In New England a great number of manufacturers are amply able to finance themselves, and could if necessary sell their own products. Stock ownership, however, and old ties have frequently kept up the relationship with the selling houses after its usefulness was partly outworn. Nevertheless in the selling of fancy goods, even where the mill is supplied with plenty of capital, the commission house fulfills a very necessary function.
c.
The Broker
Gray goods are very often sold either by a mill or a selling house through the medium of a cloth broker. The latter is strictly a middle man in that he does nothing but bring together prospective purchaser and seller. In the event of sale he gets a commission of ½%, which he often more than earns by his efforts. These brokers are in touch with all the mills, converters, and consumers.
d.
Merchant Converters
While there are some independent finishing establishments, most of them operate on a commission basis for merchant converters. The latter are a class of merchants of comparatively recent origin, having appeared first about 1880, since which time they have practically taken control of the finishing industry. They buy gray goods either direct from the mill, or through a broker or selling house, and have them finished according to whatever they think the requirements of the market are. Inasmuch as they pay on short credit and carry the goods during conversion, frequently selling on several months’ credit to jobbers and retailers, they perform an important part of the financing of the cloth. Their recent rapid rise has been due largely to the growing demand for a multiplicity of seasonal designs.
Some large cutters-up, and a few big mail-order houses do their own finishing or have it done. As a rule they buy from converters and sell to the jobber, retailer, or consumer.
We have now traced the cotton from the seed through the various processes of manufacture and finishing, and followed the finished goods through the channels of distribution to the consumer. It remains only for us to compare briefly the position of the United States with that of other countries, and the position of the various sections within the United States.
CHAPTER IV
THE POSITION OF THE UNITED STATES
1. Cotton Production and Consumption
Ever since the Civil War the United States has produced more than half of the world’s cotton crop. From 1860 to 1900 about one-third of the annual crop was consumed by the domestic industries, and from that time domestic takings have increased, except for 1921, to an average of about 50% in the last few years. During the same period the actual size of the annual crops increased enormously. If we take the figures from the present back to 1790 it will give a rough idea of the progress since that time.