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no coal for power, e;c. The interest on capital is not heavy, as no great 

 capital is required. The wear and tear percentage is entirely absent, 

 and he can conduct his business free of all risks, frequently the out- 

 come of the ownership of a large plant which has to be provided with 

 work in order to save decay and decline resulting from material and 

 pecuniary shrinkage of idle machinery. The cost of a hand-loom is 13, 

 or $63, while a power loom, such as used in England, costs 120, or 

 $580. A good hand-loom weaver would turn out about 120 yards of 

 this quality in a fortnight, with earnings of $6 a week. Another man- 

 ufacturer whom I visited employs both hand and power looms. His 

 firm was pointed out to me by others as the largest makers of ingrain 

 carpets by power. But he also stated to me that most all the ingrain 

 carpet weaving was done on hand-looms yet, and that the largest makers 

 were still making them in this manner. They commenced in 1868 as 

 single workingmen weavers, he and his brother, and had gradually 

 worked up. In 1874 they first began power-loom weaving. They were 

 ridiculed by their fellow manufacturers, who all predicted disaster. 

 Many had tried it before and had failed. Still they persisted and suc- 

 ceeded. In England they used the Murkland loom, the loom in use in 

 America, where they are making room now for the newer and improved 

 ones, Kuowles & Cromptou's, alluded to before. All of these are Amer- 

 ican inventions, as power-weaving in ingrains has taken its rise there. 

 Indeed, all the first power machines used in England were of American 

 make. They were, however, soon superseded by English makers, as 

 the American were found too poor castings being used where ham- 

 mered iron and steel are employed in the English loom, as my inform- 

 ant stated. That power- weaving has not taken deeper root in England 

 is due to causes partly stated above, and also to the fact that to make 

 power-loom weaving profitable would require a large output with infre- 

 quent changes. 



The output is not large enough per loom to warrant the introduction of costly 

 machinery. If a girl, these are the words of my informant, earns 12*. a wrrk, 

 she is satisfied and can not be brought to work up higher thau 15*. If she gets above 

 that in times of great pressure, when some work up to 1 and even 1 4s., they soon 

 lall back again. If we discharge them and take now ones it would be the same again 

 in a very short time. They lack the ambition to rise above their station. Their pres- 

 ent earnings suffice them to maintain that and the mode of living they are used to. 

 Tho-e who go to America go there to make their fortune, and then, of course, they 

 work with a different spirit, as they are there freed from home influences and take up 

 the spirit of their sunouiidings. 



I have expressed this view frequently in reports and otherwise. Its 

 correctness has been questioned in some quarters. It will therefore be 

 of value to have the corroborative opinion of an English manufacturer 

 whose experience and intelligence make him well qualified to judge the 

 subject of comparative productiveness of labor from the English stand- 

 point. He says further u that the English go along in the same way as 

 their fathers. They want no changes. It is the same in Sheffield and 

 17 A 3 



