Wool merchant

“ The wool trade throve in England until the close of the Middle Ages, but throughout the fifteenth century the staplers were beginning to feel the competition of another company--that of the famous Merchant Adventurers, who, taking advantage of the growth in the native cloth manufacture during the previous century, had begun to do a great trade in the export of cloth. ”

“ The daily life of a Merchant of the Staple is not a difficult one to reconstruct, partly because the Golden Fleece has left so many marks upon our national life, partly because the statute book is full of regulations concerning the wool trade, but chiefly because there have come down to us many private letters from persons engaged in shipping wool from England to Calais. ”

“ The merchant is up against a very different proposition. As we have seen, he buys for cash, and not only sells on credit, but carries a large proportion of what he buys for several months, before he can dispose of it. There are so many kinds of wool merchants that it is almost impossible to make any general observations. One merchant, for example, may specialize entirely in domestic wools ”

“ As manufactures in wool were among the earliest arts which first brought England into notice as a great commercial nation many centuries afterwards, it is reasonable to suppose that woollen fabrics may, even in early times, have been part of the staple of the country. ”

“ Towards the merchants of the Staple the very character of their trade from the first forced them into a militant attitude. Shut out from all interest in the sale of wool, their fortune rested solely on the manufacturing industries, and the more weaving at home was encouraged the greater were their gains. [180] And since the wool merchants proceeded both to claim and to practise the right of exporting and selling cloth as well as wool, they became in a double sense obnoxious to their rivals. ”

“ And then [pg 145] came the main business of every merchant, the selling of the wool. Thomas Betson preferred, of course, to sell it as quickly as possible, as the ships came in, but sometimes the market was slow and wool remained for some months on his hands. Such wool from the summer sheep shearing, shipped in or before the month of February following, and remaining unsold by April 6th, was classed as old wool, and the Fellowship of the Staple ordained that foreign buyers must take one sarpler of old wool with every three of new ”

“ As I have already intimated, the demand for any particular quality or kind of wool will not depend upon the fact that farmer A or farmer B has such wool to sell, taken from sheep for which he paid very large prices, and of which he has now a very large flock; but rather because that particular kind and quality of wool is called for by the manufacturer simply to fill the orders of the merchant, who in his turn is only desirous to supply the demands of the consumer. ”

“ But if foreign nations turn their wools, inferior to ours, into truer and more excellent made cloth, and shall dye the same in truer, surer, and more excellent and more delectable [Pg 432] colours, then shall they sell and make ample vent of their cloths, when the English cloth of better wool shall rest unsold, to the spoil of the merchant, of the clothier, and of the breeder of the wool, and to the turning to bag and wallet of the infinite number of the poor people employed in clothing in several degrees of labour here in England. ”

“ The 47741⁄2 pieces of cloth exported in 1354 were evidently, from their price, of the old coarse fabric of the country. Large quantities of the English wool also continued annually to go abroad. With the view of keeping up the price of the article, [10] it was enacted by the statute 14 Rich. II. c. 4, passed in 1390, that no denizen of England should buy wool except of the owners of the sheep, and for his own use. In other words, the entire export trade in the commodity was made over to the foreign merchant, and he was at the same time confined to the export trade. ”

“ The merchant will call upon the manufacturer for such woolen goods as his market demands, irrespective of the mere opinion which any one may entertain in favor of this or that kind of wool; and the manufacturer, in his turn, will call upon the farmer for just what is wanted. The farmer should therefore, in the selection of his flocks, have in view the market upon which he is to rely for the sale of his wool ”

“ The stapler, who would make a good livelihood, must do two things, and give his best attention to both of them: first, he must buy his wool from the English grower, then he must sell it to the foreign buyer. Some of the best wool in England came from the Cotswolds, and when you are a Merchant of the Staple you enjoy bargaining for it, whether you want the proceeds of the great summer clip or of the fells after the autumn sheep-killing. ”

“ First, the gentleman farmer, or husbandman, sends his wool to the market, which is bought either by the comber or spinster, and they, the next week, bring it hither again in yarn, which the weaver buys, and the market following brings that hither again in cloth, when it is sold, either to the clothier, who sends it to London, or to the merchant, who, after it hath passed the fuller's mill, and sometimes the dyer's vat, transports it. ”

“ When she has knitted a shawl with wool supplied by the merchant, she takes it to the merchant, and he sends it to you to be dressed?-Yes.
1742. It is only the knitters who work with their own wool who come to you?-Yes. ”

“ It is 80 far lucky, that the difficulty of identifying the wool on the sheep's back with the wool sold to the merchant will go far to prevent persons advancing money on this security, and so to neutralise its bad effect. ”

“ Certain large wool merchants were allowed to create a monopoly on the export of wool. Also under Edward III, Flanders weavers were encouraged to come to England to teach the English how to weave and finish fine cloth. A cloth industry grew with all the manufacturing processes under the supervision of one capitalist manufacturer, who set up his enterprise in the country to avoid the regulations of the towns. ”

“ The great staple of the kingdom still continued to be the trade in wool and in woollen cloths. But, although the English wool was finer, and held in higher estimation than that of any other country, the imperfect manner in which the processes of dressing and dyeing the cloth were performed had long been matter of regret with all who took an interest in the prosperity of our commerce and manufactures. ”

“ They are farther specially charged with buying up in divers places within the realm great quantities of wool, woollen cloth, and other merchandises, part of which they sold again both to natives and aliens, as they found it most for their profit, delivering a great part of the wool to clothiers, to make into cloth "after their pleasures." ”

“ The reason of the existence of so many laws relating to wool is, that it continued for ages to be the principal commodity, meeting all demands for the support of armies, and payment of public revenues, and affording aids to the crown, which were in general granted therein. ”

