The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-05-25 00:00:00

ThP] NORTHERN TIMES. -L1 VERPOO I, MONDAY, MAY 25, 1857.

COTTON SUPPLY.

As so many of our mercantile readers are directly inter-
ested in the qnestien of the supply of cotton, we are sure
they will be gratified by our pl4cieg before them in extenso
the following letter from the pen of Mr. Henry Ashworth,
of B th,on, whteh was read at the meeting of the Cotton
supply .itwsoeiation, held in Manchester last Thursday,
Mt. A.shworth 18 an extensive cotton spinner at Bolton,
and bas long taken a coospicu us part in the leading corn-
eae cial questions of the day in winch the cotton manufac-
turers are interested. Se is now, and has been for some
time, on a tour through the Unitad States, and having been
over the dirtrtces where the great staple is grown. 113 is
well able to form an pinion upon the subject, and this he
expresses wilt' care and clearness:
( indniaati, Ohio, April 28, 1857.

I My dear Friend,—rho newspaper which you have been kind enough
to address to me, containing a report of the proceedings of the annual
meeting of the Chamber of Commerce, I have du y r ceived, and have
not fa led to notice the solicitude which you co iiinue to manifest on
the sueje tt of our deficient supplies of raw cotton. The manufac-
avers of L ncethire e ezb srk their money very freely in the eatension
of tneir treee, and hey enjoy, very deservedly, a celebrity for the
attention they devote to their pursuits. It appears to me, however,
that at the present time there is eo hing which so much requires and
deserves their attention as the study which belongs to the upholding
of a tn re regular and more adequate supply of the raw material of
their mime ature. There may b 3 found a considerable number of
manufacturers whose routine of markethat may have established the
coatiction, teat when an article becomes scarce, "p ice will t ring it "
I do not mean to say that such reasoning is unsound ; but the ordeal
is severe, an if resorted to in an emergent), like the present, may
indict a great deal of suffering, which it would b 3 more becoming of
the body of manufaetu ere to pr.:vide against. The pecuniary lots
which is involved in a high price of cotton is by no means an easy
off tit" to sustain, eve's to Wiese wno may be strong in their reserved
tends; bat how grievous must be the burden Inevitably falling upon
those who are weak; who find that their spare capital h teeming
wasted, and the enter prise which had buoyed them up already sink-
ing? rise lest incerrel, whether of trading profits, of capital, or of
the skill and enterprise which imparts vitality to commerce, is one
witch ought to he viewed, net alone as it may concern an individual,
for in the word's race of commercial power su Is a loss becomes no
loss than national. There are amongst the manufacturing class a
coneiderab 9 number whose range of otservatien is w de, and whose
energy of character may be relied upon whenever there is a public
nee —any for action; and I agree with these who consider that some
immediate steps re ;wire to be tak n which would cc calculated to
mitigate the sever:ty of any mis online which may arise from a
depeedence for teree-feurths of the supply upon the prodecing power
of any one c y. The cotton crop of the season which is pat is
evide t y a fate e, as regards the supply of existing wants. It
ante ra to be c ,ncludce that it will not amount to three millions of
beees. The effect . pot piles, arising from this deficiency, has enabled
th planter to absorb the profits of the manufacturer, and this he will
p -obebly centime to do until the crop of the United States has
beome somettdeg like four millions of bales, which, according to all
appearanec, may be two or three years to come, although under
propiti us circumstances it may he sooner. According to the
information end the observation of the past month within the cotton-
grawing states. I and Viet the growth of a Crop of four millions of
bates le no a ques ion possibility but of time. So far as mere
territorial extent is concerned there is no apparent limit to the cotton
cu tore, neither is there any want of enterprise t embark in plant-
ing; the planters, as a body, appe r to sustain the spirit of their
coeutrymen as well as any ciass I have met with,and the only existing
barrier to pr idection I, the affar of labour. The increase of slave
labour by natural means mu t necessarily be slow ; but the increase by
inignttion may be, and already has been, stimulated by the high price of
cotton, and at the present time Ia gre in excess over any previous
period. Ocher operations and changes of an important character are also
being °filleted, which in due course will increase the enpnly of cotton.
Many planters upon inferior and exhausted soils have recently
removed to those which are more fertile in tbe states of Louisiana,
Arkansas, Texas, and the lowland swamps of the Mississippi. The
advantages of these changes are impending, though they may not be
near. Of cotwee there are at andence of speculative conjectures afloat
upon the probable results, and many persons insist that a crop
closely borderieg upon tour millions of bales may be counted upon
for the preteett year. However, since the recent frosts have destroyed
the first planting of seed, and the season has assumed an aspect so
nneowaee, them anticipations have become greatly modified. That
class of pawns wile take a forecast of the future by the results of
the past, and who base their ctureinelens upon sums of; arithneetle,
aepear to lead to an impression which it would be diflitun to remove,
namely, that a crap of four Millions of bales cannot reasonably be
Lolled for in less than four or five years. Taking the slave popula-
tion of the Unitel States at 3,600,0;0, and allowing one fourth of
them, or 900,600 to be employed upon cotton, there will be at least
one third, or 300,003, of in.fficieut hands, loavdng for the cotton
culture only 600,000. The quantity of cotton raised by one hand is
very variab e, extending from a very small number Om bales far a
female or young parent to as many, in individual cases, as twenty
bales for a man of active habits ; but the average al owed may
be about six balea. Thus, reekoning upon 600,000 hands, at six bales
per h -nd, the crop would indicate 3,6,0,000. Now, it is known that
