The Silk Goods of America

Abstract

THIS book has been issued under the auspices of the Silk Association of America, with the view of affording information as to the character of the silk goods manufactured in that country. Not many years since nearly all such goods were imported, and even now the entire product of many of the American silk mills is represented to the consumer as of European make. The Silk Association have, however, bestirred themselves; they find that in order to obtain a standing in a market where imported articles hold an established reputation they are obliged to make better fabrics than their foreign rivals, and, naturally enough, they now seek to secure for themselves the credit of their enterprise. The Centennial Exhibition startled the manufacturers both of this country and of France with the extent and rapidity of their progress in developing this special branch of industry. The railways across the Continent and the direct trade with Asia across the Pacific Ocean have placed America more nearly on a level with European countries as regards supplies of raw silk; improvements in the power-loom and the continuance of the tariff policy of the Government have done the rest. Mr. Wyckoff boldly states that had that policy vacillated during the last ten or fifteen years there would have been no story of improvement to tell.

The Silk Goods of America.

By Wm. C. Wyckoff. (New York: Van Nostrand.)