The Sun.
London, England, 1842-03-07 00:00:00

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TO THE RIGIIT lION. LORD J.
nititohtealt,lPl:aladetch-yard, litifa. e
3IY Loam,— In a
Elnsghlozdopt,hicaidi,isepaiaribtyolistreiridi,
Rthttl.i:rtS,,tSemmE:LL, M.P.
thedisaed subject
of
the
in
inn i vantages under
to your Lordship, as one of a deputation on the honour
b'
werich-latwhes,
with a country manufacturing part of it, ng
to
own clothing and
other articles.
From the
foot of this lettetabular form in which it is now submitted
(see
r), your Lordship will perceive that the disad-
vantages are of two kinds, natural and artificial.
The natural disadvantages are-
1. The seller cif goods has to sustain in a distant market
r-disadvantages which the English workman would have to vus-
tain under a system of free trade, which would of itself be suf-
ficiently embarrassing.
2. The artitLial disadvantages proceed from restriction and
monopoly, and will divide themselves into two heads also:-
1. Re,trictive retaliatory tariffs, and which are paid out of
what should be English wages, and go to pay Amencin, Ger-
man, and other taxes.
2. That which is chargeable to direct monopoly on English
food, and is paid in the case above at the English custom-house,
as duty for the importation of American flour, and is also to be
deducted from the English workman's wages.
The first and natural disadvantages are as follows:
The expense of selling goods at New York,
freight, insurance commission, txc.
Co:nmission on buying flour at New York 8 do.
Expense of selling tam at Liverpool; includ-
ing freight from Ainerica • 2O do.

~.emu
S NI
LONDO N, MONDAY ENING

IVLARCH 7, 1842.

SECONDLY,
The aPtiSeial burdens in the shape of retalia-
tory duties on goods in New York
y
decidedly pro,lueed by the Corn-laws

b9i barrels flour

Your Lordship will perceive that all these va34 1 t u
making together 134 barrels, and which you
wrill i asse
er r
ce
hal sra
erfigdo ye:
ducted from the wages of the English workman, and place him
at a disadvantage as compared with the American workman,
who is making the same kind of goods, as 34 is to 132. The natural disadvantages under which the British opera•
Live labours in having to seek a distant market, would, if pro-
tection were of any use—if a bounty on the export of mandfix-
tured goods were ever justified, give him a claim to such protection
—to such bounty in his favour, and especially as the net returns
for goods exported fix the price paid for labour on all goods
flgcoroou,r,e.rn abroad,as allw
i syt
against
oh
cueh
d the o
Englishet iof similar manufacture made in this kingdom, whether 'for
exportation or home consumption, as the price must always
be low enough, in an exporting country, to overcome and
v
portation of his goods, and the importation of his food, or
he must pay, is hat i• equivalent, as muck extra for the home
l workman,eat:nscosu
no tf
even
,Int_oep on
firiffttiyn-wgnei
nhis a
dbf oaar
ro d
effl
rsreoerorf.:
trade in corn, and if the American hostile tariff were not takgis
off, there would then be a disadvantage against the English
workman of 91 5,i barrels of flour as compared with the
American vroikman. As it is now agreed on all hands that
protection and bounties on manufactures, if practicable, would
be misehievous--it, then, the Legislature can give no protection
to the operatives; if no device can rai.e the money rate of
wages of the working man artificially one farthing, what then
becomes of protecting some other class at the expense of this—.
the most mimerous, as well as the most helpless of all classes, especially as our position is altering every day for the worse,
from the increase of, and improvement in machinery, both in
the old and new worlds. When we had few or no competitors,
when the superiority in, or exclusive possession of ma-
chinery placed us in the position, if your Lordship will allow
me to illustrate the eye by a comparison of a gentleman of the
turf, whose horses are so superior as to deter others from a con-
test, and which walk over tie course for the plate, in such a
case the weight carried was immaterial. The difference was
paid by the foreigner, but our altered position renders it neces-
sary that the Legislature (to carry on the figure) should. re-
move every pound from the overburdened animal who has now
such formidable competitors in the race. And let it never be
forgotten that it is the working man especially that competes.
It should be remembered that the landowner has none of these
difficulties to contend with, but has the benefit of a market at
his own door. Though I have taken a single article, and a
single market, to illustrate the case, the result would be the
same in any other market, or with any other kind of goods
which we ship, the degree being fixed by the tariffs in such
countries, and by the per centage of labour in such goods,
and which per centage of labour is continually decreasing.
In speaking . f the falling off of the hosiery trade of the midland
counties, I ought to have named to your Lordship, that so far
from their being any falling off in the fashion for
cotton hosiery
(anti returns are accessible from most countries), as far as I
have been able to ascertain from such returns, there is a con-
stant steady increased consumption of these articles in all civi-
lised countries but one, and that one country is Great Britain,
which supplied the world with hosiery for more than two 'bun-
dred years. There has been a falling off in this country within
the last dirt e or four years in the consumption of this article
about one-third.

