Journal of the Textile Institute Proceedings

ISSN: 1944-7019 (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/jtip20

EXPORT TRADE AND EMPLOYMENT IN THE

WOOLLEN AND WORSTED INDUSTRY
Arnold N. Shimmin M.A.
To cite this article: Arnold N. Shimmin M.A. (1924) EXPORT TRADE AND EMPLOYMENT IN THE
WOOLLEN AND WORSTED INDUSTRY, Journal of the Textile Institute Proceedings, 15:7, P235P249, DOI: 10.1080/19447012408660949
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19447012408660949

Published online: 15 Jan 2009.

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Date: 26 June 2016, At: 03:41

Empire Textile Conference

P235

EXPORT TRADE AND EMPLOYMENT IN THE WOOLLEN AND

WORSTED INDUSTRY
By ARNOLD N . SHIMMIN, M.A.

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{University of Leeds).
The main features of the course of the post-war boom, the depression of 1921
and the subsequent recover^' will afiford the most suitable introduction to this
paper. The years 1919 and 1920 were years of exceptional industrial activity,
and the currency inflation of the preceding years induced a state of artificial
prosperity. So far as the export trade is concerned, this prosperity wais enjoyed
much more by the makers of woollen and worsted tissues than by those exporting
tops and yarns. The follo\ving table illustrates this point concisely
Exports (Quantity)*
(Average of 1913 = 100.)
Woollen Tissues Worsted Tissues
(sq. yds.)
(sq. yds.)
1919
Average
1920

January
February

March ...
April
May

June
July

...

August...
September
October
November
December
1921

January

February
March ...
April ...
May

June
July

...

August...
September
October
November
December

Tops
(lbs.)

Worsted Yarn
(lbs.)

123-7

53-2

34-0

49-4

157 0
152-8
149-3
156-3
150-3
166-3
124-7
119-7
107-9
116-4
77-8

90-2
78-7
95-5
1199
123-3
109-6
127-6
119-9
97-5
72-6
86-7
66-1

59-8
48-6
36-8
45-9
60-7
42-3
44-3
57-4
54-1
94-8
51-9
56-1

71-9
58-6
62-8
49-8
48-3
47-1
59-2
41-8
38-5
39-2
40-6
34-4

83-0
59-7
52-8
53-1
430
36-9
44-9
44-9
518
60-0
59-2
60-8

61-2
55-2
43-5
60-3
37-3
42-1
42-4
45-3
50-6
60-8
61-8
65-9

45-3
506
127-6
160-3
869
55-7
37-9
70-3
711
90-2
83-8
72-8

33-4
23-3
26-4
26-2
28-1
25-9
37-2
60-4
57-0
81-5
84-9
79-1

HI 2

* Quoted from the Index Numbers of Messrs. Dean & Curwen in the Bradford Chamber
of Commerce Journal.

P236

Proceedings

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The figures for 1921 are in themselves a sufficient indication^of the falling off of
trade in that year.
Let us t u m now to the fluctuations in the volume of employment in the
industry. The graphs below indicate the percentages of employment month by
month in the woollen and worsted industry and in all trades during the years
1921-1924. This chart shows clearly the gravity of the depression which reached
its worst point in May and June 1921. There was a marked recovery in the
general position between June and September, but a slight setback occurred
between September and the end of the year. Since that date the "all trades"
percentage of emploj^ment has risen steadily, with only a slight falling off at
the beginning of 1923 and in January 1924. A long view seems to justify the
feeling that as far as employment in general is concerned there is clear evidence
of steady recovery from the collapse of three years ago.

P237,

Empire Textile Coyiference

A comparison of the "all trades" curve and the woollen and worsted curve is
instructive and encouraging. The full force of the depression was felt in the
first six months of 1921, and the volume of employment shrank to much lower
level than the average for all trades. But the recovery was remarkable. Between
June 1921 (the worst month) and September 1921, the percentage of employment
increased from 76-5% to 89%, and since July 1921 the volume of employment
in the industry has been greater than the average for the country as a whole.
The year 1922 clearly was one of distinct recovery. In fact, from June 1922
to May 1923 the industry experienced an activity comparable with that of a
typical pre-war year, and employment reached a level of 96% or 97%- The
later part of 1923 is the story of the Ruhr occupation, disturbances in the American
market, and keen competition from countries wdth depreciated currencies. The
turn of 1924 has brought a favourable trend of events and employment has
increased steadily, and at all the main centres of the trade (April 1924) is once
more on a par with customary pre-war levels.

