The Sun.
London, England, 1847-06-23 00:00:00

S Ny

JUNE 23, 1847.

ON THE CULTIVATION OF COT-
TON IN NORTH EASTERN AUSTRALIA.
The following communication on this important
subject appears in the Glasgow Argus of June 21 :
, Edinburgh, 17th June, 1847.
Sir,—Having recently returned to this country
from New South Wales, with a view to promote the
general welfare and advancement of that colony,
my attention has for some time past been strongly
directed to a subject of transcendent importance, not
only to our remote colonial community, but to the
entire manufacturing interest of the mother country,
and to the cause of humanity—l mean the practica-
bility of growing cotton, of superior quality, and to
any conceivable extent, by means of European free
labour in -North-Eastern Australia.
Towards the close of the year 1845, I made a tour
to the northern portion of our vast colonial territory,
with a view to ascertain its capabilities as a field for
emigration, for virtuous and industrious families,
and individuals of the middle and humbler classes
of society in this country ; and in the course of my
visit to the Brisbane River Settlement, in Moreton
Bay, latitude 271 deg. S. I was particularly struck
with the vigorous and healthy appearance of the cotton
plant which I found growing there (merely, however,
as an article of curiosity), and with what appeared to
me the superior quality of its produce. And know-
ing, as I did at the time, that the climate was in the
highest degree salubrious, and perfectly adapted, not-
withstanding its comparatively low latitude, to the
constitution of the European field labourer, I could
not help thinking that the prospect which the cir-
cumstances opened up was highly encouraging to the
colony, as affording the assurance of remunerating
employment to a free immigrant European popula-
tion of any amount, and likely to prove of the utmost
importance to Great Britain, and to the interests of
humanity ; for, if European free labour could be
applied successfully and profitably, as I felt assured
it might, to the cultivation of cotton in our own Aus-
tralian colonies, it appeared to me that not only might
this country be supplied with the raw material for
her principal manufactures from her own colonies, but
that a new and unexpected, a legitimate and power-
ful, influence would thereby be brought to bear upon
the extinction of slavery in America.
On my return to Sydney, I mentioned the subject
to several gentlemen of high standing in our Colonial
community, and particularly to certain of the lead-
ing members of our Provincial Legislature ; and I
was encouraged, by their entire concurrence in my
own views and opinions in the matter, to bring it
under the notice of gentlemen connected with the
cotton trade in this country. I have accordingly
prepared a work, which will shortly be published,
illustrative of the capabilities of North-Eastern Aus-
tralia, particularly for the growth of cotton, by
means of European free labour; but the importance
of the subject, and its bearings on one of the great
questions of the day, (the means of affording remu-
nerating employment and permanent subsistence to
the destitute population of extensive districts of this
country,) have induced me to solicit attention to it
through the press, on the part of those who are more
immediately connected with the cotton manufactures
of the country, previous to the publication of that
work. I am prepared, therefore, to prove, to the
satisfaction of all unprejudiced persons, the following
important points :-
1. That in North-Eastern Australia, or the tract of
country extending northwards along the Southern
Pacific, from the 30th parallel of south latitude, to the
Tropic of Capricorn—a range of latitude in the
southern hemisphere precisely the same as that of the
ancient land of Egypt in the northern,-=there is a
vast extent of land of the first quality for the cultiva-
tion of cotton.
2. That cotton, which has been grown from Ame-
rican seed in this tract of country, casually, as a mere
article of curiosity, and without any attention to its
cultivation, has been pronounced by one of the first
houses in the trade in Glasgow, a very valuable kind,
which, if imported in quantity, would readily bring
at present from lid. to is. a lb.
3. That this tract of country possesses facilities for
water carriage in extensive bays, inlets, estuaries and
rivers, all navigable for steam-boats to an extent un-
surpassed by those of any other tract of country,
without exception, having the same extent of coast,
in the British empire.
4. That the climate is in the highest degree salu-
brious, and perfectly adapted, notwithstanding the
comparatively low latitude, to the constitution of the
European field labourer. These points lam pre-
pared to verify, not only from my own personal ob-
servation and experience, but from the medical sta-
tistics of the district for the last seven years, and
from the testimonies of public functionaries of various
professions. and of undoubted intelligence and vera-
city. And
J. That for an industrious European population to
grow cotton for exportation, as an article of agricul-
ral produce, on their own account, could be carried
out from the mother country and settled progres-
sively along the bays, inlets, and rivers of this tract
of country, wherever the soil and situation might
render the formation of such settlements desirable,
without costing either the mother country or the
cotton trade in particular one farthing of expense
eventually; for as an Act of Parliament provides that
land in the Australian Colonies shall not be sold for
less than a pound an acre, and that the proceeds of
such sales shall be appropriated for the promotion of
emigration, there is land enough in the tract of coun-
try I refer to, of the first quality for the cultivation
of cotton and other tropical produce, as well as of
all sorts of European grain, fruits, roots, and vege-
tables, to pay for the progressive occupation of the
entire redundant population of Scotland ten times
over. It would be necessary, indeed, in the first in-
stance, to advance the funds requisite for defraying
the cost of the emigration of the labouring popula-
tion to be employed eventually in this branch of
cultivation ; but the land that would be received
from the Government, either in trust or in perpetuity,
for these funds, would form an ample security for
their ultimate repayment, together with a higher rate
of interest in the meantime than in ordinary circum-
stances is procurable at home.
The special reason that has induced me to direct
the attention of the cotton trade to this subject at the
present moment is, that as emigration to Canada will,
in all likelihood, have ceased for the present year
very shortly, in consequence of the absolute neces-
sity of making timely provision, on the part of the
emigrants to that country, for the rigours of its long
and dreary winter, it would be quite practicable, in
the event of the idea I have suggested being carried
out, to effect a large emigration to Australia during
this present year; as it is of no consequence at what
season of the year a ship sails for that country, pro-
vided she can once get fairly off the land. Five
thousand persons, including perhaps three or four
thousand of the very people who, by a Destitution
Committee, are now feeding on public charity in the
Highlands and Islands, could be shipped off
with perfect safety for that portion of Australia to
which I have been referring, before Christmas. And
supposing that these emigrants should include, as
I would propose they should, perhaps a hundred
families of practical gardeners, or persons accustomed
in some measure to the cultivation of exotic plants
at home, to introduce the cultivation of cotton in
their adopted country, and whereby to set an example
to the rest of the emigrants (who would, generally
speaking, require, of course, to hire themselves out
as farm servants, shepherds, household servants, or
labourers, in the first instance). I could pledge my-
self that the whole number of these emigrants would
find immediate and eligible employment in the dis-
trict, in one or other of these capacities, on their
arrival in the colony, and until they are able to settle
successfully on land, as they would be able to do
very soon, if at all industrious and economical, on
their own account.
In reference to the climate and general capabili-
ties of the country I have been describing, the
following is the testimony of Oliver Fay, Esq., J.P.
Commissioner for Crown Lands for the Clarence
District, in North Australia:—" I am satisfied there
is no part of New South Wales, however, justly
it may be famed for the salubrity of its climate,
which is more conducive to the health of the
human body than the district of Clarence River."
And again—" On the whole, a four years' residence
in the district has confirmed me in the opinion, that
no country ever came from the hand of its Creator
more eminently qualified to be the abode of a thriving
and numerous population than the one of which I
have been speaking ; and in forming this estimation I
have been uninfluenced either by prejudice or by
interest, being in no way connected with it, save in
that arising from my official capacity."
As for myself, I think I can say, without the
slightest degree of egotism, that I am no visionary,
like most of those who speculate about emigration
and colonisation in this country, without having had
any practical experience on the subject themselves.
I have resided for nearly 25 years in the Australian
colonies, all of which I have visited but one, and I
am, therefore, thoroughly acquainted with their phy-
sical character and capabilities. Neither am I altoge-
ther unqualified to give an opinion on the suitableness
of the soil and climate of north-eastern Australia
for the cultivation of cotton. I saw the plant
growing there myself, healthy, vigorous, and well de-
veloped. I plucked its pods with my own hands,
and, although I could not pretend to be a judge of

