On this page
-
Text (2)
-
156 _____ __ Til-lff ±i Jbi A V ^g_j^___...
-
SLAYEUY ABOLITION AND COTTON SUPPLY. At ...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Moral Of The Secket Treaty. Me. Disraexi...
ciprocity of advantages ; the commonest sense of justice must have compelled the Allied Powers to grant it . But the Convention bad reference only to a particular time and a special purpose . It was in no jsense a treaty , in no sense a guarantee . It . simply engaged the French Government to act in concert with Austria in Italy , so long as the Austrian Government acted in concert with France on the Danube , and England , interested as deeply as either of the
negotiating Powers m the cause at issue , was hound to acquiesce in the arrangement . Nothing could have been more insane , on the part of Austrian statesmen , than to lead the van of a [ Russian war , with the certainty of an . Italian insurrection in the rear ; and nothing could have "been more insane than for the combined Powers to require such a service without indemnifying their new ally against the consequences of her loyalty . "We , indeed , should have sympathized with the Italian insurrection ; we should be better pleased to hear that Austria had been ,
defeated m Italy , than that Hussia had been defeated in Bulgaria ; hut we cannot expect Austrian statesmen to take that view of affairs , and we must allowthat the leaders of European diplomacy act only in obedience to universal human motives when they exact an adhesion to their own policy as the security of their own . system . Admitting that which , diplomatically , must be admitted , that an Austrian alliance against Hussia would have been valuable while the Avar lasted , we are under the necessity of confessing that neither the French nor the British
G-overnment evinced a disposition to pay for it more thancould be reasonably claimed by Austria , or honourably granted by the Allies . But , believing as we do , that however important at one period in the history of modeim Europe may have been the integrity of the Austrian Empire , that integrity is now a burden , held up in opposition to a bugbear , we are not inclined to approve of the Austrian sympathies which have crept into our Cabinet . The character of
European diplomacy has materially changed since 1830-31 , when Austria proposed to 3 ? rance the reconstruction of the kingdom of Poland . It is no longer a question between Austrian and Russian influence , but between constitutional and despotic influence , the despotic principle being represented equally "b y either of the two Powers , which invariably act in harmony when the interests of absolutism are concerned .
Mr . Disraeli ' s strategy in Parliament this week lias been doubly a failure . Instead of making progress , he is forced back within the old lines of the Opposition . The hasis of his attack was completely cut away T > y Lord Palmerston , whose statement must have been satisfactory to all who believe in the virtue of European diplomacy . We suspect that virtue , but Mr . Disuaeli doeBnot ; he has been foiled , and his defeat is owing more to his own indiscretion than to the strength of the ministerial case , as stated by the Premier .
156 _____ __ Til-Lff ±I Jbi A V ^G_J^___...
156 _____ __ Til-lff ± i Jbi A V ^ g _ j ^_______ L ^ giJgg ^ gATURDAY ,
Slayeuy Abolition And Cotton Supply. At ...
SLAYEUY ABOLITION AND COTTON SUPPLY . At the Manchester Chamber of Commerce Mr . Bazley , the President , has avowed that the manufacturers of this countr y are at preeent short of raw material of every kind , —of silk , flux , wool , and cotton , besides materials for dyeing and subsistence for the labouring bands . We have a threat of a scanty cotton crop in the United States the consequence of disorders amongst tho ' Negroes , which have restricted the cultivation We have hqd such reports before , and they have proved fallacious : but wo have had short
cotton crops , and when they happen they inflict a serious loss on the manufacturing interests of this country . The warning is quite sufficient to remind us of a twofold danger under which we lie . "With supplies drawn almost exclusively from , one quarter , we are entirely dependent upon the changes of the season ; while by the agitators of this country , we assist in increasing the chance of a calamity that might suddenly stop the entire supply of cotton . A general
insurrection amongst the slaves in the Southern States would be frightful in the calamities of civil war , and in the "White reaction against Black violences ; and before the revolt was suppressed , perhaps millions of Negroes would be sacrificed . We should feel it , in the stoppage of a material upon which the manufacturing districts depend . Bankruptcy for the millowners , starvation for the factory hands , would "be the direct consequences of that Abolitionist insurrection .
