mKTO&I Hi # LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, i ^// A j? | # # ! UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.! ) V / AN ^TT§ TO DEMONSTRATE THE PRACTICABILITY EMANCIPATING THE SLAVES UNITED STATES OF NORTH AMERICA, Y AND OF REMOVING THEM FROM THE COUNTRY, WITHOUT IM- PAIRING THE RIGHT OF PRIVATE PROPERTY. SUBJECTING THE NATION TO A TAX. A NEW-ENGLAND MAN. NEW-VOEK : PUBLISHED BY G. & C. CA.RVIL Graltan, Printer, Thames-street, 1825. ■a it Sout?.erii District of Neio-York, ss. BE IT REMEMBERED. That on the 21st day of December, A. D. 1825, io the oOtli year of the independence of the United States of America, G. k. C. Garvill, of llie said District have deposited in this office the title of a Book, the right whereof they claim as Proprietors) in ihe words following, to wit: An Aite ni|il lo demonstrate the practicability of emancipating the Slaves of the United Stales ol .North America, and of removing tliem from the Gountry, without impairing the light of private ■>. operly, or subjecting the nation lo a tax. By a New-fc'ngland Man In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the Untied States, entitled " An Act for the encouragement of Learniug, by seeming the copies of Maps, Charts, and Boohs, to the au;hors and proprietors of such copies, during the time therein mentioned.'* And also to an Act, entitled "An Act supplementary to an Act, entitled an Act for tbe encouragement uf Learning by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned, and extending the benefits thereof to tlie arts of designingjengraving, and etching histo- rical and oilier prints." JAMES DILL, Clerk of tU Southern Vutrict of .Yew-fort. ' Pi!ltfRgg a The following observations were thrown together hastily, as occasion gave rise to them, and when the writer was in various states of mind and body. This may have occasioned inequalities, and perhaps some obscurities of diction, and will serve also as an extenuation for some probable inaccuracies of construction. The writer, however, feels no pride of authorship ; if he did, he would best consult his reputation as an author, by abstaining from an immediate publication, and by waiting until, after a period of repose and reflection, he might employ a leisure moment, to reconsider, revise, and, as far as his competence would permit him, improve the style of the com- position. IV But his inducement for appearing before the public, through the press, was not to seek for literary distinction, but to serve that public — to manifest his desire, at least, to contribute towards promoting the prosperity and happi- ness of his fellow-countrymen ; and deeming the present moment a propitious one for its publication, he yields to the dictates of what he believes to be a duty, at the hazard of critical castigation, and submits his embryo attempt to the ordeal of public scrutiny. December, 1825. AN ATTEMPT, &c. &c. It is with no interested views, no sectional nor hostile feelings, that the writer of the fol- lowing observations ventures to examine a question, of so much delicacy as it regards the feelings and prosperity of a part, of so much interest as it regards the whole, American peo- ple. His motives are patriotic ; they arise from a sincere desire to promote the public weal, so far as his humble abilities may permit him to do it. Deeply impressed with the con- viction, that what is interesting to one indivi- dual portion of the great American family can- not be indifferent to any of the other portions, however distant or differing in circumstances ; that each has a direct interest in the safety, prosperity, and happiness of all — a family in- terest, which gives the right to each recipro- cally, if it does not impose it upon each as a duty, to examine all questions touching the in- terest and well being of the other. He feels, therefore, that he is exercising a right, and dis- charging a duty. Discussion, to be useful to its greatest ex- tent, must be unrestrained ; the more impor- tant the subject to be discussed, the greater the necessity of its entire freedom. The magnitude of the subject under consi- deration, and the difficulties arising from its mere magnitude, are conclusive reasons for laying the national mind and strength under contribution. The evils which slavery entails upon the country are removable, or they are not. They are every day increasing in magnitude, and becoming every hour more formidable. If they are removable, sound reason dictates that no time should be lost in unnecessary debate, newspaper bickerings, or querulous recrimina- tion. Let the difficulty to be surmounted be fairly stated — the means requisite to surmount it estimated : if within the national compe- tence, and the national will assent to it, let the means be forthwith applied, and the nuisance abated. If, unfortunately for the nation, and for that part of it particularly which is more immediately affected by the question, the diffi- culty be found insuperable, sound reason then dictates, that the most effectual means should next be sought for to meet existing difficulties or dangers, and to guard against future and greater ones. That the combined efforts of any number of individuals are ipadequate to the task, has been sufficiently demonstrated by the almost total failure of our manumission and colonization societies. So far as they may have been intended to reduce the number of slaves, the failure has been absolute. Emancipation, so far as it is comprised in a suppression of the slave-trade, has already been assumed as a national concern ; the im- portance of the subject has been evinced by frequent legislative enactments, and by inter- national compacc. This, however important, can only be considered as a preliminary step. Before a flooded country can be drained, the dikes must be repaired, and the flood-gates shut. The national arm must again be stretched forth; nothing short of national strengh can suffice for the giant effort, the Herculean task, of liberating, of removing a nation. But national protection, and national support, are all which, in the writer's opinion, need be required; the national purse, he 8 thinks, need not be laid under contribution ; on the contrary, according to the imperfect plan he proposes to submit to the reader's con- sideration, the result, amongst other benefits, will be an increase of national capital, and of national revenue. The writer is no otherwise acquainted with the proceedings of the manumission and co- lonization societies, than from what he has been able to gather through the medium of the public press. He is not initiated into the ar- cana of those associations, and is not, there- fore, possessed of the special views they may have, in sending out occasional freights of free coloured people to Africa or St. Domingo. ]5ut it must be apparent to all, that, although they may " found an empire" in Africa, they never can, by their present mode of procedure, drain the country of even the natural increase of its free coloured inhabitants, much less re- lieve it of the whole number of its slave po- pulation. It does not appear very certain, that the happiness of those who are thus transported to other regions is at all promoted, if that alone be the object. Where, indeed, can they, all things considered, be likely to enjoy 9 a greater degree of happiness than they may command in this country, where they enjoy the blessing of liberty — where, if they are honest and industrious, they may attain to the greatest degree of prosperity — and where they are quite as secure, as they can be elsewhere, in the enjoyment of the fruits of their labour. Why, then, are they objects of special patron- age, and tender assiduity ? If any of them are not happy enough here, and hope to obtain a greater share of happiness elsewhere, let them seek their own way out of the country, like other free folks, their white fellow citizens ; the same door is open to both, and there is no let or hinderance to either. If, on the other hand, it be thought desira- ble to transplant this class of the community into warmer and distant regions, let a bounty be offered for their self-expatriation, and give the largest sum to the most worthless object. In this way, the country may find some relief; in the one now pursued it finds none, but is in many cases deprived of some of its useful labourers. It appears to the writer, that no special measures are at all necessary with regard to this class of our population — that they may be 2 10 safely left to their fate, and the guardianship of the laws. Those who transgress will find their way into our penitentiaries or prisons ; the others may, as they now are, be usefully employed as domestics, or labourers. To those who have, from timo to time, dis- cussed the subject of emancipation, and who have adverted to the inadequacy of the plans proposed, or the plans pursued, it has been re- plied, Suggest a better one — give us a substi- tute ; if you insist upon the execution of the act, tell us how it shall be done effectually, with safety to the slave holder, and in accord- ance with the laws of equity, viewing the slave, as he really is, as a species of property, entitled to the same protection, and guaranteed by the same laws, which secure the enjoyment of every other species of property to its legitimate pro- prietor. So far as it regards the right of property, no exception will probably be taken to the plan of emancipation which will be submitted to the consideration of the reader ; and if its feasibility be granted, its efficiency must be acknowledged. The writer proposes to begin where, those perhaps, who constitute the manumission and 11 colonization societies may intend to terminate their labours. Leaving the free coloured peo- ple to act according to their own inclinations and means, his plan is based upon the annual deportation of such a number of slaves, of all ages and both sexes, as shall, progressively, and within a given number of years, have transferred the whole number to foreign coun- tries, where their emancipation shall be the fruit of their own labour. The laws of equity, if they do not dictate, are not violated by this arrangement, and seem, under every view of the case, to be sufficiently respected. The subjects o be emancipated are slaves, in consequence of the barba- rous customs of their own