THE flow of operatives into the cotton industry has been gradually increasing during the past six months, and with the launching of a Government training scheme for workers in the spinning mills shortly, it is expected that the numbers will be further stepped up next year. The number of people who went to work in the mills jumped from 770 in two weeks in February to nearly 1,200 during the first two weeks of September.

The upward trend was mainly due to the cessation of war work, but the Government announcement that the cotton industry must again become a flourishing one was an important factor in restoring workers' confidence in the future of the industry.

THE SIEGE OF PARIS

The Government has issued a decree ordering the adoption of the following measures:- All the men of France between the ages of 21 and 40, and all those who have already volunteered, are to be organised into a mobilised National Guard. All men from 25 to 35 years of age, who are subject to the army law, will remain in the mobilised National Guard till their services are called for by the Minister of War. All sportsmen's guns and other private weapons are to be given up.

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