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that on or before such a day they would receive proposals for the erection of scutch mills; each person so applying was directed to make that application to the Inspector General, in a particular form: previous to the day on which the notice was delivered, or subsequent to that day, the Inspector General viewed in the different districts those situations for which application had been made, and he reported to the Board the situations which he thought were most deserving of their encouragement. He had never known the Linen Board give any grants of that kind upon private application, without reference to the officers. The machinery of all those mills had been considerably improved of late; and even the most common ones were improv. ing. Unless the Excise Board could be called a Distillery Board, he had never heard of a Distillery Board in Ireland. He dared to say, that the distillers of Ireland might be trusted to find suitable situations for the erection of their buildings for themselves. But he thought the Linen Board, or some such thing as the Linen Board, absolutely necessary for upholding and improving the trade of the country, which was in the hands of the lower class of persons, who were not in the way of getting information of the improvements made in the different parts of the country, as the established manufacturers of Great Britain were. He conceived, that the improvement which he contemplated would be likely to be promoted, not by a competition with the foreign article, but by introducing improved machinery, which the manufacturers in general were incapable of, without the assistance of the Linen Board. He did not think that individuals in the trade would be interested in introducing that ma chinery without the assistance or encourage. ment of the Linen Board, nor did he think that, in general, they would have the knowledge of it; there was an improvement in ma

erected, in such a place, a flax mill; he ex-bute to the promotion of the manufacture. amined the situation and the district of country, There had never been an instance, since he had and gave his opinion whether it would be desir- been an officer of the Board, in which there had able to erect a flax mill there or not. No doubt been a grant made without an inquiry and rea thing of that kind could be settled by a gen-port. Notice was given by the Linen Board, tleman, without advice from the Linen Board, or from an officer of the Linen Board. Supposing three gentlemen made application to the Board for assistance to erect a scutch mill, the mode which the Board took to decide to which of the three gentlemen the grant should be made, was by ascertaining, by the situation from which the application was made, whether there was a proper supply of water to work it during all seasons; whether or not it was a part of the country where there were flax mills already erected; and they gave a preference to that district of country which appeared best adapted, and in which flax mills were not in general erected. That statement was made to the Linen Board by the Inspector General of the district, upon whose report they, in almost every instance, acted exclusively. There were individuals who would seek for a grant where probably the inspector would conceive the mill would be useful for only three or four months in the year: the object of the Linen Board, and the object of their officers was, that where a mill was to be erected, it should be in a place where it would be useful and convenient to the public for as many months of the year as possible: that was one of the reasons upon which the preference was given. The Linen Board did not, in any one instance, pay more than about a third, sometimes not more than one-sixth, of the expense of the mill. There was a constant expense attending the keeping up of a mill. To the question, whether it was likely that a private individual would wish to erect a mill, subjecting himself to the original expense of the erection, and the expense of keeping it up, unless he considered that he should derive profit from the mill? the answer was, that from the information he obtained, before he thought of erecting a mill, he ascertained that he must derive a profit. To the question, whether if he were resident on the spot, he was not fully as able to judge how far erecting a mill on a par-chinery at that moment in operation by the ticular spot would be advantageous, as the Linen Board were? the answer was, he might, or he might not. The annual profits resulting to a person from a scutch mill, on which he had expended 2007., might be in some instances not 51., in some instances 601. or 801. to 1201. per annum. If the greater annual profit were certain, it might be sufficient encouragement to induce the erection of scutch mills without any assistance from the Linen Board. There were a few other mills than the Board's erected on the improved plan. When the Board made those grants, they always called in the aid of an officer, locally acquainted with the district, in order to determine how far the preference of one grant to another would contri.

Linen Board, unknown to the weavers in the north of Ireland, which might be of the greatest advantage to the diaper and damask trade.

Mr. JAMES TWIGG examined. He resided in Dublin, and was a factor in the Linen Hall. His situation gave him an opportunity of corresponding with the various people in all parts of Ireland who were concerned in the linen trade. He took consignments of linen. There was considerable consignment of yarn from the country parts of Ireland to Dublin; but he was not at all in that trade. Generally, he knew the regulations to which the Irish yarn was subjected at the different markets. He served his time in the north of Ireland, near Armagh, at a bleach-mill there. Before he

came to settle in Dublin as a factor, he pur- he thought we must get in foreign and millchased linen for the people he served his time spun yarn and foreign flax. Flax was generally with, which gave him an opportunity of attend-grown upon land that wheat might be grown ing the different markets in the counties of upon. He considered that it would be wise to Armagh, Tyrone, and Monaghan; sometimes introduce foreign yarn, without the imposition Derry and Cavan, but very seldom. Foreign of duty, quite free. In explanation of his linen yarn imported into Ireland could not be opinion, that the price of flax would be regusold. In answer to the question, "If he were lated by the price of wheat, he observed, that sufficiently acquainted with the manufacture of the land that flax was grown on would grow linen cloth in Ireland, to tell the Committee wheat, generally speaking. His opinion, therewhether it would be advantageous to the fore, was, that if the system of law contributed weavers to have an opportunity of using foreign to raise the price of wheat higher than it natulinen yarn in their manufacture ?" he said he rally would be, if there was no law to restrain had no hesitation in giving as his opinion, that importation, the effect of raising the price of they should have an opportunity of getting wheat must be always to raise the price of flax. foreign yarn and English mill-spun yarn, to Whatever cause raised the price in so very purchase, whichever they found was the cheapest. general an article as wheat, must, in his The advantages the linen weaver would derive opinion, raise it in all the other articles grown from that, would be to give him an option of upon the soil. In his opinion, it would contrithe cheapest yarn; there were now consider-bute to the extension of the cultivation of flax able quantities of cloth made of mill-spun yarn, wefted with Irish or foreign yarn. That millspun yarn was spun in Yorkshire and in Dundee; a great deal of fine mill-spun yarn was made in Leeds, some of which was imported into Ireland; but that for sale, clandestinely. He could not form any opinion as to the extent to which the English mill-spun yarn was made use of in Ireland; it must be very trifling, on account of the difficulties in the way of bringing it. But as he understood, whatever was made use of, was so clandestinely. The superiority of the mill-spun yarn over the Irish manufactured yarn he considered to be for particular manufactures; for strong duck cloth and dowlas. The particulars in which he considered that the British mill-spun yarn was superior to the Irish hand-spun yarn were, that it was of a heavier quality, and suitable for making heavier kinds of cloths, such as dowlas cloths and sheetings; some of the fine millspun yarn was used for damask cloths. He had never seen any of it, therefore, what he had stated was second-hand information, certainly. The greatest number of hanks to the pound he had heard of mill-spun yarn being brought in, was fifty cut yarn; but there was a gentleman coming from Ireland that could inform the Committee very particularly upon that subject. He was in the habit of daily intercourse with the manufacturing part of the trade throughout the kingdom, north, west, and south. He manufactures; also foreign yarn was better thought it absolutely necessary to the interests of the trade to admit foreign linen yarn and British mill-spun yarn into Ireland. His reasons were, that it was cheaper, and suitable to particular manufactures; and he thought it very doubtful whether we could spin so cheap as they could on the continent: our flax must always bear a comparative value with wheat; it was sown upon the same description of land, and so long as wheat was kept up by the present regulations, so long must flax be grown upon dearer ground; and if the trade were to extend,

in Ireland, and to the affording flaxen yarn to the linen trade at a cheaper rate, if the cornlaws were repealed. Although he looked on the corn-laws as most beneficial to Ireland, the doing them away would facilitate the grow→ ing of flax, and make it cheaper. He served his time in Tyrone; and having been in the habit of attending the markets in most of the counties in the north of Ireland, he had seen, of course, as a casual observer, the crops usually adopted in those counties. The county of Tyrone he did not consider at all a wheat county. Derry he had not so much knowledge of. He did not believe he ever was in Donegal ; but the county of Armagh had, within his recollection, increased in the growth of wheat considerably. Antrim had always grown wheat considerably, about Killiad; although it grew barley, oats, and flax. When he said he considered it necessary that facility to the introduction of foreign yarn should be given, he meant all kinds of yarn, as they might happen to be cheaper abroad, which varied at different times; and as in England and Scotland they had an opportunity of making that selection, so he said the Irish manufacturer should have the same opportunity of selection, wherever he could get yarn cheapest and suitable to his purposes. Under the present circumstances in which the Scotch and English spun yarn, they had a decided advantage over the Irish

sorted. He understood the people who imported it, whether they were agents or importers of it he could not tell, gave long credits to people that they found worthy of it; that facilitated the introduction of it very much. There were some kinds of foreign yarn which were dearer at present than Irish yarn, and some cheaper. He thought the statement that foreign yarn had at any time been cheaper than Irish, as much as twenty-five per cent, was an erroneous statement; but it might be in some particular kind for a short time. Some particular branches