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The table below is based on an investigation of records of unemployment

placed at my disposal by the Ministry of Labour
Percentages of Workers Unemployed in the Woollen and Worsted Industry
at certain Dates.
1922

1921

Bradford
Huddersfield
Halifax ...
Leeds
Dewsbury
Batley
Morley ...

1924

1923

May

June

June

June

December

April

110%
23-6o/o
11-7%
430%
76-6%
61-2%
27-4%

103%
25-2%
78%
38-6%
68-7%
47-9%
15-2%

12%
4-2%
0-7%
2-7%
2-7%
3-3%
16-604

54%
6-0%
3-9%
10-7%
40%
440/^
7-4%

7-9%
12-8%
7-1%
10-7%
4-2%
8-5%
7-3%

28%
4-5%
1-7%

5-2%
09%
1-2%
1-7%

The most striking feature of this table is the state of affairs revealed in 1921.
The heavy woollen areas evidently bore the brunt of the depression. The figures
at once suggest that markets for lower priced goods were more readily disorganised
than markets for better class goods. This would indicate that purchasers of
higher grade fabrics do not contract their demands as rapidly as purchasers of
cheaper goods. This is an interesting position, because normally it is contended
that economy in personal budgets is m.ost readily exercised on the more expensive
items, and one would have expected Bradford, for example, to have suffered
much more severely than Batley during the initial stages of the trade depression.
The recent history of events in the wool textile trade as I have sketched it
above registers clearly on one's mind the marked capacity of the industry to
recover from adversity. My main purpose in this paper is to trace the connection
between employment and the export trade, but I realise fully that the export
trade touches only one part of the problem of finding full employinent for
machinery and operatives in the industry. The home market is important,
and frequently it is asserted that the home market is the larger market for our
wool textile products. It is a matter for regret that we have no recent accurate
index of the quantities of our goods consumed at home as compared with the
quantities consumed abroad. The only available guide is the Census of Production of 1907, and we are given to understand that the unpublished figures
of the 1912 census confirm the position recorded in the 1907 returns. The
essential facts are given in the table on next page

P238

Proceedings

S u m m a r y of the Position of the Wool TextUe Trade as shown by Census of

Production (1907)
Total Made
Tops
Noils
Yams(a) Woollen ...
(6) Worsted and other
Woollen Tissues
Broad
Narrow
Total
Worsted Tissues
(a) Coatings and TrouseringsBroad
Narrow
Total
{b) Stuffs, Dress Goods &c.
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Total
Damasks, Tapestries &c.
Flannels and Delaines
Carpets
Rugs
Blankets
Shawls
Others

...

Exports

% Exported

243-5 million lbs.

300

260-0

186-0
.,

35-811
12-69
2-577
73-307

14-5
42-3
39-4

146-605 milHon yds.

41-520 ..

69-198
15-683

47-2
37-8

188-125 million yds.

84-881

45-1

46-347 million yds.

6-029 ..

20-992
1-999

45-3
33-2

52-376 million yds.

22-991

156-733 million yds.

76-021

48-5

209-109 million yds.

99-012

47-4

6-901 million yds.

50-566 ,,
25-766 million sq. yds

-436
8-706
9-450

3-130 million pairs

-793

6-3
17-2
36-7
45-3
25-3
31-6
32-8

From this table we learn that 55% of woollen tissues and 53% of worsted
tissues were retained in this country after manufacture and passed into stock
or into consumption. The semi-manufactured goods (tops, noils and yams)
would naturally pass fofAvard to be worked into the various fabrics, so they do
not constitute a net expansion of the market at home for wool textile products.
The exports of semi-manufactured goods on the other hand are a net addition to
our output inasmuch as they constitute goods produced by machinery and
operatives who are not contributing to the export of fuUy manufactured goods.
It would appear therefore that our foreign markets are rather larger than our
home markets. Certainly it mil appear later that the loss of markets abroad
for semi-manufactured goods has had a very direct influence on the volume of
employment in the woollen and worsted industry.
One other fact about the home market must be bome in mind. The sale of
wool products depends upon the prosperity of other industries in this country.
People obviously cannot increase their expenditure on clothing when their
earnings are below normal. Unhappily several of the large trades remain very
depressed.
The\Ministry of Labour Gazette for April 1924 records the following
percentages of unemplo>Tnent28-3% in shipbuilding, 16% in engineering,
15-4% in the cotton industry, 16-8% in public works contracting, and 19% in
shipping services. Stable conditions in the home market can only be counted
upon when these figures reach much lower levels.
A lengthy statement of the position of our export trade may be avoided by
the use of diagrams and tables. The first group of diagrams shows our
total exports of tops, yarns and tissues in 1913 and in each post-war year. The
second group of diagrams shows the distribution of our exports over our principal

r^^^^^^if 1. ^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ *^^ countries are given in the order of their importance
in 1913 for the particular products concerned.

