FROM THE ARCHIVES:Cork, it appears, was a centre for cutting edge technology in the manufacture of down quilts in the mid-19th century but things had deteriorated by the 1920s when this Tariff Commission report was produced recommending retaliatory tariffs on quilt imports. –
JOE JOYCE
INTERESTING FACTS relating to the manufacture of down quilts in the Free State are given in the report of the Tariff Commission, which recommended the imposition of a 20 per cent import duty on down quilts and quilt covers. A motion authorising the new duty was adopted by the Dáil on Thursday.
The report states that the down quilt in its present form was patented by the applicant firm, Messrs. Booth and Fox, of Cork, in 1841, and was then for the first time fitted with eyelets for the purpose of ventilation.
The quilts met with general approval and success, and the firm had not only a monopoly of the home market, but under the protection of their patents succeeded in building up an export trade to many countries.
With the lapse of their patents, they became exposed in due course to the competition of rival manufacturers; and the difficulty of meeting this competition was enhanced by the erection of tariff barriers in many countries. The British Finance Act, 1925 imposed Customs duties on silk and artificial silk and on articles made wholly or in part of these materials. Until the passage of that Act, Great Britain had been one of the few remaining open markets to which the products of the Cork factory could be sent, and on the imposition of the British silk duties it ceased to be profitable to export to Great Britain quilts with covers containing silk or artificial silk.
The report states that the premises of the firm in Cork are not satisfactory, and contrast unfavourably with the well-planned building they have at Brimsdown, in England. In 1912 the number employed in the Cork factory was 140, of whom 12 were engaged in shirt-making, which has since been discontinued. In July, 1928, the number had fallen to 58, of whom nine were men and 49 women.
The report adds that by increasing the demand for the products of the Cork factory, the imposition of a tariff should encourage the proprietors to improve both the premises and the plant. The increased output should also improve the conditions of employment and eliminate broken time. It seems reasonable, therefore, to assume that conditions in the industry under a tariff would be more favourable to efficiency than those which obtain at present.
It was stated before the commission that feathers were sometimes marketed in the Free State in a very unsatisfactory condition, being weighed with white lead or mixed with turkey feathers and old feathers taken from mattresses. Turkey feathers are coarse; old feathers have lost their elasticity. Such practices tend to depress the price of feathers, are discreditable to the persons responsible for them, and are contrary to the interests of producers and manufacturers.
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