The Sun.
London, England, 1864-10-06 00:00:00

Cotton Supply Association,

At the usual weekly meeting of the executive com-
mittee, held on Tuesday, Oct. 4, a letter was read
from Salonica, reporting that the last advices from
the interior were somewhat unfavourable, the con-

tinuance of drought and the stormy north-west wind
which had prevailed far some days having damaged
the cotton plant, but the opinion formed by the writer
from perSonal observation is that there will be double
the quantity of last crop. The taxes and tithes are
said to be gathered most arbitrarily, no doubt against
the express orders of the Porte. Cultivators have
been known to sell their green crops at ruinous rates
to meet the exactions of the tax collectors. The
opinion is expressed that nothing could be more''
advantageous to the Ottoman Empire than to allow
.every one, without distinction of nationality, to buy
landed property in his own name. By that means an
immense quantity of neglected land would be richly
cultivated, and its value increased tenfold, while the
revenue would be enriched in proportion. Some time
ago the several ambassadors at Constantinople re-
presented to the Sublime Porte the advantages that
would accrue from allowing foreigners to possess
landed property in Turkey ; and, after a full discus-
sion, it was decided in the affirmative, but nothing
more has been heard of the matter. The late Go-
vernor of Macedonia Usni Pasha, has been appointed
Governor-General of Monastir. His impartiality
in the administration of justice, and his severe treat-
ment of abuses, will, it is expected, put an end to
the numberlesis brigandages and robberies of which
that province has been the scene. He is described
as one of the best officers of the Porte, and one who
feels a real interest in the welfare and progress of
his country. A confident hope is therefore enter-
tained that trade with the interior may be carried on
without the least apprehension. A letter was received
calling attention to an article in the Journal de Con-
stanttnople, urging the necessity of an extensive
use of American seed, and of the complete relief of
cotton cultivation from fiscal burdens on the land,
as essential to the full success of cotton growing in
Turkey, and its continuance when the day arrives
for competition with America. A letter was read
from Buenos Ayres, stating that a quilt has been
forwarded to the Association, made from wild cot-
ton, which abounds in the province of Corrientes,
and in that unknown territory, the Gran Chaco.
Millions upon millions of pounds of the raw mate-
rial from which this quilt is made could, it is said,
be gathered at the most trifling cost, but no one
recognises its value or cares to look after it. A
sample of the wild cotton is also forwarded. A
despatch, forwarded by the Colonialsoffice, was re-
ceived from the Lieut.aGovernor of the Bahamas,
on the progress made in the cultivation of cotton in
those islands, and enclosing a report upon this sub-
ject from the police magistrate of the district of
Long Island, which, with St. Salvador, constitute
the principal cotton growing islands in the colony.
Theform
populationer hasof
2,571, and the latter has an area an area of 135 square miles, 'with a
of 101 square miles, with a population
of 2,378. Besides the efforts of some
native inhabitants of Salvador in cotton culture, it
has been further stimulated by an English coma
pany, whose agent lived sufficiently long to see a
considerable number of acres, by his indefatigable
exertions, planted with cotton, the shrubs of which
when be died from fever. In Long
cotton cultivation has far ex-
ceeded all the expectations that were formed. In.
Islandwere in
theb lossoin
success of
stead of 130 acres being planted, as was the case
when the last report was furnished, there are at
present between 900 and 1,000 acres. The island
is literally covered with cotton fields of various die
mansions. An instance of success in the case
of one person is green which has stimulated
others to imitate his example. He planted cote
ton in March of last year, and had no assistance
but that of his own children, except for
one day, when he hired a man
for 2s. He
sold his cotton for £125, being more than he had
received from anything else for the last six years.
Great scarcity of labour was experienced both at
Long Island and Rum Cap during the whole of
1863, and still continues. Formerly an adequate
supply of labour could be obtained from the adja-
cent settlements, but the labouring portion of the
population (almost all of whom are proprietors of
small portions of lend) now find it more profitable
to grow cotton themselves. The difficulty may be
obviated to some extent by immigration. The
greater portion of one of the largest islands in the
islands in the colony, Inagua, is the property of the
Crown, and well suited for cotton, which was grown
there when slave labour was available, It has an
area of 657 miles, with a population in 1861 of only
994 persons, which number has since decreased
rather than otherwise. The difficulty experienced
by the present scarcity of labour might it is thought
be remedied by an immigration of the poor white
population of Barbadoes, who are not equal
to the heavy work on the sugar plantations, but
could undertake the lighter work required in cotton