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ladies being present. Wrote this night till one-half past twelve." Two or three days after he writes: "Loaned my gig in the evening to a young gentleman to ride on a very interesting visit. The terms on which I lent him the gig were 'he was to kiss the pretty girl for me,' which he promised faithfully to do, and produced a certificate to that effect in the morning."

But the change in methods of travel was at hand, and by a happy coincidence our traveller was present on one important occasion marking the inception of railroad transportation. His account is of some historic interest. Baltimore, July 4, 1828: "Had a view of the splendid procession which was formed of all the mechanics, trades and occupations in the city to lay the corner stone of the Ohio and Baltimore Railroad. This was the most splendid procession ever witnessed in this city. . . . Among Among the rest and upon whom devolved the duty of laying the corner stone was the venerable Charles Carroll of Carrollton, now in his 92d year and the

survivor of the signers of the Declaration of Independence of these United States. His appearance does not indicate more than seventy years. The day passed off without accident, noise or confusion. The The greatest order everywhere prevailed. Among other things which attracted attention were two wagons from the Union Cotton Factory loaded with the females from that establishment; one wagon had sixty, and the other forty, females. The day was unusually fine, the evening was uncomfortably cold. Through the day and evening I saw but one individual intoxicated."

There are comparatively few political references, and these concern the fierce struggle then going on over protection. It will be remembered that this winter was marked by the consideration and passage of the "tariff of abominations," which among other things doubled the duties on woollen goods. In a letter of the 21st of January, 1828, he speaks

of the "universal complaint of the unproductiveness of the woollen business." On October 27, 1827, at Germond's in Washington, Dutchess County, New York, he chanced upon a "Grand Convention" of "professing Republicans" for the nomination of candidates for the Assembly; and on February 18, 1828, he says: "At Mr. Germond's was a county convention for the purpose of passing resolutions against a revision of the tariff and opposed to any further protection on woollen goods. It was attended by the relatives and friends of Mr. J. J. Oakley, representative in Congress, and if these personal friends were stricken from the roll of those who cried ‘aye,` any man would say it was a [word illegible] convention." In November, 1827, he was refused information about a factory in Nashua, New Hampshire, "until after the tariff has passed," and he was evidently considered a spy. The woollen industry generally was not flourishing, while the cotton industry was most prosperous. New cotton mills were going up, and some woollen factories were being changed to cotton. The cotton manufacturers evidently looked upon the protective system with less favor, for one of them in Peterboro, New Hampshire, complained that the commodities consumed by the 253 operatives in his mill paid the government a duty of $1,500.

On February 17, services in memory of Clinton were held, and Mr. Holbrook gives an account of those in Poughkeepsie, where he chanced to be: "This day was appointed to deliver sermons on the death of Mr. Clinton, governor of the state of New York. Every pulpit was draped in mourning-black broadcloth sufficient to make a full suit for each. clergyman, one Episcopalian, one Presbyterian, one Dutch Reformed, one Methodist, one Baptist. The services were performed in the Dutch church. In the morning, sermon from the Rev. Mr. Cuyler from this text: 'Hear the rod and him who hath ap

pointed it.' In the afternoon by Dr. Reed of the Episcopalian church from this text: 'A time to mourn.' In the evening by Rev. Mr. Welton of the Presbyterian church from this text: 'How are the mighty fallen!' or something like it-I don't remember exactly. The church was crowded to overflowing during the three services. Mr. Hutchinson of the Baptist church made a prayer before and after noon, and Mr. Richardson of the Methodist church in the evening,"-after all of which the people must have been heartily tired of Governor Clinton.

Incidentally we have in the diary descriptions of many places. Among the New England towns are "Portland, which is now the third in point of tonnage in the Union. Here appears an activity in business quite in contrast with the town of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. There are now about 14,000 inhabitants"; Brunswick, Maine: "This appears a flourishing village, the college consisting of three handsome brick buildings at the west end of the town. This place carries on a considerable lumber trade, receiving their logs for 150 to 200 miles up the river. They have 28 saws in operation, but no other manufactory of any note."

Of more interest are brief accounts of some New York places. Watertown was growing rapidly, having increased thirty per cent in a year. In Sackett's Harbor "everything has a temporary appearance. The place owes its present size to the late war, and the cause being removed which gave it birth, almost everything has the appearance of dilapidation and decay. The armed vessels which sometimes thundered defiance at Our enemy are now sunk in the lake or are in the more peaceful employment of the merchant in the carrying trade of the lake. The mammoth ship now on the stocks having a house over it was designed for 120 guns. The fine stone barracks near the shore of the lake make a very handsome and beautiful appearance and are undoubtedly the

