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tion from Mr. Ra-wlinson, Secretary of the Weaving Associationof North Lancashire , for the following information. Accordingto him the average number of power-looms per weaving-shed isGOO; the highest number in one building, 2,200 ; those belongingto one firm, 4,500. The lowest number is 110 to 130, becausewith such mills the employer requires only one overlooker, whomhe would have to pay if even less looms were at work. There isan exception in Burnley —a weaving-shed with GO looms; in thisinstance, however, the employer was formerly an operative, and ishis own overlooker.
One circumstance is to be noted here which has helped forwardthe concentration of the mills: the extension of the “ limited ”principle. It appeal's especially advantageous for spinning con-cerns whose working is uniform and whose market is continuous.
At the present time limited concerns have the upper hand inspinning. In Oldham more than 80 per cent, of the wholespindles belong to limited companies. It is generally acknow-ledged that this development, which has occurred since the“seventies,” has led to an extraordinary accumulation of capital.Thus the best authority on the English cotton industry,Mr. S. Andrew, said before the Royal Commission on Depressionof Trade: —“ The limited principle has brought many benefits tothe country. It came into existence with us at a time when thelowering of production costs in the cotton industry was a questionof life or death. Private firms at the time did not quite keep pacewith the requirements of the time; limited concerns arose andundertook the lead, which they have never yet lost since thattime.” In another portion he mentions how tho very greataccumulation of capital secured tho acquisition of the mostimproved technical arrangements by these companies (10).The limited principle seems to be less suitable for weaving-mills,because these demand adaptations to fashion and market varia-tions, especially those weaving-mills making fancy goods for theEuropean markets. In the latter branch an employer following
10. Compare also Ellison : “ Cotton Trade,” p. 136 ; further, “ Co-operativeWholesale Annual ” (1884), which, on page 174, contains a list of the limitedspinning-mills at work in Oldham at that time, along with the number ofspindles. A similar list is published periodically by the Oldham Sharebrokers’Association, which, in addition to the number of spindles, gives also the marketvalue of the shares, the amount paid per share, nominal value and number ofshares, as well as the last dividend, etc.