The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1847-06-19
Inquiry into the Causes which have Re-
tarded the Accumulation OF Wealth and
Tnerease OF Population i'm the Southern
s-srasts- ny n Caroiinian.

In examining the causes which have re-
tarded the accumulation Of wealth and pop.
ulation in the Southern or slavenolding
States, it will be proper 10 advert to the
particular circumstances. in which the in
feriority of the South, as seontrasted with
the North, consists. The reader will per
ceive, by turning 10 the map, that the
slaveholding States, fourteen in number,
commencing with Maryland, constitute
much the larger portion Of the Union, and,
according TO the computation Of geogSa-
pliers, contains an area Of six hundred and
eighty thousand square miles = whereas
the fourteen free States, together with Iowa
and Wisconsin, contain only four hundred
and fifty thousand square miles. The South
em climate generally is esteemed the more
wholesome, her soil equal to that Of the
Northern States, and hes pfodoctions sur
passing ia imporiancs shoses spwiisps. -~ei
amy country in the world. For, while her
capacity for the production of grain, and all
other articles which make up the staple OF
human subsistence and human comfort, is
unsurpassed, she enjoys an almost exclu-
sive monopoly in the supply of two articles,
cotton and tobacco, which form Of them
selves, II not the chief object, certainly the
greatest item of the commerce of nations -
To these must be added the important ar.
tlcles sugar, rice and indigo, the production
of which in the United States is entirely
confined TO the South Her mineral re-
sources, and her natural facilities of internal
and external commerce, are equal or supe-
rl0r to those OF the Northern States. If,
therefore, the Southern States are behind
the Northern in all the elements Of social
improvement, the cause is clearly not trace
able to physical imPediments. For with
superior soil, climae, and productions, equal
natural facilities Of inland navigation and
external commerce, and greater extent of
territory, il is quite reasonable TO infer that,
all other things being equal, the South
would have been in advance Of the North
in population and commerce, and. as a
consequence, in the number and size Of her
towns and cities, and the SEleral improve
ment of the country. Bn;, fof some cause.
the reverse Of all this is the case. The
! Northern States contain much larger pop
ulation upon a rauch smaller territory
They monopolise nearly all the foreign
commerce Of tire country, besides carving
on more extensive internal trade than the
South; their manufactures, and perhaps ag.
ncultue, are greater in quantity, as both
are unquestionably superior in quality
The Northern cities are numerous, large
and elegant, and evinee rapidly Of growth
at every successive census, 10 which no par
allel Is to be found in history. On the other
hand, the towns and cities in the Southern
States, excepting those upon the Northern
border, and New Orleans, which, as the
emporium Of the whole Mississippi .valley,
receives its principal contributions Of trade
from the Northwest are few in number,
and meagre in appearance, exhibiting lutte
Of the activity and spirit which is to be seen
in the Northern cities, and many of them
are retrogading in population.
If we revert TO the history Of the country
we find that he Southern part of it was
settled by Europeans even before the North
ern; and that at the period Of 1890, when
the first census was taken under the Const
tuition, the population of the South was bu
little behind that of the NOrth.--the former
| being one million nine hundred and three
thousand the latter two millions and forty
| thousand. the difference amounting TO only
one hundred and thirty seven Iheusand. 1
must be regarded as a circumstance which
renders the present great disparity Of mum
bers, amounting to nearly three millions
according to the census of 1910, the mort
remarkable, that the breadth of the frontier
which Law contiguous TO the Southern States
at the period Of 1890, was several time
greater than thai Of the North; and conse
quently admitted OF an earlier and NOR,
rapid settlement tnan the remoter parts e
which the Northwestern emigTant must re
sort. The early settlement Of the North
west was likewise retarded by the presenc,
of warlike Indians, which is another cir
cumstance favorable to the increase Of popu
lation in the South and Southwest. as
would naturally turn the tide of Northern
and European emigration in that direction
And the result has been, accordingly, tina
two States had risen up along the Southern
frontier, (Kentncky and TENNESSEE befor
the settlement of any Northwestern State
These advantages Of position, climate, am
productions, it would be quite natural q
suppose, would have given to the South
at the expiration of fifty years, a populs
ton much greater than that Of the Northern
part of the Union,--not only greater in tn
aggregate, but greater in proportion 10 eS
tent OF territory,-greater TO the sduar
mile. The reverse Of all this, however,
strangely true.
But the contrast will become more strik
ing if we compare the contiguous parts c
the North and South with each other thi
narrower view of the subject is the faire
likewise, there being less dissimilarity {
circumstances. New York and Virginia
though not contiguous, enjoy nearly equs
, advantages of position; each touching tn
, Atlantic, and possessing an excellent harbC
on its coast If the harbor of the city {
New York is superior to that Of Norfolk
the difference is fully compensated by III
advantage Of o more extended conmunici
: ton with the interior. New York has bI
( one natural communication with the int
ior, while Norfolk has many. The teri
torial extent of the State of New York,
estimated at fifty thousand square miles, TIL
( OF Virginia at sixsy-fve thousand so tina
| if there be any superlority in the soil of Ii