STATE OF THE MANUFACTURING AND COM- MERCIAL INTERESTS.
THE evidence given betbre the Committee on Manufactures, Shipping, and Commerce, establishes this fact beyond question— that at the present time men of very large capital and extenSive connexion, possessed also of skill, industry, and courage, may do business in almost any branch at a small profit. A few years ago, such was the unfortunate state of the commercial world, that even this could scarcely be said with truth. Lately, however,—tbat is, since we have recovered from the shocks of 1825 and 1826,—there has been a general tendency to improvement in the affairs of those who possess the qualifications above described. It does not necessarily follow that the vast multitude of persons who depend for their subsistence upon the several branches of trade, which their employers, the capitalists, are embarked in, should participate in their prosperity. The profits of the latter may arise in a great measure from the miserably low wages for which the operatives are obliged to labour. We fear that this is the case to a considerable extent even now. The evidence, how- ever, is contradictory upon this point; except as it regards the hand-loom weavers, who are allowed by all to be in a wretched condition. Mr. JAMES, of the house of MOORE, JAMES, and Co.. wholesale linendmpers in Cheapside, says that the condition of the ware- housemen, and travellers generally, is very good; their wages are as high as formerly. Mr. MARSHALL gives the same description of the state of the workmen in Leeds: "he considers th m exceedingly well off at present; the wages are as high as during the war, when every thing was so much dearer." This gentleman employs 1,229 spinners, besides a number of men who attend to his machinery. The evidence of Mr. MARSHALL with respect to the wages and general condition of the operatives is confirmed by Mr. KIRKMAN FINLAY and Mr. W. GRAHAM, of Glasgow, Mr. BROOKE, of Huddersfield, Mr. LLOYD, the banker, speaking of Lancashire generally, Mr. Sarroar, of Stockport, and Mr. MAT- THEWS, of Dudley. On the other hand, Mr. JACKSON, of Shef- field, says that the workmen in that neighbourhood are not so well off as they were, Mr. Dixosr, of Wolverhampton, is asked what is the relative position of the workmen there now, as Compared with ten years ago? Ile answers, "in a very distressed state.".
"Do they consume the same quantity of animal food as they did ten years ago.? " • ' "Nothing like it. As a proof, I may state, that when at home, I attend the Select Vestry invariably, and for a long time there have been applications from people for relief who used to pay levies.' . Do you consider that one hundred workmen with their families consume sae third less animal food than they did ten years ago?" "I should think full that." '
Mr. SALT gives similar evidence as to Birmingham. Mr. HAYNES, a silk-merchant in Manchester, is asked— "Upon the whole, is the situation of workmen in Manchester, taking into _account the state of amployineat, the state of wages, and the prices of provisions, . m good now m during the war?" ' - Certainly not: they are obliged to work more-hews in the day, to get a ateafortable subsistence, than they formerly did ?"
" Do you consider that their situation has deteriorated in point of comfort and independence?" " Certainly I do : there is work for all in Manchester at present, but their comforts must be very much abridged."
Mr. SAMUEL WALKER, an iron-master in Staffordshire, admits that wages have been reduced " as low as it is possible for a man to live and maintain his family: the condition of the workmen is one of very considerable poverty." A manufacturer owning establishments at Bilston, and in the Potteries, gives an equally deplorable account of their condition. It should be observed, that almost all the witnesses who repro. sent the state of the working classes as so indifferent, as well as those who give a more favourable account, concur in the opinion that trade is generally in a sound and healthy condition : but how can this be, if the representations of the former are correct? Profits which are derived from the over-working of the operatives must be very precarious, just as Irish estates with enormous rentals are worth many years' purchase less than those in England which yield a much smaller sum per acre. Profits in Manchester and rents in Connaught too often arise from the labour of men who have the best excuse for turning restive on the hands of their em- ployers and landlords,—namely, thatAheir share of the produce of their labour is hardly sufficient to keep themselves and families from starvation. When they do turn' restive—when trade is sus- pended, orders are unexecuted, and land runs to waste—where are we to look for rents and profits? It appears, however, to be acknowledged on all sides, that the wholesale trade of the country at present is prosperous. For even in those branches which have suffered most lately, such as the iron and shipping trades, it would seem that a man of experience, possessed of the requisite capital and talent, might go into them with a fair prospect of reaping some profit. The question then presents itself, how long is this to last? Our principal danger arises from foreign competition. We at present, by means of our enormous capitals, and the superiority of our machinery, contrive to keep competitors at bay. Even the Americans, with all their energy and enterprise, are made to feel the superiority which the ability to lose vast sums confers upon the British cotton and wool manufacturers. The evidence of Mr. BATES, himself an American, and partner in the house of BARING and Co., in relation to this point, is worth attending to. He says- " The English manufacturer would send out his goods to America, and sell them at a loss, with no other object than to ruin the American manufacturer, with a view of breaking up the system of manufacturing in America." . . . . "This operation would-be in part a combined operation on the part of English manufacturers, and in part the effect of an ordinary cause • that is, to get rid of .a surplus stock." . . . . "I am sure that frequently goods are brought to us .upon whielts money is required to Ile advanced, going to America, where the parties expect td sustain a loss." • I - • 4. .. • Sometimes the money is advanced in England, by houses to whose agents in America the goods are consigned for sale : it not unfrequently happens, however, that an immense shipment of cot- ton or woollen goods is made to the American correspondents of the English owners of the goods. If money is required to be re- mitted without delay, the consignee applies to some extensive auction and commission merchant in New York, who will at once advance two thirds or more on the amount of the invoice (sup- posing it to be fairly made out according to the market value of the articles in it), in order that he may secure the usual commis- sion on the sale of them by auction. The amount of his commis- sion or percentage depends upon whether or not he guarantees the payment of the promissory notes at six months' date, for which he disposes of