of the coarse trade had decreased materially; | to have the hall or the store subject to the visits the sheeting trade, and the heavy trade almost of the inspector. Of inspection by the officers, of all kinds, such as dowlas, huckabacks, towel- of the yarn that had been purchased in the ings, and coarse damasks and diapers. The market, there was one memorable instance by a trade in similar articles was increasing in seizure in a linen hall about six or seven years England and Scotland. It was his opinion, ago, when a large quantity was condemned. that if the laws were left as they were with To the fact, of whether or not it was, in the respect to yarn, the coarse linen trade would country parts of Ireland, the practice or the decrease, for these reasons: that the English habit of the public officers to follow the yarn and Scotch manufacturer had an opportunity of into the merchants' warehouses after it had importing either our yarn or the foreign yarn; been purchased by them in the market, he and his system was, in his, (the witness's) could not speak, but he never heard that it was, opinion, a great deal better. He meant his except at the time that the seizure was made in system of manufacture, and his system of the linen hall in Dublin. He thought the having a large manufactory was, for many examination of the yarn that the various spinreasons, he thought best. He meant the Scotch ners brought into the market, necessary to system of giving out yarn and employing secure to the purchaser a fair article. So weavers was better than the Irish system of far from knowing, that that inspection taking leaving the weavers to buy their own yarn, and place in open market was not followed by any of making the cloth at their own houses; and examination afterwards when that yarn so purfor this reason, that the large manufacturer had chased in market went into the store of the by him such a quantity of yarn as that he could merchant, he knew of no such thing; for the so sort and match it that it would make the inspector might, according to the laws, go and cloth that was intended properly, from begin- examine it, and seize it, if found irregular; the ning to end all alike : any person conversant | law, he thought, stated so. The law allowed an inwith the Irish linen trade, in the coarser kinds, would at once see how very variable the Irish manufacture was. If, therefore, the weaver had the advantage of purchasing the yarn regularly and accurately sorted for him, he would thereby derive a benefit. The weaver in Ireland was not obliged to collect his yarn together by going to different markets; but there were very poor women who brought but a hank or two to market, and there were some very poor weavers who purchased them, on account of getting those small quantities of yarn cheaper. That produced uneven bad cloth. He must remark here, that that was only applicable to the coarse trade; with respect to the fine trade in the counties of Antrim and Derry, he knew no manufacturers that could surpass them in judg-was subject to inspection in foreign countries. ment. When asked “ in what way he would propose to supply the Irish weaver with the means of obtaining yarn better," he answered that he knew no statutory regulation that would do it; he thought the best means would be to introduce foreign yarn that was better sorted than ours. The way in which he would propose to remove the difficulties that at present existed in using foreign yarn, was to allow it to be sold by the pound or bundle, as it was imported. The present regulations on selling Irish yarn ought to be modified; yarn that was exposed in public market by numerous people, ought to be subject to inspection and regulation; for it was quite necessary to the manufacturer to have some general rule by which he might know the quantity of yarn, or the length of the thread that was in the particular thing that he was buying; but, on the other hand, he thought the inspection might cease after the yarn got into warehouses or halls; there, he thought, it was vexatious and injurious in a great degree,

spector to search the premises for yarn on suspi cion. With regard to the question how, if foreign yarn were to be introduced, and the Irish linen regulations, with regard to the sale of yarn, were to be continued, he would provide so that the two sorts of yarn might be distinguished; he thought, according to the regulation he had in some measure stated, that only yarn exposed in public and open market should be subject to inspection, but that the warehouses and the hall should not: he did not know how the foreign yarn could be subject to inspection in open market, for in itself it was not regular, according to their own scale of winding; the foreigners having a different reel and count to ours. He had heard that foreign linen yarn

Foreign linen yarn was hand-spun. He had never heard of any such thing as mill-spun foreign yarn. He thought that, in consequence of the foreign yarn not being regularly made up, as to reel and count, it must be sold by the pound, which would be a sufficient protection to the purchaser. He understood that all English and Scotch yarn was now sold by the pound. It was sold in bundles of twenty hanks; the person knew by the weight of the bundle the fineness of the thread. He could not himself see any objection to introduce the same rule of sale into Ireland for Irish yarn; but the yarn dealers should know better than he Certainly the Scotch linen manufacturers had also an advantage, in consequence of their system of carrying on the manufacture, in being able to introduce improvements more quickly than the manufacturers could in Ireland. An intelligent man, who had large property, who could go about and could learn what was going on in the way of machinery, had a great advau

