The Sun.
London, England, 1828-07-24 00:00:00

PUBLIC MEETING OF THE SILK TRADE

A public meeting was held yesterday at the Lon-
' don Tavern, for the purpose of appointing a.Com-
mittee of the Silk Trade, with a view to furnish
Government with information relative to the de-
pressed state of the Silk Trade.
At about half-past two o'clock Wm. KAY, Esq.,
was called to the Chair.
The worthy CHAIRMAN then said, that a depu-
tation from the Silk* Trade had waited upon his
Majesty's Ministers expressing a wish that further
information should be afforded them, and in conse-
quence of this the present Meeting was called, for
the purpose of appointing a Committee to collect
the required information. A series of resolutions
Would be proposed for their consideration, upon
which he should be happy to hear the opinions of
the meeting.
The following Resolution was then moved, se-
conded, and agreed to by the meeting:-
Ist, Resolved, That the Silk Trade of the United King-
dom, in all its departments, forms a very important branch
of the industry of the country, both with respect to the 1'
employment which it furnishes to a large proportion of
the labouring classes, and to the very considerable amount
of capital which has been embarked in it.
Mr. WITTS, in proposing the next Resolution,
said that the object of the meeting was to appoint
a Committee to collect such facts as may come to
their knowledge, and for the purpose of communi-
c4ting them to the Government during the next
twelve or eighteen months. It was proposed that
the Committee should constitute a union of all
branches of the Silk Trade, and not merely repre-
sent the interests of a separate branch. This was
the object of the meeting; and, however different
the opinions of persons may be, on this point, he
felt that the interests of all branches were intimately
connected, and that no lasting good could continue
to one branch of trade, while the others were op-
pressed. He believed the meeting would agree
' with him, when lie stated in the words of the Re-
solution, that the provisions of the Act, 1826, in-
tended by his Majesty's Ministers to protect the
different interests of the Silk Trade, at the same
time that they admitted the introduction of foreign
wrought silks upon a rate of duty, estimated at 30
pey cent. had been found from the experience of
two years to subject the trade to great difficul-
ties (indeed, he might say, nearly to destruction),
which have increased in proportion as the foreign
manufacture has found the means of supplying the
British markets, at a reduced price, with a more
abundant production of foreign countries. If Gen-
tlemen coincided with this resolution, they would
lay the foundation for the appointment of a Commit-
ter, and for the inquiry which that Committee pro-
posed to institute. He concluded by moving the
Resolution, the substance of which was embodied in
his speech.
The Resolution► was seconded and agreed to.
Mr. BALLANE, in proposing the third Resolution,
felt gratified that the intention of the meeting was
directed to one point, that of stating facts, rather
than discussing opinions. Facts as regarded the
manufacture itself, and the difficulties which, for
the last two years, the trade and those connect-
ed with it, had experienced. With the reasons
of these difficulties the meeting at present had
nothing to do. And the Resolution now in his
hand was of the same character with the two former

ones. It stated what he thought could not be con-
troverted, that the trade and manufacture of silks,
although in activity, were still suffering under great
depression. The Resolution embraced two points—
the first alluded to the unprecedented consumption
of silk goods in this country; and the second was
as to the state of the British manufacture. He
would, with the leave of the meeting, dispose of the
latter first. The Resolution said that the British
manufacture was becoming less and less active; he
asked whether that were true or false ?—(Cries of it is
true, it is true.)—He asked the manufacturers pre-
sent to compare the activity of their trade in the
Autumn of 1826,—f0r he preferred that period of
the year for the purpose of comparison--with the
condition of the trade in the Autumn of 1827, and
to tell him whether the activity was not greater
in the Autumn of 1826 than in the corre-
sponding months of the last year ? Let them also
compare the condition of the trade this time twelve-
months with its present state, and he was sure that
they would come to the same conclusion, that its
activity was diminished. The next statement of the
resolution was that there was a great depreciation
of the capital embarked in the silk trade. In
deed, he might safely say that the capital was dimi-
nished not less than one-half since the changes
in the system. Upon a rough estimate, the capital
employed amounted to about three millions, and was
it a trifling circumstance, that such a diminution to
such an extent should take place ? He put it to the
manufacturers, whose capital was disposable, whether
that capital yielded, much more than Government
securities on that outlay. The resolution further
stated, that there was a great reduction in wages.
If he were to consider the broad silk weavers of the
metropolis alone, he would say that that reduction
amounted to 25 per cent., and that the reduction in
some parts of the country, as far as regarded throw-
ing, amounted from thirty to forty per cent. (Hear.)
He put it to the meeting, as men of moral feeling,
whether they could extract one-fourth of their wages
from the labouring classes, without subjecting them
to manifest distress ? He put it to them, whether
when they withdrew so large a proportion of the
wages, they did not lay the foundation of moral debase-
ment ? If they disbelieved it, let them go to the attics
of the weavers, and contrast their present state with
what they were three years ago. Then it would be
seen how much the comparison was in favor of their
former condition. This was but the natural conse-
quenee, for when a man after a week's toil finds

