The Sun.
London, England, 1858-04-12 00:00:00

COTTON SUPPLY ASSOCIATION.

The strangers present at the annual meeting cf the
association were Entertained at dinner at the Queen's
Hotel, Manchester, on Friday evening. Mr. Cheatham,
M.P., presided ; and anion!,st the company were Sir
James Brooke, K.C.8., Col. Patten, M.P., Mr. H. D.
Seymour, M.P., Sir J. Potter, M.P., Mr. J. A. Turner,
M.P., Mr. Baxley, the Mayors of Manchester and Ash-
ton, Sir J. Watts, and Mestri E. Ashworth, H. Ash-
worth, H. Dunlop (Glasgow), H. Radcliffe, T Clegg,
E. Waikin, H. Riddell, E. Reuss, T. Fairbairti, J.
Simpson, T. Wrigley (Bury), W. R. Callender, A. Camp-
bell, J. Pender, ani J. Torr (Liverpool).
Mr. H. ASHWORTH propose I " S..ccess to the extended
cultivation of cot,on." He said—The emergency which
bad called this assembly together was one in which it
was very obvious that, as manufacturers, they had
wrought up their raw material, or near so, and therefore
it was quite time they slm} begin ‘• wool gathering."
(Hear, hear, and laughter.) The neceanty for more raw
cotton was an occasion of alarm with which this commu-
nity had been more than once threatened ; but from
year to year it approached more and more closely. In
September last the brokers of Liverpool were specu-
lating to one another which of them should be the buy, r
of the last bale, for there was not enough to serve

till Christmas. (Hear, hear.) The mutiny in India
and the commercial panic stopped the mills, however, and
the cotton was therefore not exhausted, but within the
last month it was found that there was not a month's
,•tock left at Liverpool. (il.ar, hear.) He conceived
that this emergency affected not merely manufacturers,
hut the whole nation, from the Queen hereelt and the
R iyal family, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, down to
producers, consumers, and labourers, for all were alike
interested to an ex ent that would render it painful to

any of them to endure the privation which was antici-
pated. Under an apprehension of that nature it was
not unreasonable that in Manchester they should not
only investigate the subject, buthe mindful of those high
economic principles of free trade which bad obtained in
that city more than perhaps in any other place of similar
extent. They desired nothing Which should run counter
to those principles ; but they might rely upon it that
occasions did arise when sound principles could not be
adhered to with strict tenacity , and therefore, if on an
occasion like the present they entertained doubts or ap-
prehensions of the'propriety of waiting till the demand
and the supply had adjusted themselves the one to the
ether, they might, he believed, without in any way in-
fringing on those principles, consider how to bring about
the increased supply they bad need of. If all the world
were informed alike, if all countries pos,essed the same
degree of politico-economic knowledge as the people of
Great Britain, we might reasonably leave the matter of
demand and supply to adjust itself, as it would do in its
own time. But it must be borne in mind that cotton-
growing was an oceupatian just taken up by people who
were not informed upon political economy. It was
grown by people of colour, less intelligent than the gene-
rality of people in this country ; and as they were igno-
rant, it was for us, rather than anybody else, to instruct
them. We had beard from Dr. Livingstone of the im-
mense resources of Africa, and the vast numbers who
gained their livelihood by growing cotton, and of many
wonderful and interesting discoverie, ; but he (fir.
A-hworth) was not aware that Dr. Livingstone had
found any where iu Africa snch a thing as a
cotton broker's circular. (" Hear, hear," and laughter.)
If. therefore, the knowledge of their wants was so defi-
cient in a country like that, they could not better em-
ploy themselves than in associating, as on this occasion,
to Diffuse information and to distribute cotton seeds all
the world over. If in the course of a year they should
distribute 100 tons of cotton seeds in all parts of the
world, surely they might count upon 10 tons of cotton
for every ton so distributed. Even that might cause a
reduction of price, and a reduction ..f per lb. was
computed at 1,000,0001. sterling. Alisiougla many of
them would not ask for a ferthing of subscription, if pro-
tection was the thing sought, they asked for it with free-
dom for such a purpose as this from every one interested.
The money was for a substantial object. This association
had been very much aided by the Government through
instructions to our agents abroad for the collection of in•
formation ; but it must be borne in mind that the tenure
of land under the despotic governments where many of
our consuls pointed to natural capabilities WAS not such
that the investment of capital there could be recem-
mended. Surely, then, we might find something to be
done within our own possessions. America had done
great things for us, as he could assure the meeting from
personal observation, and had done great things for her-
self. The planters of America had been animated by a
most commendable spirit ; he would say nothing about
slavery, which was their own institution, but they bad
certainly worked up their resources in a manner that
was very praiseworthy. Little more than sixty years
ago not a single bale of cotton had come down the
Mississippi ; last year be saw 75 vessels laden with
cotton for Liverpool lying at the bar. During the year
the cotton passing that bar might be counted by mil-
lions of bales. Wby had such results come to pass there
in the course of a nian's lifetime, while we had posses-
sion of India, with resources far greater than the re-
sources of the Americans, and yet made such indifferent
progress S (Hear, hear.) America would do all she
could, but America was short of territory and short of
labour, whilst the labour she could command was un-
certain in its tenure. The coloured people were not a
people of constitutional vigour equal to that of the white
man ; they were liable to epidemics and many casual-
ties, and it required a great deal of the white man's
trouble and thought to provide against them. The bulk
of the cotton lands of America extended only about one
degree and a half of latitude, say from 34 to 353/4. To
the north of that region it was cold, the plant was
stunted, and the cotton was coarse, and hence the lands
were very little cultivated ; and to the south the lands
were so rich and filled with animal life, so abounding
with insects as to preclude the profitable cultivation of
cotton. Sooner or later, therefore, the cotton lands of
America would require to be renovated, or they would
be exhausted. (Hear, hear) He did not say it would
be in our day ; but the time would come when the
American cotton lands would be very much scarcer than
they are now. There might be unexplored regions in
South America or Texas, but these would only have
their day. They could net be manured ; guano could
not be found in sufficient quantity. Hence we were
called upon, not in disparagement of the efforts of Ame-
rica, but from regard t 3 our national interests, to be-
think ourselves how to ensure a more regular supply.
(Hear, hear.) We had evidence on every hand that the
capabilities of India for the supply of cotton was un-
bounded, and it could be grown by people who were not
slaves. Simultaneously with our wants the occasion had
arrived for reconstructing the Government of India. It
was not required that the new Government of India
should be a numerous one, but that there should be ap-
pointments of judicial responsibility, of territorial re•
sponsibility, and of commercial or any other quality or
grade demanded by the well-being of the people of that
great country. The Chamber of Commerce of Manches-
t,r had adopted, on very considerate grounds, a petition
to be presented to Parliament next week, which he
hoped would have due weiaht in the Legislature. They
should expect better things from India than had hitherto
come from it. (Hear, hear.) The land tenure was the
leading question. Hitherto it had been vested in the
conyauy, and it had been next to impossible for Euro-
peans or natives to obtain a yard of land that they
could call their own. How was it possible
to expect India could be cultivated by servants at
will any more than we could expect large cultiva-
tion in England by capitalists or farmers who Were ten-
ants at will. But, worse than that, whilst in England
even tenants at will have got some sort of nominal rent
which they have reason to expect will satisfy the land-
lord, in India that description of rent which will satisfy
the landlord is just what the collector chooses to take.
Hence the poor Hindoo labourer on the soil had never
known what was his own, the little capital he once pos-
sessed had been earned away piecemeal, from year to
year, until at last the men who began life with a good
house over their heads, ended in a mud hut with scarcely