But here are the figures upon which this humiliating acknowledgement is made. The productions of the tropical possessions of Great Britain and foreign countries, respectively, at the period alluded to by Mr. McQueen, and as given by himself, stood as follows:
British Possessions. | Foreign countries. West Indies, cwts. 2,508,552| Cuba, cwts. 5,800,000 East Indies, " 940,452 | Brazil, " 2,400,000 Mauritius,(1841) " 544,767 | Java, " 1,105,757 ------------------| Louisiana, " 1,400,000 Total 3,993,771 | ------------------ | Total 10,705,757
West Indies, lbs. 9,186,555 | Java, lbs. 134,842,715 East Indies, " 18,206,448 | Brazil, " 135,000,800 ------------------ | Cuba, " 33,589,325 Total 27,393,003 | Venezuela, " 34,000,000 | ------------------ | Total 337,432,840
West Indies, lbs. 427,529 | United States, lbs. 790,479,275 East Indies, " 77,015,917 | Java, " 165,504,800 To China from do. " 60,000,000 | Brazil, " 25,222,828 ------------------| ------------------ Total 137,443,446 | Total 981,206,903
[17] Table III. For Statistics up to 1859, see chapter VI. and Appendix.
Foresight of Great Britain--Hon. George Thompson's predictions--Their failure--England's dependence on Slave labor--Blackwood's Magazine--London Economist--McCullough--Her exports of cotton goods--Neglect to improve the proper moment for Emancipation--Admission of Gerrit Smith--_Cotton_, its exports, its value, extent of crop, and cost of our cotton fabrics--_Provisions_, their value, their export, their consumption--_Groceries_, source of their supplies, cost of amount consumed--Our total indebtedness to Slave labor--How far Free labor sustains Slave labor.
ANTECEDENT to all the movements noticed in the preceding chapter, Great Britain had foreseen the coming increased demand for tropical products. Indeed, her West Indian policy, of a few years previous, had hastened the crisis; and, to repair her injuries, and meet the general outcry for cotton, she made the most vigorous efforts to promote its cultivation in her own tropical possessions. The motives prompting her to this policy, need not be referred to here, as they will be noticed hereafter. The Hon. George Thompson, it will be remembered, when urging the increase of cotton cultivation in the East Indies, declared that the scheme must succeed, and that, soon, all slave labor cotton would be repudiated by the British manufacturers. Mr Garrison indorsed the measure, and expressed his belief that, with its success, the American slave system must inevitably perish from starvation! But England's efforts signally failed, and the golden apple, fully ripened, dropped into the lap of our cotton planters.[19] The year that heard Thompson's pompous predictions,[20] witnessed the consumption of but 445,744,000 lbs. of cotton, by England; while, fourteen years later, she used 817,998,048 lbs., nearly 700,000,000 lbs. of which were obtained from America!