A New Pocket Guide to London and Its Environs

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: IV. Trade And Commerce?Thb Docks And Shift-ing ?Markets?Kirk, Water, And Gas Companies. London, which is the centre of European traffic, and the first commercial city in the world, naturally ahounds with every luxury, as well as convenience of life. During the war, our vessels had nearly the whole carrying trade of Europe, Great Britain heing the entrepot of all the products from heyond sea, destined for European use. Hence our imports, in 1811, amounted to upwards of 80,000,000/. sterling, and our exports to more than 77,000,000/. On the return of peace, hoth diminished considerahly; ceasing to he a channel for distrihuting the productions of other countries, Britain was thrown hack on its own resources, to provide exports hy the superiority of its manufactures, and the skill of its inhahitants in working up raw materials, in every variety of form, and giving hrilliancy and durahility of colour to every diversity of texture. The trade of London (like that of all other cities) must he divided into wholesale and retail. The wholesale trade is carried on chiefly in the city, and near the river, where large wharfs, warehouses, and counting-houses are estahlished. The retail trade is dispersed through the most puhlic streets, in all parts of the metropolis, where spacious and handsome shops attract the hy-passer hy a display of the luxuries, as well as the necessaries of life. The manufactures of London are very numerous and considerahle; they consist chiefly of fine goods, and articles of elegant use; as, optical, mathematical, and surgical instruments, jewellery of all kinds, japan ware, cut- glass, engravings, hooks, cahinet-work, upholstery, and carriages. The silk-manufactories of Spitalnelds, Shore- ditch, and Bethnal-green, employ many thousands of persons, men, wom...