DIXIE VERSUS THE BRITISH EMPIRE.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3334, 16 August 1926, Page 7

DIXIE VERSUS THE BRITISH EMPIRE.

THE CHALLENGE EOB COTTON

SLPiIEruAUY

(By Joseph Leemiug.) An American business man who recently returned from a world tour, which had taken him to many of the lar-hung parts of the British Empire, was asKCd what struck him as being Die most significant feature in the development oi Britain’s dominions and colonies.

"hah/' he replied, : 'the British Empire seemed 10 me to be a great tleai like the lion’s den into which they throw Hamel. When King Harms asked him now he liked it, Hamel said mat it was pretty comfortable but the place was simply in tested with nous, vt hcrovor i went in the British possessions, Irom Alrica and India to Australia and the West indies, 1 was impressed Uy the attention being given to cotton-raising and by the tremendous expenditure undertaken in order to increase the output ol British-grown cotton. The principal idea of the Empire that 1 have in my mind is that it is simply infested with cotton plantations which are increasing in number and in size every year.” American cotton has been the controlling factor in the world’s markets lor so many years that most of us take our practical monopoly of this commodity very much for granted, and would ridicule the idea that foreign competition could ever endanger our dominant position. Yet those who can read the handwriting on the wall believe that the widespread activities of the British Empire Cotton-Growing Associaion will, in a comparatively few years, bring about such a vast development of cotton-producing areas in the British Empire that the American industry will be seriously, if, not vitally, affected.

To be sure, Britain will not be able to grow sufficient cotton to meet her needs over-night, lint the preparatory work has been going on for nearly a quarter |of a century and every year now sees an increase in the amount of cotton contributed to her mills by her tropical dependencies. The first body organised for the furthering of cotton-growing within the Empire was formed in 1902, and was known as the British Cotton-Growing Association. Its members made a thorough survey of cotton possibilities in all tbc tropical and sub-tropical possessions of Great Britain, studied the questions of proper seeds, suitable soils, the best methods of cultivation, and the problem of an adequate labor supply, and then called in American experts to get the work under way. Their first experiments were conducted in 1 lie West African countries of Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and the Gold Coast. The results obtained were not wholly satisfactory, later experience proving that the method of exploitation was at fault.

These early trials were carried out under the customary plantation system, the land being owned by the AsMteiation and the work done by natives under the supervision of white overseers. This system had been successful in other tropical countries where the natives were willing to work cooperatively, but in Africa the natives proved intractable and, though willing to extend the development of their own individual plots of ground, they refused to work as laborers on the largo plantations. In course of time the plantations were largely done away with, and the Cotton-Browing Association directed its energies toward increasing the cultivation of native-grown cotton. Their agents furnished the natives with good seed, their inspectors made periodic trips through the bush, demonstrating the best methods of cultivation. And. most important of all, the Association acted as a co-operative buyer, thus assuring the natives a fair and, in so far as possible, a stable price for their crop. Gradually the Association extended its activities from West Africa to other parts of the Dark Continent, principally Uganda, Kenya Colony, and Tanganyika; and they also undertook the growing of cotton in Queensland, Australia,. The total output of these new sources of supply, however, was only a fraction of the amount consumed by the British mills and the high price of American cotton continued to aggravate the British spinning industry. Accordingly, in 1915, a new body, known as the Empire CottonGrowing Committee, was formed to investigate the situation thoroughly and recommend steps necessary to increase effectively the cultivation of cotton within the Empire. When their report was presented, in October, J919. the united cotton interests of Great Britain established the British Empire Cotton-Growing Corporation, empowered to further empire production by every conceivable means. The new Corporation was given a Government contribution of nearly one million pounds sterling and, furthermore, it obtains an income from a levy of sixpence a bale on cotton imported into and spun in the United Kingdom.

While the old Association continues its work unabated, the Corporation is increasing its effectiveness and building a powerful and enduring structure on the foundations laid by its predecessor during twenty years of effort. It is sending experts to the different cotton regions, establishing experimental stations, supplanting the sharpened sticks of the natives with modern agricultural implements'; and i : is succeeding, by these means and many others, in increasing the output of areas already under development and in furthering the development of irrigation and transportation projects in regions suitable for cotton growing. To understand tbe driving force and determination that is back of the Corporation’s activities, one must realise the all-important role that cotton-spin-ning plays in the industrial life of Great Britain. Nearly one-fifth of Britnin’s entire working population is engaged in one or another of the various branches of the cotton-spinning industry. Lancashire sells about five billion yards of cotton cloth to foreign countries every year. The exports of cotton textiles amount in value to nearly £200,000,000. or one-third of Britain’s total exports of manufactured goods. About SO jier cent, of all cotton goods produced in England are sold abroad, principally in India, China, and Africa, from which countries England draws immense supplies of raw materials such as jute, rubber, oil seeds, and wheat. The export of cotton piece goods is, consequently one of the greatest balancing factors in Britain’s trade with those countries, and without the revenue obtained from steady foreign sales of cotton goods the “balance” of her Eastern trade would be distinctly unfavorable.

