James wrote to Warren in July 1740: "Yesterday we went to see Mr. Paul's machine, which gave us all entire satisfaction both in regard to the carding and spinning.
[9] Wyatt, who had assisted with the setting up of the mill, had offered to oversee its operation from December 1741, but was imprisoned for debt in the Fleet Prison in June 1742.
[10] A letter written to Wyatt during this period suggests the mill was badly mismanaged in his absence: "I think there's not one ass left alive, so what's done is only done by hand.
[13] It has also been suggested that the inability of Paul or Wyatt to organise a manufacturing operation with the necessary level of discipline and supervision may have been a key reason for the mill's failure.
It required, in fact, a man of a Napoleon nerve and ambition, to subdue the refractory tempers of work-people accustomed to irregular paroxysms of diligence.