126 Industrial Experiments in Colonial America, 



ver was steadily exported to Great Britain, until there was very 

 little left ; then they were forced to manufacture for them- 

 selves. 



The " Letter to a Member of Parliament," written in 1720/ 

 exactly describes the situation: " Their (the New Eng'landers') 

 delight is to wear English manufactures, but the difficulty of 

 coming at them is very great. They have no silver mines — noth- 

 ing to send but pitch, tar, turpentine and ships, which would go 

 but a little way toward clothing such a number of people. There- 

 fore they are forced to visit the Spanish coast and pick up 

 traffic, and to carry lumber and provisions to the sugar planta- 

 tions and to the logwood cutters at Campeachy, exchanging 

 for the products of those islands, which they generally send to 

 England ; they are forced to catch fish and make pipe and bar- 

 rel staves to send to Portugal, Spain and the Streights ; and, 

 lastly, to build great numbers of ships which they sell, with the 

 cargoes, in Portugal, Spain and Europe. Thus they make a 

 shift to scrape up about £150,000 per annum, to pay for the 

 goods they buy of us. It is almost incredible that they raise 

 so much. As it is, they are forced to fall on woolen, linen, iron 

 and leather manufactures." 



Let us see to what extent these manufactures were actually 

 carried on. In 1640, owing to the scarcity of money, the Gen- 

 eral Court of Massachusetts " took into serious consideration 

 the absolute necessity for tlie raising of the manufacture of 

 linen cloth, etc." They ordered that the magistrates and depu- 

 ties of the towns inquire what seed there was in every town, 

 what men and women were skillful in breaking, spinning and 

 weaving, and what means there were for providing wheels ; to 

 devise courses to raise materials, and to teach boys and girls to 

 spin. They were also to take into consideration the spinning 

 and weaving of cotton wool.- On October 7th, of that year, 

 the Court ordered that, " for the incouragement of the man- 

 ufacture of linen, woolen and cotton clothes, whosoever shall 



iCf. Part II, Ch. I, p. 56. 

 ^Mass. Records, Vol. I, p. 294. 