P239

Empire Textile Conference

GROUP I
4991

U.K. Total Exports of Tops

43.63

4291

41 60

U K
Total Exports

38.93

of Worsred Yarns

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lm.il<or> l b s )

cn

^C
M

CM

<N

0>

U.K. Exports of Woollen Tissues

200

160

teo

Imillion squaro yards)

187.23

174 84

M8.64

U K Exports of Worsted
yards)

(midion

76.1 1

7 7 35

20

o
M

CM
CM

P24O

Proceedings

GROUP II

Exports of Tops to our

Principal Markets
1913 and 1923
(tnillioo lt )

Oihsr Courtns

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1239

2047

Exports of Worsted Yarns to our

Principal Markets
1913 and 1923

Empire Textile Conference

GROUP llcontinued

Exports of Woollen Tissues

to our Principal Markets
1913 and 1923

Japan
25 83
Canada
20 13
Br C Indies
15 68

Auslrar/a
13 94

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Argentine
1025

Other Countries

191372 56
192381 73

Exports of Worsted Tissues

to our Principal Markets
1913 and 1923
15 34

(millioD iq,

Indies

China

0.19

Other Countries

5 13

1913-34.26
192326 77

Proceedings
The following tables are included to show t h e details of the yariations in
our exports t o different countries in each of t h e post-war years
Exports of Tops (Million Lbs.)

Sweden ...
Germany
Belgium
Japan
Canada ...

1913

1919

1920

1921

1922

1923

5-33
16-23
2-37
5-15
2-82

1-85
-79

l-Ol
9-48
1-19
-09
4-28

2-67
8-61
1-33
1-66
3-32

4-68
10-39
325
2-42
7^50

3 97
5-97
194
7-16
7-50

Exports of Worsted Yarns (Million Lbs.)

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1913
Germany
Denmark
Russia ...
Norway ...
Sweden ...
Netherlands
Belgium
France
...
TT C A
^ f

k a / a A ^

29-47
1 96
I 59
1 53
I 22
1-50
1-44
1-42
07

1919

1920

1921

1922

1923

97

3-83
2-98
40
1-51
2-81
1-67
1 07
1-79
I 49

9-51
1 37

1782
2-64

10-79
1-66

1-86

1 41
2-50
3-42

1-26
1-65
1-79
44

308

30

1 69
1 83
1-26
201

842

22

_
-57
115
30
42

201

-61
-78
56

-71
-93

Exports of Woollen Tissues (Million Sq. Yds.)

Norway, Sweden, Denmark ...

Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, France
Portugal, Spain, Italy and
Greece
Turkey and Egypt
China and Japan
Mexico and South America ...
USA
Colonies

1913

1919

1920

1921

1922

1923

1-48

38-65

23-63

2-86

3-74

3-24

26-50

84-19

4812

12-98

19-97

13-74

412
3-36
18-98
19-38
2-92
54-34

4-76
6-63
5-95
4-96
2-90
12-38

12-67
11-37
17-06
12-56
7-50
37-39

2-43
1-95
11-93
7-75
6-10
15-06

4-39
2-82
25-89
11-00
6-89
33-45

4-77
4-51
40-31
16-93
9-81
38-12

1923

Exports of Worsted Tissues (Million Sq. Yds.)

