seen at once that the distressed districts are precisely those in which the old crofting system is still lingering. Wherever the crofts have been consolidated into farms of moderate size, no distress has ever arisen from the failure of potatoes. But this is a process which cannot be carried into effect without a reduction in the number of the people who now derive from the land a scant and precarious subsistence. The same conclusion can be drawn from the facts of pauperism as existing at the present moment, and with the view of bringing those facts in an authoritative form before the Society, I now add the following memorandum on the subject, kindly furnished to me by Sir John McNeill, K.C.B., who presides over the Poor Law Board in Scotland:— "In 1851 the population of Scotland, according to the census "of that year, was 2,888,742, and that of the four principal High"land counties (Argyll, Inverness, Ross and Sutherland), was 294,497. 66 "At 14th May, 1851, the total number of poor on the roll "(including dependents), in all Scotland, was 113,086 (being one pauper to every 25.5 of the population); and in the four High"land counties 14,856 (being one pauper in every 19.8 of their "population). 66 "In 1861, the population of Scotland was, according to the census of that year, 3,062,294. The increase from 1851 to 1861 was, therefore, at the average annual rate of 17,355, which would "give for 1864 a population of 3,114,359. But that of the four "Highland counties was then 275,345, showing an average annual "decrease of 1,915, which would give for 1864 a population of "269,600. "At 14th May, 1864, the total number of poor on the roll (including dependents), was, for all Scotland, 120,705, being one "pauper in every 25.8 of the population; and in the four Highland “counties 13,341, being one pauper in every 20.2 of the population. "In the county of Perth, where the population is, for the most "part Highland, and where the decrease of the population during "the ten years referred to was at the average rate of 529 per annum, "or 5,291 in ten years; and where, too, the old crofting system, "which was in full operation a century ago, has almost ceased to exist, the proportion of paupers to population, at 14th May, 1864, was one in every 257, very nearly the average of all Scotland, “which at that date was 1 in 25.8. In 1860 it had been 1 in 25 in "Perthshire. "In the county of Argyll, where the decrease of the population, "in the ten years referred to, was at the average rate of 922 per "annum, and where the old crofting system has been much more extensively maintained, the proportion of paupers to population 66 was, at the same date, one in every 171 of the population. In "1860 it had been 1 in 16.1. 66 "In the Mull poorhouse combination, including the parishes of "Ardnamurchan and Morven on the mainland, together with the "islands of Mull, Iona, Tiree and Coll, the estimated population for "1864 is 16,363, and the number of paupers (including dependents), "at 14th May, 1864, was 1,250, or 1 in every 13 of the population; "while the proportion in the neighbouring poorhouse combination of "Lorn, with an estimated population of 12,969 in 1864, was, at the same date, 1 in 163. In the Isla combination it was 1 in 145. "In the Lochgilphead poorhouse combination it was 1 in 18.5. In "the southern district of Cantire, including the parishes of Saddell "and Skipness, Campbelton and Southend, with an estimated popu"lation, in 1864, of 11,148, the proportion was 1 in 184. In the "district of Cowal, on the other hand, which touches the lowlands "and stretches along the Firth of Clyde, including the parishes of Dunoon and Kilmun, Inverchaolain, Kilfinnan, Kilmodan, Loch"goilhead, Strachur and Strathlachlane, with an aggregate estimated population, in 1864, of 10,035, the proportion of paupers to popu"lation is only 1 in 30. 66 Any one acquainted with the county of Argyll will at once "perceive that this progressive diminution in the proportion of "paupers to population corresponds closely with the diminution in "the proportion of the population depending for subsistence on the produce of small crofts, and that the proportion of paupers "increases as we recede from the districts in which the old crofting system has been superseded, and the system of the more advanced "parts of the country has been established." 66 I will now shortly restate to the Society the facts and conclusions which can, I think, be satisfactorily established in regard to the past and present economic condition of the Highlands : 1. That before the end of the last of the civil wars, the condition of the population was one of extreme poverty and frequent destitution. 2. That on the close of those wars, and the establishment of a settled Government, there was, during half a century, a rapid increase of population. 3. That this increase was out of all proportion to the means of subsistence. 4. That the introduction of potato cultivation increased the evil of a rapid increase in population, without any corresponding increase in skill or industry. 5. That the emigration of the Highlanders arose as a necessity out of this condition of things, and was in itself the first step towards improvement. 6. That the introduction of sheep farming was a pure gain, not tending to diminish the area of tillage where tillage is desirable, and turning to use for the first time a large part of the whole area of the country, which was formerly absolute waste. 7. That for the old bad cultivation of small crofters there has been substituted for the most part a middle class of tenantry, thriving, holding under lease, and exhibiting all the conditions of agricultural prosperity. 