French, &c., and a good deal of evidence upon this subject was taken before the committee of the House of Commons appointed in 1833 to inquire into the state of manufactures, commerce, and shipping. Such apprehensions appear to us to be quite destitute of any real foundation. Provided we have no agitation, that public tranquillity and security in fact and opinion be maintained unimpaired, we need be under no sort of uneasiness as to any competition to which we may be exposed. The tariff has forced cotton, woollen, iron, and other manufactures into a premature existence in the United States; but excepting the coarser fabrics, and those in which the value of the raw material bears a large proportion to the value of the manufactured article, we have nothing to fear from the Americans. Neither has their progress in the manufacture of this description of goods been at all remarkable; for the official accounts published by order of congress show that the value of all descriptions of cotton goods exported from the United States, during the year ended the 30th of June, 1849, amounted to only 4,933,129 doll., or about 1,080,000%, of which the raw material most probably amounted to more than a half.

Among the singular statements that have been put forth as to the cotton manufactures of America, one is, that the wages of labour are lower there than here! To dwell on the absurdity of such a statement would be an insult to the reader. But though it were true that wages were as low in Massachusetts as in England, that would afford no real ground for anticipating any formidable competition from America in this department. The price of cottons depends more on the profits of stock than on the wages of labour; and, so far as we know, it has not yet been alleged that the former are lower in America than here. Suppose an English and an American manufacturer have each 100,000l. vested in cotton mills, and in the floating stock required to carry on the business; if profits in England be 1 per cent. less than in America, the English manufacturer can afford, cæteris partius, to sell his goods for 1,000l. less than the American. We are very far from insinuating or believing that this lowness of profit is an advantage; but whatever may be its influence in other respects, so long as it continues, it gives our manufacturers a decided superiority over those of every other country where profits are higher, in the manufacture and sale of all articles, such as cotton yarn and stuffs, principally produced by machinery. It is ludicrous, indeed, to suppose that a half-peopled country like America, possessed of boundless tracts of unoccupied land of the highest degree of fertility, should be able successfully to contend in manufacturing industry, with an old settled, fully peopled, and very rich country like Great Britain. The government which encourages such a misdirection of the public capital and industry, and those who suppose it can end in any thing else than ruin to the parties, are ignorant of the merest elements of the science of wealth.

The following results as to the state of the American cotton manufacture in 1840 are given in the census of that year.

The following statement, though not official, is said to represent with considerable accuracy the consumption of cotton in the American manufactures in the following years ending with 1849-50.

Little as we have to fear from American, we have still less to fear from Swiss or Saxon competition. America has some advantage over England in the greater cheapness of the raw material; but Switzerland and Saxony, situated almost in the centre of Europe, can only draw their supplies of raw cotton by a distant land carriage by way of Hamburg, Marseilles, and Genoa; and we have the best authority for affirming, that a bale of cotton may be conveyed at a less expense from Charleston to Manchester, than from Genoa, Amsterdam, or Hamburg, to Switzerland or Saxony. Switzerland is altogether destitute of coal; all that she does is done by water power, and that is said to be nearly exhausted. It is not, however, to be wondered at that the Swiss and Saxons should have succeeded in supplying their own markets, and some of those immediately contiguous, with certain species of yarn; or that they should export hosiery and such other articles as they can manufacture on a small scale, in their cottages; but it is idle to suppose that they should ever be able to do much more than this.

It was stated before a committee of the House of Commons, in 1833, that the French cotton manufacture had increased, between 1812 and 1826, in the ratio of 310 per cent., while in England its increase was only 270 per cent. This statement was, we believe, accurate as far as it went; and yet it was eminently calculated, though, no doubt, without being so intended, to mislead. In 1812, and for some years previously, it was

4

hardly possible to import cotton wool into France, and its price was quite excessive. When, therefore, the manufacturers got wool after the return of peace at an ordinary price, it was impossible, seeing that foreign cottons are excluded from France, but that the manufacture should increase with extraordinary rapidity, until the home demand was pretty well supplied. An advance of this sort is assuredly no proof of the capacity of France to prosecute the manufacture with advantage, or to export cottons without the aid of a bounty. Had the manufacture gone on increasing in the above ratio, down to the present time, the circumstance might have justly excited attention; but such has not been the case. No doubt it has made a considerable progress in the interval; but not so much as might have been expected seeing the increase of wealth and population in France, and seeing also the peculiar facilities which the French enjoy for smuggling cotton stuffs and other prohibited products across the Pyrenees into Spain, where they are taken off in large quantities. The truth is, that until the French government reduces or repeals the duties on raw cotton, and on foreign iron and other articles indispensable to the cheap construction of cotton factories, it were idle to suppose that the French should be formidable competitors in the production of cottons.

