Planning for cotton, 1945-1951.

The article focuses on the economic condition of the British cotton industry during the 1940s. Particular emphasis is laid on the government policy and planning at the industry level. Despite the government's best efforts 30 per cent of Lancashire, England's spindleage remained idle in 1950, output was far below prewar levels, and productivity levels were disappointing. As a result of overtime working, and the closure of inefficient units under the concentration scheme, yarn production per operative had risen during the war, but progress was slow after 1945. Recruitment had been sluggish, and in 1950 the number of workers in spinning and weaving was still 120,000 below the level of 1937. The government's targets for Lancashire were achieved because they were pitched at modest levels which took account of productive inefficiency and the continuing labor shortage. Cotton made a significant contribution to the export drive in the 1940s, the value of all cotton textile exports increased from pound 87 million in 1946 to pound 211 million in 1950, maintaining a constant 9 per cent share of all British visible exports. But Lancashire could have done more if enough people had been willing to return to the mills.