230 ENGLAND [COTTON MANUFACTURE. imber gaged minin era " laud and Durham, and the next largest, 33, ui South Wales. Miners. In the census returns of 1S71 there wer 376,783 persons distinguished as " miners," the numbe comprising 371,105 males and 5678 females. At th preceding census of 1861 there were 330,446 person "* enumerated as " miners," of whom 330,352 were males anc only 94 females. Thus there was a total increase of 46,337 persons so designated, comprising 40,753 males and 558^ females, in the ten years from 1861 to 1871. There wer besides enumerated as " workers in stone and clay/ 152,673 at the census of 1871, comprising 149,567 males and 3106 females. At the census of 1861 the total num ber of persons so classified was 144,773, so that there wai an increase of 7900 persons in the decennial period. V, Textile Manufactures. 1 Fisheries. gin of There were two agencies, one moral and the other material that gained for England its comparatively modern superior uufac- i fcv i n manufactures. Long after textile and other industries had been flourishing in the leading states of the Continent, the Netherlands, Flanders, and France, England remained a purely agricultural and pastoral country, content to export her riches in wool, and to import them again, greatly enhanced in value, as clothing. Thus it remained till religious persecution drove the flower of the industrial population of the West of Europe away from the homes of their birth ; and, happy to find an asylum here, they liberally repaid English hospitality by establishing their own arts in the country, and teaching them to the inhabitants. Thus religious liberty formed the noble foundation of England s industrial greatness. Then came the material agent, machinery propelled by steam. The invention of the steam engine, following quickly upon that of the carding machine, the spinning jenny, and other ingenious machinery employed in textile manufactures, gave an extraordinary impulse to their development, and, with them, that of kindred branches of industry. At the basis of all of them was England s wealth in coal.
- n- Cotton Manufacture. That England, not possessing
s / or the raw material, became the seat of the cotton manu- ni " s facture, was owing, in the first instance, to the ingenuity U of her inventors of machinery. Established as early as the beginning of the 17th century at Manchester, the cotton manufacture made no progress for a long time, and generation after generation clothed themselves in cotton goods spun by Dutch and German weavers. It was not till the latter part of the 18th century, when a series of inventions, unparalleled in the annals of industry, followed each other in quick succession, that the cotton manufacture took real root in the country, gradually eclipsing that of other European nations. But though the superior excellence of their machinery enabled Englishmen to start in the race of competition, it was the discovery of the new motive power, drawn from coal, which made them win the race. In 1815 the total quantity of raw cotton imported into the United Kingdom was not more than 99 millions of pounds, which amount had increased to 152 millions of pounds in 1820, and rose further to 229 millions in 1825, so that there was considerably more than a doubling of the im ports in ten years. In 1830 the imports of raw cotton had further risen to 264 millions of pounds, in 1835 to 364 millions, and in 1840 to 592 millions of pounds. The following table shows the progress, with fluctuations, of the cotton trade, in the annual imports, the exports, and the excess of imports of raw cotton during each, for every fifth year from 1841 to 1876 : 1 See also the separate articles on the different textile manufac tures. >! ta Tears. Total imports of raw Cotton. Total exports of raw Cotton Excess of imports. ft Ib It) 1341 487,992,355 37,673,585 450,318,770 1846 467,856,274 65,930,732 401,925,542 1851 757,379,749 111,980,394 645,399,355 1856 1,023,886,304 146,660,864 877,225,440 1861 1,256,954,736 298,287,920 958,696,816 1866 1,377,514,096 388,981,936 988,532,160 1871 1,778,139,776 362,075,616 1,416,064,160 1876 1,487,858,848 203,305,872 1,284,552,976 There were 2655 cotton factories in the United Kingdom Numl at the end of 1874. They had 41,881,789 spindles and of 463,118 power-looms, and gave employment to 479,515 ottor persons, of whom 187,620 were males and 291,895 females. The following statement gives the number of cotton factories in England there are none in Wales distinguishing those devoted to spinning and to weaving, and the total including those both spinning and weaving, and all others at various periods, from 1850 to 1874 : Number of Factories. Total number Spinning. Weaving. Factories. 1850 762 229 1,753 1856 910 419 2,046 1861 1,079 722 2,715 1868 1,041 632 2,405 1870 1,085 649 2,371 1874 1,172 600 2,542 The following table shows the number of spindles used Numl in the cotton factories of England, distinguishing those for of spinning and for doubling the total including all others s P iudl at various annual periods from 1850 to 1874 : Number of Spindles. Total Number 01 Spindles. Spinning. Doubling. 1850 8,685,392 10,055,410 19,173,969 1856 15,260,777 10,557,799 25,818,576 1861 15,077,299 13,274,346 28,351,925 1868 14,827,226 15,651,002 30,478,228 1870 17,302,982 15,309,505 32,613,631 1874 21,449,102 14,585,130 36,034,232 The subjoined table exhibits the number of power-looms Numb, used in the cotton factories of England, both weaving and of pow spinning and weaving, at various annual periods from 1850 loorns - to 1874: Years. Weaving. Spinning and Weaving Total Number of Power Looms. 1850 36,544 184,816 223,626 1856 65,880 209,609 275,590 1861 131,554 235,263 368,125 1868 137,892 206,827 344,719 1870 175,432 235,904 411,336 1874 170,665 260,724 431,389 The following table gives the number of persons, male nd female, employed in the cotton factories of England of it various periods from 1850 to 1874 : workers Tear. Males. Females. Total.* 1S50 131,610 160,052 291, 6i 7 2 1856 148,354 192,816 341,170 1861 173,704 233,894 407,598 1868 152,656 204,396 357,052 1870 171,793 243,177 414,970 1874 180,607 259,729 440..336 in cottoi factories Of the males employed in 1874 there were 33,342 under
hirteeu years of age, and 37, 016 from thirteen to eighteen