) rsa ose rrcanremmawenerct & “SUBMITTED TO THE — ih REPORT OF THE MINORITY SPECIAL COMMITTEE OF SEVEN, TO WHOM WAS REFERRED 60 MUCH OF GOV? ADAMS MESSAGE, NO. 1, AS RELATES TO SLAVERY AND THE SLAVE TRADE. CHARLESTON; _ HARPER & CALVO, PRINTERS, 125 EAST-BAY. 1858. ‘The undersigned, a minority of the special committee of seven to whom was referred so much of Message No. 1, of his late Excellency as relates to Slavery and the Slave Trade, begs leave to submit the following Report: 7 Before entertaining the main question it has seemed to him proper pot of to ascertain the point of view from which it should be considered, and Wry the which for this purpose it is necessary to bear in mind the primary object for “s\"., which the Legislature of South Carolina is assembled. We have been °™*!4ered. entrusted by the people of the State with large discretionary powers, contained in a general grant and subject to but few positive restric- tions. Indeed there can scarcely be said to exist any limitations upon the discretion of the Legislature in its selection of means to accom- plish a given end, provided they fall within the class of “Laws;” but the legitimate objects of this legislation, though numerous, have one well ‘ ascertained boundary—the Legislative power is to be exercised for the "benefit of the citizens of the State, to guard their rights, to protect and advance their interests. For themselves alone have they instituted a government, and invested it with almost unlimited control over life and property. They have avoided that ambitious imbecility, which, neglecting its own concerns, would prescribe philanthropic rules for the Universe. The first, then, and perhaps the only point of view from which this body must consider every question, is the probable advantage accruing therefrom to the State of South Carolina. Should the measure proposed be of no present or prospective advantage to the State, it does not fall within the grant of Legislative power; should _ the measure proposed be injurious to the State, whether or not its adoption would bless the whole world besides, it is self-evident that we not only have no right to force it upon our constituents, but in so doing would violate every principle of delegated and constitutional authority. The people have not yet granted to any agent, however exalted, the power of sacrificing them for the benefit of others; this is one of the reserved rights which have been retained by Society to be Certain qua- 8i arguments to be first disposed of, 4. surrendered only in its most solemn forms. In attempting to reach a satisfactory conclusion on the present question, the undersigned has % i ¥ * carefully kept this fact in view. Were he sitting as a member of the — re ¥ rt King’s Council for Ashantee or Dahomey the result attained would — possibly have been different. Looking upon the ancestors of our slaves as they exist in their native land, clothed in filth and squalor, slaught- ering each other by law, upon the most trivial occasions, selling their wives and children to the pale-faced stranger, acknowledging no im- pulse save that of unbridled passion, no restraint save that of physical fear, without morals or religion, or the capacity for self progress, and barely removed from the brute by some faint idea of association; and then glancing across the Atlantic to the shores of America upon the four millions of slaves, their descendants, robust, cheerful, fed, clothed, cared for when sick and aged, instructed in the elements of religion, surrounded by the enlightenment of an advancing civilization, the vast majority contented in their present condition, and all in a position of moral and material welfare superior to the laboring classes of Kurope—in view of the striking contrast presented, the undersigned, as a friend of Africa, might well advocate the revival of the Slave Trade, and receive its agents as angels of mercy. But objects nearer home have profounder claims upon our philanthropy—friends, neigh- bors, fellow-citizens—and we have no right to jeopard their welfare even for the salvation of the African continent. And, indeed, the undersigned has confined his investigation to South Carolina; he has not considered the effect of the proposed measure upon the States beyond the Cape Fear, or the Savannah; not that he is indifferent to the happiness of those ancient commonwealths, for the Southern States of the Confederacy must live and die together, and the isolation of any one could only injure the general cause ; but because the history of our own State, her present condition, her wants, are familiar to us, and we have had bitter experience of the folly of those who from the recesses of selfish or conceited ignorance attempt to regulate the destiny of foreign Nations. Called upon as a Carolinian, to consider this question, he has considered it as a Carolinian. Having thus ascertained the proper point of view, viz: the advantage accruing to the State of South Carolina, it is next necessary to remove certain obstacles, that under the appearance of arguments, are calculated only to obstruct distinct vision and to distort the true proportions of the object to be considered, which is the more necessary upon the present occasion, since our habit of repelling, with indignation, what we have have justly considered the impertinent attacks of pseudo-philanthro- pists, has rendered it difficult for us—for the undersigned, at least— # ee » to regard any question connected with slavery in that light of im- partial and ‘dispassionate "reason, which and which alone the emer- | iw gency demands. I es * og th % sgt n deciding questions connected with Shaveng! fie is whe ihe utmost Ist. Tho importance to guard our judgement as to the propriety of any pro- pagan? es posed step, from being perverted by the opinions of those who are not brought into direct contact with the institution, and are consequently without the means of obtaining correct information, even if they possessed the requisite impartiality to aid us with their counsels. The undersigned would be loth to underrate the moral opinion of the world ; it is entitled to deference and reasonable submission; to main- tain the contrary would betray shallowness of intellect and obtuseness of moral sense. But nity cannot expect implicit obedience nor an exemption from just criticism ; we bow before it only when founded upon impartial reason and correct information, With neither of these requisites it has ventured to pronounce judgement upon the insti- tution of slavery, and it is well that the eyes of the Southern people should be ¢ pened to the fact, that they stand alone in the civilized world. “However political parties may be divided in Hurope, they have no sympathy with us. Absolutists dare not view with indif- ference a nation of republicans, who have up to the present succeeded in counterposing the destructive element contained in every free gov- ernment, and preserving the stability of their institutions through the conservative iufluence of Slavery. Weare a standing contradiction to their dogma of the incapacity of mankind for self-government, and a silent reproach upon the means necessary