On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures

415.  A tax on windows is exposed to objection on the double ground of its excluding air and light, and it is on both accounts injurious to health.  The importance of light to the enjoyment of health is not perhaps sufficiently appreciated:  in the cold and more variable climates, it is of still greater importance than in warmer countries.

416.  The effects of regulations of excise upon our home manufactures are often productive of great inconvenience; and check, materially, the natural progress of improvement.  It is frequently necessary, for the purposes of revenue, to oblige manufacturers to take out a license, and to compel them to work according to certain rules, and to make certain stated quantities at each operation.  When these quantities are large, as in general they are, they deter manufacturers from making experiments, and thus impede improvements both in the mode of conducting the processes and in the introduction of new materials.  Difficulties of this nature have occurred in experimenting upon glass for optical purposes; but in this case, permission has been obtained by fit persons to make experiments, without the interference of the excise.  It ought, however, to be remembered, that such permission, if frequently or indiscriminately granted, might be abused:  the greatest protection against such an abuse will be found, in bringing the force of public opinion to bear upon scientific men and thus enabling the proper authorities, although themselves but moderately conversant with science, to judge of the propriety of the permission, from the public character of the applicant.

417.  From the evidence given, in 1808, before the Committee of the House of Commons, On Distillation from Sugar and Molasses, it appeared that, by a different mode of working from that prescribed by the Excise, the spirits from a given weight of corn, which then produced eighteen gallons, might easily have been increased to twenty gallons.  Nothing more is required for this purpose, than to make what is called the wash weaker, the consequence of which is, that fermentation goes on to a greater extent.  It was stated, however, that such a deviation would render the collection of the duty liable to great difficulties; and that it would not benefit the distiller much, since his price was enhanced to the customer by any increase of expense in the fabrication.  Here then is a case in which a quantity, amounting to one-ninth of the total produce, is actually lost to the country.  A similar effect arises in the coal trade, from the effect of a duty, for, according to the evidence before the House of Commons, it appears that a considerable quantity of the very best coal is actually wasted.  The extent of this waste is very various in different mines; but in some cases it amounts to one-third.

418.  The effects of duties upon the import of foreign manufactures are equally curious.  A singular instance occurred in the United States, where bar-iron was, on its introduction. liable to a duty of 140 per cent ad valorem, whilst hardware was charged at 25 per cent only.  In consequence of this tax, large quantities of malleable iron rails for railroads were imported into America under the denomination of hardware; the difference of 115 per cent in duty more than counter balancing the expense of fashioning the iron into rails prior to its importation.

419.  Duties, drawbacks, and bounties, when considerable in amount, are all liable to objections of a very serious nature, from the frauds to which they give rise.  It has been stated before Committees of the House of Commons, that calicoes made up in the form, and with the appearance of linen, have frequently been exported for the purpose of obtaining the bounty, for calico made up in this way sells only at 1s. 4d. per yard, whereas linen of equal fineness is worth from 2s. 8d. to 2s. 10d. per yard.  It appeared from the evidence, that one house in six months sold five hundred such pieces of calico.

In almost all cases heavy duties, or prohibitions, are ineffective as well as injurious; for unless the articles excluded are of very large dimensions, there constantly arises a price at which they will be clandestinely imported by the smuggler.  The extent, therefore, to which smuggling can be carried, should always be considered in the imposition of new duties, or in the alteration of old ones.  Unfortunately it has been pushed so far, and is so systematically conducted between this country and France, that the price per cent at which most contraband articles can be procured is perfectly well known.  From the evidence of Mr Galloway, it appears that, from 30 to 40 per cent was the rate of insurance on exporting prohibited machinery from England, and that the larger the quantity the less was the percentage demanded.  From evidence given in the Report of the Watch and Clock-makers’ Committee, in 1817, it appears that persons were constantly in the habit of receiving in France watches, lace, silks, and other articles of value easily portable, and delivering them in England at ten per cent on their estimated worth, in which sum the cost of transport and the risk of smuggling were included.

