None of the laws, however, were effectual, not even the one pa.s.sed in the middle of the seventeenth century, by which the offence was rendered capital. In spite of the vigilance of our government, a contraband trade in wool was long carried on between the inhabitants of the French and English coasts, especially those of Suss.e.x, by a cla.s.s of men called _Owlers_, from their only venturing abroad in the night, and who were tempted to despise the penalty, with an intrepidity astonishing to the rest of Europe, by the high prices that were sure to be afforded to them in the Gallic market. Again, during the first half of the eighteenth century, large quant.i.ties of wool were constantly smuggled from Ireland to France, by which our trading interests were considerably injured, and the plans for suppressing exportation shown to be worse than useless.
(51.) _Prosperity of the Dutch Manufacturers._--The woollen manufactures of the Hollanders were first established in 1636, or 1637, by one hundred and forty English families, who went from Norfolk and Suffolk, to settle at Leyden, and Alkmaer. The Dutch manufacture of fine woollen cloths was, however, commenced much earlier, or about 1624, at which time they began to interfere with the English trade in the Netherlands; insomuch that, in the twenty-second year of the reign of James I., a certificate was given to the Parliament of 25,000 cloths having been made that year in Holland. Upon this the House of Commons resolved, 1st, "That the merchant adventurers setting impost upon our cloth, is a grievance, and ought not to be continued; and that all other merchants promiscuously, as well as that company, may transport everywhere northern and western kersies, and new draperies."
2dly. "That other merchants, besides the Merchant Adventurers"
Company, may freely trade with dyed and dressed cloths, and all sorts of coloured cloths, into Germany and the Low Countries." Much annoyance appears to have resulted to this island, from the progress which the manufacturers in Holland still continued to make, and some curious speculations were of course formed in the minds of the ingenious. In 1651, a scheme was laid before the English commonwealth, for obtaining from the court of Spain an exclusive right to purchase _all_ the Spanish wool; or, in other words, to ruin the Holland market, by stopping the supplies. The projector observed, "That this proposed preemption would totally dissolve the woollen manufacture of Holland, which, by means of that wool (Spanish), hath of late years mightily increased, to the destruction of the vent of all fine cloths, of English manufacture, in Holland, France, and the east country; and hath drawn from us considerable numbers of weavers, dyers, and cloth workers, now settled at Leyden, and other towns in Holland, by whose help they have very much improved their skill in cloth, and have made in that one province (one year with another) 24,000 or 26,000 cloths yearly. That the Hollanders have of late years bought and exported from Biscay, four-fifth parts at least of all their wools, and have sold there proportionally of their own country stuffs." This was certainly a novel method of accomplishing an end by a sweeping monopoly; but the theory was too fine-spun ever to be reducible to practice.
(52.) _Fluctuating State of the Trade between 1635 and 1693._--By the great act of tonnage and poundage, pa.s.sed in 1660, on the restoration of Charles II., taxes were imposed, among other things, on the exportation of woollen manufactures, and it was not till the reign of William, that the wretched policy of such regulations was discovered, and a law was pa.s.sed in 1700, by which the duties on woollens were abolished, because in the words of the act (ll & 12 William III. chap.
20), "the wealth and prosperity of the kingdom doth, in a great measure, depend on the improvement of its woollen manufactures, and the profitable trade carried on by the exportation thereof."
In the time of Charles II., an act was pa.s.sed for the erection of manufactories (Par. I, Sess. I, Cap. 40), by which it is enacted, that no native or stranger is to export wool nor skins with wool upon them, until made into work, or put to the best advantage, under the pain of first value thereof, half to the king, and half to the informer. It is also, in this act, ordered, "that none forestall the mercat of wooll, nor keep up the same to a dearth, under the pain against regrators and forestallers, and that for eschewing the deceit of putting stones, or the like stuffs therein, no wooll be wrapt up in the fleece, under the pain of confiscation, half to the king, and half to the discoverer and pursuer, declaring always that the Exchequer may licence the export of wool and skins, as they shall see cause."
