Martinsburg gazette and public advertiser. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1826-1833, 1832-05-03

leaving us destitute Of the means Of procur.
ing others, you throw out of cultivation .
Iproportionate part Of the soil, lessen the de
mand for it, and reduce its price. 10 short,
sir, whether emancipation and removal OF
our slaves be effected In one year, or IN nj
" wears; whenever the work shall have been
acc omplishe6, you will have reduced us to
beggary and want. A few instances OF lndi
vidual bankruptcy may pass unnoticed, but
it is q fearful thing 70 drag down whole
community from afiiuence and ease to alb
jsct poverty. If the people of Virginia are
prepared to make this sacrifice; De It so; the
question, in that event, is at an end. | pre-
sumo. however, that they have not yet been
made sensible Of the expsdiency or necessity
Of surrendering 100 millions worth OF proper
ty, and voluntarily embracing pauperism.
Whenever, therefore, scheme OF emancipa-
ton is presented. my FIRST inquiry is, whe-
Their IL admits the right of the slave owner to
an adequate compensation for his property;
aad If so, whence is the 100 millions, requir-
ed for the purchase ofsur slaves. and the adj
ditional s millions necessary for their trans
portion, to be procured? II, on the contra
ry, the scheme does not contemplate COM
pensation Tor slaves to be emancipated, |
am prepared, at once, TO decide that it is i'm
practicable and ruinous; because the people
Of Virginia cannot afford to lose lis millions
Of dollars.
Keeping these cardinal considerations in
view, let us examine more closely the propo-
sition Of the gentleman from Albemarle, MIR.
Randolph,) which provides, in substance,
that the children Of slaves, which may be
horn after the year 1910. shall be free at
certain period; the males at the age of 81,
and the females at the age Of 10; be hired
out by the Commonwealth, for number Of
years, aud eventually transported to Africa
or elsewhere. No compensation is c0ntem
plated by this plan, but some gentlemen who
are scrupulous about taking this property
without paying for it, are nevertheless recon
ciled to this scheme, because il is not to at
feet slaves now in existence, but only their
future increase. 1t is true, that It will not
take from any man the slaves now in his pos
session, but it will lessen their value. Those
slaves afford certain annual income, and
the capital which yields it Is kept unimpair-
ed, and is even augmented by the ordinary,
natural increase OF this population. When
you determine that the owners shall not be
entitled to this increase, you rob their pro-
perty ofone Of those inherent qualities which
constitutes the chief element of its value
the capacity to reproduce and perpetuate it.
self At the end Of some indefinite period,
say eighty years, the whole Of the slaves now
in existence, will have ceased TO exist, and
the only residue in the hands of the own
ers will be the profits Of their labors, accrued
during the interval On the ether hand, al
low their owners the benefit of their increase,
and at the expiration OF the eighty years.
they will not only hive received an equal
amount Of profit, but the capital stock
which generates the profit, will be undimin-
ished. And not only SO, but at the usual ra-
ito of increase, it will he doubled. aud be &C
tually worth 900 millions Of dollars. The
present value of any kind of property de-
ponds on the extent to which it can be aug
me nted within given period Can there be
doubt as to which is worth most at this
time; property which in the lapse Of eighty
years is to perish and be extinct; or property
which during the same period IS to be m
creased two fold; each, in the interval yield
ing the same profte Pass the law, and all
will be anxious to sell out their interest IN
property which yields only an ordinary pro
| fit, while the capital is gradually sinking, IN
order to invest it in that which yields an
equal profit; while the capital is secure All
will prefer hiring slaves; none will wish to
own them. Their price, in the aggregate,
Twin sink to point, at which it will be equal
only tc the value Of an annuity calculated on
the probable duration of their lives, and the
yearly profits of their labour. We have now
an interest in our slaves, and analogous 10
fee simple estates in lands; but by the pro,
posed law, this perpetui,y will be converted
into an an usufrnctuary interest for term
of about eighty years. repeat it. SIR, can
| it be doubted, which is worth most at TINS
timer
Independent of the effect Of this scheme on
the value Of slaves now in existence, the des
tiny of their increase, or the after born chill
dren, involves prospectyely, an interest
amounting, in the course OF eighty years, &c
900 millions Of dollars. Is it natural and rea
sonable that the STAKEHOLDER should feel the
deepest solicitude about the disposal OF Sc
Immense an INTEREST,"
1 But. sir, it was scarcely necessary to en-
l4sr Thus far into an examination Of The mod,
in which this plan is to operate. 1t is enough
Ito look at its ultimate consequences pro
noses no compensation to the owner
slaves. 1t contemplates period, at which
through the fundamentally OF its provisions
the whole of our slaves will have beei
swept away from our possession. NO mat
ter when this object may be attained, whetn
| err in eighty or a hundred years. NO mat
) ter what particular aspects the work ma
assume. in the course OF its execution; when
, ever the contamination shall De affected
The whole of our available property WI
: have vanished without an equivalent, ieaVin
-. oo,ntrv 3esnlate and our people 0ans