Now. hero is where the rub comes in. The people of China, and India are among the poorest in the world, and they can pay only a. very modest price for their scanty clothing. If the price of American cotton climbs to what Lancashire terms an unreasonable height, it is manifestly impossible foi the English mills to turn out piece goods that arc within the reach of their

eastern customers: pocKetoboks. A rise oi one cent a puuixu m me pi'xce oi -Vixierieaii cuttoii coats me jjxxhoxi spinners a ppro.vx mutely .40,000,000 uoxxuib, iur ukj xeijuxro ‘i,uUu,uuu uaies ox ouu pounds euen to xieep - tutor uo nixxjioxi apxmucs auu ooo,oou looxus nuxxxxmng xor a year. unen LUti price ox Jan fottou j uxxijxs i rom oignt. to *xo cents a puuxxus, as it xias ux me past lour or uvtj yours, tne .untisxx sp.-’ntr uauxioD ten ■■vvuoro uc is at ' xroui one

day to tile next, uuu tne diniciaties 01 carrying on Ins business are nearly iusurniountuoie.

_■ —Ainetecn xiritish Cotton fiegions.- - 'iiie deduction is obvious. mignsh s,miners must export on a large seam to Keep on Uiexr xeei; tney cannot export tneir ixiiio;»eu produce ii the price oi tlie raw maoexUau is too nig a. Jn recent yoaxs time price oi American motion ii*xS seen oo ixig.i tliUu L.*.. ... ijuujileso Witn t-i- A lot tlaS oto.i v :«• • i •-a

to an extent, mm un~ Uepretlatioxis o± me ooil weevil iuo inuicate tixat snort crops ana n.gn prices win oe tue rule ill re guru to tne American crops oi tne near iuture.

To overcome tnese conditions the British spinners see only one metliou that is dependable and wmcli lias a fair chance oi success —namely, to grow liicir own long-staple cotton wherever there is a plot of suitable ground within the coniines of the Umpire. To that end they are bending every last ounce of tiieir energy. At present cotton is being grown in nineteen diiferent countries within the Empire or under British control; and in several of those the area under cultivation will be increased by millions of acres with the completion of irrigation

{objects now under way. The nineteen cotton-producing countries are; India, Egypt, the Soudan, Australia, Uganda, Tanganyika, Nyassaiand, Rhodesia, Nigeria, South Africa, Irak, Kenya Colony, Malta, Cyprus, Palestine, St. Kitts, Mauritius, British Guiana, and the I'Tji islands. In India, which ranks second only to the United States as a cotton producer, there are a number of great irrigation and development projects. In

i j;jii:i. «_* ijas plans rnr increasing the acreage under cotton. The .. i; , :- a „ ,-s .o,t j ; .11, 0 acres, an increase of nearly 300,000 acres over the preceding year. This is only 12,000,000 acres less than the area under cotton in the United States, and when the projects in hand are completed there will be considerably less disparity between the ligures for the two countries. The Nira Valley pron u,,.,n was completed in iDx-J-, con verted 100,000 acres of. medium laud into first-rate cotton soil. The Sukkur project in the Bombay Presidency, will give irrigation to 6,000,000 acres when completed. In Sind it is now j > in grow I lie highest grade American and Egyptian cotton, as new irrigation developments have overcome former difficulties. In the Punjab the great Sutlej Val- • j.i ;. v. nit >i iii ••ring 2,5> Ihj 000 acres under cultivation, is expected to be completed within thi'ee years. The Upper Chenab Canal has, up to the present, irrigated 1,760,000 acres: and in the United Province the Sarda Canal, which will be completed in three years, and will irrigate an additional 1,760,000 acres.

One of the largest irrigation projects undertaken is the Metur-Cauvery development in Madras, which will require nearly ten years to complete, and which will ensure a permanent water supply to more than 1,000,000 acres that now have an unreliable supply, i'iH. i ia r make possnlo Hie cultivation hi hud.i. <To acres now barren.

Work on the Saugor project, in .Hyderabad, was begun in October, U'23, and will bring 275,000 acres under cultivation when completed. The Tandula Canal, in the Central Provinces. and the Wainganga Canal, both of which were recently completed, opened up 155,000 acres and 64,200 acres respectively. The Maniari project. together with two others now under investigation, will bring 300,000 acres more under cultivation.

in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. Britain has.much at stake, and her prompt and decisive suppression of the disturbances of recent years is a clear indication that she will not relax her grasp on this region which is so necessary to her domestic prosperity. The Gczira. irrigation scheme, which is already well under way, provides for the irrigation of 300,000 acres that will yield 100,000 bales of the finest grade Egyptian cotton, annually. In the Blue Nile and, Kassala districts the British plans (aill for the opening up of £OO,OOO acres, and the recently constructed railway from Kassala to Thamiam, a junction point on the El Obeid-Pt Sudan Railway-made possible by the Trade Facilities Committee which guaranteed a loan of £1,500,000 —affords economical transportation to the seaboard. The dam at Sennar, which makes the Gezira project possible, is I2. c i4'eet hicli, or 16 feet higher than the Assuan dam. and one and a half times as long, making it the longest dam in the world. T,

creates a reservoir in the form of a lake fifty miles long. So highly is this region regarded, on account oi' its suitability lor growing the best grade of cotton, that the British Government bay concluded an agreement with Abyssinia providing for the acquisition of 5,000,000 acres along the border of the Sudan, which will shortly he producing. Egypt, of course, lias long been a staple source of simply for both European and American spinning mills, and her annual exports will maintain their normal level of 1,500,000 bales.

