Chapter II.

MANUFACTURES.

Woven, &c. Fabrics.

Manufiicturin*^ skill of England—Its political consequences during

the last war—Introduction of woollens manufacture—Prohibition
to export English wool—Kcmt)val of prohibition, and its con¬
sequences—Woollen goods exported—Number of Woollen fac-
toiies—Foreign wool imported—Production of wool in England
in 1800, 182S, and 1830—Stuff' trade—Cotton manufacture—
Cotton imported since 1800—Cotton goiuls exported since 1820
—Decreasing cost (»f yarn—Advantages of pow(*r-looins—Cost
of weaving—Number of power-looms—Hand-loom weavers—
Labour employed in spinning and weaving lactoiics—Dimi¬
nished proportion required^'to pioduco equal effects—Increased
proportion of power-weaving—Piogiessive extension of cotton
factuiies—Power-looms in various manufactures—Cotton-prin¬
ting—Effect of removing duty on piinted goods—Hosiery—Bob¬
bin-net—Extent and value of cotton manufacture in 1833—Silk
manufacture—Its progress duiing and sii^ prohibition—Ex¬
port of silk goods—Distribution of silk factones, and number of
I)eisons emplo) ed in ]035—Linen manufacture—Quantities
exported—Flax-spinning—i^rices of yarn and canvass at dif¬
ferent periods—Wages—Improvements in spinning—Importa¬
tions of flax—Distribution of flax factories, and number of
persons employed in 1835.

England has long stood pre-eminent for the skill of its

inhabitants in manufactures of various kinds. But for
that skill, and the extraordinary degree of devclopement
which it has experienced during the past half century,
it is not possible to conceive that this country could
have made the financial efforts which enabled us to
carry on the long, and, beyond all precedent, the ex-
188 PRODUCTION. [sec. II,

pensive war of tlie Freiicli Revolution. It has been a

common assertion with a very powerful class in the
community, that the’eitraordinary efforts here alluded
to were principally, if not entirely, made at the expanse
of the proprietors of the sod. This position can only
be rendered tenable by showing that the condition of
those projirietors during the war was one of privation
and sacrifice, whereas it is notorious that the direct
contrary of such a state of'things was experienced;
that through the enhtlnced prices of all kinds of agri¬
cultural produce, rents were more than doubled;
that the landlords were thence enabled to assume a
scale of expensive living, to continue which, after the
return of a more natural order of things, they have had
recourse to restrictions upon the importation of food,
which have been felt as an injury by all other classes,
although they may not have been equally successful in
perpetuating high rents and prices.
It is to the sjiinning-jcnuy and the steam-engine that
we must look as the true moving powers of our fleets
and armies, an4 as the chief support also of a long-
continued agrifetiltural prosperity. Tlie views developed
in the preceding pages go far to show that it is owing
to the effects of these ])Ow«rfid agents in providing
employment for a large proportion of our rapidly in¬
creasing population, that the system under wliich the
introduction of human food into this country is re¬
gulated or restricted, is capable of producing, in any
degree, that higher scale of prices, as compared with
other courtries, which the agriculturists of Great Britain
receive for their prot^ce. Restore to their former pro¬
portions the numbers of the people who live by agricul¬
tural employments, and of those who live by manufac¬
turing industry, while at the same time you retain the
cii. n.] MANUFACTURES. 189*
increased productiveness of the soil, and it would not be
long before tlie prices of farming produce would fall at
least to the level of the prices of surrounding countries.
So long as the disproportion of the two classes is main¬
tained at its present rate, it is probable that England
will continue a non-exporting country in regard to pro¬
visions, and that the prices of food, if even the utmost
freedom of importation were allowed, will always be
greater here than in neighbouring kingdems, by all the
cost of transport, enhanced by the ordinary profits of
' ade.
The manufacture of woollen goods is said to have
been introduced into this country by the Romans; but
the tradition is not confirmed by any certain records.
There is no doubt that broad-cloths were made in Eng¬
land as early as the close of the twelfth or bcgirming of
the thirteenth century; hut the Flemings were at that
time far more advanced in the art than our country¬
men, and a considerable part^of the cloths then, and for
a long time afterwards, worn in this country, were made
in Flanders, from wool the produce of English flocks.
From a very early period the woollen manufacture
has been an object of the especial protection of the
English government. Orjginally, indeed, the freest ex¬
portation of British wool was allowed; but in 1660 it
was strictly prohibited, and this law remained in force
until 1825. The prohibition W'as grounded upon the
belief that the long-staple or cornbing-wool of England is
superior for some manufacturing purposes to that of any
other countiy, and that by keeping the raw material at
home we should secure to ourselves the exclusive manu¬
facture of certain fabrics. The mfstakeu policy of this
selfish system has been rendered fully apparent since its
abandonment. No sooner were the French manufac-
190 PRODUCTION. [sec. II.