that he has not a sufficiency for himself and family,
he becomes reckless, he sees that his industry
avails him not, he cares less for the moral order
of his family, and less for the education of his
children when he found them doomed to be paupers.
--(Hear, hear.)—Many of the labouring classes
were now wholly out of employment. No one could
doubt this, as.it was vouched by the most respectable
authority from. Manchester. Even in this Metropo-
lis a great number of looms were now out of em-
ployment. Although this could not be controverted,
statements were made on the other side, particularly
in the Commons, apparently irreconcileable. IL was
there said that there was au increased importation of
the raw material, and that therefore there must be
increased activity -in the home manufacture. He
would not now enter fully upon this point : feel-
ing satisfied that when the time came, the Com-
mittee would be prepared to meet and to neo-
tralize that argument.—(Applause.)—lf, indeed,
weight was identical, with length, there would
be some force in the arguments derived from
increased importation of the raw material; for it
should be remembered, that a yard of silk, no matter
what its weight be, is still a yard. At all events, it
was evident that the trade was in distress, that capi-
tal was depreciated, and people out of employment,
and this too at a time when silks were greatly
in fashion, and when, in the words of the
Resolution,there was, moreover, an unprecedented
consumption of silk goods. He should, however,
be sorry that any gentleman left the room with the
idea that this Resolution anticipated any thing like
the overwhelming destruction of the Silk Trade.
He, for one, had no such anticipations. The Act
of 1826 was not that tornado which levelled the
stateliest tree with one blast of heaven to the
ground.--(Great applause.)--Nv; it was the
worm at the root, silently and insidiously work- '
ing its destruction.--(llear, hear, hear.)--The
tree would not fall at once, a single branch
would be found withering, whilst another by
its side was shooting out to an unnatural length
and with an unnatural foliage. Still another and
another falls, and in the end all are involved in one
common decay.—(Applause.)--Far be it from him
to anticipate what the proper remedy would be for
this evil, it would be enough for the present purpose
to state that the Silk Trade was entitled to protec-
tion, and that his Majesty's Ministers were desirous

of giving the subject all the attention in their power.
Mr. B. concluded by moving the following Reso-
lution
That although there has continued up to the present
period an unprecedented consumption of silk goods, the na-
tural effect of which would have been to place the silk
manufacture of this country in a state of increased pros-
perity, yet the British silk manufacture is manifestly be-
coming less active. Capital has suffered a great depreciation,
the rate of wages has been greatly reduced, and a considerable
number of artieans are now thrown out of employment.
On the Resolution being put from the chair,
Mr. MOORE begged to express his dissent from
some of the statements contained in it; he denied
that there was an unprecedented consumption of silk
goods, or that there was any want of employment.
(Cries of oh ! oh ! and hear, hear.) He maintained
that there was no such want of employment ; the
silk looms were in fact increasing. (Oh ! oh!) In
many places the manufacturers were converting cot-
ton looms into silk looms. (Cries of " 'tis false,"
and " where, where.")
[A Gentleman in the body of the meeting said
that the silk looms were increasing in Essex.]
Mr. MOORE said that it was equally true with re-
spect to Derby and Manchester. He would appeal
to the Chairman whether there was not an increase
of silk looms ?
The CnAtnntAN—Certainly not.

Mr. MOORE resumed—There might be distress
among the weavers of Spitalfields, but this must be
expected as long as the absurd prejudices which pre-
vailed there lasted.—(Hisses, and cries of hear.)—
He contended that the mere fact of an increased im-

portation of the raw material necessarily proved an
increased activity in the trade. This observation
applied to throwsters. It was clear that if 8,000,000
pounds of raw silk are imported, a greater number
of men must be employed than if two millions only
were imported. He admitted that there had been a
depreciation of capital some time since, from which
he, as well as other mannfacturers, suffered, bat it
was not so at present.--(Oh, oh ! " 'tis false.")--If,
as had been said, wages were reduced twenty-
five per cent., they were still as high as they had
been at former times, when provisions were not
cheaper then they were at present. It was well
known that wages had within the last few years
been raised at least twenty per cent., owing to the
dearness of provisions, but as that cause no longer
existed, it was but fair that wages should come
down to their proper level. The grand grievance,
however, was that the profits of the Silk Trade
were lower than they had been; but if these profits
were lower than the profits of other manufactures,
how came it that persons were investing their
capital in the Silk Trade every day.
A Gentleman. from Manchester said that there
had been a most extensive discharge of hands in
the Silk Trade during the last few months. In
Macclesfield a great number had been discharged,
and many hundred looms were idle. Many factories
were empty, and in others the machinery was only
working for a limited time. In Congleton they
worked only five days in the week, instead of six.
The CHAIRMAN, in reply to one observation of
Mr. Moore's, said that he himself employed 2000
looms less than he had done in May, and he feared
that he should be obliged to carry his reductions
still farther.

