Petition of the Manufacturers of Felt Hats

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A Petition of the Manufacturers of Felt Hats, and dealers therein, as also of the Shoemakers in the Town of New-Castle, in the County of Stafford, was presented to the House, and read, setting forth —

That the said Town has, for many years past, been the principal place in the Kingdom for Felt Hats; and that large quantities of Shoes have been made there, the bulk of which have from time to time been exported to different parts of America, until the differences unhappily arose betwixt this Kingdom and the Colonies; since then a total stop to their trade thither has taken place; and that their manufactured Goods lie dead upon their hands, payments are suspended, and their works stopped; so that great numbers of their people are quite destitute of employment, whereby the Petitioners are involved in the general distress, and their lower class of people and their families are reduced to very great extremity; and what enhances their unhappiness, is the very high price of most of the necessaries of life at this season of the year; and therefore praying that the House would take the same into their serious consideration, and concert such measures as they shall dictate for alleviating their miseries, and that may operate in opening their trade again, and thereby enabling them to afford an opportunity to their working people of procuring a subsistence for themselves and their families.

A motion was made, and the question being proposed, that the said Petition be referred to the consideration of the Committee of the Whole House, to whom the Petition of the Merchants, Traders, and others, of the City of London, concerned in the commerce of North America, is referred;

An amendment was proposed to be made to the question, by leaving out from the word "whom" to the end of the question, and inserting the words "it is referred to consider further of the several Papers which were presented to the House by the Lord North, upon Tuesday the 19th day of this instant, January, and this day by his Majesty' s command," instead thereof,

And the question being put, that the words proposed to be left out, stand part of the question?

It was resolved in the Affirmative.

Then the main question being put,

Ordered, That the said Petition be referred to the consideration of the Committee of the Whole House, to whom the Petition of the Merchants, Traders, and others, of the City of London, concerned in the commerce of North America, is referred.