FLAX QUESTION. 



291 



and men of science and influence, was, in my humble opinion, 

 a sad mistake, especially at a time when the rival trade in 

 cotton manufacture is straining every nerve to obtain a cheaper 

 supply of raw material. However, as the Flax-spinners of 

 Great Britain and Ireland are now turning their attention more 

 to Indian productions, we may soon find a supply from that 

 great empire that will allow the Dutch, Belgians, and Russians 

 to spin and weave their own produce of Flax and hemp. 



As the Leeds Flax-spinner omitted to give any account of 

 Dundee, although it contains forty-four Flax-spinning mills, a 

 few remarks on the subject, as my work may reach North 

 Britain, may be interesting to those connected with the trade 

 in Scotland. 



Some few years ago a statement was made by a gentleman 

 in Dublin, Mr. Anketell, before the Royal Dublin Society, when 

 the- question was put before that very intelligent body, " Can 

 Agriculture alone emplojr the people of Ireland ?" 



Mr. Anketell adverted to the increase of the spirit of general 

 enterprise consequent on the success of the great staple trade 

 of England, and the effect of the increased prosperity of the 

 people in developing the higher arts. He adverted to the rise 

 and progress of the Flax and silk trades — the mnnufacturers 

 in the precious metals — the cotton manufacture, its origin, 

 rise, and progress, forming the greatest wonder of industrial 

 enterprise that ever contributed to the glory of a nation. Mr. 

 Anketell dwelt on the present prodigious extent of the cotton 

 trade, which, from infantine proportions half a century since, 

 has now assumed colossal importance, whether viewed in any 

 of its aspects, the busy hum or the thousands it emlpoys in the 

 giant factories wherein the wondrous agencies of native power 

 are developed, the monuments of the genius of Hargrave, 

 Arkwright, Compton, and Cartwright, which supplied the 

 delicate machinery that gives to the whole world the fabrics 

 produced by the manufacturing industry of England. Mr, 



