It is a question of great importance for
the future of Bulgaria to know whether she will remain an agricultural country
or turn to industrial occupations. For the last seven or eight years this
question has been under consideration, and Bulgarian economists have not yet
been able to solve it. Many of them are of opinion that Bulgaria does not
possess the qualities requisite for the development of national industries, and
will always remain an agricultural country. But even they must recognise that
the invincible force of universal progress will oblige Bulgaria to develop her
industries as she modernises her methods of farming, just as other countries,
among them France, Germany, and Italy, have done.
The oldest Bulgarian manufacture is
weaving, which from ancient times has been widely spread in the country as a
house industry. The wool of the district was worked up into cloths, carpets,
braids, serges, etc., which were in request throughout the Ottoman Empire. The
most important weaving centres are Pirdop, PanaguiourichtS, Karlovo, Sopot,
Koprivchtitza, Klissoura, Kalofer, Gabrovo, Trevna, Sliven, Kotel and Samokov.
Under Turkish rule, these towns supplied cloth to the Imperial army. Bulgarian
cloths were held in the greatest esteem, and there was a constant demand for
them in Greece, in Asia Minor, at Pirot and Nisch, in Bosnia and Herzegovina,
etc.
Owing to this success, in 1880 some private
individuals decided to start modem workshops. The example was given by the
towns of Gabrovo and Sliven, where there are now large factories, organised on
the most modem principles. There are as many as twentysix factories in other
towns, among them, at Samokov and Kazanlik. Bulgaria, therefore, holds the
first place for weaving in the Balkan peninsula. The following table gives
interesting statistics regarding the Bulgarian weaving industry.
Town. Number
of factories. Number of spindles. Hydraulic horse power. Horsepower of steam. Power looms. Hand
looms.
Gabrovo
7 6,400 385 370 92 —
Sliven 14 8,016 200 24O 85 121
Samokov
2 1,020 65 l6 15 —
Karlovo
1 1,244 40 80 12 .—
Kazanlik
1 850 — IOO 8 —
Kotel
1 300 10 — — 6
Total 26 17,830 7°° 806 212 127
Weaving sheds
The total value of the weaving sheds and
factories is about 5,500,0 francs. The capital is exclusively Bulgarian, the
result of years of industry and thrift. Had foreign capital been invested in
the industry, it might have had a far greater development. We hope that
capitalists will interest themselves in our textiles, the more so as the new
protectionist tariff guarantees the future of the national industries.
Three thousand workpeople, men, women, and
children, are employed. The country owns about 7,000,000 sheep, which yield
120,000 kilograms of wool yearly. For the last ten years this has not sufficed
for the manufacture, which has been obliged to supplement the supply from
foreign markets. The importation of wool increases every year, as may be seen
from the following table:
Natural Wool. Washed Wool. Carded Wool.
Year. Kilograms. Fra. Kilograms. Fn. Kilograms. Frm.
I904 468,676 561,295 8,881 23,042 1,322 2,540
1903 299,082 359,082 11,613 39,414 4,088 17,869
1902 311,128 369,578 21,626 62,164 20,994 54,491
1901 237,447 279,83a 92,376 258,421 2,056 7,193
1900 52,337 55,134 22,362 79,510 22 79
1899 37,042 42,607 15,139 43,6l6 105 425
1898 54,621 52,112 79,455 225,379 14 45
1897 138,875 155,029 17,174 52,574 7,154 21,640
1896 107,861 123,641 11,728 37,219 40 335
1895 313,216 351,428 37,633 110,835 9 45
1894 540,063 605,317 38,615 60,636 5,164 17,643
1893 328,162 295,804 9,216 9,297 1,128 2,599
1890 313,395 311,127 no separate ac x8 135
Most of the natural wool imported comes
from Romania, the washed wool from Austria, Germany, France and Belgium.
As a matter of course, the export of
Bulgarian cloths grows considerably each year, as is shown by the following
statistics:
Year. Coarse
cloths. Kilogr. Frs. Kilogr. Sergei.
Frs.
1904 51,319 121,843 264,870 1,130,528
1903 57,015 133,999 329,510 1,631,860
1902 81,475 161,266 397,661 1,601,639
1901 62,149 173,324 391,705 1,577,497
1900 57,793 143,309 335,778 1,376,896
1899 70,733 172,815 277,716 1,187,425
1898 75,805 300,503 297,126 1,330,127
1897 62,165 209,498 260,047 1,049,816
1896 59,128 180,925 210,213 800,009
1895 86,875 307,892 244,531 982,746
1894 104,770 408,903 267,070 1,126,454
1893 127,230 514,235 223,754 971,051
Year. Cloth
and dyed stuffs. Kilogr. Frs. Kilogr. Braids.
Frs.
1904 7,270 47,811 126,532 615,038
I903 6,925 48,506 147,583 701,023
1902 13,243 78,671 188,568 933,268
1901 i3,m 77,163 179,602 830,810
1900 8,744 50,644 148,885 680,358
1899 8,248 48/490 165,866 757,854
1898 12,361 67,415 I9i»867 847,244
1897 9,531 55/435 137,573 646,548
1896 6,967 40,804 135,250 635/402
1895 7,910 52,504 165,791 773,290
1894 5,795 32,363 186,799 884,823
1893 8,108 49,807 184,141 868,982
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