The Sun.
London, England, 1862-10-23 00:00:00

T'WEST AFRICA COMPANY (Limited).
Incorporated under the joint Stock Companies' Acts
of 1856 and 1857, Whereby the liability of the Shareholders
is limited to the amount of their subscriptions.
Capital, £250,000, in 25,000 Shares of £lO each.
First issue, £12,500 Shares.
Ll to be paid on ap placation and £1 10s. on allotment.
The holders of such first Shares to have the preference, pro
rata , all further issues. No call to exceed £2 10s. per
Shario, nor to b e made except at an interval of at least
thrrie months fr im any previous Call.
:If no allotment be made, the deposit will be returned in
lull.

DIRECTORS.
Thomas Bazley, Esq. M.P., Manchester
Thomas Bradshaw, isq., Temple
George Braginton, Esq., Torrington, Devon
Thomas Briggs, Esq., Prestwich Park, Manchester
Henry Browririgg, Esq., 3 ?, Lime-street, E.C.
Thomas Clegg, Esq., Manchester
Frederic Doulton, Esq,, M.P., Manor-house, Dulwich-
comm o n
Ambrose Emerson, Esq. (Messrs. Newby, Carson, and Co.,
Gresham House, E.C.)
Captain J. P. Napier Hewett, F.R.G.S., J.P., Cardiff
Edward Hollins, Esq., Preston, Lancashire
Gerard Ralston, Esq., Consul-General for Liberia, 21,
Tokenhouse-yard, E.C.
(With power to add.)
BANKERS—The London and Westminster Bank, Loth•
bury, E.C.
Soumous--Messrs. Cotterill and Sons, 32, Throg-
raortori-street

Bnoxl nii2—Messrs. IlugginFi and Rowsell, 1, Thread•
Zit edle-street, E.C.

GENERAL MANAGER—J. B. Langley, Esq.
SECRETARY—F. W. Stone, Esq.
Temporary Offices-41, Gresham-house, E.C.
PROSPECTUS.
The object of the Company is—To establish Trading
Stations, Fsctories, and Depots on the Coast of Western
Africa, and, by means of organised agencies, to bringdown
and collect for shipment at such stations the valuable pro-
ducts of the interior ; to import goods, and introduce ma-
chinery for cleaning and pressing cotton, and for other
purposes; and generally to enter into commercial relations
with the native traders, by means of barter, traffic, or other-
zaanu-wise ;
factudes
an thereby to open up, in exchange for British
and other r, a practically illimitable market for cotton
products—and to secure their transmission to
the ports of the United Kingdom.
•
The capabilities of Africa to meet the commercial require-
ments of Europe are evidenced in the variety of its pr.duc-
Cons, and the increasing extent of its trading operations ;
and it has long been a matter of surprise, that the en-
couragement of Native industry should have been left to
associations of a philanthropic character, or to a few Mer-
chants intent upon the enormous profit which exclusive
dealings with the Natives incontestably afford.

COTTON.
The cultivP.2on of the Cotton Plant, and the employment
of African 'tabour on its native soil, have already been suffi-
cienitly 4eested. There is abundance of labour seeking
empioynt--
ea a fertile soil well adapted for its growth, and a
Perralation actively alive to what will benefit themselves.
N 0 expensive er uncertain experiments are required to test
'the ability or the will of the Natives to supply this country
with cheap and good cotton. The testimony of the officers
of the Niger expedition concurs with, and confirms, the
evidence of Dr. Livingstone, and other African travellers,
that indigenous Cotton is growing in abundance throughout
'vast districts, covering many thousands of miles of territory,
and only waits to be gathered. Some tribes of the Natives
are lezgely engaged in manufacturing Cotton into chthing
for their own use. It is calculated that more than 200,000
Pieces of these cloths are annually exported from Africa
into the Brazils. In fact, only buyers on the spot are
wanted to take from the Natives what they have to offer,
Riving in exchange manufactured goods suitable to their
requirements.
In a letter from Dr. Balfour Bakie, in command of the
-Niger Expedition, to the Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs, which Lord Russell caused to be inserted in the
London Gazette of August 29th, 1862, he emphatically
Urges his lordship "to call attention, in England, to the
peculiar eligitility of this portion of Central Africa (Bide
usse), as a Cotton field.' Again, speaking of Sudan, and
the Yoru'oa country, he proceeds to say—" Here Cotton is
already in abundance, and cultivated by a people able and
Willing to work, and accustomed to its habits and rearing;
nothing is required but increased demand, means of pur-
chase, cleaning and shipment. The rest would speedily
Mr. I. Lyons M'Leod, Hon. Secretary to the African Aid
society, in a Letter to the Times, March 28th, 1861, writes
-----" It is a well-attested fact, that from Western Africa
(shipping port Lagos), Cotton in abundance may be pur-
chased at 2d. per lb., and allowing for exorbitant overcharge
for cleaning, freight, &c,, it may be sold from the same lo-
cality in Liverpool at 41d. per lb. This Cotton is equal in
quality to New fc-frleans at 61d. per lb., proving beyond I
doubt, that from IN estern Africa, which is nearer to our I
shores than the Cotton districts
of America, we may ob-
tain the same amount of Cotton for £20,000,000, for which
we are paying the Slaveholders of the United States
X 30,000,000. In Western Africa—the Yoruba Country,
and along the valley of the
Niger"_ (the localities above
re-
ferred to by Dr. Balfour Bakie)
for
" twEheanNohaatiavtaers
aanrde ready
to supply any amount of Cotton
gow Manufacturers."
These testimonies appear to demand the most serious
attention and consideration at the present crisis.
The supply of Cotton from the Southern States (which
till a recent date formed 80 per cent. of our consumption),
cannot be fully renewed tor several years ; part of the crop of
1861 has been burned, and the remainder may never reach
us. In 1862, it is believed, that only about one-fourth of
the usual crop has been sown, and it is not likely that a
larger area can be placed under Cotton Culture in 1863; so
that, if the Civil War were to be ended by any means to-
morrow, the full supply of American Cotton could not be
resumed till September, 1864. Till that date, the price of
middling and ordinary Orleans are not likely to fall below
One Shilling per pound.
There is abundant evidence to show that India cannot for
many years supply the quantity or quality required. The
Egyptian supply is the only one which might be supposed
likely to compete with that imported from West Africa;
but the Egyptian Cotton imported into England has never
hitherto reached 200,000 bales in any one year, and if
doubled (which it cannot be for two or three years),, it will
liot suffice to make up the deficiency created by the reduced
supplies of ordinary Americans. Besides, the average price
cf Egyptian Cotton has been Bd. per pound for several
years. African Cotton, equal to middling Orleans, can be
delivered in Liverpool, at a cost to the Importer of Four-
pence Halpenny per pound. In the seed, in Africa, it may
be procured in unlimited quantities at about one Halfpenny
per pound; cleaned Cotton about Threepence. Payments
being mad in barter, the profits on the Goods reduce the
cost price of the Cotton considerably.
It is not the intention of the " West Africa Company" to
become Cultivators of Cotton ; the Company will simply be
Purchasers of Cotton, which will be brought down to their
Nations by the Native Traders, and thence Shipped to the
ports of the United Kingdom.
Several well-known Firms, having used African Cotton
in their Manufactories, are able to report favourably of its
quality for working.