factory was complete, there has been nothing
but adversity in connexion with the trade, and
now his mill is standing idle, his money brings
him in no interest, he has his machinery to
keep in order, and his ground-rent to pay—
what can a man in such a position do for the poor
factory-hands?"

Take another case which is by no means an
uncommon one. It will sometimes happen that
a man who has risen, by being a good workman,
to the rank of overlooker, or to some superior
post, will manage in time to save a good little
sum of money— say, five hundred pounds, or six
hundred pounds. A machinery-maker gets to
hear of this, and, sending for the man, proposes
to him to start a mill. He gives him credit for
the machinery, and the cotton-merchant gives
him credit for the raw material; the five hundred
pounds or six hundred pounds are wanted to set
the thing going. It is evident that this is
altogether a venture, a speculation which may or
may not turn out well. If times be good, the
man who is thus set up in business, goes on
prospering, and by degrees, though no doubt
very slowly, gets out of the original
entanglement, pays for his machinery and
cotton, and at last makes money. But all this
takes time, and if anything happens while the
process is going on, what becomes of our mill-
owner?

In the season of extraordinary prosperity,
a few years ago, the cotton trade was so good,
and held out such strong allurements to those
who were in a hurry to make a fortune, that all
sorts of people rushed into it, bent on profiting
by the chance of the moment. It is probable
that many of them got to work just as that
wonderful tide began to ebb. Where are those
men now? Depend upon it we make a mistake
when, as we steam through these districts, we
note the mighty chimneys on each side of the
way, and assume that each one of them is a
sort of alchemist's furnace in which the men
of Lancashire are turning tufts of cotton into
bars of gold.

As to the real millionnaires, the men who have
prospered, and whom the labour of the mill-
hands has really profited, I believe they are
in the main doing their duty, and that many
of them are doing more than their duty, and
making such sacrifices as one cannot hear of
unmoved.

There are exceptions, no doubt, and great is
the contempt with which these are spoken of
by the more open-handed. But the
exceptional cases are found more rarely among the
actual mill-owners and manufacturers, than
among those who have made money in a less
hazardous manner by the sale of the finished
article. Two other classes are mixed up with
this particular industry, concerning whom it
may be questioned whether they have come
forward with such liberality as might be
fairly expected of them: namely, the men of
Liverpool, who have made enormous fortunes
by dealing in the raw material, and who have
profited in no ordinary degree by the recent
panic; and the ground landlords, who own
Lancashire property, and whose land has been
increased incalculably in value by the chance
which caused it to be the locality chosen as
most convenient for the formation of a cotton
colony. From these two classes the sufferers
in Lancashire have a right to expect
liberality.

The sum of £130,000 raised recently in one
sum among the Lancashire people alone, is
only an item in the long list of contributions
which have been furnished by the people of this
locality; nor are the money contributions which
can be distinctly set forth in subscription-lists,
the only, or the most valuable, reinforcements
which the men of Lancashire have brought to the
great work of keeping starvation and misery at
bay. No doubt it is a good thing to hand over
a large sum of money to the Relief Fund, and
no doubt the man who does so is helping the
cause well; but what shall we say to those
who, at a continual loss, are keeping mills going,
and are buying cotton at the present high
prices, knowing that it will one day be greatly
deteriorated in value?

I attended a meeting at Manchester at which
some particulars of the private benevolence of
many of the manufacturing firms came out. I
will quote one of these instances. A certain mill
gives employment to about eleven hundred hands,
and during the last year and three-quarters has
worked, on an average, forty-two hours per
week. During that year and three-quarters, the
actual loss sustained by that firm has been
£12,985, and in this account not one penny is
charged for interest on capital, or deterioration
of machinery: the value of the plant being
£80,000. If the works had been entirely stopped
during the period named, the expense would
have been, for rent, taxes, coals, and wages,
£6430, thus showing a loss, through working, of
£6555, or £72 per week. During this period
there has been paid in wages to the workpeople
the sum of £33,966. Out of eleven hundred
hands there have not been twenty applications
to the parish for relief. Besides all
this, the principal and junior partners have
contributed to the distress fund £800 between
them. The same speaker who gave these
particulars, mentioned a dozen similar instances,
the figures of which are reported in the
Manchester newspapers of Thursday, the 20th of
November. I think I cannot do better than
extract them:

A. feeds his hands, 800 in number, at a cost of
£80 per week, or £4160 per annum. B. has from
1000 to 1100 hands, and gives, in money and
provisions, £110 per week, and £24 weekly to a sewing
class. This equals £6968 per year. The schooling
of 42 boys is also paid for, and money is given to
the support of many old superannuated hands. C.
has expended for his workpeople—cash, £1340;
bread, £220; coals, £48; total, £1608. D. has
2000 hands, and entirely employs his idle work-
people. E. has from 1800 to 2000 hands; gives a
daily dinner to the whole; has taken their clothes
out of pawn; has provided much fresh clothing;
and has given, in addition, £1000 to the general