to maintain their power. The Democrats of Europe, the antipodes of American Republicans, hold us in still greater horror; theirs is the centralized absolutism of the many, changing its head day by day, and vibrating fitfully on the extremes of military empire and socialistic tyranny; to them the self- government of individuals, the corner-stone of our. system, as distin- guished from the mutual oppression of masses, is a stumbling block and foolishness. ‘The Aristocracy of privileged classes is dying of atrophy, and the puny remnants of that once powerful institution, struggling for bare existence, are but too anxious to discredit Repub- licanism by re-echoing the popular prejudices, The opinion, then, of » the outside world on slavery is entitled to less weight than upon almost any other subject, being destitute of every foundation which renders opinion respectable, and the undersigned concurs most heartily in pronouncing that a diseased sentimentality, which impels the fanatics of the North and England to dilate upon the horrors of slavery in the presence of those who are -perishing morally and physically beneath the oppression of capital. But while resisting those opinions a which would condemn slavery, it is equally necessary to refrain from following the false lights which would lead usin another direction to sanction the Slave Trade. The establishment of the Coolie and Ap- — | preatice Traffic has given an unfortunate and most unwarranted im- — pulse to this idea, as though we were to derive no lesson from the vices and crimes of our enemies save that of imitation. Perhaps, since the dawn of civilization, no system was ever entertained by enlight- ened nations, so thoroughly characterized by all that is odious and disgraceful in humanity, and at the same time so utterly devoid of every feature which could mitigate the evils, incident to all human transactions. Hven in its most barbarous days, the Slave Trade had some redeeming features; there was room for a hope, if not an expec- tation of eventual good; but the traffic in Coolies and Apprentices revives all the disagreeable features of slavery as it formerly existed in the West Indies, (but never here,) and what is infinitely worse, superadds the relentless tyranny exercised by capital over labor. With all the authority of a Master, the hirer of Apprentices is unre- strained by the sentiment of kindness, which every one feels towards his family of whatever color, or that other impulse, perhaps equally potent, which prompts every one to preserve his own property. For the first time in the history of the world, a system has been devised which encourages the Master to work his slave to death in a specified number of years. We may truly say, “ There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt unto this day.” Far from furnishing an example the conduct of these abolitionists should arouse in us only those feelings which are inspired by the union of systematic cruelty with hollow hypocrisy; and rejecting that delusive folly which seeks an apology in the conduct or sympathy of others, we should act according to our internal convictions—the only source of true moral strength. Pi ae Another idea, which in the opinion of the undersigned, is without Nn any solid foundation, or any bearing upoz the main question, has an suit to been advanced in his Excellency’s Message, viz: that the punishment Cot er. Of Piracy, denounced upon the Slave Trade, stigmatizes property in ted. slaves as plunder. It is not worth while to stick in the bark of this objection, and show that Piracy and plunder are not necessarily cor- relative terms. Take the still broader proposition, that it is a stigma at all. The distinction existing in Nature, though very properly not recognized in Courts of Law, between malum prohibiium and malum en se, will scarcely be denied by an educated person. The one desig- nates an act that shocks our moral sensibilities, and is independent of, sot or rather anterior to, the necessities of associated existence, the other finds its origin solely in those necessities. The act itself may be in- ‘nocent, but the consequences of this intrinsically innocent act may be s0 deleterious to society as to require its prohibition by law, under the sanction of punishment even unto death. Hxamples innumerable can be found in our statutes. The selling of lottery tickets is of itself an innocent act—-none more so, but the consequences are highly inju- rious to society ; and in view of these consequences, it is declared to be a crime, and severely punished. The circulation here of the small bank notes of other States is an innocent act; but to preserve our eurrency pure, it has been placed under the ban of a heavy penalty. Now, will any one pretend that a Carolinian, by purchasing a lottery ticket, or accepting a Georgia bank note, becomes thereby a criminal, or is stigmatized by the Statute as a cheat and a rogue? Is even the passer of a Georgia note subject to any other reproach than that of violating a regulation which tends to the preservation of good order? And so it is with offences against the Law of Nations. The right of private participation in offensive warfare, on land, was once univer- sally recognized ; it is now universally considered contrary to the Law of Nations. But because the offender is punished with death, is he therefore a murderer? Is it the punishment, and not the crime, that constitutes his disgrace? Is it not simply an arbitrary regulation, springing from the necessity, admitted in modern times, of regulating warfare, and rendering it a contest of nations, rather than of indi- viduals? Apply these undeniable principles to the Slave Trade. A pirate has been defined as hostis humant generts—an enemy to the human race; one who follows an occupation that is sanctioned by no government, and is injurious to all mankind. The world also sug- gests collateral ideas of maritime locality, cruelty, &., &e. Now suppose, for the sake of argument, it were universally admitted that the importation of wild Africans into a civilized country, would be highly injurious to that country; that the Africans also considered such exportation injurious to their own; suppose the trade to be car- ried on upon the ocean, and under circumstances oftentimes revolting to humanity; suppose it to be, moreover, perfectly consistent with Natural Law; suppose, finally, that the Nations of the World were unanimously to endorse the preceding propositions; every requisite to constitute the .offence of piracy would be present. The question is, whether the application of the term would stigmatize all the slaves held upon the face of the globe as “plunder.” The naked statement of the question is sufficient for its answer; no human ingenuity can justify an affirmative response. What possible connection can there / be between the piracy of the Slave Trade and the American slaves, which were imported at least a dozen years before the enactment in question. We might as well say, that it stigmatizes the philanthropic — Las Casas, as a pirate. If there is nothing in the phraseology of these acts to countenance this idea, there is equally little in