Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1848-02-24

IN CuHlHltltC CT N W nultu ON tnt StNlC OF inc Union, January
Comfortably
Once more the gentleman took ground against
the pretty common opinion that, as he expresses
it, " the continuance of slavery is injurious to us
as a nation"-(page o. He will excuse me for
saying, that rarely has it been my chance to fall
in with so palpable a nan Scqajtur as that which
lies in the chasm between his premises and his
conclusion. "It may be remembered" he said.
" that the view derived from the decennial GEN.
sus is well calculated to deceive. More than
one hundred thousand foreigners annually arrive
in the United States, who settle down almost en-
tlrely in the free States" Dothcy ? And why?
Because in the free states the occupation Of the
Iaborer does not place him in a degraded caste,
and because in the free states there are common
schools for him to send his children to, in which
they can be trained under the same advantages
as the richest, and from which they can start in
an equal competition with the sons of the richest
for all the prizes of society. Nor only is this the
case with foreigners. These who emigrate
from the old Northern states almost all 90 to the
nclo free statcs, while, on the other hand, a very
large proportion of the cmigrati0n of the Old
Southern StGtrS goes into the free states of the
Northwest" Indeed. And what is it thnt sets
the prodigious current of emigration so determj-
nately in that direction, winning even the sons
Of the sunny South from the homes Of their child
hood and the graves Of their fathers. and all the
associations Of kindred and of memory, to seek
the hardships Of an uutried condition and a
Northern sky? Just the intense desire for thlt
equality and those social advantages which tie
presence eff slavery absolutely excludes. "This,
! have observed myself" the gentleman contin-
ucd, " is eminentIy true Of the North Carolina
emgrantS and | may add, too, that, but for
tbs emigrat'Oa, population would increase in
that state as FIST as it would in any country, there
being an abundant supply Of the necessaries Of
lite among the entire population" All! Mr..
Chairman, much virtue is in 6ut, as well as
well as in "1," "But" for this emioration.
North Carolina would rapidly increase. Be-
r0"Sc of this emigration, it does not so increase.
And what causes this emigration? The Gentle
man told us what does not cause it. 1t is no
want Of a "%supply of the nlcessaries Of life -
%yulgarly SO called. OF them, he said truly, they
had abundance-plenty to eat, drink, and wear.
But of what are equally " neCessaries of life
to right-mindcd ~people-equaIty Of social posi-
ton, and opportunities for personal Improvement
and adyanCement-the nOn-slayeholding North
Carolinians have not enough, and therefore they
90 elsewhere in search Of them, keeping down
the population of the state, as well as its wealth
and consequence, Of which, in a wcll-organized
community, the industrious classes are ALWAYS
the support and strength. This remark on the
tendency Of emigration to the free states, said the
gentleman, was 'rmincatiy true of the North Ca
roIina emigrants.' | should expect it, from the
welI-knoWu good sense and independent chafac.
ter Of the good old North state. The free, tend.
CT and open spirit, which George Fox found a.
mong the planters of Albermarlc, has net died
ont there, and it is not satisfied with inferiority
and stagnation. Let them get rid of slavery, and
they can live Al home without either.
And when we have got at the cause which
keeps down the comparative population, prosper
Ity, and consequence oGNorth Carolina, we cal
answer the pe question in other applications
We can tel hy the growth Of beautiful Ken
lucky k@eepslao better pace with her sister Obi,
across the the river, not SO large and scarcely S,
fertile, yet the latter, though starting later, nov
nearly tripling the free population Of the former
We can tell why Virginia, in the first half cent
ury Of the federal government, increased her 20
pulatlon from about three quarters of a million
to about a million and a quarter, while N. York
on a much smaller territory, enlarged her nun
bers from about $40, 600 to nearly two million
] and a half, and her estimated property had be
come nearly three times as great as that of tn
state the most favored by nature of any in thi
f Union. We can tell why Maryland, most cligi
bly, situated has 81 free inhabitants to the sqnar
mile, and bleak and barren Massachusetts, 81
We can explain how it came about that Mi
{ chigan, in ten years before 1870, increased he
free population ga per cent, and Arkansas, Ell
= eCted into a state about the same time, only ~
per cent. Washington saw the difference be
tween Pennsylvania and Virginia in his day, an
his infallible discernment deserted the cause t
be in the laws for abolishIng slavery; laws sal
n he, fer once too hopefully, which there is notl
e ing more certain than that Maryland and Vii
o. gina must have, and that at period not remote,
= And his august wisdom pointed ont the prope
+ methcd Of relief, as well as the crying need
Il There is only enc proper and %eifectual mode,
he wrote to Robert Morris, " by which it can |
o accomplished, and THAI is, by Legislative authorit.
If and this, rs far as my suffrage will 60, (mark
GEoRGE WAsrINGroN's suffrage for abolition
IS shall never be wanting"
l. An institution SO %salutary and beneficial TO Il
body polite, the gentleman from North Carolir
e would have extended into territories and stat,
as yet untouched by its Influences, and he ofe
d red his own scheme for Tint purpose, (page 81
Upon that ] will not now dctain the CommitC
IS with any Of my remarks. | may have an oppo
tunity to do SO hereafter when the question
a. extending slavery into new territory may con
4 up. But as to two or three things which he sa
about it, | must briefly throw in my cGpcat at Il
the present time.
The gentleman said, "Fhe supposition TIL
: the states would exclude from all the %territorr
. of the United States al Institution which preya
ed so generally among them, seems lmprobab
in itself, and those who maintain it may well
al required to furnish the evidence. There is no
i sir, in the whole Constitution, any one claus
u which either directly Of indirectly, favors Il
idea that slavery was 70 be limited to the stat
where it then existed, or to be excluded fro
to any part Of the territory of the United States
(page 50 think, Mr.. Chairman, that Il
Constitution, had It been faithfully execute
apreeably to the sense Of the Convention whic
framed, and of the people who adopted It, co