, which are also sent intermittently to Japan. “Extra hard” yarns are sent to Rumania and other Near Eastern markets, and Russia, as the average price indicates, buys sparingly of very fine yarns. The trade with the Far East, which, though not very large for any one market, is important in the aggregate, is a good deal specialized, and since the