their” history. The principle upon which this legislation is based, found | no dissentient voice among the Southern members of Congress. Nor did their conduct spring from any puling sentimentality, as to the right of the white race to hold the African in bondage. Indeed, few prominent men in America, at that date, had doubts upon the subject. Washington, and the other great Southerners of his day, lived and died slaveholders, without suspecting that they thereby incurred moral guilt, or that, in preventing the importation of barbarians, they were legislating otherwise than for the benefit of slaveholders. They were equally removed, on the one hand, from intentionally stigma- tizing their property as plunder, and on the other from ascending the same platform with the heroes of the middle passage. It will be seen that the preceding remarks do not involve the question as to the pro. priety of the application of piracy to the Slave Trade, under existing circumstances, whether burglary or arson would not be equally appro- priate; the sole question, involved and considered, is, whether the application of the term ‘ plunder” to our slaves, follows from the application of the term “piracy” to the Slave Trade as a logical necessity ; or, considering the Southern votes by which these laws were passed, as a reasonable deduction. But even admit that a slave, obtained at the present day from Africa, is ‘‘ plunder,” this admission would not affect the title to our slaves. At the time when the importations were made into this country, Slavery and the Slave Trade were sanctioned by the public opinion of the whole world, and sedulously fostered by the very nations which are now our bitterest enemies. Hreedom for the negro, whether in Africa or America, was an exceptional condition ; in buying them our ancestors bought slaves, not freemen. By all human laws, then, our title was good in its in- ception ; nothing has since occurred to impair it, and it cannot be impaired by any epithet, however strong. But even go further, Suppose that our title was wrong in its inception and tainted with fraud and violence, that the Africans were freemen, our title would still be clear. The first question would be, can one man have a right to the unwilling physical labor of another; and of this right there can be no denial. It has been repeatedly recognized by the only revelation of Divine will, that has been vouchsafed to us: ; every nation has done the same in its municipal law; the various iy ere for indenting apprentices, hiring out vagrants and criminals, are based upon its express recognition; ‘and redress for one of the greatest in- juries to the parental relation is obtained through a fiction, which, as all other legal fictions, is entirely in harmony with the sentiments of - mankind. ‘There may be some law higher than all these, but if so, it is of too sublimated a character to guide the present race of mortals. If then, there is such an abstract right of property, would the fraud and violence in the inception of our title vitiate it at the present day? Such has never been the law of civilized nations, There is scarcely an acre of land in Kurope, the links in whose chain of title have not on various occasions been bedewed with the tears of despoiled widows and orphans. Yet could any one in his sound senses impugn the title of the present possessor upon this ground without falling into the slough of socialism? There is then, a vast distinction between up- holding Slavery and upholding the Slave Trade—a distinction shown - by the most learned Bishop England to have been recognized by the Catholic Church through all ages, and in the political history of this country, it will be seen by the contemporaneous Uongressional debates, that the Hast, while opposing Slavery, advocated the Slave Trade, while the course of the South was just the reverse. The cause of this difference will be no secret to those who are acquainted with the dif- ferent interests of the two sections. The undersigned then, perceives little reason for participating in the sensitiveness manifested at the epithet of piracy which our ancestors with singular unanimity affixed to the Slave Trade. Yet another idea has been advanced, which is calculated to influ- ence the question upon other grounds than its merits, viz: that if the Oe Slave Trade were now open we would be unwilling to close it, and 7° yh" hence it should be re-opened. The premise of this argument is by no Tris 4, means admitted; jealousy of Legislation upon the subject by Con- clos¢i*. gress would probably prevent our acquiescence in any measure from ‘**: that source; but if the question could be freed from the prejudices arising out of an excited controversy of a quarter of a century, it is by no means certain that the same arguments which were conclusive in 1787, would not be equally conclusive now. But even admit the premise, the conclusion does not follow at all. Of al! questions con- nected with government, that of labor is the most delicate; it is the one where most injury can be done, and where it is least possible to predict, with certainty, the result of any given movement. Most statesmen haye, therefore, avoided interference with the problem. Did the Slave Trade therefore exist, and were our industrial society founded upon a base of ignorant, barbarous, cheap laborers, we might 2 10 hesitate when called upon to revolutionize the system, with the cer- tainty of giving a great shock to our institution, and in the utter im- possibility of foreseeing its consequences. The question was, however, dealt with by our ancestors, having, as became real statesmen, taken. every precaution. South Carolina anticipated the action of Congress — by more than twenty years; a short time previous to 1808 the Trade was re-opened for secondary reasons, and then closed forever. Every Congressman from the State voted for the measure with one exception, and he differed only upon a point of detail; in the whole House there were but five negative votes, one from New Hampshire, one from Vermont, two from Virginia, and one from South Carolina, all of whom had previously expressed their approbation of the end to be attained ; and none of these great men (for great they were) was ever known to regret the act morally, socially, politically or economically. So far, then, from drawing the conclusion above stated, it would be much more logical to draw exactly the contrary one of leaving our labor system in its present flourishing and prosperous condition. erate 1 Thus much space has been devoted to the mere preliminaries, be- ei itbe cause one of the great difficulties in the way of a fair discussion, has South “Gare, been to strip the question of all extraneous and confusing considera- eric tions. We now stand face to face with the main question; will the revival of the Slave Trade be advantageous to South Carolina? ‘ The principal argument for the necessity of this measure seems to Arguments : in its favor be as follows: A monopoly of the production of Cotton is necessary considered. . x ; i ‘ 5 rj Me to the South, but the price is, or will be, too high, and will stimulate the production of it