The Sun.
London, England, 1857-12-11 00:00:00

THE COTTON SUPPLY ASSOCIATION.

To THE HONOURABLE COURT OF DIRECTORS OF THE
EAST INDIA COMPANY, THE MEMORIAL OF THE COT-
TON SUPPLY ASSOCIATION,
SHENVETII, --:That this Association includes
amongst its members the leading consumers of cot-
ton in England, and has been formed for the pur-
pose of aiding in the removal of Governmental
and other obstacles to the growth of cotton in the
colonies and dependencies of Great Britain, and
particularly for developing the resources of British
India wlpre navigation and irrigation require to
be established, and for the extended cultiva-
tion of cotton in every country capable of pro-
ducing it, for the supply, upon such terms
as may be thought judicious, of seeds, cotton
cleaning machines and presses, and generally by
affording information, by the diffusion of printed
directions for its cultivation, by sending competent
teachers of cotton planting and cleaning, by afford-
ing prizes for the cultivation of cotton in new fields
of culture, and otherwise, as may from time to
time be found expedient to promote the growth
and increase the supply of cotton to this country.
That your memorialists forbear to occupy the

I _
time of your Honourable Court by statements
shewing the vast extent and vital importance of the
cotton trade of this coup try,affecting as it does every
branch of industry and commerce, nor will they
attempt to place before you the fearful evils which
would inevitably follow, even a partial stoppage
of the supply of an article so extensively consumed,
because these are matters which, through public
and private discussion have become familiar as
household words, but they respectfully call your
attention to the alarming jeopardy in which the
manufactures and people of this country are at
present placed, by an almost entire dependence
upon the United States of America for that supply,
as such a source is necessarily subject to be affected
by a variety of circumstances beyond our control or
power to remedy ; they also suggest that it is matter
for grave doubt and fear whether England has not
reached its climax in manufactures, unless a means
of further supply of cotton is provided, beyond that
which America can afford, to meet the yearly in-
creasing demand.
That it is now a notorious and well ascertained
fact that the southern portion of Br tish India is
capable of producing cotton to an almost unlimited
extent, and more than sufficient to meet the future
wants of Great Britain, however large they may
become ; and that, at the same time, it offers
greater facilities for the formation of an earlier and
more certain supply of that article than any other
country, from the adaptability of its soil for such
cultivation, and the large amount of resident la-
bour which its teeming population will at once af-
ford ; but these facilities cannot be taken advan-
tage of from the want of irrigation works and really
cheap means of transit to the coast.
That it is of the highest national importance that
the most energetic measures should forthwith be
adopted by your Honourable Court for the rapid
and effectual supply of these most urgent wants of
that portion of your territories to which we have
adverted, because thereby, and by means of those
aids, which your memorialists are willing to afford,
viz., the supplying of seeds and of cotton, cleaning
machines and presses, not only will a certain and
almost inexhaustible supply of the staple articles of
commerce upon which England is now dependent
upon foreign nations be brought into existence, and
the resources of territories over which the British
Government and your Honoutable Court have con-
trol be immensely developed, but unbounded benefits
will also flow to the Governments and people of both
E

ngland and India. The quality of cotton pro-
duced in India will also be greatly improved, both
by the irrigation of the soil, and the necessity which
that irrigation will create for a different and more
careful mode of culture than has hitherto been
adopted.
That your memorialists believe that neither
your Honourable Court or the local Governments
of India can, for many years to come, provide these
urgently required works of irrigation and means of
transit, and that it is only by the aid of private
enterprise and by attracting and applying British
capital to their construction that they can be ob-
tained.

That, under such circumstances, it is vitally im-
portant that every possible facility, and the moat
generous and liberal assistance, should be afforded
by your Honourable Court to those who are or
may be willing to undertake the onerous task of
raising the requisite capital and the construction of
such works.

That your Memorialists are informed and believe
that it is the opinion of mercantile men of great
experience and others, that British capitalists and
the English public will not be induced to invest
monies in an undertaking so novel in character as
the construction of irrigation works in India, and
having its base of operations so distant, unless
your Honourable Court is willing to accord terms
similar to, or even more liberal than, those which
you have already granted to Indian ailway Corn-
panies, including a guarantee of a minimum rate of
dividend.

That your memorialists, and all others desirous
of increasing the prosperity of this country and of
India, will view with great satisfaction the appli-
cation of the surplus capital of England to the con-
struction of public works of such vast importance as
will not
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those just referred to, and from the execution of
which so much good must result ; and they confi-
dently
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o want et
appli-
cation at the present time.
Your memoralists therefore humbly pray that
your honourable court will take into their
earnest consideration the subject matter of this
memorial, and adopt such measures as will effec-
tually and immediately remove all impediments to
the cultivation in British India of cotton and other
staple articles of commerce, so important to the true
interest s of this country ; that your honourable court
will also encourage, by all possible means, theimme-
diate application of private enterprise and British
capital to the construction of those works for the
extension of irrigation and navigation in
southern India, which are there so urgently re-
quired, as thereby the resources of that portion
' of the British empire, which is placed under your
control, will be speedily and properly developed,
the well-being of its inhabitants considerably
augmented, the cotton-trade of this country
relieved from its present unsatisfactory and de-
pendent state, by the substitution of a certain
supply of its wants, and the commerce of England
will be greatly extended. And that your Honour-
able Court will not hesitate to grant to those who
are willing to raise capital in England and to apply
it to purposes of such public utility as those referred
to, liberal and generous support to enable them to
efect such objects with success, and that you will
not withhold from them your guarantee of a mini-
mum rate of interest upon such capital.
And your memorialists will ever pray, &c.
NOTE.—The above memorial was signed by the Presi-
dent of the Cotton Supply Association, J. Cheetham, Esq.
M.P., on behalf of the Association, and was pesented on
the 28th November last, to the Honourable Court of
Directors of the East India Company, accompanied by a
letter stating that such memorial was meant to have
reference to the Madras Irrigation and Canal Company.
Similar memorials were previously presented to the Hon-
ourable Court by the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce,
the Manchester Commercial Association, and the Glasgow
Chamber of Commerce. Others of a like character will,
we understand, shortly be forwarded from other com-
mercial bodies.

The East India Coal Company have contracted with
the Indian Government for the supply of 25,000 tons of
coals annually for two years, it is said, on favourable
terms.
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