Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-09-17
rhernttnn Oneatlnn.


VENEZUELA AS A COTTON PRODUCING COUNTRY
The English papers bestow great deal Of
attention upon the question of the cotton
supply. The capacity of Venezuela for the
the production of the staple is now under
discussion. Mr.. Henning, British Consul for
Venezuela, confirms the statements recently
made by Mr.. Orme, British Charge in that
country concerning the practicability Of
raising cotton, and adds;
Mr. 0rme commenced by stating that
knowing the singular capabilities of that,
country and climate, with other advantages,
of contributing largely to the supply of that
article, the want of which was lik .ly to be
very severely felt in England, he had felt it
his duty to Communicate with the President
of that republic and his minister on the sub
iect, and that they entirely concurred in his
views, and would give every encouragement
in their power toward carrying them out.
In consequence committee had been ap.
pointed, composed of Venezuelans and for
eigners of respectability and experience on
that subject, to consider and report on the
best means Of extending the growth Of cot
ton, and on what conditions as to external
assistance such growth could be so increased
and perpetuated. He then proceeds as fol-
lows:
Pending the inquiry it is in my power 10
state to you gcnerally l. That cotton can
be produced in this country in large quanti-
ties. 2. That the quality is good. 8. That
Venezuela being nearer to England than any
other cotton-growing country, freight would
be considerably cheaper than for cotton pro-
duced in the East Indies or Pacific coast.
a. That English shipping would find an ad-
vantageous employment in the traffic, which
it does not now, because, the staple article OF
export at present being coffee, (all of which
is shipped for Germany or Francel not a
single vessel clears out from Venezuela for
English ports, and consequently no return
fIeights of English manufactured goods is
brought to this country. And g. That the
produce of cotton has lately fallen off in the
country, and an increase OF any other article
grown in the republic, and exported to Eng
land would proportionally increase the de-
mand for English manufactured goods"
Since this cotton question has so greatly
occupied public attention l have made a
point of interrogating all Venezuelans who
come to London on this subject, and they
one and all concur in the opinion expressed
by Mr.. Orme that while from the extreme
fertility of the soil all tropical produce is
raised of the finest quality, and abundant in
quantity, there is nothing which can be pro-
duced in greater perfection and abundance
than cotton. One gentleman who had sent
cargo to Liverpool informed me that he
was quite satisfied with the result. In addi-
tion to the above, have the advantage Of
the best possible authority on this subject,
Senor Linden, the Belgian naturalist, who is
the present director OF the Botanical Garden
in Paris, and was many years resident in
Venezuela, having recently given an opinion
that there are several provinces in that
| country, each of which is more favorable fol
the cultivation of cotton than the State Of
Louisiana, and that in the aggregate they
| could grow three times as much cotton as /:
| produced in the whole of the cotton. gro WING
districts of the late United States.