country — customs which still exist, and which resist the efforts of civilized nations to extinguish them. They were purchased by the progenitors of their actual masters in open market, under the sanc- tion of the laws (the barbarous laws, if you please,) of this and its mother country ; and the relation between them, of master and slave, has thus received the sanction of the laws of their respective countries. This relation can- not be legally or equitably dissolved, except by consent of the master, or by means of 12 an adequate ransom, in some shape or other. Ransom and slavery are parts of the same sys- tem. The existing practice of Africa in that respect, was once that of Europe ; and from one still benighted corner of the latter, we have had some recent evidence, that it is not yet entirely abolished there. But the actual generation of slaves in this country have no friends or kindred, through whose munificence or affection they may expect to be ransomed, in the ordinary acceptation of the term ; and if they are enabled to enjoy that blessing by other means, they will, so far at least, stand upon an equality with their fellow men of Africa ; — but in as much as they will, after the consumma- tion of their emancipation, become the free citizens of civilized countries, and be for ever secure, by its protecting laws, in the perpetual enjoyment of that freedom, they will possess — they will enjoy — an additional advantage, which could not, or would not, be granted them in the lands of their ancestors. It is not the intention of the writer to enter into the history of slavery, or the slave-trade ; or to trace the origin of the latter, and enume- rate the customs which regulated the inhuman traffic, now very appropriately placed, by the 13 laws of our country, on a parallel with piracy, which it disgraces by its greater sordidness, and the more ignoble means by which it seizes upon its victim. It is enough for his pur- pose, and sustains his position, that the trade which brought the first unhappy sufferers to this country was legalized by its existing govern- ments ; and that a valuable consideration was paid for them by the progenitors of the mas- ters of their descendants, the present race, and whose rights over the latter remain unimpaired. It would, therefore, be an unequal tax, an un- just requisition, to exact of the present proprie- tors a sacrifice of their interest, to the whole amount of the value of their slaves ; and it would seem little less so, to ask it, as a general tax in any shape, from the whole nation. The slaves, in fact, are convicts, — however grating the sound — however hostile the term may seem to reason, or afflictive to the best feelings of the heart. It has been so determined by the laws of the country they came from — by the laws of the country which received them. In affording them, therefore, an opportunity of liberating themselves by means of their own la- bour ; in organizing and protecting a system which may facilitate the operation ; and in se- 14 curing to them its fruition ; — all will have been done which, perhaps, they have any just right to claim. The process of emancipation, once com- menced, should be expedited with all practica- ble celerity. Its object and its end must be, and had best be, known to all ; but whilst this knowledge would tend to sustain the hopes, and restrain the impatient feelings, of those who lingered behind, it might also excite in them a feverish anxiety, if the process were inter- mittent, or protracted to a hopeless period. Such a portion of the whole number, therefore, in addition to that of the whole natural in- crease, should be deported annually, as to make it certain that all, or the major part, might hope to participate in its benefits. More than one foreign depot may be neces- sary for the disposal of so large a number as it is contemplated, by the writer, to send out of the country annually ; and as the saving of time and expense, nearly convertible terms in this case, are of prime consideration, so none of the depots should be more distant than necessity may require ; none of them, it is supposed, need be so distant as the Eastern hemisphere, hitherto designated as the princi- 15 pal receptacle. We have, in our immediate neighbourhood, independent of St. Domingo, thinly peopled countries, of vast extent, where an additional number of productive labourers ought to be considered an acquisition of no small importance. As it regards St. Domingo, no difference of opinion upon the subject can exist ; nor that labourers, of the description under consideration, would there be more ac- ceptable, because more orderly, manageable, and consequently more useful, than the free coloured individuals who have been persuaded to go there by way of experiment. These having gone out with inflated notions of advan- tages which they did not realize, perhaps of honours and promotions which they did not merit, have, many of them, returned disappoint- ed. Veiy few of the same class will, in all probability, be induced, hereafter, to repeat the experiment ; and may not, if they do, be al- ways received as welcome visiters. No inconsiderable portion of the island of St. Domingo lies uncultivated for want of la- bourers and capital, including many old planta- tions, which, from that cause alone, have sunk to a tenth part of their former estimated value. At that rate, it is said, they may be purchased 16 by native inhabitants, or obtained on lease, at a proportionate rate, by foreigners. Notwith- standing these advantages, it is not proposed, nor can it be expected, that. St. Domingo alone can receive and dispose advantageously of more than a half, or a third, of the whole num- ber. But, independently of interested con- siderations, we may justly expect that the go- vernment and people of this island will, from a sense of moral duty, and of fellow feeling also, facilitate, by every means in their power, an operation so arduous in its execution, and involving such high interests, civil and philan- thropic ; and that whatever proportion of the whole number it may be now capable of re- ceiving, that proportion will probably be gra- dually augmented, as the process becomes re- gularly organized, and its advantages develo- ped. The other islands of our Western Archi- pelago must be passed over as asylums con- secrated to other uses ; but we have the whole circumjacent Spanish American Continent, where slavery has already ceased to exist, and where, as we are told, no predilection is felt in favour of any particular complexion, or no prejudice so strong against any, at least, as to 17 render a coloured and useful addition to their population unacceptable ; and it may be infer- red that the addition would probably be con- sidered an acquisition. But if prejudices, as strong as our own, existed there, their immense tracts of uncultivated lands, separated from each other by impenetrable forests, or impassable mountains, like so many oases, where the new settlers might be located, would suffice to obvi- ate all objections of that sort. Taking it for granted, that what might be excluded from St. Domingo, wuiild be received into these coun- tries, the next difficulty which presents itself is that which may arise from want of capitalists, as employers, to put this mass of labour into active and pioductive operation. This difficulty may be overcome by offering such advantageous employment for capital to enterprising men, or associations, as might in- duce them to direct their attention to this object ; and would best be effected by the greater facility with which good lands could be obtained in the recipient country, and the easier modes of remunerating the deporting country for labour, and the security with regard to the persons and property of the contractors which both governments might grant. Such condi- ■3 18 tions will, of course, be imposed upon the em- ployers or contractors, as to secure the punctual and faithful execution of their part of the con- tract, and the persons of the labourers from abuse. These are necessary parts of the pro- cess, but need not be considered here. The writer ventures, however, to suggest the adop- tion of one measure, at the hazard of being thought fanciful by some, but which cannot fail to have a favourable influence upon the minds of calculating men. The nature of the opera- tion, and the trade which is calculated to result from it, seem to claim some mark of favourable distinction ; and if what is now theory should happily become practice, he hopes he does not deceive himself, when he supposes that mari- time nations might be induced to agree to re- spect, even during a state of hostilities, vessels and their burdens, whether of human beings or of merchandise, which might be employed exclusively in that occupation. If the laws of nations still sanction the principle, that every other species of private property afloat be con- sidered objects of legitimate reprisal, does not humanity require an exception in favour of this one ? No argument is necessary to prove that such a security, thus guaranteed, would con- 19 duce, next to a fair rate of profit, more than any other ueasure, to draw capit dint o this channel; and that the competition amongst capitalists, thus excited, combined with the security afford- ed them, would tend to reduce the charges in- cident to the transportation to their lowest pos- sible rate. Other and important advantages, not immediately foreseen, might be expected to follow. If no other cash payments were requi- red, than such as might be necessary to pay the expense of transportation, subsistence and wages, the circle of competitors would be en- larged by the admission of enterprising men of small capitals, and by enabling both large and small capitalists to enlarge their contracts. Every encouragement, consistent with security, should be given, in order to accelerate the pro- cess of deportation, because upon this must de- pend the greater or less number of years it may require to free the country from slavery, and accomplish the manumission of the slaves. Every reduction of expense, whether in the shape of interest, or in that of incidental charges, must have the effect of accelerating the process of manumission, by leaving a larger proportionate amount of wages applicable to that purpose. 