The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1847-12-18

To the people % 'eSt Tvs "''N 'O".so
hat sapery is injurious TO the public
,s,lfare. and that II mag be gradually
abolished. tcith0ta detriment 10 tbe rights
and interests of Shareholders; by HENRY
RUrFxER, ID. D., Lexington, Va.
CONCLUDED.
Here, fellow-citizens, we conclude the
general argument not because We have ex-
6austed our materials-far from it--but be
cause YOU will think We have said enough
for the present. We shall now, by way
Of appendix to the argument, lay down three
uropositions, 70 show the necessity Of ir1nme
diste lion, to deliver our West Virgins
from the growing evils of slavery.
/ Comparatively tetc slapes IN a com'a
TN. especially one like ours, may do il i'm
mense injury.
This has been already proved; but we
wish TO impress it on your minds. We
shall. therefore, explain by examples, how
few slaves in a country may do its clti-
gems more immediate injury, than large
number.
When a white family own fifty or one
hundred slaves, they can. so long as their
land produces well, afford to be indolent
and expensive in their habits; for though
each slave yield only small profit, yet
each member Of the family has ten or if-
teen of these black work-animals TO toll
for his support. II is not until the helds
grow old, and the crops grow short, and the
negroes and the overseer take nearly all,
that the day of ruin can be no longer post
poned. IL the family be not rery indolent
and uery expensive, this inevitable day may
not come before the third generation. But
the ruin Of small shareholders, is often &C
complished in a single lifetime.
When a white family own five or ten
slaves, they cannot afford to be indolent
and expensive in their habits; for one black
drudge cannot support one white gentleman
or lady. Yet, because they are slavehOld-
ers, this family will feel some aspirations
for life Of easy gentlity and because field
work and kitchen work are negroes work,
the young gentlemen will dislike to 60 with
the negroes to dirty field work, and the
young ladies will dislike to join the black
sluts in any sort of household labor. Such
unthrifty sentiments are the natural conse.
quence Of introducing slaves among the
families Of country; especially negro slaves.
They infalIibly grow and spread, creating
among the white families distaste for all
servile labor, and desire to procure slaves
who may take all drudgery off their hands
Thus genera industry gives way by degrees
Do indolent relaxation, false notions Of dig
nifty and refinement, and taste for fash.
iOnable Injuries. Then debts slyly sccu.
mulste. The result is, that many families
are compelled by their embarrassnents to
sell of and leave the county. Many who
are unable to buy slaves, leave it also, be
cause they feel degraded, and cannot pros
per where slavery exists. Citizens Of the
Valley! Is it not sol Is not this the chiei
reason why your beautiful country does moi
prosper like the Northern Valleys.
2. SlareTy naturally tends to increase
from small beginnings, until th. slape,
oEtHuHlber the lUhiteS, and the country !.
ruined.
How this comes to pass, is partly explain
ed in the preceding remarks.
The tendency OF slave population tc
gam upon the whites, may be counteracted
oy local causes, permanent or temporary
One permanent cause is the vicinity Of q
Tree State; temporary cause occurred ter
or twelve years ago, when the high price Of
negroes in the South, caused many to be
sold out Of our Valley. The tendency j,
stronger also in planting country, than i
Is IN farming Or grazing country yet 81
strong is the tendency itself, that it over
comes this check in West Virginia; for witt
the Temporary exception Just alluded to, tht
slave population has been steadily gainint
on the white, in all parts except the vicini
ty Of the free States.
We have examined the census OF coun
ues Tor the last thirty or forty years, in Mary
land, Virginia and North Carolina, with thu
view to discover the law of population il
the Northern slave States. The followin,
are among the general results.
When county had at first comparatively
H" slaves, the olovo population
near the Tree borders--gained upon tn,
whites ana most rapidly in the older part
oil the country.
Inc population, as q whole, increased s.
long as the slaves were fewer than th,
whites but more slowly as the numbers ap
preached to equality. In our Valley,
smaller proportion Of slaves had the effec
Oh larger one in East Virginia, to retar.
The increase of population.
When the slaves became as numerous a
the whites in the Eastern and older parts o
tne country, population came to a stand
when they outnumbered the whites, it de
Silned' Consequently, the slave population
mas tended to diffuse itself equally owe
the country, rising more rapidly as il wa
farther below the white population, and 10
ing Gown when IT had risen above them.
such were the general results. Excep
lions occurred, but all general rules of tai
nature have their exceptions. This is new
State.
8. The price Of cotton lcia probably de
o'',e more and more, aud consequently III
rdtHe Of sLdUes; then also the laic of slop
increase, By 'chich ii gains on the ehit
population, '7ia operate in West Virgini
lac. =
Inc Pnce Of cotton has regulated III
pnce oil negroes in Virginia; and so it mu.
continue 10 do. hoca.,.a L.. l.l.