WHEN COTTON LED

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 117, 13 November 1935, Page 19

WHEN COTTON LED

IN SCOTTISH INDUSTRY

BUILDING-UP AND DECLINE

REMNANTS TODAY ,'

The cotton'industry: is attracting much public: attention on account of legislation introducing into it a new method for the statutory regulation of wages, and through the placing before Parliament of the Cotton Spinning Industry Bill, which has for its main purpose the elimination of a great block of so-called "redundant" spindles, says a writer in'the '/Glasgow Herald." Controversy is.'certain to rage round!this proposal to reduce productive capacity. The popular view is that Lancashire alone is affected by it, but other districts will also be involved, and among these is the' West of Scotland, where is still to be found a remnant of what was at one time the staple industry of the district, and at its zenith a much more important economic activity than engineering, shipbuilding, or the iron and steel trades which later usurped the dominant position. Prior to the Industrial Revolution Scotland had a high reputation in the textile trades, and her handloom weavers were famous for their products —linen, lawn, and silk gauzes. Cotton came seriously into consideration with the age of invention and the appearance of the spinning jenny of Arkwright, the "mule" of Crompton, and the power-loom of Cartwright. Arkwright took out his first patent in 1769, and because of its usefulness the spinning process tended to outstrip all others. Scotland made no radjcal contributions to these mechanical discoveries, but her manufacturers were quick to take advantage of them and also to make minor adaptations which added to the efficiency of the new machines. PIONEERS. , Further, Scotsmen were pioneers in the ancillary branches. Thus calicoprinting was in operation near Glasgow in 1738, thirty years before it appeared in Lancashire; McGregor, the father-in-law of Watt, experimented with bleaching by chlorine as early as 1787; and to George Mclntosh, of Dalmarnock, must be given the chief credit of making turkey-red dyeing practicable. Enterprise enough was in evidence. The first cotton mills came into existence in 1779 at Penicuik arid Hpthesay, strange locations surely, but suitable if it be remembered that water was the source of power. In 1785 David Dale set up his factory at New Lanark. It was at the time probably the largest and best-equipped in Great Britain. Later, it was to be used by his son-in-law, Robert Owen, in connection with his social theories. By 1787 there were 19 cotton spinning mills in Scotland, of which four were in Lanarkshire and four in Ayrshire. The next phase in the evolutionary process is connected with the weaving side. Even with the developments in spinning the hand-loom was still the prevalent method of manufacture, though it had made up. some of the leeway through the adoption of Kay's flying shuttle. There was still a considerable lag to be overtaken, arid in this lay a stimulus towards the application of power to the loom. Cartwright met with some success in this regard about 1784, and subsequently perfected his invention. Again, Scottish manufacturers showed a readiness to adopt new ideas, and T-by 1794"'power looms were working at Milton of Campsie and were definitely established by their introduction on a considerable scale into the well-known mills at Catrine, which are still active. By 1817 there were near Glasgow 15 weaving factories with 2275 power looms, as against 200 in all Lancashire. As things were tending it looked as though the West of Scotland would be, the chief centre of the cotton industry; The reasons why this possibility was not realised will duly appear. : FINE CLOTHS. In the days before power was used Scottish workers showed a special capacity for the production of fine cloths, and so it is not surprising to find specialisation in the same direction with the new medium. Glasgow became pre-eminent for plain muslins and Paisley for the ornamental grades. But this was not all: grey cloth was produced for the bleach works and the calico-printing establishments, although not in sufficient quantity to meet all requirements, and local supplies had to be supplemented from Manchester. Other varieties of material were manufactured, and an additional source of demand came from the thread industry when it grew up at Paisley as a ' result of the transition from linen to cotton largely through the appeal of the sewing machine. Up to 1861 the cotton industry in the West of Scotland throve and expanded. From 1800 onwards for at least half a century it was in its great variety of forms and combinations the dominant factor in the industrial life of the district. Some figures may be useful in visualising the situation. In 1834 there were 134 cotton mills—all within 25 miles of Glasgow except one at Aberdeen and erie at Stanley, near Perth: by 1850 the figure had risen to 149 factories (94 in Lanarkshire, 51 in Renfrewshire, and 4. in Ayrshire) with 1,410,054 spindles and 21,575 power looms and a total personnel of 31,710 persons. The zenith was reached in 1861, as is shown by the 4 following statistics:—l 43 factories, 1,577,584 swindles, 28,085 power looms, and 36.903 employees. From- this time onward a decline has to be recorded. DECLINE AND ITS CAUSES. The financial crash of 1857, followed four years later by the American War, had a very unsettling effect upon the West of Scotland cotton position. Simultaneously a new direction of profitable development of capital made itself evident. The coalfields of Lanarkshire began to be' intensely exploited in conjunction with the iron and steel trades. These proved attractive to capital, and a choice wss made in their favour as against textiles. They absorbed labour and induced investment. Glasgow and its hinterland decided for coal, iron, engineering, and shipbuilding. If they had done otherwise, and remained faithful to cotton, the West of Scotland would probably have occupied Lancashire's position today. It is too late in the day to discuss whether the choice was wise or not. It and its consequences are accomplished facts. Certainly from 1861 onwards the cotton activities of the West of Scotland contracted with every expansion of those of Lancashire. The enterprise of Glasgow found another outlet for itself, and it is to be feared that the equipment of the cotton mills did not keep pace with the general practice of the industry. It has also to be noted that Scottish skill had concentrated on fineness, and that many of the almost insatiable new markets wanted only coarse cloths. Somehow the Scottish manufacturers seemed not to favour these; they remained true to tradition and stuck to their muslins, ginghams, shirtings, and .dress Ftripes. Gradually, too, most of.the material for the bleachfields .and tho calico-printing works was brought