The French refugees, in 1635, brought money and talent into England, and contributed greatly to the erection of manufactories for _slight_ stuffs, and other French fabrics, never before made in England. The former law for burying in woollen not being well observed, it was repealed by an Act of Parliament, in the thirtieth year of that king (cap. 3.), which enacted a register to be kept in every parish, by the inc.u.mbent or his subst.i.tute, that every thing about the corpse of the deceased was made of sheep"s wool, of which an affidavit was to be made by the relation of the deceased, and lodged with the inc.u.mbent, under the penalty of 5, a moiety of which went to the poor of the parish; the rest to the informer. But this was a sorry check, as vanity was so predominant among the rich, that they paid the penalty rather than want the pleasure of adorning their departed relatives with lace and linen.
In 1667, France supplanted England in many foreign markets, owing to the care that Colbert at that time took to bring the French woollens to perfection. The English immediately turned their attention to other manufactures, in which, as in that of paper, they quickly excelled, and thus compelled the French to abandon markets, in which they had long remained without a rival.
In 1698, a problem was started concerning the manufactures of the country--whether or not a general linen manufacture would prove beneficial to England? As London at this time abounded with new projects and schemes, all promising as usual a h.o.a.rd of wealth, the question caused much excitement. It was at last determined that a novelty of this kind would lead to the sowing of a great quant.i.ty of flax in England, and the neglect of the woollen manufacture, which would follow, might probably lower the price of land; for, as they said at the time, "it requires about twenty acres of land to breed wool, for setting on work the same number of hands which one acre of flax would employ; and yet, in the end, the woollen manufacture will be found to employ by far the greatest number of hands, and yield the most profit to the public, as well as to the manufacturers."
(53.) _Irish Manufactures discouraged._--In the same year (1698), the English house of Peers addressed King William with the view of inducing him to discourage the woollen manufactures of Ireland, which, in spite of many restrictions, still continued to cause much vexation to the monopolizers of England. The address ran thus:--"The growing manufacture of cloth in Ireland, both by the cheapness of all sorts of the necessaries of life,[7] and _the goodness of materials for making all manner of cloth_, doth invite his subjects of England, with their families and servants, to leave their habitation to settle there, to the increase of the woollen manufacture in Ireland, which makes his loyal subjects in this kingdom very apprehensive, that the further growth of it may greatly prejudice the said manufacture here; and praying, that his Majesty would be pleased, in the most public and effectual way that may be, to declare to all his subjects of Ireland, that the growth and increase of the woollen manufacture there, hath long, and will ever be, looked upon with great jealousy by all his subjects of this kingdom." A similar address was presented by the Commons, and this most liberal and enlightened monarch was pleased to answer, "_Gentlemen, I will do all that in me lies to discourage the woollen manufacture of Ireland._" This was certainly altogether a strange proceeding, especially when viewed in conjunction with the cruel prohibitions of former periods.[8] Their foreign trade is said by some to have been much diminished by this coolness; but much of the poignancy and crushing animosity of the request are lost when we consider that encouragement was at the same time given by England to the making of Irish linen, his Majesty being desired in the same address, to forward that manufacture, pursuant to the dictates of an act pa.s.sed in 1696. Nay, some are of opinion that these measures resulted from the soundest views of the relative situations of the countries, and that the prudent tenor of English enactments was never better exhibited, than in the discouragement of the woollen and encouragement of the linen manufactures of Ireland.
[7] The people of Ireland produced worsted and woollen yarn at a cheaper rate than we could, owing to their poor being able to work on lower terms than those of England. This was owing to the rent of land being less in Ireland than in England.
[8] By the 18th of Charles II. the importation from Ireland into England of great cattle, sheep, swine, beef, pork and bacon, and shortly after of mutton, lamb, b.u.t.ter, and cheese, was declared a common nuisance, and forbidden on pain of forfeiture. Thus, the princ.i.p.al resource of a poor country in the neighbourhood of a rich one, was unfeelingly denied to it, till the reign of George III., when the hated edict was repealed.