elsewhere; to maintain our monopoly, we must have cheap labor; this can be procured only by re-opening the Slave Trade, and hence the conclusion. It is true, that another part of the Message says, the value of slaves will not be thereby reduced, but Would de- this seems somewhat inconsistent with the preceding argument. The crease the ‘ : : : value of our revival of the Slave Trade will either decrease or increase the value slaves. ° : ° : . of slaves, or it will be without influence upon their value. It can scarcely be supposed that the free importation of labor into a certain confined locality, as the Slave States are, will be totally without influ- ence upon the value of similar labor already there existing—this last supposition, may therefore be unhesitatingly rejected. Now, the fun- damental doctrine of political economy, without which, the whole science would fall to the ground—is, that if a certain quantity of a certain article is exposed to the market, the natural effect of the in- troduction of an additional quantity of the same article, will be to diminish its previous value, or in other words, that supply and de- mand are correlative. This axiom is true, beyond ali doubt, and its ig i vinci il ee 11 application is universal. "Siaves will be no more exempt from its operation than any other purchasable article. Hence the second ‘supposition, that the importation of Africans will increase the price of negroes, must likewise, be rejected, and we are thrown back upon the first, viz: That the primary and natural effect of a revival of the Slave Trade Trade will be to diminish the value of slaves. Indeed, circumstances inseparably connected with the Institution would probably render the depressing effect of such importation, much greater than is expressed by a simple arithmetical ratio. There are in round numbers, 400,000 slaves in South Carolina. Suppose the importation of the first season to reach 100,000, and the traders to demand the highest market price, irrespective of the prime cost to themselves: the value of slaves, would by the law of supply and de- mand be immediately reduced one-fifth, and every slaveholder would find the marketable value of his slaves diminished by that amount, accompanied, not with an increase, but a decrease in the value of slave products, that being the desired end. But this supposition is even too favorable. It istsaid that Africans can be furnished far cheaper than our slaves. Suppose then, that the traders by force of competition among themselves, are content with the prime cost and a per centage, amounting, say to half the price of our slaves. The value of every article is ceterts paribus, the price at which a similar article can be purchased. Upon this supposition, then, the value of every slave here, would be reduced one-half, instead of one-fifth. Placing the average value of slaves at $700, the slaveholders of South Caro- lina, would lose upon each hundred slaves by the first supposition $14,000, and by the second supposition, $35,000. The general loss throughout the State, would be respectively $56,000,000 and $140,- 000,000. This loss to them, might be compensated by a gain to some one else, but it would nevertheless, be still a loss to them, and in all those cases where the exchangeable value of slaves is taken into consideration, as in the payment of debts, distributions of estates, &c., &e., would be felt to this extent. The supposition of equality made to avoid intricacy of calculation, causes a slight inaccuracy in the above result, which can, however, be easily corrected by any one. But the end is not yet. The law of supply and demand holds very well until the demand is supplied; and then a very slight addition, particularly if accompanied by an unlimited prospective increase, causes a glut and a vast and instantaneous depreciation, which would be arrested only at the point where capital invested in the Trade yielded no greater return, than if invested in any other branch of Commerce. We have often seen this exemplified in the cotton 12 market, where an over-crop of a few hundred thousand bales, sends the price down to the subsistence point. In addition to the positive loss thus sustained by the owners of slaves, the reduction in their value would be injurious in another aspect, and one affecting the whole community. In a free country, cheap labor is accompanied by certain advantages; whether sufficient to counterbalance the disad- vantages is another question. The principal stimulus to free labor is necessity, and when that necessity is bare existence it attains its greatest force ; but the stimulus to slave labor is altogether different ; the market value has no effect upon the efficiency of the slave. In- deed, the probable effect, if any, would be to render slaves less indus- trious where they could be bought for a trifle, and consequently the pecuniary interest in each individual, would be less. We have also learnt by experience, that the Institution never possessed less vitality than when negroes were cheap; with the increase in their value, has increased the determination of the owners to resist emancipation, and at the present prices, there is little prospect of return of that apathy on the subject which existed in 1820 ar 1830. Admit, however, that the first step on the road to cheap cotton may be thus taken, it is Cheap ne- groes not not the only step; we may have laborers cheap enough, but between ahem i cheap laborers and cheap labor, there is a great stride. The under ae signed ventures to affirm, from the evidence of others, and from what he himself has seen, that an American slave removed three genera- tious from the parent stock, is even a mere labor machine, worth a half more than a native African, The continual call upon a race du- ring successive generations, for the manifestation of certain qualities is, through a species of appetency kindly responded to by nature, provided her tendencies are not thwarted by ill-treatment or other disturbing cause, but gently aided in their development. A family or a nation, which for ages is given up to intellectual or physical sloth, becomes gradually not only less and less willing, but less and less capable of exertion, and requires strong exciting causes to restore its equillibrium. And so a race, which for genations, is devoted to toil, becomes gradually wrought up to a high degree of efficiency. The world is full of examples; we have them near us. The Americans as a race, are unused to dull and continued physical labor; they are prone to work with their heads, rather than their arms, and to make nature, through the controlling influence of machinery, do her own heavy work. Hence it has been invariably found,- that heavy drudgery, such as excavating mines or tunnels, is performed by cer- tain foreign races, emigrants to this country, who have been inured to this species of labor; we are almost incapable of such lifeless, 13 thoughtless exertion. Any Railroad President can confirm the truth Our slaves of the facts stated. Our slaves have been educated to labor for at educated to ' s ‘ . i - reater effi- least three generations ; their bodies and minds are attuned