8. That the displacement of population by the introduction of great capitalists holding farms of very large value, has not taken place in the Highland counties to an extent nearly equal to that in which it has taken place in some of the richest counties of Scotland. 9. That the process which has been going on in the Highland counties, of a diminution in the population of the rural districts, is the same process which has long ago been accomplished in the other counties of Scotland and in England. 10. That in their case it was also deplored under the same economic fallacies-fallacies which are now applied only to the Highlands because the process is not yet completed. 11. That the prosperity of the Highlands will only be complete when the process shall have been completed also. 12. That no part of Scotland, considering the late period at which improvement begun, has advanced so rapidly, or given within an equal space of time, so large and so solid an addition to the general wealth of the country. The LACE and HOSIERY TRADES of NOTTINGHAM. By WILLIAM FELKIN, ESQ., F.L.S., F.S.S. [Read before Section F, British Association, Nottingham, August, 1866.] THE progress of the town and suburbs of Nottingham in population and material wealth during this century has been much advanced by the increase of the hosiery and lace manufacturers of the place. In regard to the population of Nottingham, from the figures which appear in the population returns, much misconception prevails. Nottingham there appears to have a population of about 75,000, that is within the limits of the municipal borough only; while including the suburban parishes, which are practically parts of Nottingham, there are about 150,000 in all. It has risen from 35,000, the number. in 1811. I. The following account of the machine-wrought lace trade in 1865, is based on a census made by Mr. Birkin and Mr. Heymann in 1862, of the machinery in the business, and given by the former in his report to Class 24 in the London Exhibition of that year. At that time there were 1,797 circular machines making bobbin net; of these 200 were at Tiverton, 100 at Barnstaple, 360 at Chard, 500 in Derbyshire, and 700 in and near Nottingham. Also 1,588 levers, 125 traverse warps, 42 pushers, all in Nottingham and its neighbourhood, making a total, with 353 standing, of 3,552 bobbin net, and 400 warp lace frames. Of these 2,149 were making silk lace, and 1,450 cotton lace. There were employed on plain net 1,442, and on fancy 2,157, the latter being closer imitations of cushion lace than ever before made. Although since 1862 there have occurred great fluctuations in demand, and the prices of both silk and cotton materials have advanced full 75 per cent., the amount of machinery and employment was in 1865 about the same as 1862. The entire production continues to be finished and sold in Nottingham, except that made at Tiverton, which is of silk, and sold in London. II. The approximate number of hands employed in 1865 is calculated upon the account taken by the writer recently of the hands actually engaged in making and finishing the production of lace from a large body of bobbin net machines. These, for the whole body of the lace machinery, may be thus stated:-900 men employed in 180 shops for making machines, bobbins, carriages, points, guides, combs, needles, &c., at average wages of 33s. a-week; 10,300 men and youths at work in 130 larger factories and in lesser machine shops, 1,800 of whom may earn 168., 5,000 258., and 3,500 first-class levers' hands 358. a-week on an average. These all work alternate shifts of four and five hours each, in the entire day of eighteen hours during which the engine is going. 4,200 boys clearing, winding, threading bobbins, 58. 500 women filling bobbins and overlooking, 128. 15,000 brown net menders, who usually receive nets from factories, and free them from foul or uneven threads. It is generally supplementary labour to household work, by which 4s. to 8s. may be gained, averaging 58. a-week. 300 men, warpers, 258.; 300 men, moulders, founders, and superintendents of machinery, 358.; 60 carpenters, 30s.; 360 porters, 178.; 120 carters, 208.; 90 watchmen, &c., 20s.; 260 steam engineers, 228.; 150 bleachers, 30s.; 100 male dressers of lace, 8s. to 30s.; 900 female dressers, 108.; 1,000 female white menders, 128.; 500 female lace folders, 10s.; 1,000 paper box makers of both sexes, 78.; 450 warehouse women, 138.; 250 female overlookers, 158.; 100 draftsmen and designers, 40s.; 1,300 warehousemen and clerks taking salaries. III. There are employed in each finishing lace warehouse from 6 to 600 females, as the size and nature of the business may require. The number cannot be known except by actual census. They are taken from out-door hands in brown mending and other employments on lace. The hours are 8 A.M. to 6 or 7 P.M., and the wages are about 98. on an average; overtime is paid for. The kinds of work must be seen to be understood, but are in general more wearisome than heavy. In some of the factories and work-rooms, in lace warehouses, and in dressing-rooms, the heat is sometimes oppressive. In general, ventilation is provided for, but hands do not always care to make use of it. IV. There is a far greater number of females employed, sometimes from a too early age, in the houses of "mistresses," often their own mothers, upon drawing, scolloping, carding, &c., processes light and simple enough, upon goods which have been obtained from finishing houses. These young people must exercise care and cleanliness on the articles, or they would be spoilt. When returned to the warehouse, the mistress receives a price, out of which she takes a portion for her labour, risk of damage, fire, light, house room, &c. Some of these persons employ as many as twenty young girls. number cannot be known accurately except by census. The total |