It is supposed by some, that the competition we have to fear from the Continent does not consist so much in the spinning as in the weaving of cottons: and that the probability is, that our exports of yarn will increase, and our exports of manufactured goods diminish. We do not, however, imagine there is much in this. Our power looms are superior to those of any other country; and it is unhappily true, that the wages of hand loom weavers here are sunk below the general level of Europe. There is not, in fact, with the exception of the dyes, a single particular connected with the cotton manufacture in which we have not a manifest superiority over the Swiss, Saxons, French, Prussians, and every Continental nation. Certainly, however, we are inferior to some of them in the brilliancy and durability of their dyes; and this circumstance occasioned a considerable demand for German and Swiss printed cottons in many parts of the East, where vivid colours are held in the highest estimation. But even there, the greater cheapness of our goods is proving an overmatch for the greater brilliancy of those of our rivals.

On the whole, therefore, we see no reason to think that the British cotton manufacture has reached, much less passed, its zenith. At the same time, however, it can hardly be necessary to observe, considering the vast importance of the trade, that while, on the one hand, nothing should be left undone that may serve to widen its foundations, and to promote its prosperity, on the other, nothing should be attempted that may, by possibility, have an opposite effect. The subsistence of 1,200,000 people is not to be endangered on slight grounds. The abuses even of such a business must be cautiously dealt with, lest, in eradicating them, we shake or disorder the whole fabric. No doubt, however, the case of children employed in the cotton factories is one that called fairly for legislative regulation; and we believe that the regulations that have been enacted, carried out as they have been under the superintendence of the inspectors, have been productive of much good.

We beg in corroboration of the views now taken to lay before the reader the elaborate and valuable statements of Messrs. Dufay and Co., of Manchester, respecting the cotton trade of this country, as compared with that of others : ——

Comparative Estimate of the Quantity of Raw Cotton consumed in the Chief Manufacturing Countries for the last Ten Years, that is, from 1836 to 1845, both inclusive, in Millions of Pounds. Countries. 1836. 1837. 1838. 1839. 1840. 1841. 1842. 1843. 1844. 1845.

Comparative Estimate of the Quantity of Raw Cotton, &c.— continued.

"Our statement embraces a period of 10 years, and shows the total consumption of this important staple in the chief manufacturing countries to have amounted for the five years from 1836 to 1840, to 3,500 millions of lbs. weight, and in the five years from 1841 to 1845, 4,306 millions of lbs. -- Total consumption from 1836 to 1845, 8,006 millions of lbs. weight. Of this quantity, Great Britain has consumed in the five years from 1836 to 1840, 1,989 millions of lbs. weight, and in the five years from 1841 to 1845, 2,555 millions of lbs. weight, showing that England has steadily maintained her proportion of about 56 per cent, of the total consumption of cotton from 1836 to 1845; and in going back for a further period of 10 years, we find very nearly the same result, as will be seen from the following statement. The total average consumption of cotton per annum has been, (in round numbers,) in the chief manufacturing

"Of which the proportion consumed in Great Britain, (in round numbers,) averages as follows: —

which shows that there has been for some time an increase in the total consumption of raw cotton, equal to about 200 millions of pounds weight per annum in the average annual consumption of every succeeding five years, or of about 1,000 millions of pounds weight of total increase in five years; and that, notwithstanding this immense increase, Great Britain has continued to consume the same proportion of about 56 to 57 per cent. of the total quantity.

"Of all the cotton-consuming countries, France has made the least progress in this branch of industry, considering the advantages which an advanced state of science and mechanics afford. Not only in her ection trade, but also in the increase of her population, France keeps behind other nations; it is well known, also, that the population of that country has been stationary, compared with that of other European states.

