an advance of a penny per pound in the price of the material speedily and invariably causes an increase of two or three hanks in the average produce and fineness of the yarn per pound. 4. Value of the British Cotton Manufacture in 1857. Amount of Capital, and Number of Persons employed in it. — It would be very desirable to be able to form a tolerably accurate estimate of the present value of the cotton manufacture, and of the number of persons employed in its different departments; but the data on which such estimates are founded being necessarily very loose, it is impossible to arrive at anything like precision. Perhaps, however, the following calculations may not be very wide of the mark. In 1817, Mr. Kennedy, a well-informed manufacturer, in a paper published in the Manchester Transactions, estimated the number of persons employed in the spinning of cotton in Great Britain at 110,763; the aid they derived from steam engines as equal to the power of 20,768 horses; and the number of spindles in motion at 6,645,833. Mr. Kennedy further estimated the number of hanks of yarn annually produced at 3,987,500,000; and the quantity of coal consumed in their production at 500,479 tons. We subjoin Mr. Kennedy's statement for the year 1817: Raw cotton converted into yarn in the U. Kingdom : 110,000,000 lbs. Number of hanks, taking the average at 40 per lb. Quantity of yarn produced Number of spindles employed, each spindle being supposed to produce 2 hanks per day, at 500 working Number of persons employed in spinning, supposing each to produce 120 hanks per day 99,678,500 lbs 3,987,500,000 6,615,833 110,763 20,768 Four ounces and a half of coal estimated to produce one hank of No. 40.; and 150 lbs. of coal per day equal to one horse power. But the cotton manufacture has increased immensely since 1817. Mr. Huskisson stated in his place in the House of Commons, in March, 1824, that the total value of the cotton goods and yarn then annually manufactured in Great Britain amounted to 334 millions sterling! But there can be no manner of doubt that this estimate was greatly overrated; and we do not think we should be warranted in estimating the whole annual value of the products in question in 1857 and 1858 at more than 52 millions sterling. If, indeed, we took the increase in the imports of the raw material as any test of the increase in the value of the manufacture, we should estimate it a great deal higher. But the improvements that have been made in the different processes, and the fall in the price of raw cotton, have had so powerful an influence in reducing the price of the goods brought to market, that, notwithstanding the increase of their quantity, it is probable that their total value has increased but little for a considerable time past. The average annual quantity of cotton wool imported, after deducting the exports, may be taken at about 850,000,000 lbs. weight. It is supposed, that of this quantity about 100,000,000 lbs. are used in a raw or half manufactured state, leaving a balance of 750,000,000 lbs. for the purposes of manufacturing, the cost of which may be taken, at an average, at 6d. per lb. Deducting, therefore, from the total value of the manufactured goods, or 52,000,000l., the value of the raw material, amounting to about 18,750,000L, there remains 33,250,000l.; which, of course, forms the fund whence the wages of the persons employed in the various departinents of the manufacture, the profits of the capitalists, the sums required to repair the wear and tear of buildings, machinery, &c., the expense of coals, oil, flour for dressing, &c., must all be derived. If, then, we had any means of ascertaining how this fund is distributed, we should be able, by taking the average of wages and profits, to form a pretty accurate estimate of the number of labourers, and the quantity of capital employed. But here, unfortunately, we have only probabilities and analogies to guide us. It may, however, be confidently assumed, in the first place, that in consequence of the extensive employment of highly valuable machinery in all the departments of the cotton manufacture, the proportion which the profits of capital, and the sum to be set aside to replace its wear and tear, bear to the whole value of the manufacture, must be much larger than in almost any other department of industry. We have heard this proportion variously estimated, at from a third to two thirds of the total value of the manufactured goods, exclusive of the raw material; and as the weight of authority seems to be pretty much divided on the subject, we shall take an intermediate proportion. Assuming, therefore, that the profits of the capital employed in the cotton manufacture, the wages of superintendence, &c., the sum required to replace the wear and tear of machinery, buildings, &c., and to furnish flour, coals, &c., amount together to half the value of the manufactured goods, exclusive of the raw material, or to 16,625,000l., a 16,625,000, will remain as the wages of the spinners, weavers, bleachers, &c. engaged in the manufacture; and taking, inasmuch as a large proportion of women, and children under 18 years of age, are employed, the average rate of wages at only 321. a year, we shall have (dividing 16,625,000 by 32) nearly 520,000 as the total number of persons directly employed in the different departments of the manufacture. sum of We should mistake, however, if we