Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1841-04-02

lands and slaves The reat stream of enterprise and
capital which has heretofore from the North tn the
South, giving value to Slaves, will be cut off Should
this not result from the aroused conscientousness Of
the capitalists, Will from their apprehensions Who
will buy estate, the MiG to which is generally con-
sidered worthless:
But dismiss minor points and come at once to the
main The discussion of the subject of Abolition
the North and in Congress- they say will decrease
the value of the slaves, By
"The interest which they themselves take i'll the
discussion In spite Of all precautions, the slaves will
become acquainted with nat deeply Interests them
and far they do, sefrespect will be cgeneraeo
an excellent and profitable sentiment LOT Dee
laborGr hut rninous 10 the stare II was the
of the planters of Jamaica before the British iafi'a
ment that their slaves became acquainted wth ali 'a
passed in respect to them in the mother country anu
were thereby much excited - fill the places OIL slaves
with slavish obedience.
The knowledge of the slave, that portion OF the
whites are exernr themselves for his emancipation,
upon the ground that ne is illegally held in bondage,
will make him. they say, impatient in his servltude
II will make him sullen and moody. IL will incie
him to indulge dreams of freedom in another land
which he can never ENJOY in his own. he Will he re-
duced to a condition in which his master cannot rely
upon his labor He will be disposed To run away and
ut time when his services can be least spared The
master WILL be subjected to constant and heavy expense
10 recapture him. Ee Will thus become TO his owner
source Of vexaton rather than comfort of trouble and
expense rather than proit. To establish these facts
there copied in the report the following extract Of
letter from the South to whose sister gen.
.eman Of New York had two Abolition pamphlets:
500 YOU remember the two books you sent out TO my
sister by me, My two black boys, William and jim,
who lived better and easier than did, read them and
in consequence OIL, und after eleven days rid
ing, and S267 cost, 60; them, and now their place
is wretched by their conduct, rs | sold them
at loss Of 5000 a ;rader."-Thr report then
goes to urge that to increase the desire and
disposition of the slave to run away to tine greatest
possible pitch, it necessary. that the Northern
States should adopt such a Of policy
der his reception Impossible after he has escaped there
The effect which sucha course of policy would pro-
duce decreasing the value Of slaves then mlnutey
eXemplifed The report then urges upon The Northern
States to pass laws, providing zach mode ot trial IN
the case of fugi,:ves from labor VIII enahle them to
raise the question Of the legality OF the bondage in
which he is held II is true that the proceedings
thorized by the Constitution o. the United States, the
question of right of the slave to freedom does not
arise 1t that the master only required to she "
that the slave held to service in the State from
which he fled without shelving that he was legally held
to servce-that question could only be tried in the State
from which he fed 1t is true that the only
required to produce primd taric proof of ownership
without being put 10 formal assertion Of his rights by
a suit at the common law But these hbolitonists
say that cannot be the property of another and
that he only be held to service or labor bya
tract freely entered into by him. And they insist
that such laws shall be enacted will enable the courts
to pass upon the question of the legality Of slavery
What care they tina, such law would be repugnant to
the Constitution. They insist that the law OF Congress
is unconstitutional, and they rely upon the opinion OF
Chancellor Walworth Of New York in the case of Jack
and Martin, IA Wendell, and Of Chief Justice Horn
blower, in the Of Nathan Himesey rs. haywood,
authority. They further urge the passage OF such
law by the Northern States, upon the ground that the
laws Of of the Southern States permitting slavery
are unconstitutional and that the slave ought TO have
opportunity to test them whenever he escapes to the
North. They say that the citizens of Virginia and
Maryland have right by their own Constitutions 10
them from other States They, by The following rca-
sonns, undertake to establish this proposition:
ala the Constitution of Virginia there exists decla
ration Of rights of equal force with that contained in
the Constitution of Massachusetts We give them
side by side: