THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



275 



give all possible encouragement, by the govern- 

 cnenl, to every measure caiculateci to insure a sup- 

 ply lor lier manulaclurers at home I'rom her own 

 possessions abroad, ilie conclusion ol' the treaty 

 between Lord Palmerston and Gen. llamilion, 

 recognizing the independence ol Texas, without 

 any reservation against slavery, in a country so 

 extensive, so leriile, and so well adapted to the 

 growth ol' cotton, would SL-em to contradict the 

 idea of any «uch fixed and long-sighted policy ; as 

 it see. us also to be al war witliherown measures 

 lor the exiujciion of slavery in the British West 

 Indies. For ourselves we are nothing loaih tu 

 believe, that the j»oung republic on our borders 

 owes much in that, as in other im|)ortaiu loreign 

 negotiations, lo the superior vigilance and sagaci- 

 ty of her young diplomatist, whose career his 

 been marlied equally by energy and address, in a 

 degree unexam|)led under so many discourag.ng 

 circumstances, and highly auspicious lor the tor- 

 lunes of the couniry he represents, as vvell as, we 

 hope, his own. Be that as it may, it belioves us 

 to look the quesiion lull in the lace. It is not by 

 blinking It that we can understand the real siate 

 of the case, or be the better prepared either to 

 avert or to 6ut)mit to its results. From a source 

 prolessedly hostile to the existence ol slave lat)or, 

 and, doubiless, anxious to see its prophecies real- 

 ized in Its own day, we extract some statements, 

 with the deductions of the writer, which iiiviie 

 the attention as well of the practical planter as ol 

 the polnical inquirer, /as est ab hoste duceri is a 

 sound maxim in politics and in war. 



"' Well known cotton statistics go to show, 

 that the total amount of ilie cotton-export liuin 

 this country to Britain in 1840, was 1,245,000 

 bags, ol which 434,042 were from the Ailaiiiic 

 stales. The couon imported into B:i(aiii the 

 same year, I'rom India, amounted to 216, 495— 

 about one-hall the export from the Atlantic states. 

 In 1834, it was only 88,122, so that during the 

 last seven years, it has increased 128,373, or at 

 the rate of 145 per cent. In 1834, the export from 

 the United Slates to England, was 731,335, and 

 its increase during the last seven years has been 

 513,692, at the rate oj' 70 per cent. So that In- 

 dian cotton in the Bniish market (says the Phi- 

 lanthropist) has gained considerable on that ol 

 f America." The British possessions in the Easi 

 Indies embrace a territory nearly as extensive as 

 Europe, with a population ol' 150,000,000 of in- 

 genious people ; price of labor varying Irom Id. 

 'to 3d. a day, and the cotton they consume is com- 

 puted to exceed the croj) of the United Slates. 



In answer to the sujiposition, that the quality oi 

 the cotton ol India Ibrbids the lear that she cm sup- 

 ply tlie wants of the British manulacturer, even if 

 the quantiiy could be [)roduced ; the \vriler belbre 

 us relies on the authority of various travellers, 

 lo whose testimony it would be worse than foolish 

 lor the political economist and ^statesman, not to 

 say the provident planter, to shuThis eyes. Some 

 of these lollow : 



Major General Briggs, who spent thirty-two 

 years m India, explored almost every part ol it, 

 and administered the afi'rtirs of government, in 

 several jjrovinces, eays— " With respect to the 

 means India possesses for growing cotton, it is 

 necessary to consider the extent ol the country, 

 the nature of the soil, its vast population, the 

 description of iheir clothing, and the purposes lo 



which cotton is applied, before we can have any 

 conception of the great capabilities it has of sup- 

 plying, not only h^ngland, but the whole world if 

 necessary." And again he says — " We think 

 enough has been said to sltow, that there is neither 

 want of cotton soil lor tlie indigenous northe Ame- 

 rican plant, and we may with confidence assert, as 

 the knowledge of soils and climate becomes moro 

 and more studied and attended to, that India will 

 prove cajiable ol producing cotton of any quality, 

 and to any exieni." 



Dr. Spray, a botanist, one of the Company's 

 servants in Bengal, recently stated belbre the 

 Royal Asiatic Society — 



•• It is certainly without a parallel in the annals 

 of the world, that a country possessing such 

 capacities as India, should have been so long her- 

 metically sealed against the enterprise of Britons, 

 in order lo prolong the abuses of patronage. Had 

 the peninsula been open, we should not now be 

 dependent upon America lor raw cotton, nor 

 would '.he country have been brought, as it was 

 lour years ago, lo the very verge of bankruptcy 

 and revolution, when tlie stock of cotton was not 

 adequate to three weeks' consumption. To this 

 astounding blunder the southern division of the 

 United Slates owes lis cotton plantations, and its 

 rice-tields, and also the blighting curse of slavery. 

 Evidence confirms the laci, that cotton can be 

 grown in India, lully equal, or rather superior, to 

 ihe bulk ol' /^imerican. ' 



Kirkman Fmlay, Esq., in a communication lo 

 the chamber af commerce, Manchester, says — 



'• India IS a couniry uf such vast resources, with 

 such abundance-ol soils adapted to the cultivation 

 Ol cotton, sucli a variety ol climate, and such an 

 immense laboring population, that it appears of 

 ail others best fitted lo become a cotion-growini'' 

 country, and to send an article of the finest quali- 

 ty, and in the greatest abundance." 



Mr. John Gladstone, an au'.horiiy in commer- 

 cial matters, says — 



"For the supply of ihe raw material we are 

 almost wholly dependent on loreign countries, 

 whilst we have and possess in the Biitish domi- 

 nions in India, resources sufficient to supply all we 

 require, and to an increased extent if demanded — 

 resources that are within our intiuence and con- 

 trol, and where the only limit lo the consumption 

 of British manulactures is the ability of the na- 

 tives to pay lor liiem ; whilst we possess at the 

 same time ihe means to sumulate and increase 

 our inicrcuuise vviih salety and udvantage to the 

 empire at large." 



Mr. George Ashburner, in a paper read belijre 

 the Asiaiic Suciei), remarks — 



'• Labor in ceiiirai India is cheaper than in al- 

 most any other portion of the world ; the wages 

 ol an able-bodied man being only tliree rupees 

 [six shillings sterling] per month. It has heen 

 estimated, theretore, that Berar cotton may be 

 culuvaled i)iofitably lor 30 rupees per candy, or 

 orraiher less than a penny a pound 1" 



The next quesiion lor the American investiga- 

 tor of a quesiion of the deepest interest is, what 

 obstacles have prevented the developement of 

 capabilities in India to supply the country, under 

 •whose government she groans, with an article 

 (rom which, were she suddenly cut off, the very 

 existence of that governmeni would be endan- 

 gered. An answer to this inquiry in the view of 



