The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-10-19 00:00:00

THE PROGRESS OF LIVERPOOL.

At the dinner given by the Mayor to Sir R. Peel, and
a distinguished party, on Friday last, our late noble re-
presentative, Lord Sandon, gave the following interesting
statistics exhibiting the increase of the importance and
commerce of the town, since he was first returned as a
member in 1831. The data, we are authorised to state,
were furnished by Mr. Alexander Neilson, clerk to the
Borough Treasurer. The population in 1831 was 205,964 ;
in 1846 it had nearly doubled, being 358,655. The
revenue produced by the Corporation Property was
£45,968 ; in 1847 it is 'X59,336. The Town Dues were
in 1831, £49,332 ; in 1847 they were nearly double, the
amount being £97,219. The Dock Revenue in 1831 was
£183,455, and although the rates were reduced 381 per
cent. in 1836, they produced this year £244,435. In 1831
we had 111 acres of water space in our Docks ; we have
now 180 acres, with 14 miles of lineal quay space. The
Shipping of the port was in 1831, 12,537 vessels ; it is
now 20,889 vessels. The Tonnage of the Port was in 1831,
1,592,436 tons, and in 1847, 3,351,539. The Cotton im-
ported was, in 1831, 793,463 bls., and in 1846, 1,134,081 bls.
In 1831, Railway system was in its infancy, the Liverpool
and Manchester line having been one of the most suc-
cessful.

In 1844, the United Kingdom had expended on 2668
miles a capital of £62,411,598. Parliament sanctioned
in 1845 and 6, 7654 miles additional, estimated to cost
£190,344,000 ; and in 1847, 1394 miles, to cost
£34,692,800. The total railway capital will thus be
£287,448,398.

ST. AUGUSTINE'S SCHOOLS.—On Sunday last, two
Sermons were preached at St. Augustine's Church, in be-
half of the Schools ; in the morning by the Rev. Herbert
Jones, and in the evening by the Rev. T. Nolan. The
collections amounted in the morning to £47, and in the
evening to £23.
INTERVIEW. OF SIR ROBERT PEEL WITH HUSKISSON'S
STATUE.—The latter complains of the sneaking way in
lorhich Sir Robert made his call upon him. He needn't
have been ashamed of the visit being public, considering
how largely he had plagiarised his commercial policy. An
old seaman, who was present at the interview, informs us
that at the close of the interview he overheard the statue
remarking to Sir Robert, sotto voce, " it won't do, Sir
Robert;"- but whether he referred to the reciprocity sys-
tem or the Banking Act he could not ascertain.

A SECOND LITTLE. SUMMER.—We have before us a
sprig of blossom, culled in the garden of Mr. Baty, at the
tor of Oxton Hill, Cheshire, from a pear tree which is
now covered with bloom. This second spring is remark-
able at so advanced a period of the year, and especially as
evinced in a rather exposed locality, which only a few
years :ago was productive of little more than furze and
heath. The whole of that once bleak district is now
studded with pleasant villas and fine gardens, shewing
what may creditably be accomplished by a moderate out-
lay, and unwearied attention to horticultural improve-
ments, even on unpromising soils.
THE LIVERPOOL LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SO-
ClETY.—Yesterday evening the first, or opening meeting
for the session of the present year of this society, was
held at the Royal Institution, in Colquit-street, the object
being principally the election of officers for the year. The
society was established 35 years ago. Dr. Booth, the presi-
dent last year, will remain in office two years longer. He
made a most able address, on the management of the
society, which was listened to with great attention, and
duly appreciated. Mr. Joseph Brooks Yates, Mr. Archer,
and Mr. Cunningham, were elected Vice-Presidents ;
Dr. Duncan, Treasurer ; and Mr. Yaniewiez, Secretary ;
The following gentlemen were elected to constitute the
Council :—Doctors Brett, Inman, Carson, Dickenson,
French, and Mr. McAndrew. There were several in-
teresting communications, in the way of lecture, in-
tended to be made by members, but the evening
being occupied a considerable time by the election of
will si officers, the ere deferred. We believe that at the
next meetin e society a paper on the subject of the
currency will e read by Mr. Faram, of this town. The
subject being of peculiar interest at the present moment,
will, no doubt, attract an unusual attendance of the
members.

PROGRESS OF TUE BRITISH COTTON MANU-

FACTURE.