PRICE SD.

its quality, I had no idea that it would be found to be
of so superior a quality as it was proved on examina-
tion in Glasgow. I had been three times in the
Brazils, both at Pernambuco and at Rio Janeiro,
where I had seen it growing also, and where it is
grown for exportation, and I had also been in Charles-
ton, South Carolina, one of the principal cotton-
growing states of America. Neither is the compara-
tive cost of free labour- a subject which I have not
considered, in reference to this question, or on which
lam unqualified to offer au opinion. I have seen
:slavery, and considered it well, both in the United
States and the Brazils, and it is, after a careful con-
sideration of the whole subject, that I have come to
the conclusion, that with European free labour—that
is, with plenty of virtuous and industrious people, of
the humbler or working classes, from this country,
we should not only be able to produce a much sup-
rior article to the cotton of the Brazils in North-
Eastern Australia, but even to undersell " Jonathan
and his niggers." and thereby to drive him eventually
out of your market till he should mend his manners.
In short, I am firmly persuaded, that " the heaviest
blow and the greatest discouragement" that negro
slavery in America is destined, by Divine Providence,
to sustain, will be experienced from the application
of European free labour to the growth of cotton, and
other tropical produce, in North-Eastern Australia.
Anticipating, then, as I do with perfect confidence,
that this object will very soon be regarded as one of
national interest and importance, and that it will call
forth at once great national effort for its accomplish-
ment, I am desirous on many accounts, and not
merely as a native of the West of Scotland, and an
alumnus of the University of Glasgow, that that great
commercial and manufacturing city should take the
lead, and assume the initiation in the matter. For,
if the manufacturing city of Manchester took the
lead in that memorable agitation which issued in entire
freedom of trade in the great staff of life, it ap-
pears to me that it would be peculiarly fitting, as well
as highly desirable for the city of Glasgow (which is
surely not inferior to Manchester, either in point of
intelligence and enterprise, or of public spirit and an
enlightened interest in the national welfare), to as-
sume the initiation in a somewhat similar agitation—
an agitation which I have no hesitation in adding,
promises equally important, equally splendid results.
For success in the object and agitation, I contemplate,
would not only ensure a future supply, to any
conceivable extent, of the raw material, for our
great national manufactures, independently alto-
gether of slave labour, either in North or in South
America, and thereby give a wonderful additional
impulse to British commerce, but it would also in-
sure the conveyance out and progressive settlement
in a land of plenty, free of all cost eventually to this
country, of thousands and tens of thousands of your
destitute population, who are now a burden to so-
ciety at home, but who would there become valuable
consumers of your manufactured produce abroad ;
and I am greatly mistaken if it would not tend, more
directly and more effectually than all the Abolitionist
and Evangelical agitations in Britain, to give ulti-
mate freedom to the American slave. For I confess,
that so long as America continues the principal source
of the supply of cotton for your factories, I have no
hope, from what I saw myself in that country, of the
extinction of slavery in America. Only let us be able
to undersell Jonathan, however, from Australia,
which I maintain is perfectly practicable, by means
of European free labour, not only in the article of
cotton, but in other articles of tropical produce in
America, and slavery will be extinguished as a matter
of course, as being no longer either profitable or re-
munerative.

