Towards the end of the 17th century, Mr. Gregory King and Dr. Davenant →→ Davenant's Works, Whitworth's ed. ii. 233.)-estimated the value of the wool shorn in England at 2,000,000l. a year; and they supposed that the value of the wool (including that imported from abroad) was quadrupled in the manufacture; making the entire value of the woollen articles annually produced in England and Wales, 8,000,000L., of which about 2,000,000l. were exported. In 1700 and 1701, the official value of the woollens exported amounted to about 3,000,000l. a year. Owing to the vast increase of wealth and population, the manufacture must have been very greatly extended during last century; but the increase in the amount of exports was comparatively inconsiderable. At an average of the 6 years ending with 1789, the official value of the exports was 3,544,160l. a year, being only about 540,000l. above the amount exported in 1700. The extraordinary increase of the cotton manufacture soon after 1780, and the extent to which cotton articles then began to be substituted for those of wool, though it did not occasion any absolute decline of the manufacture, no doubt contributed powerfully to check its progress. In 1802, the official value of the exports rose to 7,321,0127, being the largest amount they ever reached till 1833, when they amounted to 7,777,952. They have not, however, been so high since; and though there be no reason for supposing that the manufacture, taken as a whole, has sensibly declined during the last few years, it certainly has not increased, and may be regarded as in a stationary state.

Value of the Manufacture. Number of Persons employed. The most discordant estimates have been given as to both these points. For the most part, however, they have been grossly exaggerated. In a tract published in 1739, entitled Considerations on the Running (Smuggling) of Wool, the number of persons engaged in the manufacture is stated at 1,500,000, and their wages at 11,737,500l. a year. Dr. Campbell, in his Political Survey of Great Britain, published in 1774, observes, - Many computations have been made upon this important subject, and, amongst others, one about 30 years since, which, at that time, was thought to be pretty near the truth. According to the best information that can be obtained, there may be from 10,000,000 to 12,000,000 sheep in England, some think more. The value of their wool may, one year with another, amount to 3,000,000l.; the expense of manufacturing this may probably be 9,000,000l., and the total value 12,000,000l. We may export annually to the value of 3,000,0007., though one year we exported more than 4,000,000l. In reference to the number of persons who are maintained by this manufacture, they are probably upwards of 1,000,0000. Sanguine men will judge these computations too low, and few will believe them too high." (ii. 158.) But the moderation displayed in this estimate was very soon lost sight of. In 1800, the woollen manufacturers objected strenuously to some of the provisions in the treaty of union between Great Britain and Ireland, and were allowed to urge their objections at the bar of the House of Lords, and to produce evidence in their support. Mr. Law (afterwards Lord Ellenborough), the counsel employed by the manufacturers on this occasion, stated, in his address to their Lordships, on information communicated to him by his clients, that 600,000 packs of wool were annually produced in England and Wales, worth, at 117. a pack, 6,600,0007; that the value of the manufactured goods was 3 times as great, or 19,800,000l.; that not less than 1,500,000 persons were immediately engaged in the operative branches of the manufacture; and that the trade collaterally employed about the same number of hands. -(Account of the Proceedings of the Merchants, Manufacturers, &c., p. 34.)

It is astonishing that reasonable men, conversant with the manufacture, should have put forth such ludicrously absurd statements. We have already seen that the quantity of wool produced in England and Wales, in 1800, did not really amount to 400,000 packs; and the notion that three out of the nine millions of people then in the country were directly and indirectly employed in the manufacture, is too ridiculous to deserve notice, though it was generally acquiesced in at the time. - (See Middleton's Survey of

Middlesex, 2d ed. p. 644.; Adolphus's British Empire, iii. 236, &c.)

Mr. Stevenson, who is one of the very few writers on British statistics to whose statements much deference is due, has given the following estimate of the value of the woollen manufactured goods annually produced in England and Wales, and of the interest, &c. of the capital, and the number of persons employed in the manufacture :

But even this estimate requires to be materially modified. Taking Scotland into account, and allowing for the increase of population and of exportation since Mr. Stevenson's estimate was made, the total value of the various descriptions of woollens

annually produced in Great Britain may, at present, be moderately estimated at from 23,000,000l. to 25,000,000l, or 24,000,000l. at a medium. We have further been assured by the highest practical authorities, that Mr. Stevenson's distribution of the items is essentially erroneous; and that, assuming the value of the manufacture to be 24,000,000 it is made up nearly as follows:

At present, the average wages of the people employed may be taken at about 241. a year, making the total number employed 312,500. And, however small this may look as compared with former estimates, we believe it is fully up to the mark, if not rather beyond it.

