Effect of 
bounty on 
it. 
ed from England drawing 
increase of this manufacture in England. ~ In Lanca- | 
Scotland to the amount of L.100,000, from Holland to 
the amount of upwards of L.200,000, and from Germany 
to the amount of upwards of half a million. The an- 
nual consumption of linen he rates at L. 1,750,000, of 
which he'says that the English manufacturer supplied 
L.746,561, Os. 1d. - Such,. ing to him, was the 
state of this manufacture in E 1 at the beginning 
of the ei century. Parli t seems to, have 
been anxious to encourage and extend this manu- 
facture. By the act of and 
in the 12th of Charles II.. duties were imposed on fo- 
i piston: ‘ntoie aenenmaenre: of thes, Dat heme 
ddptomipietined Suita ied, and of the decrease in the 
value of the money duty, as well as the improvements 
in the fabric of German linens, they were not so bene- 
ficial as'was and intended.. In the year.1743, 
a bounty was first granted on the exportation of British 
linens ; and in 1745, this; bounty was augmented. It 
‘appears ‘by the custom-house books, that, prior to the 
year 1746, British linen was. so small an article of ex- 
| ee aan whole quantity exported from Eng- 
never amounted in any one to 200,000 yards ; 
and it ap. agregar as forming a striking contrast 
between state of this manufacture in England and 
Scotland at that time and at this, that the whole ex 
( of the manufacture in. England w ‘p- 
-pear from the following facts, In the year 1743, the 
year when the bounty, to parks, HME READEY. expert 
ty was 52,779 yards ; 
in 1753, 641,510 yards; in 1763, 2,308,310 yards; in 
1778; 5,868,238 yards ; and, in 1783, 8,867,915 yards. 
On an average of 10 years, from the 5th January 1776 
tothe 5th January 1786, the linen drawing bounty ex- 
from England was 5,315,354 yards ; and the to- 
tab averlige quantity of what was exported and what 
Irish linen -_ 
imported. 
or perhaps 
. “sumed by the people 
Wea 
was consumed in England, was in 1786 to be 30,000,000 
yards 4 y# value’ nearly L.1,600,000 per annum, and 
emploj’’g and supporting about 200,000 people. It 
ought alsa to:be remarked, that the increase in the ex- 
ion of the fmer linens not entitled to bounty, be- 
tween 1743 and 1783, was nearly as great in value, 
though not in quantity. 
Yet notwitl ing this increase in the linen manu- 
facture of Eng i ion of linen from Ire- 
land continued to increase ; and it is worthy of remark, 
that at this period, from a comparison of the English 
i , exports of Irish linen, it a that four- 
map ths of the whole, were con- 
of England, and those mostly of 
; 
Ww 
port of Silesia, between 60,000 and 70,000 yards ; of 
‘from the latter country did not, reach 90,000 yards. _ re 4 : > 
The increase 
8 
the finest quality. . The Lords of Trade, in investiga- Statistics. 
ting this subject, reckoned the home consumption as at 
least four-fifths; but while the importation from Ireland 
increased, that from foreign countries diminished, as 
will appear from: the following statement : 
‘ 
Tmported. © ~ Exported. 
18,584,503 ells in. 1748 . .. 9,894,837 ells 
8,954,649... 1T7S .. s 4,385,276 
9,629,854 decrease .. .. . 5,509,561 
This. manufacture, as well as that of silk, suffered 
from the rivalship ‘of the cotton manufacture about the 
year 1790, but not nearly to so great.a degree. There are 
very few data respecting this manufacture about this pe- 
riod. . It ap 5, however, that the quantity of linens 
printed in England and Wales in the year 1796, was 
considerably less than the quantity printed in 1800, 
though the exact difference cannot be stated, as the re- 
turns laid before parliament did not distinguish between | 
printed linens and stuffs. Besides the substitution of 
printed cottons for printed linens in dress, the latter 
trade must have suffered by the very general adoption 
of cotton stockings instead of thread ones, while the 
eat increase in the importation of Irish linens must 
er discouraged another branch. of the trade. 
That the princi 
must at this time 
from the following facts, ascertained from. official 
documents: On an average from the union with Ire- 
land to the 5th of January 1813, there have been an- 
nually retained, for home consumption in this’ country, 
'$2,758,958. yards of Irish linen, The annual average 
quantity of plain linen imported from Germany, and 
retained for home consumption, between 1801 and 
1812, was upwards of two million F bid from Russia 
nearly the same ye ity ; from Holland and France 
as trifling. A do not immediately connected 
ith this part of the linen trade, we may add from the 
same documents, that, from 1801 to 1813, the annual 
average quantity of Hessen’s canvass retained for home 
consumption, was upwards of 700,000 yards ; of pac- 
king upwards of 300,000 yards; of damask and diaper 
cam- 
brie and French Jawns upwards of 17,000 whole pie- 
ces. . All the Silesia lawns were exported again, Of 
sail cloth, upwards of 47,000 ells were retained for home 
consumption ; and of chequered and striped linen up- 
wards of 12,000 ells. The average total of all sorts re- 
tained for home consumption during this period, was 
14,559 pieces, 5,836,621 ells, and 64,706 yards. Al- 
though this statement includes Scotland, yet as little 
foreign linen (except Irish) is used there, it may be ta- 
ken *: sufficiently accurate sy apa re the consump- 
tion of foreign articles made of flax and hemp in Eng- 
land; and in conjunction with the Pe RR the - 
rage quantity of krish linen retained, it at least serves 
to prove, that the linen manufacture in England cannot 
be of much importance or value, It may, however, be 
proper to point out the pepcipes pao in this country, 
‘where articles are manufactured from flax or hemp, 
Canvass for sailcloth is manufactured at Warrington, 
though not nearly to.so great an extent as formerly, 
as at.one time it was calculated that half of the heavy 
eailcloth used in the navy was manufactured here ; at 
Kirkham, in the Filde district of Lancashire, where a 
large quantity is made for the navy, 6000 bolts of can- 
vass having been supplied by two houses in the space 
of six months; at caster, . Whitehaven, Working- 
branch of the linen mar 
_) ture Present 
at a low ebb in England, 4! ap- state. 
