ENGLISH LADIES AND BRADFORD WEAVERS.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2484, 23 March 1882, Page 4

ENGLISH LADIES AND BRADFORD WEAVERS.

[From the " Queen."] The results of the movement in favor of the employment of fabrics manufactured from English wools, whioh was promoted by the Oountess of Baotivo and other ladies, cannot be regarded as otherwise than satisfactory. In despite of the disapproval with whioh tho movement was reoeived by some, and of the ridioule that was endeavored to be oast upon it by others, it has done good work, not only for the weavers and their immediate employers—the manufacturers of long-wool fabrics—but also for the farmers and j agriculturists of our own country, who are the producers of the raw material employed in the manufacture. When the movement was first commenced there wore vast r umbers, not only of weavere, but also of the factory workers, more or loss dependent upon them, out of employment; looms were standing idle, and the distress in tho manufacturing dißtriots chiefly concerned in the production of long-wool fabrics was very great; but as soon as an impetus was given to the trade this particular class of goods was inquired for by the public at large, and shopkeepers made announcements that thoy had assortments in stook. This demand necessarily extended to the producers, and a mast satisfactory return of prosperity to thousands of English factory workers was the result. The proof of this state of things is one which will not admit of dispute, inasmuch as it is not derived from the statement of the promoters of the movement in favor of English woollen goods, or even from the vendors of them when manufactured, but from the general trade returns of the past year, whioh are furnished to the "Times" from every large and important industry in the United Kingdom. In that on the Bradford goods, we are informed that there was a gradual decline in the value of wool, and necessarily in that of the goods manufactured from it, until the month of Ootober, 1881, when the effeots of the movement were first felt, and an advance in price, though not a large one, was obtained. Since that date the distress in the district has entirely disappeared; in the place of faotory workers being out of _ employment, we are informed that there is at the present time a demand for more hands than can be found ; that during the past year there have been a considerable increase in the number of working frames and looms, and that the prospects of the trade are cheering. This moreover, is in spite of a marked absence of undue speculation, suoh as previously existed ; for the effects of over-pro-duction of goods during the yearß 1879 and 1880 had taught a lesson whose severity was still vividly remembered by those who suffered from its effeot. Nor does the good influence of the movement in favor of our English woollen goods end here ; although, if it had done no more, it would have accomplished no mean end in reviving, if only for a single winter, the industry of a district, and restoring and wages to thousands of families who were in want of both. The trade report of Messrs W. and O. Dunlop informs us that "the manufacturers have made much progress in the production of soft goods suited to the present taste and fashion, that they have recovered a considerable portion of the trade whioh French makers had at first easily seoured for suoh fabrics in this country." It is difficult to imagine a statement more satisfactory to the promoters of the agitation, coming as it does from an entirely independent source ; and we cannot refrain from sincerely congratulating the Oountess of Beotive, and the philanthropic ladies with whom she was associated, on the result of their labors. If we desire to look from the present to the future, we must take the statistics of the past year as a standpoint. By them we are informed that, owing to some causes not stated, although possibly the peculiar mildness of the last season might be suggested, there is a defioienoy of ten millions (10.000,000) of pounds in the last year's dip of English wools ; but that, thanks to our colonial possessions, and to the Queen's sovereignty over an extended realm on which the sun never sets, we have reoeived from our colonies one hundred thousand (100,000) bales in excess of those supplied to us in the previous year, namely 1880 ; and this, owing to the increased demand, has not produced any stagnation of trade or manufacture, for the price remains the same as at the close of last year. The report concludes with the exceedingly gratifying announcement that the quantity of Bradford manufactures sent to the colonies and other localities abroad in 1881 was larger than in any previous year. The agitation, as we have already oal led it, whioh has led to these desirable results, is peculiarly interesting to us and to our readers ; for it was promoted, commenced, continued and carried to a successful issue by women. A good work was to be done, and without plunging into the troubled arena of party politics, indulging in sectarian bitterness, or holding angry disouasions on platforms, the attention of the publio was drawn to tho fact that our own workers, as well as our manufacturing and agricultural industries, were suffering from the mere caprice and change of fashion, when the evil was remedied; and all honor be to those ladies who, without hope of any possible personal advantage, and at a great saorifioe of time and trouble, added to serious pecuniary expenditure, succeeded in directing the publio taste, and with it the publio money, into a current that relieved what would otherwise have been the distress of thousands of their fellow countrymen and their dependant families during the ourrent winter.