from Lancashire. Only those portions of the industry persisted in which there had been primary excellence. Naturally there were some exceptions to this generalisation, but it may be regarded as substantially accurate. POSITION TODAY. By 1875 the full number of factories had been reduced to 84, but these were responsible for 1,526,880 spindles, 27,479 power looms, and 33,276 workers. This may be put another way. In the year in question the Scottish equipment of looms was one-fourteenth of that of Lancashire, in respect of spindles one-twenty-seventh, and in the matter of employees one-thirteenth! The later history is a tale of accentuation of decline in Scotland and expansion in Lancashire. The pace of contraction in Scotland was subsequent to 1875----not vory rapid for some years, but by 1900 it is probably correct to say that thero was in operation only one spinning concern of any magnitude specialising in this side of the work and freely marketing its products. There were,, of course, other spinning mills, but these were confined to producing yarn for the use of other departments of the same firm. At present it would appear that there is no spinning factory exactly comparable with the Lancashire type in operation in Scotland; all the mills are producing for their own use.' The exception to which reference is made above seems to be only intermittently active. The Great War had a deleterious effect on the cotton industry in the West of Scotland chiefly because of the specialised character of its products, which, being of a high type, were not essential. But in spite of everything the original characteristics of the commodities produced have made it possible for them to weather all vicissitudes and to persist. They are being produced in all their fineness today. But they are in a sense a remnant of past greatness, and the cotton industry is on a geratly-reduced scale. In some respects the reduction amounts to a tragic disappearance. Thus, calico-printing, in regard to which Scotland played a pioneer's part, no longer has a footing. This is the result of combination with its inevitable trend towards centralisation. Scotland has . been abandoned and business has been concentrated in Lancashire. In bleaching the movement, whilst not so'sweeping, is in the same direction. . Fortunately, Scotland still retains its interest in turkey-red* specialties, and, of course, Paisleys chief industry is the production of thread. Nevertheless, the situation is radically altered from the 1800-1860 era, when the cotton industry was dominant. The choice as between iron and textiles was deliberately made and need not be regretted. The transitions from tobacco to cotton and from textiles to iron in the industrial history of the West? of Scotland are significant. It is possible that present-day circumstances indicate the commencement of yet another phase in the district's evolution.