The song sung by the spindles and looms of China is the song of China awakening from her sleep of centuries, for as Japan woke and startied the world, so will China some day. During the past few years her sleep has been disturbed, her dreams of an awakening to be have made the recumbent nation show signs of awakening indeed. In 1919-20 the restlessness took activity and orders were placed by which the number of cotton spinning mills and looms in China, entirely under Chinese capital, and without European aid or supervision, will be doubled by the close of 1920—provided the manufacturers of Manchester and Massachusetts can provide the machinery ordered.
The war sent the world price of cotton soaring, and with the beginning of the war China suddenly realized the fact that already she stood third among cotton-growing countries, and steps were taken to promote cotton culture throughout the country. Well-wishing Chinese who tried to inject a spirit of initiation into the government met not entirely with failure, but the government was handicapped by stupidity and squeeze and only made a beginning. It employed a cotton expert from the United States, and in spite of the fact that he was fettered with lack of authority and kept at Peking, hundreds of miles from cotton: growing centres, three governmental experimental farms or stations were actually started before the American expert, Mr, H. LIH. Jebsen, was paid off and sent back to Texas.
But the work started during Mr. Jobson's stay in China has since been pushed forward by private
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.