tage over a poor manufacturer that was hardly | duty upon the importation: he understood that able to buy a wheel, a loom, or a reel. He had the distinction was, that you might import it not seen the fly-shuttle in use in England or for your own use; but if you offered it for sale, Scotland generally; but he knew that very it was then liable to seizure. It might be imstrong linens had been wove with it, and with ported, under a general law, into Ireland, and great advantage. It was not used in Ireland could not be seized, unless you took it into the by the lower orders at all, except for a kind of market for sale. Therefore, in point of fact, light cloth; it was used for three-quarter the difficulty that arose in the way of using widths. The observations and the evidence foreign yarn in Ireland did not consist in the that he had been hitherto giving to the Com- general law of the land in any way prohibiting mittee were applicable to the coarse linen the importation of foreign yarn, but altogether in trade. He had not had, in the course of his the Irish act of parliament for regulating the evidence, in contemplation any manufacture of sale of yarn, and declaring that no yarn be exlinen above 1s. 3d. a yard; from that down-posed for sale, but agreeable to a particular reel wards. The effect which he thought it would and count. That law did not say that no foreign have upon the spinners of the country, if the yarn shall be imported into Ireland; you might foreign linen yarn were freely admitted into import it for your own use. A manufacturer Ireland for general use was, that it must be of might import foreign yarn, paying only 1s. a material consequence to them, unless they could cwt., and manufacture that yarn without its spin so as to meet the foreign spinning; it was being liable to seizure. The difficulty, therefore, a very material question indeed; the increased consisted in the importer not being able to bring value given to the flax of Ireland by the hands it into the market for sale. He was not aware of the women in it was a very material thing that the cambric trade in the north of Ireland indeed; the flax, he should think, generally had declined considerably of late years; but it speaking, must be doubled in value by the was a branch of the trade he would not take spinners. It might be that the free admis- upon himself to speak of; he had more knowsion of foreign yarn, throughout those parts ledge of the coarse trade. He had heard of four of Ireland with which he was acquainted, or five establishments in Ireland for spinning would cause very general dissatisfaction among yarn; Mr. Crossthwaite had one at Lucan near that class of people; but the question came Dublin. The Irish mills were capable of spinto this, if we could not compete with the ning yarn finer than they attempted, because people who had an advantage over us, we must when they attempted any thing beyond certain either get the same advantage, or quit the fineness, it became a great deal too high for manufacture; and if the Scotchman or English- common manufacture. They spun now that man could get the yarn cheaper, the Irish spin- which would make dowlas, thirty inches wide, ner would not be called upon for spinning at all. worth 11d. and 1s.: it was possible to spin yarn He was aware that that manufacture of from a great deal higher, to make it useful for some lád. a yard downwards, manufactured in Eng-particular purposes. What existed, in point of land and Scotland from foreign linen yarn, fact, in Ireland at present, was mill-spun yarn, drew a bounty upon export. When asked, "If suited for dowlas and what was called Russian the effect of permitting foreign linen yarn to ducks, and that kind of sheeting, worth 15d. or come free into Ireland, to be made use of in the 16d. a yard. There were but a few of those manufactures there, would not be to give it an mills. He had not seen the yarn turned out advantage over home-spun linen yarn, to the from those mills, so as to have an opportunity extent of the bounty received upon going out of of comparing it with similar grist yarn of foreign the country?" he answered, that as soon as the importation; and his information was not that two yarns came together, they were upon the of a person of knowledge; he had not sufficient same footing. He had strong hopes that if the knowledge of the yarn trade to give an opinion foreign yarn was admitted freely into Ireland, as to the exact comparative merits. He did the Irish spinners would be brought to equal not think the introduction of foreign linen yarn that yarn. It was quite possible for the people would materially interfere to lessen the quanin Ireland to grow flax to spin as good yarn as any tity of home-spun yarn; in some instances it foreign yarn he ever saw. Nor did he think it would use up some of ours; and they might imwould in the mean time have the effect of throw-port English mill-spun yarn and use Irish wefts ing a great many of those spinners out of employ- to it. The warp was the most important part ment; the difference of price was not sufficient to create such a concussion as that. By act of parliament, foreign yarn was subject to seizure as soon as it came to Ireland, and was offered for sale. He believed that the act of parliament that allowed foreign yarn to come into the united kingdom, did not make any distinction between England and Scotland and Ireland, in regard to duty; 1s. a hundred weight was the

of the web. The best description of yarn was required for the warp. The warp might be of foreign spun yarn, and the Irish yarn might be made use of for the weft. The effect of allowing foreign yarn to come in and to be used in that way, with Irish yarn, would, he thought, be, to encourage and increase the manufacture of Irish yarn; and to increase the manufacture of the coarse cloth he had been speaking of.

