The Sun.
London, England, 1861-11-20 00:00:00

INDIAN COTTON.

The following complete review of the present
position and prospects of the Indian cotton ques
tion is from one of the most accurate and expui•
enced merchants connected with the trade of that
country :

" there seems some apprehension about
the quantity of cotton we have this year received
from India, and its relative price in that country
and here, the following statements, taken from the
actual imports and price-currents, may be in-
teresting :

" I shall refer to Liverpool alone, as the imports
into the other ports of the United Kingdom are
comparatively trifling.
" For the 101 months from lan. 1 to Nov. 14, 1860,
Liverpool received 422,103 bales of East Indian
cotton, being about an average import; while for
the same period of the current year she has received
742,437 bales. On Nov. 1, 1860, there were afloat,
from the East Indies to Liverpool, 43,295 bales,
against 168,415 bales on Nov. 1, 1861—equal to
double the usual supply. The stock of East Indian
cotton at Liverpool on Nov. 14, 1860, was 100,630
bales, and on Nov. 14, 1861, it amounted to 289,370
bales. The sales of East Indian cotton for the same
period were, in 1860, 509,940 bales, while in 1861
they were 994,190 bales.
" The present average price at Liverpool of the
lye descriptic is of East Indian cotton sold under
the general n me of Surats, for the good and fine
quality, is 9d. per lb. The price there of the same
quality in the middle of last year way 41d. per lb.,
exhibiting a rise in price over that of last year of
4.-!,d. per lb., equal to 100 per cent.
" By the last advices from Bombay the price at
which this quality could be purchased there and
landed at Liverpool, all charges paid, was about
61d. per lb., the Liverpool price for the same being
9d. per lb., or 21d. above that in India, showing a
profit of 42 per cent. on making shipments of cot-
ton from India at existing prices there and those
now current here. This state of that market, as a
general rule, is exceptional, the competition for im-
porting Indian cotton into this country being so
great that at the time shipments are made in India
the price the cotton stands at is fully equal to that
of the home market, and in many instances far
above it.

" It must not be forgotten that the total supply
of raw cotton to Liverpool from all countries, ex-
clusive of the United States and the East Indies,
for the period above stated in 1860 was only
189,278 bales, and that for the same time this year
it has been even less, or 184,306 bales.
" Without venturing on any actual estimate of
the quantity of cotton we shall receive from India
for next year, a collation of the facts connected
with the trade, based on the operations of the pre-
sent year, will yet enable us to judge as to the pro-
babilities for and against a large supply next season.
" I believe the question to be one simply of price,
and that the present rates are about sufficient to
insure a supply equal to our diminished require-
ments caused by high prices if confidence were felt
in their being maintained. As there can be no
guarantee for this there must consequently be great
speculative risks in the importation of cotton from
India.

" The impediment to a large supply from that
country is the existence of the American crop
(although it is reported to be under an average),
and the possibility of some event occurring any day
to enable it to be imported within a few months,
from which time, allowing for cleaning, packing,
transit, &c., we should as usual have that crop in
this market, entailing very heavy losses on the ship-
pers of Indian cotton, even at the present prices there.
" The favourable features for a large supply from
India are that last year India went to Liverpool
double the usual quantity under every disadvantage.
She was suffering from an unprecedented drought,
extending to many of the cotton districts. At the
time of planting there was no unusual demand for
cotton, but the reverse. Her markets were glutted
with manufactured goods from this country, which
could not be sold at rates leaving even 20 to 30 per
cent. loss, giving little encouragement to importers
to make heavy shipments of the raw material. The
price in our home market for her cotton was the
usual average rate, whereas now it is double, and
at no time in the history of Indian trade has any
article exhibited such enormous profit at the time
of shipment as cotton does at the present moment.
" There are now buyers in this market for any
quantity of Indian cotton afloat at the highest cur-
rent prices, enabling consignees to effect sales for
arrival as soon as they receive advice of shipments,
thus curtailing the risk to the shipper. The last
intelligence from India, dated Oct. 27, advises con-
siderable improvement in the import market there
for piece goods. The enhanced price paid to India
for cotton has circulated large sums of money in the
cotton-growing provinces, increasing their power
of production, and, in place of a year of drought
and famine, there have been plentiful rains all over
India, greatly benefiting the cotton cultivation, and
insuring to her farmers their cold weather, or most
remunerative crops, still further affording them the
means of purchasing British piece goods.
"To this may be added the general opinion that
the settlement of the American question appears
now more remote.

" These circumstances combined render the pro-
duction of a large cotton crop in India this season
highly probable, and from the state of the markets
in both countries it may be expected that large
orders will be sent out from home for its shipment.

" Any one acquainted with the Indian markets—
the largest and the best for our manufactured piece
goods—will admit the truth of your remarks, that
the cessation of the shipments of American cotton,
under existing circumstances, far from being any
real disaster to Manchester, was the greatest boon