The Sun.
London, England, 1820-07-31 00:00:00

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LEWES_ WOOL

REPORT of the EARL of SHEFFIELD to the MEETING
at LEW LS WOOL FAIR, on the Ildth instant.

The Wool ,Fair, which .was held at ,the Bear
Inn in Lewes, on Wednesday the 26th, was nu-
merously attended by the respectable Wool
Growers of the County, and also by several prin-
cipal Woolstaplers and Buyers fromlondon, and
different parts of England. After dinner the
health of " the King and Royal 'Family," " The
Lord Lieutenant," " The Earl of Chichester,"
" The Members for the County," " and Borough
of Lewes,'-' were proposed by the President, the
Earl of SHEFFIELD.
Sir GEORGE Sturv.tiEctrettirned thanks for him-
self and his colleague, and concluded with pro-
,
po,ing the health of the Honourable Member for
Surrey, ", Mr. HoListE SUMNER," (who had ho-
noured the Meeting. With his Company) w firth
was received with much satisfaction. Mr. SUM-
NER then rose, and in returning thanks expressed
his readiness at all times to advocate the cause of
the Agricultural Interest :—he lamented the ill
success otthe late exertions in ParliaMent on their
behalf, but expressed a hope - that some good
might arise from a calcUlation of the averages
being taken on the quantity as well as on the
price. Much, hOweVer, he said on this point de-
pended on themselves, oe, their seeing that the
persons who were appointed to make the returns
of the markets, .made them fairly and honestly.
Thi's might be prOductiVe of great advantage.—
And if iheir Petitions' were repeated, he had no
doubt that they 'would eventually engage the at-
tention of Parliament ; and. that .the` 'relief they
prayed for would he granted.

- 'the health of " the Founder of the-Meeting,
The Earl of SnErriEt.n" was then drank with
three tithes three, who rose and made hig annual
Aeport as folloWs •

Since I had the honour of last addressing you, a most.
unexpected and unreasonable attempt, unsupported by any
thing like argument, has been made by the Manufacturers to
do away the protection which the ruinous state, of AgriCultore
had at length obtained from Parliament, and to' procure the
repeal even of the inadequate duty on the Importation of
I.4oreign, Wool. Looking on the one hand to the situation of
the Brialit Grower,, on the other to the state of the Trade
in Wool, the effect of the import duty on the Manufacture,
and the period of its commencement; it was with difficulty

cOuld:persuade tnySelf that such an attempt.would hare been
Wade., Tho Ugh the duty bad not taken place until the l Otlf
of October. in res4tect to Europe, and until the sth January
last in respect, to the rest of the world, and though the re-
turns of the Importations were anti, made to the latter date,
atittlthe„ cflity bad existed but for a single quarter, anal that
only for Europe, when consequently no opportunity of a'
trial bad been given;aud when it was imposSible to form any
concluslons with regard to the effect of the duty, yet the at-
tempt was made. It_ was made too, when it was generally
suppOsed that ihree years consumption of -Foreign Wool was:
in the.. Country, and so large a quantity of British Grown
Wool on band, that the 'tenet sorts did not bear half tile'
price they had done, but a few Sears past. Notwithstanding
the market at home was thus over stocked with theyaw ma-
terial of British growth,, and the price its consequence thus
beyond Antecedent reduced, it *as pretended that any duty
on the Import of. Forein Wool was inexpedient and ruinous.
depts;ion of the Woollen Manufacture was most
falsely imputed to this cause. That this; however, was, mere
unfounded assertion•is obvions from the depression haring
existed previoUsly to the imposition of the duty. It is- alsa
obvious horn our experience of the past that the exportation
of the Manufacture is comparatively little influenced by, the
impoit of Foreign Wool. We appeal from speculation to
fact.

During tbe ten first years of 'the last Century, when wool-
lens were considered as our great and Staple Manufacture,
and in a very flourishing. condition, the annual average
,Im-
port was 677,525-lbs,.,and .the_oflicial value of Woollens ex-
ported amounted to nearly three millions, 9172,883,5431.
On the average of the eight years previonsly.to the French
Revolution, the annual ImpOrt was 4,660,000 lbs. and the
ot}iciai value of Woollens exported was 2,584,7041.

