The Sun.
London, England, 1861-11-09 00:00:00

COTTON FROM JAMAICA;

A meeting of gentlemen interested in obtaining
an increased supply of cotton was held yesterday
afternoon at the Manchester Chamber of Commerce,
to hear a statement of the views and prospects of
the Jamaica Cotton Company from Mr. Stephen
Bourne, formerly resident magistrate in that island.
Mr. BAZLEY, M.P., presided, and, in introducing
Mr. Bourne to the meeting, briefly referred to the
present perilous position of the cotton trade. The
trade at large was at this time working four days
a-week, but the losses were by no means indicated
by that mere diminution of time, because the
labourer was deprived of the means of subsistence,
and while many establishments were only working
three days a-week, and a large proportion were not
working at all, the loss to the employers was very
heavy indeed, from the cost of the raw material ex-
ceeding the price at which their manufactures could
be sold. The present losses to the cotton industry
were perhaps £1,000,000 sterling per month ; at all
events not less than at the rate of £10,000,000 per
annum. The trade now seemed to be fully convinced
of the impolicy of dependence on one source for
supply of cotton, and one of the remedies suggested
was the renewal of its cultivation in Jamaica, which
formerly supplied a considerable proportion to Lan-
cashire. Protection to sugar and other circumstances
had driven the cultivation of cotton out of the cal-
culations, and from the attention of the owners of
land in Jamaica. After the negro emancipation in
the West Indies, no doubt there was momentarily a
revulsion in the labour market, produced very much
by the lack of generosity or discretion on the part of
the owners of estates. Previously the price of slave
labour, when hired, had been fairly established at
from 2s to 3s 6d per day. But after the emancipa-
tion many of the owners, not content with their
share of the Parliamentary grant, desired to obtain
the free labour of those who had been their slaves,
at a greatly reduced rate—sometimes 7d and 9d
a-day. Many of the labourers therefore preferred
to become " squatters ;" and while, no doubt, the
act of emancipation greatly contributed to the
prosperity of the negroes in the West India
islands, and also, as he believed, essentially contri-
buted to the prosperity of the estates generally in
those islands, so that a larger quantity of sugar
had been yielded than in the time of slavery,
Jamaica had been an exception. Mr. Bourne
had for three or four years past been calling at-
tention to the cotton capabilities of Jamaica, and
had shown him at different times cotton of most
excellent quality which had been grown there. He
(Mr. Bazley) was perfectly satisfied that the island
was capable of growing a very large quantity of
excellent cotton, and the question to be determined
was, how industry should be resumed there. He
believed that English capital and European exer-
tion must be called forth to give an impulse to the
industry of Jamaica. The Jamaica Cotton Company
had received some support, but not to the extent
deserved. He had that morning received from a
friend in London a sample of cotton from an
island in the West Indies (he could not now say
which island), which was worth 1.3. 6d. per lb. Mr.
Bourne could vouch for the general healthiness of
those islands to Europeans who lived temperately;
and probably the:alleged unwillingness of the negro
to labour would be overcome, when he found there
was no disposition to stint his reward or depreciate
his social condition. Englishmen should not with-
hold their capital from British possessions under
British security. Probably £100,000,000 was in-
vested in securities in the United States, but he did
not think the capitalists of Lancashire had sent a
single million to support the cultivation of cotton
in British possessions. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. BOURNE said,—The samples of cotton on the
table were picked from stray trees in St. Thomas,
in East Jamaica. The land on which the trees
grew is now uncultivated. There are at least a
million acres of land in Jamaica suitable for tho cul-
tivation of such cotton. The late census shows
that there must be at least 100,000 persons out of
employment in the cultivation of exportable pro-
duce in the island, and a clergyman who spoke at
the Newcastle meeting on the 7th of September,
from the island of Barbadoes, stated that at least
20,000 labourers could easily be obtained from that
island for the cultivation of cotton in Jamaica,
without at all inconveniencing the sugar growers
of Barbadoes. In the United States there are at
this moment large numbers of free blacks who
would gladly migrate to Jamaica, if fair and liberal
arrangements for their passage-money and employ-
ment were proposed to them. On the Jamaica
mountains, where cotton grows luxuriantly, as
well as coffee, tobacco and the surgarcane,Europeans
might live without danger of more sickness than they
would be exposed to in Europe. It is only in the low
and uncultivated swampy lands that fevers prevail.
The harbours, roads,and other adjuncts of civilization
which are wanting in India are to be found without
any cost or delay in Jamaica. The language and go-
vernment are the same as in England, and the
authorities there are amenable to the Government
and Parliament of England. In less than a month
cotton picked in Jamaica may be transported to
Manchester. It being so, why do not the mill-
owners of Lancashire obtain supplies of cotton from
Jamaica ? Would it not be better to take effective
measures for so doing than to close their mills or
work short time ? 27 years ago I went to Jamaica
as a special magistrate. I remained in the West
Indies for 13 years. On my return I saw the mem-
bers of Parliament for. Manchester—Mr. Bright and
Mr. M. Gibson, and asked them to call the attention
of their constituents to these facts. In 1856 I went
again to Jamaica and remained there till April,
1857. < In August and September of the same year
I brought to Manchester cotton picked from trees
l
oo
fn t thhee s Se aa m.a a I
fimr
so
tuns t a ih nws
showed
feet
to3ir a. bjo. vße
.t hseml
tvhe
Mr. TuiTer, M.P.,
M. P. .T,
.then
Clegg,to Ma
nrd. Bmaaznly o
o
Y'rher Ps.,'
Mr. and left it for some
days at the Exchange. It was said to be equal to
Egyptian cotton, and worth at least 9d. per lb. By
circular, by letters in the Manchester papers, by
conversation with a great numberofNlanchtoesttheer
gentlemen, I endeavoured to arouse attention
several important facts connected with this question
of cotton from Jamaica. I never was in Manchester
till I came for this purpose and exhibijed this cot-
ton; but since I have been seven times, always in
the hope that I should arouse attention to this ques-
tion. Mr. Hardcastle, Mr. Emmott, Mr. Ogden, and
Messrs. M'Connell have seen the importance of it,
and have associated themselves with Mr. Bazley,
and Mr. Clegg, the Messrs. Gurneys, Governor
Hinckes, Admiral Sir C. Elliot, Major-Gen. Good-
wyn, Lord Portman, Lord Fortescue, Mr. J. Penn,
Mr. Fowler, Mr. Glyn, and many other persons of
equal respectability and good sense, in order to en-
courage the growth of cotton by means of free
labour in Jamaica. And why should not every
other person who has at heart the welfare of
Lancashire on the one hand and our free labour''
colonies on the other—why should he not do
made'
the same ? From time to time we
have d
public the delarations of our agents and many
gentlemen of undoubted veracity, obaerTatics)

