The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1852-11-04
From the Liverpool Times, October 10.
Cotton from Africa.

On Saturday advice was received in Manchester
by MIR. Thomas Clegg, cotton spinner, Of the mr.
rival of five more bales. weighing in the aggregate
rather more than one thousand pounds, of raw cot
ton from the coast of Africa. This makes Mr..
Clegg's receipts to amount to about twelve thou
sand pounds, as the result of the very important
movement which originated with him. Some three
four years ago. learning that there plenty OF
cotton growing wild near the colony Of Sierra
Leone and the church missionary station of Abeo.
kuta, and that as 1t bloomed and ripened it drop
ped 10 the ground and rotted, no one regarding it.,
he communicated with the officials of the Church
Missionary Society in London, and through them
sent one hundred pounds to the place named. with
instructions that II was to be expended by the mis-
sonaries in setting the natives to gather and clean
the indigenous produce, and to forward it as quick
| ly as possible to England. At the same time they
we're directed to lay before the chiefs the advan-
tageous opening which presented itself for the
ploynent OF their people, and how much better it
would be to do that than to pursue their horrid
traffic in human flesh This was direct appeal
to leading trait in the character of the native
chiefs of that part of the continent for by the uni
versal testimony of those who know them best they
are admitted to possess a strong liking for money,
and to be I'd clever at barter any Yankee pedlar
for trafhcing indeed, they secm to have natural
gift, which only requires to be turned from slaves
to cotton to enable Us to dispense with squad
ron on that coast. The inducements held out
proved sufficient to attract attention, and in the
year before last few hundred pounds were col
lected. Since then Mr.: Ciegg has received above
advice OF on Saturday, and altogether at present
every thing points to great results at distant pc
Rod. But the duty of attending to the collection
and forwarding of the cotton has become too large
for the missionaries to undertake, and therefore
two agents about to be sent out especially to
undertake it. The great aim at present is to show
the chiefs that there is market for whatever cot
ton their people can collect of that which grows
without the necessity of bestowing more labor
upon it than what il required to gather it from the
pod; that effected, they will then be asked to en-
courage it's growth by cultivation. Mr. Clegg has
spun quantity of the cotton himself, and has
given some to four firms with the request that they
will experiment upon it, and favor him with re-
port. In staple it is equal to Egyptian or good
Orleans, used in srinning fine yarns for the Not
tingham and Leicester trade. The price of cotton
suited for such fine numbers has more than dou-
bled within comparatively brief period. and
what was selling at SD. pound lie now fetching
God, and has been for some time, that this sup
ply will come in most reasonably to meet the
scarcity Of suitable sorts which the price indi
Gates. 1t must not be supposed, however, that all
that we have described has been accomplished by
Mr.. Ciegg's flOO; that gentleman Embossed his
purse strings when he saw success blooming in
the future" and he has been aided by other friends
of the African race, especially by Lady Buxton,
who has contributed fl00 towards the fund for
carrying on operations.