324 Evidence he/ore 



immeiiiufe conipcCilion, u ho will oppose 

 Ihe freedom ot' trisde willi England as 

 miicli as possible. 



Those maimfactiircrs of cotton goods 

 would have no ohjeclion to the raw 

 jjiodiice of the soil of France coming 

 into England? — Ctiiainly not; the silk 

 riinniifiicttirrrs and the agriculturists 

 ■would he very glad of it. 



You staled, that you were ahle to 

 show a great increase in cotton manu- 

 facture in France, hy laying before the 

 Committee the annual consumption of 

 cotton in that country ; will you have 

 the goodness to make th;it .statement' — 

 Our consumption now is equal to 

 200,000 hags of raw ccitton, averaging 

 250 ihs. weight cacli bag. 



Can you slate the consumption in 

 former p^riods? — In 1818 it was only 

 150,000 hags ; and during the reign of 

 Napoleon, though we had a much 

 greater district, including Belgium, yet 

 ■wc never manufactured more than 

 50,000 bags a-year; this statement has 

 been made by me yearly, and I have 

 ]inhlishcd it to all France. 'I'hc duty 

 inider Napoleon was 3*. Cd. per Ih. and 

 it has been reduced in lbl4 to three 

 haifpcncc per lb.; this is the great cause 

 of the prosperity of the cotton manu- 

 facture in France. 



Can you stale from what countries 

 that cotton was imported ? — From Ame- 

 rica, the Erazils, the Levant, several 

 colonics, and England. 



Jo/m Laiiff. 

 In wliat business are you? — A batter. 

 Have you belonged to any club of 

 ■workmen? — Yes; what is commonly 

 termed a club among us. 



What may be the number of your 

 clnb? — I suppose there are now nearly 

 600 that are paying to it. 



A re they all fair men, or do you admit 

 foul men? — ^They are all fair men. 



You do not admit foul men to sub- 

 scribe 1 — No. 



By the rules, is there any sum paid to 

 men who are out of work? — IBy the 

 rules, if a man is out of work, he has a 

 ticket, or blank commcnly called, to 

 travel with, and take wilh him ; and 

 lie is relieved at the different towns 

 where there arc men in the trade. In 

 L»on<lon, if a stranger comes in, he 

 receives 5s. if he comes in, bringing a 

 blank from another town, he has a bed 

 for three nights, and two pots of beer to 

 drink. 



Can you state with what number of 

 clubs in the- country your correspond- 

 ence exists? — I cant;ot say; almost 



iheCoinmUlee [May I, 



every town in F-ngland, IrowcvCr a great 

 number of towns in England, Irclanil, 

 and Scotland. 



In the situation in wliich you iiave 

 been, as secretary, have you carried on 

 the correspondence, or is there any cor-- 

 respondenee regularly carried on?--- 

 Therc is at times, with all the places. 



Are you in the habit of sending sums 

 of money from one town to anoiher, 

 when the men are out of work? — We 

 iiave been, on a strike. 



Dors it make any difference wlielher 

 they are out of work by their striking 

 work thrnisclvcs, or by the masters not 

 being able to employ them? — Yes; 

 when a man is out of work on his own 

 account, he gets a ld:ink to travel else- 

 where ; but, if on strike, they receive a 

 certain sum \)er vvcek, if they have any 

 funds, or travel as before stated. 



Do you afford assistance to any other 

 class of workmen, when they are out of 

 work, or strike? — There has been, I 

 believe, something of that sort done. 



Have you received any assistance, in 

 your turn, when your men were out of 

 work? — Yes. 



in fact, there is a mutual understand- 

 ing between the various trades to assist 

 cacii other, when they are out of work? 

 — There is, in some cases ; it seems to 

 be optional ; when a trade is on the 

 strike, they solicit others to assist them, 

 and in that case they relieve, if they 

 think necessary. 



.Since you worked in London, have 

 there been any disputes between you and 

 the master hatters ? — Yes, one previous 

 to the last of 1820, that was in 1817. 



By a meeting on the part of the meu 

 and the masters a compromise took 

 place, and the rate between the men 

 w as settled ? — Yes. 



How long did the men strike? — I 

 suppose it was some three or four weeks 

 before it Wiis qniel altogether. 



What was the next difference whieh 

 took place ?^In 1820; but a few of the 

 masters considered the demand not un- 

 reasonable, and acceded toil? 



Some of the men thought, as the hats 

 were getting larger, they rcr|uired more 

 money for their labour? — Yes; we met, 

 and thought this would not be unrea>- 

 sonable. 



Did you agree, at that meeting, la 

 certain propositions for an increase on 

 some few articles, which propositions 

 yon sent to the masters? — Yes, the 

 men of those shops which had not those 

 prices, were to solicit those masters for 

 this advance. > 



Did 



