Produced by Audrey Longhurst, ronnie sahlberg and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net [Illustration: GUARANTY TRUST CO'S COTTON PRICE CHART. _Spot Prices, New York, Middling Uplands_] The Fabric of Civilization A Short Survey of the Cotton Industry in the United States Guaranty Trust Company of New York 140 Broadway FIFTH AVENUE OFFICE MADISON AVENUE OFFICE Fifth Avenue and 43rd Street Madison Avenue and 60th Street LONDON OFFICES LIVERPOOL OFFICE 32 Lombard Street, E. C. 27 Cotton Exchange Buildings 5 Lower Grosvenor Pl., S. W. PARIS OFFICE HAVRE OFFICE BRUSSELS OFFICE 1 and 3 Rue des Italiens 122 Boulevard Strasbourg 158 Rue Royale COPYRIGHT, 1919 GUARANTY TRUST COMPANY OF NEW YORK The cotton industry touches the lives of the vast majority of the peoples of the earth. The ensuing survey does not pretend to cover the field in all its diversity. It aims to give, in brief compass, such general facts concerning the industry in the United States as may enable the reader quickly to familiarize himself with its broader outlines. Contents CHAPTER PAGE I The Importance and Power of Cotton 5 II Where Cotton is Grown and Spun and Why 10 III The Raw Cotton Market 17 IV The Cloth Market 27 V Financing Cotton and Cotton Cloth 33 VI American Cloth in Foreign Markets 38 VII Some of the Grower's Problems 41 VIII In the Cotton Mill 45 IX The Finishing Operations 57 The Fabric of Civilization CHAPTER I The Importance and Power of Cotton Cotton is the fabric of civilization. It has built up peoples, and has riven them apart. It has brought to the world vast and permanent wealth. It has enlisted the vision of statesmen, the genius of inventors, the courage of pioneers, the forcefulness of manufacturers, the initiative of merchants and shipbuilders, and the patient toil of many millions. A whole library could be written on the economic aspects of cotton alone. It could be told in detail, how and why the domination of the field of its manufacture passed from India to Spain, to Holland, and finally to England, which now shares it chiefly with the United States. The interdependence of nations which it has brought about has been the subject of numerous books and articles. Genius that Served The World's Need