Cotton Famine

COTTON FAMINE, Never in the history of modern industry has such a cataclysm overtaken any great trade as the Cotton Famine which devastated the Lancashire cotton industry during the years 1861-65 as the result of the American Civil War, when the supply of American cotton, which then formed 85% of its total consumption of raw material, was almost entirely cut off.

The years 1859 and 186o had been a period of great activity in the cotton trade. There was a boom which was probably in sight of its inevitable termination when the Civil War began. Large stocks of cotton had been imported and the stocks of yarns and manufactured goods were unusually large. Had there been no war it is probable that the trade would have been compelled to face a reaction involving a severe spell of depression and short time, for it appears that even in those days periods of over production had already been reached in the cotton trade.

Blockade of 1861.

It was not therefore till well into the autumn of 1861 (the blockade of the Southern ports was estab lished in July of that year) that the pinch first began to be felt in Lancashire. The rise in the price of cotton, which had been the first effect of the war, had enabled the spinners and manufacturers to dispose of large stocks of goods, and it was probably the cessation of demand rather than the lack of supplies of the raw material which first began to produce stagnation in the trade. In the opening weeks of 1862 the trouble really became acute. The boards of guardians seem at first to have believed that they could meet any situation that might arise, but, as the numbers applying for relief increased, the difficulty of living up to the rule of no relief for able-bodied men became greater, and the impossibility of applying the labour test to such numbers more evident. Their efforts and powers, however, were soon supplemented by the formation of local relief committees. In May 1862 the Mansion House Committee in London and the Central Relief Committee in Manchester were organized, and widespread appeals for contributions were sent out with very satisfactory results. The sturdy independence of the northerners made it hard for them to apply for relief, even when all that they had been able to save or to raise from the sale of their own small possessions was gone ; and many of them endured very real hardship before being brought to accept assistance. At the same time it is to be noted that while there was very great hardship there was no real starvation; in fact it is said that the health of the county as shown by the death-rate actually improved, partly because of the almost complete cessation of the consumption of alcohol, and of the open-air life which was enforced upon the workers.

£1,750,000 Spent in Relief.

The total amount spent in relief of the distressed was for those days colossal. In all nearly £1,75o,000 was distributed by the various relief committees, not including contributions in kind (which were estimated at about i I 12,000 in value) and relief granted by the boards of guard ians. In three years the latter spent just under £2,000,000. The total loss incurred by the whole trade in wages, profits, etc., is incalculable, but must have exceeded f I o,000,000.

By the time that the large pre-famine stocks had disappeared (some cotton was actually reshipped to the Northern States where the shortage was, of course, equally bad) other supplies especially from India were coming into the country, though in compara tively small quantities. The Indian crop, which at one time had supplied a large proportion of Lancashire's needs, had fallen off very badly both in quantity and quality; and when it became practically the only alternative, difficulty was at first experienced in getting large quantities of Indian cotton. The quality also proved exceedingly unsatisfactory, involving a great loss both in time and in waste, while it required much readjustment of the machinery. For a time, however, it was almost the only new supply available, as the blockade soon began to prove unpleas antly efficient, and it was some time before the organization of a fleet of small but fast steamships as blockade runners developed to such an extent as to produce any satisfactory quantity. The rise of the price of cotton from below 7d. in the early months of 1861 to 314d. in 1864 naturally proved a great stimulus to the growing of cotton in other countries, as well as its extension in India. The greatest success was achieved in Egypt, where, though the quantity was comparatively small, the quality proved better even than American (except Sea Island). The stimulus extended, however, to practically every potential cotton-growing country in the world, e.g., Australia, Brazil, and various parts of the Turkish empire, but at best the total supplies were never more than enough to keep the industry running about half-time. Even after the conclusion of peace in April 1865 it was a long time before supplies reached anything like normal (see WORLD'S COTTON SUPPLIES) . (J. A. T.) See R. A. Arnold, History of the Cotton Famine (1864)•