(54.) _British Trade in 1699._--In 1699 there were 12,000,000 sheep and lambs in Britain, and the yearly increase was supposed to be about 3,600,000. The value of each sheep, besides the skin, was 7s. 4d. The stock was valued at 4,400,000. The value of the wool yearly shorn, at 3s. 4d. per fleece, came to about 2,000,000. The woollens manufactured in Britain amounted in value to 5,000,000 per annum, while our yearly exports of the same were valued at 2,000,000. Many were at that time afraid of the sinking of the woollen manufacture, because the accounts of the fine draperies exported were larger than usual; but, says an anonymous essayist of the period, "such do not contemplate, that, though the old may be lessened, what is commonly called the new draperies have increased, consisting in bays, serges, and stuffs. So that upon the whole, infinitely more of the material of wool has of late years been wrought up for foreign use, than in former times; and herein our merchants have been only forced to follow the modes and humours of those people with whom they deal, and the course they have pursued has. .h.i.therto not been detrimental to the public."
* * * ""Twere better, indeed, that the call from abroad were only for the fine draperies, because then we should be in a manner without a rival; no country, but England, and Ireland, having a sward or turf that will rear sheep, producing the wool of which most of our draperies are made. "Tis true the wool of Spain is fine above all others; but "tis the wear only of the richer sort, and of Spanish cloths not above nine thousand pieces are sent abroad, one year with another."
(55.) _British Woollens rivalled by those of Sweden._--Before the peace of Utrecht in 1713, we had no rival in the woollen trade but the Dutch, over whom we had many natural advantages, such as situation, goodness of our ports, and excellence of the princ.i.p.al const.i.tuents of the manufacture. They were obliged to furnish themselves with the materials at second-hand. When the trade in woollens was properly set a-foot in England, during the long and happy reign of Elizabeth, the interest of money was pretty much the same in both countries; but the Dutch were engaged in a hazardous and b.l.o.o.d.y war, and in establishing their Commonwealth, and East India trade; and, therefore, had not much time to think of improving any manufacture. Owing to these circ.u.mstances, we came into possession of all the princ.i.p.al marts for woollens, both in Asia and Europe, and retained them till the beginning of the war with France and Spain; we then prohibited trade with both these countries.
About the year 1720, our exportations to Sweden, of cloth, stuffs, and other woollen manufactures, amounted to 50,000. The Swedes, however, though situated in a severe climate, tried experiments with English sheep, and with so great success, that, in 1765, they could boast of wool little inferior to that of England. They then erected manufactories, and we were compelled to relinquish a market, which we had long held to our profit and advantage.
(56.) _Regulations from 1740 to 1742._--In the 12th year of King George II. it was enacted by a statute (cap. 21), "That whereas the taking off the duties upon woollen or bay yarn imported from Ireland, may be a means to prevent the exportation of wool, and of woollen manufactures, from Ireland to foreign parts, and may also be of use to the manufacturers of Great Britain, that from the first of May, 1740, the same shall be no longer payable; excepting only the duties upon worsted yarn of two or more threads twisted or thrown, or on crewel imported from Ireland." At this time more than 1,500,000 persons were employed on woollen articles, and were supposed to earn, one with another, sixpence a-day for 313 working days, amounting in all to 11,737,500 yearly.
In 1742, the English poor suffered much from the contempt with which home manufactures were regarded by the n.o.bility, in consequence of which the latter were speedily the losers. The importation of woollen broad-cloth, of the manufacture of France, into ports of the Levant, on behalf of British subjects, being not only prejudicial by discouraging the woollen manufactures of Britain, but likewise a means of affording relief to an enemy, and discoveries having been made of British subjects fraudulently shipping from Leghorn quant.i.ties of French woollen goods for Turkey, under the denomination of British, to the great detriment of English woollens; an act was pa.s.sed in the 23d year of King George II. by which provision was made against these and other fraudulent practices.
