116 . | On'the present State of the Cotton Colonies. [Sept. ¥, 
‘still less, as the quantity ‘importéd of 
foreign. cotton. is_ rapidly encreasing. 
The natural consequence of which, is a 
diminution of price. ‘ 
During the first term marked out, 
{frum 1781 to 1788, inclusive) cotton 
wool, as has been already remarked, 
sold on an average at 2s. 23d. At that 
time, no duties were levied, Every arti- 
cle required by the colonies was much 
cheaper... Navigation charges were 
equally small; and the peace which 
then existed, favoured the manufac- 
tories at home, which benefited the 
planter. 
The actual expenditure was, of course, 
much inferior to what it now is, while 
the price was higher. 
It may..be assumed, as.a broad and 
- incontrovertible fact, that the price of 
every article is double what it was in 
1781. The plantation charges ma 
therefore be stated at one-half of what 
they are according to a preceding state- 
ment, that is.at Sid. per lb. of cotton 
wool; and supposing the mercantile 
charges to have been the same as they 
now are, they, after deduction of 2d. for 
the duties, are 5id. per lb, Thus, the 
gross charges upon every pound of cotton 
wool, would then have been 9d, which 
leaves 1s. 52d. of actual receipt to the 
planter of that time. 
Lest this mode of estimating be not 
admissable, let another be adopted, and 
the results will be found nearly the 
same. Among mercantile people, four- 
pence per lb. was generally supposed 
sufficient to cover all the difference 
between war and peace charges. This, 
it must be remarked, was previous to the 
‘preSent war, since which the duty has 
been nearly doubled on British cotton, 
About one-penny per lb. may therefore 
be added to the estimate of the mer- 
chants, which increases it to 5d. per 
Ib. When this is deducted from 41s. 
21d. the present expences, 94d. will re- 
main as the real expence of the former 
period; and the additional half-penny 
‘may be considered equivalent to the 
enhanced pricé of every necessary for 
the estates, though it is in fact be- 
fowate 6 3%, < | 
“The cotton-planter of these eight 
years received 1s, 53d. which, from the 
diminished value of money, was equal 
to at least one-half more ‘than it 
nowis. . ve 
_ The second period, though less favoured 
. in point of actual receipt, was equally so 
hy the inferiority of every description of 
— _ PLP ee 
expence,. and by the non-imposition of 
duties, as the gross proceeds of sale 
averaged a fraction more than ts. 8d. 
perlb. The clear receipt was therefore 
about nine-pence. Had the planter not 
been favoured, as,he fortunately was, the 
fate which now seems to impend over 
him, would have been then accomplish- 
ed, aud with less destructive effects to 
the state. It has been his lot to have. 
his hopes raised to the highest pitch, and 
then, by a refinement in cruelty, to have 
“them dashed away with the rudest 
violence, 
The expences were somewhat en- 
crease’ during the third. series (from 
1796 to 1802) about the middle of which 
(in. 1799) a duty of 8s. 9d. per 100lbs, 
or of a fraction more than id. per Ib. 
was imposed on British cotton wool ; 
while, strange to tell, 6s. 6d. per 100lbs. 
_ or about 3d, per lb. was laid on American 
produce in American bottoms. |The 
average price was 2s. 74d, If the 
whole expence amounted to 1s, 2d, which 
it certainly did not, the planter nétted 
1s. 54d. which was quite equal to his 
wants ur his wishes. 
The diminution of charges.during the 
short-lived peace of Amiens, remedied, 
to a certain extent, the smallness of the 
price, which was only 2s. perlb, They 
were about 10d. per lb. which-left 1s. 2d. 
for the proprietor. Bade e 
From the renewal, of hostilities to 
1808, while 2s. per lb. has been the 
average price of cotton wool, every thing 
has happened to diminish the planter’s 
funds. For, immediately on the break. 
ing out of the war, a duty of 10s. 6d. 
per 100lbs, or 14d. per Ib. was laid on 
British, and 7s. 10d, per 100ibs. or 2d. 
and a fraction, on American cotton in 
American bottoms. 
_.In 1805, this highly improper distinc- 
tion in favour of the latter ceased, and 
the duties were increased to 16s. 8d. 
per 100lbs. or 2d. and a fraction per Ib. 
on British, and 17s. 8d. per 100lbs. or 
about 24d. per lb. on American produce. 
Both, however, are: on equal terms 
when the latter is imported in British 
bottoms. The duty on British produce 
was in the following year raised to 16s. 
-10d, and has continued steadily the 
same; that an American cotton was 
first (in 1808) raised to 17s. 10d. per ' 
100lus, or 24d. per Ib. and lately to 20s. 
Sd. per 100lbs, or about 24d. per |b. - 
when imported directly, ana 21s. 14d. 
per 100lbs. or a fraction mre than 24d. 
per lb, wuen indirecily, ‘Lhe former, 
ie, ] * inequality, 
