These _Droits of the Admiralty_ formed a very convenient fund upon which the King drew, as occasion required, when it was impolitic to ask Parliament for an increase of the Civil List; but Sir Francis did good service in calling attention to it, and, after its being mentioned on more than one occasion, it was settled that an account should be laid before the House, of the net proceeds paid into the Registry of the Court of Admiralty, or to the Receiver-General of Droits, of all property condemned to His Majesty as Droits, either in right of his Crown, or in right of the office of Lord High Admiral, since the 1st of January, 1793, and of the balance in hand. The Cotton trade at Manchester was very dull, owing to the limited trade with the Continent, and some distress prevailed among the operatives. On the 19th of May, Mr. Rose asked leave of the House of Commons to bring in a bill to fix a minimum of wages, which the workpeople should receive. He said they were now suffering peculiar hardships, and, at the same time, supporting them with a patience and resolution, which did them credit. A short debate took place on this proposition, which, afterwards, was withdrawn. One member opined that the distress arose, not from the wages being too low, but through their having been, at one time, too high, which had caused a great influx of labour, thus overstocking the market. Sir Robert Peel said that the great cause of the distress was, not the oppression of the masters, but the shutting-up of the foreign markets; and the fact was, that masters were now suffering from this cause still more than the men. And then, as far as Parliament went, the matter dropped. But not so at Manchester. The demands of the men were absurd, and preposterous; they wanted an advance of 6s. 8d. in the pound, or 33⅓ per cent. Of course, with failing trade, and a bad market, the masters could not grant this extraordinary rise; but, after a meeting among themselves they offered an immediate advance of 10 per cent. on all kinds of cotton goods weaving, to take effect that day (June 1st), and a further rise of 10 per cent. on the 1st of August. The men refused to take this offer, and would be satisfied with nothing less than their original demand, and some 60,000 looms lay idle, whilst the operatives perambulated the streets or rushed into house, cellar, or garret, where any shuttle was going, and deprived that man of his means of living. On the 30th of May there had been some disturbance among the weavers at Rochdale, and some were apprehended, and put in prison; but the mob forced the gaol, released the prisoners, and set fire to the New Prison. Thus it will be seen that it was necessary for the law to step in, and vindicate its majesty, and, consequently, cavalry was freely employed in and about Manchester, Bolton, Rochdale, and Bury; and, on the 6th of June, a raid was made upon a house in Manchester, which resulted in the lodging of about twenty men in the New Bayley.