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and of a superior quality. Let the attention of horticulturists be directed to these facts, and we doubt not that new and valuable improvements may be effected in this department of agricultural enterprise.

We have thus traced rapidly, and we fear imperfectly, the prominent features of the agricultural commerce of the United States; and we may easily perceive the motives that are held out for its vigorous prosecution, by the extent and fertility of our wide-spread country. We need only to look at the actual condition of our carrying-trade to be convinced how great a share is borne by the cultivation of the soil in furnishing freights for the fleets of vessels, both at the east and west, which are continually spreading their sails for the various parts of the earth. Let us look at the proportion which the single staple of the south-that of cotton-bears to the aggregate of the commerce of the country, without considering the tobacco, the sugar, the rice, and the wheat, which themselves constitute no inconsiderable items of our foreign and domestic trade. We may, indeed, form some estimate of its importance when we learn, that on an average of ten years, from 1821 to 1830, the products of agriculture formed three quar ters of the total exports of the country. How many mills, and factories, and men, does agriculture keep in motion! What an amount of employment does it furnish to the various forms of labor-the producer, the manufacturer, and the various trades, from the first reaping of the harvest to the last place of sale, the market and the shop! How large a portion of active occupation does it afford to mercantile energy in its various forms, from the transportation from the ship to the storehouse, constantly shifting as its products are from place to place, in order to suit the various phases of mercantile enterprise. It would be safe to allege, that without it that great sea of commerce, which is forever dashing and rolling from shore to shore, according to the various circumstances which change the political or physical condition of men, would forever stagnate.

But in its influence upon larger and more general interests, we think that it should be fostered as a national enterprise. If, as has been remarked by a distinguished statesman, cities are the sores of the political body, where the bad matter of the state is concentrated, what healthful habitudes of mind and body are afforded by agricultural enterprise! The exhilarating atmosphere of a rural life, the invigorating exercise afforded by its various occupations, the pure water, the abundance of the necessaries of subsistence, leading to early and virtuous marriages, all point to this pursuit as best adapted to the comfort of the individual man. Its beneficial bearing upon the state is no less obvious. The agriculturist, removed from the pernicious influences that are forever accumulated in large cities, the exciting scenes, which always arise from accumulations of large bodies of men, passes a quiet and undisturbed life, possessing ample means and motives thoroughly to reflect upon his rights and duties, and holding a sufficient stake in the soil to induce him to perform those duties both for himself and his country. It is to the true-hearted and independent yeoman of a nation that we look, in times of national danger, to uphold its institutions, and to protect themselves in preserving the principles of the state. It is to them that we refer for the support of sound legislation, and from their ranks that we derive the best soldiers when the horrors of war overspread a land. While other branches of human enterprise are protected in their due measure, it can scarcely be denied that agricultural

enterprise, the basis of almost every form of human pursuit, should be encouraged as the safeguard of a country, the promoter of its virtue, and the solid foundation of its permanent happiness and most lasting independence.

ART. II. THE COMMERCE OF BRITISH INDIA,

VIEWED IN ITS PROBABLE INFLUENCE ON THE PRODUCTS OF THE SOUTHERN STATES.

THE present condition of the commerce of Great Britain with the East India Company's possessions, and its probable influence on the products of our southern states, is a subject at this time of the most serious and interesting character; and to all who are connected with the great staples of cotton, rice, and sugar, should be one of diligent and careful investigation. It is clear, from the great increase in the amount of East India imports within the last ten years, that they have begun to exercise an important influence on the prices of these articles in the English markets; and if they continue increasing in the same ratio, in a very few years our commerce with Great Britain must be materially affected. Since the year 1836, (when the duties on East and West India sugar were equalized) the importation of sugar from British India has almost doubled, and it is the same with the articles of coffee and cotton. Rice is also another article of increasing consumption and of improving quality, and in England is now seen for sale in the grocer's window, with that from Carolina-the former at 3d., the latter at 5d. a pound. As to tobacco, the present amount of importation from India is small; arising no doubt from the want of proper management in the preparation for the home market, and skill and knowledge in the cultivators.

The two subjects connected with India, which now engross the atten tion of the people of Britain, are of a double character and opposite points. India wants from England justice and righteous protection, and a fair acknowledgment of her claims, as an integral part of the British empire. England wants from India raw materials for her manufactories, and the luxuries of coffee, sugar, and tobacco, for her artisans and laborers; and most of all, she wants an extensive market for her numerous wares and fabrics, which she can produce cheaper than any other country. These two different points of one great national question, have now become the subjects of discussion by the philanthropists on the one side, and the merchants and manufacturers on the other. Both are working for the attainment of their separate objects, at different ends of the same chain. The one will civilize India by justice and religion-the other by unfettered commerce and an improved agriculture. Who would dare say that these are things which the southern people should pass by carelessly and heedlessly, and not prepare to meet the coming change?