Most of the innumerable statutes formerly passed for the regulation of the different processes of the manufacture have been repealed within these few years; and the sooner every vestige of the remainder disappears from the statute book, the better.

I. Account of the Quantity of the Different Descriptions of British Woollen Manufactures exported from the U. Kingdom in the Year 1812, and of their Total Declared Value; specifying the Quantities and Value of those sent to each Country.

Jersey, Alderney,

and Man

Total

36,984 29,634

8,433

8 5,362 141 98,990 22,467 24,877 1,979,492 1,619,496 1,392,591 763,762 6,950,010 137,062 152,629 5,185,045

16

1,124

40,54

II. Account of the Total declared Value of the Woollen Manufactures, exclusive of Woollen and Worsted Yarn, exported from the U. Kingdom in each Year since 1820.

* We inadvertently underrated the value of the raw material in the former edition of this work. The mistake was pointed out by Mr. Youatt in his excellent work on sheep (p. 226.), which embodies a great deal of most valuable information respecting the woollen manufacture.

III. Account of the Quantity and declared Value of the Woollen and Worsted Yarn exported in each Year from 1820.

The stationary, or rather declining, amount of the exports of woollen manufactures in the second of the above tables, strikingly contrasts with the rapid increase in the exports of yarn, as exhibited in the third. We believe, too, that the contrast would have been still greater had we been able to insert the returns for 1843; for, though the exports of manufactured woollens in that exceeded those of the preceding year, the increase in the export of yarn was comparatively much greater.-(See the valuable circular of Messrs. Gibson, Ord, and Co., Manchester, 19th January, 1844.)

This different progress of the exports of manufactured goods and yarn depends, no doubt, on various causes; but principally, we believe, on the change, previously noticed, that has taken place in the character of our wool, which fits it much better than formerly for being made into worsted yarn, which is almost the only description of yarn that is exported. The operation of this change is evinced in a still more striking manner by comparing the export of cloth, properly so called, with that of stuffs, in the undermentioned years: -

It is obvious that this continued and rapid fall on the one hand, and continued and equally rapid increase on the other, must be occasioned by the operation of some powerful and permanent cause; and none such can be assigned other than the decreasing suitableness of British wool for being made into cloth; and its increasing suitableness for being made into worsted yarn and stuffs. We do not think that the existing duty on wool has much influence either one way or other.

Latterly the stuff' trade has been in a state of unexampled prosperity. This has been mainly occasioned by the change of fashion in this and other countries, by which stuffs made of a mixture of cotton and worsted have been largely substituted for cloths; and the home and foreign demand for them proportionally increased. In so far, indeed, as the extraordinary extension of the stuff trade depends on this change, it cannot, perhaps, be regarded as resting on any very solid foundation. But it is on the whole abundantly obvious that the export trade in cloth has seriously declined; and that it is only in the stuff trade, and in the production of yarn, that we have any very decided superiority over foreigners. (For an account of the recent history of the woollen trade, see the 2d vol. of Bischoff's History of the Woollen and Worsted Manufactures; a useful work formed on the plan of Smith's Memoirs of Wool, but less learned and able.)

Shoddy Trade. The greater number, perhaps, of our readers may never have heard of that branch of the woollen manufacture called the shoddy trade, which has grown up of late years, and is now of very considerable value and importance. It is principally carried on at Dewsbury in Yorkshire, in the centre of the clothing district. Shoddy cloth is fabricated either wholly or partly of old wool; and instead of being neglected, or used only as manure, old woollen rags are now everywhere carefully collected, and conveyed to Dewsbury. After being subjected to various processes, they are torn to pieces by the aid of powerful machinery, and reduced to their original state of wool; and this wool, being respun, either with or without an admixture of fresh wool, is again made into cloth! Formerly, shoddy cloth was used only for padding and such like purposes; but now, blankets, flushings, druggets, carpets and table covers, cloth for pilot and Petersham great coats, &c., are either wholly or partly made of shoddy. The clothing of the army, and the greater part of that of the navy, consists principally of the same material, which, in fact, is occasionally worn by everybody. Large quantities of shoddy cloth are exported. Great improvements have been effected of late years, not only in the fabric of the cloth, but also in the dyes: this is especially seen in the cloth for soldiers' uniforms, which is no longer of a brick-dust colour, but makes a much nearer approach to scarlet. The beautiful woollen table covers are made wholly of shoddy, being printed by aqua fortis from designs drawn in London and Manchester, and cut on holly and other blocks on the spot. The analogy between this manufacture and that of paper is so striking, that it must force itself on the attention of every

one; the vilest and most worthless materials being converted in both into the most beautiful and useful fabrics. The shoddy trade is, in fact, one of the greatest triumphs of art and civilisation. Though of comparatively recent origin, it is rapidly extending itself. It is most active in summer, and is much more languid in winter. (See Geog. Dict. art. Dewsbury.)

