APPENDIX 2 .sx Notes on the Cotton Industry and Trade in Other Countries .sx The notes contained in this Appendix deal first with a number of producing countries , namely , United States , Germany , France , Italy , Belgium , Switzerland , Czechoslovakia , the Netherlands , Poland , India , Japan and China .sx These countries , with the exception of China , are also the principal exporting countries as regards cotton yarn and piece goods .sx Some of them ( notably India , China and , on a much smaller scale , the United States ) constitute important markets for imported piece goods ; and many of them , including not only China and India , but also several of the European countries mentioned , import large quantities of yarn .sx The Appendix contains information as to imports of cloth and yarn into such producing countries , and it also contains further notes on a number of other countries ( in Asia , Africa , Australasia and North and South America ) which are important primarily as markets for piece goods .sx A list of all the countries dealt with in this Appendix is given below .sx In addition to the information contained in this Appendix regarding the cotton industry and trade in other countries , reference may also be made to the paragraphs on pages 11-14 , dealing with the general development of the cotton industry throughout the World in earlier years , to the Tables Nos .sx 9 to 17 in Appendix 6 showing for various countries the amount of cotton machinery , the cotton mill consumption , and the exports of yarn and piece goods , as well as to the Tables and information contained in Section V of the Chapter ( p. 59 ) , where the competitive position of the British industry and trade is reviewed in relation to that of other countries .sx United States .sx Apart from being the principal producer of raw cotton , America has a large manufacturing industry , which ranks second only in the amount of its equipment to that of Great Britain ; and she is a large consumer of manufactured goods .sx The manufacturing industry has increased substantially in recent years and has shifted increasingly from the older textile districts of New England to the cotton growing states , where it has advantages both as regards access to raw materials and even more as regards cheap labour .sx The United States possesses between a fifth and a quarter of the world's spindles and looms , and uses rather more than a quarter of the cotton consumed in the world's cotton mills .sx The production of woven cotton goods as ascertained at the last five Censuses of Manufactures was as follows :sx - .sx The bulk of this production is consumed in the United States , but the export trade is substantial , and it exceeds the import trade in amount .sx The amount of exports and imports of cotton piece goods in certain pre-war and post-war years , so far as stated in square yardage , is shown by the following figures :sx - The post-war figures exclude some piece goods recorded since , but not before , the war in weight .sx Assuming that linear yardage does not vary greatly from square yardage in the case of exports , it is clear that both imports and exports are greater than they were on the average of four pre-war years .sx Great Britain appears to have fully maintained her pre-dominance in the import trade .sx In the export trade the main features are the expansion in trade with American countries , North , Central and South , and the dwindling of the China trade .sx Exports consist of more or less standardised products similar to those produced for the internal market .sx The Americans print vast quantities of cloth from a limited number of designs , though with a variety of colourings , and assortments are shipped to the various markets , where they are sold by pattern cards .sx It is obvious that the trade is on a completely different basis from the British export trade , with its careful attention to the individual requirements of the purchasers .sx The American import trade in cotton cloth is a high-grade trade , as is shown by the greater average value per yard of imports than of exports .sx It meets requirements in the matter of taste and quality for which the American industry with its system of mass production makes little attempt to cater .sx The great prosperity of the United States has resulted in an increased demand for such goods , which the high post-war tariff has failed to check .sx Germany .sx The German cotton industry is somewhat widely scattered , the principal districts in which the industry is carried on being South Germany , Rhineland and Westphalia , Saxony and Silesia .sx Through the transfer of Alsace-Lorraine to France at the end of the War , Germany lost about 1million spindles and 38,000 looms .sx She .sx possessed about 10.9 million spinning spindles in 1927 , as compared with 11.4 million in 1914 .sx The number of looms is estimated at about 220,000 , excluding 20,000 or 30,000 devoted to the manufacture sometimes of cotton cloth and sometimes of woollens or linen or half woollen or half linen .sx Spinning and weaving are frequently combined in one business , and to an increasing extent firms do their own finishing , but the greater part of the cloth manufactured in the weaving sheds is still sold in the grey state .sx For many years past there has been a tendency to spin finer yarns , and some fine Egyptian yarns are produced .sx Large quantities of fine yarns , together with lower counts , are , however , imported , and this trade may be illustrated by the following table :sx - .sx In 1910-13 imports averaged 27,998 metric tons per annum , and of this quantity no less than 80.3 per cent .sx was imported from the United Kingdom .sx In only one of the three post-war years shown , namely , 1925 , did the total imports of yarns from the United Kingdom exceed the pre-war average , while the aggregate imports of yarns ( even if imports from Alsace-Lorraine be deducted ) fell short of the pre-war average in one year only , namely , 1926 .sx The percentage of British yarns to total imports fell to 38.7 in 1924 , 39.0 in 1925 and 53.8 in 1926 .sx The figures suggest that Great Britain has had to meet keener competition from other countries ( including Switzerland and Czechoslovakia ) than was the case before the war .sx It should be added that imports from Great Britain include a relatively greater proportion of fine yarns than do imports from other countries , as is proved by their higher average value per ton .sx In 1910-13 the average value per ton was 4,070 M. for British yarns , compared with 2,240 M. for foreign yarns .sx In 1924 , the figures were 7,760 M. for British and 5,120 for other , and in 1925 8,800 for British and 4,330 for other .sx Measured in values , imports of yarns from Great Britain represented 88.1 per cent .sx of aggregate imports of yarns in 1910-13 , 48.9 per cent .sx in 1924 and 56.5 per cent .sx in 1925 .sx The corresponding percentage for 1926 is 70.8. .sx The German export trade in yarns is of relatively little importance .sx The extent and direction of the export trade in piece goods may be illustrated by the following table :sx - .sx As a result of the inclusion of Alsace-Lorraine , the statistics of French imports and exports in post-war years are not comparable with the pre-war figures , and this must be borne in mind in considering the particulars given below .sx France imports considerable quantities of yarns , mainly from the United Kingdom .sx Since the war these imports have been increased , as is shown by the following figures :sx - Some kinds of yarn are recorded by weight , and other kinds by length .sx The total quantities of yarn imported from the United Kingdom have been on the whole substantially greater than was the case before the war , and as regards yarn recorded by length ( though not as regards yarn recorded by weight ) the British proportion has been more than maintained .sx Since the war the French export trade in yarns has increased in importance ( no doubt to a considerable extent as a result of the incorporation of Alsace-Lorraine ) , and in some years it has exceeded the import trade in value .sx Exports are consigned largely to Germany , Belgium and Switzerland , but also to the French Colonies and to countries such as Argentina .sx The export trade in piece goods , so far as quantities are recorded in weight , may be illustrated by the table overleaf .sx Having regard to the strengthening of the French cotton industry through the incorporation of Alsace-Lorraine , and to the influence of exchange depreciation in stimulating exports , the actual expansion in the quantity of exports is moderate .sx Imports of cotton piece goods into France averaged 1,988 metric tons in 1910-13 , 1,948 tons in 1924 , 2,116 tons in 1925 and 2,442 tons in 1926 .sx Italy .sx The Italian cotton industry has grown rapidly since the introduction of hydro-electric power a quarter of a century ago , and is one of the most important branches of manufacture in Italy .sx The number of spindles was about 2 millions in 1900 , about 4.6 millions in 1913 , and about 4.9 millions in 1927 .sx An indication of the pre-war and post-war position as regards output is given by the following .sx figures of yarn production , trade and consumption :sx - finishing processes - especially to dyeing and printing .sx In these branches the difficulty was at first to find technicians who could execute designs to compete with foreign designs , but this difficulty has been gradually overcome , and new methods and new machinery have enabled dyed and printed goods to be produced which can compete in the world's markets .sx The finishing industries are helped by the progress of dye manufacture in Italy which has been , to some extent , facilitated by the fact that Italy possesses important raw materials ( mainly Sicilian sulphur) .sx The majority of the big cotton mill undertakings , besides spinning and weaving , carry out their own bleaching , dyeing and printing , and send their work out only when some special dyeing , printing or finishing is required .sx Italy possesses a number of printing works , including one of the largest in Europe .sx The progress made in spinning and weaving extends to the .sx The expansion of the Italian cotton industry has brought with it an increased demand for foreign yarns .sx The following figures show the countries from which yarns ( excluding sewing cotton ) were obtained :sx - During the post-war years , the imports from the United Kingdom were much greater than in 1910-13 , and also represented a much greater proportion ( in fact a predominant share ) of the total .sx Italy had also built up before the war an export trade in yarns , mainly to the Near East and South America ; and the quantity and value of the exports of yarns were , in fact , much greater than the quantity and value of the imports .sx This trade has been maintained , on the whole , at about the pre-war level of quantity .sx Much more valuable than the export trade in yarns is the export trade in piece goods .sx The volume and distribution of the trade are shown in the table below :sx - In 1925 and 1926 the particulars for the separate countries are , to some extent , incomplete , and to that extent the total for " other countries " is overstated .sx Italian exports of piece goods show substantial expansion in comparison with the average of the four years 1910-13 , but the impression is somewhat different when comparison is made with the single year 1913 , when exports amounted to 50,380 metric tons .sx Exports in 1925 were much above this level , but exports in 1924 and 1926 were only slightly above it .sx Imports of cotton piece goods into Italy averaged 2,971 metric tons in 1910-13 , 2,428 tons in 1924 , 2,520 tons in 1925 , and 2,987 tons in 1926 .sx Belgium .sx The Belgian cotton industry is largely concentrated in Ghent and the surrounding districts of East Flanders .sx Spinning and weaving are for the most part carried on in separate establishments , but there appears to be no definite geographical separation .sx The industry is based mainly on the use of American and Indian cotton , the use of the latter having increased since the war .sx There has been an appreciable increase in the amount of machinery since 1914 .sx The number of spindles was about 1.8 million in 1926 , with about 30,000 looms .sx There is considerable export trade in yarns , mainly to neighbouring countries ( including the United Kingdom ) ; and there is a somewhat smaller import trade , mainly from the United Kingdom and France .sx