COTTON-WOOL. 



163 



per pound ; but the latter article incurs a heavier Mr.^ucker's 

 charge for freight and other outlays, while it 

 usually sells in the English market at about two- 

 pence per pound below the price of good American 

 cotton.* 



12. In the United States, the cost of subsistence 

 and the wages of labour are considerably higher 

 than they are in British India ; and other circum- 

 stances being nearly equal, this ought to give us 

 a material advantage in producing a raw material 

 for the supply of a foreign market. In point of 

 fact, the Americans, at no very remote period, did 

 actually import cotton- wool from India, although 

 it was charged with a duty of three cents per 

 pound ; but being landed for about fifteen cents, 

 or seven-pence halfpenny per pound, it came into 

 successful competition with their own produce, 

 which bore at the time a price of from eighteen to 

 twenty cents per pound. 



13. In 



the last twenty years; but there is reason to believe that, 

 under a proper system of culture, the article could be grown 

 in many of our provinces at a very moderate rate. The charges 

 on the Company's cotton are at present very high, and it is 

 sometimes found that the article can be purchased from indivi- 

 duals at the place of export at a price below the invoice cost of 

 their investment ; but the concern is surely susceptible of more 

 economical arrangements. If the quality were good in propor- 

 tion, the higher price would afford less matter for regret. 



f I will annex late prices-current in this market and at Glas- 

 gow, in order to shew how widely the prices differ, and how 

 important it is to attend to the quality of the article. 



M 2 



