7/iO 



ENGLAND. 



AcU of par. 

 tyunent re- 

 lating 10 



the initi.u- 

 I'.vturc. 



Domestic 

 and factory 



\-tflll 



compared. 



great demand for manufacturer-, induce,! tin- '.ropri- 

 etors of Urge factories to take m.my who had not 

 the legal length of epprt nticc-liip ; whereas tin- system 

 of apprenticeship being more congenial to the domestic 

 sv-tcm, those who followed tin- -y.-tt-in liad no tempta- 

 tion to break the la . I I i cither law, which, in their 

 petition to parlimnciit, the dome-tie clothier-, wished to 

 be enforced, is commonly called the weaver's aet. It 

 was pasted during the .id of 1'hilip and Mary, and in 

 certain cages, and parts of England, limits the number 

 nt' looms in one tmOdiog: hut on thtir application to 

 l>arliument, it was (.hewn that this act does not extend 

 to Vork.-hire, Northumberland, Cumberland, or West- 

 moreland. The ]>etilioiicr* also wished, that the sta- 

 tute of the 5 and (> of Kdw.ird VI. which they contcnd- 

 -1 applied to the gig mill, should be put in force. Of 

 this statute, the committee, in their report on the evi- 

 dence, recommended the abolition. 



From the report and evidence on tin's occasion, the 

 following facts and circumstances may be selected, as 

 illustrating the state of the woollen manufacture in ge- 

 neral, and especially in the West Hiding of Yorkshire. 

 The acts of parliament relating to this manufacture, 

 which are still on the statute book, amount to nearly 

 70, and may be divided into three classes : ]>t. Laws 

 for regulating the conduct of masters and workmen, 

 and for preventing fraud and embezzlement by journey- 

 men, &c. These in general are wise and salutary, par- 

 ticularly one passed in the 29th Geo. II. by which mas- 

 ters are prevented from paying their workmen in goods ; 

 2d, Laws prohibiting the exportation of certain mate- 

 rials and implements, all of which have been passed in 

 the reign of his present Majesty ; and .':d. Laws which 

 controul the manufacturer in making and selling his 

 cloth, particularly those which prohibit the use of cer- 

 tain articles of machinery. Among those may be inclu- 

 ded the law respecting apprentices, and the weaving act 

 already mentioned. 



The committee, in their report, pointed out what in 

 their opinion were the advantages and disadvantages of 

 the domestic system, as distinguished from, and con- 

 trasted with, the factory system. According to them, 

 one peculiar recommendation of the domestic system is, 

 that a young man can always obtain credit for as much 

 wool as will enable him to set up as a small master ma- 

 nufacturer, while the public mills enable him tocommand 

 the use of very extensive machinery. Another advantage 

 of this system is made manifest, on the failure of a market 

 for any particularkindof goods; since where this system 

 prevails, it does not throwamultitudeout of employment, 

 as it does when the stroke fulls on the capital of a great 

 individual. In the domestic system the losses sprend 

 much, and it is remarked, that the domestic clothiers 

 seldom turn off their journeymen. On the other hand, 

 the domestic clothiers necessarily waste much time in 

 carrying their goods to the fulling mills, &c. which 

 might be saved, if the factory system, in which all the 

 operations are carried on under one roof, were adopt- 

 ed. 



Perhaps, however, the most important point of view 

 in which these systems can be contrasted, respects their 

 influence on the morals and habits of the jx-ople ; and 

 there can lie no doubt, that if the distinguishing excel- 

 lence of the English character results in a great mea- 

 sure from their domestic habits, or if domestic habits are 

 favourable to propriety and steadiness of conduct, the 

 domestic is preferable to that of the factory system 

 Viewed in this light, which however is more the object 

 of the morali-t than of the statistical enquirer, the do- 

 mestic system of Yorkshire, in which the manufacturer 



not only works at home in the midst of. and in c<> 

 njr with, his family, but also on goods entin 

 projK'rty, i> undoubtedly the most valuable and ut 

 Ne\t to this must be placid the system, common but 

 not universal in the west of F.ngland, according to 

 which the workmen work at their own hou-es, but on 

 gixxls not their own property. Hen- the domestic ha- 

 bits and their consequences may be the same as are pro- 

 duced by the lii . ; but that feeling which 

 from the oaaMKNUMM of the ]H>v-c>>ieii of property . 

 which not only stimulates to industry, but also keeps 

 up regular habits of conduct and independanccoi'mind, 

 must be wanting. In the .scale of the moralist, il., 

 tory system must stand lowest, though, as applied to 

 the woollen trade, it is not so dangerous to the l.< 

 ti i<>-!- of society, as when applied to the cotton \ 

 The cau.scs of this we shall afterwards attempt to point 

 out, when we come to compare the state of the maim- 

 f.icturing population of the woollen and cotton district.-. 



liesides the difference in the mode of conducting the 

 woollen manufacture, which we have explained at con- 

 able length, there i- also a difference between the 

 Yorkshire and the -west of England mode of duponng 

 of the goods when manufactured. In the latter, they 

 are principally sold at markets or f.iirs ; in the former, 

 they are principally sold in what are called cloth-halls, 

 of which there are three at Leeds, besides halls at Hrad- 

 ford, Halifax, Iluddcrsficld, Wakcficld, \c. We shall 

 confine our observations to those of Leeds, and to tile 

 mode of conducting business in them. 



The two princi),..! halls in Leeds are for mixed and 

 white cloth. They are principally distinguished from 

 the third hall, ( which was erected about i 795,) by not 

 admitting any manufacturers to expose their goods in 

 them, who, have not served an apprenticeship to the 

 woollen trade. Formerly a regular apprenticeship of 

 seven years was insisted on ; but now five years are 

 deemed sufficient. The mixed cloth-hall was erected 

 in the year 1758. At first there were only l~>~>~ stands, 

 but afterwards 171 were added, making the total num- 

 ber 17-J8. The original price was L.H, 5s. 6'd.; but 

 they have advanced greatly since. The price, how- 

 ever, varies according to the state of the trade. There 

 are seldom fewer than ?(K)0 pieces of cloth, and some- 

 times nearly '20,000 weekly in the coloured cloth-hall. 



The white cloth-hall was built in 1775. The num- 

 ber of stands is upwards of 1200; but there are many 

 manufactures who have two stands each. In the dis- 

 trict round Leeds, it i.-; computed that there are 3500 

 masters who attend boll) halls ; but there are many 

 who have no stands in either hall, but pay 6d. for every 

 fresh cloth ; when a cloth has once paid, it does not 

 pay again, but may be removed to any other part of 

 the market. There are 1 5 districts belonging to the 

 coloured, and 1 7 to the white hall, over each of which 

 there is a trustee, who manages the affairs of the dis- 

 trict ; and in all of whom is lodged the power of di- 

 recting whatever concerns the halls. These trustees 

 are elected for three years. 



These halls consist of long walks or giilleries, through- 

 out the whole length of which the master manufactu- 

 rers have their stands in double rows, each behind his 

 own little division ; his goods being exposed to sale on 

 the stands. Between these rows, the merchants pass 

 along, and make their purchases. At the end of an 

 hour, a bell rings, and the market closes. Such goods 

 as are purchased, are carried to the merchants' houses ; 

 the goods that are unsold, remain in the hall till they 

 find a purchaser Lately, however, the system is in 

 some degree changed ; some merchants give samples 



Dirti-rcnt 



i. ...i 1 .. ': 

 i!i-|> inn of 

 :ul- 



Cluth halls 

 in Leeds, 

 \c clt'tcri- 

 bed. 