(57.) _Improvements in the manufacturing of Woollens._--At the commencement of the reign of George III. the woollen manufactures advanced with a rapidity almost unparalleled in modern times as regards other branches of trade. Till about the year 1770 most of the processes were conducted by hand. The wool was spun by various persons at scattered residences, the manufacturers receiving the yarn periodically from the numerous spinners. This arrangement caused much loss of time, and gave rise to frequent squabbles between the masters and their workmen. In fact, all the operations were tardy in the extreme. But at this period, the spirit of public and private inquiry was happily directed to our deficiencies in the machinery of manufactures. Inventions of great beauty and ingenuity were slowly brought forward to facilitate our commercial acquirements. Human labour has thus been lightened and abridged,--a greater number of hands have been profitably employed, and an excellent lesson afforded to the lovers of use and wont, which will not speedily be forgotten.
By these improved means the cloth is possessed of greater evenness, less injury is sustained in the dressing and shearing, and greater beauty is imparted to its appearance. A great advantage is also obtained by the master knowing the exact duration of each process, so that he can time his goods for any hour, or market, and is enabled to circulate his capital with a degree of certainty, and despatch, formerly looked upon as quite impossible. A few years ago the late Sir John Throckmorton sat down to dinner, dressed in a coat, the wool of which, on the same morning, was on the sheep"s back. The animals were sheared, the wool washed, carded, spun, and woven; the cloth was scoured, fulled, sheared, dyed and dressed, and then made into a coat.
All these complex operations were gone through without hurry, and without deducting from the work any part of the time usually devoted to similar fabrics. So great was the advantage derived from this application of machinery, that in the year 1800 the produce was three times larger than in the year 1739, though the number of persons employed was the same in the one year as in the other.
(58.) _Duty imposed on imported Wool._--For three centuries a free importation of foreign wool was permitted by our government, and it was not till 1803 that any one thought of laying a duty upon it. This duty was at first comparatively light, amounting only to a halfpenny a-pound, and it continued under a penny a-pound, till 1819, when Mr Vansittart raised it to six-pence. The impolicy of this measure is evident, when we consider, that we were losing our ascendancy in this manufacture, that our export of woollen goods had been declining for three years previous to 1819, and that the compet.i.tion was becoming every moment more severe. This tax was much dreaded by our merchants, who, clearly perceiving the state of matters, warned Mr Vansittart, by representing to him, in the strongest terms, the fatal influence it would have upon our trade. Its effects are best exhibited by its disastrous influence on the foreign trade in woollens, which fell off about a fourth in value, almost immediately after the imposition. The following table places this in the clearest point of view:--
_Declared value of woollens exported._
1816, 9,387,455 1817, 7,847,280 1818, 7,177,335 1819, 8,145,327 1820, (_duty increased_) 5,989,622 1821, (_ditto_) 5,587,758 1822, (_ditto_) 6,465,988 1823, (_ditto_) 6,490,454 1824, (_ditto_) 5,635,776 1825, (_ditto_) 6,045,240
The opinions of our merchants ought to have formed the best of all beacons in pointing the course to be pursued by Mr Vansittart; but, even if they had been silent on the subject, the evidence of Mr Bainbridge, before the Committee of the House of Commons, appointed in 1820, to inquire into the state of the foreign trade of the country, might have informed him of the true position of the wool trade, and directed him in so hazardous an undertaking. When Mr B. was asked whether he thought that an increase in the means of paying for our manufactures would produce an increased consumption of them in Russia, Sweden, and Prussia, he replied:--"I believe the woollen manufactures in Prussia are in such a state as to be able to compete with us completely; I speak of it particularly, because we are in the habit of having transactions with the United States of America; and I find that a very considerable proportion of fine woollens, and stuffs, are absolutely shipped from the Netherlands, and from ports contiguous, part of which I understand to come from the interior of Germany, and from Saxony in particular; so that a portion of the trade, which we have been in the habit of transacting with the United States, is finding its way from the north of Europe. I, therefore, conceive, that their manufactures are competing with the manufactures of this country, and, consequently, they would not come to us to receive a supply of those articles which they can purchase from their own manufacturers at home." In 1825, at the earnest and obviously well-founded representations of the manufacturers, Mr Huskisson reverted to the old system: and it was then wisely enacted, that all foreign wool imported for home consumption, of the value of 1s.
a-pound and upwards, should pay a duty of 1d. a-pound, but when the value of foreign wool was under 1s., the duty was reduced to a halfpenny per pound. A boon was at the same time conferred upon the agriculturists, by the introduction of a new system with respect to the exportation of British wool, the growers of which were allowed, for the first time, to send it to foreign markets, on payment of a penny per pound.
