DISTRESS OF TRADE.
At a Meeting of the FRAME-WORK KNITTERS of the Town and County of LEICESTER, held at the Bowling Green, Leicester, on Monday, April 15, 1816.
JOHN WOOD, in the Chair.
The following Resolutions were unanimously agreed to:—
1st. That this Meeting has heard, with the greatest surprise and astonishment, the report made from the Throne at the commencement of the present Session of Parliament, namely, "that Trade and Commerce were in a flourishing state."
2nd. That we as Framework Knitters, feel, that the return of Peace has failed in producing those effects which has been so often held out as a consequence of preserving in the late protracted war, namely, "Commercial prosperity."
3rd. That the Manufacturer and Framework Knitter never experienced such a want of trade, during the last thirty years, as is felt at the present moment, when the former is obliged to discharge his workmen, who are reluctantly compelled to seek parochial relief to prevent them from starving.
4th. That nothing can be more distressing to an honest industrious man, than to know that he cannot, by his trade, procure that sustenance for his family which nature requires.
5th. That we consider ourselves no longer worthy of the British name, if we remain any longer silent on this important occasion.
6th. That it is the opinion of this Meeting, that if a spurious article which has been manufactured for many years past into piece-work, and then cut into hose, half hose, caps, mits, gloves, sleeves, sandals, and socks, be suffered to continue, it will ultimately prove destructive of the remaining part of our Trade.
7th. That a Petition, containing the substance of the foregoing Resolutions, be presented to the Honourable the House of the Commons, praying the Honourable House to take into its most serious consideration the distressed state of our Manufactory.
8th. That a Subscription be immediately entered into, for the purpose of carrying the same into effect.
9th. That Samuel Smith and Thomas Babington, Esqrs. the Members for this Borough, be requested to present the same.
10th. That the Members of both Town and County be solicited to support the same.
11th. That the foregoing Resolutions be inserted into the Leicester Papers.
This is from a handbill that can be found at HO 42/150. The Leicester Chronicle of 27th April 1816 later reported that the Resolutions were sent to Parliament with 6,700 signatures attached.
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