mote cotton culture in her own possessions between
that and 1859. The results will be startling. Few anti-slavery men in
the United States expected that Great Britain would so soon be engaged
zealously in establishing slave labor in Africa, or that Lord Palmerston
should publicly commend the measure. The question is one of so much
importance as to demand a full examination. The extracts are taken,
mainly, from the _London Economist_, a periodical having the highest
reputation for candor and fair dealing. On Feb. 12, 1859, the
_Economist_ said:

"We are not surprised that the future supply of cotton should have
engaged the attention of Parliament on an early night of the Session. It
is a question the importance of which can not well be overrated, if we
refer only to the commercial interests which it involves, or to the
social comfort or happiness of the millions who are now dependent upon
it for their support. But it has an aspect far loftier and even more
important. At its root lies the ultimate success of a policy for which
England has made great struggles and great sacrifices--the maintaining
of existing treaties, and perhaps the peace of the world. Every year as
it passes, proves more and more that the question of slavery, and even
of the slave trade, is destined to be materially affected, if not
ultimately governed, by considerations arising out of the cultivation of
this plant. It is impossible to observe the tendency of public opinion
throughout America, not even excepting the Free States, with relation to
the slave trade, without feeling conscious that it is drifting into
indifference, and even laxity. In every light, then, in which this great
subject can be viewed, it is one which well deserves the careful
attention equally of the philanthropist and the statesman.

"It has been said, that in the case of cotton we have found an exception
to the great commercial principle of supply and demand. Is this so? We
doubt it. We doubt if, on the contrary, we shall not find, upon
investigation, that it presents one of the strongest examples of the
struggle of that principle to maintain its conclusions. No doubt the
conditions of its production have made that struggle a severe one; but,
nevertheless, it has not been altogether unsuccessful. Eighteen years
ago, (in 1840) the total supply of cotton imported into this country was
592,488,000 lbs.: with temporary fluctuations, it had steadily grown
until it had reached, in the