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ciproeifcy of advantages ; the commonest sense of justice must have compelled the Allied Powers to grant it . But the Convention had reference only to a particular time and a special purpose . It was-in no sense a treaty , in no sense a guarantee . It eimply engaged the ^ French Government to acfc in concert with Austria in Italy , so long # s the Austrian Government acted in concert with ^ France on the Danube , and England , interested as deeply as either of the
negotiating Powers in the cause at issue , was bound 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 he better pleased to hear that Austria had been
defeated m Italy , than , that . Russia had been defeated in Bulgaria ; but we cannot expect Austrian statesmen to take that view of affairs , andwe must aliowthat 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 Bussia -would have been valuable while the war lasted , we are under the necessity of confessing that neither the French nor the British
Government evinced a disposition to pay for it more than , could 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 modern 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 bave crept into our Cabinet . The character of
European diplomacy has materially changed since 1830-31 , when Austria proposed to [ France 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 by either of the two Powers , which invariably act in harmony when the interests of absolutism are concerned .
Mr . Disraeli ' s strategy in Pai * liarnent this week has been doubly a failure . Instead of making progress , he is forced back within the old lines of the Opposition . The basis of his attack was completely cut away by Lord Palmeiiston , whoso * statement inust have been satisfactory to all who believe in the virtue of European diplomacy . We suspect that virtue , but Mr . Disbaeli cIobb not ; 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 tho Premier .
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SLAYEItY ABOLITION AND COTTON SUPPLY . Ax the Manchester Chamber of Commerce Mr . BAZiiEY , tho President , has avowed that til © manufacturers of this country are at present short of law material of every kind , —of silk , flax , wool , and cotton , besides mate-rials for dyeing and subsistence for tho labouring hands . We havo a threat of a scanty cotton crop in tho United Statea , the consequence of disorders amongst tho Negroes , which havo restricted the cultivation . We hftve had bucIi reports bofore , 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 tho 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 cultuie in other quarters , especially within British dominions . It is not probable that any jealousy of that culture would be excited in America , since it must necessarily be gradual , and hitherto the progress has not threatened any ver y fatal rivalry with the West . We loolc 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 in . 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 Pernambuco , and other very superior qualities ; but we limit out attention at present to those kinds which in 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 in ore valuable cotton from the West was adulterated with the
indigenous cotton . In somo cases the two were giuned together ; in others the seed was mixed , and a bastard crop was grown . Tho importing merchant of this country found that the manufacturer rejected the commodity ; Americans in India pronounced the experiment to be a failure ; and vast as the benefit to India Would be , somo persons have been so discouraged as to contemplate the abandonment of the attempt .
The importance of persevering may bo shown by a single fact . Supposing India supplied us with cottou , —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 tho consumption of
our colonies , tho West Indies , Canada , Australia , the Cape of good Hope , or Mauritius , her consumption of British cotton manufactures would range from 211 , O 0 O , O 00 Z . sterling to -486 , O 00 , O 00 Z . Indeed , those figures arc only too moderate . It is important thereforo to investigate tho true obstacles to the extension of tho culture in India .
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These obstacles vary in different provinces Madras may be considered for the present in a state of suspense , pending a gigantic improvement which the excessively de pressed condition of the native cultivators has rendered necessary . Iiord Harris is aiming with what prospect of success we can at present scarcely estimate , to convert the tenure of land at tke 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 suck improvement as has already taken place . Eailways 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 cultivation 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 roaW good his payments lie borrows money of a professional lender , who takes a mortgage on the crop . By the laws of the land debts descend from father to son . The virtual owner of the crop therefore , almost of the land , is the moneylender ; bub he has no interest or authority
in regulating the cultivation . The crop is disposed of 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 "in even a surplusage of dirt , and positively watering the cotton to make it heaver ! Sometimes the exporter requires a bulk of cotton at a given price ; and if that is below the real value of the commodity , the obvious course is to adulterate the cotton down to
the price offered—to make it nasty enough for tbe required cheapness . The real obstacle therefore to a better cultivation of cotton in the Bombay Presidency is the institution of ryotwaree . One difficulty iu . dealing with the subject in this conntry 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 p ersons really well-informed on parts of the subject , or on
the state of different provinces , present their view as embracing the whole of India . It 13 by that means that railways havo been advocated as tho ono lover for cotton improvement , in a district where a seabordo affords tho natural mo do of transit . A pract ical experiment , however , was made in a collectorato of tho South Mahrntta country . Thero are two collectoratcs , JJolgaum and Dharwar ; the climate of these two collectorates is the same , the race is tho same , tho language tho same ; but the energetic experiment in cotton culture succeeded in Dharwar , failed in Bel-
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166 THE Ii E k D E R . [ No , 360 , Satubpay
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 14, 1857, page 156, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2180/page/12/
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