understands that there are collieries there: in the clothing branch they spin and card the wool by machinery; has heard of their fheering the pieces by machinery: there are a good deal of machinery in the woollen manufacture in Ireland: hears in Middleton, and knows that in Dublin, and in other places, fome are turned by water, and a good deal in Dublin turned by horses; in the woollen trade, the spinning is done by hand-machines in Ireland." Mr. Fofter, in his printed fpeech of the 17th February laft, fays, "The free inport of wool from Britain, which the propofitions allow, is cried up as a great facrifice made by Britain, and a great gain to us. I acknowledge its liberality, and that it was not included in the commercial propofitions of 1785; at the fame time I cannot fee its particular beneficial effects. Our great import of woollen manufacture confists chiefly of the finer cloths, in which Spanish wool is folely or principally ufed: we cannot expect any, or at least very little wool fit for them from Britain; and I apprehend the freight on it would be much higher on account of its bulk than 5 per cent. which the noble Lord ftates to be the general charge on all articles from Britain to Ireland: its freight is fo expenfive, that I am well informed an attempt to fend it from Dublin to Cork coaftways was abandoned, and it was fent by land: Spanish wool is as free to us without duty, as to Britain; yet we manufacture a very small part of our confumption of fuperfine clothing. "If the coarfer wool thould come, which might be principally used in carpeting, you will recollect that these fame propofitions take off the prefent protecting duties of 121. 145. id. per cent. If wool in Britain fhould again fall to the low price it used to be at, compared with our's, we might poffibly import; the confequence would be lowering the price of our own, which, however beneficial to the clothier or carpet maker, might not be relifhed well by the grazier; but the whole of it promifes to be fo trifling, that it is not worth further obfervation." Mr. Foster, in another fpeech of the 19th March last, fays, "As to old Drapery-our import of it has increased exceedingly; fc. from an average of 690,737 yards in the first five years, to one of 1,027,404 on the last five ending 1799; and even in the year 1799, the import was 1,269,857, exceeding the average a fifth. It is evident, therefore, that our our fupply of this manufacture from Britain has risen moft rapidly; and as there is to be no change of duty on it, the British raw wool is offered to us duty free to check its increafe. I fhewed you, formerly, how ineffectual the offer must be for extending the manufacture here; but the right hon. Gentleman tells us, that, notwithstanding its great bulk, the freight of it will not be expenfive, becaufe fmugglers carry it. He cannot mean froin England hither; there is no fuch practice; and if he means from either country to France, I shall doubt the fact. Let me, however, remind him, that while one pack of British wool ferves to work up two of French, it is worth the Frenchman's while to pay exceffive freight for it." Mr. Beresford, in his fpeech of the 27th of March last, Lays, "Does any man really believe that the use of British wool can be of no advantage to the wool-comber, the fpinner of wool, the weaver, and the whole manufacture of woollens ? Is it not a well-known fact, that although wool was cheaper in England than in Ireland, yet that our yarn was much cheaper in Britain than they could fpin it for, owing to our labour being fo much lower than theirs. If, then, we get nothing but the fpinning of the wool, we fhould be confiderable gainers, the value of yarn being one-third of the value of the manufacture." Mr. Fofter, and alfo Mr. Pim, appear to under-rate the advantage of importing wool from England. I agree with Mr. Beresford, that Ireland may derive confiderable advantage from the circumftance, and without prejudice to Great Britain, as she may extend those manufactures for which the has a demand, and in which the excels; but it can only be when the price of wool is low in England: and I affert, that whenever the demand fhall raife the price in this country to any thing like its true value, Ireland cannot afford to pay it; that rife would immediately check the demand from Ireland, and the will never be able to import British wool at near fo low a price as the British manufacturer may always have that article. The permiflion to import wool from hence may prevent its becoming a drug in this country, and may alfo prevent its deterioration. It tends to encourage a good quality of wool, because it will promote a steady, reasonable price: but no more of it can go to Ireland than what our manufacturers do not want. The export will be regulated by the price; and furely our manufacturers, protected by machinery, machinery, which goes far in equalizing the price of labour, and many other advantages, cannot dread a manufac ture in Ireland, made of British wool, charged with the expence of carriage, freight, infurance, commiffion, &c. Few countries become induftrious until the expence of living has rendered conftant labour neceffary. The increase of manufactures will increase that expence and the price of labour in Ireland; where fkill is required, wages are higher in Ireland than in England. Ireland has, and has had at different periods, a confiderable woollen manufacture. The defpotic Act of 1699, dictated by the fame policy which gave the monopoly of wool to the manufacturer against the wool-grower and confumer in England, prohibited Ireland from exporting woollens or wool: of courfe promoted the finuggling great quantities of wool from thence. It