20 The proposed plan, as may reasonably be ex- pected, comprehending objects of such vast mag- nitude, must almost necessarily encounter great difficulties in its execution, which can be over- come by an adequate power only. One of the greatest, perhaps the only one really so, consists in the mode of remunerating the proprietors of the slaves, for the estimated value of the latter. To require prompt payment, would at once re- duce the number of competitors so considerably, as to retard the execution of the plan, perhaps to render it altogether nugatory. On the other hand, if time were granted, an 1 security required, mere individual responsibility would probably be altogether inadmissible ; and it is difficult to conjecture what collateral security could be of- fered, within the competency of individuals' who, if not all foreigners, would, it may be ex- pected, be all foreign residents. To obviate this principal difficulty, it is proposed, that the government of the United States, after having made its arrangements, by treaty or con- vention, with the governments of the respective recipient countries, and taken such other mea- sures, for enforcing a punctual discharge of their contracts on the part of those to whom the slaves may be let, should grant funded stock 21 for the amount of their estimated value, draw- ing a fair but moderate rate of interest, and payable at such periods as the funds, resulting from the labour of the slaves, and appropriated to the extinction of the stock, may render ne- cessary. The stock might be issued to each claimant proprietor respectively, or might be negociated in the usual way. Here the control of the master over his slave would cease, and that of government commence. The slave, too, from this moment, might be con- sidered as having changed his character, and to have assumed that of a redemptioner.* Placed under the protection, and subject to the disposi- tion of government, it will be for government to adopt such regulations for the safety of their per- sons, during their transit from one to the other country, for their mode of subsistence there, and to protect them from acts of severity or injustice, as it may choose to dictate or require. The rate of wages, like the value of the slave, might be fixed in this country previous to his embarkation. The produce of his labour * The term redemptioner is meant to be taken in its ordinary signi- fication, as applied to those Europeans who are brought to this coun- try, and whose' time and labour is, for a limited period, sold, to pay the expense of their transportation. 22 might be received in the country of his redemp- tion, annually, or oftener, by agents authorized for that purpose, and remitted to other agents in the United States, either in specie, or raw pro- duce. The proceeds of these remittances, after the deduction of incidental charges, would be applicable to the payment of interest, and con- stitute a sinking fund for the redemption of the debt incurred by government, by its issue of stock. The amount of the assets thus received, being that nearly of wages, the determination of these will decide also the number of years for which the stock may be issued, and shows the necessity, or expediency, of fixing the rate of wages previous to or at the period of em- barkation. This completes the process of ma- numission It is obvious, that the remittances for labour each three, six, or twelve months, as the case may be, will, to the same amount, reduce the responsibility of government, until, progressive- ly, it become null, at the expiration of the period for which it was issued. Fan her on, the writer will offer a few sugges- tions with regard to the mode of appropriating the sums thus received, and destined to consti- tute the sinking fund, and will proceed to esti- mate what may now (1825) be the probable number of slaves in the United States. By the census of 1 820, the number of slaves, of all ages, in the United States, appears to be as follows : MALES. FEMALES. CO p •c § e -c 3 ™ 5 t "C tS a- c ■ 3 2 -c 2 "o . "* 2? 1 1. * 5 a, * 3 « re *■» <5 >^ o H S <3 O 2* 5 * 0) C 2 § => 3 "> 3 c C CO_ iO CM~ V b 0|"5 ►J < to O) O O ; CM Ci r-H 1 !0 .O CM |00 ! CM GO . -1 | -t ift i|G CM «>^s ^^ H>o ^« re i — ■ 0" r-H CO —1 CM l^t 10: h- 1© CO CO : iO CM It* 1 ro 'cm CM t — 1 I" - < 1 © x ;x © © — co SF c8 S O 3 ^£ 5 c . 3 T5 . 3 OS -53 fail flj ~ >-> ^ £ ChS c3 T3 3 . 3 T3 • 3 Erf O ^ CM g «- 3 <— •, .3 CO * -a *■« c8 | O- • 3 "3 • 3 c8 -g E^ OS" CD ~ "^ GO Em O * g 3 CD GO — fc. C S3 _r> AM 3 O c8 3 a, 3, a> > c8 GO O H 10 h-5 -T 00 CO H Ph < X 1— 1 W CO rt c > X t- ■^ CO CM CO © CM CM CO CM HO liO ■<* ,OJ HlOl® iO |°i. ^ r°- *C © *c lie 10 CO CO CM |x re *> -- x~ !> — IX CO CO CD *j gbee « e : S S -a <° 2 w 1— 1 W5 © • • ■* • * GO • • * CM -O CO ;_ cp . a . , CD CD T3 ■ a. C8 -3 3 . • £ 3 3 C a is v '■£, 3 "** 13 3 * G0~.O . H3 3 C8 . 05 >s Cm * O s .a ■ 3 r-» _ o °J CM £ "5 £ ^ Ch5 oi ^ Oh5 5 o 29 The annual deportable proportionate num- bers of persons, of all ages, and both sexes, constituting the increase, estimated at 52,835, will be nearly as follows, viz. ~MALES. Under 14 years of age, - ■ Oi i-i years and under 20, Of 20 years and under 45, Of 45 years and upwards, Total number of Males, 11,814|| 6,977i| 5,621|i 2,656|i 11,815 6,977 5,622 2,657 27,071 FEMALES. Under 14 years of age, - - Of 14 years and under 20, Of 20 years and under 45, Of 45 years and upwards, Total number of Females, 11,143** 6,952^ 5,241ff 2,426ff or 11,144 6.052 5,242 2,426 25,764 RECAPITULATION. 1,761,151 Males, - 27,071 > Z_T v Q Females, - 25,764 / ' ~~^jj Whence it results, that of the 103,153, the proportionate numbers of individuals, accord- ing to ages and sexes, will be as follows, viz. Of Males, under 14 years of age, - of 14 years and under 45, of 45 years and upwards, Of Females, under 14 years of age, of 14 years and under 45, of 45 years and upwards, 23,067 24,598 5,187 21,757 23,807 4,737 52,852 50.301 Grand total, 1C3,153 The writer has been able to obtain no offi- cial, or other document, upon which reliance could be made, to constitute a basis for the estimation of the average value of slaves ; the information upon the subject, afforded by Sey- bert, is quite imperfect, and totally inadequate to the purpose. The answers given to his verbal inquiries, have been equally unsatisfac- tory ; so that the following estimate must, in a great measure, be considered as conjectural only. In 1813, according to Seybert, official re- turns were made, by the slave-holding states, of the value of their slaves, but of these only two appear to have been perfect ones, that of Connecticut, and that of Maryland ; in the for- mer, without giving their number, the valuation was $3,192 ; in the latter, $14,525,845. The census of 1810 gave 310 for Connecticut, and 97 for 1820; for Maryland 111,502 for 1810, and 107,398 for 1820, making a diminution for the ten years elapsed of 213 for the former, or at the rate of 21 T V per annum, and 4,104 for the latter, or at the rate of 410 T V per annum. According to these ratios of annual diminution, there ought, in 1813, to have been in Connec- ticut 246 T V, making the average value of each 31 slave rather less than #13; in Maryland 110,270 T ° ¥ , making the average value of each slave there, rather less than $ 1 32. The rapidity with which emancipation ap- pears to have been progressing in Connecticut, and where, by this time, according to that ratio, slavery must have ceased to exist, forbids any use to be made of the return from that state, as the valuation must have applied to the time, and not to the persons of the slaves. The es- timate for that state, therefore, will be con- sidered as inapplicable to the present question. There remains, then, that of Maryland alone, and the average value which it gives for that state is probably a fair one. Further to the southward and westward, in cotton and sugar producing states, slaves are known to bear a higher market value. In estimating the general average value of the annual deportation for all the slave-holding states, it is the purpose of the writer to grant more than might be justly required ; and he thinks the following rates, which give an ave- rage of about fifty per cent, on that for Mary- land, will, at least, whilst they afford a test for the stability of his plan, leave no room for doubt upon the subject of their sufficiency. 32 The classification furnished by the census, as estimated for 1825, will be assumed as the basis of calculation, and so far as it regards the personal average value of the slaves, may afford a pretty correct one. By that estimate!, it appears that there ought now to be 24,598 males of from 14 up to 45 years c ' > age. which, at .1300' each, make* an \ $7,379,400 aggregate of ' 23,807 females of from do. to do. at #250 do. 5,951 ,750 23.067 males under 14 years do. ;.' 50 do. 3,-±60,050 21,757 females do. do. aillodo. 2,502.055 9,924 persons of both sexes, over 45 ) „ .^ ,,.