82 COTTON IN THE MADRAS PRESIDENCY. [184549. 



CHAP, that he was in expectation of orders for stopping the pur- 

 _ _ chase of Native Cotton ; and he again offered to supply 

 DrWJ(Th( , g American seed and to purchase the produce, but without 

 an y apparent success. Accordingly he proposed that a re- 

 mission of 25 per cent, should be made, for a term of three 



or five years, on all lands under American Cotton cultivation. 



Sn'?ieu; Mr - Wroughton, the Collector of Coimbatore, stated in re- 



3847. paS! ply, that in 1833, Government had offered to remit one half 



ass?) p. of the fixed assessment on the same proviso ; but that even 



that larger encouragement had failed to produce any exten- 



sion of the cultivation, and therefore Government had deem- 



ed it inexpedient to continue the indulgence. Mr. Wrough- 



ton at the same time expressed an opinion that any such 



interference with the long standing survey settlement of the 



district was a very dangerous and doub tful experiment, and 



likely to be productive of much confusion and irregularity ; 



and he suggested that if the amount of the proposed remis- 



sion of 25 per cent, should be deemed necessary for the ex- 



tension of the American Cotton cultivation, the amount 



should be added to the price given for the Cotton when pro- 



duced, in lieu of a reduction of the rent of the soil. Dr. 



Wight however had already offered this increased price for 



the American Cotton, but without effect. Accordingly he 



letter, 20th applied to the Madras Government to renew, for a further 



June 1847. J * 



JuT.!' (is*?) P eriod of five or ten years, the orders of 1833, granting 50 

 P. 153. p er cent, remission on all lands under American Cotton 

 cultivation. 



122 Marquis of Tweeddale in favour of the remission. 



The Marquis of Tweeddale was in favour of the proposed 

 remission. He considered that if granted, it would only 

 k r i n g a larger breadth of land under the plough ; inasmuch 

 1847. p2i! as a foreign demand for the American Cotton of India would 

 ass") 11 p. in no way interfere with the Indian demand for its own 



158 



raw produce ; consequently the same extent of land would 