io it, and Hide each succeeding generation will probably be more efficient than its predecessor. Tar different is the African; idleness and sensual inac- tivity are his normal condition; he is neither physically nor mentally eapable of voluntary exertion, and when imperious necessity demands labor at his hands, he is driven only by fear of the sword in Africa, and the lash in the West Indies. A gang of Africans going forth in the morning cheerfully to work, as do our slaves, or the peasantry in Kurope, would indeed be a novel sight. Any doubt as to the existence of this difference, can be easily removed by a visit to those portions of the world where the slave trade yet flourishes. The increase of . labor then, under this system, would by no means be proportionate to the increase of laborers, and not only that, but the effect of discharg- ing one hundred thousand idle, slovenly, insubordinate barbarians among our educated, civilized negroes, would be to depreciate by con- tamination, the whole mass down toa point somewhere below the arithmetical average efficiency. So that it would be necessary to import, not only the specified amount considered in itself, but also such an additional quantity as would compensate for the depreciation in the value of our slaves as laborers. Suppose us now, however, to have attained a cheap labor; a step yet remains, since labor is but one of the elements of cost between the producer and the manufac- turer ; but this point will be discussed in another place. It must also be considered in this connection, that for economical purposes, con- Nett profits | centration of efficiency is desirable for many reasons, more particularly sreater. where human beings are concerned. A plantation of slaves will eat, drink, and wear as much after as before the revival of the Slave Trade, nor will physicians charge the less, for the price of all articles, not the produce of slave labor, will be beyond its infiuence. The annual running expense then, of growing a certain amount of cotton, will be greater, and the net profits two degrees less. Where indeed, a neces- sity of life is consumed in the country of its production, it is preferable that the larger quantity should be produced even at less profit, be- cause in the abundance of such products consists the well-being of a population. But where the article is raised only for exportation, the producing nation is interested in the net profits alone. Such is our situation with respect to cotton. A. net profit of $100,000,000 upon 6,000,000 bales, would render us no better off than a similar net profit upon 3,000,000, but rather the contrary, for in the first case the additional labor for the production of the additional 3,000,000 “ Who would benefit by cheap cot- ton. 14 bales would have produced no additional income, and was therefore diverted from some other and remunerative occupation. ° Suppose us now, at this fearful cost, to have attained the object of the problem, cheap or cheaper cotton, a question yet remains, prelimi- nary to any action, for whose advantage is all this to be accomplished ? Who is to profit by cheap cotton? It is said that the price is, or will be, too high; but this the undersigned does not admit. The absolute price is certainly greater than it was, but it seems to have been -for- gotten that the price of everything else throughout the commercial world has risen through a combination of three causes—the great accumulation during a long peace, of past labor in the shape of capital, the effect of which is real—the increase of the circulating medium, the effect of which is fictitious, and a sucecssion of moderate crops, effect of which is transitory. When the effect of these causes is duly considered, it will be found that the price of our great staple is not much higher than we might reasonably demand ; that it is higher than the manufacturers wish, is doubtless true; but it is equally true, that the increase of a few cents in the pound would be a matter of no great importance to them; the prime cost of the cotton being only a small portion of the price they impose upon their customers for the manu- factured goods, and such increase added to the cost of these would scarcely be left by the consumer. The efforts made by England to produce this staple elsewhere are due, principally, to another cause. The general objection to our cotton is, that it is slave cotton—to some few it is odious as American cotton. This objection, in the minds of many, springs from the common fanaticism; but with the vast ma- jority itis produced by real apprehension as to the stability of the Institution of Slavery; the prevalent idea abroad being that Southern society slumbers on a volcano, and at any unexpected moment may be overthrown by a political convulsion—such as has just shaken the British Empire in India. It would not be relevant to the present question to show the unfounded nature of this belief; it exists, and the conviction that the destruction of slavery would cause the downfall of the industrial supremacy of England, has awakened a universal desire to discover some source of supply independent of what they consider a toppling institution. The increase of this species of pro- perty, in its most objectionable form, by a revival of the Slave Trade, would certainly not tend to increase their confidence. That the South does enjoy to a certain extent, a monopoly of cotton is, perhaps, true; and it is not surprising that so novel a situation should cause uneasi- ness. It generally happens, and perhaps, fortunately for mankind at large, that the production of an article exceeds the demand; and the 15 excess of abundant years is thus stored up to meet the deficiencies of short crops. The prices are consequently regulated by the con- sumer—not the producer—who must be content with just what he can get; hence the continual struggle by producers to obtain control of the prices through the agency of tariffs. Agricultural nations have thus been generally subject to the consumers of their products, and at the same time the prey of those who produce articles which they do not. The Southern States have never yet asked this unjust inter- ference of government in their behalf; and it would seem a judg- ment from Heaven, that they alone, of all the nations on the earth, should enjoy a monopoly. Is it probable that any attempt will be successfully made to deprive them of this monopoly, which could be thwarted by the revival of the Slave Trade? it is not pretended that Bf pie we have any other rivals to fear than Brazil and the Hast. As to the can be de- former, it is sufficient to say that itis a slave power; and its late es legislation shows, that in a few years the slave trade will either be a suppressed entirely or re-opened, If the latter, there is no reason for our interference ; if the former, then it would be subject to the same disadvantages as our own country, with the addition of an inferior climate and an inferior population. . There is nothing, then, to fear from this quarter. In the Hast there is still less cause for uneasiness ; cheap labor they have, and have had there—far cheaper than ours; and great