The Sun.
London, England, 1863-07-04 00:00:00

CANADIAN FRONTIER DEFENCES.

Col. ANNESLEY asked the Under-Secretary of State
for War whether the Government had received the report of
the commission sent out last year to inquire into the frontier
defences of Canada; and it so, whether it was their inten-
tion to carry out at present the whole or any part of the re-
commendations contained in that report.
The Marquis of HARTINGTON said the report had
been received, but it referred to a matter which was as much
one fbr the consideration of the Colonial Government as the
home Government, and until some action had been taken
by the Colonial Government, he was not sure that the Home
Government would feel Justified in taking any proceedings.
THE EXHIBITION BUILDING SITE.
Col. FRENCH, in the absence of Mr. Gregory, asked the
Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Commissioners of
1851 were to be paid the sum of £120,000 for land at Ken-
sington before the Government were in clear possession of
the land.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that
1.67,000 had been voted by the house to clear off certain ob-
ligations, and the Government had no power to apply any
further sum until after a vote of the house. The proper plan
Appeared to be to pay the money out of the balance of the
Land of the commissioners for the transfer of the land when
t" deeds were completed.
In reply to AFFAIRS OF JAPAN.
Mr. LAI H RAN E
044 the papers upon this eullect Would

be laid upjn the table as soon as the result of the last nego-
tiations had been received.
RECOGNITION OF THE SOUTHERN ATES.
In reply to Mr. ROEBUCK,
Sir G. GREY said his noble friend (Lord Palmerston)
would be in the House on Monday in all picii ability, and
then the time for taking the adjourned deb tte on the hon.
gentleman's motion could be arranged.

THE SUPPLY OF COTTON.
Mr. CAIRD then rose to call attention to the supply of
cotton, and to move for a select committee to inquire
whether any further measures could be taken, within the
legitimate functions of the Indian Government, for increas-
ing the supply of cotton from that country. The hon.
gentleman expressed his belief that the abolition of slave
labour would increase the price of cotton, though cotton
would still be the cheapest article for clothing for probably
a very long period. America had hitherto supplied about
four-fifths of our demand, and India nearly the other fifth,
and for 30 years post India has kept her ground in supply-
ing cotton against cheap labour and competition, Brazil
had decreased, but the supply from Italy had considerably
increased. It was wry remarkable, as an indication of in-
creased production in fresh channels, whereas in 1861,
the total import, including that from America,
amounted to 9,267,000 cwt., the quantity this year, when
America had sent almost nothing, was 6,622,000 cwt. In
Egypt the price of an acre of cotton was lately —it was
new £2O. In three months of 1561, the supply from that
country was 218,000 cwt., and in three months this year it
was 2,295,000 cwts. This year it waa expected that 260,000
bales would be shipped from Egypt. From Smyrna we had
had 50,000 bales last year, from which place we had previ-
ously had none. In Italy, great exertion had been used, and
last year the produce in cotton had,in some instances,actually
exceeded the original value of the fee-simple of the land it was
grown upon. The cotton-growing was under the superin-
tendence of Signor Vincenzi, who had charge of the Italian
department in the Exhibition of last year, and he believed
great progress would shortly be made. The quality of the
cotton was very good, and there was an easy command of
labour and land admirably suited for its cultivation.
The Italian farmer was able successfully to grow beans,
barley, and cotton in the same year. Spain was pursuing
the same course, and in Malta every suitable acre of land
was being laid out in cotton. From those sources half a
million of bales of cotton might be at the least expected ;
and, if the prices continued remunerative, they might rea-
sonably expect its cultivation to increase to one million bales
hereafter. They must, however, still look to America and
India for the remaining supply required for this and other
countries. The American supply depended, of course,
upon the result of the war, for the Southern States possessed
greater advantages for the growth of cotton than any other
portion of the globe. It was, however, delusive to imagine
that negro cultivation was more costly than free labour. In
consequence of slavery, no country was able to grow good
cotton so cheaply as the Southern States. It was by that
system self-supporting, and a well-managed slave cotton
estate was all profit. There were also great facilities of ex-
port. India, however, did not stand in so favourable a po-
sition for the growth of cotton as America in either of those
respects, neither did India possess the extension of new
and uncultivated land required, because no crop so soon
and so much exhausts the land as cotton. If the Southern
States should be victorious in the contest, they might expect
cotton to be soon plentiful again, with no additional cost
than would repay the war expenses. If, on the contrary,
the Southern States should be shut up to the eastward of
the Mississippi, the power of western extension so necessary
in slavery would be diminished, and they must expect a
largely increased population. But if the South be subdued,
and a gradual emancipation of the slaves follow, then there
would be for some years an increased cost of production of
American cotton. In Louisiana and Tennessee free labour
had been tried by giving wages to the blacks, and it was but
right to say that so far it had worked extremely well, the
despatches of Federal governors speaking of it in high terms.
In many of the free States successful attempts had been
made to grow cotton, and in Illinois cotton had been pro-
duced equal to middling New Orleans. If Vicksburg should