1913

1919

1920

1921

1922

-87
Norway, Sweden, Denmark .
Germany, Netherlands, Bel5-92
gium and France ...
Portugal, Spain, Italy and
2-39
Greece
Turkey and Egypt
2-52
China and Japan
10-25
Mexico and South America .
9-94
11-52
U.S.A
29-92
Colonies

599

673

-78

1-51

1 26

6-65

4-08

1-42

1-50

83

2-27
2-85
2-09
5-71
1-99
9-50

5-61
5-34
6-44
7-61
6-71
29-55

1-82
2-23
5-40
4-46
6-45
13-79

2-46
3-22
ir53
5-44
6-41
25-44

2-52
2-38
12-83
7-65
7-55
22-89

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Empire Textile Conference

P243

The charts in Group I. show that the recovery of our trade in wool textiles
has been most satisfactor>' in the case of woollen tissues. Worsted tissues have
not been exported since the war to the same extent as in 1913. Tops and y a m s
have failed to touch 1913 level, and in 1923 the totals for both were less than
those for 1922.
The position may be summed up as followsIn the total trade for 1923 we
were only 3 % below our 1913 total in the export of tissues. In tops we were
13% below and in worsted y a m s 30% below. If wooUen and worsted y a m s
be taken together, we were 20% down on our exports of yarns.
Both charts and tables confirm the view that as far as the export of tissues
is concerned we are comfortably within reach of our pre-war volume of trade.
The employment dictated by this fact will therefore be within range of the
employment experienced in 1913. How then are we to account for the unemployment in the trade ?
In the absence of any clear measure of the volume of trade activity on account
of the home market, I assume that the quantity of tissues exported in 1923
implies a home consumption in that year at least as favourable in proportion
as that of 1913. In other words, I am assuming that the same ratio of home
consumption to export as applied in 1913 was maintained in 1923. If this
assumption is correct we are left on the side of fully manufactured goods without
any clue to the unemployment in the industry.
The answer to the question seems to me to rest in the position of our exports
of semi-manufactured goods. Group I I . diagrams show clearly the severity of
the loss of the German market as a clearing-house for tops and yams. I have
reached the conclusion t h a t this loss has proved the main obstacle to a much
more rapid recovery in wool textiles than we have actually witnessed. There
are noteworthy pieces of evidence to support this conclusion.
The Report of the Committee on "Textile Trades after the W a r " drew attention
to the fact that prior to the war our combing and spinning machinerj-^ suited to
the working of crossbred wool was more than sufficient to meet home requirements. From this it follows at once that the loss of a substantial forci;?n
market at this stage of manufacture was bound to precipitate a problem of
unemployment of special difficulty.
In the second place it is worth noting that the most favourable position for
employment since the slump {i.e. in 1922see above) coincides with the most
favourable position since the depression in the export of semi-manufactures.
The figures run as follows
Total Exports
1920
1921
1922
1924
Tops (million lbs.)
23-77
...
3469
...
41-60
...
3893
Worsted Yams (million lbs.)
2464
...
23-46
...
4291
...
34-92
In the third place the revival in the woollen and worsted industry during
the first four months of 1924 is closely associated \vith the increase in the export
of semi-manufacturesespecially yams. The monthly figures for the last
six months are as follows
Export of Tops
Export of Worsted Yarns
(million lbs.)
(million lbs.)
November 1923
264
240
December ,,
2-38
261
January 1924
3-43
333
February ,,
473
3-85
March
346
2-92
April
4-78
423
Lastly, I would draw attention to the fact that when the recurrence of the
depression was experienced in the later months of 1923, the heaviest increases
of unemployment in the industry were registered in the wool combing, worsted

Proceedings

P244

drawing and spinning, and the worsted weaving sections. My examination of

the monthly unemployment records for the seventeen Employment Exchanges
at wool textile centres in Yorkshire has yielded the following result
Number of Wool Textile Workers Unemployed
1923

