Would not Mr. Arkwright’s Machine have supplied that trade?—In a very limited and a very inferior way indeed, and only for the coarser fabrics; the quality of the yarn that composes a great part of the Scotch manufacture could not have been produced without Mr. Crompton’s invention.
Have you any certain knowledge that what is now called the Mule is the same in principle as the Hall of the Wood Machine, and that it was the sole invention of Mr. Crompton? It was generally admitted so to be at the time, and a subscription was entered into to reward him for it. The principle is the same, certainly.
How many people does this Machine now employ?—I believe, by calculation, about 70,000, and it is supposed about 150,000 weavers.
Do you conceive Mr. Crompton to have received an adequate recompense from the public for this invention?—No, I think it falls far short indeed.
You have said, that the Mule spins a finer kind of yarn than the other machinery, and enables the manufacturer to make a finer species of goods than could have been otherwise made?—Yes.
Is there a greater number of Weavers employed in consequence of that, than would otherwise have been employed?—A very considerable number.
Mr. Joseph Ridgeway, of the House of Thomas Ridgeway
& Son, near Bolton; called in, and Examined.
Have the cotton cloths bleached by you, and spun by Mules, been increasing in quality during the last twenty years?—Very much.
What proportion do they constitute of the whole quantity sent to you to be bleached?—At least four fifths.