(59.) _Removal of the Restrictions on Foreign Wool._--The importation of wool was, by these reductions, speedily increased, and with it the consumption of our woollens by foreign nations. The wool of our own gradually augmented flocks being inadequate to the demand, and that of Spain having been absorbed by our manufactories, large quant.i.ties were imported from Prussia, Saxony, and many parts of the continent of Europe, from which, antecedent to this run, little had been drawn. The average annual import of wool during 1765-66-67 was 4,241,364 pounds--the average annual export of woollens during the same period was 4,630,384; while the average annual import of wool for the years 1822-23-24 was 18,884,876 pounds, and the average annual export of woollens during the same time, amounted to 6,200,548, showing that the importation of foreign wool was absolutely necessary for the well-being of our manufactures. The importation of forty-four millions of pounds weight, in the year ending 5th January, 1826, must be ascribed as much to the spirit of over-trading, which then affected every branch of industry, as to the reduction of the duty; but the large importations during 1827, afforded an additional proof of the necessity of foreign wool to the successful formation of a most important article of commerce. Mr Gott of Leeds, in his evidence before the Lords" Committee, on being asked if he could carry on to the same extent as at present, if he manufactured his cloth of British wool, replied, that, in certain descriptions of cloth, "_he could not make an article that would be merchantable at all for the foreign market, or even for the home market, except of foreign wool_." He then proceeds to state, that though the compet.i.tion is very strong in every department of the manufacture, yet that foreigners are decidedly superior to us in some description of low cloths. The following question was then put, and plainly and emphatically answered:--"Speaking of the finer cloths, is the compet.i.tion such as to render an additional duty on the importation of foreign wool likely to injure the export trade? _I have no doubt, speaking on my oath, that it would be fatal to the foreign cloth trade of the country. I would further say, that it would be equally injurious to coa.r.s.e manufactures of all kinds made of English wool._ The compet.i.tion now with foreigners is as nearly balanced as possible, and the disturbing operation of attacks of that description would necessarily enable the foreigner to buy his wool cheaper than we should do it in this country; the result would be, that foreigners would, by such a premium, be enabled to extend their manufactures to the exclusion of British manufactures of all descriptions." In another part of his evidence Mr Gott says, "If two pieces of cloth at 10s. a-yard were put before a customer, one made of British wool, the other of foreign wool; one would be sold, and the other would remain on hand; I could not execute an order with it. If any person sent to me for cloth at 7s. or 8s. a-yard, and if it were made of English wool it would be sent back to me, and I must resort to foreign wool, or foreign mixed with British, to execute that order." In fine, the British wool could not be got rid of without a copious importation of foreign wool to aid the manufacturer in his disposal of it, as fine cloths are so much better and more durable in their wear than coa.r.s.e cloths, that they are coming more and more into demand, to the almost total exclusion of the latter. Moreover, the good old custom of making home-spun cloth is reviving among our farmers, and as it is excellently suited for work-day wear, though necessarily of an inferior gloss, coa.r.s.e cloths will, to a considerable extent, cease to be the concern of our manufacturers. The only cloth, indeed, which the bulk of the people will require, will be a finer material to form the garb for Sunday and holiday recreation.
(60.) _Countries from which we derive our Wool._--Our markets are supplied with foreign wool princ.i.p.ally from the following places:--Australia, Van Dieman"s Land, Cape of Good Hope, Peru, Germany, Spain, and Russia. The Tasmanian fleeces are preferred to the Australian, and fetch, in general, higher prices, owing to their being fit for combing, while the latter, though making considerable advances in fineness, are still of short staple. Both are favourites with our manufacturers, from their being firm in the pile, a quality resulting from the constant good health of the animal in those countries. The German wool takes precedence of the Spanish, and has done so since 1819 or 1820. The King of Spain, about the year 1800, presented the Elector of Saxony with a small merino flock, and, from that period, our importations from Spain have diminished, as those from Germany have increased. From the period of its first introduction into Germany, till 1814, when peace once more fell to the lot of Europe, these sheep were gradually spread over the kingdom of Saxony, and when, by the events of 1815, the continental trade was thrown completely open, the Saxon dealers, perceiving the value of this new commercial article, commenced a regular trade in it with England. By this new supply, the Spanish wool, as here shown, was slowly beaten from its hold on the British manufacturers.
