604

THE NATURE AND CAUSES OF

quent operation of preparing linen cloth from linen yarn. Tosay nothing of the industry of the tlax-growers and flax-dressers, three or four spinners, at least, are necessary, inorder to keep one weaver in constant employment; and morethan four-fifths of the whole quantity of labour, necessary forthe preparation of linen cloth, is employed in that of linenyarn ; but our spinners are poor people, women commonlyscattered about in all different parts of the country, withoutsupport or protection. It is not by the sale of their work, butby that of the complete work of the weavers, that our greatmaster manufacturers make their profits. As it is their in-terest to sell the complete manufacture as dear, so is it to buythe materials as cheap as possible. By extorting from the le-gislature bounties upon the exportation of their own linen,high duties upon the importation of all foreign linen, and atotal prohibition of the home consumption of some sorts ofFrench linen, they endeavour to sell their own goods as dearas possible. By encouraging the importation of foreign linenyarn, and thereby bringing it into competition with thatwhich is made by our own people, they endeavour to buy thework of the poor spinners as cheap as possible. They are asintent to keep down the wages of their own weavers, as theearnings of the poor spinners, and it is by no means for thebenefit of the workman, that they endeavour either to raisethe price of the complete work, or to lower that of the rudematerials. It is the industry which is carried on for the be-nefit of the rich and powerfid, that is principally encouragedby our mercantile system. That which is carried on for thebenefit of the poor and the indigent, is too often either neg-lected or oppressed.

Both the bounty upon the exportation of linen and the ex-emption from the duty upon the importation of foreign yarn,which were granted only for fifteen years, but continued bytwo different prolongations, expire with the end of the ses-sion of parliament which shall immediately follow the 24thof June, 1786.

The encouragement given to the importation of the ma-terials of manufacture by bounties, has been principallyconfined to such as were imported from our American plan-tations.

The first bounties of this kind were those granted about thebeginning of the present century, upon the importation ofnaval stores from America . Under this denomination were