COTTON l6l 



seed, etc., on easy terms of repayment, and we are now con- 

 ducting a large banking business in financing cotton, seed, 

 machinery, etc. 



We also render valuable services to Agricultural De- 

 partments and others in reporting on samples and advising 

 as to their suitability for the market, and we are always 

 willing to help anyone who requires definite information 

 as to cotton or cotton growing. 



What perhaps will give the best idea of the magnitude 

 of our business is the fact that we received and despatched 

 no less than 62,113 letters in 1913, or an average of 207 

 per working day. 



We also hold a large number of shares in cotton grow- 

 ing companies, and have our own representatives as Direc- 

 tors to assist in the management ; and, including the com- 

 panies in which we are interested or which have been 

 formed with our assistance and our own capital of ^480,000, 

 the total amount of capital raised for cotton growing under 

 our auspices now amounts to 1,1 2 5,000. The work, how- 

 ever, continues to grow rapidly, and the provision of large 

 sums of additional capital is a most pressing question. 



I think therefore the Association can claim that they 

 have more than justified their existence, for they have 

 definitely proved that the British Empire can produce the 

 cotton which Lancashire requires. The quantity is, of 

 course, at present small in comparison with Lancashire's 

 total consumption, but the rate of progress we have achieved 

 is infinitely greater than was the case in the early days of 

 cotton growing in the United States of America. A great 

 statesman, in drawing attention to the future importance of 

 our Colonies, impressed on his hearers the necessity of think- 

 ing Imperially. I think the Association can claim with pride 

 that they have done even more than this, for they have been 

 acting Imperially, and have started one of the greatest 

 Imperial movements of modern times, and one which must 

 be for the ultimate welfare of the whole of the British 

 Empire. 



Before I conclude, I should like to express on behalf of 

 the Association the grateful thanks we owe to His Majesty's 

 Government for the generous treatment and for the valuable 

 assistance they have always given us, no matter which party 

 was in power. The British Cotton Growing Association 

 knows no politics. It is impossible to mention everyone by 

 name, but I must take this opportunity of expressing OUT 

 most grateful thanks both to Mr. Harcourt and to Lore! 

 Emmott for the deep interest they have taken in the work 



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