WRECK, in navigation, is usually understood to mean any ship or goods driven ashore, or found floating at sea in a deserted or unmanageable condition. But in the legal sense of the word in England, wreck must have come to land; when at sea, it is distinguished by the barbarous appellations of flotsam, jetsam, and lagan. FLOTSAM.)

(See

In nothing, perhaps, has the beneficial influence of the advance of society in civilisation been more apparent than in the regulations with respect to the persons and property of shipwrecked individuals. In most rude and uncivilised countries, their treatment has been cruel in the extreme. Amongst the early Greeks and Romans, strangers and enemies were regarded in the same point of view. - ( Hostis apud antiquos, peregrinus dicebatur. Pomp. Festus; see also Cicero de Offic. lib. i. c. 12.) Where such inhospitable sentiments prevailed, the conduct observed towards those that were shipwrecked could not be otherwise than barbarous; and in fact they were, in most instances, either put to death or sold as slaves. But as law and good order grew up, and commerce and navigation were extended, those who escaped from the perils of the sea were treated in a way less repugnant to the dictates of humanity and at length the Roman law made it a capital offence to destroy persons shipwrecked, or to prevent their saving the ship; and the stealing even of a plank from a vessel shipwrecked or in distress, made the party liable to answer for the whole ship and cargo. (Pand. 47. 9. 3.)

--

:

During the gloomy period which followed the subversion of the Roman empire, and the establishment of the northern nations in the southern parts of Europe, the ancient barbarous practices with respect to shipwreck were every where renewed. Those who survived were in most countries reduced to servitude; and their goods were every where confiscated for the use of the lord on whose manor they had been thrown. — (Robertson's Charles V., i. note 29.) But nothing, perhaps, can so strongly evince the prevalence and nature of the enormities, as the efforts that were made, as soon as governments began to acquire authority, for their suppression. The regulations as to shipwreck in the Laws of Oieron are, in this respect, most remarkable. The 35th and 38th articles state, that "pilots, in order to ingratiate themselves with their lords, did, like faithless and treacherous villains, sometimes willingly run the ship upon the rocks, &c.;" for which offence they are held to be accursed and excommunicated, and punished as thieves and robbers. The fate of the lord is still more severe. "He is to be appre

hended, his goods confiscated and sold, and himself fastened to a post or stake in the midst of his own mansion house, which being fired at the four corners, all shall be burned together; the walls thereof be demolished; the stones pulled down; and the site converted into a market place, for the sale only of hogs and swine, to all posterity." The 31st article recites, that when a vessel was lost by running on shore, and the mariners had landed, they often, instead of meeting with help, "were attacked by people more barbarous, cruel, and inhuman, than mad dogs; who, to gain their monies, apparel, and other goods, did sometimes murder and destroy these poor distressed seamen. In this case, the lord of the country is to execute justice, by punishing them in their persons and their estates; and is commanded to plunge them in the sea till they be half dead, and then to have them drawn forth out of the sea and stoned to death."

Such were the dreadful severities by which it was attempted to put a stop to the crimes against which they were directed. The violence of the remedy shows better than any thing else how inveterate the disease had become.

The law of England, like that of other modern countries, adjudged wrecks to belong to the king. But the rigour and injustice of this law was modified so early as the reign of Henry I., when it was ruled, that if any person escaped alive out of the ship, it should be no wreck. And after various modifications, it was decided, in the reign of Henry III., that if goods were cast on shore, having any marks by which they could be identified, they were to revert to the owners, if claimed any time within a year and a day. By the statute 27 Edw. 3. c. 13., if a ship be lost and the goods come to land, they are to be delivered to the merchants, paying only a reasonable reward or SALVAGE (which see) to those who saved or preserved them. But these ancient statutes, owing to the confusion and disorder of the times, were very ill enforced; and the disgraceful practices previously alluded to continued to the middle of last century. A statute of Anne (12 Ann. st. 2. c. 18.), confirmed by the 4 Geo. 1. c. 12., in order to put a stop to the atrocities in question, orders all head officers and others of the towns near the sea, upon application made to them, to summon as many hands as are necessary, and send thein to the relief of any ship in distress, on forfeiture of 100%; and in

owners.

