In the examination of witnesses before the House of Commons, in the year 1812, respecting rewarding Mr Crompton, who invented the mule, it was given in evi dence, that the rate of increase of the cotton trade in Lancashire and the adjoining districts, within 30 years from that time, was as twenty to one ; that four millions of spindles were employed according to Mr Crompton's invention ; that two-thirds of the steam engines for spin ning cotton turned mules ; and that the value of the machinery, buildings, Ecc. on Mr Crompton's principle, was between 5,000,0001. and 4,000,0001.; consequently the value of all the machinery of every kind employed in the cotton trade, must have been at least 7,000,0001.
As the official value of the cotton goods exported from Great Britain in 1809 and 1310 was upwards of 19,000,0001. each year, we cannot estimate the total value of the goods made in the cotton district in Eng land, both for home consumption and exportation, at less than 29,000,0001. ; allowing the difference between the cifficial and the real value, (which, however, cannot be great,) and the value of the goods retained for home consumption throughout the kingdom, to be equivalent to the value of the goods made in Scotland. But as it may be said, that the quantity exported during these two years was much greater than the average export, and that the export of cotton manufactured goods in 1811 was only 11,715,5331., and of cotton yarn 545,2371., making a total of 12;260,7701.; and of 1812, of the for mer 15,972,8261. and of the latter 966,0071., making a total of 16,998,8331. ; we shall suppose the steady ave rage exportation to be only 15,000,000/, and allowing, as before, the difference between the official and the real value, and the value of what is retained for home con sumption, to be equal to the value of what is made in Scotland, we shall take 15,000,0001. as the real value of the goods made in the cotton districts of England. As it is probable that 80,000,000 pounds of cotton wool is too high an estimate for the consumption of this district, we shall take it at 70,000,000, averaging the price at 2R. per pound ; this will give 7,000,0001. for the total cost of it ; leaving 8,000,000 for interest of capital, profit to the manufacturer, and wages of labour. As a very large proportion of women and children are employed in this trade, the average wages cannot be rated higher than 151. per annum. The rate of profit to the manufacturer, including interest of capital, must be rated at 201. per cent. since the expence and wear of machinery are very great. Now 201. per cent. on 8,000,0001., is 1,600,0001., leaving 6,400,0001. for wages. This at 151. per annum for each person employed, will give 426,666 as the num ber of people employed. And that this must be pretty nearly the number, will appear from the following con siderations. The number of people in Liverpool, and in other parts of Lancashire where the cotton trade is not established, is probably considerably greater than the population of those places out of Lancashire, in which the trade is established ; we may therefore take
.600,000, which is about 200,000 less than the population 'of Lancashire, as the population of the cotton district of England ; and supposing, as before stated, that five sevenths of this population is employed in the trade, the whole number will be 428,570, which comes very near the number to which we brought it by the other mode of computation. The statement, then, with regard to the cotton manufacture of England, will stand as fol lows : In many respects, there is a striking and considerable contrast between the woollen and cotton manufactures, which, in every point of view, may be regarded as the most important manufactures of this country. In the first, the woollen manufacture in general, at least in the West Hiding of Yorkshire, is carried on by men of com paratively small capital ; whereas most of those engag ed in the cotton manufacture are 'men of rather large capital. There can be no doubt that this point of con trast will soon vanish, both from the natural course of trade, and from the superior advantages which the fac tory system (so far as regards the grand object,, the making of money) possesses over the domestic system. Factories are much more common now than they were formerly in the West 12;ding, and their number is in creasing. In the second !Ince, the cotton manufacture, as has just been incidentally observed, is distinguished from the woollen manufacture, by the mode of carrying it on : the most important branch of it, the spinning, is entirely done in factories ; and by the late invention of power looms for weaving, it is highly probable that, in the course of a few years, the next important branch, that of weaving, will also be carried on in factories. In the third place, it may be remarked, that in the cotton manufacture, the proportion of women and children, and more especially of the latter, to men, is much great er than in the woollen manufacture. In the fourth place, the cotton manufacture is not nearly so regular and steady a trade as the woollen manufacture. This seems to arise principally from two causes. In the woollen manufacture, the foreign demand and exportation is not more than equal to the home consumption ; and the goods manufactured, being less articles of luxury, taste, and fancy, meet with a more regular and constant demand : neither the interruption of foreign trade, nor the vicis situdes of foreign fashion, therefore, can influence the demand so much as is the case frequently with the cot ton manufacture. Moreover, in the case of the woollen manufacture, by far the greatest proportion of the raw material employed in it is of domestic growth ; whereas in the case of the latter manufacture, the whole of the raw material comes from abroad ; consequently the sup ply and price of it must vary very often, and very much. As, therefore, we depend on foreign countries for the raw material of our cotton manufacture, and on them also for taking off a much larger proportion of it than of our woollen goods, the trade in the latter must be more regular and steady than in the cotton trade.