20 
Modern Business Geography 
Why England excels in cotton manufacturing. The cotton imports 
of the United States come mainly from England. That country owes 
her leadership in the cotton industry to certain decided advantages: 
(1) She was the first to manufacture cotton goods. Hence she 
early obtained a wide market, which she has largely retained, 
in spite of her rivals. 
She has a large supply of both skilled and unskilled labor. 
Her colonies have needed great quantities of cotton goods and 
have preferred to buy from the home country rather than 
elsewhere. 
England’s shipping has been adequate to carry her goods every- 
where. In this respect no other country has been so well pro- 
vided. 
The cotton factories of Great Britain are located where the com- 
bined cost of transportation for raw material and fuel is lower 
than in any other part of Europe, and as low as in most 
parts of the United States. The mills are located largely in 
the county of Lancashire. As Lancashire lies just east and 
north of Liverpool, raw cotton is readily received from Amer- 
ica through that port or through Manchester, which is con- 
nected with Liverpool by a ship canal. 
Coal of the best quality is mined close to the manufacturing 
district. 
The climate of Lancashire is uncommonly favorable. It is very 
healthful for the workers, and the prevailing southwest winds 
bring air that is damp enough for spinning. 
(5) 
Because of all these advantages, no other part of the world makes 
so much cotton cloth of all kinds as does the English manufacturing 
district. 
Our tariff on cotton goods. The higher wages and higher prices 
of all commodities in this country give England and other countries 
of western Europe an advantage over the United States in the manu- 
facture of cotton goods. They could undersell us if there were 
competition on equal terms. Accordingly, our government has long 
helped the home industry by imposing a tax, or tariff, upon nearly all 
imported cotton goods. In the tariff established in 1922, the duty 
ranged from 20 per cent of thé value for cotton thread to 40 and 
even 75 per cent of the value for cotton gloves, hose, quilts, and laces. 
In spite of this duty, cotton goods were imported annually to values 
which sometimes exceeded $100.000.000.