The New York herald., 1851-09-12
shawl Manufactures OF the United States
and Scotland.

shawl Manufactures Of the United states
and Scotland.
TO THE EDITOR or THE HERALD.
New YORK, August ii, lS)l.
have read in the Ereatng Post, JonrnI Of Com
maee, and irtbwne, articles on protection to Ame-
rican manufactures, in which there are statements
made in reference to the manufacture Of Scotch
tartan or plaid shaws. The writer's Of the several
articles show the grossest ignorance OF the ABOVE
mentioned manufactures. To correct their mis-
that have been engaged in different departments
OF the manufacture Of plaid shawls for the last six
teen years, In Scotland and Ameri,a, and therefore
ought to know something Of the shawl trade The
rant Of the facts necessary 20 right judgment in
the case, although these have been laid before the
public IN this paper: 1t was American ingenuity,
and not the American tariff, which ena oied the
American to undersell the Seotchman in our mar
ket. Before the invention Of a method of making
the fringes to shaw by machinery, the Bay Stats
mills, which now issue shawls in such quantities,
could hold no competition with the owners OF the
mills in Scotland" &c."
The Journal of Commerce says:-"One word
more in regard to long shawls. The success of the
good management of. its projectors, than to any
protection on the part Of the govern nsnt The
greatest difficulty was in regard to colors To ss-
cure perfection in this respect, a German dyer of
some celebrity was employed; bat he N ade total
failure. Then Scotchman from the principal
shawl district of bis own country, was tried, and
he gave up, We believe, ascribing his failure to
some fault in the water. The indefatigable manu-
facturer fell back upon Yankee, who had served
his time in the dye )use OF another null under his
charge, and he succeeded in producing the colors,
which are the wonder of all Europe. The Scotch
mode of twisting the fringe was at hlnd, and this
cost at the lowest rate, forty cents for each loag
shawl. Yankee in this same mill invented
twisting machine which docs the same work, in
better style, for three cen IS"
The Tribune says :-''Tne saving in the ria 20 is
equal to but thrtyseven cents on each shawl.
That, with protection, the inventive genius and
&C i've enterprise Of our people, wouid rapidly re-
duce the price Of every article. even While paying
better wages to labor ard making Reasonable
profits"
The above are a few extracts from the editorials
of three candidates for aura p0pGlaris .; protec-
tion to manufactures by government | would say
nothing; but Will give few facts ia regard TO
shawl manufactare. The above mentioned Jour
mails say that it is to the saving Of cost in the twist
ing Of fringes that the American manufacturer is
able to underseli the Scotchmsn. Now, wa Ut is
the cost of fringe twisting in Tlcoultry, Sc, in
Scotland, where the principal manufactures of
shawls are carried on! The price paid for twiitiag
such shawls as are made in the Bay State mills
Is from two to three pence-equal TO four AMI six
cents-each shawl the cost to The Bay State Com
pany being three cents by machinery. Such is tho
cost Of fringe visiting at the present day; aud such
it has been in Scotland for a mum Der Of years past
AS to paying forty cents for hand twisting shaw Wis
IN this country, the pay has been for years at
eight to ten cents, aud even at th.s price they d,
not cost much, II any, more than machine twisted
shawls, beca lse when done by hand th5re is no
breaking of fringe or cutting OF the cloth OF tae
shawl; whereas, by machine twisting, shawls
at times damaged, which certainly adds TO the cost
CT production. In proof OF the above, shawl
manufacturer in this State got machine TO twist
his shawls, which was to cost, | bslieye, $1,000
He had the machine put up, aud set to work, su-
perintended by Yankee, and after trial of week
or go, it was found to work 80 badly that it
taken down, and believe sent back to the maker.
so much for the prices paid tor hand twisting AID
machine twisting.
Tn, trio are, for once, unanimous in awarding to
Yar KEGS consider able praise for their inventive abb
htiss. Now, without doubling in the least the iu-
ventive genius OF the Yankees from what | have
said above, II Is plain that the machine applied to
twisting shawls is OF little benefit TO the
sha vi manufacturer. The saving from ive to seven
cents by twisting by machines, even allowing no
damage Gone at times to the goods, is small item
in the cost offs shawl, that sells u the wholesale
make, at so TO S6k, and surely the Bay State or
any other company did not show much Of al nyen-
tive genius in manufa ;turing the same kind Of
shawls that had been manufactured in SCOT
land Tor at least twenty years before the
Bay State mills we're in existence, neither has the
inventive genius been displayed ~ the beautiful do
signs mentioned In another paragraph, as they
wtre and continue to be, pirated from Scotch pat
terms, may be seen by any yisiter 10 the Words
Fair, where there number OF Scottish clan tartan
patterns among the sbawls in the American sec ion
of the Exhibition. But the J0Hrn1k II Commerce
finds something besides the machines vita which 30
soft sawdcr his Yankee friends. lie tells US that
the bay State Company hired German OF some
celebrity to color for them, and that this Germsn
utterly faIed; Query-whit was this German
celebrated for
The, We kavc Sco.chman from tn. principal
shawl district of bis own country. who vas tsiei;
but he puir cnield," gave up. The JJvnH does
not inform as whether he was dyer ia Scotland or
only chorer ia dye house there. After the fiil1re
of these two, Yankee is brought 10 the rescue Of
the establishment, and produces c)loTs that are the
wonder Of all Europei lie; us see III was for their
brilliancy. Last fall, a. the fair held Ia Castle
Garden, CO aside erable number OF shavis were on
exhibition. The jurors examined the different
manufacturers' shawis, and awarded the prize (not
to the Bay state Company, as one might be led to
believe ought 20 have been the csse), but to Roy
Company, Watervliet, East Troy and the
prize was awarde TO the Waterylet Company f..
their superiority Of colors these coloss were pre-
pared by Smith aud l. liot, two Scotchmen in th,
(sLich the editors of the Journal Of Comm
could not but be aware o), il will be that it
could not be for Superior coloring that the Bay
state company appear so wonderful in the eyes OF
Europe.
The Tritwn, says that, with protection. Inventive
genius ard a,tiye enterprise Of our people would
rapidly reduce the price OF every article, even while
paying better wages to labor. Now let us sec wha.
the wages are that arc paid in manufacturing these
shnwls in both countries. Most OF the plaid shavls
made in America are woven by power looms. For
each 22 porter shawl there are paid, for weaving.
twenty 20 twenty FIVE cents; mos Of the shLwls
n@'Ac III 1c"tiahus dIt ftNtc On uthi dlu
for oacn 22 porter shawl Is paid sixty c;nts for
weaving. For weaving the same quality Of shawls
at 10y 4 Company's, 10 Troy, on the hinioom, Is
paid forty cents. Spinuers' wages. in shawl rlc-
tories in Ameri,a, are frem twenty to twenty-five
dollar. per month; ia shawl factories ia Scoilini,
twonty'four to twenty eghs dollars per month. In
the other departments OF he business, tue wages
paid are p high in Scotland Ms the same branches
IN america. - much FOR the statements Of the
would be Wei informed journalists. II.
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