Cuttings Nut Vim Xusks ger irat eirrninm

THE LANCASHIRE STRIKE FOR HIGHER WAGES.

In the Reports of the Inspectors of Factories for the half-year ending 318t October 1852, they give a tabular statement of the number of new factories built, and additions to existing factories, during 1851 and 1852; from which it appears that the number of additional hands required in the new mills, supposing all the machinery to be at work, would not be less than 42,408. Six months later, in the report for the half-year end- ing 30th April 1853, Mr. Leonard Homer says—" At no period during the last seventeen years, that I have been officially acquainted with the manufacturing districts in Lancashire, have I known such general pros- parity; the activity in every branch is extraordinary. In my last report I gave an account of the vast increase of factories during the two prece- ding years; and there is no cessation, for new mills are growing up every- where. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that I should hear of a great scarcity of hands, of much machinery standing idle from the want of hands to work it, and of a rise of wages." Nor is it to be wondered at, considering how much ignorance there is among the operative classes of the laws by which wages are regulated, that some classes of them should have taken advantage of this great scarcity of labour to demand higher rates of wages than the state of the cotton trade can afford. That certain branches of the trade are doing well is unquestionable; but, at the very time when Mr. Horner was speaking of the general prosperity, the Manchester trade circulars were stating that, in consequence of the unremunerative prices then prevailing, the manufacturers of " domestics " had resolved to work short time; and it is highly probable that they would have done so at the present time, had the operatives not antici- pated such a movement by turning out for an advance of wages. If one may believe the millowners, very few of them are in a prosperous state. A trade report of last week says—" While some branches of spinning are doing well, others yield but a trifling profit, and the extensive one of water-twist perhaps none beyond the ordinary interest upon investments, if even that ; while the manufacturers of gray cotton cloths—those goods which constitute the bulk of the production—have, in the aggregate, an indifferent trade, to a large extent a poor one, and again to a large extent a losing one ; and this has been the state of matters for some time back." This is a gloomy picture, and, if at all correct, it gives little encourage- ment for any advance of wages. How far it is corroborated by facts, we shall endeavour to ascertain, by reference to the state of our exports of cotton goods and yarns. From a return published last session, of the quantities and declared value of British cotton manufactures and cotton yarn exported from the United Kingdom in each year from 1833 to 1852 inclusive, we find that, although we are sending abroad a larger quantity of twist annually than we did ten years ago, we are not receiving as large a sum annually in return. This will at once be seen by comparing the quantities and values for the three years ending in 1842 with these of the last three years.

COTTON TWIST AND TARN EXTORTED.

Year. Quantity. Declared Value. Year. Quantity. Declared Value. -

Pounds. 1. Pounds.

1840 .. 118,469,215 .. 7,101,289 1850 .. 1841 .. 123,225,939 .. 7,266,930 1851 .. 131,370,368 .. 6,383,704 143.966,106 .. 6,634,028 1842 .. 137,465,448 .., 7,771,420 1852 .. 145,478,302 .. 6,654,655 379,160,622 £22,139,659 420,814,776 £19,672,385

It will thus be seen, that during the last three years the aggregate quantity of cotton twist and yarn exported has increased no less than 41,654,154 pounds ; but that we actually received 2,467,274/. less for it than we did for the lesser quantity. This does not seem a very pros- perous kind of trade. Nor can the difference be accounted for by the cheapness of cotton during the last three years as compared with the former period. So far as we have been able to ascertain, the cost of the raw material was much about the same in 1840-'1-'2, as in 1850-'1-'2 ; and Consequently, if the spinners have been receiving the same rate of wages at the latter period, the profits of the millowners must either have been lessened to the extent of 2,467,2741., or their capital encroached upon ; or else there must have been some wonderful improvement in machinery which has lessened the cost of production, and thus enabled them to bear up against the keen competition of their Continental rivals.

The returns relating to manufactured goods show a still greater falling- off in value ; as the following comparison will prove.

COTTON MANUFACITRES EXPORTED.

Year. Quantity. Declared Value.

Yards, 1840 790,452,073 16,298,958 1841 750,939,120 14,982,515 1842 .. 733,888,946 .. 12,884,080 2,275,282,139 £44,165,553

As regards calicoes, plain, printed, and dyed,—of which our exports mainly consist,—it appears from the above tabular statement, that within the last ten years we have nearly doubled the quantity sent abroad, but that the demand has not been equal to the supply ; seeing that while quantity has risen nearly 100 per cent, value has not risen 50 per cent. With such figures before them, no one need wonder at the unwillingness of the employers to grant an advance of wages which must evidently en- croach upon capital.