_Importations into England of Wool from Spain and Germany, at three separate periods._
1800. 1814. 1827.
Germany, 421,850 lbs. 3,595,146 lbs. 22,007,198 lbs.
Spain and Portugal, 7,794,758 lbs. 9,234,991 lbs. 4,349,643 lbs.
At these periods the ports of these countries were open to British merchandize, so that we have here a convincing proof, that the wool growers of Spain do not owe their losses, as supposed by some, to the hostile incursions of the French, but to the friendly compet.i.tion of a neighbouring state.
Wool, both of coa.r.s.e and fine quality, is daily becoming a more and more important export from the Black Sea, owing to the great range of pasturage in Southern Russia. The ordinary wools are very coa.r.s.e, and the fleeces dirty and full of gra.s.s seeds. Though not subject to export duty, it is not supposed that it will ever turn out a lucrative article for the British manufacturer.
(61.) _Wool Trade from 1800 to 1830._--The latest tabular accounts on which much reliance can be placed, are to be found in _M"Culloch"s Commercial Dictionary_, but of these I am compelled to offer only an abridgment, and in general nothing but the sum total of his detailed statements. The number of short-woolled sheep in England in 1800 was 14,854,299; the number of long-woolled sheep in England in the same year was 4,153,308. The quant.i.ty of British wool in 1800 amounted to 325,269 packs; while in 1808 it had increased to 414,502 packs. The sheep and lambs" wool imported into Great Britain from foreign parts in 1810 was 10,914,137 lbs.; in 1815, 13,640,375 lbs.; in 1820, 9,789,020 lbs.; in 1825, 43,795,281 lbs.; in 1830, 32,313,059 lbs. The increase here observable in 1825 is accounted for above in our notice of the state of the taxes before and at that period. The exports of British sheep and lambs" wool in 1830 amounted to 2,951,100 lbs.; those of woollen and worsted yarn to 1,108,023 lbs. By far the larger proportion of these exports was intended for France and the Netherlands. The number of persons employed in the manufacture is estimated at from 480,000 to 500,000, and their wages at 9,600,000.
The value of the raw material is calculated at 6,000,000; the total value of the manufactured articles at 18,000,000 (as wool is supposed in general to be trebled in value by pa.s.sing through the hands of the manufacturer); and the interest on capital, sum to replace wear and tear, and manufacturers" profits at 2,400,000.
(62.) _Wool Trade in 1832 and 1835._--"The total number of pounds of sheep and lambs" wool imported into the United Kingdom, in 1832, was--foreign, 28,128,973; produce of the Isle of Man, 13,516; quant.i.ty retained for home consumption, charged 1d. per lb. duty, 23,619,901; ditto 1/2d., 1,571,328; ditto 6d. (red wool), 1,130; duty free (produce of British possessions), 2,473,991; total retained for home consumption, 27,666,350; total quant.i.ty re-exported, 555,014. Quant.i.ty of foreign wool warehoused under bond, 5th January, 1833, 3,165,651.
The total quant.i.ty of British wool and woollen yarn exported from the United Kingdom in 1832 was, of the former, 4,199,825 lb.; of the latter, 2,204,464 lb. The exportation of British woollen manufactures in 1832 was as follows:--Cloths of all sorts, 396,661 pieces; napped countings, doffels, &c., 23,453 pieces; kerseymeres, 40,984 pieces; baizes, 34,874 pieces; stuffs, woollen or worsted, 1,800,714 pieces; flannel, 2,304,750 yards; blankets and blanketing, 1,681,840 yards; carpets and carpeting, 690,042 yards; woollens mixed with cotton, 1,334,072 yards; stockings, woollen or worsted, 152,810 dozen pairs.
