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CULTIVATION OF COTTON IN INDIA .. Qlh the Editor of the Leader : ') SfcR , —Having * , in connexion with a ^ few others , spent much time and money in the years 1841 and 1842 in acquiring and disseminating accuxate infoi'niation on the subject of cotton cultivation In India , you may imagine that I hare read with no- little interest your able article , headed " Slavery Abolition , and Cotton Supply , " 5 ii the last number of your journal . I say able article , because I am in a position to know that you have placed before the public the most prominent facts on this really erreafc question .
NOTICES TO COBR . ESTONDEN'TS . No notice can betaken of anonymous correspondence . "Whatever is intendfed for insertion must b& authenticated by the name and address of the writer ; not necessarily for publication , but as a guarantee of his good'faith . It is impossible to acfcruwiedj ? a the mass of letters- we receive . Their insertioa . is often , delayad , owing' to apressof matter ; and when omitted , it is frequently from reasons-quite independent of tbo merits of the coxnmunicar ~ tion . "We cannot undertake to return rejected , communications . Communications should always be logifaly written , and on one sid (> of the paper only . If long , ib increases the difficulty of' finding space for thern . During the Session of Parliament it is often impossible to find room for correspondence , even the briefest
You commence by alluding to the probability of a scanty cotton crop iri the United States , and the dire mischief which such a catastrophe would produce in our factory districts . The evils can scarcely be overrated . I remember Lord Elleuborough , when Governor-General of India , to have said that , looking at its effects in Great Britain , he dreaded a famine in-cotton more than a famine in bread . Then as to the slave question . At the period 1 have named , and subsequently , I have taken anany
occasions , publicly and privately , of impressing on the Abolitionists the paramount importance of instituting-or encouraging- all efforts to obtain our supplies of cotton from the East instead of the West , £ 13 the surest , easiest , and most speedy and legitimate , way cf getting rid of slavery . It was truly said by Air . Gurney , at the Annual Meeting of the Anti-Slavery Society la 1841 , that , " if a supply of cotton could be obtained from any other part of the world , no greater stab could be given to slavery in the United States . " '
That such a supply can be obtained from our territory in the East , whenever those most interested will it , and use the proper means—now well ascertained—is quite certain . When I and ray colleagues were engaged in agitating the subject in 1841-2 , there were many difficulties which have since been overcome . Railways have been made in various directions in India , giving a facility of transit much needed , instead of sending the staple loosely and carelessly packed on the backs of bullocks to the place of shipment . That enormous burden the land-tax , too , operating in some districts
almost as a prohibition on cultivation , talcing from the ryots one half of their produce , is , it seems , in course of abatement and adjustment . Trom the result of interviews we had with the Governor-General of India , the Court of Directors of the East India Company , and the President of the Board of Control , I am satisfied that this might have been accomplished fifteen years ago , if the men . of Manchester and Glasgow had then , as they were expected , pursued their real interests , instead of waiting ; until now , when they are absolutely threatened with a scarcity , if not a famine , in th-cir raw material .
It is to be hoped they will now bestir themselves in the way you , sir , have indicated . It is British capital , and British intelligence in superintending the application of that capital , -which is required . A company should bo forthwith formed , having for its object the supply of the British markets -with cotton of Indian growth , of equal quality and at least as low a rate as that now broiight from America , though I am satisfied it may be produced lower . For this purpose the company should : —
1 . Maice advances to tho native growers to enable thorn to oxtend and improve tlic cultivation of cotton , upon the same system which has so long and successfully been practised in the cultivation of indigo . 2 . Furnish the growers from time to time with , such aeed as mny bo desirable from other countries . 3 . Introduco an improved practice of picking , cleaning , and packing the cotton , these being tho points on ¦ which its value essentially depends as an article of British commerce , and in -which the natives of India arc chiefly deficient .
It is gratifying to find by your article that Mr-Shaw , Avho has hurt practical experience in the recent experiments of improved cotton culture in India , is now in this country , prepared to give information on the subject ; and for many graver reasons it is much to be hoped that tho present year may not be allowed to pass away without seeing formed a vigorous company , witli adequate capital , for coinmenciiiR- at once tno cultivation and importation of Indian cotton . W . rxiti ) . Seville " Works , Dublin , Feb . 18 , 1857 .
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COMING DISSOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT . libED PAiiMERSTON follows the only constitutional course open to him wlieii lie appeals from the House of Commons to the country , Instead of attempting to carry on the administration ., with , a Parliament by which his policy has been , censured . The insignificance of . the . majority scarcely affects the question . ' Nor is it of muck importance to inquire
¦ whether one party or a combination of parties has succeeded in obtaining judgment against the Minister . He stands , no doubt , at the head of the largest following in the House of Commons- —a following much larger than that of Iiord Debit , and greater than that commanded some years ago by JJord John Hussein ; but he has susbained one defeat , and may sustain many , should he endeavour to hold office in the face of even
so heterogeneous an opposition . ; his temerity would only exasperate the coalesced cliques on the Tory and Independent benches . It may be that the recent division represented the passions of a cabal rather than any serious convictions relating to an affair of Chinese policy ; but that would only demonstrate still more conclusively the necessity for a partial reconstitution of the House of Commons . If a majority could be packed upon such a question it is obvious that one adverse vote after another might be forced , until the position of the Cabinet became altogether untenable .