“ I am sure, if we are so, we fare like the rest of the younger Children in the World, who get but a Pittance to starve on, while the elder Brother runs away with the Bulk of the Fortune. I will not dwell on what we lose to her by Absentees, but I know between our Wool, our Woollen and Worsted Yarn, our Linens and Linen Yarn, our Copper, Lead, and Iron Ore, our Hides, Skins, Tallow, all which are the Primums and Foundations of her great Manufactures, she makes immense Gains by her Trade with our Country, and the Ships she employs in it. ”

“ Long, coarse, or hard wools, used in the manufacture of camlets, bombazines, circassians, and other worsted fabrics, are not carded, but combed. In England, and in other countries where much of this kind of wool is used, wool-combing forms a distinct trade. ”

“ Nor is there any cause to apprehend but that we may increase from time to time in the general manufacture of wool, though the exportation of particular commodities may now and then vary; for, upon the whole, our material is better and fitter for all uses than that of most countries. It were better, indeed, that the call from abroad were only for the fine draperies, because then we should be in a manner without a rival; no country but England and Ireland having a sward or turf that will rear sheep producing the wool of which most of our draperies are made. ”

“ The examiners—trained by years of study and on-the-job experience—have become experts in appraising the quality and the value of a staggering number of imports. Whether the import is wool, cotton, silk, sugar, hog bristles, furs, diamonds, ore, chemicals, exotic foods, or an antique table, there is someone with a background of knowledge on the subject.
One of the largest single sources of Customs revenue continues over the years to be duties collected on raw wool which has not yet been processed for manufacturing. ”

“ Still, wool-raising is now proven to be a success in these mountains, any and all of the Bishops to the contrary notwithstanding. This is a fine wool growing country, no better in the world. We have proved this; and we have got a great deal of machinery. here to work up the wool, most of which is now standing still for the want of wool. Many of those who have been prevailed upon to raise sheep, have got so covetous and love money so well that they must sell their wool for money, and send it out of the country, in consequence of which the factories are now standing still. ”

“ The only manufactured wares we are allowed to export, are linen cloth and linen yarn, which are marketable only in England; the rest of our commodities are wool, restrained to England, and raw hides, skins, tallow, beef, and butter. Now these are things for [Pg 221] which the northern nations have no occasion; we are therefore obliged, instead of carrying woollen goods to their markets, and bringing home money, to purchase their commodities.
In France, Spain, and Portugal, our wares are more valuable, though it must be owned, our fraudulent trade in wool is the best branch of our commerce ”

“ The one metal export of any worth was that of tin from the tin-mines of Cornwall. But the production of wool was fast becoming a main element of the nation's wealth. Flanders, the great manufacturing country of the time, lay fronting our eastern coast; and with this market close at hand the pastures of England found more and more profit in the supply of wool. The Cistercian order which possessed vast ranges of moorland in Yorkshire became famous as wool-growers; and their wool had been seized for Richard's ransom. ”

“ The flood of English-made cotton goods created new fashions. Expensive silks, damasks and velvets, which had played such a large part in the dress of the upper classes, began to disappear, and with them the hoops; all woollen goods went out of fashion—and here it is interesting to note that, although wool was England's main trade, the value of woollen underclothing was as yet unrecognised. ”

“ The woollen coat, for example, which covers the day-labourer, as coarse and rough as it may appear, is the produce of the joint labour of a great multitude of workmen. The shepherd, the sorter of the wool, the wool-comber or carder, the dyer, the scribbler, the spinner, the weaver, the fuller, the dresser, with many others, must all join their different arts in order to complete even this homely production. How many merchants and carriers, besides, must have been employed in transporting the materials from some of those workmen to others who often live in a very distant part of the country! ”

“ In the 14th of his reign, there was granted forty shillings upon every sack of wool, and in the 21st was granted fifty shillings upon every sack transported by Englishmen, and three pounds by strangers, etc. It seemeth that the merchants of this staple be the most ancient merchants of this realm; and that all [405] commodities of the realm are staple merchandises by law and charter as wools, leather, wool fells, lead, tin, cloth, etc. ”

“ And in this point we are to consider, that the bulk of our woollen exports does not consist in draperies made of the fine wool, peculiar to our soil, but is composed of coarse broad cloths, such as Yorkshire cloths, kerseys, which make a great part of our exports, and may be, and are made of a coarser wool, which is to be had in other countries. ”

“ If we are to go further and ask in what branch of trade our author exercised himself, it is probable that we may see reason to set him down as a dealer in wool, so enthusiastic is he about wool as the first of all commodities, and so much has he to say about the abuses of the staple (25360 ff.) ”

“ So that upon the whole, infinitely more of the material of wool has of late years been wrought up for foreign use, than in former times; and herein our merchants have been only forced to follow the modes and humours of those people with whom they deal, and the course they have pursued has hitherto not been detrimental to the public. ”

“ In the more highly-developed branches of the textile and metal trades the division of processes appears at first sight more sharply marked than to-day. The carder, spinner, weaver, fuller in the cloth trade worked in the several processes of converting raw wool into finished cloth, related to one another only by a series of middlemen who supplied them with the material required for their work and received it back with the impress of their labour attached, to hand it out once more to undergo the next process. ”

“ The increase in the duty on clothing wool and substitutes for wool to protect the wool growers of this country, and the well-understood fact that the tariff of 1883, and the construction given to the worsted clause, reduced the duties on many grades of woollen goods to a point that invited increasing importations, to the serious injury of our woollen manufacturers and wool growers, necessitate raising the duties on woollen yarn, cloth and dress goods to a point which will insure the holding of our home market for these manufactures to a much greater extent than is now possible. ”