Woman's Tyranny Over Trade.

Both cotton and wool have lost so much ground to artificial silk that they have separately started propagandist drives to recapture the public taste, which is mainly the feminine taste. In connection with National Cotton Week, held in Britain, May 5-12, it was stated that today a woman wears from three to four yards of cotton material, whereas her mother wore ten yards. Possibly that experience could be parallelled by the wool propagandists, who have lately been conducting special selling drives in New Zealand. Naturally a wool-producing country is more concerned about the recovery of woollens than of cotton goods; but both industries can make common cause against the short skirt. Whether they have exercised or can exercise the slightest influence on the partial return of the long skirt is another question. That it is worth their while to try to influence fashion is sufficiently proved by the estimate that Britain buys every year 400 million yards less cotton than she bought before the war.