The alternative lies between resigning office and dissolving Parliament . Sir Itobetot Waipole was in power for twentyfive years ; a vote of want of confidence was then moved against him ; it was lost by a majority of three ; he was then opposed on an election question and defeated ; thereupon he relinquished , office . Lord JSfoirnr , in 1782 ; , mot two want-of-conndcn . co motions , and , being supported by only slight majorities , retired . Lord . Sudmoutii would ' not
carry on tho Government after his working majority had boon reduced to thirtyseven . Lord Liverpool resigned his authority at tho feet of a majority composed of no more than four members ; oven the Duko of Wjclt / inuton , in 1830 , yielded , linden the advice of Sir Robkkt P . EEX , to a majority of twenty-nine . Sir
yative ministers alike have admitted in practice that to attempt governing with a minority / , is to set at defiance the principle , of parliamentary representation , to excite contempt , and to challenge the inveterate hostility of an Opposition that has been victorious , and is denied the fruits of victory .
But Lord Palmierstost will not resign . He is right ; "but then he must dissolve . The conspicuous dissolution of the last half century was that of 1831 ; the Government had been left with a majority of one ; shortly after it was defeated by a majority of eight , and next by twenty-two . Parliament was dissolved . The dissolution which followed the
final passage of the lteform "Bill was a matter of course , to exercise the new faculties of the British constitution . Then came the dissolution of 1835 . Sir Robert was not followed by a third-of the House of Commons ; he tried the experiment of a general election ; it failed to reverse the relation of parties , and the minister was compelled to retire . An election took place in 1837 . That Parliament lasted through four sessions , and in 1841 was dissolved after a vote of
want of confidence had b . een carried against the Ministers by a majority of one . The general election of 1841 was of vast importance . It settled the question for some years between the "Whigs and Tories . The Parliament returned , in spite of all that officiaL activity and influence could effect , was intensely hostile to tke Liberal party , and the Meebottbhe Administration fell , exhausted , and"damaged in character . The appeals to the country , made upon the abolition of the Corn
Laws , and upon the accession of Lord Debb'X to office , were also examples of Governments with an inefficient actual following endeavouring to strengthen themselves , and resigning when the verdict went agaiust them-It would be ridiculous on the part of Lord PaiiMerston" to go to the -country upon the Chinese question alone ; he must go upon a policy , and what is that policy to be ? Not the weak drifting of the past three years , fox no Russian war is now upon our hands ; tho
Persian dispute is at an end ; the Chinese difficulty cannot stand by itself as an obstacle in the way of reform . Lord Paxmeiiston will not bid against Lord Djeiiby only , but against Lord John liussiciiT , , Sir Jamics Graham , and those other leaders who have already professed themselves in favour of an extended , programme . A general election is a season of pledges and promises ; the whole body of vcteis in the three kingdoms must not be brought to the hustings and invited to judge between Sir John Bowiiing and Mr . Coijuen . That is
a serious matter , but not serious enough to furnish a busis for six or seven years of imperial legislation ; the Parliament elected this year may have a great work to do ; it can scarcely pass away without discussing tho leading topic of parliamentary reform ; it is with reference to that topic that candidates will be cross-oxaulined by constituencies ; and Lord PAiiMJSit . sTttN will be required to explain how
far he ih prepared to go . It does not follow thntthoso who have upheld Km Chinese policy , and have been disgusted by tho factious combination afra ' uiHt , it , ( should defend his evasive indifferoutirfm at n general election against the activity of more liberal ntatcanicn . The forthcoming struggle- should ho a great trial of national questions , not of nny special iamio ; we cannot blame the firisfc Minister for
vindicating tho conduct of his renrosentutives in the ]<] a « t ; but from the moment that a new Parliament ia announced , tho Liberal parLy must gather under itn old Huindards , and contend , not for tlio bombardment of Canton , but for political progress—for representative reform . Mvqu a MiniNl . ry of " .-ill t . ho Talents" is preferable to a Miu ' isLry of all tho Claptraps .
liouKivr PbeTj himself , live years later , surrendered to the adverse votes of Parliament . When Lord Djsiiuv resigned in 1853 , upon tho rejection of his Budget , it was becauHO he foil ; , not only that by a majority of twenty tho llouso of Common a had refuaod his finance , but that it declared generally againw his policy and authority . "Whig and Cojibci * -
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There is . no learned man but will confess lie bath . much profited by reading controversies , his senses awakened ; and His judgment sharpened . If , then , it be profitable for him to read , why should it not , at least , be tolerable for his adversary to -write t—Milton
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flit' THIS DBPARIMEHT ; AS AIX OPINIONS , HOWEVER EXTBEUB , ARK AXLOWED JLV EXPRESSION , TUE EDITOR KXCESSARIIY HOI . DS HIMSKW KESPOlWtBfcS FOSSOSJ ! . ] ;
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SATURDAY , MARCH 7 , 1857 .
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There is nothing so revolutionary , because thereis nothing so tinnatural and convulsive , as the strain , to keen things fixed-when all the "world is by thevery lav of " it 3 creation in eternal progress . —Da . ARNOLD .
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M ^ TO ^ v 18671 ] CTI MABB ' B . 227
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Leader (1850-1860), March 7, 1857, page 227, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2183/page/11/
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