COTTON. 



277 



by the simple apparatus of the inhabitants. England 

 boasts of having introduced the improvements in ma- 

 chinery which have rendered cotton an object of im- 

 mense attention to Europeans. Ever since the West 

 Indies have been settled by Europeans, it has been par- 

 tially grown ; but it was confined to few situations, as 

 ether colonial produce was moi'e marketable. The Bri- 

 tish West India islands for a long time supplied nearly 

 the whole of the British demand. About thirty years 

 ago, the Dutch settlements on the coast of Guiana at- 

 tracted the attention of cotton planters, and nearly at 

 the same time the southern states of North America 

 engaged in similar pursuits. Still more recently, the 

 Brazilians and Spanish Americans have actively culti- 

 vated cotton; so that the quantity now produced in the 

 western hemisphere, in Africa, the south of Europe, 

 and in Asia, is incredibly great, and may be augmented 

 in an indefinite proportion, provided that there was any 

 market for it ; but like every thing else for which there 

 has been an unexampled demand, too much is pro- 

 duced, and its value has decreased in a corresponding 

 ratio. 



The East India cotton, the Pernambuco, the Sea 

 Island (American) the Demerary, Berbice, and Suri- 

 nam, are the cottons most valuable for the finer pur- 

 poses. The West India island, the Bowed Georgia, 

 and some kinds from the Levant and the East Indies, 

 are fitted for coarser purposes. The quantities of cot- 

 ton which have been consumed by the British manu- 

 facturer are enormously great, and have been gradually 

 increasing; of which we may form some estimate, when 

 we recollect, that the quantity in 1 784 was perfectly 

 insignificant, and that the estimated consumpt of the 

 current year is about seventy millions of pounds. 



The expence of cultivation varies very considerably 

 in different situations, and it will be found to be most 

 reasonable in India and in the Americas, while it will 

 be seen to be greatest in the British colonies, owing to 

 causes which we shall afterwards notice. In the Bri- 

 tish colonies, particularly in those captured from the 

 Dutch, on the coast of Guiana, the capital vested in 

 every acre of land devoted to the cultivation of cotton, 

 (in this the actual price of the land, the slaves, build- 

 ings, &c. are included), amounts to about L. 1 50 ster- 

 ling. Each acre, as has been shewn by an average of 

 ten years, produces about 200 lbs. net of cotton. From 

 averages taken from plantations, the expence merely of 

 cultivation amounts to 7d. per lb. while the mercantile 

 charges, including the duties, amount to about 7^d. 

 more on each pound ; so that the whole expence on 

 every pound of cotton is not less than Is. 2-|d. The 

 average prices from the year 1784 to the present time, 

 have varied very much, having been at one time (in 

 1808) as high as 3s. and at another below the actual 

 cost, which we have already shewn to be Is. 2^d. Du- 

 ring the same periods, war duties have been imposed 

 in very different proportions on different kinds of cot- 

 ton. For a considerable part of it, American cotton 

 paid a smaller duty than that grown in the British co- 

 lonies. But our readers will form more accurate no- 

 tions on this point by glancing over the subjoined 

 Table. 



Cotton. 



Table of Duties on ever if 100 lbs: of Cottoti, since first 

 , Imposed. 



Period. 



British. 



North A- 

 merican 

 in Ame- 

 rican 

 bottoms. 



Foreign 

 general- 



Jy- 



Brazil in 

 British 

 ships. 



Brazil in 

 Brazil 

 ships. 



July 17.99 . . . 

 September 1801 



s. d. 



8 9 



s. d. 

 6 6 



s. d. 

 12 6 



s. d. 



s. d. 



May 1802 . . . 

 July 1803 .. . 



10 6 



7 10 



15 







July 1803 ... 

 April 1805. . . 



16 8 



17 8 



25 







April 1805. . . 

 July 1808 ... 



16 10 



17 10 



33 10 







July 1803 to the 

 present time 



16 10 



20 5 

 or 



21 1$| 



33 10 



or 

 25 S$ 



16 10 



25 2 



These are the general rates, but more or less is paid 

 according to the mode in which the cotton is imported. 

 It is needless to enter into any details respecting the 

 injustice which has been exercised towards the British 

 cotton grower ; but it may be well for us to point out, 

 as rapidly as we can, the various oppressive restrictions, 

 that increase the expence of his establishment far be- 

 yond that of any other cultivator of the same sub- 

 stance. 



Before, however, we enter into this sketch, it may 

 be well to give an outline of the expence of settling 

 a cotton estate in Louisiana, which Ave have derived 

 from an authentic and respectable source, and which 

 will serve to render the contrast still more remarkable. 



In Louisiana, 600 acres of land cost L. 1575 



30 slaves . 2700 



Oxen, horses, cows, and sheep 450- 



Total L.4725 



These 30 slaves will cultivate 30,000 lbs. of cotton ; 

 which, if sold at lOfd. per lb. will yield L. 1350. 



The items of the annual expenditure are as follows: 



Overseer, L.90 



Carpenter, 67 10 



Medical attendance, 9 



Tools, 22 10 



Clothing, &c 67 10 



Freight of crop to market, ... 22 10 



Taxes, 5 12 6 



Total, L. 284 12 6 



which deducted from L. 1 350, gives a clear revenue of 

 L. 1 065 ; 7 : 6 as a return for the original outlay of 

 L.47'25. _ & ' 



The chief causes of the deteriorated condition of Bri- 

 tish cotton properties, are to be found in the nature 

 «f the connection which subsists between the colonies.- 