efforts have been made to foster the cultivation of cotton, but the result has, as yet, been a failure. For this, a combination of many causes has been assigned; the most gratifying, as well as the ~ most conclusive, being the unsuitable nature of the climate, which is invincible. But if such were the situation of affairs a year ago, how much less cause to fear rivalry exists now, when the British India Empire is shown to be a pyramid, resting on its apex of a few Huro- peans, who, by the laws of climate, cannot found a race, with a_ base of hundreds of millions of fanatical and inimical natives. Besides, ’ the cotton of India is of so inferior a quality as to be almost a dif- ferent article—it cannot comply with the requisitions of the market now; still less will it be able to do so, as luxury increases and finer stuffs of pure cotton, or articles adulterated with cotton are demanded A planter of Sea Island might as well express apprehension as to ex- tended cultivation of the short staple, asan American planter about the India cotton. It cannot even inspire us with a secret wish for the downfall of the British dominion; our interest and the voice of hu- manity concur in desiring its stability. Wherever that nation carries its arms and institutions, liberty for the dominant race and material prosperity for all, go with them; and the consumption of American 16 ' cotton seems to be an equally inseparable concomitant. But even suppose that the Hast did send to Europe a considerable quantity of its inferior product, there would still be little ground for fear. In proportion as civilization and refinement penetrate the masses of Wes- tern Europe, experience shows that agricultural labor becomes dis- tasteful; such is also the case in the Northern portions of this Confederacy ; the increase of the population is found to be principally — in the cities and towns; and in France, the rural population is even decreasing. The causes of this movement exist in the nature of their civilization, and will continue to exist, as could be shown, if it were necessary. This city population must be mainly supported by manufacturing ; and, in the course of time, long after we have been gathered to our fathers, perhaps the whole of that Continent will pre- sent the spectacle, now furnished by England, of an immense mass, not compelled, yet ready to enter upon the manufacture, and to re- ceive our staples upon our own terms. The inferior cotton of India would be swallowed up in this demand, while our short staple would occupy towards it the same relation which now exists between Sea Island and the short staple. Certainly no situation could be more agreeable. The undersigned has not discussed the necessity of this monopoly, as it is called; he has contented himself with showing that whether or not, it be necessary, we are in no danger of losing it. If then, there is no great evil impending over South Carolina, which a reduction in the price of cotton could avert, the question again recurs who will receive the benefit of this reduction, and the inevitable is, the British purchaser. His gains will be certain and immediate; ours, at best, contingent and prospective. Thus, after years of toil, spent in convincing the world of the propriety of the Slave Trade, or, in trampling their prejudices under foot—after revolutionizing and remodelling, with infinite risk, one of our most important social insti- Menufactu- tutions; after filling our fair land with hideous barbarians, we find the would Prost. barren result of our labors to be an increase in the profits of our bit- terest foes, whose only sympathy with us is through the pocket. Oh! most lame and impotent conclusion! which every one, despite the threatening shades of India and Egypt, must hope will never be real- ized. So much for the argument of cheap cotton. oa ul Another prominent argument in fayor of this measure is, that at ment—that present labor is gradually transferred from South Carolina to the we suffe under 0 West, and that this emigration finds its only remedy in a corres- gh invent pondizg immigration or importation. That a very considerable emi- ' gration, both of whites and blacks, from the Atlantic States to the valley of the Mississippi, exists, is undoubtedly true, whether to the 17 injurious extent represented, cannot be positively ascertained until 1860. It is scarcely greater than in the decade from 1840 to 1850, during which period, the slave population of South Carolina increased from three hundred and twenty-seven thousand and thirty-eight to three hundred and eighty-four thousand eight hundred and eight, being eighteen per cent., notwithstanding the great drain upon it. Moving pictures have been drawn of mansions crumbling, plantations gone to ruin, &c., &e., from want of labor. It has not been the for- tane of the undersigned, in his journeys through the State, to find these statements substantiated by the facts; on the contrary, pros- perity is everywhere visible, everywhere lands have risen in value, everywhere wealth is accumulating, and were it not for the draft upon our resources by the summer absenteeism, the invested capital would be immense. Certainly no portion of the United States has devel- oped more rapidly and solidly than the valley of the French Broad since the attention of summer travellers has been turned in that di- rection. But, suppose the fact to be as stated, that this industrial exhaustion really exists. Does the revival of the Slave Trade offer a remedy? The agricultural staples of South Carolina are three—rice, Sea Island cotton and upland cotton. The rice cultivation is confined to a small strip of territory, commencing with Cape Fear and ending with certain rivers in Georgia. The crop is not very great compared with the general production of breadstuffs among the nations with Would the slave trade offer an ad- equato rem- edy for the transfer to the West. whom we are in commercial communication; it is not a necessary of ®¢ Crop. life, but belongs rather to the class of semi-luxuries; it is not a subject of speculation, and each individual consumer requires but little; no one ever curtails his consumption on account of the increase in price. Owing to these circumstances and the superior quality of the Carolina article, it is a real monopoly, as is proved by the high price of rice lands. ‘The cost of the item of labor is, therefore, a matter of com- parative indifference to the planter; the consumer, not he, pays for it. It is not pretended that any one will move West to cultivate this staple cheaper than here, simply because similar lands are not to be obtained there. This staple then, stands aloof from the present ques- tion an indifferent spectator. The next is Sea Island cotton, which occupies, in all essential features, the same position as rice. The ter- Sea Island ritory suitable for its cultivation being limited to a few Islands along cotton. the eoast, is absolutely without a rival, unless we except Algiers, which, as yet, has-been an experiment, and a very sickly one. The idea of moving elsewhere to cultivate this staple is consequently pre- posterous; it always has been, and always will