70

THE BRITISH EMPIRE : — UNITED KINGDOM

Statistics of cotton factories in the United Kingdom :—

Factories Spindles : Spinning .

Doubling .

Power looms .

f 1890 \ 1903 f 1890 \ 1903 ri890 \ 1903 ri890 \ 1903

England and Wales

2,257

2,399

39,814,303

43,314,641

3,424,907

3,408,945

585,662

665,088

Scotland

Ireland

99

68 639,563 558,471 564,550 540,619 28,093 17,685

7

9

58,068

32,120

3,428

2,860

1,959

847

U.K.

2,363

2,476

40,511,934

43,905,232

3,992.885

3,952,424

615,714

683,620

In Lancashire alone there were in 1912, 58,140,220 spindles, and 758,712 looms.

The following information is furnished hy Mr. Thomas E. Ellison of Liverpool : —

A century ago the value of cotton, woollen, and linen yarns and piece goods produced in Great Britain and Ireland was about 22,000,000? — say woollen 17,000,000Z., linen 4,000,000/., and cotton 1,000,000Z. Of recent years the value has been about 200,000,000?.— say, cotton 120,000,000?., woollen 55,000,000?., and linen 25,000,000?. The total amount of capital emploj^ed is about 250,000,000?., and at least 5,000,000 people — men, women, and children — are dependent upon these industries for their livelihood. Moreover, one-half of the value of British and Irish products exported con- sists of textiles. The progress made by each branch is shown in the sub- joined statement of the weight of raw material used and the value of yarns and goods exported : —

Weight consumed in Millions |

Value of Products exported in

Average Periods

of lbs.

Thousands of £'s

of Three Years

Cotton

Wool

Flax

Total

Cotton

Woollen 4,967

Linen

Total

1829-1831

243-2

149-4

193-8

586-4

18,077

2,138

25,182

1859-1861

1,022-5

260-4

212-0

1,494-9

49,000

15,041

6,119

70,060

1889-1891

1,618-0

564-0

220-0

2,402-0

72,114

24,176

6,377

102,667

1896-1898

1,668-0

624-0

236-0

2,628-0

66,094

22,885

5,697

94,676

1S99-1901

1,679-0

623-0

190-0

2,492-0

70,340

20,898

5,857

97,095

1902-1904

1,585-0

582-0

192-0

2,359-0

76,663

22,066

6,429

105,157

1905-1907

1,941-0

657-0

226-0

2,824-0

100,676

28,253

7,956

136,885

1908-1910

1,750-0

7100

217-0

2,677-0

98,164

29,232

8,234

135,630

1910-1912

2,030-0

785-0

230-0

3,045-0

121,145

34,277

9,373

164,795

The following table gives 'the principal variations in the movements since 1883.

1883

mil. lbs. 1,734 249

1,485 1,498

1888

1898

mil lbs. 2,128 203

1910

mil. lbs. 1,973 256

1,717 1,622

1911

mil. lbs. 2,207 291

1,916 1,963

1912

Cutton. Imported .... Exported ....

mil. lbs. 1,732 271

mil. lbs. 2,806 324

Retained for consumption . Actual consumption .

1,461 1,529

1,925 1,735

2,482

2,097