of conventional design, on vestments, and hangings, &c., has been made and used in India from time immemorial, and was probably equally well-known in ancient Egypt, and Babylonia, and Assyria, and in Greece and Rome. Decorative lace of this sort was known in England, also early in the 15th century. Again it will have been noticed that the earlier examples, the Venetian examples, of lace shewn by Mr. Alan Cole, were of comparatively simple designs, there were spaces, breathing spaces, spaces restful for the eyes, between the decorative forms, and the decoration was frequently almost baldly geometrical. This is the true “opus araneum,” or labori d'aría of the medieval Latin, and early Italian writers. But in Mr. Alan Cole's later examples, the Flemish and English examples of lace, and it is the same with the Spanish and Portuguese laces of the period, the patterning was closer, and more heavily wrought. In both there was the decided alternation of patterning to be found on all Oriental decoration, whether of architectural dados and friezes, or textile borders; and he therefore ventured to advance the suggestion that the designs of the earliest Venetian lace were derived from the Oriental embroideries, and fringe and tassel work, found by the Venetians in the course of their trade with Greece, the isles of Greece, and "the Levant" generally; and that the designs of the earliest Portuguese, Flemish, and English lace had their source in the oriental decorative textiles brought direct from the Persian Gulf, India, and the Indian Archipelago, in the course of the new trade with the East round the Cape of Good Hope, opened up by the Portuguese, Dutch, and English. The designs of our modern bookbinding came through Italy and the Levant from Persia; and again, the designs of the over-decorated wood carving of Holland in the 16th and 17th centuries were directly suggested to the Dutch by the stone sculptured decorations they saw on the temples of the Hindus in India. That is to say the earliest Venetian lace is based on the textiles, the carpets and hangings of Central Asia; and the earliest English and Flemish lace on those of India and the Indian Archipelago; and while in Europe we reproduced the "ground plan," so to say, of these Oriental border scrolls, we filled them in with the more or less conventionalised, or wholly natural forms, of our own flowers, and birds, and beasts. Then why was the modern lace industry successful in Italy, and France, and Holland, and why not, of all countries, in England? It was taken up with equal zest by the peasants of Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Holland, England, Germany, Sweden, and Russia, and it succeeded in all these countries as a great artistic, opulent, and national industry, excepting England. The simple explanation is, that while on the Continent the new industry received the enthusiastic, persistently sustained, ubiquitous, and strenuous support of the Government, in this country it received scant protection from the Government, and but intermittent and insignificant patronage from the wealthy. The Governments on the Continent exerted

themselves as eagerly and ingeniously to secure each other's choicest designs in lace by diplomatic begging, or royal borrowings, or downright theft, as they do to-day to pilfer each others naval and military schemes of mobilisation, and signal codes. In this way lace-making was rapidly carried to the highest artistic perfection in France, and became the source of ever-increasing wealth to that country, as also to Holland. There are several Acts of the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries for the protection of English lace, but the lace referred to is gold and silver lace, corses, ribbons, fringes, tassels, buttons, cut work for appliqué embroiderery, &c., in fact, all kinds of passementery, rather than lace; and lace as we see it this evening is for the first time distinctly mentioned in Act xiv. of Charles II. as "foreign Bone-lace:" the adjective, "bone," here referring to the bobbins of bone with which the lace was worked; and beautifully carved "bones of the 17th and 18th centuries are still to be picked up among the cottagers of Buckinghamshire, Devonshire, Lincolnshire, and other old centres of English lace-work. In short, nothing was ever really done by the State or by private patronage for the encouragement of the lace industry in this country, and wherever this beautiful domestic art still survives among us, it does so but in a languishing way; we meanwhile paying a large annual tribute to foreign countries for all the best lace we buy. It is something, therefore, that we are at last beginning to give some attention to the revival of this home industry, which, so far as any natural aptitude for it goes, is equally at home in England, Scotland, and Ireland. He said this not only because it was a profitable industry, but also on account of the vital national importance of the revival of rural life generally throughout this country. He did not, however, hope much from the action of the County Councils, or any such democratic organisations. Some one present objected to this expression of opinion, but he was not using the word democratic in the sense of party politicians, but in its etymological sense. There was no "cracy," no power of doing good thoroughly, i.e. strongly, and sustainedly, in the "demos"; and all the good that was ever done in the world was done by the strong, enlightened, and beneficent passion of the individual reformer. The wonderful efflorescence of artistic genius in this country in the 50 years between 1846 and 1896, would all have been wasted "in vacuo," and passed like the insubstantial pageant of a dream, but that the heaven-born man to organise it, and utilise it for the abiding national good, was present in Sir Henry Cole. Still it was right and well that the County Councils should exert themselves in this, and other like directions; and here and there, out of their efforts would happily arise gifted individuals, who would co-ordinate the public spirited labours of ladies like Miss Trevelyan, and Mrs. Collier, and Mrs. Mason of the Taunton School of Art, and give them a new and vitalising lead and trend:-for

