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which rules all other trades in Lancashire, is just now passing through a depression of unusual intensity and duration. A patient may have been subjected to repeated attacks of acute disease, the consequences of his own indiscretions, perhaps, and by the help of an originally strong constitution may have recovered. But at length & variety of chronic infirmities overcome him, and his friends recognise the signs of sure decline of his vital powers. In the following pages are indicated some of the symptoms which have caused us to conclude that Lancashire, as a trading community, has reached its last climacteric, and has entered upon a stage of decadence, which one hopes will not be short, but at the end of which it will present a melancholy contrast to the scene of concentrated human energy and accumulated resources which it has exhibited for a hundred years.

One needs to have dwelt good part of a lifetime amidst the thickly planted manufacturing towns of Lancashire, in order to readily detect the altered circumstances of the cotton manufacture. Its loss of aggressive force and capacity for expansion is barely perceptible if you only look at the course of the trade within a short term of five or ten years. But those who have known Lancashire long, and remember distinctly what the aspect and prospect of the manufacture were thirty to forty years ago, must see very plainly the indications of the exhaustion of the potent impulse which once moved it. The time of most rapid increase in the weaving branch of the cotton trade, of which north-east Lancashire is the principal seat, was the decade from 1850 to 1860. In those years an enormous capital was invested in new buildings and machinery for the manufacture of cotton piece-goods. Weaving-sheds sprang up like gigantic mushrooms in every direction. There was a rush of outside capitalists into the business. Whilst the “boom” continued, anything in the shape of plain calico could be sold as fast as it could be delivered; and profits were so ample that the gains of two or three years’ working in numerous instances cleared the cost of all the looms and machines, and of the buildings they were placed in. That prosperous spell was terminated by the American war of 1861-65, which stopped the supply of American cotton. After the war, when cotton became plentiful again, and reverted to its old price, the manufacture revived, and with empty markets the makers of cotton-pieces found openings for their wares at remunerative rates. But the experiences of the cotton famine had their effect in chastening the spirits of manufacturers, who did not pursue their undertakings or project extensions with the same avidity as before. From 1875 to 1880, the Lancashire traders in cottons, then for the first time feeling sharply the pressure of competition in foreign markets, and the restricting effect of the import duties on British cotton goods levied by the Government of India, passed through a season of heavy loss and discouragement, and, reluctant enough, were driven to the expedient of reducing wages in order to relieve the strain upon themselves. Those reductions were resisted to the last extremity by the whole body of the operatives; the memorable strike of 1878 ensued, in which 120,000 workpeople stood out for three months, and at last were only with the utmost difficulty persuaded to submit to the sacrifice of 10 per cent of their earnings.