- years, at $100 ) 103,153 i at an aver f? e 0f $ 196 65 ' ) $20 ( equal to ) Amongst the slaves of the age of forty years and upwards, there are, no doubt, many of the most valuable, and who ought to be in- cluded in one of the first two classes ; but if a part of their value be thus excluded, in conse- quence of their degradation to a lower one, on the other hand, as the same basis will be as- sumed for the purpose of estimating the value of labour, their wages will be wholly excluded ; so that any deficiency which may occur in con- sequence of the former omission, will, in all probability, be more than compensated by the latter. It will not escape the notice of those conversant with the subject, that in assuming 33 the census classification as a basis, the wages of a much smaller number of productive la- bourers will be estimated than exists in fact ; it must be apparent, indeed, to a cursory reader. A practical modification of the plan, therefore, in this respect, would, it is believed, afford additional evidence of its efficacy. Thus, the annual sum to be funded, accord- ing to the preceding estimate, would be $20,285,655, subject to an increment, or dimi- nution, varying as the number of slaves de- ported might exceed, or fall short, of the one taken as the basis of calculation. An estimate of the produce of labour will naturally constitute the next subject for con- sideration, inasmuch as it is from the surplus produce of labour, that funds are expected to be derived, for the payment of interest, and final redemption of the stock issued. Like the preceding estimate, which regards the value of the slave, that also which regards the value of labour can only, in a great mea- sure, be conjectural. It might be expected, from the deficient population of St. Domingo, and of the Mexican and South American states, that wages would be proportionally high ; but the fact is stated, by those who have 5 34 visited those countries, to be otherwise. At the same time a great difference, they state, is made in some of them, between the wages of native labourers, and those of foreigners ; in St. Domingo, it has been asserted, the differ- ence in favour of the latter is two to one. This seems to prove that the low rate of wages is not altogether owing to a want of capital, but may be attributed to the indolent habits of the native labourer, whose wants are few, and who rarely exerts himself voluntarily ; neces- sity, or compulsion, are for the most part neces- sary to produce an effort in him. This, per- haps, is a natural state of being, where the usual motives to exertion have ceased to exist, and where the human animal, like those of the other species, lies down contented as soon as his animal appetites are satiated. The climate may have contributed to produce this effect ; but ambition, and a desire to improve one's condition, are incidental characteristics of all climates, and are peculiar to none, so other causes have probably had their influence. It does not enter into the views of the writer, to go into an examination of the subject ; such an examination does not come within the scope of his plan ; he hazarded the pre- 35 ceding observations, for the purpose merely of directing the readers attention to the sub- ject, and the better to impress upon his mind the deduction he means to draw from the pre- mises, that if the market value of foreign free labour is double that of free native labour, the labour of those upon whose individual efforts depends the liberty of their persons, as well as the period of their redemption, which will be longer or shorter, in proportion as their ex- ertions are fruitful, must be worth at least as much as the latter, considering their motives for exertion. In fact, when the slave, after having assumed his new character, is taught to know that his manumission is dependent upon his own labour, and that it will be acce- lerated or retarded according to the rate of wages which his labour may command, no reasonable doubt can be entertained, that so powerful a stimulus will produce correspon- dent effects, and that his strength will be taxed to its utmost, to secure to him the benefits re- sulting from the highest attainable rate. Thus rising in the scale of productive labourers, he will naturally command a proportionate share of the produce of his labour, which ought, and probably will be, twice or thrice 36 the share usually assigned to the native la- bourer. If the preceding considerations possess the weight which the writer believes they merit, he flatters himself that the scale of wages as- sumed in the following estimate, will not be deemed too high. It may be well to remind the reader, that no discrimination has been made in favour of mechanical labour, and that this, when coupled with the fact already stated, that the number of labourers included in the estimate is considerably within bounds, so some reduction might be made in detail, with- out reducing the aggregate amount. But if, contrary to his intentions and wishes, the rates of wages shall be found eventually too high, still no probable reduction which the case may require can be so great as to render his plan nugatory ; the possible effect produced, might be to protract the periods fixed for the emancipation of the slave, and the redemption of the funded stock. Of the 103,153 persons, those under 14 and above 45 years of age, making an aggregate of 54,748, will be excluded from the estimate as unproductive labourers, and those only inclu- ded as productive labourers who belong to the other classes, viz : 37 24,598 Males from 14 to 45 years of age, ) at $10 per month, or $'120 per year, ) 2,951,76© 23,807 Females from 14 to 45 years of age, ) at $6 per month, or $72 per year, J 1,714,104 Gross amount of wages, $4,665,864 That an inconsiderable proportion, consist- *ng chiefly of old and superannuated persons, must be indebted for its freedom to the pro- ductive class, is implied, as a necessary condi- tion of the plan. It seems but just, however, that all under the age of fourteen years, as well as some above forty-five, should be made dependent upon their own labour for their free- dom, or be obliged to contribute towards libe- rating others ; and, to that end, that they should be required to work a certain number of years, after the annual class to which they may belong shall have accomplished the pe- riod of its general emancipation ; that is to say, when the funds, resulting from the surplus labour of those who shall have been employed productively, shall have amounted to a sum equal to the payment of interest, and capital stock issued for that purpose ; otherwise, those under the age of 14 years will have obtained their freedom by having contributed partially only, others none at all, towards its acquisition. 38 If, for instance, the estimated surplus labour of seven years suffice to manumit the whole an- nual deportation, it is clear that those of thir- teen years old will have worked but six years of the seven, those of twelve but five, and so on down to those of seven years old, when all at and under that age, will become free without having laboured at all, and will thus constitute a class of exempts. The estimated amount of labour can, even in practice, be of an approxi- mative character only ; it must, in the nature of things, be variable, inasmuch as the older labourers will progressively become less pro- ductive, whilst the younger ones will progres- sively become more so ; every year will re- quire a greater or less modification, of the rate of wages established for the first one. From this view of the subject, we may de- duce this important fact, that the estimated amount of labour can be subject to no dimi- nution ; that besides supplying all deficiencies, (mortality not excepted,) the extra labour of the voung class may produce an additional and disposable fund, which may be applied to ac- celerate the emancipation generally, especial- ly to each succeeding class, or to any other purpose which humanity or expediency may 39 dictate. And it follows, also, as a necessary consequence, that as the period for the redemp- tion of the funded stock must be fixed ; and as that of the consummation of the manumis- sion of those for whose redemption the stock may be*issued, will be dependent upon the surplus produce of labour, which, as we have seen, is variable and cumulative in its charac- ter; — so the sum necessary for the consumma- tion of the manumission may have been ac- cumulated into the public chest, before the funded stock becomes payable, and the for- mer may precede the latter by many months. The charges which the case seems to re- quire, and which are to be defrayed from the produce of labour, are few, and amongst these, the first in order is that of interest. It might be taken for granted, and the pre- sent state of the stock market warrants the position, that funded stock, payable in seven years, more or less, and drawing an interest of four and a half per cent., would be readily re- ceived in payment by the owners of slaves, or could be negociated in market at its par value, or something above it. But to obviate all ob- jections which might be raised, upon the sub- ject — to satisfy, as far as possible, all minds — - 40 to meet all doubts which may be raised, and the better to demonstrate the competency of the plan to its end, two estimates will be made, one at an interest of 5 per cent , and the other at 4 and an half per cent., by which the result of each will be seen. ^20,285,655, the estimated amount of Funded Stock, at an interest of 5 per cent., would require an annual pay- ment of $1,014,282 75 #20,285,655, do. at 4 and a half per cent. 912,852 23 The next charge in course, as well as im- portance, is that which will be incident to the expenditure for transportation. The free adults, now occasionally carried out to St Do- mingo, have been, or might be, it is affirmed, comfortably accommodated, at the rate, for pas- sage money, of from 7 to 8 dollars each , that 10 dollars would be considered a handsome remuneration to the ship owner, and that con- tracts, at this rate, might be made to any ex- tent. A considerable abatement, from either of these rates, might be fairly made for such accommodations, both with regard to lodging and sustenance, as would probably be deemed comfortable, and even luxurious, to the igno- rant slave, whose circumscribed notions of comfort and accommodation are derived from the humble fare to which he has been accus- 41 tomed. Another weighty argument for an abatement from those rates, is. that a very large proportion of the whole number to be trans- ported, will consist of very young persons, some of them mere children. But, notwith- standing these considerations, as a further test of the stability of the plan, eight dollars will be taken as the average rate of passage money, for both sexes, and all ages, to St. Do- mingo, and fourteen dollars for all other coun- tries within the Gulf of Mexico ; what pro- portion of the whole number each of these countries may respectively be content, or able, to receive, is a question perfectly gratuitous. There exists no sort of data to build a conjec- ture upon. To bring it into the shape of an estimate, the writer will assign one third of the whole to St. Domingo, and the residue to the other countries, which will give an average general rate, for passage money, of twelve dollars each ; and 103,153 slaves of both sexes and all ages, at $ 12 each, for passage money, will require #1,287,836. This charge, unlike the others, is not an- nual, but is paid once for all. The whole amount may, or may not, be taken from the first year's labour, according to the conditions 6 42 of the contract made with the employers ; but in the estimate, it must be necessarily divided by the number of years' service, so as to pro- duce a uniform result. It is taken for granted, that the slaves will be delivered on board by their masters, and received from on board by their employers, free of all expense ; and no charge, therefore, will be allowed in the esti- mate for expenses incident to either case* The writer has just said, that recruits from the junior class would supply all deficiencies occasioned by mortality, which might occur in the working or productive class ; but as a fur- ther test, and to remove all doubts upon the subject, an allowance, in the shape of a charge, will be made for that casuality ; and the more effectually to put the question at rest, the per centage allowed will be taken, not upon the estimated amount of wages, $4,665,864, as it, strictly speaking, ou^ht to be, but upon that of the cost of the slaves, #20,28 .1,655. But in- stead of 3 per cent., which he supposes would be an adequate allowance, if the former sum were taken as a basis, the loss sustained by mortality will be put down at H only ; this, however, will give more than a twofold ratio, or 6 per cent., on the first sum, and amounts to #304,284 83. 