With a view to bring this whole matter under the
consideration of the public generally, and especially
of gentlemen engaged in the cotton trade, I propose
to _deliver two lectures on the points I have
enumerated above in the city of Glasgow ; and,
if a few gentlemen should be appointed to make
further inquiries on the subject, and to repOrt,
I should be most willing to submit to any subse-
quent interrogation they might propose, with a view
to develope the real capabilities of the tract of country
I refer to, and the practicabilities of employing Eu-
ropean labour to any considerable extent in the culti•
vation of cotton within its borders. And if the mer-
chants and manufacturers of Glasgow should only
take the lead in this matter, so as to form some
organisation for action and agitation on the subject,
I am confident that immediate and zealous co-opera-
tion would forthwith be afforded to the carrying out
of whatever measures might be deemed practicable
and advisable in Manchester and the other manufac-
turing cities and towns of England, and that her
Majesty's Government would, at the same time,
moat willingly afford every facility that could pos-
sibly be desired:
_ _

As a further inducement to take up this subject, I
would remind your mercantile readers, that while
the vast population of the Russian Empire consumes
British produce and manufactures at the rate of only
7-id. per head annually, every man, woman, and
child in our great colony of New South Wales con-
sumes such produce and manufactures annually to the
extent of 71. 10s. per head. In short, we are excel-
lent customers.

I am well aware that anything new is usually re-
garded with suspicion and distrust. It is not yet
fifty years, however, since the project of growing
sheep's wool in Australia was submitted to the con-
sideration of the public in this country, and I need not
inform your readers how magnificently the promise
which was then given on behalf of our colony has
since been fulfilled, notwithstanding the distrust and
incredulity with which it was at first received. Now,
lam quite confident from what I have seen myself,
that our soil and climate are equally adapted to the
production of cotton wool of superior quality ; and as
the growth of cotton wool can be extended by means
of an industrious population much faster than that of
sheep's wool, I anticipate from the experiment much
speedier and far more magnificent results. It is
well known, for example, that the cotton crop in
America is not unfrequently destroyed by un-
seasonable frosts; but in the tract of country
in Australia to which I have been directing
attention, frosts are never severe enough to hurt
the vegetation. While, therefore, the cotton plant in
America is an annual, and must be renewed from
seed every year, it is perennial with us, as it is also
in India and in Egypt, and, consequently, much less
labour is required for its cultivation. There is no
more difficulty, indeed, in the matter, than there is in
the cultivation of a gooseberry bush ; for the separa-
tion of the cotton from the seeds is a mechanical
process, that has no connexion withlthe cultivation of
the plant, and that ought, decidedly, to be carried on '
by a different class of people altogether from the
mere cultivators, which, I am happy to add, the
great extent of water communication in North-
Eastern Australia would afford the ampliest facilities
of doing. In further proof of the superior mildness
of our Australian climate, as compared with
that of the United States, and of its consequent
adaptation to the growth of :ithe cotton plant
(which is decidedly a native), I shall only add,
that when at Charleston in the year 1840, I ascer-
tained of the warmer regions of the temperate, ra-
ther than of the torrid zone, and which appears not
to like extremes either of heat or of cold, that the
orange could not be grown either in that vicinity,
which is in 32 deg. north latitude, or in Savannah,
or in New Orleans, which are in about 30 deg.
north, considerably nearer the equator, on account
of the extreme severity of the American winter even
in these comparative low latitudes ; but the orange
grows freely in the neighbourhood of Sydney, in
New South Wales, in latitude 34 deg. south ; and,
if I am not mistaken, it has been grown, and. suc-
cessfully, two degrees farther to the southward.
I am, Sir, your most obedient servant,
JOHN DUNMORE LANG, D.D.
Senior Master of the Presbyterian Church, and
Member of the Legislative Council of New
South Wales.