handsomest in the United States." "Oswego will undoubtedly be a place of importance, being connected with the Erie Canal and also lying on the lake shore." "Rochester far exceeds all that I have ever heard of its growth and business. There are here now about 13,000 inhabitants, eight places for religious worship, twelve flouring mills having fifty run of stone, a great variety of other mills, etc. In 1812 only one house stood where is now the bustle and business of a city." Lockport "is increasing with wonderful rapidity and will shortly be a place of much importance.' of much importance." Fort Niagara "is the oldest military post in the United States, the house having been built about 130 years. There are here no troops stationed. The colonel [Jewett] has charge of the fort and the property belonging to the government. The situation is without a superior for pleasantness and one of the finest places for fishing and fowling in the country. There I was shown the magazine in which 'tis said 'Morgan was confined and murdered.' The colonel is now indicted for being accessory to the 'doleful deed,' of which in my opinion he knows nothing." "The immense quantity of salt here [Syracuse] manufactured is truly astonishing to one unacquainted with the business. The salt duty paid to the state last year was $116,000. Apparently more than 100 acres are covered by the evaporating vats besides the immense number of boilers."

The Auburn state prison was established in 1816. "This is a splendid pile of buildings, displaying much neatness and good regulation. Nearly 600 convicts are here at constant labor, carrying on all kinds of mechanical labor. The expense of feeding and clothing each person is less than eight cents per day. Many of the weavers are employed for the Auburn factory at twenty-five cents per day, who make 6-4 and 7-8 bedtick and wove in March 3,700 yards of 6-4 and 4,200 yards 7-8 bedtick and 1,200 yards jeans."

The evidence of this observer as to the manufacturing industries can be of value only cumulatively, reinforcing and perhaps supplementing other accounts. It concerns only the cotton and woollen industries, with incidental reference to others. But the materials for the economic history of the United States yet to be written are in some fields scant, and all that may add to our knowledge is worth preserving. Negative evidence is of slight value, and it is not safe to infer that there were no textile establishments outside of the districts visited by Holbrook, although it is probable that he visited nearly all the regions where cotton and woollen factories existed in any numbers. These were the southwestern corner of Maine, the Merrimac Valley, the Connecticut Valley to Bellows Falls, the northeast corner of Connecticut, the Hudson Valley, the Mohawk Valley, and from Syracuse west to the Falls along the line of the "old road" of the New York Central system, the region just east of Lake Ontario, the vicinity of Philadelphia and of Wilmington, Delaware, and especially the vicinity of Baltimore. The growth of Manayunk near Philadelphia had been very rapid. "The factories in the neighborhood of Baltimore are scattered in every direction. 'Tis difficult to find two in the same direction." "I have particular surveys of seventeen factories (and one woollen) in the neighborhood of Baltimore, several of which are very extensive in their operations. Those that I have particularly surveyed have in operation 45,032 spindles, 788 looms, and employ 2,500 persons." Of others he took no survey, but from Maryland he writes: "I do not find that neatness of appearance and apparent comfort around the dwellings that I have frequently admired in my northern and eastern tour."

Although the factories were all in the New England and Middle States, there was no such localization as at present. Small factories, often of only

a few thousand dollars capital, were scattered all over this region. Such concentration as did exist was due to the water power. Our textile industries passed through the same stages as the textile industries of England. The first effect of the introduction of machinery driven by water was to build up the factories away from cities where power could be had. Power could not be brought to the people in the towns, but the people could be taken to the waterfall. The introduction of steam has changed this tendency. One or two large factories are mentioned, as one in Ware, Massachusetts, with a capital of $525,000 and a product of 15,000 to 18,000 yards a week, and one at Saco costing. $300,000 to $400,000.

As in England, the cotton industry developed the large factory much sooner than did the woollen industry. The woollen factories mentioned by Mr. Holbrook employed 40 to 70 hands. The cotton factories were generally larger. One is mentioned which employed 700 people, and those at Ware and Saco must, judging from the number of spindles running, have employed 500 and over 800 respectively. Improvements in cotton machinery were being made continually, and the cost of a suit of machinery from the picker to the loom was from $14 to $25 per spindle. The output was very different in different factories. In one case about 54 yards per loom per week for "fine goods No. 32 to 40"; in another 130 per loom per week of No. 25; and in another case, fineness not given, 107 yards per loom weekly. The cotton factories ran about 35 to 38 spindles to the loom.

"Silk manufacture is carried on in [Mansfield, Connecticut] more extensively than in any other town in the states. The last season has been unfavorable, and the quantity made is only 2,629 pounds. The manufacture is wholly domestic, and one person can make about twenty pounds with sufficient worms and trees. Two hun

dred and sixty families are engaged in this business in a greater or less degree; the most made by any one family was seventy-five pounds, the least eight ounces. It is reeled and spun in families and sold in quantities to merchants and others, who have it colored and prepared for market. The price of the raw silk is about $4 per pound, but when finished it is not sold by weight. When well spun it is said to be superior to any other silk for strength. The culture of silk appears confined to the town of Mansfield.” Although Holbrook visited other factories, he says little about them and little about industrial processes. Mention is made of "an extensive nail factory" in Ramapo, New Jersey, "consuming about 900 tons of iron annually"; and he describes a "method of bleaching or rather a finish of their white flannels by brimstone smoke. A room in the rear addition is appropriated to this. A small quantity of brimstone is put into an iron vessel of coals, which is then put into this room and the door closed to retain the smoke." There is naturally a great deal of information about mill construction and protection from fire. It is interesting to notice that this agent was then emphasizing the importance of certain points in modern mill construction.