.

"-a bold peasantry their country's pride,
When once destroy'd can never be supplied."

It remained for him to move the formal vote of thanks to Mr. Alan Cole; and he did so not only formally, but with all his heart, and, he was sure, with the whole heart of everyone present. They were indebted to him for a most valuable and most interesting paper; and it had naturally recalled to them the debt of gratitude every Englishman owed also to his illustrious father. The public appreciation of Sir Henry Cole's life work was every year growing greater and greater with the ever-enlarging and clearer recognition of the masterly and fruitful manner in which, through the resuscitation of the moribund School of Design at Marlborough House, and the absolute creation of the Great Exhibition of 1851, he brought all the artistic instincts and inspirations, and all the industrial activities of the country to a focus, and gave them an organisation and an influence, the effects of which throughout the United Kingdom and the Empire must now prove as enduring as they are beneficent. The whole artistic renaissance of this country began in 1842 with the publication of "Felix Summerley's Home Treasury and Illustrated Handbook." In 1845 he won the Society's Prize for the best tea and coffee service; the identical service from which your Council still drink the tea and coffee which is their perquisite on the occasions of their official attendances here; and in this tea and coffee service the whole series of the "Felix Summerley Art Manufactures," had their head spring. Again, it was Sir Henry Cole who organised the Society's Exhibitions in 1847, 1848, and 1849; and these exhibitions, under the guidance of Sir Henry Cole, with the co-operation of Sir C. Wentworth Dilke and Sir Digby Wyatt, and the assistance of Sir Francis Sandford, and Sir Philip Owen, and the enlightened support of the Prince Consort, led up to the Great Exhibition of 1851. Like all natural leaders of men- whether soldiers, sailors, statesmen, or social and political reformers, Sir Henry Cole was in all matters of national interest a stern and unyielding disciplinarian, and whenever a question of public duty or efficiency arose, he thought only of his duty and the efficiency with which it was to be discharged; and in this way he touched many susceptibilities, and raised many bitter controversies, now fast falling into oblivion. But while in the service of his country he was always Sir Henry Cole, in his private relations with men, as a man, he was always Felix Summerley, and all that that felicitous and inspiring pseudonym implied: a man who was the very genius of geniality, and the most tender hearted, and sympathetic, and helpful of personal friends. He was most generously helpful to himself [the Chairman] from the first moment of their meeting in 1871; and it had given him the liveliest pleasure to be present that evening, and preside over their meeting; and, if he might say so without presumption, to find Mr. Alan Cole sustaining with hereditary ability and vigour the reputation of the name he bears and so honourably upholds.

The motion was carried unanimously.

