YORKSHIRE LETTER

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2249, 8 September 1914, Page 9

YORKSHIRE LETTER

HOME OF'ENGLAND'S WOOL TRADE ."JProm Ouv Special Correspondent.) _. Bradford, Julv 31,1914. We ar«, not disposed to look'with extreme feelings of dismay upon the wool situation, notwithstanding the outbreak of hostilities, although to be candid, wo do not like the outlook. We have known war send up values as well as bring them down to a very low levol, and until tho outlook clears and we know what is going to happen in England and on the Continent,, we "think it unwise I? sa ,y , much - I* is a fact that since the Balkar War terminated tho Near pastern nations have never settled down to make goodithe breaches and to reestablish sound commercial conditions, .although it must be said that during the past six. to nin« months there has been a better show of trade than for mid two previous years. Worstedopolis. • The question, has often been asked: Why is it that tho West Hiding of Yorkshire is the centre of the worsted industry, when the. art of inanuiacturmg was hrst carried on in the town of Worstoad, in Norfolk? At least wool was Uret combed and spun in that ancient little village. We believe that if tile record was properly gono iiito, it would be-found that the town-of Winchester was the hrst centre of wool manufacture in England, it being a" fact that tho Romans purchased woollen cloths, m that town when they first invaded England. Combing, spinning, and weaving were, practised in Worsted, in Norfolk, when the Flemish weavers came over to England, but in some way the manufacture of- wool sottled in Bradford and district; until to-day it is Bradford's, glory to be tho largest woolconsuming centre in the whole of the British Isles. If one had to put the point of a pair of compasses on the city of Bradford, and extend the other point until ■it encircled a radius of 15 miles, ho would have practically the whole of tho West Hiding where wool manufacture . is practised. Sir Swire Smith, who is a worsted spinner in the town of .Keighley, has for a long time been associated with and specialised on educational Work in connection with the textile trade. 'Heis a very ablo platform .-speaker in advocating the claims of education,particularly those of tho textile world Recently, li- addressed the'boys of the Bradford Grammar School, one of tho best-known schools 'for boys and girls in the city of Bradford. In his speech he referred to the inception of the textile trade in Bradford, and the reason why tho worsted industry left. the' Norfolk • village settledin Bradford.' He briefly, reviewed the industry and educational . history of Worstedopolis. AVhen his grandfather who'was bom in 1773, and whom he well remembers was a boy, all the processes of carding, combing, spinning, and weaving were done by hand, and Norwich, was the centre of the wool industry. The primitive spinning jennies invented by Hargreaves and Arkwright ■njere introduced into Bradford towards tho end of the century, but Norwich would havo none o? them. "Norwich was determined not to move," said Sir Swiro, "and so the trado left that city and came to Bradford, where it is now centred. And it will leavo Bradford if you boys, when you grow up, are so foolish as to allow any- other city in the worsted industry to get ahead of you." The speaker proceeded to, deal with the relation to and the development of education applied to industry. Fortunes, ho said, have been made without education. By many, education was considered a hindrance. If you congratulated a Bradford manufacturer on his prosperity he would often cheerfully roply, "Aye, and I began wi- nowt." Bradford prospered through its monopoly of machinery. The monopoly, however, could not go on permanently. As an illustration, he poiuted out that Germany became a largo buyer of finished goods, and began to buy Bradford yarns for her hand-looms. Then she bought power-looms from Bradford, and spinning machinory, and, of course, when she began to make her own goods and spin her own yarn, she proportionately diminished her purchases from Bradford. Not only this, she exported goods to England, met us in our own markets, not with hand-made goods, but with tho product of our own machines. Bradford had distributed her monopolies to the world, and levelled up her competitors to; her own standard of efficiency. The difference between Bradford and Germany was summed up in tho word "education." Bradford had developed machinery and neglected machine users. Germany developed her men, who, in consequence of suporior education, were able to produce more attractive goods from the Bradford machines than the Bradford manufacturers themselves. Market Disorganised. ' .Everything seems to. bo In a topsyturvy state, these , conditions being brought about by tho declaration of war in Central Europe. There has been a slump at Antwerp and Roubaix in futures, these being down as much as 3d. per lb., but in Bradford the markot is fairly even, and nobody seems to have lost their head. All alike feel it to bs imperative to keep cool, and face the future with a strong nerve, none being disposed to slaughter anything. Some think, wo may see a repetition of the boom experienced during the FrancoL'russian war, but it is much too early to make such a forecast or to talk in such a way. _^