The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-10-28
NEW COTTON COUNTRIES.
England and Italy Seeking Hard for
 Independence of Our Supplies.

From the London Times.
 A special meeting was held in Man chester recent of the Association for British grown cotton. Count Gleiehen, the secretary to the sirdar in the Soudan, was present, and delivered an address on the prospects of growing cotton in the Soudan. He explained that small experi- ments in cotton growing had been made in the Soudan, ~and Lord Cromer was much interested in the success of the en- terprise. Cotton must have water, and from the regions of the Soudan, which were accessible to the Nile and it's trib- utaries a supply of cotton could be ex- pected in fact an unlimited supply eff cotton could be grown on the banks of the Nile. The Suakin7 7Berber line would be shortly pushed to completion and then cotton could be brought by rail from Sualxn to the railway terminus, a dis tance of 240 miles, Sir George Cotton pointed out that this distance, when open ed up by the railway, would be very slight Cotton was brought much further in India, and was considered cheap. Count Gleichen mentioned that cotton was grown in the soudan only in small quan- titles, the natives only growing for their own consumption. Among other questions Count Gleichen was asked whether there would be sufficient population in the Soudan to work the cotton-growing areas. Count Gleichen replied that the labor question was a rather difficult one They might have some difficulty in get ting labor at first, but when the railway was finished no doubt the labor from it would be utilized by the cotton-growing districts. The Dervishes killed four-fifths of the population of the Soudan, and it would naturally take "a considerable time before it could be replaced. The SuaKin- Berber railway would take a couple of years to construct. There were 100000 acres of land suitably Irrigated on which cotton could be grown. The Soudan gov ernment was assisting the work of irriga- tion as far as possible, and the land would be let on the very easiest terms. MT. Newton the chairman, read a letter from Sir Alfred Jones, who stated that MT. Chamberlain was much interested in the empire cotton-growing question. In a letter sent through the colonial office MT. Chamberlain said he had sent copies Of the assocfationas views to the gover- nors of Sierra Leone the Gold Coast and Lagos, for the consideration of the sug- gestion that the cotton for export should be carried free on the government rail- way for two years. MT. Chamberlain add ed that he was glad to hear that the British Cotton- Growing association was making such progress In their efforts to encourage cotton growing in west Af- rica.
 The Rome correspondent of the Pail Mall Gazette writes Is the much-ca- lunminated Erythrea colony going to be, after all a source of wealth to the penin- sula? Gold has certainly been found, and now it is said the prospects of a new industry are very great. It will I am sure, come as somewhat of surprise to most people to hear that Italy is a large manufacturer of cotton goods. Last year she exported a3OOO, GOO worth of woven cotton but there is a very decided thorn in the rose-to-wit, that all the raw ma- terial must be bought out of the penin- sula. Unfortunately. Italy cannot grow good cotton. The expriment. which would have meant such riches to the country. has been tried, but with the worst re- suits, so she Is obliged to turn to the United States, Egypt and India, and even go further afeld
 It is now said with authority that ltaly's white elephant grows the very fin- est quality of cotton. A recent pamphlet on the subject demonstrates that if grows, if not in all parts of the colony. at least in the greatest part, especially In Agordat. The latter province has ai ready produced more by the acre than has ever been obtained in Egypt or the United States and the quality is said to be of the best. Even if the colony IS not able to produce the 100000 tons nec- essary for Italian consumption, even if She were able only to grow one-third that amount, she would turn from a mas sive, or even worse, possession into n very valuable asset for the mother conn try. This is all very encouraging if the government can be induced not to tax prohibitively the new industry, as she has little way of doing. For instance. there is no finer country for growing beetroot for sugar than Italy, but it is taxed so nigh that the industry was al- most Strangled in It's hirth v