For some time past, we have taken pains to ascertain the number of spindles at work here and else. where, and have great pleasure in submitting the result to our friends. The returns were procured from the trade, as regards Great Britain, and have been carefully collected and revised. The information of the productive power of foreign states, has been derived from the best authorities, and well informed quarters. The estimate of the number of spindles at work in the principal foreign cotton manufacturing countries is, according to the latest accounts received from abroad, as follows, viz.:"In the States comprised in the German Customs League, viz. —-—

"The number of yarns, spun in Austria and the Customs Union, rule between Nos. 30. and 60., while France produces finer numbers. Austria imports only about 12 per cent. of the yarns consumed in that country. The States comprised in the Customs Union, on the other hand, Import 67 per cent.

"The average number of mule yarns produced in Great Britain, is generally assumed to be No. 38, and of throstles or water twist No. 18.

"Mr. John Kennedy estimated the number of mule spindles at work in 1819 at 7 millions; the estimate for 1832, was 9 millions; and the quantity of cotton consumed in the latter year amounted to about 276,900,000 lbs.

"The quantity of cotton consumed in 1845, is estimated in round numbers, at 600 millions of lbs. ; and it appears that this quantity (after deducting the usual per centage for loss, and cotton used in the raw state, for waddings and other purposes) has been reduced into yarns by 13 millions of mule spindles, and 4 millions of throstles spindles, in all 17 millions. Of theseMule Spindles. 159,333 1,476,083 11,364,584

Ireland possesses
Scotland

England and Wales

Throstles.

56,170

253,795

4,190,035

4,500,000

"The spinning process is carried to a high degree of perfection in this country. There is very little loss of material in reducing cotton into yarns; the waste of the finer numbers is re-spun into a second quality, and this process is going on, down to the lowest material. The speed in spinning has been much increased of late years, which accounts for the comparatively small number of spindles required to reduce the large quantity of cotton into yarn. In 1834 about 10,904,000 spindles were requisite to reduce 300 million lbs. of cotton into yarn, at present we require only 174 millions of spindles to work up double the quantity of cotton. The coarser numbers which are produced now, account partly for this, but only in a very small degree."

7. STATUTORY REGULATIONS IN REGARD TO THE EMPLOYMENT OF CHILDREN IN

FACTORIES.

No statutory restrictions respecting the employment of children in the mills and factories of the U. Kingdom existed until 1802, when the 42 Geo. 3. was passed for the preservation of the health and morals of apprentices and others employed in cotton and other factories, and directing the local magistrates to report whether the factories

were conducted according to law, and to adopt such sanitary regulations as they might think fit. This act was followed, in 1816, by the act generally called Sir Robert Peel's Act, imposing various regulations on the employment of children in cotton-mills. Both of these acts were repealed in 1831, by the 1 & 2 Will. 4. c. 39., commonly called Sir John Hobhouse's Act, which provided that, in cotton factories, to which it alone related, no child could legally be employed till it had attained the age of 9 years; and that no person under 18 years should be permitted to remain in the factories more than 12 hours in one day; and that on Saturdays they should only be employed in the factories for 9 hours.

Sir John Hobhouse's Act was repealed in 1833, by the 3 & 4 Will. 4. c. 103.; and this last-mentioned statute, with the 7 & 8 Vict. c. 15., and the 10 & 11 Vict. c. 29. (commonly called the 10 hours act), enact the following provisions relative to persons employed in all processes incident to the manufacture of cotton, wool, hair, silk, flax, hemp, jute or tow, separately or mixed together, or mixed with any other material, or any fabric made thereof, with the exception of factories used solely for the manufacture of lace, hats, or paper, or solely for bleaching, dyeing, printing, or calendering.

1. That no person under 18 years of age shall be allowed to work in the night, i. e. from past 8 in the evening to past 5 in the morning, nor on Saturday for any purpose after past 4 in the afternoon, the hours to be regulated by a public clock, marked on a notice put up in each factory.