the present duty on it, higher than what was on undressed flax, were done away, he understood the importation would principally continue in undressed flax. He understood that foreign dressed flax was a better prepared article than Irish dressed flax. The opportunity of getting it, he thought, ought to be given. He conceived that the state of the law which allowed foreign undressed flax to come in free, and foreign yarn to come in free, was such as to give a premium upon foreign spinning; on account of the operation of the bounty on the export of linen. The foreign yarn was wove into cloth, and bounty received upon it, upon exportation to foreign countries. He did not apprehend that the importation of foreign-dressed flax would be injurious, to any particular extent, in diminishing the demand for labour in Ireland for preparing the materials of the linen manufacture. He thought it would be found, that the flax would be imported undressed; he did not think it would make any alteration in the spinning. He thought the people would wish to dress it to the

He did not think it would have an injurious effect upon those establishments which he had named, the spinning mills. Suppose a manufactory, a new establishment, was about to be formed for spinning upon an extensive scale, he did not think it would discourage the persons from undertaking such an establishment. He much doubted if there would not be the same quantity of flax grown in the country if the foreign import was free. If foreign yarn was allowed to be used in Ireland, it might lead to a competition between the Irish yarn and foreign yarn, which might contribute to improve very considerably the Irish yarn. He had always understood that Irish flax was ill dressed, worse dressed than the foreign. If the foreign yarn was to obtain, in the first instance, an advantage over the Irish yarn, and to contribute to drive the Irish yarn out of the market, the Irish yarn, would, he thought, recover its ground by their taking more pains in dressing the flax. He did not apprehend any reduction of the spinning business of Ireland, worth speaking of, in consequence; and if it should happen to be so, he ex-state that they wanted themselves, for the purposes pected it would recover again; but he did expect intended; the mill-spinners, he believed, would an increase of the manufacture of cloth by an import it undressed. He was of opinion, that opportunity of free importation of foreign yarn. foreign flax was better dressed than home flax, He knew little of the counties of Ireland that in consequence of the information he had reyarn came from. He knew that, universally in ceived from people who had been dealers in the the province of Ulster, yarn was grown in every article, and who had seen it. He was, from county. He was aware that, in the province of his experience of Ireland, aware that to a very Connaught, the counties of Mayo, Galway, and considerable extent the culture of the different Sligo were great yarn counties. He was aware patches of flax belonging to each of the farms that the yarn was spun in almost every cabin in in the country was chiefly depended upon by those counties. There was no other mode by the tenantry for the payment of their rent: which those spinners had an opportunity of sell- that was pretty universally the case in the flax ing the produce of their wheels than by attend- counties. The rents, he understood, were in the ing the different yarn markets. He appre- north of Ireland more regularly and better hended it would not be practicable, from the paid where the linen trade existed; which he extended manner in which the trade of spinning attributed to the linen manufacture, and the was carried on, that it could be expected that industry of the people. He did not attribute those who wished to purchase yarn should go the better payment of rents in the north of round to the cabins of the different people, to Ireland to the exclusion of foreign-dressed flax. look at what they had for sale, and buy it up. When asked, if, as he had said, foreign-dressed From the very great extent to which the spin- flax would not be very much resorted to, even ning of yarn had gone, he considered that if the duty were taken off, it would be desirable regulations in the open market, where it was to produce that anxiety that would necessarily brought for sale, were essentially necessary. be created, if those connected with the growth The weaver could inspect the yarn for himself; of flax were to understand that the legislature the merchant had not time: but the object of an passed a law to enable them to be rivalled in inspector in those markets where yarn was the growth of that article? he answered, that he offered for public sale was, that no yarn should thought that that rivalry should be given, and be brought there but what was agreeable to the the opportunity of importing dressed flax should general rule; that every person in Ireland be given, the same as undressed flax. Certainly might know what he was getting. A woman the weavers paid their rent out of their earnspinner might earn by the day, by her wheel, ings; the land was in many places not worth from 2d. to 3d. A considerable proportion of the the rent, and the rent was paid out of the labour Irish spun linen yarn was exported to Great upon the cloth. The produce of the land in Britain; but there was considerably more fo- general would not pay the rent; and therefore, reign imported into England. The ports from it must be paid out of the labour of the manu. whence it principally went were Dublin, Drog-facturer. He thought there was a higher rent heda, and he believed Derry. His opinion with paid for land in the north, by the weavers, regard to the expediency of allowing the free than was justified by the actual value of the importation of foreign-dressed flax was, that if land, according to the produce of it.

He

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