247. Slower development of the woolen manufacture.—No such rapidity of development as this can be traced in the woolen manufacture, for it had long been England’s mainstay, and changed more slowly partly because it was so firmly established. Little by little, however, the spinning-wheel was displaced by the jenny, and other sources of power than the human body were utilized. As in the case of cotton, power weaving was not important until after 1800; but the manufacture of worsteds (in which the fibers are longer than in woolens, and are kept parallel) was greatly helped by a second invention of Cartwright, for wool-combing by machinery.
248. Development of the iron industry with the use of pit-coal.—The only other industry of this period which our space allows us to treat is that of iron. Until the eighteenth century iron was made almost entirely by smelting with charcoal, the primitive process which can be traced back to prehistoric times. A ton of iron required two loads of charcoal, and a load of charcoal two loads of wood, so that the industry depended largely on the wood supply, and was carried on at petty forges scattered through England, but established mainly in the South. A large proportion of the English iron supply was imported from Sweden. Coal, as we use the word, called then pit-coal or sea-coal, had for centuries been mined for domestic use, but had no importance in manufacture. Various men tried to smelt iron by coal or coke, but their experiments had no practical result till about 1760, when blast furnaces using coal were successfully established, and the industry began a period of rapid development, furthered about 1790 by the application of steam-power to the blast. Henry Cort invented in this period the processes by which pig was changed to malleable iron in a coal-puddling furnace, and the malleable iron was worked into bars by rollers instead of by the slow action of forge hammers. The production of iron had increased fourfold (17,000 to 68,000 tons) in the period 1740-1788, and in the period of eight years following nearly as much again was produced (125,000 tons in 1796). The industries depending on iron passed into a new stage, and the large export of iron and steel in 1800 is explained.
249. (3) The chief markets for England’s exports.—The market for English wares varied, of course, according to the country to which they were sent. The most favorable market for manufactures was afforded by the colonies in America, until the outbreak of the war of independence. The colonists were a high grade of customers; they had cultivated tastes and were willing to work hard to gratify them. By reason of natural conditions even more than by legislation they found it difficult to establish manufactures, and bought manufactured wares of England with the raw products which their environment afforded in abundance. A book published just before the revolution says that the “colonies are furnished from England with materials for wearing apparel, household furniture, silk, woolen, and linen manufactures, iron, cordage, and sails, great guns, small arms, ammunition, lead, brass, iron, and steel, whether wrought or unwrought; in a word England furnishes them with almost everything needful for the luxuries, as well as conveniences of life, except provisions.”
In European countries English manufactures did not find such a clear field. There were some branches (silk, linen, lace, paper, tin-plate, etc.) in which other countries were distinctly superior, and no European country depended on England as did the colonies. English woolens, however, went practically everywhere, and other products of the textile and metal industries were sure of a ready market in most countries.
For exports to other continents the English had to choose articles which would stimulate less civilized people to production and exchange. Very considerable sums in gold and silver were sent to Asia, and the half-savage Africans were tempted with gunpowder, iron, rum, spirits, beads, etc.
QUESTIONS AND TOPICS
1. Endeavor to get a clear understanding of the meaning of each of the topics, and of their bearing on each other, by thinking of the present-day commerce of the U. S. and asking yourself: what are the main facts about (1) our exports, (2) our natural advantages, etc. Then ask yourself how knowledge of any one of these topics will be of use to you in understanding the others, and so understanding commerce in general. For instance, what bearing has our tariff policy on our imports and exports, respectively? What are the weaker points in our system of production as shown by imports; what countries are strong in those points? The student is most earnestly advised to learn the contents of this manual by understanding and not by memorizing. He should always be asking himself: what use is this fact to me?
2. Transform the figures, sect. 239, into a graphic chart, and compare the results with exports at the present day. [See Statesman’s Year-Book for recent figures.]
3. Development of English agriculture in the seventeenth century. [Soc. Eng., 4: 115-122, 439-445; Prothero, *Pioneers and progress of English farming, London, 1888.]
4. Development of agriculture in the eighteenth century. [Soc. Eng., 5: 99-110, 301-305, 452-459; Prothero.]