420.  The process employed in manufacturing often depends upon the mode in which a tax is levied on the materials, or on the article produced.  W atch glasses are made in England by workmen who purchase from the glass house globes of five or six inches in diameter, out of which, by means of a piece of red-hot tobacco pipe, guided round a pattern watch glass placed on the globe, they crack five others:  these are afterwards ground and smoothed on the edges.  In the Tyrol the rough watch glasses are supplied at once from the glass house; the workman, applying a thick ring of cold glass to each globe as soon as it is blown, causes a piece, of the size of a watch glass, to be cracked out.  The remaining portion of the globe is immediately broken, and returns to the melting pot.  This process could not be adopted in England with the same economy, because the whole of the glass taken out of the pot is subject to the excise duty.

421.  The objections thus stated as incidental to particular modes of taxation are not raised with a view to the removal of those particular taxes; their fitness or unfitness must be decided by a much wider enquiry, into which it is not the object of this volume to enter.  Taxes are essential for the security both of liberty and property, and the evils which have been mentioned may be the least amongst those which might have been chosen.  It is, however, important that the various effects of every tax should be studied, and that those should be adopted which, upon the whole, are found to give the least check to the productive industry of the country.

422.  In enquiring into the effect produced, or to be apprehended from any particular mode of taxation, it is necessary to examine a little into the interests of the parties who approve of the plan in question, as well as of those who object to it.  Instances have occurred where the persons paying a tax into the hands of government have themselves been adverse to any reduction.  This happened in the case of one class of calico-printers, whose interest really was injured by a removal of the tax on the printing:  they received from the manufacturers, payment for the duty, about two months before they were themselves called on to pay it to government; and the consequence was, that a considerable capital always remained in their hands.  The evidence which states this circumstance is well calculated to promote a reasonable circumspection in such enquiries.

Question.  Do you happen to know anything of an opposition from calicoprinters to the repeal of the tax on printed calicoes?

Answer.  I have certainly heard of such an opposition, and am not surprised at it.  There are very few individuals who are, in fact, interested in the nonrepeal of the tax; there are two classes of calico-printers; one, who print their own cloth, send their goods into the market, and sell them on their own account; they frequently advance the duty to government, and pay it in cash before their goods are sold, but generally before the goods are paid for, being most commonly sold on a credit of six months:  they are of course interested on that account, as well as on others that have been stated, in the repeal of the tax.  The other class of calico-printers print the cloth of other people; they print for hire, and on re-delivery of the cloth when printed, they receive the amount of the duty, which they are not called upon to pay to government sooner, on an average, than nine weeks from the stamping of the goods.  Where the business is carried on upon a large scale, the arrears of duty due to government often amount to eight, or even ten thousand pounds, and furnish a capital with which these gentlemen carry on their business; it is not, therefore, to be wondered at that they should be opposed to the prayer of our petition.

423.  The policy of giving bounties upon home productions, and of enforcing restrictions against those which can be produced more cheaply in other countries, is of a very questionable nature:  and, except for the purpose of introducing a new manufacture, in a country where there is not much commercial or manufacturing spirit, is scarcely to be defended.  All incidental modes of taxing one class of the community, the consumers, to an unknown extent, for the sake of supporting another class, the manufacturers, who would otherwise abandon that mode of employing their capital, are highly objectionable.  One part of the price of any article produced under such circumstances, consists of the expenditure, together with the ordinary profits of capital:  the other part of its price may be looked upon as charity, given to induce the manufacturer to continue an unprofitable use of his capital, in order to give employment to his workmen.  If the sum of what the consumers are thus forced to pay, merely on account of these artificial restrictions, where generally known, its amount would astonish even those who advocate them; and it would be evident to both parties, that the employment of capital in those branches of trade ought to be abandoned.

424.  The restriction of articles produced in a manufactory to certain sizes, is attended with some good effect in an economical view, arising chiefly from the smaller number of different tools required in making them, as well as from less frequent change in the adjustment of those tools.  A similar source of economy is employed in the Navy:  by having ships divided into a certain number of classes, each of which comprises vessels of the same dimensions, the rigging made for one vessel will fit any other of its class; a circumstance which renders the supply of distant stations more easy.

