The Washington herald., 1907-03-04
COTTON And COFFEE
Growth of Former in Nj
geria a Menace to South.
SUPPLY FOR GREAT BRITAIN
Assistant Attorney of Department of
Justice, Who Has Studied the Sub
ject, Advocates substitution of COf-
fee for Cotton i'm Southern states.
Thinks Congress should Assist.

Editor The Washington Herald:
The important region in Africa called
Nigeria comprises the whole of the Brit
ish sphere within the lines OF dcmarkation
arranged by tie AnglO-GeTman agreement
of 1885. 1886, and 1888. and the Anglo
French agreement of 1889. 1880. and 1898.
It comprises the Lagos Protectorate and
Southern and Northern Nigeria. being
bounded on the east b. the German
Kamerun, and on the west and north 10y
Dahomey and the French Military Terri
tories. The whole area covers about 80
0J0 square miles and its population is es-
timated at not less than 25,000,e00-
The area of Northern Nigeria is about
25000O square miles. divided into seven
teen provinces. In each province there is
"a resident with several assistants. Slavery
is being effectively dealt with. and domes-
tic slavery is practically abolished, chill
dren born after April /. 1901. being pro-
claimed free. But African labor must be
very cheap in this British prOtectorate
The high commissioner Of this protector
ate is Brig. Gen. Sir T. ]. ID. Lugard. X.
C. NJ G.. G.. p, D. 5 o. and the senior
resident w Wallace G. NJ. G.
The products of the low country are
palm oil and kernels. and OF the inland
regions, rubber, groundnuts shea-butter
ivory. hides capsicums. kolanuts, and
various drugs Large deposits Of salt
and soda exist, also tin ore, rich in guam
uty. and some silver. 4 geological survey
OF the country began in 1906.
Sir l.. Lugard's Report.
If any of your readers desire 10 know
more Of this British prOtectorate of
Northern Nigeria. let him consult the
Statcsman's Year Book, page ass, for the
year 1906. Sufficient for the reader Of this
letter viii DE the report of the British
high commissioner, Brig. Gen. Sir F. J.
d. Lugard, which presume. can be OBJ
tanned al the British Embassy in this
city J content myself with the follow
ing extract from an English newspaper
sent me by my brother in Liverpool. AS
it must Doe very Interesting 20 our cotton
growers in the Southern states, / give
you the following extracts
SIR +. Lugards report on Northern Nigeria q
which territory De was administrator until Nav
last. has inst been issued hJ The colonial office II
Is of unusual length and Jhe period covered Is The
year 800 and The cary months of 1906. Ia his NJ
marks ON the general progress ~ the proteci0rdie
Sir T. LurarI mentions faat the opening uV q She
direct route from the Niger and the Beuue % Tie
tin mines cf Western BaUcM has resulted IA the
discovery Of aH cytsHdcd plateau some Ge feet iu
cleyatIrU- The SOIL Pc adds. D. ricH. and tae eli
mate j. described as c1hilaating and suitable Tor
Europeans l. is probable that q sana,UriUm mas
b. established Ulgre which may. in the future,
TCTOUtuliLc the conditions II residence iu Mig rla,
and 70 mas also offer facilities far European plant
IH- IF1f. .Hff |Hr- O. B fr 4
good cart road has hrra male.
Dealing with the economic conditions u the
country. the late adIlWistrlfGT says: With ala as
s.r5d industry m tin. y5r luI-iuI prospects IN
cotton. and substantial grounds fer anticipatiu a
good Development iu skins. ground nuts. and some
ether uroducts ] think the economic prospects OF
the country are not dl-ClvTaEiug az the end q the
first year m which us exploitation has become pos
-ible. There Is egery prospect q A rapid increase
in the population and iLc efforts of the govern
meut have already resulted m decrease Us the
ab-lr}lv high rates paid for labaT. and win I
hope further reduce them
on the subject ~ cotton growing Sir T. LuEz-d
SAYS; "The jitig1lties which had hitherto prs
vented the proper development Of the industry have
been solved. Hs recalls tie stat .mcut q lAe chair
man cs the British Cotton Growing Association
that the one place in the British empire (which
offers the s,aIes, possibility % providing the mil
lions 81 bales q Gotten which are required is
Northern Nigeria. I'm Northern Nigeria alone lies
the possible salvation Of Lancashire. Ii IS
Nigeria VIII produce az least 100000 bales, CT
sufficient 20 supply She whole requirements II Great
Britain. and Oh leave an equal quantity over lor
ether cotton consuming countries.
My personal view, SAYS SIR j. Lusard Is that
this estimate is Zoo optimistic for the Development
Cf So laI-e an industry needs a cCucsp0udingIy
large population. which DOES not al present exist
Throughout Northern Nigeria.
What This Means to south.
Obviously, the possibility and strong
probability Of British planters raising
100000 bales Of cotton in Northern Nj
geria to supply the whole annual require
mcnts Of Great Britain. and 100000 bales
more for other European cotton consum-
ing countries. must send cold shivers
through our cotton planters. and test the
abilities Of our best statesmen.
Undoubtedly cotton can be raised in
Nigeria and shipped 10 Liverpool or Man
chester and sold anywhere 10 Great
Britain or the Continent for cents a
pound Under such a condition there
would be no necessity for making or re-
porting estimates Of our coming cotton
crops or Of doctoring such reports, and
we might as we'll shut W. our cotton ex-
changes and Wall street cotton specula-
ton Offices.
The question for our statesmen will
soon be. What article of commerce viii
preserve the balance OF trade that our
cotton exports now give US? And who
among our great statesmen viii point out
TO our cotton growing States good sub
stitute for cotton?
The eyes Of the American people should
be opened TO this menace of British Nj
geria. backed IN by British capital and
industry, TO our American cotton indus
tries. l DO not use the word menace
in its unfriendly sense. for everything
Is fair, not only in love and war. but also
in trade and commerce. I suppose It is
fair enough for labor to exact in San
Francisco the privilege Of ruling that city
and OF getting from so to S15 or $40 a
day for a few hours work. Us long as the
people and local politicians there are tim
id enough TO submit to such eXactiols.
Advocates Coffee Raising.
Now, have given some thought to this
cotton menace. Ny present thought is
that of coffee as substitute for cot
ton. Possibly we could preserve our bal
ance Of commercial trade with coffee al
most as well, or, perhaps, better than with
cotton; and if SO. why should not our
Congress, through the Agricultural De-
partment, lend our Southern brethren a
hand in helping them to grow coffee in
lieu Of cotton?
/ We pay enormous sums Of money for
coffee. According TO the Bureau of Sta
tistics' report the import value of the
coffee imported into the United States for
/ the fiscal year ended June 30. 1905. Was
I So 1900 ana It was all consumed in the
/ United States The consumers had to pay
/ their grocers for that coffee about s. or
/ 80 cents a pound. At that price our
coffee drinkers paid at least three times
( the import value OF the coffee they drank
that fiscal year, amounting 10 $249. 429 coo.
/ Now, if we should be able To raise
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