Mr. BAKEWELL said, that he had a few observa-
tions to make with respect to the silk weavers,
but he was for some short time unable to get a hear-
ing; when he did, however, obtain a hearing, he
said that great activity had prevailed in the City in
the Silk Trade during the last few days.—(Cries of
no, and laughter, mingled with hisses.)—ln Spital-
fields such an increase had taken place. The Corn.
mittee, he said, was a packed one, to serve particu.
lar purposes. lie would say on the part of the
manufacturers, that if they could get a reduction
of the duty on raw silk, Spitalfields would be
again in activity, even though the duty on the
foreign manufactured article were reduced to
171, or even 15 per cent.—(Cries of No, no, and
hisscs.)—A number of French manufacturers had
been throwing goods on the British market at
so cheap a rate as to cause a depression, but then
they had ruined themselves in doing so, and such
an occurrence was not likely again to take place.
The Proposer of the Resolution denied the in-
creased activity in Spitalfields, and at the same time
deprecated discussion, as the Committee was only
appointed for the purposes of inquiry.
A Manufacturer said that he had it from Messrs.
Lait and Co. of Old Change, that they at prescut
did nothing except in jobs. Now, for the benefit of
the gentlemen of the press, he would explain what
was meant by jobs.

A Gentleman begged to say that the explanation
would be quite unnecessary, for the gentlemen of
the press, from their constant attendance at the
House of Commons, must be perfectly well ac-
quainted with the nature of jobs.--(A laugh.)
The Manufacturer, in continuation, said jobs in the
Silk Trade meant purchases made after the article was
manufactured at a very low price. He had
himself been applied to since Monday morning by
upwards of 200 labourers seeking employment, and
some of them belonged to Mr. Moore. lie then
contended that the only way in which we had at
all been able to compete with the foreign manu-
facturers was by making a victim of the
weaver. Mr. C. Grant had argued that employ-
ment must have been increased, because the quan-
tity of raw silk imported had doubled itself : but in
order to show that this argument could not be re-
lied on, he would instance the statement of Lord
Liverpool some years ago, who in allusion to the
state of starvation of the people of Ireland con-
'tended that it was caused by an abundant harvest;
what then would become of his argument, if over
production was attended with such effects ? The
fact was, that at present the English peasant was bet-
ter off in jail than at liberty.
The following Resolution was then proposed and
adopted by the Meeting:—
That his Majesty's Government having extended the
operation of the Act of 1826 to the end of the next Ses-
sion of Parliament, and signified their intention to take
into theit• early consideration the general interests of the
Silk Trade, with a view to the adoption of some permanent
measure, it is expedient to form a General Association of
the Silk Tiade, which shall embrace the interests of all
persons Ay he are engaged in the preparation and manufac-
ture of silk throughout the United Kingdom, sad that the
same be formed under the title of " A General Association
of the Silk Trade."

A Treasurer and Committee were then appointed
by the meeting, after which the following Resolu-
tion was also adopted :--
That the Committee be instructed to nse all practi-
cable means to obtain for the different interests of the trade
that extent of protection which will promise a remunera-
tion in the employment of capital, and secure to the labour-
ing classes regular and anfticient employment.
A subscription was then opened to defray the ex•
pences of the Committee, thanks were voted to
the Chairman, and the meeting adjourned.

It 13 most true that Mr. BRouaiiA m labours
under very serious indisposition, the effect, it is supposed,
of having overworked himself. We can, however, state
that he is now better.—Brighlon Gazette.
The new light-house is not to be at Beachey
Head, as has been stated, but at Belle Tout, a hill about
two miles westward of Beachey.—Brighton Gazette.
A fine salmon, weighing eleven pounds and
a_half, was caught at Fire-pool Weir, on Monday last, and
sold at the London Inn, in this town, for 155. 6d.__
Taunton Courier.
THE LATE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTEBBURY.
—The remains of his Grace are at present lying in the
apartment of the palace in which he breathed his last. It
is not intended that the body shall lie in state, as has been
the frequent custom with most of his Grace's predecessors
in the Archiepiscopal See. The day for the interment is
not yet fixed, but it is understood that it will be either on
Saturday or Tuesday. The funeral will, it is said, be a
strictly private one, none but the friends and relations of
the deceased, and the Bishops and Clergy of the Diocese,
beii to be present. The lady of the new Bishop of CAR-
LISLE, one of the deceased Archbishop's daughters, and
Mrs. CROFT, are at present in the palace at Lambeth.—
There is not the slightest appearance about the palace, no
6' outside trappings of woe," whence a stranger might infer
that its late possessor WO lying dead within its precincts.