fall half a million of bales would find their way to the North,
and already 200,000 bales were on their way to the Northern
States. The war, he thought, must shortly terminate, and
the cotton cultivation ba resumed with a moderate increase
of price, in which case they might look to America for one
half of our former average supply, to which must be added
the million bales from other sources beside India, so that
he thought there was no occasion for alarm about the ex-
tinction of the cotton industry of this country. Every
month was producing fresh supplies, though the Secretary
of State for India had discouraged the efforts made for the
supply of Indian cotton. Looking through the Blue Book
of 500 pages, he failed to find a single intelligent suggestion
with reference to the increased cultivation of cotton in
India on the part of the right hon. gentleman (Sir C.Wood).
Why had he not sent out instructions to Lord Canning's
Government respecting the land tenure and the law of con-
tracts, instead of discrediting the course taken by Lord
Canning when all was over ? However, in spite of the discou-
ragement and the lukewarmness of the Home Government,
there were sufficient grounds for believing that a great
deal might be done for improving the quality and increas-
ing the quantity of cotton grown in India. Mr. Saunders,
the special commissioner appointed by the Indian Govern-
ment to report as to the north-western provinces, showed

clearly that by superior cultivation the quality and the

quantity of the cotton could be improved. It appeared by
the Blue Book that the average yield of cotton in India was
631 b. to the acre, and upon that calculation it would take
between six and seven acres of land to produce a bale of cot-
ton. If that was the case, they must give up all idea of
obtaining increased supplies of cotton from India, for no
cheapness of labour could compensate for the smallness of
the yield per acre. India exported last year upwards of
1,000,000 bales of cotton; and at that rate between 6,000,000
and 7,000,000 acres of land must have been occupied in the
production. In Egypt, America, and Algeria, 1,000,000
acres might have sufficed to produce the same quantity.
However, he believed the statement as to the yield per acre
in India was a fallacy on the part of the Indian officials. In
America the produce varied from 1001bs. to 2,0001b5. per
acre; and in Italy and Algeria 631bs. per acre would not
pay for the expense of picking. According to the Secretary
of State the natives of India had nothing to learn in the art
of agriculture. Well, if that was so, they were very much
in advance of every other people. Mechanically and chemie
tally, the cotton soil of India was precisely the same as that
of America ; the only difference was that the soil of America
was fresher, and consequently the yield was much larger.
The hon. member then referred seriatim to the several dis-
tricts of India which were adapted to the production of cot-
ton, stating that in the Doab alone there were 12,000,000
acres suited for the purpose, with a population more dense
than that of China. Ile also referred to the establishment of
railways throughout the whole of the cotton districts as an-
other strong element in the calculation, and concluded by
strongly condemning the Secretary of State for the recall
of Mr. Laing—an error so grave as to lower the authority
of the right hen, gentleman upon all questions connected
with India. Ile begged to move for a select committee, in
accordance with the terms of his motion. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. BAZLEY, although believing that the hon. member
took too sanguine a view of the question, considered that the
Government would be very much to blame if the supplies of
cotton from India were not very much augmented. No
doubt, at the present moment the prospects of the manufac-
turing districts ware most gloomy. Before the disturbances
in America, the average consumption of cotton in this
country was 50,000 bales per week, and of that quantity
42,000 bales, or 85 per cent. of ;the whole, came from Ame-
rica. Egypt and other countries supplied 8 per cent., and
the East Indies 7 per cent. It was true that !the supplies
from India had of late increased—but then the stocks were
exhausted, and the hand spinners of India were left desti-
tute, and there was reason for believing that the quantity
produced in that country was not greater than it
four years ago. Both Earl Russell and the
Foreign Affairs were entitled to the
owfacsotthtornee
or
for their promptitude in addressing
ents on the :subject of cotton supplies--
Foreign Governments n
highestd e r Secretarye
neem ihmosf
mraen
the productions had done anything to stimulate of India.. I t
but be should like to know whether the Indian Gove
was gratifying to
find that there was a prospect of increased
and Spain were beginning
of Earl Russell. Turkey, Italy,
supply of cotton in various quarters, thanks to the exertions
to grow cotton. Even from Morocco there was a prospect of
obtaining supplies, while China had sent some very beauti-
ful and excellent cotton to aid
in relieving the present
dearth. It was absurd to exp ect the manufacturers of Lan-
cashire to grow cotton as well as to spin and weave it. If
proper facilities were afforded to people in our colonial pos-
sessions, he believed ample supplies would be provided. The
hon. gentleman contrasted the inducements which had been
held out to persons to emigrate to America by grants of land
as compared with our Australian colonies. lie referred
to the efforts that were being made by the French Govern-
ment to establish cotton cultivation in Algiers, and said he
wished to see the same activity shown by our own Govern-
ment. Denying the statement that the Lancashire trade
had not exerted itself much in this question, he referred to
they ea
reffortsbeen
nt heC
enforcingoton Supply ye
Association, which
the
Government
necessity
of diminishing its dependence on the States of America for
the supply of cotton. Though cotton mightbe obtained
both
both in the West Indies and Africa, it
was for 30
chiefly
Australian and Indian possessions that we should have
outro
lock for large supplies. He deprecated the
unwillingness of
the Indian Government to take up this question
that if they had done so at the period when the Iron' na and .
e srabae id
for Birmingham (Mr. Bright) had agitated the
question ofr
cotton supply, 14 years since, Lancashire would have been
spared the overwhelming crisis which had now supervened,
Great responsibility rested on the Indian department of the
Government, which did not lack information, and only re-
quired energetic action. In this view he believed that great
good would result from placing gentlemen of agricultural
knowledge upon the Indian Council. Ile believed that the
difficulty of producing cotton in India arose from circum-
stances which would be told in a few words from a commu-
nication which he had received from Calcutta only a week
since, the writer of which stated, "I am convinced that
India could compete with America in growing cotton, but
no great undertaking can be carried on without Govern-
ment support. The Government itself is well disposed to
develop the resources of the country, but cannot control its
subordinates, by whom European settlers are still regarded
as interlopers." (Hear, hear.) With proper attention on the
part of the Government we need not look to America at all