There are 20,000 stocking-makers out of employment. Six regiments of soldiers from different parts of the country have been sent into this town; and 300 new constables have been sworn to keep the peace. But all this is of no avail as the practice of setting fire to corn and hay stacks, and breaking open houses still continues. Nine Hundred Lace Frames have been broken, which cost £140 each; from twenty to thirty of them are destroyed in a night. The whole country, for twenty miles round, is full of these ruinous proceedings, nor can they be checked. Nottingham gaol is full of debtors; and the country is equally distressed. No trade; no money. This has been the case for two months. This town is now a garrison, and strictly under martial law. God only knows what will be the end of it; nothing but ruin.
This article is from the Statesman newspaper, of 15th December 1811. It was quoted in the Leeds Mercury of 21st December 1811, and heavily criticised by the Nottingham Review.
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