The Cotton Dispute On Tuesday the Central Committee of the
Weavers' Amalgamation met in Manchester and decided not to accept the new system of " more looms to a weaver." The decision was taken in collaboration or in sympathy with that of the Northern Counties Textile Trades Federation. The new system is only feeling its way. The plant is not ready for a widespread application of " more looms to a weaver," but the Trade Unions think that they must make their stand now or never. Burnley is the centre of battle. There the eight-loom system is working tentatively in ten mills. The policy of the Unions is to stop work next Monday wherever the employers insist upon the new system. The employers have limited the issue by a declaration that they have no intention of applying the system in the next three months to more than 10 per cent. of the looms in any mill. The operatives seem to be challenging scientific progress, and that is always a blunder. For a time the increased mechanization of production unquestionably displaces labour, but if the experience of the United States in standardization and mass-production is any guide—as it certainly is—increased consumption follows quickly upon cheaper production. * *
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