Mr. ALAN S. COLE, C. B., thanked the Chairman for the too flattering remarks he had made in proposing the vote. He also thanked the meeting for their thanks, and for the reception given to his paper, the reading of which had been a great pleasure to him. Referring to Mr. Stannus's remarks respecting the illustrations, he might say that the slides he had used, as well as specimens of lace in the Victoria and Albert Museum, were available for circulation by the Board of Education through the country, wherever they were wanted. With regard to Mr. Cyril Davenport's criticism on the St. Louis specimens, Mr. Davenport evidently aimed at a very high standard of design, which was doubtless charming to contemplate. His remarks, no doubt, might be justifiable, but he seemed to overlook the fact that the movement to improve designs for Devonshire lace was young. The specimens were good, and they were promising; they showed honest and sound effort, and if they did not rise to the very high standard contemplated by Mr. Davenport, they were distinctly commendable. As to the collar to which Mr. Davenport had alluded, it was entirely needle-point work of the 17th century. He could not say for certain that it was Devonshire work, but in his view it was not unlikely to be so, and there was no reason why it should not be. It was needle point lace. There were some few needle-point lace workers in Devonshire at the present time, and they worked specially for such people as Miss Herbert (Mrs. Treadwin's successor), and Mrs. Fowler, of Honiton. In the last specimen of lace but one which he showed, the ground work was made with a needle, and the details were made on the pillow. There was no particular reason why needle-point lace-making should not develop in Devonshire; at the same time it should be remembered that pillow lace-making was the more indigenous method,

Miscellaneous.

THE FISHERY INDUSTRY IN THE FAR EAST.

The fish caught on the Siberian coast formerly went to Japan as a fertilizer. The catch in 1902, as a fertilizer would have brought only £150,000, but by salting and curing the same fish and selling them at the lowest price, they brought three times as much. There are many different kinds of fish in these Eastern waters, but hitherto they have only been caught for local purposes, and did not pay for export. What is called "stock fish" was quite disregarded; no attention was paid to them. They are found in even greater quantities than the herring, and according to the United States Commercial Agent at Vladivostock, they seem to be waiting for foreign enterprise, the same as crabs and oysters,

The

which are taken only for the use of the poor inhabitants of the sea ports. The Government has laid down a rule that all persons engaged in the fisheries must be Russian subjects, and all the vessels employed must be Russian, sail under that flag, and have Russian crews. No fishing is allowed in the rivers, nor nearer than one mile from the mouth of a river. A severe penalty has been imposed on any Japanese found working in a Russian fishery, and Japanese were not allowed to sell fish to a Russian. Russian Seal Company, the East Siberian Fishing Company, and one other company had the exclusive right to fish. In September last, one ship brought in a cargo of 37 tons of salmon from Okhotsk to the Vladivostock market. To illustrate the enormous quantity of fish in these waters, it can be stated that the agent of the Chinese Eastern Railway at Petropavlofsk reported recently, that while steaming along the western coast of Kamchatka, they encountered an immense quantity of dead "garbusha" (a kind of salmon) floating on the water. Though the steamer was going at the rate of 8 miles an hour, it took two hours to plough through the mass of dead fish which covered the water as far as the eye could reach. The phenomenon has been attributed to volcanic action, near or remote. One of the serious drawbacks to the fishery industry has been the cost of salt and the freight charges. In three months of 1902, the Kaiserling Whaling Company took 57 whales. In 1903, the same company killed 80 in ten weeks along the Korean coast. The catch of fish during the summer is estimated to be worth about £190,000. In the waters near Korsakofsk, on Sakhalin Island, the Japanese took in nearly three times more fish than the Russian fishermen. The catch of the local salmon ("kayta") has of late developed rapidly in the lower Amur fisheries. There are over 240 fisheries in the lower Amur, which employ over 2,000 men. In some of the fisheries over 1,800,000 pounds have been salted down in a season of six weeks to two months. The persons engaged in the fisheries live under the most unfavourable conditions, no interruption is allowed, and fishing, cleaning, salting, and packing, go on continually day and night. The lodgings of the men are only tents or huts made of boughs. The fish keep fresh but twenty-four hours, and much spoiled fish is salted down with the fresh. The fishing season of 1903 was good in all parts, and the prices received steadily advanced. One firm sent 20,160,000 pounds of fish to Hamburg, another firm supplied 6,480,000 pounds to the Japanese Govern

ment.

