320 History of the 



To such a lame and impotent conclusion did the collected wis- 

 dom of this important local assembly arrive in the year of grace 

 1822. That the invention of the Power-Loom was calculated to 

 transfer manual labour from the cottages of the poor was a correct 

 judgment of the meeting, as subsequent events have clearly testified ; 

 but that its tendency was to leave them destitute of employment is 

 an opinion which has been just as clearly refuted by the march of 

 events. This very transfer of manual labour which the Capitalists 

 of Rossendale deprecated so strongly, is one of the chief advan- 

 tages which, by the introduction of the Power-driven Machinery, 

 has accrued to the operative classes. Whether viewed from a 

 moral, a social, a sanitary, or a pecuniary point of view, the benefits 

 are so obvious as to preclude the necessity of argument in its 

 favour. Idleness and dissipation during one portion of the week, 

 and incessant toil approaching to slavery during the remaining 

 portion, were the usual and almost inevitable concomitants of the 

 domestic labour system. 



The views of the Rossendale manufacturers were, by means of 

 the press, widely promulgated throughout the country. While 

 awarding to the ignorant rioters of 1826 their proportion of blame 

 for the lawless proceedings which entailed so much destruction of 

 life and property, let us not forget to ask ourselves how much of 

 their folly was due to the teaching of those who, from their position, 

 might have been expected to discern more clearly the_ signs of the 

 times. 



Among the remedies suggested, is the old one of Protection, in 

 opposition to Free Trade. The desire to stifle progress and 

 improvement with the burden of taxation is a doctrine, now happily 

 effete, which at one time found favour in the eyes of many of our 

 countrymen. Let us suppose for a moment that the recommenda- 

 tion of the meeting had been carried out, and that the Hand- 

 Loom had been bolstered and " protected " so that it might have 

 continued successfully to compete with its more efficient rival ; 

 have we any guarantee that the foreign manufacturer would have 

 taken the same narrow view of what was best for his interests ? Is 



