The statute of 14 Elizabeth, cap. 12, almost entirely repeals 8 Elizabeth, cap. 7, "at the humble suit of the inhabitants of the said town and also of the said artificers, for whose benefit the said Act was supposed to be provided[144].... For experience hath plainly taught in the said town that the said Act hath not only not brought the good effect that then was hoped and surmised, but also hath been and now is like to be the very greatest cause of the impoverishing and undoing of the poor Artificers and others at whose suit the said Act was procured, for that there be now, sithence the making of the said Act, much fewer persons to set them awork than afore." The whole incident is extremely interesting. It affords an excellent illustration of the way in which the Gilds were in some places made state agents for carrying into effect 5 Elizabeth, cap. 14. It also shows plainly that state intervention was beginning to be found harmful even by the men of that day. It evidences, moreover, how large the Welsh trade of Shrewsbury had already grown. Oswestry however continued to be the chief emporium, and the Drapers of Shrewsbury repaired thither every Monday for a long period after the date of the statutes we have been considering. [Sidenote: _The Drapers' Company represents the interests of Shrewsbury_] The company of the Drapers was the most considerable and influential of the trade associations of Shrewsbury. It numbered among its brethren the great majority of the chief burgesses of the town. Its relations with the municipal corporation were, as would be expected, very intimate. It was the custom of the Drapers to attend divine worship in the church of St Alkmund before setting out for the Oswestry market. In 1614 an order was made for the payment of six and eightpence to the clerk of the church for ringing the morning bell to prayers on Monday mornings at six o'clock, not by the company as we should expect, but by the corporation[145]. [Sidenote: _in opposition to Oswestry, Chester,_] There arose considerable competition for the lucrative market which the expansion of Welsh industry was every day rendering more profitable. The inhabitants of Chester made a vigorous attempt to obtain the erection in their city of "a staple for the cottons and friezes of North Wales." Shrewsbury was however enabled to prevent the completion of the scheme[146]. [Sidenote: _London; especially the last._] The attempt of London to obtain a share in the trade seemed fraught with so much danger that the two rivals, Shrewsbury and Oswestry, made common cause against the intruder. The complaint was a general one that the merchants of London and their factors forestalled and engrossed productions before they came to market. These obnoxious practices seem to have been carried to a particularly distasteful length on the borders of Wales. The transactions of a London dealer named Thomas Davies in 1619 appear to have brought matters to a crisis.