supposed that this number, great as it certainly is, comprised the whole number of persons to whom the cotton manufacture furnishes subsistence, exclusive of the capitalists. Of the sum of 16,625,000!, set apart as the profit of the capitalists, and the sum required to furnish coal, and to defray the wear and tear of machinery, &c., a large proportion must annually be laid out in paying the wages of engineers, machine-makers, iron-founders, smiths, joiners, masons, bricklayers, &c. It is not easy to say what this proportion may amount to; but taking it at 3,000,000%, and supposing the rate of wages of each individual to average 501, a year, the total number employed in the various capacities alluded to will be (3,000,000 divided by 50) 60,000; and a sum of 13,625,000l. will remain to cover the profits of the capital employed in the various branches of the manufacture, to repair the different parts of the machinery and buildings as they wear out, and to buy coal, flour*, drugs, &c. The account will, therefore, stand as under: Total value of every description of cotton goods annually manufactured in Great Britain Wages of 520.05) weivers, spinners, bleachers, &c. at 521. a year each Wages of 60,000 engineers, machine makers, smiths, masons, joiners, &c. at 501. a year each Profits of the manufacturers, wages of superintendence, sums to purchase the materials of machinery, coals, &c. The capital employed may be estimated as follows:-Capital employed in the purchase of the raw material Capital employed in payment of wages - 52.000,000 £ 18,750,000 16,625,000 13,625,000 52,000,000 Capital vested in spinning mills, power and hand-looms, workshops, warehouses, stocks on hand, &c. Now, this sum of 52,000,000l., supposing the interest of capital, inclusive of the wages of superintendence, &c., to amount to 10 per cent., will yield a sum of 5,200,000%; which being deducted from the 13,625,000l. profits, &c., leaves 8,425,000l., to defray the waste of capital, the flour required for dressing, the coals necessary in the employment of the steam engines, to effect insurances, to purchase printing, dyeing, and bleaching drugs, and to meet all other outgoings. The aggregate amount of wages, according to the above estimate, is 19,625,000l.; but there are not many departments of the business in which wages have to be advanced more than 6 months before the article is sold. We, therefore, incline to think that 8,000,000l. is a sufficient (perhaps too great) allowance for the capital employed in the payment of wages. It may be said by some that this estimate is under, and by others that it is overrated; but we believe it will be found to be nearly correct, though, if any thing, it may, perhaps, be a little in excess. Misled by Mr. Huskisson's authority, we estimated, in a former edition of this work, the value of the cotton stuffs and yarn produced in the United Kingdom in 1834, at 34,000,000l.; but farther inquiry has convinced us that that estimate was beyond the mark; and it is to be borne in mind, that though the consumption of raw cotton has vastly increased since 1834, there has been in the interval a very considerable fall in its price, and in the prices of the manufactured articles. The declared value of the cotton goods and yarn exported in 1857 amounted to 39,073,420l. ; and deducting this sum from the assumed value of the manufacture (52,000,000l.), we have 13,000,000l. for the value of the cottons consumed at home. And we are inclined to think that this is pretty near the mark. It has been said that the value of the home consumption does not amount to 1-3rd part of the exports; and though, if we refer only to the weight of cotton exported and retained at home, this assertion may be nearly correct, it is to be borne in mind that the great bulk of the goods for home use are of a superior fabric, and more costly than those sent abroad. On the whole, therefore, we are disposed to believe that in estimating the present value of the products of the British cotton manufacture at 52,000,000l. a year, which leaves 13,000,000l. for the value of those consumed at home, we shall not commit any very serious error; and moderate as this estimate may appear, as compared with others put forth on the same subject †, it strikingly evinces the value and importance of the manufacture. Allowance being made for old and infirm persons, children, &c., dependent on those actually employed in the various departments of the cotton manufacture, and in the construction, repair, &c. of machinery and buildings required to carry it on, it must furnish, on the above hypothesis, subsistence for from 1,000,000 to 1,200,000 persons! This is a much more important item than might be at first supposed. Flour is indispensable in the dressing of webs; and we are well assured that its consumption in this way is not less than 300,000 barrels a year! + Mr. Bazley, M. P., of Manchester, estimated (in a Paper read before the British Association in 1858) the value of the cottons consumed at home at 24,000,000., making the entire value of the manufacture 63 or 64 millions. But, despite the deference due to such an authority, we have no doubt that this is a very great exaggeration. And for this new and most prolific source of wealth we are indebted partly and principally, as already shown, to the extraordinary genius and talent of a few individuals; but, in a great degree, also, to that