The most important information, however, is that upon the condition of the mill operatives. It brings additional testimony, but of a somewhat earlier period than usual, in support of the statement that, in marked contrast with contemporaneous English conditions, there was comparatively little cause for criticism of the treatment of factory hands in America. In Newmarket, New Hampshire, were "girls, well dressed, cultivating some flowers, and what was somewhat remarkable, one weaver was also knitting." In a factory near Peterboro, New Hampshire, he notes in his diary: "Some flowers observed in the factory windows, a small library in the counting-room for the use of the per

sons employed," and also in a factory in Peterboro: "Here I found many flowers cultivated by the girls and some shrubbery round the building. A collection of valuable and interesting books for the use of the hands gratis." In a letter from Schaghticoke, New York, he notes as an ap-. parent exception that "they employ a large number of children, and they do not appear to be under the best regulation; consequently their rooms are not in that clean order that I have been gratified in observing heretofore."

A letter written his employer at the conclusion of his tour gives a most interesting and valuable account of what he had observed in this connection: "Presuming that a few observations relative to the moral character and condition of the manufacturers taken as a community will be gratifying to you, I herewith furnish you with that which from personal observation and inquiry I obtained while on my late journey for the Manhattan. Fire Insurance Company. I regret that I did not at first make inquiries concerning Sabbath schools, but I have no memorandums of any until I commenced my journey in this state. While in New Hampshire I generally had conversation with the proprietors respecting the characters of the persons employed and of the tendency of their establishments to the advancing or otherwise of moral principles. On this subject. I found but one opinion, and that certainly was a favorable one.

"In New Hampshire they do not employ many children, finding it more advantageous to have grown persons. These are mostly females of families from the neighboring towns. In many of the factories they require that the applicant shall produce satisfactory recommendations of a good moral character before employment is given. I have in some instances found very handsome libraries left in the counting-room, and any persons employed by the company have the privilege of

taking any book for perusal gratis. They also discountenance the use of ardent spirits and do not allow its use in the workshops. The attentions of the managers not only extend to the persons while employed, but also to the boarding-houses, in order that no persons of immoral habits should locate themselves on their premises and by bad example or precept lead others astray.

"In the state of Connecticut I found many more children at work in the factories than I did in other states. This is partly owing to the vast number of factories in Massachusetts and Rhode Island which give employment to so many girls as weavers that grown persons cannot be obtained for the various branches of the establishments. There is another reason: poor persons with large families of children resort there for work and are anxious that as soon as a child is able to earn anything it should go into the mill, and as it affords some relief to the parents they are received; but as far as I could learn, it is a kind of labor not desired on the score of economy by the proprietors. At Humphreysville I was told by Dr. Deforest that several of the girls in his employ had the preceding summer been engaged as teachers of schools in the neighboring towns and were also re-engaged for the coming season. In this state [New York] I have memorandums of twenty Sabbath schools where the children of the factories regularly attend; some of them are exclusively for the factory children, others are in the neighborhood. Where the establishments are small and remote from a town or neighborhood, the number of children that could be brought together has been considered insufficient for a school of that kind. There is a disposition manifested among the children to attend school, and in some instances it is a part of the contract that they must do so. At Manlius I was told that twenty of the girls in that mill were attending a school for writing only. In Pennsylvania I

found the same attention paid to the subject, and also at several mills in Delaware. I have memorandums of six schools near Philadelphia, three on the Brandywine and six near Baltimore. At the Savage factory they have lately commenced their school. They have a large proportion of grown help, and a great many of these cannot read or write. They are gratified in having an opportunity to go to school, and a very good effect is anticipated from this school. They have a large room very appropriately fitted up for public worship at this place, and clergymen of various denominations frequently officiate there. Many persons have deprecated the increase of manufacturing establishments in this country, believing it will have a tendency to vice and immorality. My own opinion was different, and from information received from every section of the country which I have visited and my personal observation, I do not hesitate to say that in a moral point of view the manufacturers will not suffer in comparison with any other class in the community, and if we look into our county courts, magistrates' offices, poorhouses, jails and penitentiaries, and say from whence do all these people come? I say they do not come from our manufactories. At the New York mills in Oneida County I was told by a person who had been in their employ for nearly two years that he had not heard a profane expression by any person in their employ during that time.

"That the condition of persons employed in our manufactories is benefited, is obvious to the most casual observer. If reasons were required, enough are at hand to satisfy the most scrupulous. The most prominent is constant employment and good wages. Casual employment leaves the person much leisure time, which requires occasional disbursements from previous earnings, and he soon finds more time for idleness than for labor. Habits are formed which are

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