Meanwhile our safeguard against such an economical contingency would be the gradual extension of the cotton culture in other quarters , especially within British dominions . It is not probable that any j ealousy of that culture would be excited in America , since it must necessarily be gradual , and hitherto the progress has not threatened any very fatal rivalry with the West . We look more especially to India , where any species of native culture would be a powerful auxiliary in
improving the condition , of the natives . At the commencement of the present century , indeed , all the cotton consumed iu the world was grown in India , and there have been reasons only too substantial why the trade has been transferred from the East to the West . The indigenous cotton of India is too short in the staple for the purposes of a weft . Attempts have been made to introduce the American varieties , even the Sea Island and PernambucOj and other very superior qualities ; but we limit our attention at
present to those kinds which iu India are lumped under the name of New Orleans cotton , and are identical with the species imported from the United States for consumption in Lancashire . The cultivation of this cotton in India has been pronounced a failure ; the Indian growth , it is said , being inferior to the American . We have in our hands , however , unmistakable proofs that this is an error ; at the same time , the very causes of the misconception establish one among the many true obstacles to the cotton commerce in India . The ' main idea of the
rude natives was to export the largest quantities ; to that end , the more valuable cotton from the West was adulterated with the indigenous cotton . In some cases the two were ginned together ; in others the seed was mixed , and a bastard crop was grown . The importing merchant of this country found that the manufacturer rejected the commodity ; Americans iu India pronounced the experiment to be a failure ; and vast as the benefit to India would be , some persons have been so discouraged as to contemplate the abandonment of the attempt .
The importance of persevering may be shown by a single fact . Supposing India supplied us with cotton , —supposing , what is quite natural , that in return for exports she took exported manufactures from this country , —and supposing that her consumption was proportionate to the consumption of
our colonies , tho West Indies , Canada , Australia , tho Cape of good Hope , or Mauritius , her consumption of British cotton , manufactures would rangofrom 211 , 000 , 000 /^ . sterling to 48 G , 000 , OOOZ . Indeed , those figures arc only too moderate . It is important therefore to investigate tho true obstacles to the extension of tho culture in India .
These obstacles vary in different provinces Madras may be considered for the present ui a state of suspense , pending a gigantic im provement which the excessively depressed condition of the native cultivators has ren dered necessary . Lord Habbis is aiiuin & " with what prospect of success we can at present scarcely estimate , to convert the tenure of land at the expense of an immense present sacrifice in revenue . The two provinces of present practical importance with reference to improvements in . detail are Bengal and Bombay . '
In the Presidency of Bengal the difficulty does not arise from the tenure of the land though it might be improved ; still less does it arise from the mode of collecting the revenue , the amount of which is fixed , and which has become relatively less with the increase of population and with sucli improvement as has already taken place . Railways and canals will do much ; but the great thing is the introduction of British capital and . also of British intelligence in . superintending the application of capital . Well , why not then bring in the cash and talent ?
We have seen that one of the most fatal checks to the cotton ctiltivation in Bombay has been adulteration . We have witnessed the destruction of a fine trade from the same cause : the trade in the linen cloth of Nankin perished from the substitution of an inferior article , and no attempts to recover it were successful . In order to prevent the extinction of a nascent cotton , growth in Bombay , it is necessary to look into the actual institutions of the province . The land is held directly under Government by the ryot , or
peasant cultivator , who pays the rent or revenue to the Government at stated periods . This man is entirely without capital ; he is invariably in arrears ; and to make good his payments he borrows money of a professional lender , who takes a mortgage on the crop . By the laws o f the land debts descend from father to son . The virtual owner of the crop therefore , almost of the land , is the moneylender ; but he has no interest or authority in regulating the cultivation . The crop is
diaposedof through a dealer , who looks principally to gross quantity and weight . Price is a secondary consideration . In order to make up quantity and weight , the ryot adulterates the consignment as much as possible , throwing iu even a surplusage of dirt , and positively ivatering the cotton to make it heaver ! Sometimes tlie exporter requires a hulk of cotton at a given price ; and if that is below tho real value of the commodity , the obvious course is to adulterate the cotton down to
the price offered—to make it nasty enough for the required cheapness . The real obstacle therefore to a better cultivation of cotton in the Bombay Presidency is the institution of ryotwaree . One difficulty in dealing with the subject in this country is , that the chief authority lies with the Board of Control , and that that Board , devoid of detailed information , is at tho mercy of those who cram it . Hence , it sometimes happens that persons really well-informed on parts of the subject , or on
the state of different provinces , present their view as embracing tho whole of India . It is by that means that rail-ways have been advocated as the ono lever for cotton improvement , in a district whoro a scabordo affords tho natural mode of transit . A p ractical experiment , however , was made in a collectorato of tho South Muhrntta country . There are two eolloetorates , Belgaum and Dharwar ; tho climate of these two collectoratcs is tho same , tho race is the same , tho language same ; but the energetic experiment in cotton culture succeeded in . Dharwar , failed in l ^ l-
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 14, 1857, page 12, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_14021857/page/12/
-