43 The last item of charge for expenses which it is thought the case can require, is that for agency. It is difficult to conjecture how far this may extend ; how many persons it may require to superintend the delivery of the slaves on board, in this country; their reception from on board in other countries, and for subsequent permanent superintendence there ; the recep- tion and remittance in other countries of the produce of their labour, and the reception and disposition of it in this country. Some part of the duty, perhaps, might be discharged by custom-house officers already in service ; but their agency must be confined to our own shores, and can constitute but a portion of the whole. It is thought that the better way, as well as the shortest one, will be to make the estimate in a commercial way, by an allowance of 2 per cent, on the $20,28 5,655, an allow- anc a which probably, if it err, as it probably may, will surpass what the necessity of the case may require, if the experiment should be made. $20,285,655, at 2 per cent , will give for expenses of agency $405,713 10. Here terminates the schedule of charges ; and it is now to be shown, that a surplus will remain, after defraying the enumerated charges inci- 44 dent to the transportation of the slaves to other countries, including the interest of the debt incurred for their emancipation, to constitute a sinking fund adequate also to the redemp- tion of the debt, within a given number of years, to wit, in about seven years and four twelfths, at 5 per cent, interest, and in seven years and one twelfth, at 4 ~ per cent interest. The aliquot parts of a year have been taken to avoid complex fractions, and simplify the pro- blem ; and, for the same reason, the amount of wages and interest are, respectively, supposed to be received and paid once a year only. ESTIMATE No. I. AT 5 PER CENT. The estimated amount of wages of that portion of the 103,153 slaves, constituting the estimated number of one year's deportation, which is calculated upon as alone productive, (see page 37) being $4,665,864 00 JV nd the expenses to he defrayed therefrom being, as per preceding enumeration, viz. for interest on $1/0,285,655, at 5 per cent, per annum, 1,014,282 75 Passage money, #1,237,836, whole amount, divided by 7^, the number of years, — 168,795 82 Allowance for loss by mortality, 304, 2S4 83 Do. for agency, 405,713 10 1,893,076 50 Leaving a surplus fund applicable to the redemption of the debt incur- ved, of #20,285,655, (page 32) of $2,772,787 50 But $2,772,787 50, multiplied by 7 T « ? years, will amount to $20,333,755, leaving an excess of $48,120. 45 ESTIMATE No. II. AT 4i PER CENT. Estimated amount of labour, as per esti- mate No. 1, 4,665,864 00 ', xpenses to be defrayed, viz : for interest on #20,285,655, at 4£ per cent, per annum, 912,S52 23 Passage money, $1,237,836, whole amount, divided by 7 T !j, the number of years,= 174,753 32 Allowance for loss by mortality, 304,284 83 do. for agency, 405,713 10 1,797,603 48 Leaving a surplus fund, appli- cable as above, of $2,868,260 52 But $2,868,260 52, multiplied by 7-^ years, will amount to #i ? 0,3 16,1-45,35, leaving an excess of $31,190 35, and making a differ- ence of time, in favour of estimate No. 2, of three months, or 3-12 of the whole period. Such would be the case, practically, if the stock were issued payable, conditionally, by annual instalments equal in amount to each annual surplus ; or if the surplus, applied as a sinking fund, could be invested, annually, in the stock at par ; but the first condition would be unusual, and would not be agreed to by the receivers of the stock, without an increase of interest ; and the latter mode would be of un- certain execution, besides being attended with loss of interest, and perhaps an extra charge of agency for managing the operation. As a 46 substitute for both, the writer ventures to sug- gest another mode, which, if it answers the purpose, will also serve to promote the na- tional interest in another way. The spirit with which internal improvements have been projected and executed, and the success with which they have been crowned, in some parts of the union ; the immense field thus opened for the employment of capital to an almost in- definite amount, and the probable continuance of this spirit so long as the present peaceful state of the world exists, warrants the asser- tion, that the floating capital of the country can- not suffice for all the beneficial enterprises of the sort, which may or might be entered into. The lead has been taken, and an example been set, by a sister state, on a scale commensurate with her resources and increasing wealth. If others of the sisterhood possess fewer resour- ces, they may be disposed to emulate her spirit. It is proposed, therefore, to loan the annual surplus to corporate bodies, joint-stock compa- nies, and others, associated for the purpose of digging canals, building bridges, turnpike roads, railways, dry-docks, &c &c, the periods of payment to be coincident with that of the stock, towards the payment of which it may 47 be appropriated ; and the rate of interest to be that also payable on the same stock. Inasmuch as the loans, thus made, would be to residents within the United States, subject to the laws of the country ; and the govern- ment, or its agents, possessing the means of estimating the adequacy of the security offer- ed, whether of a personal or collateral nature, and also an entire legal control over both, the objections applicable to those, whether foreign- ers, or residents in a foreign country, who might be applicants for the services of the slaves deported, do not, cannot, apply to this case Capital is not equally abundant in all parts of the United States ; but improvements of the sort alluded to are as much required, and may be more beneficially prosecuted, in some of them where capital is least abundant. Some one or more states may, therefore, be candidates for the loans, and a very consider- able part of the amount to be thus disposed of, may be required to satisfy the demand from that quarter. If, then, to the sums thus annually loaned, the interest which may have accrued on preceding loans be added, a fur- ther and very considerable advantage will be derived from the process, by its producing the 48 effect of compound interest. To illustrate the magnitude of the benefit thus produced, it is only necessary to state, that the preceding sur- plus of 3(2,772,787 50, invested annually, at a compound interest of 5 per cent., would amount in 6 T V years to $20,114,263^7- ; and the 2,863,260-^;* at a compound interest of 4£ per cent., would amount in 6^ years to #20,209,269 ,W» a saving of time, in the first case, of nearly a year, and in the last of ten months. If the writer has made out his case — if it be practicable for the United States, by adopting his plan, to relieve themselves of their slave population ; how much more practicable it must be for those countries which may conveniently liberate their slaves on the soils they now cul- tivate. Transportation being dispensed with, all the expenses incident to it would be saved, and the process of manumission, instead of being progressive, and requiring a series of periods, might commence and terminate 1 the manumission of the whole number of thi ir slaves, within the same period. The British government, for instance, might, with the con- sent of the slave-holders in its colonies, be- come the sole proprietor of all the slaves in 49 that part of its dominions, and the productive portion of them might be hired to (heir former masters, or to such other persons as might re- present them by becoming purchasers or les- sees of their estates. That government, too, would possess the further advantage of being able to issue its funded stock at the reduced rate of interest of 3 or 3^- per cent. And the United States and Great Britain, having given their sanction to this, or a simi- lar, or any plan of manumission, all other slave-holding countries, whose possessions lie in the same quarter of the globe, would be obliged to follow their example ; to hesitate would be perilous — to oppose or procrastinate might be fatal. The preceding estimate of the average value of slaves, has been made without refer- ence to the increased value of the land they cultivate, which would be a necessary result of the substitution of a free white, for a coloured slave population. To persons who inhabit states adjoining each other, the one a slave-holding, the other a non-slave-holding state, this difference of value is matter of general notoriety; toothers, more distant, of the latter description, it is less 7 50 generally known ; but neither, perhaps, are aware of the magnitude of the difference. The following examination of the subject, will probably be interesting to all ; and its result, if not anticipated, may surprise even those who have reflected most on the subject. The slave-holding states, and the District of Columbia, excluding the Florida^ and all ether territorial districts, contain, according to Viel- lish, 49 2,990 square miles, or 315,513,600 acres ;* many of these acres are, doubtless, rock, water, waste-land, or land of qualities not worth cultivating at present. The writer possesses no information upon the subject, which could justify him in an attempt to ascer- * The following admeasurements^ 01 estimates, are taken from Mel- lish's Map. of 1820, printed in Philadel) hia, and bei'ite more recent, is supposed, also, to be more coned than those of Moise or Seybeit, between whose accounts some discrepancy exists. Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, N. Carolina, S. Carolina, Georgia, SQUARE MILES. 2,060 . 10,000 . 64,000 . 43.s00 . 30,080 . 58.200 Alabama, Mississippi, . Tennessee, . Louisiana, Kentucky, . Missouri, . 50 800 . 4ft 3 . 41 300 . 4K,f)00 . 39 000 . 60,300 208,140 284,750 ■ ' RECAPITULATION. Square miles Add District of Cc 208,140 284.750 lumbia 100 Square Miles, 492,9^0 Or X 640=acres 315,613,600 51 tain the quantities of each, and thus to deduce the average value of the whole In the esti- mate which he is about to make, therefore, he will consider the whole as of equal value, and Lave the reader to make such abatements as his own judgment may dictate ; there will, it is 1 --/ed, be ample room for the largest pro- b tble allowance which the case may be thought to require, and still leave him enough to support the assertion which has just been hazarded. If Seybert's book affords us but a meagre and unsatisfactory account of the valuation of slave property, it indemnifies us for our dis- appointment, in that respect, by a full and satisfactory one of the value of land, drawn from authentic sources ; official returns, made under the sanction of an oath, cannot, or ought not, to be questioned. If it should be suppo- sed, however, that a disposition might have been felt and indulged in, by ihe appraisers of land, to estimate its value at its lowest possible rate, which their duty and their consciences would allow them to do, to be just, we must suppose, also, the disposition to have been generally, not partially, indulged in ; that the effect would be universal, and the operation 52 equal ; and that the different state valuations would hear the same ratios to each other, that they would have done if the estimates had been taken at higher rates. And whether we compare the different valuations of the lands of the older and younger non-slave-holding states with each other ; those of the older and younger slave-holding states with each other ; or those of the two former with the two latter ; — the difference between old and young, non- slave and slave-holding states, will be found singularly uniform and impressively interesting. The valuation referred to was taken in 1798, seven and twenty years ago. A general appre- ciation of lands has no doubt taken [dace since that period ; in large cities and their neigh- bourhoods, and in the richer cotton lands, the rise has been greater than elsewhere ; but that, in the former, it has bee*n permanent, or sub- ject to temporary or moderate variations only, whilst in the latter, it has undergone a very considerable diminution, is certain. It would be exceedingly difficult, if not impracticable, without a new valuation, to ascertain if any, and what, variation this might have occasioned in the comparative value of lands ; but as no sub- sequent valuation has been made, necessity obliges us to use the materials in our posses- 55 sion, which are of an authentic character, or to seek for others in the airy regions of specula- tion. The writer prefers the former, as best calculated to afford fair deductions ; and as also leading to the nearest approach to the true state of the case, from which, notwith- standing a possible uncertainty, he does not expect to be very distant. But if a doubt be entertained, whether some change may not have taken place in the com- parative value of lands since 1798, none can be of a still existing disparity, nor of the ope- rative cause of that disparity. To the following extract (Seybert, p. 50.) is added the rate of land per acre, for each state respectively. NUMBER OF VALUATION IN average STATES. rate per ACRES. DOLLARS. acre New-Hampshire, . • 3,749,061 19,028,108 03 5 08 Massachusetts, . . 7,831,028 59,445,642 64, 7 59 Rhode-Island, . 565,844 8,082,355 21 14 28 Connecticut, . 2,649,149 40,163,945 24 15 16 Vermont, . 4,918,722 15,165,484 02 3 08 New-York, . . 16,414,510 74,885,075 69; 4 56 New-Jersey, . 2,788,282 27,287,981 89 1 9 78 Pennsylvania, . 11,959,865 72,824,852 60 6 09 Delaware, . 1,074,105 4,053,248 42| 3 77 Maryland, . 5,444,272 21,634,004 67 3 99 Virginia, . , 40,458,644 59,976,860 06 1 48 N. Carolina, , 20,956,467 27,900,479 70 1 33 S. Carolina, . 9,772,587 12,456,720 94 1 27 Georgia, . . . 13,534,159 10,263,506 95 76 Kentucky, . , . . 17,674,634 20,268,325 07 1 15 Tennessee, . . • • 3,951,357 5,847,662 00 1 48 163,746,686 479,293,263 13 54 The third column, which contains the average rate of land per acre in each state, affords also a scale of its comparative value, not only in the slave-holding, and non slave-holding states, but of that also in each of the denominations, designating with singular precision those which are more or less populous — older or younger ; another pretty conclusive argument in favour of the valuation as a fair comparative document. But the difference it exhibits between the value of land in states of the two denominations, is all into which the subject under consideration requires to be examined ; and although this might be done in a variety of ways, each afford- ing useful and instructive deductions corrobo- rative of the general position — yet the writer will confine himself to those only which the case seems to render necessary, beginning with adjoining states, those between which the line seems, by general assent, to be drawn, viz. Pennsylvania on the one side, and Dela- ware, Maryland, and Virginia, which by way of distinction may be called lateral states, on the other. In the former, the average value of land is given at $6 09. Taking the latter three as constituting one section only, the average value 55 of their respective rates, would give ft 82 per- acre,* leaving a difference in favour of Pennsyl- vania of $4 17 per acre, and more than three and a third for one. If we compare the highest rates in one of each denomination of the states, the result will be no less striking, viz. : For Connecticut where we find the highest i average rate at J $15 16 For Maryland where we find the highest 1 average rate at J 3 99 Leaving a difference in favour of Connecticut of $11 17 And three to one nearly. Taking those of the two denominations, where the average rates of land are the lowest, We have for Vermont , $3 08 " " Georgia ... . 76 Making a difference in favour of Vermont, of 2 32 and more than four to one. The line which has been designated as sepa- rating the slave from the non-slave-holding states, is that also which nature seems to have fixed between those, where the ordinary cereal and leguminous, and other productions of the earth, of first necessity, may be cultivated, and acres. *Delaware, 1,074,105 Maryland, 5,444,272 Virginia, 40,458,644 46,977,021 $ 4,053,242 42 21 ; 634,004 67 59,976,866 06 85,664,113,15=1,82H 56 those where the most luxurious, but some of them hardly less necessary productions, of to- bacco, cotton, and sugar, are cultivated, consti- tuting the riches of their country, and in amount, by far the largest portion of the national domes- tic exports. The cultivation of these produc- tions continues to increase, and has no other assignable limits than such as depend upon soil and consumption ; and if the latter be commensurate with the former, many genera- tions will pass away, and our remote descen- dants only may see it stationary. Such is the variety of climate and soil, that almost all which those states do not now pro- duce, of a botanical character, which belong to temperate or torrid climates, may be introduced there. The vine, the fig, and the orange tree, are natives, and flourish luxuriantly. The olive and almond trees have been partially intro- duced and cultivated. All these may become new staples, furnishing additional sources of individual and national wealth, and giving in- creased exchangeable value to the land But why speculate in possible good, whilst the bar to its realization, the incubus which weighs down, and oppresses to disease, that otherwise happy section of our country, remains to be 57 removed ? Let us turn from this afflictive state of the case, take another view of the subject, and see if a further and conclusive reason may not be assigned, to urge an immediate and ef- fectual effort on the part of the proprietors of that sort of property, to relieve themselves and the country from its greatest, if not its on \ curse. Land, in a country possessing so many ad- Vantages of climate and soil, every thing else equal, ought to command a greater exchange- able value than land in higher latitudes, where winter lasts six or more months, during which time the agricultural labours of the husband- man are suspended ; but let us suppose a pe- riod when slavery shall have ceased, the popu- lation to have become homogeneous by the removal of the " ring-streaked, spotted and speckled," and land to have risen only so much as to have been brought upon a level with that with which the comparison has just been made, and then let us see what the result will give. The number of acres being 315,513,600,* and the difference between the highest average rates of land in the slave and non-slave-hold- * See page 50. 