AND ON THE CONTINENT.
21
With, the extension of the market this method of selling wasnot sufficient. The merchant separated himself from the giver-out of yarns, who moved from Manchester to the weavingvillages situated around Manchester , and this latter sold to themerchant. Thus worker, manufacturer, and merchant dividedthemselves into three separate functions which, are still to-daythe main essentials of the industry.
But, in spite of trading activity, England ’s cotton industryhad to deal with a superior competitor. As the European Con-tinent and America are to-day with respect to England , so wasEngland at this time with respect to the Indian cotton in-dustry—dependent on coarse yarns and woven goods. As to itsfurther development it is important to note that the English cotton industry was already exposed to international competitionin a larger degree at a time when bad country roads on the Con-tinent still scarcely made this competition felt.
India was in the last century, compared with Europe , still anindustrial country which chiefly interchanged trade products,especially cotton and silk goods, for natural products, principallymetals. As early as 1708 De Foe complained about the importa-tion of Indian cotton goods into England . It had become thegeneral fashion for ladies to wear calicoes and muslin, followingthe example set by the Queen. Not only clothing, but alsobedding and curtains, were made from foreign stuffs. De Foe’scomplaint is more worthy of attention as it happened at a timewhen the law prohibiting printed Indian calicoes already existed(1700). Again and again similar complaints appeared, such asthat the “ depravity of the nature of woman ” by the passion forforeign clothing ruined the home industry (2). That through-out the whole century Indian competition existed very keenly isproved by the following occurrence. In the year 1775 a “Pa-triotic Society” was founded in Edinburgh with the object ofopposing the fashion for Indian cotton apparel. It was deter-mined to boycott every man who associated with ladies wearingcotton. It is also said that at this juncture the use of Indianstuffs was general—of course only in well-to-do circles ofsociety (3). If, even, the complaints mentioned about the use of