Sundries, viz., hosiery, rugs, coverlids, tapes, and smallwares, 55,443 1s. 8d. value. Declared value of British woollen manufactures exported, 5,244,478 10s. 10d."[9]
[9] Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, No. 24.
"The total quant.i.ty of wool imported into the United Kingdom, in the year 1835, was by weight 42,208,949 pounds, which is rather more than 4,000,000 pounds under the importation of 1834; but on the 5th January, 1835, 6,494,266 pounds remained warehoused under bond; whereas, on the 5th January, 1836, there were no more than 2,846,014 pounds so locked up. This is an important difference of stock on hand, which, no doubt, has tended, and will tend, to keep up the price of the article. The country from which we import the greatest quant.i.ty of wool is Germany. In 1835, the amount was nearly 24,000,000 pounds weight. From Russia, to which our exports of manufactured woollens is comparatively small, we imported upwards of 4,000,000 pounds; from New South Wales and Van Dieman"s Land, taken together, about 209,000 pounds weight more than from Russia. The next largest importations are from Spain, Turkey, and Italy, which, taken together, supply us with nearly 4,000,000 pounds. Portugal furnishes 683,000 pounds; Holland, 201,000 pounds; and Belgium, 231,000 pounds. Of the foreign wool which we have imported, we re-exported in its unmanufactured state 4,101,700 pounds during 1835. And of the total quant.i.ty imported in 1835, we retained for manufacture 41,718,514 pounds. This is nearly 1,000,000 pounds more than was taken up by the manufacturers in the preceding year.
"The whole amount of British wool _exported_ in 1835, was 4,642,604 pounds, and of this 3,000,000 pounds were sent to Belgium, and 1,500,000 pounds to France.
"In 1835, the "declared value" (which, be it observed, is a real thing, and very different from the "official value," which is of no use except as an indication of quant.i.ty)--the total declared value was 6,840,511; and of this amount upwards of 2,600,000 worth of woollen goods went to the United States alone. Next after the United States in the scale of our customers for woollens comes the East Indies and China. To these we send the value of upwards of 800,000; to our North American colonies the value of 418,000; and to the West Indies, 114,200 worth.
"In Europe, our best customer is Germany, which, in 1835, took 631,000 worth. Besides the more fully manufactured goods, Germany took from us, in the same year, 1,191,000 pounds weight of woollen yarn. Of European customers, next after Germany come Portugal, which took, in 1835, to the amount of 368,000; Holland, 245,629; Italy, 243,582; and Belgium, 123,727. Russia took only 93,025 worth of woollen goods. The South American States begin to be good customers; Brazil took, in 1835, 337,788 worth, and Mexico and other States, 356,700 worth.
"Looking at the aggregate, the export of 1835 was fully a million sterling in value above that of 1834; but as the price was higher in 1835, this is no certain guide to the proportion of increase in _quant.i.ty_. In the year 1835, we exported to France only 68,000 worth of woollen manufactures.
"We have already stated the _exports_ of woollen goods to the South American States in 1835; the _import_ of unmanufactured wool from these States in the same year was 2,176,000 pounds; from France it was 104,000 pounds.
"We have only to add, as fiscal information connected with the foregoing a.n.a.lysis, that of the wool imported in 1835, 26,877,780 pounds paid to the revenue a duty of a penny per pound; 10,198,526 pounds paid one halfpenny per pound; and 6,397 pounds of "red wool"
paid sixpence per pound.
"The wool imported from British possessions does not pay duty. Of that there were, in 1835, 4,635,811 pounds imported."
CHAPTER IV.
IMPROVEMENT OF THE BREEDS.
(63.) This subject requires for its due consideration some slight attainments in anatomy and physiology, but as such attainments, slight though they may be, are as rarely met with as required among the bulk of mankind, so the want of them may be the less regretted, seeing it is possible to render even the intricacies of the study plain and simple, by an appeal to facts of every-day occurrence; which, having attracted the notice of the most unthinking, will serve as hooks on which I shall try to hang the better part of an interesting inquiry.