Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1841-1853, 1844-07-18

which humanity sickens Let him that believes in
the watchf illness OF Providence, or It's wisdom, or It's
power. tremblc in view of the calamities that are be-
fore u; a community ruined and hopcless,-a servile
war, with ITS bloody hcarthstonesa and desecrated al
tars,-a dcsolated empire. But To those who have
faithfully marked the dispcnSations of the Most High,
no crisis, present or prospective, can bring despair.
The Republic of Texas, that now sues for admission
into the American Union, skirts on the one side the
southern line of the United States, and on the other
stretches along the expanded frontier of Mexico. The
climate ca lis last named country is the most tavora-
bic of the whole o., 10 for the development, Of the ne
gro race more uniformly MID than the north or west;
more %salubrious than Africa, ana with n soil sponta-
ncou>ly productive. There. and in Contra! America,
and IN the vas regions Still further south, the negro
is already a frccman,-socially as well as politically.
the equal ofthe white. Ninctentlis f the roT ulation
there is made up Of the colorcd races the Generals.
the Congrcss-incn. the Presidents, are men of mixed
blood.
Let the cmancipatcd negro find himself on the bor-
der, of Mexico and the States beyond. and ms fate !
no longer Doubtful or gloomy. lie i>ncar the land Of
his fellows, where equal rights and equal hoics await
him and his oil pring.
Nor docs it require tic mysterious foresight Of a
prophet To mark out the very footsteps by which he
II To arrive there. The negro i less valuable as a Ia
borcr IN the north than in the South he cXults an the
sunshine Of the trol rs. and slr.nks before the brac-
ing winters Of Il more temperate latitude. The slave.
toe. j. less valuable Is hc approaches tho coaiilc, Il
a free State. ENaggnrating the lspp.nc,S Of that indo-
lcacc which he regards II the characteristic 81 liberty,
and aware Of the possibility of escape INTO a country
where slavery docs not exist. he becomes di~rontcnt-
cd, reluctant, insub9ndinatr. Besides lc j. there IN al
most immediate competition With the free hhorer thcy
have the same cmploymcnts. and the products ofthcir
labor are Of the same sort. while the slave Is tie more
wastcfrl and loss productive laborer of the two.
As n natural Consequence, negro slavery reccdcS
willingly from the more northern climate. especially
II NJ e>caDCS lV - uDIup from the DprllDuS RIVALRY 81
free labor. You have only 10 present - Tie planter
an equally fertile region to the South of him. You have
only To show him that it offers less facilities for the
escape of his slaves, and whether IT be regard for Their
increased health and consequent longevity. anxiety 10
retain his property in security, or the mere desire 10
make their labor as profitable as possible, you may be
sure OF his Willingness 10 remove there. Thus, we
have seen the acquisition Of Louisiana in $500. and
Florida in 1919. make an obvious check on the in
crease of slave, III the Southern States, by the induce
mcnts which they offered to their emigration further
south. Nearly l,l0O,00O slaves, as shown by the
census, have already migrated into States beyond the
limits of the old original thirteen, leaving less than
/ .4OO,UOO behind them. By this natural transfer IT is
that Delaware has become To all practicable purposes
a free State Maryland nearly SO, and Virginia to a
great extent and the same cause Is operating large
ly in other States.
If Texas is annexed to the United States, with ITS
more fertile soil and warm sky, IS IT not certain that
the parts of it near the %scaboard, which are peculiar
ly adapted by nature to productions III which the ne
gro's labor is most profitable, Will be filled by cni-
grafton from the slave States Can we not see that
Maryland and Virginia and Kentucky, and the other
States in which slavery is already on the decline, the
opening Of Texas must necessarily hasten its dcpar-
ture; and, that thus, silently, without complaint.
without effort, this dark visitation of anxiety and
evil, once the just stigma of British %cupldty, and now
her unjust and insolent taunt, may at last depart
from our shores !
Whether by anv possibility the abolition of slavery
is ever to be effected by other means-in advance OF
the period when it must yield to the silent operation
of the pressure Of population, in this as in all other
countries where 1t has eXlsted-lS a problem which
we do not here feel called upon TO discuss. That
any compulsory power from without can ever accom-
plish that end, such as the ''AbolItionl>ts' of the day
are striving to apply, IT appears the absurdest folly TO
suppose. 1t has hitherto had no other effect than to
exasperate the master. and make heavier and tighter
the chain Of the slave: nor does there appear much
likelihood of its eXertIng any other influence IN ITS fu-
ture continuance. If. as has been ~ardcntly hoped and
fondly believed by many Of the truer friends OF the
negro. the result of the British experiment of cmancl-
patton in the West India Islands shall be such as to
open the eyes of the master himself to the truth urg-
ed upon him by his northern ~neighbor, the grounds OF
the question will be in no respect changed by the eX-
i>tcnce of Texas in the Union. The master In lex
as will be open to the same means of convection as he
would be if still on his old plantation IN Virginia.
If. on the other hand. that experiment shall not prove
>uCCt>>iul. W a. W tl>HlONt Oc pb~NioihtN VI
the coexistence of the two races and two color>. side
by side. on the same soil, in a relation Of freedom and
equality of rights. how can any Of the friends OF either
desire To keep them forcIbly pent up within Limits
where every dav is tending faster and faster to fer
ment the discordant elements into a result which
threatens To be the desolation ofboth-in>tead of open
inc tins safety valve by which the noxious danger may
u, off harmles>ly and in>en>Ibly !
Crowd. then. your population into the Southern
States a, YOU may. rapidly and without fear. Texas
WI omen beflre il rs All outlet. and slavery. retiring
from the Middle and Southern States OF tie present
confcderacv. VIII find for a time a resting place there
Hat ONLY FIR a time for tic reversible la% OF Pofu-
lton. which DEGREES that in a densely peoplei region
slavery shall cease 70 exist, VIII cmancipa,e Texas IN
her turn. and the Negro VIII thea pass Ia 4 land 81
political freedom and scc.al dignity under a genial
? Sky. lie WI pass without civil CONFUSION. and ieav-
mo no domestic rum IN his pain. A. h> labor be-
comes les and les valuable. Emancipation. gradual,
progressive. at last universal. Will pass hun over The
Southern border to his more appropriate home III Mex
leo and the States beyond
but If Texas i TO be the outlet for Amerrcn STAY
cry. WHY not suffer her L. be 30. without making EcT
a partv to the Union VIII She not be "a broad an
outlet. and Is certain. whether she come>to u. or re-
main "a she i, an independent. friendly nelghbpr .
1t might be so. indeed. if we could only be certain
that Texas. pressed BY necessities. and >purned from
our confederacv, would always continue 10 be inde-
pendent and friendly. But what security have VIC
that forty wears hence she will be either. She l.. IN
deed. a Young State, with American sympathles. anx-
lols now to become a member Of that American broth
erhood from which most Of her citizens have been en-
irrants. and she has proffercd herself to Us without
reserve or condition. But she Is not without other
woocrs. Great Britain has never yet lost a chance 81
getting a foothold on the outskirts Of her n~elrhbors