the cargo: it varies from 11- to 71 or 10 per cent. He advances very large sums on the consignment, which are at once converted into bills of exchange and remitted to England; so that it has repeatedly happened, that bills for two thirds of the value of the goods exported have been on their way back to Eng- land before the goods themselves have been landed, or the neces- sary papers passed "through the Customhouse. In this way, the American market is often suddenly deluged with a quantity of British manufactures, to the ruin and despair of the painstaking maker of "domestics." Thus also we see, that although the American tariff was the cause of much loss to the British manu- facturer, it afforded little protection to his Transatlantic opponent. The latter is very much in the same situation that- a tiaxspinner of Leeds with a capital of 10,000/. would be in, were he to enter into competition with MARSHALL and Company : sooner or later, the mammoth house falls upon and crushes him. Mr. BATES says, that the competition in the United States against the manufac- turers of this country, "received a deathblow by the change in the American tariff, except as far as the cottons go; " and he thinks that the remainder of the tariff " will go also.' It is to be observed, that the cottons which the Americans still manufac- ture to advantage are only the Coarse common goods for domestic consumption. In the finer descriptions, where the value is created almost entirely by the labour bestowed on them, they are utterly beaten Out of the market by our super-excellent machinery, low r.!e of wages and profits, and the enormous temporary sacrifices which the large capitalists find it for theifinterest to make. flow long this state of things can continue, few will venture to predict. Foreign nations, who possess the necessaries of life at a rate sa much cheaper than we can obtain them; whose machinery is con- stantly improving, and Who do not lab-WV-under the manifest dis- advantages which must for many years .obitruet the inhabitants of Ainerica in their mahufacturing course,' will probably become mere formidable conipefitors with us in their own add foreign mar- kets every Year: -.There Seems to-be be but one mode of disabling them : let us, by admitting their produce, prove it to be their in- terest to raise corn, wool, timber, and cotton, and exchange them for the produce of our looms and forges. We have mentioned above; that the low wages paid to our ope- ratives are in part the reason of our being able successfully to withstand foreign competition. The inquiries of the Committee, and indeed the daily occurrences in the manufacturing districts, prove that this source of success is in danger of being blocked up. One of the witnesses, Mr. H. HOULDSWORTH, of Glasgow, says— "Combinations of workmen have been progressively extending; they have extended throughout the whole of Scotland in some trades ; and not merely in Scotland, but they are joined in combinations of a similar business in Ireland and in England ; and these combinations in a particular trade are now joining and have joined with combinations of every other trade, so that it is a hind of universal thing."
The operatives, in fact, take advantage of every brisk season of sale to demand an increase of wages; and they are now aware of the power which acting in concert confers. We cannot, therefore, rely as much as formerly on the lowness of wages for the continu- ance of our manufacturing superiority. This fact is another argu- ment in favour of crushing foreign establishments by giving our artisans cheaper food, and foreigners cheaper goods than they make for themselves.
The condition of the retail shopkeepers ,occupies an important though by no means a prominent place in the evidence given before the Committee. This evidence, like that relating to the condition of the working classes, is contradictory. We should have been pleased to have had an opportunity of reading what the principal retail shopkeepers in London and the country had to say for themselves ; but we do not find that any were examined. Mr. LLOYD is of opinion that the retailers generally are tiding very • well ; though he admits that "there are eight or ten great houses in London that have almost absorbed the trade." Mr. GURNEY, the bill-broker, is aware that the "shopkeepers and small trades- people, who form a very numerous class, have been suffering for the last few years ; they are less able to bear severe competition than people in a higher grade of trade, and larger capitals :" still he thinks the trade of London is in a "moderately prosperous • state." Mr. JAMES says, the retailers "pay with greater regularity than they used to do : he has seen no indication of extreme general distress among them : the condition of the retail-dealer is tolerably good at present : every branch of retail trade has increased very much within ten or fifteen years :" still he allows, that "some very large establiAments have grown up within the last few years, and business is more concentrated in large establishments than it was some eight 'or ten years ago." Of coarse, therefore,.the small shopkeepers have lost the trade which the large ones have absorbed. Wholesale business ('for in point cf fact, such establishments as those of HOWELL and JAMES, and of ELLis on Ludgate Hill, are wholesale, though not techni- cally so) may be carried on profitably ; but not a single retail- dealer has been produced to speak to the goodness of the times. We can easily believe, that if be could not honestly give a favour- able, he would shrink from giving an adverse account of his trade. • The shipowners agree in one story—their business is greatly depressed. There is employment for shipping, but freights are too low to yield profits to any but such as have recently built or pur- chased their vessels. This seems to be the real state of the case. The materials for shipbuilding have fallen in cost; of course those who bought or built a few years ago hold depreciated property. Although, therefore,„a majority of the present shipowr.ers are not getting one per cent. for the capital embarked in their trade, still it is unfair to say. that the shipping business is a bad one ; be- -cause a man now entering it, with capital, skill, and industry, would be enabled to realize moderate profits from it.
It will be seen from the above analysis of a portion of the con- tents of this highly interesting. and important volume of eight hundred pages, that we have been obliged to darken in some in- stances (as we partly anticipated) the picture of national prospe- rity which we drew last week from those extracts of the evidence which the Treasury Optimists presented to us. The country, however, though not in so flourishing a condition as they would fain make us believe, stands only in want of discreet rulers and wise legislation to be all that her most patriotic sons could hope for. But, if any credit is due to the intelligent men whose opinions are recorded in the volume before us, it will never do to let things remain long as they are at present.
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