THE COTTON TRADE
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]
Sia,—Your article, " The Parlous State of the Cotton Trade:, prompts me to write you, to bring before the notice of your readers the cruel injustice that Lancashire suffers at the hands of British steamship companies.
British ships carry cotton piece goods from Antwerp and Hamburg to Constantinople at the rate of 17s. per ton. The same British ships carry from Liverpool to Constantinople for 70s. per ton.
Recently I was concerned in the shipping of only fifty bales to Shanghai. A foreign vessel would take the goods for £47 less than a British vessel—practically £1 per bale less— but the British authorities in Shanghai will not allow foreign ships to unload British goods.
I could give instance after instance of these unfair charges. It does not matter whether the goods are being shipped to Valparaiso, Buenos Aires, Alexandria, Rangoon, or any port in the world, the charges from Manchester and Liverpool are always shillings per ton more than the charges from Antwerp and Hamburg.—I am, Sir, &c., MANUFACTURER.
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