"That your petitioners view, with great alarm, the rapid extension of foreign manufactures, and they have in particular to deplore the consequent diminution of a profitable trade with the continent of Europe; to which, notwithstanding the great increase of population since the termination of the war, the exports have actually been less in value during the last five years after the peace; and whilst the demand for all those articles in which the greatest amount of the labour of our artisans is comprised has been constantly diminishing, the exportation of the raw materials has been as rapidly increasing.
"That several nations of the continent not only produce sufficient manufactures for their own consumption, but they successfully compete with us in neutral foreign markets. Amongst other instances that might be given to show the formidable growth of the cotton hosiery of Saxony, of which, owing to its superior cheapness, nearly four times as much is exported as from this country, the Saxons exported annually to the United States of America alone, a quantity equal to the exports from England to all parts of the world; whilst the still more important fact remains to be adduced, that Saxon hose, manufactured from English yarn, after paying a duty of twenty per cent., are beginning to be introduced into this country, and sold for home consumption at lower prices than they can be produced for by our own manufacturers.
"That further proof of the rapid progress in manufacturing industry going on upon the continent is afforded in the fact that establishments for the making of all kinds of machinery for spinning and weaving cotton, flax, and wool, have lately been formed in nearly all the large towns of Europe, in which skilled English artisans are at the present moment diligently employed in teaching the native mechanics to make machines copied from models of the newest inventions of this country; and not a week passes in which individuals of the same class do not quit the workshops of Manchester, Leeds, and Birmingham, to enter upon similar engagements abroad.
"That the superiority we have hitherto possessed in our unrivalled roads and canals is no longer peculiar to this country; railroads to a great extent, and at a less cost than in England, are proceeding in all parts of Europe and the United States of America; whilst, from the want of profitable investments at home, capital is constantly seeking employment in foreign countries, and thus supplying the greatest deficiency under which our rivals previously laboured.
"That, whilst calling the attention of your honourable house to facts calculated to excite the utmost alarm for the well-being of our manufacturing prosperity, your petitioners cannot too earnestly make known that the evils are occasioned by our impolitic and unjust legislation, which, by preventing the British manufacturer from exchanging the