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Untitled Article
made a most wonderful change in the manufactures of their country . About fifty years ago the cotton manufactures were imported from the East Intlios ; now we import the raw material from thence , and return it to them in the shape of yarn or cloth , giving labour to the country . About the same distance of time ago , linens were imported from Germany , and our weavers were supplied with linen-thread from thence ; now we export both the thread and the cloth
-It must be evident , that in the process of weaving , where little or no labour is saved , or rather very little expense saved , for the cost of machinery , and the wear and tear , is generally estimated at about equal to the saving of two labourers in three , the price of food must have great influence , and such is always found to be the case . When the price of corn and meat is high , the power-looms have an advantage ; when , by good harvests , the price of wheat is low . so that wages can be reduced ,
handweaving has the advantage ; and this , in a great measure , accounts for the large exportation of yarn . It can be woven cheaper abroad than in this country . The only remaining work which it is necessary to give to the various fabrics , is the finishing ; and here again the scope for the use of machinery and power is very confined . There can be no saving in either weaving or finishing compared to that in
spinning . It has been shown , that one spinning mule , worked by a man afld two children , will do the same quantity of work that 500 persons would have done ; but in weaving and finishing no power has yet been invented that will do more work with one man than could be done by three persons without increased power . Such is a brief , and , in order to avoid trespassing too much upon the pages of your ' Repository , ' an imperfect sketch , of the present
state of our manufactures for clothing ; but sufficient has been shown to evince their vast importance . The subject must soon occupy the attention of Parliament ; and it is most desirable that it should be considered with great coolness , and every circumstance weighed with impartiality and deliberation . Above all , party feeling should on no account be allowed to have any influence . The cruelties which have been exercised must be
effectually checked , for no crime deserves greater punishment than cruelty to helpless and defenceless infancy ; it must also be ascertained what labour children can endure without injury ; and masters must not have the power of injuring health and shortening life by excessive labour ; but upon this subject care must be taken
lest by an anxiety to give present relief , a check may be given to trade , a large population deprived of work , and more suffering produced than is removed . The exportation of yarn and the manufactured goods , bears a very small proportion to the quantity manufactured . Taking ail the manufacture * together , the foreign trade does not amount to one-tenth of tbe bome trade ; but it is
Untitled Article
OntkzFaetory Sflem . 151
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1833, page 151, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2610/page/7/
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