2. That no child under 8 years of age shall be employed, and that no child between 8 and 13 years old shall be employed more than 6 hours and 30 minutes in any one day, unless the dinner-time of the young persons from 13 to 18 years old in the factory shall begin at 1 o'clock; in which case, the children beginning to work in the morning may work for 7 hours; but any child above 11 years of age employed solely in the winding and throwing of silk may work for 10 hours a day. And any occupier of a factory restricting the labour of young persons between 13 and 18 years old to 10 hours a day, may, on certain conditions, employ any child 10 hours on 3 alternate days of every week, provided that such child shall not be employed in any manner in the same or any other factory on 2 successive days.

3. That no child under 13 years of age shall work in the night for any purpose.

4. That every child under 13 years of age must have a surgical certificate of age, and must attend some school, on 5 days of every week for certain specified periods, and obtain a weekly certificate of attendance from the schoolmaster, which may be annulled by the inspector on account of the unfitness of the school

master.

5. That no young person of the age of 13, and under the age of 18, shall be allowed to work for more than 10 hours in any one day, nor more than 58 hours in any one week.

6. That every young person under 16 years of age must have a surgical certificate of his age.

7. That no female above the age of 18 years shall be employed in any factory save for the same time and in the same manner as young persons in factories, i. e. for 10 hours in the day and 58 hours in the week, and under the above conditions as to night work, certificates of age not, however, being necessary for females above 18 years of age.

8. That in factories, in which any part of the machinery is moved by water, and time lost by stoppages from want of water or too much water, children or young persons may, under certain conditions, be cinployed one hour additional, except on Saturday; and that when from the same causes any part of the manufacturing machinery driven by the water-wheel has been during any part of a day stopped, the young persons who would have been employed at such machinery, may under certain conditions recover such lost time during the night following the said day, unless the said day be Saturday.

9. That the inspector of the district, one of the four inspectors appointed under the acts, shall have power to appoint a sufficient number of certifying surgeons to examine the children and young persons, and to give certificates of age to children and young persons under 16 years of age, according to certain forms and directions, but which certificate may be annulled by the inspectors or sub-inspectors appointed under the acts, provided they believe the real age of the persons mentioned in the certificates to be less than that mentioned in them, or provided the certifying surgeon of the district deems such persons to be of deficient health or strength at the time when the certificates are annulled.

10. That not less than 1 hour shall be allowed every day for meals to every young person, to be taken between past 7 A. M. and past 7 P M., and 1 hour at least before 3 P. M.: and that no child or young person shall be employed more than 5 hours before 1 P. M. without an interval for meal-time of at least 30 minutes, and that all the young persons shall have the meal-times at the same period of the day.

11. That all children and young persons shall have not fewer than 8 half-holidays in the year, 4 of such half-holidays between 15th March and 1st of October, and that no child or young person shall be allowed to work in any factory on Christmas Day or Good Friday, in England or Ireland, and in Scotland on any day the whole of which is set apart by the Church of Scotland for the observance of the sacramental fast in the parish in which the factory is situated.

The acts embody other regulations respecting the appointment of inspectors to carry out these provisions, &c. but these, though of importance to the parties interested, by whom they must be carefully attended to, being of little public importance, need not be inserted in this place.

COWHAGE, OR COWITCH (Hind. Kiwach), the fruit or bean of a perennial elimbing plant (Dolichos pruriens, Lin.). It is a native of India, as well as of several other Eastern countries, and of America. The pod is about 4 or 5 inches long, a little curved, and contains from 3 to 5 oval and flattish seeds, the outside is thickly covered with short, bristly, brown hairs, which, if incautiously touched, stick to the skin, and occasion intolerable itching. (Ainslie's Materia Indica.)

COWRIES (Ger. Kauris; Du. Kauris; Fr. Coris, Cauris, Bouges; It. Cori, Por cellane; Sp. Bucios Zimbos) are small shells brought from the Maldives, which pass current as coin in smaller payments in Hindostan, and throughout extensive districts in Africa. They used to be imported into England previously to the abolition of the slave trade, in which they were subsequently employed. They are an article of trade at Bombay. The best are small, clean, and white, having a beautiful gloss; those that are yellow, large, and without lustre, should be rejected. The freight is calculated at 20 cwt, to the ton, — ( Milburn's Orient. Com.)

