The Sun.
London, England, 1809-08-09 00:00:00

tEIVES'TP9OL FAIR.

, .
Otir wool fair, held on the 26th lilt. was fully at-
tended : at dinner, several rooms were full of eom-
, pany, and acrOn.aiter they had dined, they assembled
in the principahoom.. Lord Sheffield, who always
presides, -then rose, and "I have colleCted,
from a very extensive' correspondence, a statement
; respeeling the manufatture and prices of wool,
which I conceive it may be proper to communi-
cate to the meeting. It well known, that 'Since
I .had the pleasUre of meeting you laSt year, there
has been great variation in the price of wool:
Previously to that meeting, in consequence of the
distrust which arose in respect to the American.
- States, and the' disordered state- of. the Continent,
our mantila&urers suffered a depression, more con-
siderable than - at any former period. of the war ;
and, assisted by much misrepresentation; the price
of wool was kept' down.; but, towards winter, the
price rose rapidly, and afterwards, to an extent
never experienced: before. I stated, at oar fast
wool fair, and in confident terms; that that would
be:the Case, and it was not difficplt to foresee it;
and I particularly represented .that there was no
• foundation for the supposition thSt the -manufac-
ture, of the finest wools (now principally under our
consideration) were eSsentially prejudiced by the
War, as the sale depends almost entirely on, the
home market, and, comparatively, very little'on the
export to the continent of Europe ; and h wish to
bring to your recollection, that the home :demand
.is .the great support of all ode manulattures,
Little argument can be deduced trop the extrava-
gant prices.of wool, during the greater part of last
winter and spring. - It was evidently occasioned -by
wool-dealers,. speculating on the scanty supply of
Spanish wool, and on the article being in few hands;
however, it is certain, that the value of woelais,mpch
higher than it has been of late years. • In respect to
our. woollen trade in general, there is.no &net that
it will be very considerably better than' it was- lest
year. The American Non-Importation Ad is at
an end ; several channels are found for our manu-
factures"; and whatever was deficient in the demand
for them- in preceding years, •will be amply com-
pensated by the futUre demand; for -they must be
• had somew here; and the manufa&ures of the Con-
tinent are certainly greatly reduced and prejudiced
by revolution and war. The principal apprehen-
sion is, whether our manufaCturers will- be, enabled
to procure an adequate supply of the raw material ?
Whatever check or decline takes place in the excel-
leist manufa&ures of tine wool, in the West of Eng-
land, does not arise entirely from the scarcity and
' high price of Spanish wool, but partly from the high
Wages, which are likely'to transfer the manufacture
to the less luxurious manufa&urers of Yorkshire.—
It has been generally Sapposea, that the- manufac-
tdres of woollens, in the West-Riding, have been
greatly hurt by the•war ; and especially, last year by
the impolitic measures of the American States, which
were "infinitely more injurious to themselves than •
they could possibly be to us ; but it appears that the
manufacture of broad and narrow cloths, (the only
branch of the traded* which a .precise knowledge
can be obtained), last year, amounted to (~,,309,007
yards of narrow, and . 9,050,970 yards of broad,
-very little less than an average of the ten preceding
years, which include several years of the greatest
export. And, it should be observed, that, net-
withstanding all the declamation we have heard on
the ruin
,of our trade, the decline in the export of
woollens, of all sorts, in the last year, compared 'with-
the preceding year, is only 5 19,2821. official value..
'Last-year, importation of wool from Spain was only
1,96 t ,7501b5. and the importation, including all parts
only 2,353,7251b5. The preceding') ear, there was
an extraordinary import of Spanish wool ; every
bale was dispatched from that country, in conse-
quence of the impending ruin apprehended irons the
invasion of Buonaparte ; and the aggregate import;
into Great Britain amounted to 1 1,760,0001b5. much
more than an average importation. But, the average
of the great and small importations in 1807 and
1808, is nearly equal to the average of the seven
years preceding, 1807, viz. 7,684,5471 W. If,
therefore, the importation this year should not
exceed the import of last year, the deficiency,
5,330,'8221b5. must be made up of the fine English
wools. And, considering the state of Spain, Portu-
gal, Saxony, and all countries from which we re;
ceive wool, the importation this year will surely be
still less than last year. Very much less than usual,
a's appears from the Custom-House entries, has been
yet received this year. The supply must be very
scanty, as the provinces from whence comes the
great mass of the Spanish export of wool, and the
principal ports, (Bilboa, &c.). from whence it was
exported, are now in the hands of the French ; - and;
even if they were not, all that part of Spain, espe-
cielly; is in such a ruinous state, that the quantity
of wool clipped this year must be greatly diminish-.
ell; and as to a-- supply from Saxony, none can be
expeeled. The increased demand, therefore, for
our trinufaatures„ added to the very scanty supply
of Spanish wool, must considerably raise the intrin-
sic value of our fine wools, which, it is well known
are very greatly improved within a few years ; and.
•the coat which I now wear shows that South Down
wool may be used as a very good substitute for Spa-
nish ; its appearance is equally good. I have cor-
responded with every partplErigland, where there
are considerable fairs for wool. At Hereford fair,
Ist July., Itaeland wool sold at 3s. 41d. and was sup-
posed to be uudei sold ; my correspOndeut observing
that his wool had been valued at 6s: 6d. by a man
in the trade; but it should be remarked, that the,
.Herefordshire wools are triuded, and cleansed irons
some of their impurities. It is added, that the sel-
lers, pleased with prices higher than usual, had sold
under the real' value. MY. George Wilbrahate• has ,
this year sold his Delamere Forest wool for es. 4d.
Some had been sold,as high as Ss. 6d. arid one in-
stance as high as 3s. 64d. There are parts in the Dea
lamere Forest fleeces finer than the South Down ;
but the latter are more even, so that little difference
is made in the price.. Mr. Coke, of Norfolk, who
is well known to you all, as the distinguished.
friend-.of the agriculture and ' trade .of the coun-
try, in his account of Thetford fair, on the
15th el July, says, that there., was great at-
tendance of growers, but little.. or no business
done ; that 2s. aid. ,Was generally offered for the
Down wool; that some was, sold at, 2s. 14:4d. and

