Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1857-06-12
Cotton Expe rIment In India.
GIRARD House., PHILADELPHIA.
Mopdop Eob 16 1917

circles of business men in your city and New York,
The subject being the renewed efforts and evident
anxiety, on the part of the English manufacturers,
to hnd in some part of her MaiestY's wide extended
/ dominion vast cotton fed that would quiet their
apprehenslons lest the supply of the material
should not long continue To meet the apidy ncreas-
ing demand.
The attention of the English manufacturers is
tnTally turned TO that laud of fabulous wealth. the
East India Company's empire, India; and Of
the leading merchants, knowing that had been con-
nected with the great cotton experiment in India.
gotten up by the rulers Of that vast country, appeal
ed to NE to know what was the result, and expressed
the belief that some account of that experiment
would be of general interest to the public | prom
ised 10 give such an account, and shall tw furnish
a mere epltome Of the details which will send you
On my return home &s soon as leisure permits.
| In 1910 the opportunity was offered TO me, with
others, of going 10 the East Indies, under the ausp
ces of the East India Company, and considering that
he who accomplishes the greatest good to- greatest
number entitled to the greatest distinction and
beipg ambitious of eroyng all that could be attained
from that prolific source, went and though ali that
was antic attd was not realized, the experiment was
fairly tried during ten years laborious effort in that
far distant land, where Brahminee bulls and defed
monkeys are objects OF profound alteration by the
whole HindOo population.
After the first two years experiments tried in var
Gus parts OF the country, reported to the East India
government that the object hoped for was unattaina
! ble-lhat the experiment failure. There. was
some cotton produced, but at cost of a guinea q
pound, which served we'll for the basis of reports
the part Of these who looked that for sup
ply of the great staple, the greatest in the
mercial world
| am asked by all who mention the subject, 'wha
the of failure in the great cotton expert
men in India, which at time caused so much
anxiety lest our best interests should be subyered by
another country superseding in the production of
the great staple product of our own q | answer
that the causes Of failure both physical and
moral in their nature The ply sical defect is The
want OF an eluable clinate-a climate Of equal tenn
rerature and of sufficient duration to mature the
rlent; the extremes of excessive humidity and ex-
cessive arlness or drought long continued, and
segment heat; and when favorable ciIcumstan-
CTS combine, and the plant IS growing we'll, and lis
abundant ''forms," embryo fruit promises an
abundant harvest. the boil worms bud the plant
main stem, and branches and also enter the "forns,
and cause them to fall in nyriadS, and cover the
ground with what would have been the great sta.
pie y if matured. ! he plant will grow and produce
we'll. if it is irrigated but that process is expen
sive to be profitable. Cotton must be produced by
The ferzing influence of the natural rains, which,
we are told, fall On the nst and the unjust" The
natural dews of heaven must fructiy the earth, or
her ordinary products cannot be proftably produced
The moral defect is the immoblity of the Hindoo
character. They will not change they will do as
their fathers did forever; they will not adopt the
means of improvements they will not adapt them
selves 10 the appliances essential 10 success.
This Is a sacGnct account of the cotton experiment
in India, commenced by the East India Company,
under the supernte dence of American cotton plant.
ers, in 1849. continued n it till 1850 others re-
mained there longer and we have seen or felt
any beneficial consequences. Millions were exppnd-
ed in the enterprise and the onl result is, hear
occasionally of the shipment of few bales of Ameri.
can cotton fiom India; bu sir, This does not const
tute success. Success is rot attained until the people
of the country themselves produce the article and
that in such quantities 10 affect he markets of the
world.
Let me here add that the American cotton legen-
eEaea 10 such extent in the plains of India that
i'll few years ii will not germinate and the staple
! soon becomes shot and weak and that, While [
have pronounced al tie efforts Of the East India
Company 10 make India American cotton produc-
ing country, failure In the plains generally, ye
there is large extent of territory that would, with
proper Appliances, such Southern planners
would adopt, produce cotton well but where this is
the it ould produce Othet things that are more
prota bic than cotton, and consequently the people
of India will not cultivate the artice-an English
man never will or can anywt tere:
And YET another suggestion. We have compar
ativeIy limited of country that well ada pied
by climate and soil Tor cotton, and that will pro-
duce enough cotton for the worki for some time vet,
IF it for cultivation but remember that that
of country is in climate that white people
work in, in the open field that the great staple must
be produced by negroes; there not as many as
they cannoi, according to the English estimate, pro-
duce enough cotton to clothe the many millions who
now cotton, wholly or in part, for clothing
These two millions five hundred thousand negroes,'
the producers, viii only increase naturally the sup
ply very wisely being STOPPED from other sources,
while the many millions of consumers will increase
III urally in greater fa0, and the OF ciVlza
rion rapidly widening aud bringing into the list OF
consumers nations that know not the use of cot.
ton clothes to any extent. -
What effect viii this state of things have the
cotton market IN half century? answer this ques-
ton by saying that unless Eng land finds cotton
field somewhere in her broad domlniOns The balance
of power in the commercial world will be lost in The
next half century Cotton w1H be King, We shall be
in the ascen81ncy, being the sole producers. Our
manufactures increasing rapidly, England cannot get
eurpy of the material her mills stop; millions
of her people are thrown out of employment so
many hungry Englishmen clamorng for bread, bread,
Il will Overrun the C0untry-cause revolution IN Eng
land, what then =? Where will II stop! How lar
will The devastation extend? Statesmen! ponder
this well. If you abolish slavery in the South to-
day, all these contingencies occur lo-uoriow.
THOMAS J. FIRNIE
Attorney at Law, Memphis Tenn.
II NoTE--Taking the average of hVe bales to the
hand, and the maximum of tIree millions five hun
dred thousand bales the cotton crop OF the United
States, the result that there are only seven hundred
| thousand actual laborers in the cotton fields The
greater number of that class If population beif
employed in the production of hemp, corn, sugar,
SC, and many are employed as household servants,
60. l. J.F.
The Chefaw Gazette of the Sd inst, says: -.
II By the way, the crops are generally advanced
enough for the passer by to see that tbe corn has
been planted here ami cotton there .nd that is about
all, with few honorable exceptions" But in sober
truth, the crops at least monta behind ordinary
Guano is in general use In HlariDor0ugh,
and it has decided effect upon the lands, 80 that
with air seasons the crops may yet turn out well