COLONIAL CONDITIONS.

You all know that the United States of America was formed out of thirteen English colonies scattered along the Atlantic coast. Virginia was the first of these colonies to be founded, dating from 1607. Massachusetts was settled in 1620, New York in 1623, and so on until the last of the thirteen, Georgia, was established in 1733. From the time of these settlements until the Declaration of Independence in 1776, these colonies were subject to Great Britain and under her rule and control. The independence of these American colonies was a great loss to the British government, but it created a new nation of the same race which, together with the mother country, to-day holds the destiny of the world in its hands.

Great Britain for centuries has been largely a manufacturing country. It was the policy of the British government to control so far as possible manufactures and commerce for all her provinces and colonies. Hence during our colonial period the home government took every possible measure to prevent the introduction of manufactures into the colonies. We were dependent upon the mother country for cotton and woolen goods, cutlery, iron ware, and, indeed, almost everything that could be profitably manufactured in England and shipped to this country. Even after we had secured out independence, the strictest care was taken by the officials of England that drawings and models of machinery should not be brought to America.

As late as 1816 an American manufacturer of cotton cloth visited England. Although he carried letters of introduction which caused him to be treated with great courtesy and attention, he was refused permission to enter any of the cotton mills. The manufacturers suspected his purpose, which was to learn the construction of the "double speeder." Nevertheless he persisted, and one day, without permission and in spite of the sign "Positively no Admittance," he entered the carding-room, accompanied by a skilled mechanic. They proceeded as rapidly as possible to examine the machine, which was in full operation, but were soon ordered out by the overseer. They had, however, seen enough of its construction to enable them to make one.

After their return to this country they made a machine and set it up in the gentleman's cotton mill in the State of New York. The news of its successful operation reached England and aroused a jealous feeling among manufacturers. In their anger they planned a wicked scheme to destroy the life of the American manufacturer. A box containing an "infernal machine" was sent as freight on a packet ship bound for New York. Fortunately, when the crew was discharging the cargo, the box slipped from the car hook and fell with a crash upon the wharf. This caused it to explode, but without injury to any one.

In colonial times the condition of society was such as to make it almost impossible for the people to engage to any great extent in manufactures. The country was new and the principal business must be agriculture. After comfortable shelter for the families had been provided, every exertion must be put forth to secure food. Cloth could only be obtained from the mother country. Cotton and linen cloth were imported for shirts and sheets, woolen goods for clothing, a few silks for wedding dresses now and then, and leather for the shoes of all the people.

In the early times the tailor, with his goose and his shears, plied his trade from house to house, staying with each family long enough to make up the clothes necessary for the season. In like manner the shoemaker traveled about the country, with his kit upon his back, stopping with each household to make the shoes needed for the father, mother, and children.

These were the pioneer days, but, before we became a nation, the houses of the people had greatly improved in style of architecture and in comfort. Considerable wealth had been secured by many, and but little poverty was found anywhere. The mechanic arts were beginning to improve, and manufacturing, after a long and tedious waiting, was gradually making progress. At an early date sawmills had been established upon the streams, using the water as motive power. Gristmills had sprung up for grinding the grain raised by every farmer. The spinning wheel and the hand loom had found their place slowly but steadily in all parts of the country.

It is difficult to comprehend the great differences between the industries of those early days and the methods of doing business among us to-day. Now almost everything seems to be done by machinery, and the division of labor has been carried to such an extent that each laborer seems only an assistant to a machine. "You press the button, the machine does the rest."

In the early days of our country, it was customary for the different members of a family to do almost everything that the necessities or comfort of the household required. Everywhere the farmer raised sheep, sheared them, carded the wool, spun it and wove it, all this being done upon the home farm. A well-to-do farmer would produce all the woolen cloth needed for clothing for himself and his family.

The sheep grazed upon the hills and their wool was clipped in the spring of the year. This wool was scoured, carded, spun by the family in the farmhouse, and then woven into cloth for the winter's wear. All this was done within the walls of the house, and the cloth was made up into clothing for the different members of the family by the itinerant tailor. What a contrast from the present system, which raises wool upon our Western hills and prairies, makes it into cloth in the large factories, and fashions it into trousers, vests, and coats in the great wholesale clothing establishments.