The Government and Cotton Although no official commitments were entered
into on behalf of the Government, the cotton workers' deputation which was received this week by the Prime Minister at the Board of Trade apparently came away convinced .that Mr. Chamberlain - had been sufficiently impressed by the urgency and soundness of their case, and that the Govern- ment really wants to help Lancashire. The deputation sub- mitted a memorandum which recapitulated the outstanding difficulties of the cotton industry: the drain of capital resources ; the loss in spindles and looms ; and the displace- ment of operatives. The returns for last year show that Lancashire's exports in the cotton textile industry had dropped by 8o per cent. and unemployment increased from 3 per cent. to 20 per cent. since 1913. The cotton trade representatives feel that if other industries less vital to the country's welfare can be assisted, then the cotton trade, proud and self-contained as it has tended to be in the past, is entitled also to financial help, and occasion was taken to remind Mr. Chamberlain that the textile workers' organisa- tions represent 250,000 workers—and votes. The memoran- dum which the deputation submitted pressed accordingly for practical remedies rather than " kindly words and sym- pathetic phrases," and rightly pointed out how greatly the cotton industry has contributed in the past to the national prosperity. The memorandum supported the Enabling Bill as a remedial measure which would assist the industry to face the future a little more confidently. The Government will of course await the result of the voting now nearly finished, on the revised proposals for that Bill.
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