tlAal there was' no d .übt that' 3.5. will be generally
iiven for the: best. I have since learned, that a
considerable quantity of South Down was afterwards
sold at that price. Letters trona Suffolk mention that
Jets than; sus. per tod-,of 28:bs, whichls about 2s.
I aid. per lb. for South Dowd. wool, has been re-
fused. Mr. Western, of Essex, who is also well
known to many of you as a most competent judge,
and perfectly well informed, says, that no busi-
ness. was done at the Colchester fair, 17th July e
that one lot of a milling quaility has been sold for
2s'; 6d: but that the growers of the best wools
will hot' take less' than 41. per tod of 281bs: or
2s. lOid. per lb. Mr. Western sold last
year, in Irelancl,•at 3s. and his lambs'_ wool at ls.gd..
His factor says it will sell thr. 3s. 6d. this ye:ie.—,
Evea the common wo,l, -in the Weald of Sussex,
has been sold at 2s. 6d. and Mr. Collins; 'of 'Breech-
ley, Kent, has refused the same price for his wool,
a mixture of Rotnney Marsh and South 'Down ;
and I know several instances, in this county and
out of it, where3s. for South-Down hav:e 'been re-
fused,. :I„lia.ve not so detailed an account of Mr..
Tollett's wool, 'as.usuela , but I Iwo from him that
he has sold to the same persons ;who, have bought
. his wool for several:years, 848 fleeces, of which 120
were pure Merino, arid the remainder ,mixect Me:-•
rino, for 2731:. I os, which is eus. .Bd.. per fleece ; I
have exerted the fullest inquiry, to obtain a correct
opinion of the value of wool this year; and alter a
doe examination' of a very extensive correspan-
deuce; the opinion 'I collect froM it- is, that 3s.
appear to be n'fair price for our fineSt wools, and
so propottiouately for wools of inferior quality ;
and I think it sufficient, because it is equal
to 45.. whets ashed and brought to
,the state. of
Spanish. We 'should .not appreciate our wool, by
the,very..!aorittaCted extent of the supply this year,
but rather restrict onrselves to its intrinsic value.
That value, :I do not hesitate to say, the grower of
fine wool has scarcely ever yet obtaincl. Hitherto,
it has been a depreciated-comModity; it has seldom.
foond an open market; and the woolstaplers have
never evinced a proper degree of discrianinerion, in
respect to quality. But, an advanced price has
promoted, and will always secure, a greater degree
of care and attention to the quality of the neeee,‘
lather than to the quantity ; and unless we can 66
tain a b'etter price than heretofore, the Weight of the
fleece' will be the principal object of the grower.—
This, is a crisis in_ the wool -trade of Britain ; acid
by not exacting exorbitant prices, t4e.: manufactu-,
rers, will be induced to use British fine wools in the'
place of Spanish. If the present ,extravagant'PriCe
of- Spanish wool should induce the manufacturers
' to encourage, by advanced prices, the growth apd
manufacture of British fine wools, the prejudices.
,of the country in favour of Spanish wool world be
• ,soon done away, and we would become indepeit=
.dent of other- countries for the. materials of our.
staple manufacture, and save nearly three millions
sterling to' thiS country; for nothing is more Clear-
ly demonstrated, than that wool may be raised
in Englan; equal in quality to any that is.iin-
,
ported." •.
The candour of this statement seemed to be aC•
kadvvledgedfroin all parts of the room. Neverthe-
less some of the buyers repeated the usual common
place obServations on the cliffichlties under which
the trade laboured, and whiCh were greatly exag-
gerated, even if
_.applied to the state of it many
months ago, but by no means corresponded with the
present state of the trade. Indeed, they applied-so
little to the statement which had. been made, that,
Lord Sheffield observed, in answer, "read the re-
port again;" but some of them continued their vague
assertions; that all the ,warehouses in the kingdom
were full of goods, that there :was no demand of
market for our Manufactures, and that it was rust
colons to suppose that any man would pay such an
extravagant price as three shillings per lb. Lord Shef-
field. replied, that the statement be had made was
supported by authentic documents, Custom-)'rouse
returns, and letters from. the most respeelable per,
sons in all parts of the kingdom, where the neces-
sary. and best information could be had.. That ex-
pectation being very high in respell to price, he had
mentioned 3s. which he knew had been refused by
several, as a maximum for the finest .wool; and that
he knew that price had been given in several parts
of England, for inferior wood ; and that he by no
means meant to guide the opinion in respeCt to wool
of inferior quality; It has seldomhappened that
.much businessas been done on the day of the fair ;
however, towards night, the buyers and sellers had
much conversation together; the owners of the
finest, wools insisted on 51. per tod of 321bs. or 3s. t d.
per lb. and there was little doubt of their obtaining
at least 3s. per lb. A considerable quantity Of the
inferior wools was sold at- 25. 6d.
Lord Sheffield mentioned' that his tailor, who is
also his woollen draper, and whose interest it was not
to over-rate the quality, had valued the cloth of the
coat he then 'wot, as worth 28s. per yard.
The manufalure of the cloth, even at .the peseta hi;4ll
prices; amounted to 6s. lld. per yard.
The wool. at 3s. per lb.
.7, o