be, a monopoly. Its use is confined to manufactures of luxury. As the old distinctions of 3 18 birth, rank and intellect, having lost their political influence, disap- pear socially under the jealousy of commerce, wealth alone will be desirable, and parvenus, but more particularly their females will be anxious to assert its privileges by a display of profusion, espe- cially since from the equal subdivision of property among heirs, and the universal prodigality of the second generation, it. is nearly im-— possible to transmit riches to posterity This state of things leads directly to great extravagance in dress; such has long been the case at the North, and the same fate is reserved for Western Kurope. Now Sea Island cotton is almost entirely consumed, in ministering to this vanity, and as it increases and its base widens (such is the tendency of modern equality) so will the demand for this staple increase. The cost of labor is therefore a matter of indifference to the planter, as it is paid eventually by those to whom such an item of expense would be trifling. We hear no talk of Sea Islands deserted, and there is still less prospect of such an event in the future. Indeed, there are no evils to apprehend for this class of our population, except those which result from excessive wealth. | The last staple is upland cotton, and it must be here that this ruin Cotton. 18 visible, if it exist at all. Leaving to others the task of making a diagnosis of the disease under which the body politic is said to labor, let us inquire what has produced this emigration of slaves. The fause of er elements of price are three: Ist. The passive element of production, ornegroes. “viz: land and its incidents. 2nd. The active element of production, viz: labor and its incidents, and 3rd. Transportation. If capital flow to the West it must be because one of these elements is more efficient there than here. It cannot be the 3rd; transportation is no cheaper there than here, but the contrary. Neither can it be the 2nd, for a slave is as efficient here as there, nor is there any labor saving ma- aes eae chinery known to them, the use of which is debarred to us. The iveness of advantage then, which causes the scale to preponderate in their favor must be connected with the 1st element, viz: the land, and it is un- doubtedly true, that in a considerable portion of the South West, a given quantity of land will produce a greater amount of cotton, owing partly to its virgin soil, partly to its greater natural adaptation to this plant. Having thus ascertained the cause of this transfer of capital, Slave trade the question is, will the revival of the Slave Trade afford a remedy. for thie, It must be premised that the importation of Africans, by destroying the bond of affection, which attaches the master to his’slave will ren- der this species of property, more mobile and sensitive to the call of profitable investment. Now, the revival of the Slave Trade will be without influence on the first element; it will neither make the land in % ? South Carolina more fertile, nor that on the Red River less so; hence this element will remain unaffected. Neither will it affect greatly the third element, transportation. It will, by supposition, affect the second, it will render negroes cheaper all over the South. But this is not sufficient, it is the relative not the absolute effect that is de- sired, it must render them cheaper here than there, to restore the balance which we are said to have lost. Will it? The cost of trans- porting a slave from Guinea to New Orleans will be no greater than to Charleston. No reason can be given why it should be, and none exists. The Ist and 3rd. elements, then, will remain as they were before; the second will be affected, but not unequally, and the same inequality in the first element which causes the transfer of capital now, will continue to do so then. The slave trade then, will not af- ford a remedy. Is there, therefore, none? Far from it. Time itself rhe true will eventually rectify the evil, by the joint process of raising the” lands of the West to their proper value and by wearing them out. The equality between the cotton lands and the rice lands in Carolina, has been restored in this manner, so that there is now no emigration from one to the other.. But there is another remedy much more worthy of a statesman’s ambition, which consists in rendering any one, or all three of the elements of price, more efficient at home. Take the first element, can the production of land of certain natural fertility be increased profitably to the owner? The reply to this ques- tion has been developed into a great science owing to the very neces- sity of which complaint is now made, the problem being with a given amount of land and labor to increase the production, and nations vie with each other in attaining satisfactory solutions ; improvement is rarely attempted upon virgin lands, but we have reached the point where such improvement is required and will be profitable, as is evi- denced by the formation of Agricultural Societies, and other steps lately taken in this direction; a vigorous impulse only, is needed to stimulate an individual activity which would cause throughout the State, two blades of grass to grow where only one grew before. The undersigned has been informed, that an experiment lately made in Edgefield, has caused lands, once considered worthless, to be ranked ‘now among the best in the district. Nor are such experiments costly, the most powerful agent—the intellect—existing already but in a state of inactivity. This is, moreover, the true road to national wealth ; an increase in the amount of labor may be merely transitory : it may take to itself wings and fly away, but the improvement of land becomes a part of the land itself; it is permanent and can never escape. As the first so is the second element susceptible of infinite improve- 3d. Argu- ment—that it is for the advantage of the poor non-slave- holder. 20 ment. Educate the slave to efficiency, teach him that itis his in- terest to cultivate properly the estate, which supports him and his master alike; make the Carolina slave in his position of life, what the Carolina freeman aspires to be in his, preserve him from the contami- nation of native Africa vice and idleness, furnish him with the best agricultural implements suited to his capacity, let science and inge- nuity aid his physical power and moderate intellect, and a great step will be taken in restoring the balance of productiveness. It is need- less to say, that the revival of the Slave Trade, filling the land with stupid and ignorant laborers, would be an absolute bar to any im- provement of this sort. The 3rd. element is equally susceptible with the others of improvement, by extending the means of communication, and by increasing through economy and energy in the administration, the efficiency of those already in existence. But it is scarcely neces- sary in this age of Railroads, to dwell upon the advantage of cheap transportation. It thus appears, that the revival of the Slave Trade would not remedy the evil here complained of, but would rather aggravate it by preventing