The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1857-11-11

whatever they did, the public eye would be on
them the whole time, and no sudden, unfore-
seen, or unprovided calamity could overtake
them or the country.
The clearing house system should be made
feature Of every branch Of trade; and If all
commercial nations became members Of clear
ing house where the debt of each country to
all others was Hquidated and paid of at stated
intervals trade would be safer and sounder than
it Is
Cotton, Sugar and tho Labor Question In
MauEitins and tho East.
The advices from Mauritius, which we publish
in another column, exhibiting the prosperous
state Of that colony, and the causes which have
led to the large increase Of the sugar culture
there, are worthy of careful attention and study,
fcs many reasons
Cotton and sugar are the two great staple
products Of tropical and semi-tropical fields that
the European world is now deeply concerned
about the supply Of. Their cultivation and pro-
duction is much more intimately connected than
is apparent at first glance. Both are the product
of burning regions, where the fever-brained
large combinations of capital, mechanical skill,
and rude labor, under harmonious organiza-
ton and consequently the supply of both de-
pends upon social combination of the superior
and inferior races of men different from
what exists in the homogeneous communities
of Europe. The capital and skilled labor
necessary for their production will not be
expended upon the lands of the tropics, I'M
less the requisite rude labor can be impli-
city counted on to gather the harvest and
minister with regularity to its operations. 1t
is this constantly operating cause which re-
quires that for the production of cotton and
sugar the negro or the coolie shall be bound for
a fixed term of involuntary servitude. These
are the general truths which the history of the
production of these two great staples of food
and clothing teach us; and it is their recogni-
ton that is 40 rapidly overturning the erro-
neous humanitarian theories of Exeter Hall
But the example of Mauritius comes to us
with peculiar significance at this time. when
passing events are revolutonizing the minds
and overturning the cherished theories of two
generations of men. The financial revulsion
has destroyed for long years, perhaps forever,
the agitation of the slavery question in this
country. The same operation which is now
going on in Europe will produce som ewhat
similar effects there's and, combining with the
war in India, which has swept from the British
mind its maudlin sympathy with the colored
races, and the startling increase in the con-
sumption of cotton everywhere, will produce
like effect upon the European mind in regard
to its social theories for tropical communi-
ties In fact, the tendency of Europe in
this direction was already visible in the
return to a system of involuntary labor
in the Coolie and African apprentice
plan. 1t is at this juncture that the eminently
successful career of the little island Of Mauri-
thus is before us, pointing to the future that is
soon to come in the crowded East from these
causes.
In the accounts before us we perceive several
facts of great import First, that the capital
and mechanical skill necessary to be invested
in the sugar culture require that the rude la
borers shall be bound irrevocably for a term of
three years of service, in order to make their
reward secure. More than one hundred thou
sand laborers have been imported into Mauri-
thus under these conditions in the short space OF
fourteen years. Second, that the best and
highest priced manures can be proGtably en-
ployed on sugar lands This Is something TO
startle the sugar planters Of America, who
have pursued the practice Of working the rich
new lands TO exhaustion, and then abandoning
them. Under the combination of these two
stimulants the production of sugar in Nautilus
rose from $1,000 tons in 1851 10 127, 900 tons in
1856, and the entire colony prospercd wondrous-
ly. The state of the public mind in England
at this time il such, from the cause we have
cited. as to consent most willingly to
the establishment of system of legislation
organizing the servitude Of the Hindoo and ne
gro race: and so soon "a that Is done the exam
pie Of Mauritius will be repeated in Ceylon,
Borneo, Sumstra, Java, and throughout the
Malsysian islands The supply Of labor from
India and China is inexhaustible. Millions may
be apprenticed, and doubtless will. In Europe
the demand for cotton and sugar Is great and
increasing, and the supply of capital and enter
prise abundant. The law of involuntary labor
once permanently established in the East, will
bring out immense quantities of sugar and
cotton.
There Is another significant fact in the ad-
vices from Mauritius The Indian laborers gain
high wages and are regularly paid, and yet
their consumption Of goods does not increase;
the greater part Of these people prefer boarding
their money to spending it. We have long be-
licved that this trait of the Hindoo and Chi
nese people lies at the bottom of the great drain
Of specie from Europe to the East; and If this Is
SO, the increased employment of these millions
Of laborers will call for an increased supply of