58 ing states, respectively, being $11 17, the ap- preciation in money would be #3,524,284,912. The number of acres the same, and the difference between land in Pennsylvania, and the lateral slave-holding states, being $4 26|, the appre- ciation in money would be ^l,340,938,058yV°o- The number of acres the same, and the dif- ference between the lowest average of land, in the slave and non-slave-holding states, being 02 32, the appreciation in money would be #731,991,552. Now the first sum, $3,524,284,912, divided by 1,761,150, (the number of slaves,) gives for each slave, $2001 12 The second sum, ^1,340,938,058, divided by 1,761,150, (the number of slaves,) gives for each slave, $761 39 The third sum, £73 1,990,552, divided by 1,761,150, (the number of slaves,) gives for each slave, $415 63 If the position, with regard to the probable rise in the exchangeable value of land, conse- quent upon a change of slave for free labour, be sustained by the preceding view of the case, then it only remains to make such deduc- tions as may be thought adequate for such a proportion of the number of acres as may not be arable, or otherwise valuable, land. For arguments sake, and to place the question beyond all doubt, let us reduce the preceding 59 rates of value for each slave to one half their amount, and then we have for the highest IOOOjVVj more than four times the estimated value, and nearly eight times the appraised va- lue of slaves in Maryland, in 1798. For the medium, or that derived from a com- parison between Pennsylvania and its late- ral neighbours, $380 65, nearly twice the esti- mated value, and nearly three times the ap- praised value of slaves in Maryland, in 1793. For the lowest, $207 81, more than the esti- mated value, and consequently an excess of 50 per cent, or more, over the appraised value of slaves in Maryland, in 1798. From all which, this remarkable and very important fact is established, viz. : that if the slave-holders were to manumit their slaves gratuitously, and pay the expense of their trans- portation in the mode designated in the pre- ceding pages, they would still, at the lowest of the preceding rates, be indemnified in the in- creased value of their land, to the full amount of their estimated value, and at the highest of the preceding rates, would receive, in the same way, more than a fourfold remuneration. The writer forbears to make any comment upon these deductions ; but, leaving the reader 00 to his own reflections, will proceed on his way to other kindred topics. Doubts exist in the minds of many sensible persons — whether the white race of people are able to withstand the intemperature of our southern climates ? or at least if they were at all able to withstand the climate as la- bourers, whether it will not be at a greater expense of life, than that to which the blacks and their descendants are subject ? To obviate, as far as possible, the doubts of such persons, it may be observed, 1st. that nature, subject to uniform and fixed laws, assigns to each soil, and every climate, its appropriate mineral, ve- getable, and animal beings. That negroes are not, and no historical trace remains to indicate they ever were, aborigines of this country. The people who were found here, by the first discoverers of the country, and some of whose descendants are still amongst us, are a totally different race, using the term in its ordinary acceptation, and indicating by their structure, cast of countenance, and qualities of mind, an Asiatic, rather than an African origin. The question, whether the negro has been changed from what he was, and made what he now is, by the climate of Africa, or not, can have 61 iio bearing upon the argument meant to be dtawD from this fact; the Indian remains as he wns found ; nor has the African undergone any sensible change since he was first brought into this and its neighbouring countries. 2ndiy. With regard to the ability of white la- bourers to withstand southern and even torrid climates, we may refer, as evidence in the affir- mative, not merely to other various parts of the globe, but to their own mechanics, and other out-of-door labourers, who are as much expo- sed, and work much harder than the field slave, without being subject to a greater degree of mortality. This assertion, it is true, is gratui- tous ; but the writer has met with no evidence of a contradictory nature, and his own obser- vation leads him to believe that none exists. 3rdly. The further evidence afforded by the small farmers of their own districts of country, who cultivate their own soils solely, or with the assistance of slaves, and who at least en- joy as good an average state of health, and live as long, or longer, than the latter. People of both these classes, who migrate from more northern climates, are not included ; the com- parison would be an unequal one ; but even these, with a few exceptions, after they be- 62 come acclimated, support the various tempera- tures perfectly well, and many even prefer them to their native regions. But our country is yet too young for experi- ment to be fairly tested here ; we should seek for more conclusive evidence in older countries, similarly situated with regard to climate. We need not travel even so far as A sia in search of it; in the northern parts of Italy, rice is cultivated by its own peasantry, and if ihey are not so robust, if they enjoy a worse state of health, if they die at an earlier age, than those who cultivate drier soils, or mountainous coun- tries, the difference is probably no greater than that which exists between the negroes of our rice savannahs, and those employed in the cul- tivation of the sugar-cane and cotton plant. In the southern part of the same country, there are cotton growers, and they and their fellow cultivators of the other products of the same soil, are exposed to rays more ardent than those of our southern sun in its canicular strength, since the rays of theirs are aggravated by the sirocco, whose relaxing blast it requires the firmest muscles to withstand. In the south of Spain, again, sugar plantations have existed, may per- haps still exist ; and if they do not, they must 63 have ceased to exist, because, like the gold mines of the same country, the greater abun- dance and cheaper rate at which the same va- luable commodities are produced in our western hemisphere, have rendered theirs unprofitable. From these two, and from other parts of Europe, if it were necessary, or expedient, labourers, in almust any number, might be easily obtained. The necessity will probably never exist ; but it may be expedient, perhaps, to bring a few thousand hardy peasantry from each, if it were only for the sake of introducing the culture of such new staples into this coun- try as have already been alluded to ; from their knowledge and experience might be derived both great private and public benefits ; as great, at least, as the introduction of spinners and weavers, or even the secrets of some new twist or tasteful manufacture, requiring the sedenta- ry labour of hundreds of devoted victims of both sexes, not exposed to the rays of the sun certainly, but shut out from its benign influ- ence, crowded into the same enclosures, and breathing the suffocating compound of a thrice inhaled and vitiated atmosphere. The Neapolitan labourers, natives of the country, are not less remarkable for the sym- 64 metry of their form, than for their muscular strength. The southern Spaniards, with less beauty of structure, and perhaps less bodiiy strength, are nevertheless a healthy, vigorous, and efficient race. Doubts may be also entertained, whether the annual reduction of so large a number of co- loured labourers might not be greater than could be compensated by natural increase, or the influx of white labourers from other parts of the country, or elsewhere. Some incon- venience might be experienced from this cause for the first year or two ; but, by degrees, its na- tural effect would be produced ; a higher rate of wages, and the consequent demand for labour, would draw to that part of our country a stream of migratory labourers ; softer climates and richer soils, sources of comfort and abundance, supplying easier means of living, would con- tribute to accelerate the natural increase ; the supply would soon become regular and equal to the demand, and when the last coloured la- bourer shall abandon his hoe, it will drop into the hands of a white one. But all the emigrants will not be mere day- labourers ; all will not come empty handed. Many of them, encouraged by the removal of 65 the objectionable part of the population, and a consequent modification of society and man- ners, will become purchasers of land, and set- tlers, enlarging the number of small farmers, and thus constituting an efficient means of in- creasing the exchangeable value, or raising the market price of land. The planter, who now looks to the labour of his slaves as the chief source of wealth, will then derive it from a threefold source, that of the value of his slaves, the produce of his soil, and the sale of his land. The sale of every acre, would add value to what remain ; and his land would, progres- sively, and in a comparatively short period of time, rise to its maximum value. A neat and economical culture, sober and moral habits and decent manners, would be substituted for the slovenly and wasteful culture, and loose and barbarous habits and manners of slaves, who now but vex the soil with their reluctant, list- less, intermittent labour. The expense incident to the transportation of the slaves has already been noticed ; a few words may be expected on the subject of the quantity of tonnage necessary to the execution 9 66 of that operation, and the probably beneficial effects derivable from that future branch of our carrying trade. If the deported individuals were all adults, two tons each would not, perhaps, be too great an allowance ; but as a portion, and no incon- siderable one, will consist of infants, or per- sons of a minor age, one ton and a half each may be considered an ample allowance. At this rate, it would require 154, 729^ tons, for the 103,153 in lividmls, the annual number to be provided for, if the voyage also were an- nual. But the same vessel may easily per- form four voyages to St. Domingo, annually, and three to the other neighbouring conti- nental countries designated as more likely to receive a part of the emigrants ; so that one third of that amount of tonnage, or 51,576-j* may be considered, therefore, as sufficient for the purpose. The American commercial marine could easi- ly supply this additional demand, although much of it would be drawn from other, but less profitable employments. The demand for ves- sels to supply the places of those thus with- drawn, would bring capital from less profitable 67 occupation to this branch of industry — give a new impulse to that of our hardy, intelligent, indefatigable shipbuilders ; encouraging by that sort of protection which is most natural, most durable, entirely unobjectionable, and most efficient, the noblest and most important of our