On the average of ten years, from 1808 to 1818; the an-
nual Import of Wool has been.12,1t3,1361h5. and the offi-
cial value of Woollens exported, only 5,832,9541.

Last year, the Importation of Wool amounted to
16,190,3431b5., and the official value of Woollens exported
to only 5,08,6,590,

Thus it appears, that the export of Woollens was propor-
tionably very little affected by the immense increase of Wodl.
Yet the Petitioners for the repeal of the duty assert, that the
Ekport Trade of. Woollens.depends entirely upon the Import
of Wool, Which cannot be the ease, for by far
_the greater
part: of the Woolicus exported Weresent to markets within
our own controul in the different parts of the British Em-
pire. The increase was gradual, and considering 120 years
aie included, by no means great. Nor doe's it appear from
tflelletiuns of . Cloth milled in the West Riding of York-
ifire, *that the quantity of the manufacture has been at all
'increased for the last n years.—. Bat with this immense in-
crease in the Importation of Wool during the last six years, it
has actually decreased, and is, I am. sorry. to say, notwith-
standing the very low price of Wool, and the great overflow
in the Market, still in a depressed state.
Ou an average of ten years, ending ,1868, the Broad and
Narrow Cloths milled in the West Riding of Yorkshire,
amounted to 15,000,000 yards.
.Wool Imported. and Yards milled.
In 1811 15,712,517, ILIS. 15.617,840
1815 14,980,224 - - 15,184,432
1916 8,117,760 12,178,922
1817 14,715,792 14 ,510,441,
1818 26,405,488 14,057 '291
1819 16,1 96;343 11,813.,971

In defiance of these facts, the Petitioners go still.forther,
and say their manufacture will he ruined if the duty of sd.
per pound should prevent the importation- of the 'coarse

Wooly of South America, Islogadore, &c.; yet none of these
coarse Wools here imported in any qUantities till the two
last• years, as will appear by the subjoined statement. 4 The
price of theSe-Wooli has been from 6d. to 81d. per pound :
The quality however ;u extremely bad, that it rather resem-
bled hair or wire than Wool. It is Orr this aCconnt to he
wished that the admission of such Wool should be prevented
by a prohibitory duty, as it wotild undoubtedly greatly debase
the character of our manufacture, especially as we have a suf-
ficient supply of British Grtiwth, and may have a still more
abundant• one, if nut discouraged; at the same time their very
low price would greatly prejudice the growth of our long
Wools, which -have been so utuch -improved, arc greatly su-
perior to those of other countries, and may always be sup-
plied at moderate,prices.
It Is unnecessary to prove that the manufactures would not
be injured by the non-admission of these low priced foreign
Wools. They are indeed nut at all requisite. They have
only been imported as I have befirre stated in any quantities
daring the last 2 years,—and' by a reference to the state of
the manufactures before and since that period, it is impossi-
ble to discover any benefit produced by them.
The present duty would very little affect the importation of
the fitter Wools, which alone it can be supposed we want,
more especially as Spain has taken off a duty on the exporta-
tion nearly equal to that we have laid on. Upon the whOle
it may be said that the assertion of the ruin of the manufac-
ture from the imposition of a duty on Wool is•made in defi-
ance of truth and common sense. For the present price of
foreign Wool, duty included, is-only one half of what it was
a few years ago, and then our manufactures were flourishing.
It cannot therefore be argued that the price of the Taw ma-
terial, as affected by the dnty, is in the slightest degree the
cause ofthe distress felt by the•Mlanufacturer : for it is a fact
that the best Spanish Wools are now 20 per cent. cheaper
than when the duty was 'first laid.
Indeed it may be generally asserted that at the time the
importation of foreign Wool began to increase so greatly, the
price of the manufacture was extravagantly raised on the
consumer. The finest Broad Cloths, which within My recol-
lection sold at 18s• per yard, have been lately sold at 36 shil-
lings: At the same time the export of Woollens of the'fintst
foreign
.Wool, was inconsiderable. Under these circum-
stances it is almost inconceivable that men should expose
their want of information or consideration, or that any cir-
cumstances should bias them.so far as to induce them to as-
sert that the small duty on the import of foreign Wool had
ruined our manufacturers and prevented them from under-
taking to supply Clothing to the Russian Army,_ when it
appears that the importation was in 1818,ten times, and last
year upwards of six.times the.amount of what it had been on
the average ..previoufly to 1789. What makes the assertion
still more ridiculous, And, ahsind is, that not a lock -of the
Spanish, Saxon, or any -fine imported Wool, or even the:fine
Wools of this country, was ever -worked up in the kind of.
Cloth that was made for the Russian Soldier. It would have
been more candid to have stated that our Government had
:stipulated with Russia to pay certain sums of money in Brit-
ish Woollens, which arrangement is now at an end, and that
Russia has remitted part of the•duties on Woollens in favour
of Prussia, which Country now principally supplies that-ar-
ticle at a cheaper rate.
It may not be inexpedient to lay before you the AccoOts
of the Import •f• for the Quarters ending April and July 1819,
and the corresponding Quarters in the present year, and to
offer some explanation of the difference that Will appear in
their amount.

