324 Evidence before the Committee 



have been ;i!)Ie lo Iiave iDade a tenth of 



what tlicy cjiii now do, nor half so well. 



Nolhin;^ that we are capable now of do- 



m% can ])ossil)ly prevent France, if she 



only docs what she has done in the Jast 



five years, from heing as successful a 



rival in that department as wo need 



fear. I siiould .say, if I was a German 



or an American, it would be a matter of 



perlect indifference to me, if I wanted 



a cotton-machine, whether I bought it 



at Paris or Manchester, except as to its 



price; because they are as well made 



in France as we are in the habit of 



making such machines. 



Do you understand, from the commu- 

 nications you have, that there are niann- 



factories to any great extent in any 



other country? — Yes, I understand 



they are very consider;thle in m;iny 



parts of Germany, and in Russia; in- 

 deed I have mucli reason to say so, 

 Tjccause I supplied a considerable quan- 

 tity of prrmitted machinery to Russia, 

 and the prohibited part they Iiave since 

 made for themselves; for Monday 

 brought a communication to me, where 

 I had formerly given an estimate of 

 12,000Z. fur some machinery, which 

 they have since manufactured them- 

 selves. 



Are not the manufactures of ma- 

 chinery in France conducted by Eng- 

 lishmen?— A great many of the most 

 considerable manufactories in the neigh- 

 Ixnnhood of France are conducted by 

 Englishmen: at Chaillot, at Charenlon", 

 and several on ilie banks of the Seine, 

 -where from 1000 to 1200 engineers arc 

 employed ; and I have no doubt that in 

 Paris alone there is from 3000 to 4000 

 working engineers. 



You have said that, in your opinion, 

 if the law now existinj were repealed. 



[Mayl, 



Individuals, who of lafe years wore nna- 

 ble to obtain work in times ofdifliculty, 

 have been employed, if you and other 

 engineers had i)een allowed to receive 

 orders fof articles to go abroad ? — I 

 think in the years 1817, 1818, and 1819, 

 and perhaps some part of 1820, the 

 slackest periods that I remember in our 

 line, if we had only received the orders 

 thiitl myself know of, tlie engineers of 

 London would have been able to have 

 employed at least five or six hundred, or 

 perhaps a thousand, Morkmen, who 

 were out of employ dining lljo.se pe- 

 riods, and thereby thrown into a .state 

 of positive lemi)<ation to leave ilia 

 country. 



De J oil speak as to the country gene- 

 rally? — No, in Ijondon onlyj there may 

 be, of all classes, perhaps two or three 

 hinidreil ninster engineers in the metro- 

 polis and its vicinity; but, among engi- 

 neers whom I particuilarly associate 

 with, nil the men '.vho were out of em- 

 ploy at that time in London could havo 

 been well employed, if we had been 

 allowed to e\eeiite those foreign orders 

 that were prohibited by that Act; and, 

 as wc could not employ them on home- 

 orders, we threw the men into a condi- 

 tion to be tempted to icave the coinilry : 

 many of whum emigrated at those 

 jjeriods. 



Cannot si^ccifications or dcsciiptions 

 of every new machine, with drawings 

 and inoilels, be easily obtained in thi.s 

 country by any foreigner? — With the 

 greatest facility : for instance, with all 

 our patents there are regular drawings 

 obliged lo be made; any man who will 

 go to the expense of paying for them 

 Mill get them; and in many instances 

 wc have specifications, where they may 

 ain possession of them for a couple of 



England would supply a great part of shillings ; drawings may be obtained, to 

 the world with machinery; will you 

 stale to the Committee, why England 

 would, in your opinion, have Ihal pre- 

 ference over other places? — Chielly 

 because I consider that we can make 

 better machines, and certainly at a less 

 price than tliey can be made in any 

 other country; and the reasons are these: 

 first, that most of the raw commodities 

 of which machines are constructed are 

 cheaper in England ; secondly, our 

 coals are less expensive, and we possess 

 many facilities, in machinery and tools 

 for machine-making, from a combina- 

 tion of other circumstances, which is 

 not anywhere else but iu this country 

 possessed. 

 Of your own knowledge, might many 



almost any extent, by those «ho will 

 pay for them. 



You are a member of the Society of 

 the Encouragement of Arts and Sciences? 

 — I am. 



Are yon not aware, that they publish 

 annually a volume, containing every 

 discovery of importance that they can 

 possibly include in their volume ? — ' 

 Certainly; that is the chief object of 

 their labour. 



Dots not that contain drawings and 

 descriptions, that would enable an Eng- 

 lish v^'orkmen abroad lo make the very 

 articles which are there detailed? — Cer- 

 tainly; they are specifically made for 

 the purpose of directing a workman in 

 any country; even a man whf> does not 

 undcrslanct 



I 