manufactories, employing the greatest amount of capital, the greatest number of the most productive labourers, our adventurous and weather-beaten fishermen alone excepted, and contributing alike to the national wealth, the national strength, and the national honour. The ultimate beneficial effects would be an increase of our tonnage to the whole, or near- ly the whole amount of the tonnage employed, and permanent, so long at least as the de- mand lasted which called it into existence ; again, adding, by enlarging our nursery for seamen, in a two fold degree, to the strength and wealth of the nation. But the catalogue of benefits to the nation which may flow from the contemplated change of population, although reducible in some mea- sure to mathematical estimation, may not only in a moral, but in a pecuniary and economical point of view, be considered incalculable. Of 68 the moral benefits, every reader will make his own estimate. The following view of the case may help to show some of the pecuniary and economical advantages. Thirty-five years have been assumed as the period of time required to remove, by annual deportations, the whole number of slaves now supposed to exist in the United States ; and seven years and the fraction of a year, the pe- riod of time requisite to consummate the manu- mission of the individuals constituting each annual deportation. So that there will be an ascending and descending series of seven years at the commencement and determination of the thirty-five years, when the importations of pro- duce, or specie, resulting from the surplus labour, will gradually increase in the one case and decrease in the other, in arithmetical pro- gression, leaving twenty-one years of maximum amount of import. Thus, taking the annual surplus* at $2, 700,000 only, and the period at seven years, we shall have at the seventh period $18,900,000 ; this, added to the former, and multi- plied hy 3i, will give tor the ascending series $75,600,000 * The writer takes the surplus only, following up the grounds he took at first ; but it is self-evirlenl that the sum taken is too small by [e R mount of interest, and so much of the expense incident to c, as an uiyable in this country. 69 And the same amount, in like manner, will ) give for the descending series, J 75,600,000 And #18,900,000, the maximum amount of ) imports for 21 years, will give ) 39 6,900,000 $548,100,000 The passage money is supposed to be re- ceived at the place of landing or delivery, and to be brought back, like the surplus' produce of labour, in the products of the several foreign countries, or in bullion. If we take* 35 years as a multiplier, and the annual number of individuals at 103,153 as a multiplicand, the whole number de- ported, in 35 years, will be 3,610,355 which, at #12 each, the estimate average rate, wdl amount to the further sum of $43,324,260 Making the grand total of imports amount to $591,424,260 If 30 per cent be estimated as the average rate of duty on the products of these tropical countries, it will probably be rnthm bounds; and m estimating the amount of products to be three-fourths ot the whole, or $443,568,195, (that also, will probably be within bounds,) we shall then have as a gross sum, paid into the treasury, (leaving out of the estimate the additional 10 per cent, of the CUSt ° ms ') of $133,070,458 50 The tonnage duty on 5l,576i tons, at rf tj thr ee times a year, the number of trips estimated, or at the rate of r \\, will give an annual amount of $9,283 77, or an aggregate amount for 35 years of 324,935 95 Making a grand total paid into the ) treasur ^ of ) $133,395,394 45 or an annual average payment of $3,811,296*98 * The reader is also reminded, that the number of years taken is an •roximative and illustrative only. See note, Da ™ 24 " 3p ' note, page 24. 70 But so fertile in benefits is the proposed thange, of a free white for a coloured popula- tion, that in attempting to enumerate them, we are led on, step by step, until a crowd of new objects fill and delight the mind, and elevate us, prospectively, into the regions of specula- tion, where imagination, assuming the reins, wantons in anticipated and indefinite fruition. Like the Nile, it seems to spread itself over the face of a whole country, distributing its tribu- tary beneficence to every part, in just portions ; giving action, renovated existence, and in- crease of happiness, to millions. And all these blessings are offered to us in exchange for a public nuisance — a source of national degradation, heart-burning, and dis- sention. It is a subject worthy of deliberate conside- ration, whether sound policy, as well as humani- ty, may not dictate that a part of what is paid into the national treasury, in the shape of revenue, should be appropriated to defray a portion of the expenses incident to the removal of the slaves from the country, and thus to facilitate and expedite their deportation and consequent manumission ; whether exact jus- 71 tice. after all, both to them, and ourselves, doe« not require it. A reduction of the expenses of transportation, by increasing the amount of surplus funds, would, wages remaining at the estimated rate, conduce to accelerate the manu- mission ; on the other hand, if wages were re- duced proportionally, leaving the period of manumission the same, the reduction of wages would naturally increase the demand for that species of labour, and thus accelerate the de- portation. The advantage derivable to the country, through the medium of the custom-house, may be considered of a doubtful character by some, because a part must necessarily be re-export- ed, if the imports should exceed the consump- tion of the country, and that consequently a proportionate amount of duty must be drawn back. Persons, not conversant with the nature of foreign commerce, or the principles of po- litical economy, will be very apt to take this view of the case. The following elucidation and illustration of the subject, may, perhaps, assist to dispel their doubts. The sums thus received and derived from 72 the labour of the slave, in exchange for his liberty, represents him transformed into active capital, and become a part of the national wealth. Any part of this modified capital which might be re-exported, must be supposed to be either given or thrown away, an inadmis- sible proposition, or it must return after a second modification, that is, in the shape of some other foreign merchandise ; and it must have been increased also, in value, to the amount of a sum equal to all the incidental expenses to which it must have been subject, in addition to the interest and mercantile pro- fit on the capital employed ; otherwise, those whose time and capital were consumed in the management of the operation, will have been losers. The expenses, interest and profits of a voyage, bear, or ought to bear, an exact ratio to its length. The returns, therefore, of an ex- ported or re-exported article, must, in all suc- cessful cases, more than replace, in the public chest, (and in proportion to the length of the voyage,) what was drawn back, on the exported or re-exported article. It is clear, therefore, that if the process were continued and repeated a hundred times, the 73 advantage would be just so many times multi- plied. The individual agent, and his depend- ants, all who were employed by him, would grow richer, and the capital of the country would be increased in amount. A part also of the accumulated sum would necessarily remain in the country, because it could not be exported ; viz. : the wages of those, whether mechanics or labourers, who were employed in repairing, repacking, removing, or stowing the articles shipped ; those of the seamen who navigated the vessel in which they were transported; and, generally speaking, the freight of the articles paid to the owner of the vessels. This simple counting-house detail, may serve also in a small degree to exemplify some of the advan- tages of foreign commerce, and particularly its instrumentality towards increasing the wealth and enjoyments of the nation, in fostering its own maritime power, and in extending its re- lations with all other nations. The writer having accomplished the task he imposed upon himself, sends forth this product of his literary labour, to receive from public opinion the impress of its real or comparative value. He regrets that his time and his talents 10 74 were neither of them propitious to his wishes ; and that the chess in which his observations are clothed, is not more appropriate to the dignity and importance of the subject dis- cussed. It is his first appearance before the public, as an author ; he makes it with reluc- tance and diffidence. The total absence of all other plans, which seemed to possess even the promise of efficacy, induced him to suggest the one he has thus ventured to offer, with "all its imperfections on its head." This con- sideration, and his desire to be useful, overcame his repugnancy. He says thus much in jus- tice to himself, not with a view to deprecate the forbearance, or conciliate the indulgence of those who may condescend to become his re- viewers. He is desirous, on the contrary, to have his errors exposed and corrected. He hopes to see his plan, if it be thought worthy of notice at all, thoroughly analyzed, and examined through all its details ; that if a part be found useful, it may be adopted, any which may be found defective rejected, and other materials substituted and applied by some one better qualified for the task. 75 If he be not fortunate enough to suggest a consistent and practicable whole — if someparts only be found appropriate and useful — if he shall have contributed but in a remote decree towards harmonizing conflicting interests, and promoting the general happiness and welfare of his fellow citizens, the trifling labour it has cost him to collect his materials, and the few hours he has spent in putting them together, will be more than compensated. AN 'ATOttStST TO DEMONSTRATE THE PRACTICABILITY EMANCIPATING THE SLAVES UNITED STATES OP NORTH AMERICA, AND OF REMOVING TFIEM FROM THE COUNTRY,' WITHOUT IMPAIRING THE RIGHT OF PRIVATE PROPERTY, SUBJECTING THE NATION TO A TAX. BY A NEW-ENGLAND MAN. nihw-yo^x: published by g. & c. carvill. Gruttan, Printer, Thames-street. 1825. mp?*Kr ITbRABV OF CONGRESS 012 027 4818 llllil lis \ 3y&^