Jan. Feb. Mar, Apl, May June July Aug, Sept. Oct. Nov, Dec,

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Wool Combing 215

W o r s t e d
Drawing
and
Spin408
ning
W o r s t e d
Weaving ... 166

225

303

335

591

1474 1806 2017 2199 2216 2243 1763

410

591

633

945

1380 2368 2206 3207 3012 3391 2769

156

195

255

468

1095 2628 3226 3224 2616 2454 2148

I might add that the total of insured woollen and worsted operatives at the
seventeen centres is 178,600.
The increase in unemployment among worsted weavers coincides with a
general decline in worsted exports and reflects in part, at least, the influence of
foreign competition in worsteds during the latter half of 1923. But I can only
say again a full view demands the figures for home consumption, and those
figures are not available.
The future prosperity of the industry is primarily dependent upon stability
in foreign aliairs. The present tangle of international currencies vitiates our
estimates of comparative costs of production. It would be unwise therefore to
seek to construct the future of the industry from evidence derived from this
phase of our industrial experience.
The suggestion that our primary aim should be to increase the output of
fully manufactured goods calls for more serious consideration. The view is
based, obviously, on the argument that more employment may thereby be
provided for wool textile operatives in this country. This is an attractive
proposition and it is not difficult to summarise our position. In the first place
we have developed an excess of machinery for the making of tops and yams.
In the second place we have experienced a serious decline in output on the
worsted side of our manufacturing industry. The former fact would seem to
point to an advantage in the production of yams. The latter fact means either
a change in demand (from worsteds to wooUens), or more effective competition
in worsteds by other countries. To deal with this position two proposals have
been advanced(a) That we concentrate on the home market for fully manufactured goods; {b) that we seek to stimulate the export of fully manufactured
goods Both proposals reveal the paucity of our information about the actual
conditions in the trade and possibilities of its development. Both proposals
imply for example, that our machinery equipment is sufficient to convert into
fully manufactured goods the quantity of semi-manufactures, or an even greater
quantity than we now export, I have faUed to discover any evidence of this
fact If we pursue a poUcy of intensive cultivation of home demands what
evidence have we of the abiHt>^ of home consumers to take up the imphed extra
^''''lf''^e''Ls''ume s'^me increase of home demand, together with a sale of surplus
fabrics abroad, or alternatively, we assume a steady cultivation of foreign markets^
have we any satisfactory evidence of the capacity of those markets to take our
^"^In putting these questions my object is not to suggest that nothing can be
done to develop our trade. Rather do I wsh to suggest that immediate tendencies
of trade should be viewed with caution. We may derive encouragement lrom
expanding markets in the Far East and in U.S.A., but our optimism is at once
tempered by the reflection that in Japan, for example, there is a strong movement

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Empire Textile Conference

towards the establishment of a domestic woollen industry. Already wool and

wool yams together come second in the Japanese schedule of imports and the
future holds the prospect of keen competition from Japan for Far Eastern
trade. In my view, there can be no question that a highly specialised trade
like the woollen and worsted industry' demands expanding foreign markets.
At once one is compelled to assert that success in foreign trade is based upon
effective production. This in turn imphes close attention to scientific research,
closer co-operation throughout the industry, and a much wider range of commercial knowledge than we possess at the moment. Large non-competing
firms in the trade co-operate at present with much success in the extension of
their foreign trade. But the t^'^pical business in the industry is not the large
business, and the fullest information on commercial matters is desirable for
the many smaller firms which staff the industry. The more effectively they
produce and sell their goods the greater is the volume of employment in the
trade.
Evidence is not wanting to show that we have not reached the limits of
technical resource. In the course of this paper I have shown that our economic
information about the industry has gaps which urgently need filling.
In concluding this analysis of the problem of trade and employment, I would
like to express the view that the greatest hope for the woollen and worsted industry
lies in a close investigation of its resources in terms of raw material, labour,
capital, its production, and its markets. Protection may have an immediate
effect in redressing an immediate disability. Free trade may bring increasing
prosperity to the industry. But neither policy can be truly established without
a searching investigation of the latent powers of a remarkably resilient industry.
The diagrams illustrating the course of our export trade, were prepared originally for
the bulletin of the Wool Textile Delegation, I wish to express my thanks to the
Delegation for the use of the diagrams in this paper.

Capt. S. E. J. Brady (Board of Trade) said that he noticed that in his very
interesting charts and throughout the paper Mr. Shimmin had taken 1913 to
compare \vith the present time. The ciiarts gave the exports. He would hke
to know on what basis Mr. Shimmin converted the yards of 1913 to the square
yards of to-day. Could Mr. Shimmin say whether the industry during the war
or since had expanded ? Insured workers numbered 176,000; how did that
compare with 1917 ?
- ,
The Lecturer, replying to the second question, said he had not exact figures,
for the simple reason that the insurance returns of the industry did not come in
until the Act of 1920. He wished he could have gons back further to get a comparable basis, but he could not do so. As to the conversion of yards into square
yards, he had accepted what he understood was the Board of Trade formula,
to add one-third in the case of worsted and one-quarter in the case of wools.
Mr. G. Wood (Bradford) said that with regard to the formula mentioned, it
was not correct in the case of woollens. There was a very simple way of making
the calculation. If you examined the classification you found that the trade
consisted of either narrows or broads. There was no 44 inch stuff coming in,
as in the case of worsteds. If you took the 1913 figures and took the narrows
at 27 inches, you could cast them in the terms of broads by dividing by 2. You
would thus get a closer approximation than by the formula of the Board of
Trade, because 1913 had not been quite a typical year. The Board of Trade's
formula was probably as accurate as might be if you took a five year average.
But 1913 happened not to be typical. There were changes going on in the trade
at that time, one part of the woollen trade recovering after the depression which
had followed on 1907, whilst another part of the trade was not recovering, with
the result that the distribution of the export trade in 1913 had not been normal.

