The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-22 00:00:00

COTTON FROM QUEENSLAND.

A special meetiug of the Manchester of Chamber of Com-
merce was held yesterday morning "To receive the Hon.
R. G. Herbert, Secretary to the Government of Queens-
land." The meeting took place in the Mayor's Parlour at
the Manchester Town-hall. The Mayor presided, and there
were present Sir C. Nicholson, Mr. Bazley, M.P., Mr. H.
Ashworth, Mr. J. Cheethatn, Mr. Slagg, Mr. T. Mosley,
Mr. M. Ross, Mr. H. Mason, &c.

The CHAIRMAN stated that the object of the meeting was
to take advantage of the presence of the Hon. Mr. Herbert
in Manchester, to present an address to the Governor of
Queensland.

Mr. FLEMING, the secretary, then read the following ad-
dress to Mr. Herbert :

"TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE 110 N. SIR GEORGE BROWN,

GOVERNOR OF QUEENSLAND.

"May it please your Excellency,—We, the members of
the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, in special general
meeting assembled, avail ourselves of the presence of the
Hon. R. G. Herbert, Government Secretary, whom we thir4
day welcome among us, to convey to you the expression bf
our great satisfaction at the rapid progress which the im4
portant colony of Queensland is now making in the deve-
lopment of its agricultural and commercial resources ; and
we observe with special interest the great success which hie
attended the cultivation of the cotton plant, for which the
soil and the climate of the colony appear to be peculiarly
adapted. At no other period could the visitor to Lancashire
be more strikingly impressed with the value of that most
important material. He finds the manufactures of this once
busy district paralysed and perplexed by the cessation of
those supplies which it has long been accustomed to receive
from America, and the community at large looking anxi-
ously for some new quarter whence suitable cotton may
be obtained. Mr. Herbert will therefore be enabled to
inform you, with the authority of an eye-witness, how
great a source of wealth appears to present itself to
the people of Queensland, should they devote
their energies to the extension and improvement of
cotton cultivation. The members of this Chamber have
seen with no small pleasure how faithfully your Government
has adhered to the liberal policy of the mother country;
and they rejoice in the spread of her free institutions to that
remote dependency over which you preside, destined, as
they hope, to a career of great and progressive prosperity.
" For and on behalf of the Chamber,
" h ENRY ASHWORTH, President."
Mr. H. ASEWORTII, the President of the Chamber, said
that upon an occasion of distress such as that which affected
the district, it was both desirable and commendable that
every opportunity should be seized whereby the increased
cultivation of cotton could be encouraged, whether in our
own colonies, or in any other part of the world. When any
one approached the subject of our colonial empire, it would
be remembered that it involved an expenditure of some
£.1,000,000 or £5,000,000 a year, and was very often full of
disappointed hopes and expectations. In fact, the time had
now arrived when we had thought it proper to get rid of
some of our dependencies—namely, the lonian Islands.
And, probably, for the same reason that a commercial people
were accustomed to place a balance-sheet against their own
affairs, we had begun to think it would be just as well were
we to hold that commercial plummet against some of our
colonies. Our colonial system had been so long neglected
that it required to be taken into better management. It was
really quite refreshing to see that colonies might be ma -
naged, not only for our own advantage, but for the welfare
of the colonists, and more particularly our own countrymen,
who were desirous to possess property and station in some
distant country. The Australian colonies had been hitherto
the most successful and inexpensive. Queensland was the
youngest of our colonies, being only three years old. The
population had rapidly increased, their works and cultivation
were equally prosperous, and cotton had been produced equal
to the best specimens of American cotton. It was not un-
reasonable, therefore, to hold oat anything short of protec-
tion to enable the colonists to carry out with success that
which was already so well begun. Although the colonists
had not considered themselves free to carry out their own
military power, they required so little help that at the pre-
sent time they were governed by 25 military troopers.
(Laughter.) Unlike other colonies Australia was prepared
to maintain their own expense and Government. (Ap-
plause.)