The statistical work on the cotton trade, by Mr. Burn,
of Manchester, to which we directed attention in our last,
contains, within the compass of a few tables, the history
of one of the most surprising developments of human in-
dustry to be found in the annals of any nation. Up to
nearly the close of the eighteenth century this now im-
portant branch of manufacture had made little progress.
The period from which the first impulse was given appears
to have been in 1783, when, for the first time, Mr. Ark-
wright's machinery for spinning and carding by steam was
used in Manchester. In the same year the first clean
sample of Brazilian cotton was imported ; and in 1785
America began to supply us, her imports being this year,
as stated by Mr. Burn, 1 bag, per Diana, from Charles-
ton ; 1, per Tonyn, from New York ; 3, per Grange, from
Philadelphia ; 9, per Friendship, from Philadelphia.
Part of these cottons were seized in Liverpool, by the
Custom-house officers, under the impression that cotton
was not the produce of the United States." Six bags
were received from the same country in 1786; but in the
following year the quantity rose to 108 bales, thus laying
the foundation for that vast cultivation and export to which
America owes so large a portion of her present prosperity
and commercial power.
In this year the total number of mills are stated to have
been, in England 119, and in Scotland 24 ; total in Great
Britain 143. Of this number 41 were in Lancashire and
22 in Derbyshire—this part of the kingdom taking the
lead in the trade from its very infancy. The mills in
question must, however, have been very small establish-
ments; for we find that the imports of the raw material,
in 1787, were only 65,309 bales, or little more than would
keep our present concerns going for a fortnight. We have
no return of the number of hands they employed. This,
however, would be very much larger than the number
now required to work up the same quantity of cotton.
In 1835 the total number of factories in Great Britain
and Ireland, as stated in the Commissioners' Report, were,
at work 1263, empty 42, employing 100,886 males and
120,283 females—total, 221,169 persons. Ireland con-
tained 28 of these mills. The number in Lancashire were
715, employing 122,415 persons, or more than half of the
whole ; Cheshire contained 116, employing 31,512 per-
sons ; and Yorkshire 126, which must have been small
concerns, for we only find them employing 11,211 persons.
The number of mills in 1838 were 1903, employing a total
number of two hundred and sixty thousand one hundred per-
sons. The numberof mills, therefore, had increased, in these
three years, by 598, or nearly one-third of those existing
in 1835. The persons employed had increased by 39,031,
or not quite one-sixth. It is well-known that, in addition
to the number of mills built in the period referred to, there
was a large increase of power in the existing mills, with
enlargements, &c. The fact that the increase in the num-
ber of persons employed was not in the same ratio with
the mills erected would, on a superficial glance, warrant
us in concluding that the new concerns were not of any
great magnitude. This, however, cannot have been the
case ; for we find, that whereas the total quantity of cot-
ton taken for consumption in 1835 was 937,616 bales, in
1838 it had increased to 1,265,116 bales, or one-third.
The quantity of yarn spun in 1835 was 281,435,2221 b. ;
and in 1838, it had increased to 379,486,5101 b., or one-
third. When we find then that the hands employed only
increased by one-sixth between 1835 and 1838, the con-
clusion is almost inevitable, that either a large increase
has taken place during the period in the efficiency and
speed-of the machinery employed, or that the spinner has
been increasing the tasks of the operatives.
In the Commissioners' Report for 1846, the number of
mills is not given, owing we presume to the difficulty in
ascertaining those at work and those empty. That there
must have been a large increase is evident ; for although
a large number were unoccupied, owing to the depressed
state of the trade, the total number of hands employed
was returned at 316,327, showing an increase at the rate
of lin 44. The same absence of data prevents our ar-
riving at a correct estimate of our present capability of
production. We may, however, approach it with suffi-
cient closeness. In 1835 our mills, 1305 in number, ap-
pear to have been in full working, only 42 being returned
in the Commissioners' Report as empty. In that year our
average weekly consumption was 17,750 bales. In 1838,
when the number of mills working was one-third more,
the weekly consumption increased one-third, being 23,785
bales. In 1846 we have only the increase in the number
Qf people employed to go upon, which was 1 in 44 as
compared with those in 1838 ; and although it is well-
known that during the latter part of 1846 many establish-
ments were working short time, and a few stopped alto-
gether, the average consumption for the year is estimated
at 31,796 bales per week. Taking into consideration,
however, the diminished ratio which the increase in the
number of persons employed has been shown to bear to
that of the increase of productive power, and finding that
in 1835 the number of hands were 221,169 against 316,327,
which number represented only a portion of those working
full time, and capable of being set to work in 1846, we
may conclude, at a very moderate computation, that the
machinery completed in that year is capable of working up
double the weekly consumption of 1835, (17,750 bales,)
thus making 35,500 bales per week, the supply which we
shall require whenever we return to full working. -
The amazing increase of the importance of this branch
of industry, as furnishing an item of exports, may be seen
from the fact that whereas our exports of cotton goods in
1701 was £23,000, to manufacture which we had to import
our yarn from India and the Levant, in 1844 out of our
gross exports of £50,648,306, the amount of cotton manu-
factured and yarn was £25,805,338. In 1845, out of
£53,298,026, the gross exports, our exports of cotton
goods were £26,116,331, and in 1846, out of £51,279,735,
our exports of cotton were £25,600,693. We have no
data for estimating the value of the total manufacture. It
must be three or four times the value of the amount ex-
ported ; whilst we have the total value of the manufacture
put down by Mr. Burn as only £200,000 per annum in
1760. We may remark that up to 1772, all cotton goods
—so called—were made with linen warps. The first
goods, with cotton warps, were produced by Messrs.
Strutt, of Derby.