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P246

Proceedings

With regard to the question of numbers, he suggested to Mr. Shimmin that

it might be worth while to examine the Home Office returns of numbers employed
(obtained until about trwenty years ago but since discontinued), and the series
obtained by the War Department Cloth Office up to 1919. He suggested that
it would be found that while there was no expansion of workers in the aggregate,
there had been an expansion of the insurable persons, i.e., those of 16 years
of age or over. It was even possible that there had been an expansion of the
gross total, but there was probably a larger expansion of the machinery. The
net result was a larger proportionate employment of adults and a larger amount
of niacliinery per operative. On the other hand, the changes in the birth rate
up to sixteen years ago would indicate if a further expansion was probable.
Mr. Shimmin said there was a possibility of an increase in machinery but
not in the number of workers.
Mr. J. W. Cook (Dudley) said he represented another side of the trade. He
did not know much about the manufacture but he had to deal with textile goods
at the point when they came to the home trade. He would like to ask the other
speakers with regard to "futures" how much these influenced the price of
cotton ? He did not know how much it infiuenced the price of wool,
but from the distributive point of view the price of materials, alike for cotton
goods and woollen goods, interfered materially with the sale of those goods.
Some greater linking up between the manufacturers, the producers of the goods,
and the distributors was wanted, in order that the distributor might get back
to the manufacturer and let him know the taste of the public, and how far the
manufacturer had caught the real taste of the public. He would say to-day,
speaking from the woollen point of view, that in the case of the individual customers who came along there was not nearly the same amount of woollen goods
sold as had been the case years ago. In fact women did not wear the same
amount of clothing at all, nor men. The effect of the use of artificial silk must
not be forgotten, but apart from that the amount of clothing wom by men or
women to-day was very much less than five years ago. Dresses were shorter
and everything else was smaller. How people could cultivate the woollen trade,
and expect to make such clumsy things as we used to wrap ourselves up in years
ago, was beyond his comprehension. It was very difficult to get manufacturers
and' users together. It was just the same with men's as with women's clothing.
As to the export trade, he had been in America and found the manufacturers
Koine out on a propaganda for the whole of the world, making goods which they"
thought would be taken up in the various parts of the world. Different manufacturers were laying themselves out for Japan, China, South Amenca-so many
making goods for one market, so many for another. If we in Britain had to meet a
co-operative organised effort in a skilful campaign like that, unless we met it
with the same method and organisation we should lose. Recently as he knew
some manufacturers had gone over to Constantinople xvith regard to a contract
for leather goods, and had met there the representatives -^^G^^"J?^>;'^f ^ ^"^
France There had been no less than four representatives from England which
s W e d " a fooUsh method of conductmg negotiations. Unl^s - J
manufacturers and merchants to organise properly for the export trade, we
should fail in our endeavours as against a thoroughly ^^g^-^^^..^^^^^-^^,",^
welcomed the paper that had been given. He quite agreed %Mth the speaker
ha our woollen a'nd worsted industry in England - - ^ ^ J ^ - ^ ^ ^ " / ; ; ^^
any industr>^ in the world-even xWth the American
'^'^^^1'''^?^^^''''^^
were a great corporation. But we had to market our goods a^road He
met the Irish linen manufacturers in the States a short t ^
manufacturers had had a campaign, travelling right through the
popularising their manufactures, m y the manufacturers of ^^
Yorkshire, who were keen, sharp, good business men. did not get
have a good campaign to push their goods, he did not know. They ought to gei
busy on this thing and see if they could do the Empire some real good, iney