Mr. HERBERT, in response, said it would be very satis-
factory to Sir G. Bowen and the people of Queensland to
peruse the address. There was n i English community with
which the colonists more sympathized than with the busi-
ness-men of the seats of manufacture. The colonists felt that
they were better understood among that class, than in, per-
haps. more theoretical coteries of persons less immediately
connected with the everyday business of life. Since
Queensland was established three years ago as a colony
separate from its parent, New South Wales, it had been
much due to the notice taken of its capabilities by Mr. Baz-
ley and this Chamber that there had been an emigration of
mechanics and others and an investment of capital in
Queensland, which would lay the foundation of prosperity
to the settlers and an extensive trade with England. He
(Mr. Herbert) had no very correct data at his disposal with
respect to the condition of cotton .growing in Queensland.
About three years ago cotton culture was pressed on the
attention of the colonists, partly by the representations of
commercial bodies in England, and partly because agricul-
tural farming had not thriven, and a new staple of cultiva-
tion was desired. Previous experiment had demonstrated
the superior suitability of cotton in this respect, and it be-
came the duty of the Government to try to foster its growth.
It was hoped thus to raise up an intermediate class between
the large capitalists and the working man—a yeoman class,
on which the stability of the colony must eventually depend,
supposing that class could be created. The Government
in revising the land laws of the colony made provision
whereby a liberal bonus should be given for the first five
years to all persons who might successfully grow cotton and
ship it to England in large quantities in good condition,
Subsequently, free grants of land were offered to cotton
cultivators. After nearly two years the experiment had
proved most successful. Notwithstanding the want of
competent managers, or of experience in the difficulties of
cotton culture, Queensland had sent home what had been
pronounced in Manchester to be really good samples, and
would soon be able to send cotton in quantity of similar
quality. (Applause.) Previously the colony had been
almost exclusively engaged in wool-growing, of which the
profits in Australia were so great that, unless cotton-
growing was very remunerative, it could not be expected to
command attention. He was, therefore, much gratified in
being able to say that cotton had proved thoroughlyprofitable
in Queensland. It had been distinctly proved that sea-
island cotton could be produced to the extent of 4001 b. (clean)
to the acre. One English hand could undertake four or five
acres, and, assuming only the ridiculously low price of Is.
a pound, there would be about £lOO a year as the result of.
each labourer's work. The plant was also shown to be
eminently hardy, and suited to the climate of Queensland.
He illustrated this point by describing the adverse circum-
stances under which cotton had been grown on the Cabul-
tare plantation, in which he was himself interested. It
sustained the successive ravages of a destructive grub, an
unusually heavy hailstorm, and a flood through want of
drainage. The advices from Queensland by the last mail
were excellent,7giving evidence that after a long drought,
which had proved fatal to most other agricultural produce,
the cotton crop was looking healthy and well. The growth
of cotton would not in any way interfere with that of wool
Sheep would not thrive in the cotton
were chit fly on the seaboard,—a strip of land
rivers, the shores of harbours. The River Brisbane
particularly
alianbnoQdustu,GelseOlilmsilcailhnesdin width, and on the banks of the navigable
the River Fitzroy, Iceppel-bay, about tropic,
choatrtaon late!
Denison, and Edgecumbe-bay to the northward, all con-
district, the River Mary, and, perhaps, more
y sold
Cottonaht
a2ds .a
162
con-
tained vast tracts suitable for cotton growing, and unsuit-
able for wool growing. It was proved also that cotton
could be grown on almost all the soils of the colony. The
year.
limestone soil, which would produce even better cotton
next
clay, which became almost as hard as brick in the summer.
He had seen cotton plants bearingand flowers on that
dbeewnasgrgowronwonnaat tenaciousswich red
pods .
hard soil with great luxStfi
The light, sandy, alluvial
soils of river banks, and the d • ark loamy alluvial soils, had