68 



tnents and of cost-saving processes, for any waste is labour 

 needlessly and unprofitably expended. It leads to the discovery 

 of natural resources, as in this country (England) coal, salt and 

 iron, the last two of which, before certaiD discoveries were 

 made, were imported into this country." Bearing these remarks 

 in mind, I will endeavour to show by an analysis of the 

 statistics of trade in the principal articles of export and import 

 to what extent the country has benefited by the increase of trade. 



31. Cotton. — Among the articles of export, cotton is the 

 most important. In 1855-56 the exports 

 in the priSfpai^artides of cottou Were ouly 21 milHou lb. valucd at 

 of export. 25 lakhs of rupees, whereas now the exports 



are 98 million lb, valued at 2 J crores of rupees ; and of this 

 increased value a larger share reaches the cultivator now than 

 it did in former years. For instance, in 1848, Dr. Forbes 

 Watson, Eeporter of the Economic Products of India, stated 

 that the cost of raising cotton in the Bombay Presidency was 

 \\d. per lb. ; the cost of carriage to Bombay was \\d. or 120 

 per cent, of the cost of the article at the place of production ; 

 and freight to England and connected charges were Id. 2i lb. ; 

 so that Indian cotton could not be sold in England at less than 

 id. a lb. The producer thus obtained for his article only about 

 31 per cent, of the price at which it was sold in England, the 

 remainder being absorbed in the cost of carriage and the profits 

 of middlemen. Now owing to the great cheapening of the cost 

 of carriage by land by the introduction of railways, and of sea 

 freight by improvements in the construction of steamers, the 

 producer in India secures something like 66 per cent.^^ of the 

 price realized in the English market. The development of the 

 export trade in cotton has also led to the establishment of 41 

 cotton presses in which the quantity of cotton pressed amounts 

 to 95| million lb. 



^ I append below the calculations given by an agricultural inspector in his report on 

 cotton cxiltivation in the Tinnevelly district : 



R8. A. p. 

 Value of 1 candy (500 lb.) of lint at b^d. per lb. in the English market, 

 the exchange being at \s. 6d. per rupee . . . . . , 146 



Deduct charges- 

 Pressing charge 



Railway transit . . 



Freight, commission, &c. 



Firm's profit 



Principal dealer's profit 



Other charges borne by the sub-dealer 



Cleaning charges . . . . . . 



Sub-dealer's profit 



Bagging and cartage 



Balance, being the value to the ryot of 1 candy of clean cotton . . 