turers able to procure the combing-wool of England

than they set their ingennity at work to profit fully from
the concession, and produced new stubs from English
wool superior to any that we had ever produced in this
country. Thus stimulated, our manufacturers also ap¬
plied themselves to the discovery of superior processes,
and in the course of a very few years have produced
merinos and other stuffs in every respect equal to the
fabrics of Frapee. By this means our stuff manufacture
has received an important impetus. In the five years
from 1820 to 1824, while the jirohibition to export
English wool was in force, the average annual "Bilip-
mciits of that description of woollen goods amounted to
1,004,441 pieces. In the five years following, during
which the removal of the restriction occurred, the ave¬
rage annual export of such goods amounted to 1,228,239
pieces; and in the next quinquennial period, from 1830
to 1834, the average rose to 1,505,993 pieces : thus fur¬
nishing a satisfactory answer to those persons who pre¬
dicted, as the necessary consequence of a departure from
a restrictive policy, the absolute ruin of that branch of
our export trade. In 1337, with the intention of in¬
suring to the manufacturers the full advantage of the
home market, an act was passed forbidding any one
to wear cloths of foreign bianufacture; but this law,
which was never very strictly enforced, was soon after
repealed.
The value of woollen goods exported from England
in 1700 was about 3,000,000/. At the beginning of
the present century, notwithstanding the great extent
to which articles made of cotton had in the intermediate
time been substituted for woollen clothing, the value of
our exports of woollen goods amounted to about double
that sum. We have not any record of the quantity of
CH. II.] MANUFACTURES. 191
goods exported at these periods, but as the price of wool
at the end of the last century was more than double
what it had been at the beginning, it is probalde that
the number of yards and pieces sent away was not much,
if at all, greater at the later than it had been at the
earlier period. It will be seen from’the following table
that the value of our exports of woollens has not become
greater since the beginning of thisTcentury ; but owing to
the diminished price of wool, and the great economy that
has been attained in various manufacturing processes,
the quantities have, on the whole, considerably increased.
Thelargest export, in point of value, that ever took
place, occurred in the year 1815, when, owing to the
interruption of intercourse with the United States of
America in the two preceding years, the quantities sent
to that country were unusually great. The number of
pieces exported to all part,s in that year was 1,482,043,
the number of yards 12,173,515, and the total value
9,381,426/., of which 4,378,195/. v.^as sent to the United
States.
 192

An Account of the Quantities of British Manufactured Woollen Goods Export^ in each year, from 1815 to 1834.
PKODUCTION
[sec. II,
CH. 11.] MANUFACTUUES. 193

The ibllowing table will show the countries to which

the exports were made in 1834:—
An Account of the Quantities of British Manufactured Woollen Goods
Exported from the United Kingdom^ distinguishing the Countries
whereto the same were Exported, in the year 1834.

1
4apveJ
Cloths of Cent- Jersey- Roizes ^lutTs, nQS3DEHi
COUNTRIES. alt Sorts. meios. p-ull Woollen or I'Tnnnc'l.
A,. Sorts. WorsietJ. Rlankctiog.
Ac. -

Pieces. I’ioccs iheces. Pieces. Pieces. Yards. Ynids.

Russia t • . 4,187 571 30 26,498 12,562 11,212
Sweden • . • 43 , ,
60 . 7.109 544 R20
Norway . . . 445 216
43 40 3,466 4,044 - 615
Denmark * . 39 22
10 071 2,280 900
'Vngsia . . . 6 1 . 36 470 911
Get 'Xitf. . . 12,182 5,511 8,709 253 382,158 347.646 7.040
United Nether-J
2.804 15,050 1,662 13,186 118,869 410,901 11,325
France . . . 342 160 100 . , 22,173 31,004 1,450
Portugal.Azores.l
29,610 246 783 8,713 34,671 21,026 33.391
and Madeira ./
Spain and the 1 3,840
1,023 14 694 486 22,410 4,912
Canaries . .i
Gibraltar . . 2.0981 78 275 112 1,357 5,300 3.010
Italy .... 11,895 930 52 107,515 41,189 4,092
Malta.... 1,685 • 284 . 2,411 1,574 1,080
Ionian Islands . 129 12H 3y 4 411 2,430 320
Turkey and Uon-i
1.618 255 78 5 G.808 19.069 2,176
tinental Greece/
Morea andGreekl
13 10 4 • • 750 1,100 • •
Islands . ./
Isles of Guern-1
Bcy, Jersey, \
2.529 60 7 251 3, >45 55.659 11,207
Alderney, and J
Man . . J
East Indies and) 66,660
116.390 5 1,473 77 77.931 181,903
New Holland • 4,787 5 326 94 5,303 68,322 149,238
Cape of Good)
3.781 700 463 809 5,796 43,089 28,336
Hope . . J
Otlier parts of) 9,910
514 1 73 57 3,355 8.489
British N. Ame-l 343.151 241,140
33,501 178 566 031 30,854
rlcan Colonies!
British W. Indies 10.140 202 224 5.73< 10,195 50.433 163,518
United States of] 112,061 1,429,449
200,004 25 3,537j 39 342.323
Foreign W.Indies 12,557 . 391 G59 12.413 7,894 212,058
Brazil.... 23.862 . 620,10,700 34.756 8,490 119,344
Mexico,^ States] 24,900
46,000 2 2,319! 1,393 85,331 SO.Tii
of S. America J
1
Total . . 521,214 ‘22,66i; 23,89l‘l3,fflg 1,298,775 1,821,394 2.537,772

ToUlinlSSS . 597.189 ji9.54a 31,70545,036 1,690,559 2,055,072 3,128.106

S
194 PRODUCTION. [sec. II.