security of property and freedom of industry which give confidence and energy to all who embark in industrious undertakings, and to that universal diffusion of intelligence which enables those who carry on any work to press every power of nature into their service, and to avail themselves of productive capacities of which a less instructed people would be wholly ignorant. The effect that the sudden opening of so vast and profitable a field for the employment of capital and labour has had on the population of the different towns of Lancashire and Lanarkshire, the districts where the cotton manufacture is principally carried on, has been most striking. In 1774, for example, the townships of Manchester and Salford were estimated to contain 27,246 inhabitants-a number which was swelled in 1831 to 182,812; the entire population of the boroughs of Manchester and Salford having amounted in that year, to 227,808, and in 1851 to 367,232. The population of Preston, in 1780, is said not to have exceeded 6,000; whereas it amounted, in 1851, to 69,542. In like manner, the population of Blackburn increased from 11,980, in 1801, to 46,536, in 1851; that of Bolton increased, in the same period, from 17,416 to 61,171; that of Wigan from 10,989, to 31,941, &c. But the progress of Liverpool is most extraordinary, and can be matched only by the progress of one or two cities in the United States. Liverpool is not properly one of the seats of the cotton manufacture; but she is, notwithstanding, mainly indebted to it for the unparalleled rapidity of her growth. She is the grand emporium of the cotton district-the port where almost all the raw cotton, and the various foreign articles required for the employment and subsistence of the persons engaged in the manufacture, are imported, and whence the finished goods are exported to other countries. She has, therefore, become a place of vast trade, and is now, in that respect, superior even to London. In 1700, according to the best accounts that can be obtained, the population of Liverpool amounted to only 5,145; in 1750 it had increased to 18,450; in 1770 it amounted to 34,050. The cotton manufacture now began rapidly to extend, and, in consequence, the population of Liverpool increased, in 1801, to 77,653; in 1821, to 118,972; in 1831, to 165,175; and in 1851, it amounted to 375,955. The progress of population in Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire has been equally striking. In 1780, the city of Glasgow contained only 42,832 inhabitants; in 1801, that number had increased to 77,385; in 1841 to 274,533; and in 1851 to 347,001. Though command of power and readiness of access be powerful requisites to the success of most manufactures, the localities in which peculiar businesses are established would seem to depend as much on accident as on anything else. Why, for example, should Manchester be the great seat of the cotton, Birmingham of the hardware, Bradford of the worsted, and Leeds of the cloth trade? We apprehend that no better answer can be given to this question than that, from accidental or inappreciable circumstances, the businesses referred to happened to be early established in these towns, and that their situation having been found to be peculiarly well fitted for the improved processes of later times, they have preserved their early superiority. Had they been situated in districts without coal, or comparatively inaccessible, their early proficiency, though it might have enabled them to struggle for a while with the greater advantages enjoyed by their competitors in other districts, would not have been sufficient to secure their continued lead, or even existence. They must, like the iron works which were formerly carried on in Kent, have been in the end abandoned. But having the good fortune to possess, in addition to early and peculiar skill in their respective trades, all the means and appliances required to secure their farther advancement, their progress has been continuous and extraordinary, and their supremacy is at present more undisputed than at any former period. Of 2,046 cotton factories which existed in England and Wales in 1856, no fewer than 1,480 were situated in Lancashire; Manchester being the metropolis of the trade. The remaining factories. were principally situated in the West Riding of Yorkshire, Cheshire, and Derbyshire. The cotton trade of Scotland, which at the epoch referred to had 152 factories, is mostly restricted to the counties of Lanark and Renfrew, and that of Ireland (which is trifling) to Antrim. But while the business has of late years been very greatly extended in England, it has been nearly stationary in Scotland, and has fallen off in Ireland, in which, indeed, it never had any considerable footing. The embroidery of muslins, a branch of the cotton trade which is highly deserving of attention, was commenced in Scotland about 1825, and is almost wholly carried on by Glasgow houses. It is now of much importance, its increase not having been surpassed by that of any other branch of industry, and equalled by very few. In all, about fifty houses are engaged in the trade; and the total sum paid as wages to females in the Western parts of Scotland, and in Ireland, amounted, very recently, to about 750,000l. a year. The embroidery is entirely executed by hand, the attempts to execute it by machinery having failed, or been found to be too expensive. The webs to be embroidered pass between engraved cylinders, driven by steam engines, which mark in faint lines the embroidery to be executed, and they are then sent to agents, who distribute them among the peasantry, who are paid by the piece or job. It is not easy to exaggerate the advantages resulting to the female part of the population from this employment. After being embroidered, the webs are returned to Glasgow, where they are bleached and dressed, and sometimes made up into different articles. A large proportion of the goods are exported to the United States and Canada. Account of the Official Value of the Cotton Manufactures exported, in different Years, from Great Britain, from 1697 to 1797. 