Oilier parts of Africa, however, arc living exploited in the same systematic fashion as the Sudan. Uganda has ]) roved an ideal centre for cottongrowing, being favored with excellentsoil, ample rainfall, and numerous and industrious population. The attention being given to cotton is clearly indicated by the fact that it constitutes SO per cent of Uganda’s exports. The Uganda Kailway. built over difficult country at exorbitant expense, is another evidence of the lengths to which the H"it’ c h b.vc g;oue in carrying out their determination to furnish their nr Us with a cheap and plentiful supply of cot f on.

In Tanganyika, of which the British

■amo into possession at the close of the Great War, the Gormans had already made < r oud headway in cotton-planting and there was an excellent foundation on which to build. Tn this territory, whose area is one and a half times as great as Texas, there arc possibilities lor the development of one of the most magnificent cotton regions in the whole world. Already there are 35.000 acres under cultivation, from which nearly 20,000 bales are produced. As the fertile valleys are planted, in the neighbourhood of Lake Tanganyika and the Morogor and Kilossa districts situated a short distance inland from the port of Dar-es-Salaam, there will spring into being a cotton country second to none. The climate is ideal, (here is the proper amount of rainfall, and the boll-weevil is unknown. To the south and west of Tanganyika lies Rhodesia, another enormous tract of partially developed land where a steadly increasing cotton crop is being harvested each year. At present Rhodesia’s output is 20.000 bales, hut the surface has barely been scratched and the rich valley of the Zambezi River abounds in possibilities. Nvas-

salami, borderng the western shore oi Lane iNyassa, is the infant of the -blast African cotton-producers, its development being hampered by the lacic of adequate transportation facilities. •1 Here remain in Africa two other countries from which .Lancashire will, in the future, draw increasing supplies of raw material to the detriment of our teoutnern btales, couth Africa already produces appioxnuauny '3O,OUU bales a year and is only prevented, by the iacis oi railv.ays. rim same problem confronts Algeria wimre me liuest cottonproducing ureas Uxe near Cute Child, U consiuera.no d.staixoe xx'om tile sea board. ... project., a a the present LUgoS'---.ixiio riiiit ■■ ..oi ..‘-...a• ered, houeVei, a .. n. . jornplr vc.. Will lilLt.x.o pxixO * °O l ii • -i-A-ij 11 A' a. y . Ib atiwvuiiiai.il-,.jy i a-, 3 C., il£Vt ii ( : till i.U v.. U* OoUjbo' .. . w .-i. *S A-* «1 popiuarmn j. . t .vopxo, x. . tnun me AUotX'axi.t COia.-xll.-.-. -S pOSSio.x.L.eS, it. e .i . xx'c . imi' African eouiitrus mentioned, are pxaotically himb.c-s. Australia, which has already enriched the mother Country with boundless stores of wheat and wool, is to enhance her value further by yearly contributions of cotton. On tins barely touched continent there are more than 375,0(10,000 acres suitable for cotton-grow-ing. compared with 300,000,000 in the United States, according to a recent statement of the Australian Premier. The governments of Queensland, Weston Australia, and. the Northern Territory are keenly alive to the profitable possibilities of cotton-growing and are doing everything to increase the output by guaranteeing a lixed price for seed over a period of years, and similar measures.

There is no boll-weevil in Australia, but there is likewise no native labor supply, and it remains to be seen what action white men will take in the matter ol extensive cotton cultivation. The greatest ucoess is being obtained a.: present on 10-acre farms, controlled by a single settler who plants, tends, and picks the cotton aided only by his amily. '

hrom these four principal sources

India, the Sudan, Africa, and Australia -—Great Britain expects to draw her future supplies of raw cotton. In addition to the concentrated efforts being put forth in these regions, there is a steady output of cotton being maintained by the many lesser countries within the Empire. In Irak, for instance. the exports of cotton have increased so rapidly that the Peninsula and Orient Steamship Jane is ola lining to inaugurate a service to Basra, on the -Persian Gulf, to assist in the movement of the crop to Lancashire. There is still a long road to travel before the combined exports of these numerous and widely scattered territories will he sufficient to supply the English, mills with the 1,000,000 bales that they require each vear; but a determined beginning has been made, and total dependence on the American crop is a thing of the past.