THE ITALIAN WINE INDUSTRY. The decrease in the exportation of Italian wines to the United Kingdom has served to draw the attention of prominent producers to the fact of the variability in character and quality of the Italian product. According to Consul-General Neville Rolse, of Naples, this arises from various causes, some of

which are disappearing gradually. The first cause is that the wine has been largely made by ancient and rough methods by individual peasants, and, consequently, a constant quality was not to be expected; and while the farmer would turn out a sonnd wine one year, the next year his wine would be quite undrinkable. This is now fast being remedied by the establishment of large firms, who make their wine on scientific principles, with proper chemical analysis, thus ensuring that the wine of one year shall be precisely the same as that of another; and this result can be more readily obtained when the wine is made in large quantities than when it is made in small lots. A second and very important point is that the Italian wine is usually bottled when it is too young, with the result that the fermentation is incomplete, and when the bottle is opened the wine, if not altogether bad, is not palatable. Effervescing wine is also said to be extremely liable to turn acid in the variable English climate, the effervescing wines of Italy containing a large proportion of sugar. This would not happen if the wines were kept long enough before being bottled. Consul-General Neville Rolfe says that there can be no reason why Chianti wine should not take the place of the lighter class of French wines, it has more body, and hence would be more suitable to the English climate. When pure, it is decidedly pleasant to the taste, and improves with age, being probably at its best when it has been five or six years in bottle, though it will keep sound a good deal longer. The Italian wines of the Burgundy type, so little known in the United Kingdom, might be vastly improved, and are being vastly improved by greater care in their manufacture, and there can be little doubt that Italian wines, properly made, rightly fermented and bottled with care, and especially with good corks, are much appreciated. America, both North and South, take a good deal of Italian wine; there is hardly a town of even secondary importance in the United States where the better known brands cannot be readily purchased, and there is no reason, according to the Consul, why this should not be the case in the United Kingdom. The output in 1901 was estimated at 968,000,000 gallons, and that of 1902 at 902,090,000. The 1903 crop is not expected to reach that of 1902.

Obituary.

FREDERICK GORDON.-Mr. Gordon, the chief organiser of the system of palatial hotels in England, which is now so general, died suddenly at Monte Carlo on Tuesday, 22nd ult. He was an old member of the Society of Arts, having been elected as far back as the year 1870. Mr. Gordon was chairman of the Gordon Hotels (Limited), and a director of the Frederick Hotels (Limited). He was also connected in the capacity of director with many other commercial enterprises.

SOCIETY OF ARTS MAP OF THE WORLD.

A map of the world has been prepared, showing the principal places outside the United Kingdom, in which members reside, and to which the Society's Journal is sent. The map has been produced by Messrs. George Philip & Son, Ltd., and indicates the principal steamship tracks, through lines of railways, principal naval and coaling stations, .and the distances between the chief ports of the world. A copy of the map will be forwarded, post free, to any member who likes to apply to the Society's advertisement agents, Messrs. Walter Judd, Ltd., 5, Queen Victoria Street, London, E.C.

COVERS FOR JOURNAL.

For the convenience of members wishing to bind their volumes of the Journal, cloth covers will be supplied, post free, for 1s. 6d. each, on application to the Secretary.

COTTON-GROWING IN THE BRITISH EMPIRE.

BY ALFRED EMMOTT, M.P.

The question of the growth of cotton in the British Empire has recently attracted the attention of all those who watch the development of our industries in general, and who recognise the importance of the cotton trade in particular. The interest attracted by the subject is emphasised by these words in the gracious speech from the Throne at the opening of this Session

"The insufficiency of the supply of the raw material upon which the great cotton industry of this country depends, has inspired me with deep concern. I trust that the efforts which are being made in various parts of my Empire to increase the area under cultivation may be attended with a large measure of

The obvious fact is, that the demand for the raw material of the cotton industry has, in recent years, exceeded the supply, and that this relative shortness of supply has helped speculators to enhance the price of cotton to figures which have seriously interfered, not only with the profits but also with the amount of employment in the trade.

