The excessive gambling on the cotton market in the United
States seems to have produced its natural result in heavy failures and a temporary dislocation of the industry. In this connection it is interesting to note the proceedings of the Conference held this week at Manchester of persons inter- ested in cotton manufacture. Mr. C. W. Macara, the presi- dent of the Lancashire Employers Federation, moved a reso- lution condemning the international gambling in American cotton, which had seriously injured both employers and work- men, and calling upon the Government to take steps to prevent it. This, of course, no British Government can com- pletely achieve, the gambling being done largely on the other side of the Atlantic, except by encouraging the exploitation of new producing grounds within our own territory. Accord- ing to Mr. Macara, the productive capacity of the world's machinery has outrun the supply of the raw material, a situa- tion which offers every chance to the speculator. The price of the raw material being thus forced up, the great con- suming markets could not be got to correspond to it, a result, Mr. Macara thinks, which shows that the production of finished fabrics is in excess of the world's requirements. It is, therefore, necessary to go slow for a little, and to do everything to further the efforts of the British Cotton Growers' Association. The latest resolution of the Conference, we note, is a recommendation to employers to commence running short time. This state of affairs, lamentable as it is, offers a fine chance for our African possessions to confer a real benefit upon Britain, and attain prosperity themselves.
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