Daily National Intelligencer

Having heard that a little colony of Swiss stocking weavers had arrived in the city, I was desirous of seeing them, and the manner in which they worked; as also to know their sentiments and feelings on their new settlement. It was not altogether curiosity which induced me to make this visit; I was rather guided by that interest I take in every thing which may be beneficial to our country—and ranking manufactures among the first class of benefits, notwithstanding the opposition of our importing merchants & the British agents; thus preferring to agree in sentiment with such men as Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, Oliver Wolcott, &c. &c. than with that herd of pure, disinterested Americans, who think nothing good which is made by the hands and industry of their countrymen, and nothing fit to wear, unless it comes from the work-shops of mother Britain.

With such sentiments towards the encouragement of manufactures among us, what was my pleasure and surprize, in visiting these Swiss emigrants, to find among them the new machinery of England, with the additional improvements of France. Nothing like it has before been seen on our shores; and these looms, even at this day, are scarcely to be found even in England herself. The wearing is far beyond any thing imported; indeed, I am convinced, from their flexibility, that one pair of stockings, wove by these new comers, would wear out any three of the same price in our shops, now called so cheap. Besides this article, there are various others—such as drawers, under-waistcoats, pantaloons, &c. for gentlemen, and petticoats, jackets, &c. &c. for ladies, of cotton and wool, all made in the most exquisite manner.

It struck me as impossible, while viewing this establishment, that it should not succeed, notwithstanding all the opposition made by interested and prejudiced persons against our manufacturing for ourselves. Here I beheld before me, machinery, in which all the calculating wisdom of the first mechanists of the two rival nations, England and France, has been exerted for the last quarter of a century to bring to perfection; and I asked myself, was it possible for prejudice to set its face against that which, twenty years ago, would have made its possessor the richest individual in Europe. Some of these machines would, at this day, command, in England itself, five hundred guineas; and it is contemplated to put four and twenty of them into immediate operation. Here I was naturally led to reflect, what a benefit such an establishment would be to the District, by the employment of various workmen, women, children, &c. Children of 12 and 14 years can be had as apprentices: and in six months an intelligent one will be able to weave a pair of stockings per day, and in less than a twelve-month two pairs. This, at the same time that it will give employment and encouragement to the poor in the vicinity, cannot fail to be of advantage to the manufacturer, by the cheapness at which children can be boarded and lodged: the price being one half that which would be paid in either New York or Philadelphia. Let the District then give encouragement to this establishment for its own individual interests. The Swiss are proverbially known for their industrious habits, and for their settling near one another, forming, as it were, a colony and society among themselves. The settlement of this family will draw others. Let landholders, and all those who have an interest in advancing the growth and population of the District, reflect upon this, and ask themselves whether they ought not to stretch forth their hand to cherish and protect these new-comers, their industry and intelligence. Let them, at all events, go and see them, and satisfy themselves that the writer does not exaggerate in his statement. I should say more on this subject, but fear to trespass on the columns of your paper.

A friend to manufactures and the District.