THE ECONOMIC RENAISSANCE AT THE END OF THE 700's
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THE ECONOMIC RENAISSANCE AT THE END OF THE 700's |
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 The
situation changes completely at the beginning of the 1700's, when the
operating paper mills decrease to three. The decline of the art is due
to the new excise, imposed by the 'Reverenda Camera Apostolica' Reverend
Apostolic Chamber, that adds from three to fifteen 'paoli' on each ream
of paper exported. In effect the loss of competitiveness depends also
from the shortfall of modernized production techniques concerning the
whitening process, softer paper sizing, the perfection of printing and
design paper, improvements successfully introduced by the French, German,
English and Dutch industries, that succeed in placing more qualified and
competitive products on the marketplace as compared to the Fabriano paper
makers. The decline of the local craft, accentuated in the course of the
Century, emphasized even in the relationship of the various apostolic
visitors dispatched by the central government to Fabriano to attempt to
restore the economy and to reform the tributary system. The end of the
18th Century provides the first signs of an upsurge in trade, and in 1786,
in order to favour this rise, Monsignor Francesco Marazzani, governor
of the city, arranges for the exemption of the excises for the manufacturing
activities in order that the primary manufacturing sector is no longer
assailed with extra financial burdens. In 1796 among the main industries
6 paper mills are revived with 148 employees, 2 felt factories with just
12 employees; the once flourishing wool industry survives with 3 hosiery
plants and 27 employees. The inhabitants of the central urban area, in
the same period, are only 6033, those of the outlying district 12143. |
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