34 



BIRD NOTES AND NEWS. 



Mr. Downham : I should estimate that 80 per 

 cent, of the raw feathers and plumages of wild birds 

 that arrive from abroad are distributed to some 

 other countries, and that there would be only about 

 20 per cent, manufactured here. ... A substitute 

 must bo found for the wild feathers : something 

 bright must be found, and it may be that they will 

 use ribbons or flowers manufactured abroad ; and 

 the consequence of that will be to destroy to a great 

 extent the manufacturing that goes on in this 

 country. 



Why should it necessarily be flowers manufactured 

 abroad ? — Because I find on making enquiries 

 that a great proportion of flowers are manufactured 

 abroad; and this particular form of millinery 

 s a cheap form ; and to substitute a cheap form of 

 millinery you must go for a cheap flower or ribbon, 

 or some other substitute which is cheap ; and it is 

 these cheap articles which are manufactured 

 abroad. . . . The 20 per cent, of wild feathers 

 that are used in manufacture in this country are 

 used with a great many other articles, and produce 

 what I call a " cheap mount." 



THE LABOUR QUESTION. 



Mr. Montagu Sharpe : The view which my 

 Council take, after having got the best advice they 

 can, is that the manipulation of feathers employs 

 very little labour in proportion to that employed 

 in the making of artificial flowers, ribbons and other 

 ornaments, which would replace bird plumes in 

 ladies' hats. 



Mr. Weiler : The ostrich feather trade and the 

 fancy feather trade go hand-in-hand. There are 

 certain times of the year when people employed 

 by us, and by other factories, are employed on 

 ostrich feathers. Towards the autumn, when the 

 ostrich feather goes out of curl, a harder feather 

 must be used, and our work goes to fancies, and the 

 workpeople manufacture other plumage mixed up 

 with wild. But certainly some of these hands would 

 be thrown out of employment at once. 



Mr. Mosbacher : This trade does not go on 

 always ; it is mostly in the fall of the year, and the 

 autumn, when these birds are employed. In the 

 summer season our firm makes artificial flowers, 

 and other people occupy themselves with ostrich 

 feathers ; but of course we could not keep anything 

 like the number of hands that we do if this Bill 

 were passed, and we had not the fancy feather trade 

 for these girls to fall back upon. Between 4,000 

 and 5,000 people are employed in this trade ; but 

 if this Bill passes I should say only about 1,000 or 

 1.500 would be able to find a living. 

 Mr. Downham : Of the imports of these articles 



that you wish to prohibit I estimate that 20 per 

 cent, are manufactured here. 



They are all foreign produce ; they are cleaned, 

 arranged, and made up here, but they are all foreign 

 products ? — Yes. 



You say that the Bill would diminish the 

 demand for labour in this country, but as it would 

 replace a certain quantity of feathers, which are 

 grown abroad, by a certain quantity of articles 

 which are made in this country, clearly it must 

 tend to increase the demand for labour in this 

 country ? — I am afraid I cannot agree with that 

 way of putting it. On the question of labour there 

 may not be so much difference one way or the 

 other ; but I cannot admit that it would increase 

 under the Bill. 



Mr. Montagu Sharpe : Although London is 

 the great plume market of the world, and to stop 

 import into London of certain plumage would 

 have a great effect on the trade in birdskins, it is 

 not probable that English trade or English labour 

 would suffer materially. The goods come here to 

 be bought and sold, but most of the buyers are 

 foreigners, and most of the feathers are sent out of 

 this country in their raw state to be made up in 

 France and Germany. . . . As far as can be 

 ascertained, there is no desire, except among those 

 immediately engaged in the plume trade, for a 

 continuance of the feather-wearing fashion. If 

 the Press may be taken as an index of public opinion, 

 general feeling is strongly against the fashion. 



SHOULD ENGLAND LEAD ? 



Dr. Bowdler Sharpe : I think we ought to 

 lead. I have had a little to do with International 

 Congresses, where we always have a section for the 

 protection of birds, and England is, I think, the only 

 country that has done anything practical, with 

 the exception of America ; but I fancy that there 

 is enough movement now in some other countries 

 to cause them to follow our lead. I think it is a 

 good thing to have shown the way. 



You think that if we pass this Bill, or some 

 similar Bill, we might reasonably hope that foreign 

 countries would support us in that action and pass 

 similar legislation ? — I think they would. 

 Mr. James Buckland : 



Chairman : There has been a suggestion thrown 

 out that we should defer any action in this country 

 until we could secure the co-operation of other 

 countries. What view do you take upon that 

 point ? — I hardly regard it as practicable, because 

 many of these birds come from islands where there 

 really is no responsible Government. . . . Sir Horace 

 Tozer tells me that if a Bill of this description were 

 passed in England, within a year he would undertake 



