Note 276 — Chapter XVII · Commercial Politics—The Albion Mills—Riots in Cornwall—Prosperity of Boulton and Watt.

In a letter to Mr. Matthews (30th April, 1784) Boulton wrote,—“It seems the millers are determined to be masters of us and the public. Putting a stop to fire-engine mills because they come into competition with water-mills, is as absurd as stopping navigable canals would be because they interfere with farmers and waggoners. The argument also applies to wind and tide mills or any other means whereby corn can be ground. So all machines should be stopped whereby men’s labour is saved, because it might be argued that men were thereby deprived of a livelihood. Carry out the argument, and we must annihilate water-mills themselves, and thus go back again to the grinding of corn by hand labour!”