I find that, whether you compare the situation of the English
operative with the foreign workmen, as to the amount of food
he receivei for a given amount of labour, or whether you view
it by comparing his present with his past circumstances, the
result is equally unfavourable.
I find, on a careful comparison of the money rate of wages
of the stocking.maker now, and before the passing of the Corn-
laws, takinc, thirty years before the war and its disturbing
causes, and indeed up to the passing of the law of 1815, the
workmen had steady vines, which, compared with the present
rate was as 15s. is to 6s. 6d. or 7W., and allowing for the
difference in the price of food on an average for the lait ten
years, and ten years before the war places him in a•
Lposition to his disadvantage as one is to four
your
ordship always recollecting that there has been no disturb-
ing cause to which bad trade has been attributed else
where, either in the improvement of, or increase in, machi-
nery or any application of steam, and that •as his wages
have been coming down step by step under these laws, if
we may judge from the pnst, it is fair t 3 presume that they
will continue to do so, so long as these laws are on the its
Lute-book.

•
In addition to the evils I have before named, it may be well
to state as we are only now manufacturers on sufferance, and
ale obliged to make such goods as foreign manufacturers ne-
glect to supply the markets of the world with, we are con-
tinually being pressed upon those articles which have the least
labour and the most material in them, which circumstance acts
injuriously, not only in giving a less amount of labour in a
given amount of experts, but gives an increased disadvantage
against the wages of our workmen. For instance, with 20 per
cent. foreign tariff on SO ; et- cent.. stages and 20 per cent.
material, that will he a tax on British labour of 23 per cent. ;
but with an article having 50 per cent. material and 50 per
cent. labour in it, will be a tax on the British workman on the
same foreign market of 40 per cent.
The general impression three years ago was, that we should
lose the whole of this tr•de, but experience shows that there, as
well as other ill- paid operatives must continue to work at such
wages as may be ob!aisied, however low that price may be, and
however high the price of foo.l, there being no other employ-
ment to be had. Your Lordship will see I have not endea-
voured to make out a ewe not warranted by the circumstances,
when I tell you that the disparity would have been considerably
greater before midsummer last, is up to that time the duty on
these goods, at the American Custom-house was, 30 instead of
23 per cent., which it now is.
I have the whole cf the vouchers in my possession, necessary
to establish the correctness of this statement. I am at Morley's
Ho!el, and should be happy to furnish them, should your Lord-
ship deem it necessary.—l am, my Lord,
Your Lordship's most obedient humble servant,
WIII. RAWSON.

COMPARISON OF ENGLISH AND AMERICAN
HONIERY MANUFACTURE.

A Blitish merchant shit ped to the United States, a quan-
tity of hosiery, which was sold for 216 barrels of flour.
Taking the same articles, American manufacture, at the
same amount, the following estimate shows how the said
barrels of flour-would be appropriated in the reproduction of
the same articles :
The British manufacturer would require for the
purchase of materials
Wages of labour
Profits of manufacturer
41

Cost of reproduction in England
Cost of realisation :
Freight, insurance, and charges, commissions, &c.
in England... Barrels 20i
Charges of selling the above goods in New
York, freights, insurance &c 3l
Charges of purchasing flour
Commission and charges - 5911
Fiscal obstacles :
_

American tariff, 23 per cent. (deemed reta-
liatory)
English Corn-law duty paid at Liverpool...... 423
Fiscal charges . - 743
Total

The American material would require
Wages of labour
Profit to manufacturer, say l3
- 146

216 barrels

No!e.—The American manufacterer and
workman's share
The English manufacturer and
Workman's share... 4l P. !
Barrels of Flour.
Amrrican wages of labour 1321 !I
English wages of ditto ... 341 !!

146 barrels

Difference 9s !II