4 
_ cotton imported into Great Britain being 
~ derived from them. : 
Mr. Brougham* has shewn, that in the 
shipping employed between this country 
and the West India colonies, there .are 
more seamen in proportion to the tonnage 
than in any other trade, being that of 
one man to every fourteen tons. 
From the official reports made to the 
House of Commons of the tonnage and 
seamen employed in that trade, during 
the year 1804, it appears that the former 
amounted to 236,580 tons of shipping; 
and that 17,680 seamen were engaged on 
board of those vessels. The proportion, 
In this instance, exceeds the estimate of 
-Mr. Brougham; there being one man to 
every thirteen 3 tons. But Mr. Lowet 
esumates the number of men, including 
those engaged in fisheries dependent on 
the colonies, at 25,000 men, which would 
reduce the proportion to one man to 
about each nine £ tons. Thesame gentle- 
man has stated most decisive reasons for 
the preference given to this trade by the 
Jower classes ; and he has also shewn, that 
the inducements held out by it, are so great 
as to lead many to enter. into the sea 
service, who would otherwise have shun- 
ned it. He has done this, and indeed 
every part of his subject, such ample 
justice, that the repetition of the facts 
in this place would be a superfluous 
labour. 
There is another consideration which 
has been too generally overlooked: that 
the intercourse between Britain and her 
colonies, replaces two British capitals, 
while ail others replaces only one. 
Such are a few of the advantages en- 
joyed by the parent state: the next object 
‘of attention is the disadvantages under 
which the colonists labour, They are too 
goading to be overlooked. Toa large class 
of them the legislature has of late 
afforded some relief, which has however 
been imperfect. To another (the cotton- 
planters) there appears to be no intention 
of affurding any aid; for every petition 
that bas been forwarded to the Board of 
Trade, has been dismissed without the 
relief sought. 
_Every man in this empire is deeply 
affected by the prosperity or adversity of 
the colonies; for should the evil become 
_ too great to be borne, ruin must ensue to 
those immediately dependent on them: 
~~ * Colonial Policy, edt 1. p. 17. 
T Inguiry, kc. p. 14, 
«< 
On the present State of ihe Cotion Colonies. - 
[Aug. 1, 
and all the taxes now paid by them, must 
de drawn from the parent state. 
It is an awful and important truth, 
that Britain cannot exist with a smaller 
revenue than she at present possesses. 
Landholders, as well as the mercantile 
interest, should weigh well this fact,-and 
act in sucha manner as to promote their 
own interests no less than those of their 
fellow-subjects. 
These circumstances apply perhaps in 
a greater degree to the sugar than to the 
cottoncolonies: there is another peculiari- 
ty connected with the latter. 
Raw cotton has become nearly with 
wool, a staple of these kingdoms, The 
un Callen excellence of our manufactures 
ensures us the market wherever we hiave * 
access. At present we derive the cotton= 
wool which is manufactured or exported 
‘In its raw state, from our own colonies, 
from the United States of America, the 
Brazils, the Spanish colonies, the Levant, 
and the East Indies. Of the whole of 
this, above one-third is imported from the 
British colonies. On this we can always 
calculate, barring the risk of crops, and 
of capture; the last being much lessened 
by the expulsion of the French from the 
western hemisphere, All obtained from 
foreigners is dependent on their caprice ; 
of this America has afforded an admira- 
ble. illustration. 
In 1808, the quantity of cotton im- 
ported from North America was only 10 % 
millions of lbs. being thus reduced to 
little more than one-third of what it had 
-been for the three preceding years, and 
to one-fifth of what it bas since been. 
The other independent states may be 
equally whimsical, or their interests may 
be different from what they now are, 
There are also physical objections to some 
of the cotton-wool obtained from foreign 
sources: that from the Levant being 
only fit for the coarsest manufactures, 
that from India is either coarse or fine 
in the extreme, and cannot be generally 
used. The expence, too, of freight is four 
tines that from the West Indies, _ 
Unless the colonists obtain relief, they 
must and they will seek it for themselves, 
Tt is true that they are without the means 
of revolt; their peculiar situation, their 
inclinations, all concur to oppose such a 
design. This furnishes an "additional 
claim on generosity. 
There is a pitch, however, to'which only . 
the chords of attachment can be tuned; if 
wound farther, discord is produced, and 
at Jast they are broken for ever, Men 
who 