425.  The effects of the removal of a monopoly are often very important, and they were perhaps never more remarkable than in the bobbin net trade, in the years 1824 and 1825.  These effects were, however, considerably enhanced by the general rage for speculation which was so prevalent during that singular period.  One of the patents of Mr Heathcote for a bobbin net machine had just then expired, whilst another, for an improvement in a particular part of such machines, called a turn again, had yet a few years to run.  Many licenses had been granted to use the former patent, which were charged at the rate of about five pounds per annum for each quarter of a yard in width, so that what is termed a six-quarter frame (which makes bobbin net a yard and a half wide) paid thirty pounds a year.  The second patent was ultimately abandoned in August, 1823, infringements of it having taken place.

It was not surprising that, on the removal of the monopoly arising from this patent, a multitude of persons became desirous of embarking in a trade which had hitherto yielded a very large profit.  The bobbin net machine occupies little space; and is, from that circumstance, well adapted for a domestic manufacture.  The machines which already existed, were principally in the hands of the manufacturers; but, a kind of mania for obtaining them seized on persons of all descriptions, who could raise a small capital; and, under its influence, butchers, bakers, small farmers, publicans, gentlemen’s servants, and, in some cases, even clergymen, became anxious to possess bobbin net machines.

Some few machines were rented; but, in most of these cases, the workman purchased the machine he employed, by instalments of from L3 to L6 weekly, for a six quarter machine; and many individuals, unacquainted with the mode of using the machines so purchased, paid others of more experience for instructing them in their use; L50 or L60 being sometimes given for this instruction.  The success of the first speculators induced others to follow the example; and the machine-makers were almost overwhelmed with orders for lace frames.  Such was the desire to procure them, that many persons deposited a large part, or the whole, of the price, in the hands of the frame-makers, in order to insure their having the earliest supply.  This, as might naturally be expected, raised the price of wages amongst the workmen employed in machine-making; and the effect was felt at a considerable distance from Nottingham, which was the centre of this mania.  Smiths not used to flat filing, coming from distant parts, earned from 30s. to 42s. per week.  Finishing smiths, accustomed to the work, gained from L3 to L4 per week..The forging smith, if accustomed to his work, gained from L5 to L6 per week, and some few earned L10 per week.  In making what are technically called insides, those who were best paid, were generally clock- and watchmakers, from all the districts round, who received from L3 to L4 per week.  The setters-up—­persons who put the parts of the machine together—­charged L20 for their assistance; and, a six quarter machine, could be put together in a fortnight or three weeks.

426.  Good workmen, being thus induced to desert less profitable branches of their business, in order to supply this extraordinary demand, the masters, in other trades, soon found their men leaving them, without being aware of the immediate reason:  some of the more intelligent, however, ascertained the cause.  They went from Birmingham to Nottingham, in order to examine into the circumstances which had seduced almost all the journeymen clockmakers from their own workshops; and it was soon apparent, that the men who had been working as clockmakers in Birmingham, at the rate of 25s. a week, could earn L2 by working at lace frame-making in Nottingham.

On examining the nature of this profitable work, the master clockmakers perceived that one part of the bobbin net machines, that which held the bobbins, could easily be made in their own workshops.  They therefore contracted with the machine-makers, who had already more work ordered than they could execute, to supply the bobbin carriers, at a price which enabled them, on their return home, to give such increased wages as were sufficient to retain their own workmen, as well as yield themselves a good profit.  Thus an additional facility was afforded for the construction of these bobbin net machines:  and the conclusion was not difficult to be foreseen.  The immense supply of bobbin net thus poured into the market, speedily reduced its price; this reduction in price, rendered the machines by which the net was made, less valuable; some few of the earliest producers, for a short time, carried on a profitable trade; but multitudes were disappointed, and many ruined.  The low price at which the fabric sold, together with its lightness and beauty, combined to extend the sale; and ultimately, new improvements in the machines, rendered the older ones still less valuable.

427.  The bobbin net trade is, at present, both extensive and increasing; and, as it may, probably, claim a larger portion of public attention at some future time, it will be interesting to describe briefly its actual state.

A lace frame on the most improved principle, at the present day, manufacturing a piece of net two yards wide, when worked night and day, will produce six hundred and twenty racks per week.  A rack is two hundred and forty holes; and as in the machine to which we refer, three racks are equal in length to one yard, it will produce 21,493 square yards of bobbin net annually.  Three men keep this machine constantly working; and, they were paid (by piece-work) about 25s. each per week, in 1830.  Two boys, working only in the day-time, can prepare the bobbins for this machine, and are paid from 2s. to 4s. per week, according to their skill.  Forty-six square yards of this net weigh two pounds three ounces; so that each square yard weighs a little more than three-quarters of an ounce.

