REVIEW OF THE COTTON CROP OF THE UNITED STATES, FOR THE YEAR 1896. THE cotton crop of the United States for the year ending September 1, 1896, amounted to 7,162,473 bales, while the exports were 4,646,084 bales, and the spinners' takings were 2,586,554 bales, leaving a stock on hand at the close of the year of 222,678 bales. The whole movement for the twelve months is given in the following pages, with such suggestions and explanations as the peculiar features of the year appear to require. The first table indicates the stock at each port September 1, 1896, the receipts at the ports for each of the past two years, and the export movement for the past year (1895-96) in detail, and the totals for 1894-95 and 1893-94 : The foregoing shows that the total receipts at the Atlantic and Gulf shipping ports this year have been 5,394,875 bales, against 7,882,163 bales last year, and 5,983,392 bales in 1893-94; and that the exports have been 4,646,084 bales, against 6,719,713 bales last season, and 5,231,494 bales the previous season, Liverpool getting out of this crop 2,090,123 bales. If now we add the shipments from Tennessee and elsewhere direct to manufacturers, and South * These figures are only the portion of the receipts at these ports which arrived by rail overland from Tennessee, &c. ern consumption, we have the following as the crop statement for the three years: The result of these figures is a total of 7,162,473 bales (weighing 3,595,775,534 pounds) as the crop for year ending August 31, 1896, against 9,892,766 bales (weighing 5,019,439,687 pounds) as the crop for year ending August 31, 1895. The distribution of these crops has been as follows: Consumption in the United States.-The anticipations of an active and profitable season in the cotton goods industry, which were so general twelve months ago, and which prevailing business conditions seemed to warrant, have fallen far short of realization. The year 1895-96 opened with stocks of goods well in hand, manufacturers quite fully employed, and prices of goods fairly remunerative. It closes on a market overstocked with goods, much machinery idle and the outlook for the future, to say the least, uncertain. Our records present no contrast so extreme as this within a like period. Last September the tendency of the market for cotton goods was upward; production though large was readily absorbed, Net addition. and spindles and looms were running on full time at a fair profit. A check to the demand and a weakening of prices began to be evident in December. Thereafter the situation grew less satisfactory from month to month, and yet machinery continued to be quite generally employed. But as the spring progressed and the Southern political conventions began to be held, one after another declaring for free silver, restricted consumption and short time became an important feature, though no concerted action on the part of the manufacturers was taken to curtail production until near the close of June. Finally, under the stress of the very restricted demand and under the auspices of the Arkwright Club, an agreement was entered into between mills at Fall River and other New-England points, embracing in all some 4,300,000 spindles, which bound the signers to shut down for four weeks during the months of July and August, or by decreasing the running time to accomplish the same result. Other mills which did not sign the agreement, but were running on half time during the same period, covered machinery enough to bring the total of spindles affected by the short time movement up to over 5,000,000. Our inquiries among manufacturers and others with reference to the course of the market and the year's results have been more numerous than ever before. The replies cover all classes of cotton goods. Taken as a whole, they indicate that while in the first half of the season operations were carried on at a profit, there was in the last half of the year, in most cases, a decided loss. In fact, we are informed by one of the leading cotton manufacturers in NewEngland, that the only goods he knows of that at present leave even a small profit, are heavy drillings and sheetings made for export to China, Africa and South America. Furthermore the opinion is general that the outlook for the coming year is dependent wholly upon the result of the Presidential election. If that is decided emphatically in favor of maintaining a gold basis, a return of confidence, and consequently an improvement in business is looked for. The print cloth market is a forcible illustration of the marvelous contraction in consumption that has taken place in late months. It shows the state of general trade through the effect this contraction has had on the demand for print cloths. For notwithstanding the large falling off in production, stocks have not decreased at all since. the curtailment, but have slightly increased. This is a surprising situation. With the out-turn reduced nearly one-half, consumption, which, at the beginning of the year, took the entire make, has fallen off since then to such an extent as not to require even this reduced supply. At the opening of the season these goods were favorably situated in the matter of stock and of margin for profit, prices being much higher during the period from September to January than in either 1894-95 or 1893-94. But in November stocks began to accumulate; on January 1 they approximated close to 500,000 pieces, and on February 1 they reached 896,000 pieces. With this accumulation came a depression of values, the quotation for 64 squares dropping to 2 cents on April 1, with low middling cotton ruling |