194- BEPOKT— 1873. 



wliicli might he lield, and in addition £4,000,000 from the London Clearing House 

 available to allay a panic, and this without any loss to the country, ■which would 

 indeed have £21,000,000 of gold to export. The writer then repeated his view 

 that, except small notes, there should be complete fi-eedom in banking, taking rea- 

 sonable precautions to prevent fraud, and pointing out that it would be well to 

 allow all new banks, or banks not now circulating, to issue notes of £20 and up- 

 wards, as their notes circulated among the wealthier classes, who were qiute able 

 to take care of themselves. He believed that with freedom in banking the banks 

 would be larger and with larger capital, and safer than at present, and that ex- 

 treme mercantile convulsions could be avoided, although, of course, pressures 

 arising from men's imprudence might always be expected *. 



Oil the Shoddi/ Trade. By Samuel Jubb. 



The shoddy manufacture was commenced at Batley, Yorkshire, in the year 1813, 

 being introduced by Mr. Benjamin Law, of the same place. The produce thereof 

 are heavy woolleji cloths chiefly, and they are used for coatings and other purposes. 

 The essential raw materials used in the fabrication of shoddy cloths are shoddy 

 and mungo, in combination with wool and noils. 



Shoddy is produced from soft rags, such as cast-off stockings, flannels, carpets, 

 &c. ; and mungo from hard rags, such as worn-out dress-coats, tailors' cuttings, 

 disused fine tablecloths, &c. Both these kinds of rags, whicli formerly were 

 nearly valueless, are torn or grouud up by a machine, the principal feature of which 

 is a cylinder set with sharp iron teeth, and which revolves at a rapid rate; this 

 machine is known locally by the name of "devil." The effect is, that the rags 

 are converted into a kind of wool or flock, and hence capable of being mixed with 

 sheep's wool. 



The supplies of rags are drawn partly from the large cities and tovras of the 

 LT^nited Kingdom, and also from various foreign countries. London is the jjrincipal 

 market. Shoddy and mimgo, viz. the rags in the prepared state, are largely 

 imported from the continent of Europe. 



Shoddy varies from Id. to Is. per lb., mungo from 1 \d. to 20d. per lb., according 

 to quality, colour, staple, «S:c. The wool used together with shoddy varies from 

 Qd. per lb. to ISd. per lb., and with mungo from Is. to 2s. C(/. or .'is. per lb. 



There is a large quantity of fine Australian wool consumed in the shoddy 

 manufacture. 



Shoddy cloths vary from about Is. 2d. to 12s. per yard, 64 inches wide, and 

 always appear cheap, whilst as a fact they are an economical fabric, and as such 

 extensively patronized by the working and poorer classes at home ; at the same 

 time a large export trade is done in them to our colonies and the principal markets 

 of the world. 



Shoddy cloths are of course scribbled and carded, spun, woven, milled, raised, 

 dyed, and finished much in the same way as cloths made of all sheep's wool. 



The shoddy manufacture has its centre at Batley and the adjoining borough of 

 Dewsbury, where large mills are in operation, employing thousands of workpeople. 

 Batley is the principal seat of the trade, and at this time (1873) contains from 

 fifty to sixty mills engaged in this business. 



A considerable number of other places in the district, and at a distance, are 

 more or less occupied in the heavy wooUen manufacture, which have radiated from 

 Batley as from a common centre. There are no statistics showing the extent of 

 the trade in the aggTegate, though it is desirable there were ; it may, however, be 

 stated that there are without doubt 3000 power-looms used in this trade at Batley. 

 Speaking of power-looms (that is to say looms driven by steam-power, in contra- 

 distinction to hand- looms, which were worked manually) they (power-looms) have 



* It is a little curious that remedies almost identical with what is suggested liere were 

 adopted a day or two afterwards in New York. The banks there ceased to conduct their 

 exchanges against legal tender, and the Government bought lands ; and in each case the 

 amounts were similar to what is hero indicated, viz, ^4,000,000 and Xr>,000,000 re- 

 spectively. 