CRANBERRIES, OR RED WHORTLEBERRIES, the fruit of a moss plant

the Vaccinium oxycoccus of Linnæus. The berries are globular, about the size of currants; are found in mossy bogs in different parts of Scotland, but not in great numbers: they were once common in Lincolnshire, and the northern parts of Norfolk; but since the bogs have been drained and cultivated, they are rarely met with. Cranberries have a peculiar flavour, and a sharp, acid, agrecable taste; they are easily preserved, and are extensively used in making tarts. They are very abundant in North America, and in the northern parts of Russia; the latter being of a superior quality. We import from 30,000 to 35,000 gallons annually. It is said that some very fine ones have recently been brought from New South Wales.

CRAPE (Fr. Crêpe; Ger. Flohr, Krausflohr; It. Espumilla, Soplillo; Rus. Flior; Sp. Crespon), a light transparent stuff, in manner of gauze, made of raw silk, gummed and twisted on the mill and woven without crossing. It is principally used in mourning. Crape was originally manufactured in Bologna; but that made in this country is now deemed superior to any made in Italy.

CREAM OF TARTAR. See ARGAL.

CREDIT, the term used to express the trust or confidence placed by one individual in another, when he assigns him money, or other property in loan, or without stipulating for its immediate payment. The party who lends is said to give credit, and the party who borrows to obtain credit.

Origin and Nature of Credit. In the earlier stages of society, credit is in a great measure unknown. This arises partly from the circumstance of very little capital being then accumulated, and partly from government not having the means, or not being sufficiently careful, to enforce that punctual attention to engagements so indispensable to the existence of confidence and credit. But as society advances, capital is gradually accumulated, and the observance of contracts is enforced by public authority. Credit then begins to grow up. On the one hand, those individuals who have more capital than they can conveniently employ, or who are desirous of withdrawing from business, are disposed to lend, or to transfer, a part or the whole of their capital to others, on condition of their obtaining a certain stipulated premium or interest for its use, and what they consider sufficient security for its repayment; and, on the other hand, there are always individuals to be met with, disposed to borrow, partly (and among merchants principally) in order to extend their business beyond the limits to which they can carry it by means of their own capital, or to purchase commodities on speculation, and partly to defray debts already contracted. These different classes of individuals mutally accommodate each other. Those desirous of being relieved from the fatigues of business find it very convenient to lend their capital to others; while such as are anxious to enlarge their businesses obtain the means of prosecuting them to a greater extent. It is plain, that to whatever extent the power of the borrower of a quantity of produce or a sum of money, to extend his business, may be increased, that of the lender must be equally diminished. The same portion of capital cannot be employed by two individuals at the same time. If A. transfer his capital to B., he necessarily, by so doing, deprives himself of a power or capacity of production which B. acquires. It is most probable, indeed, that this capital will be more productively employed in the hands of B. than of A.; for the fact of A. having lent it shows that he either had no means of employing it advantageously, or was disinclined to take the trouble; while the fact of B. having borrowed it shows that he conceives he can advantageously employ it, or that he can invest it so as to make it yield an interest to the lender, and a profit to himself. It is obvious, however, that except in so far as credit contributes, in the way now mentioned, to bring capital into the possession of those who, it may be fairly presumed, will employ it most beneficially, it conduces nothing to the increase of wealth.

The most common method of making a loan is by selling commodities on credit, or on condition that they shall be paid for at some future period. The price is increased proportionally to the length of credit given; and if any doubt be entertained with respect to the punctuality or solvency of the buyer, a further sum is added to the price, in order to cover the risk that the seller or lender runs of not receiving payment, or of not receiving it at the stipulated period. This is the usual method of transacting where capital is abundant, and confidence general; and there can be no manner of doubt that the amount of property lent in Great Britain, the Netherlands, and most other commercial countries, in this way, is infinitely greater than all that is lent in every other

way.

When produce is sold in the way now described, it is usual for the buyers to give their bills to the sellers for the price, payable at the period when the credit is to expire; and it is in the effects consequent to the negotiation of such bills that much of that magical influence that has sometimes been ascribed to credit is believed to consist. Suppose, to illustrate this, that a paper-maker, A., sells to a printer, B., a quantity of paper, and that he gets his bill for the sum, payable at 12 months after date : B. could not have entered