COTTON CENTRE

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5324, 10 February 1947, Page 7

COTTON CENTRE

WORLD-WIDE KBPDTATION. Long ago, before the Romans came to Brjtain, a settlement had already grown up at the confluences of the rivers Ir.k, Irwell, Medlock and Mersey, in north-west Eingland. Here lived the first Mancunians. They did not bear that name, of ' course, but the timber-lined well and the quantities of carefully wrought stone hammer s and flint arrowheads which they left behind them show that even they were worthy of it. , And it was here that the Romans seeing in the site the natural ro'utecentre of the North-West, as London is of. the South-East, of Britain, built a camp and a castle, whence fine militaiy roads radiated north to Ribchester, east to Yorlc south-east to London, anid: south-west to Chester. From A.D. 75-450^jthe Romans stayed; aird when the Saxons took ■ over the fort and town they used it as a base for their northem wars. Thus, well over 1500 years ago, Manchester was already one of the ehief centres of Britain. In the following centuries many visitors set d'own t'heir testimony to the enterprise of her people. John Leland, librarian to King Henry VIII (1509-47) referred to Manchester as "the fairest 'built, quickest, and most populous town in all Lancestreshire." In 1582 Cambden, in his "Britannia," speaiks of its excellence "for the beau,tiful show it carries, for resort unto. 'it, and for clothing,- and. in regard to the market-place and college," and refers also to its importance "for certain woollen cloths there wrought, and in great request, and for Manchester cottons." Later again, John May, merchant and Captain of London, in a "Discourse on Foraigne Trade," speaks admiringly of how Manchester bought iTish yarn for weaving into linen to sell again in Ireland, and wool and cotton from Smyrna and; Cyprus to make piecegoods for sale in London and abroad. James Ray, a soldier of the Duke of Cumberland, was no less. impressed, and in 1746 wrote of the town's populousn'ess and industry, its trade infustians and Manchester cottons, already famous and "much improved of late by the invention of dyeing and printing," and of the "great variety of its other manufactures, known by the name of Manchester goods: tickings, linens, checks, hats and all kinds of smallware." Its citizens, says Ray, "export vast quantities of their ' goods abroad," and enjoy "the best trade of any of these northem parts." This 'handful of quotations suffices to show that Manchester's industry was no mere mushroom growth. The mechanisation of industry only increased her prosperity. Ample water supplies gave driving power to her new machines; the softness of the water made it excellent for textile processes; and the bumidity of her atmosphere allowed of the spinning of the finest "counts." The whole area was a coalfield; it was small wonder that Manchester's engineering industries flourished — particularly those making mill and factory equipment — ■ and the co-existence of coal industries and textile dyeing, 'bleaching, printing and finishing plants provided both the opportunity and the justification for new and flourishing chemical industries.

Communication Centre All these industries grew the more rapidly because of Manchester's preeminence as a communications centre. Since Roman times trun'k-roads had converged on Manchester along its surrounding valleys, but for an evergrowing city roads were not enough. Already by 1720 the canalisation of the Mersey up to Manchester was afoot; by 1760 Manchester was the centre of a network of inland waterways, and in 1894 the opening of the great Ship Canal made this inland city a world port, now one of the greatest and best-equipped in the United Kingdom. Moreover, the city soon became the nodal point of a web of trunk railways connecting it with evefy part of the "Britain. It is hardly surprising that, before the world war of 1939-45, th city's airport was already of international significancS. To such a centre wealth and influence soon began to flow in an everswelling stream. Mills and factories in surrounding districts set up their warehouses there, and, with the foundation of the Exchange for the buying and selling of such warehoused merchandise, Manchester became not only the productive but also the administrative centre of the most highly industrialised area of Britain. A legal centre arose there to deal with the problems of commerce, the Bank of England established there in 1826 its first provincial branch, and thei*e, too, many sound private banlks fl.ourish.ed_ and have continued to flourish. The basis of this prosperity and responsibility is ever-broadening. Today, besides her textiles, coal-mining, mil-machinery and heavy engineering industries, Manchester is the productive, administrative and financial headquarters of firms which are world famous for the making of all kinds of light and heavy factory equipment, motor transport, gas and Diesel^ engines, various types of locomotives, aircraft, electrical equipment, armaments, chemicals, dyestuffs, plastics and' many other vital industrial products. It is perhaps natural that such a long tradition of capability and enterprise should have made Manchester famous as a home of outspoken independence and clear thinking. Progress has called for education. • From the ancient Collegiate Church School of the city, from the many first'-class primary' and secondary schools, and particularly from the famous Grammar School, f ouded in 1515, whose motto, "sapere aude" ("dare to be wise"), typifies so much of the Manchester spirit, have come many of Britain's greatest men, and, o what is equally important, a steady

succession level-headed done more for their country 'collectively than any -one statesman could ever do. Nor has the higher education been neglected. Manchester University is one of Britain's greatest provincial universities; its Technical Department, particularly well known for the eompleteness and excellence of its equipment, receives students from all over the world, and its Medical School, which. affords praetical experience in the Manchester Royal Infirmary and allied hospitals, is a nationally important centre for medical training and research. It is not surprising that men so trained should have led Britain on so many occasions in.political and social reforms. The Radicals of Manchester were ever to the fore, no.tably when the efforts of Bamford, Henley, Hunt and others led to the Keform Bill o'f 1832. The cry for Free Trade, rose first in Manchester, and the Free Trade Hall, built on a site offered iby Cobden, . and opened, in the presence of a bril- : liant gathering, which incluided Charles j Dickens and Benjamin Disraeli, in January, 1843, symbolised the part the I city played in -that movement. And ' still to-day, in politics as in business, Manchester has the reputation which the character of her gi*eat newspaper, , the Manchester Guardian, has done much to enhance. Cultural Greatness Too. Culturally, too, Manchester has '■ grown to ^eatness. The fame of the Free Trade Hall as the home of good music, and of the Halle Orchestra, extends far beyond the bounds of Britain; and tbe art galleries of the city, the Rylands Library, and the Cen'tral Library contain many treasures of art and literature. But pei*haps it is in her theatres t'hat Manchester's cultural tradition shines most brilliantly. The names of Courtneidge and Miss Homiman, whose companies played in Manchester, have made theatrical history. The Princes Theatre, opened in 1864, is long famous for " its Shakespearian .produ.ctions The tradition of fine art and fine criticism is as alive to-day as it was then. The path of progress has not always been smooth. Since 1800 Manchester's area has increased sixfold, her population no less than tenfold, and housing problems have been , severe. Yet here again, in the maintenance of adequate standards of housing and public health, in the eradication of slums, in the constnuction of new houses, and particularly in the building of the satellite garden city of Wythenshawe — one of Britain's most eifective housing experiments* and one which may be v/idely adopted in her post-war planning — Manchester has been a pioneer. This, then, is Manchester. A dour, hard-headed city v/ith a mind of its own; a grimy city, too, some say, with its smoky mills and factories; but a city which can be gay as well as grim, and which draws, from the ancient and honourable traditions on. which it is fo.unded, not complacency, but inspiration.