British India comprises a tract of country almost as large as the entire settled parts of the United States, and extensive enough to supply the whole of the present demand in England, for cotton, rice, sugar, coffee, and tobacco. A glance at the situation of the company's territory, is suf

ficient to convince any one that these are no vague assertions; and that causes, many of which have ceased to operate, are the reasons of the small proportion of East Indian articles, which have been able to compete with the same materials from our slave states, in the English market; and not from the want of a capacity of production in the soil of India, or from the quantity of land, or the price and amount of labor.

Montgomery Martin says, in his history of the British colonies—“ The British possessions in India are rich to overflowing with every product of vegetable life, which an all-wise and ever beneficent Providence could bestow, to gratify the sight, and contribute to the happiness of his creatures." Professor Royle, of King's College, says-" In the peninsula of India and in the neighboring island of Ceylon we have a climate capable of producing cinnamon, cassia, pepper, &c. The coffee grown on the Malabar coast is of so superior a quality, as to be taken to Arabia and re-exported as Mocha coffee. The Tinnevelly senna brings the highest price in the London market. The common potato has been introduced into almost every part of India with great success, and benefit to the people. The continent everywhere produces indigo, cotton, tobacco, sugar, and opium. The first, hardly of any note as an Indian product thirty years ago, is now imported in the largest quantities into England; the cotton is indigenous to India; many provinces seem peculiarly adapted for its culture, particularly Malwa, and those to the northwest. The tobacco brought home by Dr. Wallach was pronounced by competent judges to be equal to the best from America. The quantity grown in India is enormous; every class, high and low use it, and if the duty on it were reduced in England, the different soils of India would afford an infinite variety of that fascinating weed for the British market. Very rich lands produce about 160 lbs. per acre of green leaf; excellent Havana tobacco is grown in Guzerat, Boglinpoor, Bundlecund, &c.; and some from the Irawaddy territories has been reported by the brokers in London, as equal to the best American. The want of proper skill in the preparation has been a great obstacle to its arriving in a marketable state in England, after a long East India voyage; but experiments are now making in Bombay in the improvement of the curing process.

The London Journal of Commerce of January 30th, 1841, says, in speaking of this article,-" There is now a difference of 3d. per lb.; the duty on the American being 3s., and on the Indian 2s. 9d. The quantity of tobacco imported from India is now small; of 22,000,000 lbs. cleared for home consumption, but 45,000 lbs. are from India. In the opinion of parties conversant with the trade, Messrs. Grant and Hodgson of Crutched Friars for instance, the reduction of the additional duty would cause an immediate consumption of East India tobacco. They are of opinion that, if due care were taken, tobacco might be grown in India, of a quality and to an extent that would supersede the Columbian tobacco and second rate Havana, of which sorts the number of pounds cleared per month averages 36,000. Indeed, there is no limit to the extent to which tobacco might be cultivated in India. At present Indian tobacco is not so suitable to European taste as that of Cuba or Manilla, but tobacco has been raised from Maryland and Virginian seed, which was quite as good as the produce of those countries. The inferiority of Indian tobacco is ascribed to the species cultivated, which is grown to suit the native taste. The reduction of the differential duty of 3d. per lb., which would be a good profit,

would doubtless lead to a cultivation suited to the home market. At present the duty is, in reality, higher on East India than on Virginian tobac co, for although nominally it is equal in amount, the inferiority of the former to the latter, operates as a protective duty in favor of the American growth."