and experience, residents of Jamaica, and
they affirm that in every part of Jamaica cotton
will grow, and that there are at this moment

atm many yv
etrhyo umsoa
dnedr
apteer sroant se aobf I
we
aagnd es w I
veto h
el
aa ourrba it
frequently asserted by men who have never been to
Jamaica that there is no labour. It is in vain to say
to those who will neither go to the West Indies
themselves, nor believe the statements of men as
incapable of falsehood as themselves, " You aro
misinformed or mistaken." Nothing will affect
such persons but a change of circumstances ; they
can only learn the lessons which adversity teaches,
and if none but themselves were the sufferers, the
sooner they were so taught the better, both rod.
their families and others.

" Hear the just law, the julgthent of the skies
Ile who hates truth shall be the dupe of lies;
And he who will be cheated to the last,
Delusions strong as hell shall bind hint fast,"
From such persons I appeal to the thoughtful and
reflecting. I ask them to read these letters and to
examine this cotton, and then to say Yea or Nay to
the proposal that they shall assist in this under:
taking, and enable those who desire to promote it
to extend their operations so as to render them,
really effective. For the purposes mainly in view
viz., to prove by an experiment or two that cotton
may be grown of excellent quality and at a rery
moderate price in Jamaica, and that from so grow-
ing it a very handsome remuneration far capital
may be obtained, sufficient capital has been sub-
scribed, but the quantity so produced can scarcely
have any effect on the market. It is for those who
need cotton to co-operate with us and to extend the
capital of the company so as to bring a large quan-
tity into the market if they should see fit. Tho
same or nearly the same expense for office, rent, and
general superintendence will be required for two
establishments as for five, and all may be made
successful by the application of so small a capital
as £20,000. From the general desire evinced by
the small settlers in Jamaica to obtain cotton seed
there can be no doubt that if an establishment such
as we contemplate could be set on foot in five diffe-
rent parts of the island, at least 10 times as much
cotton as that the company propose to grow will be
the result; and when once the cultivation is thus
proved to be profitable, and the quality of the cot.
ton found to be superior to either American or East

Indian, the owners of land in the West Indies gene-
rally will turn their attention to the subject, and
either themselves grow cotton, or extend still fur-
ther the capital and thereby the operations of tho
Jamaica Cotton Company.
Resolutions were unanimously passed recognising
the capabilities of Jamaica for production of cotton
and the Jamaica Cotton Committee as deserving of
support.