The total import of Foreign NV6OI for the hoar-

. .
ter ending sth .Aprii, 1819, was . 3,345;037 lbs.
Ditto Ditto into London, for the Quarter

ending 51.0.1n1y, 1819 1,03 .
. ,752 lbs.
The total import of Foreign Wool for the Quar-
ter ending sth April 1820 only 633,070 lbs.
Ditto Ditto-into London for the Quarter ending
sth July, 1820 • • 917,1061b5.

This I would observe, proves nothing as to the effect of the'
duty on Foreign Wool, because the extraordinary delay of so
many months inlaying on that duty furnished the, opportunity
of crowding into this Country, Wool from all parts free of duty
40 the amount of 11,450,127 lbs.—only 231,715 lbs. were 1)0i/-
ever liable to the duty; and 2,054,316 lbs. warehoused under
band fur the purpose of-postponing the paynsent of the duty
until taken out for conStimptiOnl which at the -old rate of
sTbething- less than one. penny per pound was not the
practice.

The extravagant importation that has taken, pia& of late
has been attended with, equal injury to the Woo! Buyer and
the Seller. It has deranged the market. The Buyer had
not, anticipated that such immense quantities would have
keen imported, which have not only lowered the value,, but
have deptived .hiM of the power of disposing of the British
Wool he had on hand.. In fact, so completely is the British
Wool driven front the market, that at Huddersfield on an
average 10 71,ags of Forewn Wool were sold, for cue of
growth. All this has eyidently arisen from the insutliT
ciency of the import duty (which should have been at
.100
double its present amount) a truth which the Wool ',layers
theptselves are ready, and indeed have bat too much reason
to acknowledge.

It way here be observed, that the French.b'are taken off
the export-duty, and. have imposedt a duty often per cent. on
‘‘•(,01 imported into Fiance—they have granted 10 per cent.
hounty on Cloths exported. .The consequence has been, that
Wool (the produce of France) has advanced 13 per cent.

I am sorry that I cannot lay before yon a more favour-

-- --
withi.i a few years • little NVOOI waS , imp 1-
orted,. except
f;Ont Spain. A considerable quantity has of late 'hecn
brought' from Germany;—and within a very few years coarse
Wools have. been imported. from Sint, America and the
Wools from Turkey,
Levant; and the qsantity is mostroiaiiiisidely increasing-.
c
• Malta, Italy, &c. comprised
Coarse Wools from tinder the head " .M.,ga:
South America. dove." .
isi 7 0,671? :4" -
• $5985231b5.
ISIS 299,579 -
6.78,305
1819 1,110,5 a
- . - 743;769
. t One thousand ,"hags of different sizes have been reCitired
from New Sotath..Witlrs withiA th'e last 12 tiionthi',".,whicii
lot'ool i, imported duty free as coming.from a British Colony.
The value is estimate at 2s. 9d, per pound.