The spinning of the cotton thread which is to serve for the weft is the occupation of the females of almost all the castes, except the Brahmins : but particularly of the cul tivating caste, and of such families as arc in decayed cir cumstances, and, having few means of employing them selves, from the secluded nature of their mode of life, de rive from this occupation the supply of their few and hum ble wants. The spinners purchase the cotton which they may require weekly, at the market ; and " this is done in so simple a style, and with so much attention to economy, that the weaver, perfectly well acquainted with the price of the raw material, seldom affords to the spinner more than he thinks a just return for the labour of the week : and that matter is so well understood among the weavers generally, that no weaver, for the sake of getting a larger quantity of thread, will outbid his neighbours in the pur chase of it."—Evidence before the Select Committee as to the affairs of the East India Comizany.
The weavers live entirely in villages ; and on the coast of Coromandel, and in the province of Bengal, which, as we have seen, are the chief seats of the cotton manufacture, there is scarely a village, at a short distance from the high road, or a principal town, in which every man, woman, and child, is not employed in making a piece of cloth. As the thread is laid the whole length of the piece, the weaver is ulader the necessity of working in the open air. In the morning he fixes his loom under a tree before his house, and in the evening he takes it home. It consists merely of two rollers. placed on four pieces of wood, which are fix ed in the ground, and two sticks which traverse the warp. One of these is supported by two strings tied to the tree under which the loom is placed, and the other by two strings fastened to the foot of the weaver. By means of these he can easily remove the threads of the warp when he is throwing the woof.
The weavers are of a respectable caste, and many of them are cultivators of land. The demand for their work has greatly increased since the British gained possession of Flindostan, in consequence of the large investments of the East India Company. As soon as an order for the in vestment from the Court of Directors arrives in India, the Board of Tr ade there makes a calculation of the sums re quit ed for the providing of the goods allotted to each fac tory. tinder the Madras presidency there are eleven fac tories, most of which provide distinct kinds of goods. It is calculated that all these factories are capable of produ cing goods to the amount of 24 lacks of pagodas, or one million sterling. The actual demand varies from 5 lacks
to 24. If the weavers do not live near a factory, native agents are employed to engage them, convey the money to be advanced to them, bring the goods in, and save the Company from all risk. Where the weavers live near a factory, the contract is made with them directly ; and it is not uncommon fur all the weavers inhabiting a village, per haps to the number of 100, to become security, conjointly, for the due performance of the contract which is entered into by each. An advance in goods or money is always made to the weaver, and this he retains in his hand till three-fourths of his contract are completed ; the original advance, if in cotton, is then worked up. There are four kinds of goods, for each of which there is a standard price ; and if, on inspection, any are found, from deficiencies in length or breadth, or inferiority of quality, not equal to the first class, they are reduced to the second, third, or fourth, with the difference of 5 per cent. between each number. It frequently happens, that a weaver, after get ting his advance in money, resorts to the weekly markets all over the country to procure materials for his web, and after having procured what will suffice for one piece of cloth, he spends the rest of the money in a cock-fight, or any other species of gambling that is going on in the mar ket. The practice of making advances to the weaver• has existed ever since the establishment of the East India Com pany. If the weaver does not deliver in his goods at the periods specified in the contracts, a peon is placed in his house, who receives subsistence-money, at the rate of one ana per day from him ; it was a prevalent practice under the native governments to place peons. The monthly pro fits of the weaver vary from three to five rupees, according to the price of thread, the quality of the cloth manufac tured, and his own industry, experience, and skill.
The goods are generally bleached at the station where they are manufactured. The waters of the Nerbuddah are said to possess a peculiar property of bleaching cloths to a pure white. Most of the pieces are twice bleached. Others are not bleached at all, but are dipped in cocoa-nut oil, in order that they may be the longer preserved. They are also sometimes washed, or rather rinced, in rice water, with a view to give them smoothness, and the ap pearance and feel of closeness and strength.