70
THE BRITISH EMPIRE : — UNITED KINGDOM
Statistics of cotton factories in the United Kingdom :—
Factories Spindles : Spinning .
Doubling .
Power looms .
f 1890 \ 1903 f 1890 \ 1903 ri890 \ 1903 ri890 \ 1903
England and Wales
2,257
2,399
39,814,303
43,314,641
3,424,907
3,408,945
585,662
665,088
Scotland
Ireland
99
68 639,563 558,471 564,550 540,619 28,093 17,685
7
9
58,068
32,120
3,428
2,860
1,959
847
U.K.
2,363
2,476
40,511,934
43,905,232
3,992.885
3,952,424
615,714
683,620
In Lancashire alone there were in 1912, 58,140,220 spindles, and 758,712 looms.
The following information is furnished hy Mr. Thomas E. Ellison of Liverpool : —
A century ago the value of cotton, woollen, and linen yarns and piece goods produced in Great Britain and Ireland was about 22,000,000? — say woollen 17,000,000Z., linen 4,000,000/., and cotton 1,000,000Z. Of recent years the value has been about 200,000,000?.— say, cotton 120,000,000?., woollen 55,000,000?., and linen 25,000,000?. The total amount of capital emploj^ed is about 250,000,000?., and at least 5,000,000 people — men, women, and children — are dependent upon these industries for their livelihood. Moreover, one-half of the value of British and Irish products exported con- sists of textiles. The progress made by each branch is shown in the sub- joined statement of the weight of raw material used and the value of yarns and goods exported : —
Weight consumed in Millions |
Value of Products exported in
Average Periods
of lbs.
Thousands of £'s
of Three Years
Cotton
Wool
Flax
Total
Cotton
Woollen 4,967
Linen
Total
1829-1831
243-2
149-4
193-8
586-4
18,077
2,138
25,182
1859-1861
1,022-5
260-4
212-0
1,494-9
49,000
15,041
6,119
70,060
1889-1891
1,618-0
564-0
220-0
2,402-0
72,114
24,176
6,377
102,667
1896-1898
1,668-0
624-0
236-0
2,628-0
66,094
22,885
5,697
94,676
1S99-1901
1,679-0
623-0
190-0
2,492-0
70,340
20,898
5,857
97,095
1902-1904
1,585-0
582-0
192-0
2,359-0
76,663
22,066
6,429
105,157
1905-1907
1,941-0
657-0
226-0
2,824-0
100,676
28,253
7,956
136,885
1908-1910
1,750-0
7100
217-0
2,677-0
98,164
29,232
8,234
135,630
1910-1912
2,030-0
785-0
230-0
3,045-0
121,145
34,277
9,373
164,795
The following table gives 'the principal variations in the movements since 1883.
1883
mil. lbs. 1,734 249
1,485 1,498
1888
1898
mil lbs. 2,128 203
1910
mil. lbs. 1,973 256
1,717 1,622
1911
mil. lbs. 2,207 291
1,916 1,963
1912
Cutton. Imported .... Exported ....
mil. lbs. 1,732 271
mil. lbs. 2,806 324
Retained for consumption . Actual consumption .
1,461 1,529
1,925 1,735
2,482 2,097