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Empire Textile Conference

had a great exhibit of their manufactures at that Exhibition, but they would
have to push their trade. It was no use waiting at home while business was
going.
Mr. John Emsley (Bradford) said there had been a conference at Bradford
a short time ago, and he had got in touch with the leading people. One or two
of them had stayed with him, and after the conference, in the evening, they had
a cigar and talked the matter over. His visitors had said, "Emsley, you beat
us high and dry in your organisation and merchanting. We have no organisation like yours for merchanting; there is no such an organisation in the world."
This fact showed that in Bradford people were a little alive to the possibilities
of the export trade. Ten years ago it used to be said that the French people
were beating us in the dress trade, that they were making a superior quality.
He had been brought up in the belief that the French people could beat us for
quality. At the present time the peculiarity was that Bradford had overrun
the French. Manufacturers there were making quality, and not the lower class
of goods they used to make in years gone by. As far as making progress in
manufacturing and distribution they were alive to-day and doing all possible.
The worsted industry, unlike most industries, was subject to very violent fluctuations. He did not think these appertained to any other industr^^ in the textile
trade. It depended entirely on the women and what they were going to wear,
and they were like sheep; if one went through a gap, the others followed. Everything depended upon what the leaders of fashion said. Another thing was, as
the retailers would have noticed, that the women had been going into what was
called the knitted grament. That did not pass through a loom at all, and it came
down the spinning frame at a rapid rate. These were some of the reasons why
we were suffering in the home trade at the present time. At the present time
rep was now the fashion; but the weaver could produce five or six pieces per week
where it used to take him a fortnight to produce one piece. Therefore so many
looms were not required to fill the demands of the trade as had previously been
the case. In his opinion that was another reason why Bradford was suffering
at the present time. He perhaps had as many looms as any individual in
Bradford, and had therefore to study these things ver^' carefully; he sold as
many pieces as he used to sell, but could not run liis machinery as well as he used
to run it, because on the average he could produce a yard of cloth more quickly
than in years gone by. He was very glad that Mr. Shimmin had stated in his
paper that the statistics were not reliable. During the war they had had enough
of papers and statistics. The Government had demanded so many particulars
that they had to put on extra clerks to make their returns. They had got tired
of it, but he thought they would go back to making statistics. He thought, too,
it was a great thing to bring the West Riding Chambers of Commerce into one
affiliated body. If they could get returns under numbersnot under the names
of individual firmsif they could get returns of production month by month,
tliis would help very materially in making calculations in regard to the questions
Mr. Shimmin had been asking that afternoon. People were very conservative
in Yorkshire, and did not like to disclose too much, but he thought it was not
beyond the bounds of possibility that if the individual firms were designated by
numbers and no one knew who they were, then returns could be made monthly
or quarterly of what was produced and of the number of people taken on. He
did not believe that the accepted figures of unemployment were correct. For
instance, the unions had lost a great number of their members during the slump.
Many of these had not rejoined and others had tired of going and asking for
the dole. They said they would have a week or a fortnight or a month at home,
and make no application for the dole. Those people were unemployed but did
not show in the returns. The same thing applied in 1913, so we had no means
of getting accurate information as to the number of people out of work at the
present time. As regards the spinning industry, if they were working so many
hours per week, they could not call upon the unemployment fund. There was

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P248

Proceedings

therefore no means of ascertaining the exact numbers of people out of employment

at any one time. He thought the paper this afternoon would perhaps indicate
the desirability of getting the figures required, and thus allow calculations that
would be to the benefit of the trade and all concerned.
Mr. F. Anderson (Portadown) said that he wanted to thank Mr. Shimmin
for a very interesting paper that showed very clearly the close relation between
export trade and the amount of unemployment in the woollen trade. There
was one tiling wanting in the paper, the value of exports was not shown, nor was
the value of the material used in the production of cloth shown. They all knew
quite well that the demand for the specific commodity depended a great deal on
the price at which it was sold, and it occurred to him that there might be more
information obtainable if the statistics of increasing demand in the paper had
also reflected the price at which the goods were sold simultaneously with the
increasing demand. Price per unit of raw material or wool might also be shown.
It was made quite clear in the paper that there were twenty-two distinct qualities
of fabric produced, and that the demand might become liigh for high grade at
the same time as it became small for low grade. Tliis suggested that for the
low price commodity the demand was more elastic than for the high price commodity. It also might reflect what was in the minds of many at the present
time, that we as an exporting country were being forced to send out a greater
value of exported goods in return for a constant value of imported foodstuffs.
It was admitted by all that the price we were asking for goods at the present
time was relatively too high, and that if the price of goods being exported were
reduced in a small degree an increasing demand would more than compensate
in many industries for the reduction in price.
Mr. J. W. Cook said he would like to supplement what he had just now said
with regard to the knitted woollens. Speaking as a distributor, he agreed that
the Bradford materials were much superior to the French. He remembered the
day when British cashmeres and French cashmeres both had their place in the
British market, because one was a little differently finished from the other.
There was a little difference in the feel, as he thought was the case to-day, but so
far as the fabric was concerned, Bradford had done magnificently, and he admired
very much the fabrics that he got from Bradford to-day. When he had been
in America and met the Irish manufacturers, he had also met the Scotch woollen
manufacturers. These were all dressed in good Scotch tweeds, and had a fresh
suit every day. They visited Chicago, New York, Boston and all the cities,
played golf and had a regular propaganda to popularise Scotch tweeds. He
would like to see the Bradford men go out on the same line of propaganda, and
take their women wth them to popularise the thing. They had got a good
thing, but did not advertise it.
r^ i-i -^oMr. Shimmin said he would Uke to take the points as they came. One thmg
that struck him about the suggestion made by the l^t speaker was that the
woollen and worsted industry had considerable scope ^^^ ^ ^ ^ ^ "^^^^^^^^^^^^^
done by Carnegie in a very different connection. He beheved m the potentiahties