428.  For a condensed and general view of the present state of this trade, we shall avail ourselves of a statement by Mr William Felkin, of Nottingham, dated September, 1831, and entitled Facts and Calculations illustrative of the Present State of the Bobbin Net Trade.  It appears to have been collected with care, and contains, in a single sheet of paper, a body of facts of the greatest importance. *

429.  The total capital employed in the factories, for preparing the cotton, in those for weaving the bobbin net, and in various processes to which it is subject, is estimated at above L2,000,000, and the number of persons who receive wages, at above two hundred thousand.

Comparison of the value of the raw material imported, with the value of the goods manufactured therefrom

Amount of Sea Island cotton annually used 1,600,000 lbs., value L120,000; this is manufactured into yarn, weighing 1,000,000 lbs., value L500,000.

There is also used 25,000 lbs. of raw silk, which costs L30,000, and is doubled into 10,000 lbs. thrown, worth L40,000.

Raw Material; Manufacture; Square yards produced; Value per sq. yd.(s. d.); Total value (L)

Cotton 1,600,000; lbs; Power Net; 6,750,000; 1 3; 421,875
                       Hand ditto; 15,750,000; 1 9; 1,378,125
                       Fancy ditto; 150,000; 3 6; 26,250
Silk, 25,000 lbs; Silk Goods; 750,000; 1 9; 65,625

23,400,000; 1,891,875

433.  It is clearly of importance to preserve to each inventor the sole use of his invention, until he shall have been amply repaid for the risk and expense to which he has been exposed, as well as for the talent he has exerted in completing it.  But, the degrees of merit are so various, and the difficulties of legislating upon the subject so great, that it has been found almost impossible to frame a law which shall not, practically, be open to the most serious objections.

The difficulty of defending an English patent in any judicial trial, is very great; and the number of instances on record in which the defence has succeeded, are comparatively few.  This circumstance has induced some manufacturers, no longer to regard a patent as a privilege by which a monopoly price may be secured:  but they sell the patent article at such a price, as will merely produce the ordinary profits of capital; and thus secure to themselves the fabrication of it, because no competitors can derive a profit from invading a patent so exercised.

434.  The law of copyright, is, in some measure, allied to that of patents; and it is curious to observe, that those species of property which require the highest talent, and the greatest cultivation—­which are, more than any other, the pure creations of mind—­should have been the latest to be recognized by the State.  Fortunately, the means of deciding on an infringement of property in regard to a literary production, are not verv difficult; but the present laws are, in some cases, productive of considerable hardship, as well as of impediment to the advancement of knowledge.

435.  Whilst discussing the general expediency of limitations and restrictions, it may be desirable to point out one which seems to promise advantage, though by no means free from grave objections.  The question of permitting by law, the existence of partnerships in which the responsibility of one or more of the partners is limited in amount, is peculiarly important in a manufacturing, as well as a commercial point of view.  In the former light, it appears calculated to aid that division of labour, which we have already proved to be as advantageous in mental as it is in bodily operations; and it might possibly give rise to a more advantageous distribution of talent, and its combinations, than at present exists.  There are in this country, many persons possessed of moderate capital, who do not themselves enjoy the power of invention in the mechanical and chemical arts, but who are tolerable judges of such inventions, and excellent judges of human character.  Such persons might, with great success, employ themselves in finding out inventive workmen, whose want of capital prevents them from realizing their projects.  If they could enter into a limited partnership with persons so circumstanced, they might restrain within proper bounds the imagination of the inventor, and by supplying capital to judicious schemes, render a service to the country, and secure a profit for themselves.

436.  Amongst the restrictions intended for the general benefit of our manufacturers, there existed a few years ago one by which workmen were forbidden to go out of the country.  A law so completely at variance with everv principle of liberty, ought never to have been enacted.  It was not, however, until experience had convinced the legislature of its inefficiency, that it was repealed. * When, after the last war, the renewed intercourse between England and the Continent became extensive, it was soon found that it was impossible to discover the various disguises which the workmen could assume; and the effect of the law was rather, by the fear of punishment, to deter those who had left the country from returning, than to check their disposition to migrate.