such a crop as 5,000,00 e bales has never yet been raised in America.
The crop of 1855 was put down at 3,500,00 ; but since it was com-
posed in part of 250,000 of the crop of the previous year, it cannot
be affirmed that in any one year the cotton crop has exeeeded
3,250,003 bales. The average of the last three years, the largest
crepe on record, amounts to 3,200,000. Aliowi 'g, ati a reasonable
estimate, that the increase of breadth sown and the increase of bands
shall be to per cent., 321,000, the coming crop, under ordinary
circumstances. would be 3,az0,00n. Upon this calculation, is
sustained from year to year, it wonld eetedre about three
years to increase the crop to four 'millions of bales, but
they do not consider that such extraordinary efforts es
those of this year can be repeated. The increase of breadth sown Is,
I believe, fully ten per cent, and this rate of extension may be easily
kept up if there were hands to do it; but let us refer to the negro
question, and there we may find an obstacle which is almost insure
mountable. According to the average taken of 3,905,000 bales, there
would require an addition of 800,000 bales to make up the amount for
a crop of 4,090,000 bales. Let us reduce this, and call the deficiency
only 603,000 bales, and at the rate of six balce per hand, there would
be necessary an addition to the negro population of the south of at
least 100,000 efficient hands, besides supernumeraries attendant upon
them, and how this enormous increase is to be made up no one ven-
tures to determine. These are the scattered elements of calculation
wltich I have found lying in my way ; they amount to nothing con-
clusive; although no one can fail to perceive that the removal of the
pressure of a high price of cotton whether this year or at a future day,
mainly depends upon fa vourable weather, and a good supply of
labour. The subject of the future I cannot aeproach without a feel-
ing of dread. The history of the past of our career Is very brief.
Within a period, almost within a lifetime, and under a class of circum-
stances snore adventitious than accidental, the inventions of Watt and
of Arkwright, nndiselosed in all previous time, have come in aid of
human hands to minister to our natural wants of clothing; with the
possession of these facilities the craving has extended, until at length
the great mass of the humeri family has come to partake the blessings
of increased comfort and a more advanced state of civilisation.
Almost simultaneously with these discoveries, and as it were in
obedience to the requirings of an enlarged commerce thus created, the
lands of the Mississippi, enriched with the alluvial deposit of ages,
and possessing a climate and fertility pecu'iarly fitted to the growth
of cotton, became wrested from the Indian hunter to supply our
wants. We may now proced to contemplate, I trust, with individual
profit, the occurrence of events so remarkable and so unlooked for.
The advantages are of nnspealtable value to the whole of the human
race. Let as consider—are they of an abiding character ? I have
already stated that the extent of land available for cotton culture is
considerably beyond our immediate need. It is lying principally
betwixt 35 and 35 degrees north latitude. The quality is by no
means uniform. Those lands which are betwixt 33 and 3l degrees
are reckoned the best. Upon those to the south of this line the insects
abound; and upon the nor.h the land is more elevated, the atmos-
phere is also colder, and the success of culture is less reliable. The
lands first cultivated with cotton are in many instances exhausted,
and the continuance of cultivation of the same land for a succession
of years is bringing about a state of exhaustion at no distant period.
Cotbonlands are also liable to a description of weeds, called nut grass,
which renders them totally worthless for ootton. The cotton plant is
also liable to disaster from periodical visitation of worms and insects.
'Those who are acquainted with agriculture in Englandwmlii at once
suggest the propriety of a course of watering. This would be im-
possible. Cotton crops are not like crops of hay and turnips, they do
not yield manure, and foreign manure is out of the question. There-
fore, every planter holds possession of his tenure, not as a family resi-
dence or inheritance to his succesors, but in the light of a temporary
estate, to be abandoned when he has exhausted its fertility, and has
found a virgin soil in some other locality to which he can remove. I
hope I am not betraying any undue solicitude, bat in my opinion, the
parties whom this question concerns are net alone the manufacturers
of the article of cotton, and those who are dependent upon them for
employment. It antes In like mariner, if not to an equal extent, every
other class of interests allied to the cotton trade, whether engaged in
the exporter other distribution of products. Many of these gentlemen
leek very narrowly at every object which concerns their interests,
especially if it happens to be near, and I feel sure they would not
willingly disregard any appearance of danger which they perceived in
the distance. Judging from the character of the proceedings at the
Chamber of Commerce, this subject is now engrossing deep attention,
and were I amongst you I should most cordially unite in the course
you appear about to be taking. The manufacturers are becoming
restive ander a high price of cotton—u vegetable production which
may be raised in many parts of the world—and it now appears
necessary to determine whether they will stake their existence as a
trade upon the continuance of American supelies, or seek out for the
creation of supplies from Italia or other countries. In short it has
come to this —shall we allow the government of India to go on cog-
lecting its duty to both countries, as a consequence to starve our
industry, and cripple oar resources ? The demand for every article
of cotton manufacture has of late years been going on with iacreesing
rapidity; and if the supply of the raw material were dependent upon
human will alone, the planters of America are, of all others, the men
whom I should prefer to trust with the protection of it. As we now
stand, our supplies from them are not only inadequate, but we know
not how long they may be continuous ; and we ought never to forget
that they were called into action under circumstances which appeared