Series 5 > British Linen Company, 1745-1775

148
THE BRITISH LINEN COMPANY
To William Tod, London
16 July 1761
I come now to reply to your letter of the 8th current and I approve very much
of your writing freely every thing that occurs as necessary or useful for the
general interest of the Company. What you say as respecting the different
fabrics of linen that they have all shamefully degenerated oflate I can only reply
that it is without my knowledge. Excepting a few brown and white Osnabrigs
made here, all linens that are intended for the London market you know are
purchased by different people on their and the Company’s joint account, the
greatest part of which I can have no access to see. What in my humble opinion
should be done, you should send to the different people samples of such kinds
of foreign linens (brown) as you judge they can the nearest imitate, for example
let a piece of Garlix and a piece or two of best brown Silesias be sent to George
Young or rather the one half to him and the other to me and so to others
patterns (that is pieces) of brown Irish or of Pomeranias, Ticklenburgs and
Osnaburgs to Neilson, Pearson, Walker and others who act for the Company.
There are some few patterns here of white linens such as Platillos, Taridems,
and fine white Silesia or Irish linen but it would be of infinite more use to the
makers to see the goods brown from the loom. That this or any country can
hit all fabrics I look upon to be a thing impossible. At present one must take
such fabric only as their yams and method of weaving will the nearest resemble
and may the easiest be made to imitate the foreign, for it’s with the greatest
reluctance any one weaver will be persuaded to use foreign yams, how good
soever they may be or how proper soever for making into the fabrics wanted,
and until this is worn out, the Manchester manufacturers will have the
advantages you mention, seeing nobody will import foreign yams that cannot
be sold off but with loss as this Company has again and again experienced.
With regard to the Osnaburg sorts whether white or brown or those broad
kinds called Navy linen, I do not think you in general have any cause to
complain of fabrics at least of what are now out of the looms and beside me. I
truly think so. The poor prices given at your market for these goods last year
determined me to lessen the consignments of these articles upon which no
profits were made—7V2 to 8d for white Osnabrigs and 8V2 for Navy linens—
being the prices and at which nothing was made even to defray interest of
money. Thereafter your prices augmented and for the Navy linens we got
ninepence and the circumstance of using white wafts even disposed of, which
was another saving, but then I could not speedily replace the kinds of yams fit
for these branches. And what was worse by the supine neglect or rather worse
of Mr Doig who had the charge of the looms, two-thirds of the weavers left