5. Exports of Cotton Goods and Yarn. Fall of Prices, &c.- Down to 1750, the exportation of cotton goods, or rather, of goods consisting partially of cotton, was so very inconsiderable that they hardly attracted the least attention from any of our commercial writers. But after the inventions of Arkwright began to come into general operation, the exports increased with unprecedented rapidity. At the commencement of the present century they were nearly as large as the exports of woollens, the produce of the old and staple manufacture of the country. But though the exports of woollen goods has increased considerably since 1800, that of cotton goods and yarn has increased so much more that it is now about three times the amount of the other; and constitutes, indeed, above 1-3rd part of the total exports of the U. Kingdom. Account of the Total Quantities and Declared Values of British Cotton Manufactured Goods. Twist, and Yarn exported from the United Kingdom in each Year from 1820 to 1857, both inclusive. Cotton Twist and Yarn. Declared Total Declared Value of Cotton Manufactures, Twist, and Yarn exported. Cotton Manufactures. 15,192,904 623,803 21,526,369 2,305,830 16,122,537 17,279,256 12,980,644 16,321,715 8.6,896 18,450,537 18,359,999 14,093,752 1827 365,492,804 12,948,035 1,146,988 17,610,601 1828 365,328,431 12,483,249 1,169,763 17.241,417 17,535,006 1,175,153 19,428,564 17,257,201 1832 461,045,503 11,500,630 1,175,(3 70,626,161 4,704,024 18,486,401 20,515,586 1,2 0,284 83,214,198 5,706,589 22,128,301 21.632,058 1837 531,373,663 12,727,989 912,192 105,455,138 1838 690,077,622 1839 731,450,123 16,378,445 1,313,737 105,686,442 6,858.193 24,550,375 7,101,308 24,668,618 7,266,968 23,499,478 7,771,461 21,679,318 1843 918,640,205 15,168,164 1,085,576 140,321,176 6,988,581 25,805,348 1845 1,091,686,069 18,029,808 26,119,331 1816 1,055,460,589 16.701,632 25.599,826 1817 912,510,160 23,333,221 1,012,512 22,681,200 6,701,089 26,775,135 28,257,101 131.987,577 129,385,921 1,995,309 129,190,507 6,805,663 32,792.902 31,745,838 1,455,262 1,682,007 Nothing can set in a clearer light than this table the astonishing fall that has taken place in the price of cotton goods since 1820. In that year our exports of wove cotton fabrics amounted to 250,000,000 yards, their declared value being 13,209,000Z.; whereas in 1856 the exports of wove fabrics had increased to 2,035,000,000 yards, and their declared value to 28,522,000. It appears, therefore, that while the exports of wove cottons have increased about 8 times, or 800 per cent., their value has only increased in the ratio of about 13-2 to 28-5, that is, about 216 per cent.: Hence, supposing 100 yards calico to have cost 12s. 2d. in 1820, 400 yards may now be had for little more than 14s. ! This extraordinary fall has been brought about partly by the heavy fall that has taken place in the price of cotton wool, partly by the public taste setting more in favour of coarser fabrics, and partly and principally by the wonderful improvements made in the manufacture. In consequence of these concurring circumstances, cotton goods are now so cheap, that there is hardly an individual so very poor as to be unable to supply himself or herself abundantly with them. This has improved the dress and added to the comfort of the great bulk of the female part of the population, not merely of this, but also of other countries, in a degree and to an extent not easily to be imagined. It should farther be borne in mind that it is to the fall in the price of its products that the unprecedented extension of the manufacture in this country is to be ascribed. And it is satisfactory to know that, notwithstanding the fall of prices, neither the wages nor profits of those engaged in the business have been diminished, while their numbers have been prodigiously augmented. The following Table is interesting, from its exhibiting the state of our trade in wrought cottons with the different countries of the world. An Account of the Quantities and Declared Value of British Cotton, Manufactured Goods, and Yarn, exported from the U. Kingdom, distinguishing the Description of Goods and the various Countries whereto the same were exported, in the Year 1856. Total 38,110,708 2,022,625,610 28,441,592 1,680,541 181,565,805 7,988,575 Such being the vast extent and importance of the cotton manufacture, the probability of our preserving our ascendency in it becomes a very interesting topic of inquiry. But it is obvious that a great deal of conjecture must always insinuate itself into our reasonings with respect to the future state of any branch of manufacturing industry. They are all liable to be affected by so many contingent and unforeseen circumstances, |