Edwardsville spectator. [volume] (Edwardsville, Ill.) 1819-1826, 1823-09-13

mEiy illustrated Oy inc comparative
value of LAND within the states of Vir-
gnia aud Pennsylvania, the one lying on
the south, and the other on the north side
OF Maryland; the me slave, the other
a free state. In Virginia, land of the
same natural soil and local advantages,
will not sell for one-third as high price
as the same description of land will COM
mand in Pennsylvania. This single,
plain, ircontrovertible fact, speaks vo-
tunes upon the relative value of slave
and free labor, and ii is presumed rem.
ders any further illustration uhnecessa-
ry."
II slave labor were cheaper than free
labor, we might fairly infer that, in
state in which slavery was allowed, free la
Dor would be reduced by competition to
level with the labor of slaves, and not
slave labor to level with the labor OF
free freemen; and that in two adjoining
states, in the one of which slavery was
allowed, and in the other prohibited, la
Dor would be highest, ceteris faribus,
in that 10 which slavery was prescribed.
But experience proves the reverse
Storch observes, that those who hire
slaves in Russia, are obliged to pay more
than they who hire free men, " Unless
they live in place where the competi
ton of free laborers reduces the hire OF
slaves and the wages of freemen to le-
vel: both the interior OF Russia and the
capitals of that empire, furnish proofs OF
this assertion. In the cities, the compe-
tlton of free Iaborers is greater; for
though wages there may be very high,
the hire of slaves is Notwithstanding,
less than in the interiors" that is, that
in Russia, slave labor, where slave labor
is the lowest, is higher than free labor,
where tree labor is the highest, until re-
duced to the same level by competition
with it. When in N ,rfolk, Virginia, in
the winter of 1920, was told, that ma
ny slaves gave their masters 81, or 9s
per week, for permission to work for
themselves, and retain the surplus.
also found that the common wages OF
slaves who are hired, were sos Sd per
week and their food, al the very time
when -four was 4 dollars, or lss, per
barrel Of lo6lbs, and beef and mutton Sd
to I'D per ID. Five days afterwards, in
travelling through the rich agricultural
districts ofthe free state Of Pennsy
found able bodied whte-men willing TO
work for their food only. This, indeed, |
was in the winter months, and during a |
period of extraordinary pressure. was
told, however, that the average agricul- |
tural wages in this free state, were or |
6 dollars per month. and food; while in |
Norfolk, at the time allude to, they |
were 10 dollars per month, and food. II |
j should be replied, that, in the town OF
Norfolk, wages were likely to be much
higher than in the country, would ask.
why are they not so in the principal
Towns of Russia
II slave labor were cheaper than free
labor, we should naturally expect to find
il employed in the culture of those arti-
Giles, in which extended competition has
reduced profits to the lowest point. Onj
the contrary, however, we find that slave
labor is gradually exterminated when
brought into competition with free labor,
except where Legislative protection, or
peculiarly of soil and climate, establish
such monopoly as 10 admi, of an OK
pensive system of management The
cultivation of indigo by slaves IN Caro-.
lima, has been abandoned, and the prizes
Of cotton reduced one-half, since these
articles have had to compete in the Eu-
ropean markets with the productions of
free labor; and, notwithstanding an adj
dilonal duty on East India sugar, OF los
per cwt. and transportation Of three
times the distance, the West India plant
ors are beyond all doubt reduced to very
great distress, and declare that they shall
be ruined, if sugar from the East Indies
shall be admitted on the same terms as
from the West.
If slave labor were cheaper than free
labor, we might reasonably infer, that,
in proportion as the circumstances of
the cultivators rendered economy indis-
pensibe, either from the difficulty Of OBJ
tanning slaves, or other causes, the pecu.
liar features Of slavery would be more
firmly established, and that every APP
proach to freedom would be more sedu.
lousy Stunned in the system Of culture.
But it is found by the experience OF both
ancient and modern times, that nothing
has tended more to assimilate the condi-
ton Of tho slave to that Of the free la
borer, or actually to effect his emanci-
patton, that the necessity imposed by
circumstances, of adopting the most
economical mode of cultivation.
ain ancient times" says Brougham,
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