The operatives will perhaps contend that the price of goods and yarns has risen considerably since the end of last year ; and the returns for the last seven months seem at first sight to warrant that impression. While the quantity of manufactured goods exported has risen from 897,820,171 yards last year to 969,293,663 yards in 1853, the declared value of that quantity has risen from 12,502,563/. to 14,381,320/. But this improvement turns out, on examination, to be no advantage to the manufacturer. Taking into account the advance in the price of labour and cotton, the condition of the great majority of spinners and manufacturers is worse at present than it was last year ; nor is there any prospect of a speedy improvement. A,s regards the home market, stocks are said to be low, but all the accounts from the East are gloomy. In India the markets have been glutted ; in China the civil war causes stagnation ; and the unsettled Turkish quarrel throws great uncertainty over our trade with the Levant. Now these are the countries which have lately taken the chief portion of our cotton manufactures, and any serious falling-off in the demand must prove ruinous to those who depend largely on that trade. Of the 1,524,256,914 yards of cotton manufactures sent abroad last year, the countries we have named took the following amounts. COTTON MANUFACTURES EXPORTED IN 1852.

Quantity. Declared Value.

Yards. E.

East Indies 352,637,240 4,242,272 China 140,922,065 1,649,183 Turkey, including Syria and Egypt. 175,846,777 2,738,284 -- 669,406,082 £8,627,739

Here is 40 per cent of the export trade in a doubtful state ; the money- market rapidly becoming tighter, and everything tending to make men more cautious in their speculations, and indeed less able to launch out in any direction, whatever wish they may have to do so. Yet this is the time which the Lancashire factory operatives have chosen to "put the screw upon the millowners." The result of the contest will show how far they were warranted in taking such a step. To us it seems impossible, under present circumstances, that their demands can be complied with, without such a sacrifice on the part of the employers as would be alike in- jurious in the long run to both parties.

DEARTII OF COALS.

When Mr. Robert Stephenson told the merchants of London, at a pub- lic dinner some years ago, that, in consequence of the opening up of the coal-mines of Derbyshire and Staffordshire by the railways, the saving in the price of coals consumed in London would be equal to the whole of the local rates of the Metropolis, he was laughed at as an enthusiast. A very short time, however, showed that he was correct in his anticipations. The price of the beat coals fell from 30s. to 228. per ton ; and as the quan- tity consumed annually in London is about 3,600,000 tons, the saving to the community must have been upwards of 1,300,0001. a year. From the rise which has lately taken place in the price of coa.ls to the consumer, however, it would appear that although the competition of the railway companies was able to bring down the enormous cost of carriage by sea, at ordinary times, it is not powerful enough

yet to prevent freights from rising. Owing to the increased de- mand for shipping generally and more especially in the grain trade within the last few months, freights of coal from the Northern ports to London have risen in some instances as high as they were during the war ; and the consequence has been an enormous rise in the price of coals in Lon- don—not less, in fact, than 40 to 50 per cent on the wholesale price since Midsummer. "A Coal-Merchant," in the Times, says he "cannot deliver the best screened coals, with a profit, under 32s. per ton; in June last, and during June, July, August, and September 1852, the price was 23s. only." This very great advance is partly caused, no doubt, by the advance in the wages of the miners, which is sometimes taken advantage of by the trade to a liberal extent : but that is only a small fraction of the whole price. At the meeting of coalowners at York, this year, to consider what the price of coals should be, in consequence of the increased rate of wages and materials, it was generally considered that an advance of 6d. per ton was quite sufficient. The principal cause of the present high price of coals is evidently the dearness of freight; and that is not likely to change while the grain-carrying trade continues so brisk throughout Evrope.

Year. Quantity.

Declared Value.

1850 ..

1,358,182;941

.. 20,536,433 1851 .. 1,543,161,789 .. 22,049,202 1852 .. 1,524,256,914 .. 21,648,458

4,425,601,644 £64,228,095

The coal-merchant already quoted is of opinion that the ships temporarily withdrawn to the Baltic tnide will 'shortly be ;again available for the transport of coal" • and as it appears that the total imports into London this year up to the -end of last month, were l83,158 tons over those of last year, there need be no panic as to the future supply. In all proba-

bility,they, will be considerably cheaper in the course of a ,few months. The misfortune is, that the advance should have taken place at this sea- son, when prudent housekeepers are providing for the winter consump- tion.

Meanwhile, the great advance in the cost of freight must prove a god- send to the Great Northern Railway -Company ; which, having con- tracted for large quantities of coals annually at the lowest possible price, will now obtain the advance in the London market for all the coals they sell, without any additional cost to them. In the .irvidence taken before the Select Committee on Railway and Canal Bills last session, Mr. Nicho- las Wood, Chairman of the South Durham Coalowners Association, gave some interesting information on this point. Having been asked what the practice of the Great Northern is—whether they act as common carriers or as coal-merchants—he says : "I consider that they do not act as comMon carriers, because they pur- chase the coals at York, paying a specified price for the coals, and after that the coalowner has nothing more to do with them; he knows nothing as to the price at which the railway company sells the coals. If they were com- mon carriers, the coalowner ought to have the control of the coals ; in fact, they ought to be his until they are sold to the merchant ; and the railway company, as common carriers, should only have to convey them from the pits to the depot, and the coalowner ought to be able to make a bargain with the merchant or the consumer upon the line. That is not so with the Great Northern. It is so upon the York, Newcastle, and Berwick. I myself send a large quantity of coals along the York, Newcastle, and Berwick; and I deal with the consumers direct. The railway company finds it necessary,- and I think it is necessary from my experience of railways, that the coals at the depots should be sold by one person : but then, the coals are sold at the price the coalowncrs fix to sell them at, and the coalowner can give what credit he likes, or sell them at such price as he likes. Now on the Great Northern that is not so; the coalowner loses sight of the coals immediately they are purchased at York by the Great Northern Railway Company. I may sell the Railway Company Tees Wall's Ends ; which may be sold under any other name, and my coals may be injured in the market in consequence."