An Account of the Quantity of British Manufactured Woolien Goods

Hxjiorted, &c.—Cmtimtd.

Siindric'^,
cun#i8ting of
llosiciy not Declirred Value of
ilciory, \i2 oilierwiho British Woollen
COUNTRIES. Woollen# Slocking#, dokcrilied-' Manulnrtureit
Carjicl- niixeii with Woollen or R«g», Cover* Exyoited from the
ing. Cotlonr WorsUA 'rupeg, United Kingdom.
and Snuitl
WuKS.

Vftidt VarJs. Dozens. Prs £. i. J jE * d

Il'iBsia . . . 9,92^ 4,HO0 359 ( 274 0 0 105,403 0 0
Su-eden , . . 1,^30 180 142 ( 30 0 ( 10,284 19 6
Niiru’jiy . . . 322 8,930 1,130 i 126 3 ( 13,0S4 4 0
Uciiinark . . l,W'6 1,613 289 ( 98 9 1( 2.434 17 4
Prussia . . . i2f) 3 ( 10 0 0
Germany. . . 41,510 185,865 5,470 ( 6.390 5 ( 565.9o0 15 0
United Nether* ^
03,296 185,647 24.783 15 3,932 16 0 388,907 17 6
Prance . , . C,802 55,145 383 0 192 0 0 45,252 15 0
PorlugnltAzores, <
9,142 84,302 984 0 1,809 2 6 270,750 7 6
and Madeita . i
Hpuiii and the ^
Canaries . . f
1.3(;o 57.830 81 0 jJ53 10 0 67.526 U 0
G.braltar . . 3.471 46.752 306 ft1^45 0 0 24,173 3 0
Italy . , , . 40,OM 220,749 2 365 { 1.185 15 c 252,243 .5 0
Malta .... 900 10,320 429 t 260 0 c 13,509 0 u
Itinian Islands . C50 615 224 ( 65 0 0 3,7l»7 IC 0
Turkey undCon-^
11.943 2,6005 108 0 402 10 0 29,339 5 0
Unemal (iioece}
MoreaandGreeki
Islands . .i » e * • 2 0 0 1,722 t 0
Isles of 0110111-1
sey, Jersey, (
15.337 100 308 8 2,633 9 0 40,353 12 IC
Alderney, and |
Man . .
East Indies andi
9.495 39,590 823 6 982 B 7 885,163 8 i|
New Holland , 7,149 14,900 3,363 6 3,326 8 0 €6,262 17 1
Cape of (joodi
2,964' 5,849 1,471 0 780 5 0 39,428 19 7'
Other parts of <
2,G32 640 461 0 1,212 17 6 3 11
British N. Ame-l
71,622 28,674 17.880 10 12,656 0 4 268,354 8 10
rican Colonies/
British W.lndies 933 13,064 1,747 0 8.116 18 6 102,307 13 7
United States ofi
246,293 27,425 249 0 6,303 0 0 1,726,934 1 6
Foreign W. Indies 8.683 450,336 102,199 4 15,903 8 0 99.551 8 0
Brazil.... 2.879 99,949 1,088 0 4,041 0 0 208,300 0 0
Mexico,&Stl!teai
46,491 171,188 6,420 0 4,003 6 U 427,903 10 0
of S. America J

Total . . 606.912 1,723,069 173,063 3 75,841 8 3 5,736,870 a 0

Totalln 1833 . 667.377 1,605,056 232,766 1 78,236 12 B 5,294,432 3 9

CH. II.] MANUFACTURES. 195

It is not possible to measure the progress of this

branch of manufacture by means of the export trade,
which is of far less magnitude than the home demand;
nor can we arrive at any precise estimate from the
(juantities of the raw material which have been procured
from abroad, since foreign wool has always formed
only a small proportion of the material used for our
cloth manufactures. Neither dogs the growth of thepo-
]rulation of particular towns and districts always furnish a
certain criterion for forming a judgment upon the subject,
because the manufacture, which was at first spread about
'-:'’^reut many difl'ereut parts of the kingdom, has at
difl'erent times diminished or ceased in some places,
while it has increased in others, and in general the
l)usincss has been carried on in districts where other
branches of indu^ry have been simultaneously prose¬
cuted ; so that ifts not possible always to determine
the degree in which'the inWeasc of manufacturing hanrls
is occasioned by one particular branch or by another.
The total number of woollen factories, and of the
persons employed in them, who form, however, only a
small part of those engaged in the woollen manufacture,
is thus given in a late return (1835) by the Inspectors
of Factories:—