360 THE COTTON TRADE. 



the folly and presumption of man threatens to interfere with the accustomed 

 supply of cotton, India is looked to for the means to fill the threatened gap. 

 Nor will she fail. In that vast region, embraced by the Indus and the 

 Himalaya mountains, and bounded by the Indian ocean, and the Bay of 

 Bengal, there exists a population closely approximating upon 200,000,000, 

 fully two-thirds of whom are subjects of the British Crown ; these, from a 

 period anterior to historic record, have been clothed in cotton. The total 

 quantity of cotton grown in India, according to Dr. Watson, amounts to 

 upwards of 2,400,000,000 lbs. per annum, and demand for its culture 

 certainly not less than 24,000,000 acres. 



Great as is the acreage above indicated — nearly three times that of the 

 American cotton fields — it is but small in comparison with the vast extent 

 of British India. The cotton tract in the valley of the Godavery alone 

 is said to be of greater extent than the whole American cotton field. 

 Guzerat, under the present demand, is expected to send forward, during 

 the current year, not less than three hundred millions of lbs., and this 

 district is not one-hundredth part of India. It has been said, on what 

 may be deemed good authority, that more cotton is annually wasted in 

 India than is grown in America ; and there is no doubt but that, by 

 stimulating the production, not only will the culture be extended over 

 a greater area, but the productive power of the land will be materially 

 increased. If to the completion of the works of irrigation already in 

 progress, and the construction of railways, is added the stimulus of high 

 prices in Liverpool, it seems reasonable to conclude that the supply of 

 cotton from India will rapidly increase. 



A recent writer justly observes that, "up to the present, the supply 

 from India has been entirely influenced and over-awed by that from 

 America. Omitting years like 1855, when New Orleans cotton was selling 

 at 10jd., and Surats (or East India) at 7jd. : and coming down to later 

 days, when American cotton was selling in Liverpool nearly as low as 

 4d. and Surats at 3d., we shall see reason to conclude that the development 

 of the power of India to compete with America is, in one respect, a 

 question of price." 



Indian cotton is often delayed for months at the place of its growth 

 by want of transport, during which period it is subject to a deterioration 

 of, at least, jd. per lb. The cost of growing it is estimated at ljd. per lb., 

 it costs another l-|d. to carry it to Bombay (or other port of export), and 

 the freight to Liverpool adds another Id. per lb. ; hence it cannot be sold 

 in England at less than 4d. per lb. 



In 1845, the largest crop ever produced (up to that date) in America 

 was brought to market, and the price of the superior grades fell to a point 

 which compelled the holder of Indian cotton to sell at 3d. per lb. This 

 inflicted an actual loss of Id. per lb., and purchasers for the European 

 market withdrew their agents from India. As a consequence, the exports 

 during the following year fell to about one-half their previous quantity. 

 On the other hand, when, in 1856, the price of American cotton in Liver- 