Last autumn, £2,000,000 was lost in wages in this country by cotton operatives alone, owing to short time and stoppages. At the present time the great majority of mills using American cotton are only working 40 hours a week instead of the normal 55 hours, mills which, were cotton cheap and abundant, would all be fully employed.

During the last few months cotton has varied from 7d. to 9d. per lb. in price, and it is nearly 30 years since such prices were known.

It will be of interest at this point to show the variations in the price of middling American cotton from 1870, in five year periods.

It will be noted that the quinquennial average price fell regularly and persistently until the period 1895-99. The lowest year was 1898, when the average price was 3'31d. It rose to 3.56d. in 1899, and 5'47d. in 1900. Afterwards there was a fall, and the average price of each of the years, 1901 and 1902, was about 4 d. In 1903, it rose again to an average price of 6·03d., commencing the year at 4:68d., and ending it at 7:24d., and in the first week of February, 1904, the culminating price of the great speculative movement was reached, when the price stood about 9d. Since then the price has been lower, but there have been wide fluctuations, and much disorganisation in the industry.

There are two elements discernible in the increased prices of the last few years. The first may be called a legitimate rise of price due to an increased demand. The second is due to a singularly daring speculative movement on the part of a group of American speculators. It is quite impossible satisfactorily to separate the effect of these two causes.

I am sorry that I am unable to give exact figures of the consumption of cotton in the world, because an unknown quantity is used in hand-spinning in India, China, and elsewhere. The figures of production are much more reliable, and the essential fact of the situation is that there was not sufficient cotton in the year 1902-3 to supply the spindles of the world.

The world's crop returns for the past 25 years, given in annual averages, is as follows:

It must be remembered, too, that the bales vary in weight, both according to localities and even in the same locality. For instance, in 1879, the American crop was 5,074,000 bales of 434 lbs. each, whilst in 1903 it was 10,758,000 bales of 495 lbs. each. Egyptian bales contain about 700 lbs. of cotton each, and the crop increased from 254,000 bales in 1879 to 825,000 bales in 1903. Bales of East Indian cotton weigh about 400 lbs. each, and the crop increased from 1,543,000 bales in 1879 to over 3,000,000 in 1903, whilst the production of cotton in the rest of the world, composed of many different varieties, increased from 167,000 bales in 1879, to 1,500,000 in 1903.

Mr. Hutton, to whom I must express my great acknowledgment for much kind assistance, in a paper read before the Manchester Statistical Society, February 10th, reduced the present crop of the world to bales of 500 lbs. each, and gives the number as follows:

These figures are for an average crop, and are in substantial agreement with the other figures I have given. They show that the present annual production of cotton is about 8,000,000,000 lbs.

Reverting once more to the Table showing the annual average of the world's crop of cotton from 1879 to 1903, it will be noted that the production of cotton has increased more quickly during the later years than during the earlier. The increase for the period 1884-8, as compared with the figures for 1879-83, shows a larger production of 920,000 bales per annum, whilst the increased growth for the last period of all over that immediately preceding is no less than 2,320,000 bales. It must be remembered that it is during this last period that the cry of scarcity of cotton has arisen, and the stocks of raw cotton have been depleted. It is, therefore, abundantly evident that the tendency towards an increased demand for cotton is still growing, and it is calculated that in five years' time, 19,000,000 bales of cotton will be wanted, and in 10 years, 23,000,000 bales against a present production of only 16,000,000.

The question of whence this increased supply of cotton is to come is of importance to the world at large; but it is of greater and more vital importance to Great Britain than to any other country. Our total production of cotton goods is estimated at £90,000,000