as weU as of Carnegie
^
f^
was ^ u e of all clothing materials
mate
h d on iin th
car. Two things had been touched
the discussion which it was
to canvass^ne was the depreciation of currency and
^ ^
was the real effective basis of comparative prices of matenaU
^
served its purpose if it left the impression on the minds of those who tad heara
it that there was far too much which we did not know about the trade as a wnore

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Empire Textile Conference

Tlicre was an enormous field to be canvassed in order to answer all those questions
to which we ought to know the answer within a reasonable margin of error, but
did not. .In preparing the paper he had not included comparative prices because
he had realised too fully the complexity and danger of making any statement
when dealing with fluctuating changes in currency and the uncertain relation of
pre-war and post war prices in our own country and foreign markets.
The Chairman said he would like, before closing the meeting, to reply quite
briefly to one or two points raised. Mr. Cook had mentioned the question of
publicity. There was the finest piece of publicity going on at the present time
in the woollen and textile section of the British Empire Exhibition that ever
the Bradford district had conceived. He wa.s quite sure it was successful;
there were a great many inquiries for fabric. In that method of publicity he
thought they were all agreed they had taken th# right line, and he thought
a good deal would come out of it. In the past, probably owing to the sectionalised
condition of the trade, advertising by the individual manufacturer had been
a very isolated instance indeed; but he thought that the old order was changing
and giving way to something new, and more and more manufacturers were
taking the initiative into their own hands. Where they were doing that it was
common laiowledge that it was a successful venture. They had excellent fabrics,
and must push them. With regard to the link between manufacturer and
merchant, that was a very diflicult thing to arrive at. He had been associated
with organisations in the trade, and had found how diflicult it was in years gone
by to approach the merchants as a body. There were so few of them really
who would go in for any common purpose, and they were so frightfully jealous
that they simply sat back and you had to deal with the individual in almost
every case. Until that atmosphere was changed he could see many difliculties
before we could arrive at an arrangement whereby such points as had been raised
could be usefully discussed by all concerned and brought to some effectual
purpose. He hoped that time was coming. He believed the trade was realising
to-day more than ever the value of co-operative effort. The smaller men who
were invaluable to the trade were helped, and realised a better return on their
production, but it had been necessar^'^ to fight against isolation to a terrible extent,
and it was only in the last four or five years that the value of co-operation had
been manifest. There would be a reprint of the papers, and he was sure they
would be read with a good deal of interest, for they contained a great deal of
information. Mr. Shimmin's paper was a particularly^ valuable one. They must
consider these things ver^' carefully indeed, and must not let the whole matter
end with the Conference. They must make the Textile Institute more popular,
more widely known and better used. As Chairman of the meeting, he would
advise those present to become members of the Institute if they were not members
already. In the Institute's Journal they would find a great deal of valuable
information that would be of practical use in their business.
Mr. William Frost (Macclosfield) said they had on that platform in i^lr. Garnett
and Mr. Shimmin the practical man and the theoretical man. The theoretical
man had prov^ed to have a lot of common-sense in what he had to say. Speaking
as an outsider, he would say that he had found this the most illuminating and
helpful discussion that he had j^et attended in connection with the Conference.
It had been a real pleasure to sit and listen to the expression of different points
of view. They were all agreed they must thank the Chairman and speaker
for the very excellent meeting to-day.
The vote of thanks was heartily accorded, and the Conference adjourned.
(To be continued.)