the adoption of really efficient measures. Another argument has been used in respectable quarters which «is approached with reluctance, and considered only because its dangerous — tendency imposes the duty of meeting it directly.and promptly. It is said, that this measure is for the advantage of the poor non-slave- holder, and hinted that the opposition to it springs from a determi- nation on the part of slaveholders, to prevent the participation by their poor fellow-citizens, in the enjoyment of this description of property, and to maintain a species of slave aristocracy. Many of — those who advocate the measure would, doubtless; repudiate with horror such an argument, reiterating in substance as it does, the most offensive slauder of the abolition press; but as it has been used once, so it will probably be used again if necessary to success. The effect is to place the von-slave-holders in opposition to the slave- holders and to generate that worst of contests—one.of property. Of all arguments advanced, this is at once the weakest and the most dangerous. It is said that the price of labor will be reduced, and hence the poor non-slaveholder can purchase a negro. If the non- slaveholder is poor he has no source of wealth but his own labor, yet the very argument admits that the effect of the Slave Trade will be to cheapen labor. In proportion then, as the labor to be bought is - cheapened, so also, will be cheapened the labor that is to buy, and though the article to be purchased, costs only half as much, yet the capacity of the poor non-slaveholder to purchase will be only half as great. It would require an exceeding ingenuity to show how his situ-. 21 ation has been improved. The argument, however, will doubtless have a certain degree of weight with those for whom it was intended, and must be met there. If then, the slaveholders would lose, and the poor non-slaveholder would not gain, who would? The remaining class is that of rich non-slaveholders, and since this is a very small portion of the community, it is needless to discuss the impropriety of sacrificing nine-tenths to the other one. Were the undersigned, then, to regard only the arguments in favor 4, susion of this measure, he would be opposed to it, as a mere experiment, “sede doubtful and with feeble promise of advantage; but when the objec- i” its favor. tions are also taken into consideration, the conclusion becomes irre- sistible. In the first place, consider the number of Africans which it will be objections. necessary to import for the attainment of any given end—take the number end proposed ; the reduction in the price of slave staples (which will apaseebien include the one of increasing the amount of slave labor,) and suppose °° ™?"* it be desirable to decrease these prices any given ratio, say one-half. Now, the number of slaves in the United States is about four millions. As it is necessary, of course, to double the amount of labor, the im- portation of at least an equal number of Africans from Guinea will be required. But, as we have already seen, the increase of labor in this case, is not proportionate to the increase of laborers. From what the undersigned has seen in the West Indies, coinciding with the experi- ence of those who have had better opportunities of comparing Ameri- can slaves with native Africans, the conclusion drawn of one-half in favor of the superior efficiency of the former is not too great; one- third is certainly within bounds; three Americans are surely equal to four Africans; the number then, to be imported, will be 4-3 of four millions. The value of our slaves in a mere industrial point of view, will also be depreciated by contamination at least 1-4, equal one million, which will require an additional importation of 4-3 of one million, in all equal to 4-3 of four millions, plus to 4-3 of one million. Nor is this all. We have seen that labor is but one of the elements of price; to reduce the price of any article one-half, it is necessary to reduce the cost, not only of one, but all its elements) Now, we have seen that the Slave Trade will not affect the first element, the land, nor to any great extent the third, the transportation. but only the second, the labor. It follows, then, that the effect produced by the Slave Trade upon this last element must not only be equal to one-half of itself, but also compensate for its inefficiency as to the other two. It is difficult to express the result in figures, because the statistics do not furnish the means of ascertaining the proportion contributed to 22 the price by each element; but two-fifths would scarcely be too great a proportion for the land and transportation, leaving three-fifths for the labor alone. The reduction upon this 2-5 (equal to 2-3 of the labor element) is to be accomplished by the same means, that is, an additional importation of 2-3 of 4 millions of American slaves will be required, which by the previous calculation, is equal to 4-3 of 2-3 of 4 millions of Africans. Hence the grand total of importation to ac- complish a reduction of 1-2 in the price of slave staples will be 4-3 of 4 millions, plus 4-3 of 1 million, plus 4-3 of 2-3 of 4 millions, equal to 10 2-9 millions. The result will doubtless be surprising to those who are in the habit of reasoning loosely on such subjects, and of con- sidering political problems as involving only one condition, and to be solved by simple arithmetic alone, whereas the calculus would be a much more suitable instrument of investigation. Not that the un- dersigned believes for a moment, that the project would go thus far ; quite the contrary; he has given the measure the benefit of every possible contingency, of supposing that the action of the laws of trade upon this commerce would be healthy, and that the decrease in the price of the product would be proportioned only to the decrease in the cost of production; whereas, long before the cupidity of the King of Dahomey or the philanthropy of the slave trader, were satisfied, the market would be giutted, slave labor worthless, and incubus upon the country, the price of its products barely above the point of physical subsistence owing to the necessary competition among producers. We should see again, the times of 1844-5, cotton down to 5 or 6 cents, the Enylish manufacturer bloated with wealth and the Planter scarcely able to purchase provisions or clothing for his slaves. ie Having thus formed some opinion as to the number of Africans, these. which it will be necessary to import in order to produce an appreciable effect upon our economical situation, it is advisable next, to consider the character of this population, with which the land is to be filled. From the conscientious and respectable Wilberforce down to the “scrub” Yankee agitator of the present day, it has been the cant of Abolitionists to dwell upon the native African, as a paragon of all the virtues combined in the human breast; his kindness, humanity, at- tachment to the domestic ‘ties have been portrayed in florid colors. This is but the voice of fanaticism; the impartial world cannot be al- ways blind to the truth. In his native land, the African is a barba- rian.