The pilot and transcript. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1840-1841, 1840-11-18
MACHINERY AND LABOUR.

In the course of a lecture recently delivered
in London on the effects of Machinery, it was
argued that one great influence was TO render
labor productive to surprising degree. The
speaker said that machinery, instead of throw
ing workmen out of employment introduced
new trades, and he computed that 100000 en-
gineers were employed in the fabrication of
cotton machines aloae, being about five times
the number of persons employed in cotton ma
nufacture, before the days of Hargreaves and
Arkwright He said that the increase of po-
pulation "and, hence, of capital consequent on
the recent introduction of machinery, is unpa-
ralellad; they made very little advancement be-
fore it. In 100, the population of London was
lG6 200 and in 1884, it was l,S36,S54. The
progress of Liverpool is the most extraordina-
ry. This town is not, properly speaking, one
OF the seats of the cotton manufacture, but IS
mainly indebted TO it for the rapidly ofits
growth, as it is the emporium of the trade. In
100, the population of Liverpool was 5000;
in l77O, 80 900; in 1901, 1900, in 1881, 1861
600, and now it is between 250, 900 and $780,
OOO.''
He remarked further
Suppose that, when Hargreaves and Ark
wright made their inventions, the Worzmen
had been successful in their rebellion: is it pos
sible that the Knowledge of these inventions
would have been extinguished, or that the
great body of Europe would consent to buy
dear clothes TO keep few Lancasterians at their
work: No:-inventions never die. The people
of France, Germany, or America would have
employed the machine, and the people OF Eng
land would have imported the cotton. So pro-
foundly Ignorant or so blindly preludiced are
some that they still publish solemn lamenta-
lions on the growth of machinery These per-
sons cherish the notion, that the same quantity
of goods coull have been produced by the old
process as is now produced by machinery; for
getting that the population OF all Europe would
be quite unequal to the task.
The distress which machinery produces is
slight and temporary. On its introduction, as
many laborers, and, very soon many more, are
employed than before. These Inconvenience,
however, have often caused the workmen to
break the machines. But are national blessings
TO be sacrificed to individual interests: These
individuals, who are, at first, sufferers, are, in
the end the most benefited by machinery. The
tendency of the improvements of the last four
hundred years has been to make the lowest la.
borer equal, not only to the rich offormer days,
bat, also, in some respects, TO those OF the pre-
sent We have better clothes, better food, a
greater variety of domestic utensils, and can
travel incomparably quicker than the richest
men few years ago, and our wealth has raised
us TO q state of dignity and Importance which
our ancestors could not have anticipated, and
ed attainmeHts.
Inconvenience similar TO those produced by
the introduction Of machinery are produced by
various other causes. A change from war to
peace throws half of the persons engaged
in making gunpowder out of employment; a
change of fashions, those engaged in making
different articles of dress; and yet, no COM
plants have been made about these. A workman
should calculate to meet these Inconvenience
and become capitalist, by which he will be
enabled TO mitigate or remove those partial and
transient evils attendant on the improvement OF
machinery. Let him become capitalist, and,
when sudden or violent changes are introduced,
he will be Independent; he will have an asylum
to take refuge in; the capital which he has
made win support him till he gets employ
ment, or will enable him to carry on business.
1t is our duty and our interest to save as much
as we can, to be prepared for the evil day,
never to allow ourselves or our families to be-
come burden on the public, but to be indie
pendent, leaving behind an excellent example
to our children.