"Do you mean that the reputation of your coals may be injured by their being handled by the Company, instead of passing through the hands of your agents ?"—" Just so." "Is that arrangement compulsory on you ? "—" It is."

"Is that because the Company avail themselves of their position, as com- manding the road between York and London, to force upon you arrangements at York, which, if you were otherwise situated, you would not consent to ?" —" Certainly. I consider it quite essential for the character of the coals, and I think it is in accordance with the general system of commercial trans- actions, that the coals should be the property of the coalowner until they are sold to the merchant, and that the coalowner alone should sell the coal to the merchant."

The practical result of this mode of working the coal trade on the Great Northern line, according to the same witness, is that, so far as regards the demand for his commodity, all along the route from York to London he has only one customer—the Great Northern ; and unless he accept the price which that customer offers, he cannot sell a single ton. When asked whether the company is always ready to purchase coals that are tendered to it, he says he has been negotiating with the manager for some time, but has not been able to come to terms. Ile only asks the same price at York, from the Great Northern, as he obtains from the other rail- ways ; and that they are not willing to give. Of that, however, he does not complain. All he asks is simply that they would act as common carriers, and let him sell his coals as he best can.

Mr. Clarke, manager of the Great Northern Railway, endeavours to show that the Company act simply as common carriers of coals, and not as merchants. He admits that they make contracts with the great coal proprietors to take a certain quantity annually at .a_certain price ; but that, as he alleges, is merely that they may be able to prevent fluctuations of price. "Unless we ascertain beyond all doubt," Mr. Clarke says, "and by a contract, that a fluctuation which affects the sea-coal trade, with respect to the wages, will not take place, and unless we can be sure to have the coal at the same price all the year round, we should have the same variation all through England that is felt in London -when the wages are high or the freights excessive. But we profess to deliver coals to the inhabitants of our several districts at a uniform price." Such was the statement of Mr. Clarke last June, before the advance in prices had begun. We should like to know how far the professions of the Great Northern Railway Company are illustrated in practice.

OLTH ExPoiers Pea 1852.—The Board of Trade has issued, two months earlier than the usual period, the annual report of the declared values of British and Irish produce and manufactures exported from the United Kingdom. specifying the countries and colonies to which they were ex- ported. 'Compared with the return for 1851, the one just issued shows a very slight increase in the value of our exports to our own Colonies ; the entire amount in 1851 having been 19,517,039/., and in 1852, 20,082,3141., notwithstanding the great increase in our exports to Australia : indeed, if we deduct our exports to Hongkong in 1852, in order to make a fair comparison with 1851, when they were not placed along with the rest of our Colonies, the total amount exported to British Colonies and Possessions in 1852 was less than in 1851. The following are the Colonies to which the greatest increase or decrease has taken place.

- In 1851. In 1852.

India £7,806,596 £7,352,907 Australia 2.807,356 4,222,205 North America 3,813,707 3,065,364 West Indies 2,201,032 1,908,552

South Africa 752,393 1,064,283 Compared with the present year, the chief increase has been in our exports to the United States ; which were 14,362,9761. in 1851, and rose to 16,567,737/. in 1352. Our aggregate exports to all parts of the world during the last four years have been as follows.

In 1819. In 1850. In 1851. l'n 1852.

£63,306,025 ... £71,367,885 ... £71,418,722 ... £78,076,851

In 1849 our exports to the United States amounted only to 11,971,0281.; so that they increased more than four millions and a half during the last three years. Among the countries to which our exports have declined of late years, Russia takes the lead. While the aggregate exports to Ger- many, Holland, France, Spain, and Sardinia, have increased from 12,893,5031. in 1849 to 16,949,6311. in 1852,—which is more than the £699,615 £1,928,939 1 It will be seen that the increase to these four places alone amounta,Vi considerably more than the whole of our exports to Russia with itel 60,000,000 people. average rate of increase during these four years,—Rnasia haat doeiirlid from 1,572,692/. in 1849, to 1,099,9171. in 1852. In our shipments to the South American Republics, and also to Mexico, a'vatriemarkablc

ti

crease has taken place since 1849. : e... ■ 1

In 1849.

Venezuela A ift21%

• Y _ .., Republic of Uruguay E36,666

178,998 , 4. 2i 30 38

Central America 117,933 260.699 Mexico 366,020 779,059