670 



CALICO-PRINTING 



many who manufacture 10,000 pieces of printed cloth per week; and there are four 

 concerns of great magnitude -whose united production at the present time probably 

 does not fall short of four millions of pieces per annum, or nearly |th of the total 

 quantity printed. 



Calico, and other printing has, since the repeal of the duty, risen steadily in import- 

 ance, till it is now one of the most influential manufactures of Great Britain. From a 

 table compiled by the late Mr. Binyon, and communicated by Mr. John Graham, there 

 were in 1840 : 



The following estimate of the exports of printed goods is from Mr. Potter's Lecture 

 before the Society.of Arts, as reporter for printed fabrics exhibited in the Exhibition 

 of 1851: 



' In reference to the exports of printed goods, our information is rather obscure, 

 owing to their being classed with dyed goods of all kinds. After considerable 

 thought and calculation, I have ventured to estimate them for 1851, at 15,544,000 

 pieces, or rather more than three-fourths of our entire production. These goods are, 

 however, many of them of the cheap and more staple class of prints, or slight goods 

 suited to warm climates, and for markets where cheapness is the great recommenda- 

 tion. In value, I should be disposed to estimate our export of printed goods at 

 5,775,OOOZ. 



'In reference to the entire export of manufactured cotton goods (exclusive of yarns), 

 it may be assumed that out of 23,447,103/., given as the export of 1851, about one- 

 fourth may be placed to the account for the print trade. I have endeavoured to esti- 

 mate, from the Table of Exports for 1851, the probable quantity of low priced prints 

 we export, and shoiild be disposed to class them as follows : 



1 Coast of Africa and the Cape 

 New Zealand and South Sea Islands 

 China, Manilla, and Singapore . . . 



British West Indies 300,000 



Foreign "West Indies . 300,000 



Pieces. 

 300,000 



36,000 

 550,000 



St. Thomas 



India 



Mauritius and Batavia .... 



Chili and Peru 



Brazil and East Coast of South America 



Egypt 



Turkey, Ionian Isles, Greece, and Malta 



Total 



200,000 

 . 1,570,000 

 . 325,000 



800,000 



. 1,000,000 



84,000 



. 1,000,000 



. 6,465,000 



I find those countries which take our lowest description of goods, and where the 

 duties are chiefly very light our Colonies, India and China receive from us about 

 6J millions of pieces, or about 40 per cent, of our export in printed goods. A great 

 proportion of the finer part of our exports, perhaps three-fourths, are very seriously 

 taxed, either for protection, as in the United States, the Zollverein, and Belgium, or 

 for revenue, as in Brazil and the other South American markets. A part, however, 

 of these better goods find their way into consumption in Canada, Turkey, the Ionian 

 Isles, Egypt, &c., subject to very moderate duties.' (Potter.) 



' The home-consumption,' says Mr. Potter, ' I estimate at 4,500,000 ; the excise 

 returns for 1830 gave it as 2,281,512 pieces. The repeal of the duty, and the decrease 

 in the cost of production, giving the consumer goods in much better taste and value at 

 one-half the price, have greatly tended to this increase." ' The immense increase of 

 production in lower goods has not decreased the taste in the higher in this country, 

 though it may have caused it to make less apparent progress than when the larger part 