case of any assistance given, salvage is to be assessed by 8 justices, and paid by the Persons secreting any goods cast ashore, are to forfeit treble their value; and if they wilfully do any act by which the ship is lost or destroyed, they are guilty of felony without benefit of clergy. But even this statute seems not to have been sufficient to accomplish the end in view; and in 1753, a new statute (26 Geo. 2. c. 19.) was enacted, the preamble of which is as follows:-"Whereas, notwithstanding the good and salutary laws now in being against plundering and destroying vessels in distress, and against taking away shipwrecked, lost, or stranded goods, many wicked enormities have been committed, to the disgrace of the nation, and the grievous damage of merchants and mariners of our own and other countries, be it," &c. : and it is then enacted, that the preventing of the escape of any person endeavouring to save his life, or wounding him with intent to destroy him, or putting out false lights in order to bring any vessel into danger, shall be capital felony. By the same statute, the pilfering of any goods cast ashore is made petty larceny.

By statute 1 & 2 Geo. 4. c. 75. it is enacted, that any person or persons wilfully cutting away, injuring, or concealing any buoy or buoy rope attached to any anchor or cable belonging to any ship, whether in distress or otherwise, shall be judged guilty of felony, and may, upon conviction, be transported for 7 years.

We regret, however, to have to state that the plunder of shipwrecked property is still by no means uncommon on the British coasts. The late committee on shipwrecks state, that "there is on many parts of the coast a want of that moral principle which should inculcate a just regard for the rights of such property. It is looked upon as a chance gift, which every one has a right to scramble for as he can, notwithstanding the laws which have been passed, from the earliest period, to prevent or punish such depredations. The plunder of shipwrecked property on the coasts has been carried on to an enormous extent, and this seems to have arisen from there having been no persons on the spot, when a wreek had taken place, to look after the property." The committee state, that the establishment of the coast-guard has done much to repress these abuses. The latter, however, cannot legally interfere, except when the castaway articles are subject to customs duties; and the committee suggest that all abandoned property should be vested in the government in trust for those to whom it may belong, as is done in France and Holland. (Report of Committee of 1843, p. viii.)

(For an account of the sums to be paid to those assisting in the saving of wreck, see art. SALVAGE in this Dictionary; see also the chapter on Salvage in Abbott's (Lord Tenterden's) work on the Law of Shipping.)

Number of Shipwrecks.--The loss of property by shipwreck is very great.

It appears

from an examination of Lloyd's List from 1793 to 1829, that the losses in the British mercantile navy only amounted, at an average of that period, to about 557 vessels a year, of the aggregate burden of about 66,000 tons, or to above 1-40th part of its entire amount in ships and tonnage. The following account of the casualties of British shipping in 1829 is taken from Lloyd's List: --

On Foreign Voyages - 157 wrecked; 284 driven on shore, of which 224 are known to have been got off, and probably more; 21 foundered or sunk; 1 run down; 35 abandoned at sea, 8 of them afterwards carried into port; 12 condemned as unseaworthy; 6 upset; 1 of them righted; 27 missing, 1 of them a packet, no doubt foundered. Coasters and Colliers-109 wrecked; 297 driven on shore, of which 121 known to have been got off, and probably more; 67 foundered or sunk, 4 of them raised, 6 run down; 19 abandoned, 5 of them afterwards carried in; 3 upset, 2 of them righted; 16 missing, no doubt foundered. During the year, 4 steam vessels were wrecked; 4 driven on shore, but got off; and 2 sunk.

We are glad, however, to have to state that it would appear from the returns given in the Report of the Commons' Committee of 1843, on Shipwrecks (Appen. p. 52.), that these casualties are less frequent now than formerly. At all events, it would seem that at an average of the 3 years ending with 1835, when the mercantile navy comprised about 24,500 ships, 610 were annually lost, whereas, at an average of 1841 and 1842, when the mercantile navy had increased to about 28,700 ships, the annual loss amounted to 611 ships; the average burden of the lost ships being in both cases, as near as can be ascertained, 210 tons. Hence, if we estimate the value of the ships and cargoes at 201. a ton, the loss of property in 1841 and 1842, from shipwreck only, will have been 2,566,2001. a year! The loss of life is not exactly known, but it may be taken at from 1,450 to 1,500 individuals a year.

These heavy losses might be materially diminished by building better and stronger ships, to which nothing, probably, would contribute so much as allowing them to be built in bond, as previously suggested (antè, p. 1111.). No doubt, however, the carelessness, ignorance, and incapacity of the masters in the great source of loss; and nothing, certainly, would do so much to obviate this as to make the obtaining of a certificate of fitness, after undergoing an examination by some public board, indis