The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1898-12-20
The S"udan ana Cation Culture.
(Columbiu Stato.)

Now York Sun, Mr.. Edward n
Townsend, Of Hempstcad, Long Is
land, who writes
"Tho attention of our people fo,
the past few years has been so full,
occnpied hy tho important question,
at homo the financial question, the
Cuban. tho Nicaragua Canal, th,
Hawaiian and others of less mugni.
tudc, but still of great interest-that
it Is doubtful if they have given to
Gront Britain's operations IN Egypt
tho attention they deserve.
Since our civil war, which Eng
lands cotton mill owners in Ian
cashlre felt SO keonly in a financial
way, by their inability to secure cot
ton from our Southern States, her
statesmen have gwen much time and
thought to tho question whether or
not cotton, equally as good as that
grown in the United States, c)uld be
raised in certain parts Of tho British
domains. After much effort and a
larg" expenditure Of money it was
found that it could be- grown in In
dla, but of Il quality which would
not compare with that raised in this
country. Australasia, too, proved
unsuitable to tho proper cultivation
OF that plant. Consequently those
who direct tho dcstinins of the Brit
ish Empire saw that IN order to
make its manufacturers mdrpendent
OF tho United States, IN SO far at
least as cotton was concerned, it was
necessary for Great Britain to secure
for all time a hold on Egypt and
Egyptian Soudan, territory in every
way suited to the growth of the
finest cotton.
GLOW she has been aided in her
efforts in that direction by the blmn-
dering of French statesmen when
they relinqnished tho joint control of
Egypt by declining to allow France to
pay her share Of the cost of putting
down the insurrccion led by the
Mahdi and the reconquest Of the
Soudan is familiar to all who keep in
touch with the worlds important
events. Fortunately for Great Bri
tain, her statesmen saw their oppor-
tunity and embraced it, with the re-
suit that Egypt and the Egyptian
Soudan today are practically British
territory.
"ln another year, unless unfore-
seen difficulties arise, Gen. Lord
Kitchener, the commander of the
Anglo. Egyptian forces, will have
driven the Mahdi from the Soudan
and have restored that territory to
Anglo Egyptian rule. Seven hun
dred square miles of territory, or
tract fourteen times as large as the
State Of New York, will have been
added, for all intents and purposes,
to tho British Empire; n territory,
too, large part Of which is capable
of producing cotton of the finest
quality, better than that raised any
where within the United States, ex-
cept that grown on the sea islands
off the coast of Georgia.
"Thns it will be seen that Groat
Britain has practically made herself
independent Of us for her cotton
supply, for she will be able to utilize
the Soudan for that purpose, and
have at her command for the cult
vatlon of her fields the Egyptian
fcllahin, who are very satisfactory
laborers and IN every way as capable
as our Southern negroes. They can
be secured at wages ranging from 8
to 10 cents day, as against from 80
to 70 cents which our Southern cotton
planters arc Obliged to pay for SINH
lar kind of work.
"When it is also considered that
an unlimited amount Of British capi
tai is awaiting investment in this in
dustry in the Sou1un, for which it's
ownors will be satisfied with n return
Of from 4 to 5 per cent on tho prin.
cIpal, while our planters must pay
from to 10 per cent for tho money
they use, the advantages OF the plant-
ors of the Soudan over our Southern
planters in this particular industry