"The sugar-cane is cultivated in every part of India," continues Royle, "but the quality has hitherto been poor: lately, however, a manufactory has been established in Burdiwan; a new mine opened in the Burdiwan coal formation, and very superior specimens of sugar sent home." "Sugar," Martin states, "may be cultivated in India in sufficient quantities to supply the whole world; its production at present is immense, as it forms an ingredient in almost every article of food or drink used by the Hindoos; and where the manufacture is attended to, the grain is as large and as handsome as that from Demerara.* The soil and climate of the three presidencies are peculiarly suited to the production of this essential nourishment to man. The small quantity of sugar which British India now (1834) sends to England, notwithstanding that in the former country (India) it is exceeded only by rice in consumption, is 76,613 cwts. "If,” says a writer in the Wexford Independent, "we do thorough justice to India, we could draw from these vast and favored regions, the product of free cultivation-with the blessing and full requital of the Indian laborer— more than twice the consumption of all the sugar we import, and more than all the cotton sent to us from the slave states of North America." "The valley of the Ganges," says Secretary Trevellyan, " is a tract of alluvial country, of extraordinary fertility, about 1000 miles long, and from 150 to 300 miles broad, and is capable of producing sufficient sugar for the consumption of the whole world." This valley is densely populated, "and might be given up entirely to the growth of sugar, indigo, tobacco, cotton, and other valuable productions, getting its grain and provisions from the neighboring provinces." A late number (Nov. 1840) of the Calcutta "Friend of India" states "that the cultivation of sugar has extended amazingly since the duties were equalized in 1836; sugar meets the eye everywhere in Calcutta, and were it not for the scarcity of shipping (which is now employed in transporting soldiers to China) we should be able to send double the quantity sent last year to England." Another paper remarks, "the exports of the year (1840) will probably reach 54,000 tons," and that "the public mind, both native and European, continues to be strongly attracted towards the cultivation and manufacture of sugar." The Gladstones of Liverpool have lately sold their property in Demerara and bought large quantities of land in India for the cultivation of sugar and cotton. "I have no doubt," said Zachary Macauley, "that sugar could be produced in India profitably at a penny a pound." "I have received (the venerable Clarkson remarks) information lately (1841) from India of the new and extensive cultivation going on there, of sugar, cotton, &c."

But to come to figures. We learn from the customhouse returns, that in 1831 the exports of sugar from India to England were about 60,000 cwts.; in 1836, 152,163 cwts. ; in 1839, 519,126 cwts.; and in 1840,

* The Demerara sugar is of a light brown, silky appearance, and is considered the most saleable article in the English market.

nearly 600,000 cwts.* In the Gazette prices, towards the end of the first quarter of 1841, we find that the increased quantity of Indian sugar in the London market, brought the price down 10s. on the cwt. In the year 1834, the price was 61s. to 66s., and in 1840, 56s. to 87s., some qualities selling as high as the best West India. In 1835, there were 35,000 boxes and bags imported into Liverpool, and in 1839, 92,000 of the same packages. The next and most important article, and one that enters more into competition with our slave-produce than any other, is cotton; and here we come to a question of most serious and grave import. Shall we or shall we not be able to compete with India in the production of this valua ble staple, when she receives from England her full measure of justice and good government? That the people of that country are disposed to bestow them upon her is evidenced by the interest taken in the subject, in and out of parliament this year, and even by the members of the government itself.

That we have some real grounds for asserting that India is able to compete with us in the cultivation of cotton, and that of all qualities, the writer of this has endeavored to show by a few substantial facts of recent date. It is time for the planters of the south seriously to set about the investigation of the subject; and to ask themselves, whether slave-labor, at thirtyone cents a day, (three negroes doing the work of one freeman—a wellknown fact in slave countries,) with all its concomitant evils and vexations, is equal to free labor in the East Indies at twelve cents a day; a large supply of labor, and any quantity of unoccupied land for the purpose; and with a government and wealthy company ready to second them, having only one great impediment in the way-the greater distance of transportation. The people of the United States are alike interested in this subject, and it should by all be one of common interest.

"The

As to capability of production, Montgomery Martin says, "cotton everywhere abounds, but sufficient care has not been bestowed on the growth, so as to render it, as in America, a triennial instead of an annual; or in the picking and cleaning of it for export. The Decca cotton is unequalled; and the sea island cotton,' from Saugur island, near Calcutta, promises to be a valuable article of export." And in another place, he says, "the Indian government have, of late years, made several attempts for the extensive introduction of the cotton plant into Guzerat, near the Persian Gulf, which seems well adapted for the culture." Royle says, "the best of cotton is procured from the coast of Coromandel." natural internal navigation," states another writer, in 1839, "is most extensive. There are vast tracts of land so near the Hooghly, Ganges, and other large navigable rivers, that without the delay of making roads, the produce can be brought to Calcutta at the moderate cost of transportation, of from five to ten shillings a ton. The presidencies of Madras and Bombay likewise contain land capable of growing cotton to an illimitable extent." "You consume," said Gladstone, in parliament, in 1838, "318 millions of pounds of cotton, which proceed from slave labor, and only 45 millions of pounds which proceed from free labor; and that too, while you have the means in India, at a very little expense, of obtaining all you require from free labor." "Under a juster government," says a writer of 1840, "we

It is said, by late advices, that the export of 1841 will be over 1,800,000 cwts.— €2,000 tons.

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