was for the advantage of the woollen manufacture of England, that woollen and worsted yarn were permitted to be fent from Ireland to England: This permiffion raifed the value of wool in Ireland, greatly reduced the fmuggling of that article, and, fince the prohibition to export woollens has been repealed, that practice has entirely. ceafed Ireland works up almoft the whole of the wool the grows, as is proved by her having exported lately very little wool, or woollen or worsted yarn. The following Statemen', taken from Obfervations which I published in 185 t, will more fully fhew what the Irish woollen inanufacture has been and is likely to be: Some manufactures of woolt exifted in Ireland previous to the reign of James the Firft, but they were not confiderable: They then made fome progrefs, and in the fucceeding reign, although Lord Strafford difcouraged them. The civil war which followed, almost annihilated every manufacture in Ireland; and that country, which had fo abounded in cattle and provifions, was, after Cromwell's fettlement of it, obliged to import provisions from Wales §. However, it was fufficiently recovered, foon after the Reftoration, to alarm the grazing counties of England; and in • Mr. Jofeph Stancliffe, in his evidence, the first of May 1800, Atates the faving of labour by the introduction of machinery as 77 to 160. Obfervations on the Manufactures, Trade, and prefent State of Ireland. Sir William Petty flates the cattle and stock of Ireland to be worth above four millions in 1641, and that the whole cattle in Ireland was not worth 500,000l. in 1652. the the year 1666, the importation of live cattle, fheep, fwine, &c. from Ireland, was prohibited. The principle of the Bill was bad; but it proved a beneficial law for Ireland. It was reprefented, that the rents of England had fallen one fifth, through the public nuifance, as it was termed, of importing cattle from Ireland; although the value of thofe imported in 1667, the year previous to the law, was not above 132,000l.: The hides, tallow, and freight, were worth half that fum. Obferve the effect of the narrow views and miftaken policy of England: Before that time, great numbers of young cattle were fent to England; little butter, scarce any beef, hides, or tallow, were exported; and the money received for the cattle was paid for English commodities. The attention of Ireland was by that reftraint turned to theep, to the dairy and fattening of cattle, and to tillage; and the fhortly exported much beef and butter, and has fince fupplanted England in thofe beneficial branches of trade. She was forced to feek a foreign market; and England had no more than a fourth of her trade, although before that time the had almoft the whole of it. The woollen manufacture of Ireland, towards the end of that century, began to recover; and England (not content with her extraordinary experiment in refpect to cattle) immediately fuppofed her own manufacture ruined; and a narrow fpirit, which was more excufable in the manufacturers becaufe they feemed in a degree interefted, induced the Legiflature to pafs an Act in 1669, prohibiting the exportation of woollen manufactures A Report of the Board of Trade, made in the year 1697, gives the following account of the Irish Woollen Manufactures exported: from Ireland to any other places but the few wool ports in England, where they were liable to duties which amounted to a prohibition. And obferve, again, the mistake of England: The woollen manufacturers of Ireland, who, or their ancestors, came chiefly from England, now emigrated from Ireland*; certainly, however, in smaller numbers than were at the time represented. In their refentment and neceffities, many of the Proteftants moved to Germany, many of the Roman Catholics to Spain, and others of each defcription to France, where they received encouragement t, and fhewed the means of fmuggling wool to the Continent from both Islands. The foundation of manufactures was laid, or they were promoted, highly to the prejudice of England; and thus fome return was made for the manufactures established in the Britifh dominions by the equally unwife Edict of Nantz. But the account of the woollen" manufactures exported from Ireland in 1698, the year preceding the prohibition, will beft fhew the wantonnefs of that oppreffive measure: England. Scotland. Elsewhere. Apparel value £.102 34. 601 2128 Drapery {new, pieces old, pieces do. Stockings { wol. doz. pr. · 1- 29 - 250 127,601 - 1355 - 169 - - ΙΟ 5 For the better understanding of this account, it is neceffary to know, that the article the amount of which is most confiderable, namely frizes ‡, was not made in England. That * About the year 1664, fome clothiers from the Weft of England fettled in Dublin, and established the manufacture which still continues there. It is faid, nearly at the fame time, fixty Dutch families of clothiers fettled at Limerick. Some English clothiers fettled alfo at Cork and Kinsale. Some French introduced the drugget manufacture at Waterford; and, in 1675, fome London Merchants fet up a woollen manufacture at Clonmell. + Elpecially from Colbert, who at that time greatly advanced the ma nufactures of France. Frize was the principal woollen manufacture of Ireland, when her wool was much finer than it is now; and had been established very early there: we find it the object of a law in 1376, the laft year of Edward the Third. The larger part of the frizes that came to England were dreffed, and, receiving a confiderable degree of manufacture, afforded a profit to this country. The export of frizes is now inconfiderable, but the increased population has probably increased the home confumption. VOL. III. 1800. C the |