It is undoubtedly true that big fortunes are no longer made in the cotton trade, or at any rate not so rapidly as in the days when cotton spinners waxed fat on the labour of tiny children who had to be flogged to keep them awake. It is also true that many joint-stock spinning companies have paid no dividends, and that many have collapsed altogether. But those who know anything of Lancashire know that a very large number of these companies were not started in response to any real increase in the demand for cotton goods, nor on account of any genuine anticipation of such an increase. They were started, as a good many companies are started in a county south of Lancashire, in order to put money into the promoters’ pockets. Having served that purpose they were allowed quietly to collapse. Lancashire does not miss them. That the cotton trade, as a whole, is in a healthy condition in spite of these manœuvres of the company-promoter will be seen from the figures relating to cotton in the following table, and from the diagram that illustrates them:— TEXTILES. YARNS. Ten Years’ Exports. In Millions of Lbs. -----------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- | 1886| 1887| 1888| 1889| 1890| 1891| 1892| 1893| 1894| 1895 -----------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- Cotton | 254 | 251 | 256 | 252 | 258 | 245 | 233 | 207 | 236 | 252 Jute | 31 | 24 | 27 | 34 | 34 | 33 | 26 | 29 | 35 | 35 Linen | 16 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 17 Silk | ·6 | ·6 | ·6 | ·8 | ·8 | 1·0 | ·7 | ·8 | ·8 | ·7 Woollen | 46 | 40 | 43 | 45 | 41 | 41 | 45 | 50 | 53 | 61 -----------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- PIECE GOODS, ETC. Ten Years’ Exports. In Millions of Yards. -----------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- | 1886| 1887| 1888| 1889| 1890| 1891| 1892| 1893| 1894| 1895 -----------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- Cotton |4,850|4,904|5,038|5,001|5,125|4,912|4,873|4,652|5,312|5,033 Jute | 216| 244| 232| 265| 274| 284| 266| 265| 233| 255 Linen | 164| 164| 177| 181| 184| 159| 171| 158| 156| 204 Silk | 7| 7| 8| 10| 10| 6| 6| 6| 6| 7 Woollen[2] | 273| 281| 264| 268| 253| 223| 213| 194| 168| 242 -----------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- [Footnote 2: Includes “Woollen Tissues,” “Worsted Coatings and Stuffs,” “Damasks, Tapestry, and Mohair Plushes,” “Flannels,” and “Carpets and Druggets.”] The figures for cotton piece goods may be illustrated as follows:— [Illustration] LINEN, SILK, AND WOOLLENS.