The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1848-02-12
The March.

answer can be made to it. Did you read it : IL
not get the paper, and do so-it will repay you
the trouble. The article answers, for US, the
question put.
Slaves are non-producer. They may add to
individual wealth but they bring no help to
town, or city, or country they diminish the
wealth Of tho State. What poor white will
come and settle down where they exist 7 What
poor white mechanic will stay among them if
he can get away Yet their nerves, nscessi-
ties, Invention, energy, make cities and ceun-
tries grow and prosper, and intelligent, and moth
ing else can.
Some shareholders sheer at this, and say, sit
is all moonshine." Think. Put yourself If
you can in the poor mans condition. He sees
you at leisure always; neither touching plough
nor handling spade ordering slaves to do what
you wish, and as you wish. He cannot labor
freely, vigorously. He feels that a stain rests
upon toll, and he, freeman, shrnks from it.
Suppose he has herosm enough to master these
feelings. He has boys their hearts beat ss no.
bly, as any mans sons; they aspire az nobly !;
they ere as we'll knit together, and as capable.
He loves them. Can he, under the burning sun,
or amid the blasts of winter, drive them to la
bor--to do that which is held to be a slaves
work I He cannot. Could yos generous slope-
holder The poor white man, therefore, will
not come here; he will not stay here.
Are any mad enough to say, "lst him 60"
We answer, IL this be carried out, that there il
no hope for the State-it must lose power, pop
ulation, wealth, day by day, until its vitality
shall all vanish. Can we hope for industry
when the spring which gives 1t life is gons3 Can
we expect enterprise and its fruits, when the
motive which imparts to il all its means Of sue
cess is wanting II 10 not alone that slaves are
non-producers this Of course adds to, dsepsns,
extends our difficulties but il is that slavery
degradss labor, relaxes the muscles Of the white
man. disheartens, destroys him. These causes
combined will ruin any State. How different
matters are in the free States. Every man In
Indiana, for instance, is a consumer he makes
TO sell ; he sells TO buy. Each 10 help, slim
illus 10 the other: all sorts Of manufactures
.
day-handicraft, the arts, what is produced by
muscle or mind. Every village, town, or city
Ia Indiana has It's own msrkst-its home place
Of sale-for whatever is made or grown. No
young man who cannot find employment. No
Young man who cannot thrive. The State there
fore, flourishes each succeeding year tells of =
greater increase than the last aud what is bet
ter each year brings greater improvements,
greater comforts, greater intelligence, greater
wealth.
Why, taking the lowest and coolest view Of
the matter, (which We have presented before
the dollar and cent one, every man must know,
at glance, that the cost Of feeding our slaves,
alone, must weaken us continually. The valns
of slave capital is thus set down by our intelli-
gent Auditor, Mr.. Page:
Number of Slaves in Ky. 1s9, 500
Aggregate value, S5s,ll5,9A
Averag. value Of each slave, S3O6
Suppose now the cost of supporting fami-
ly of six slaves TO be $500 per annum; the
interest on each is sls 36-for the family clio
is. AT this rate, the slaves of Kentucky cost
more than thirteen millions. Five per cent on
the whole capital Of the State I. Now suppose
We had, instead Of these slaves, one hundred and
eighty-nine thousand, FIVE hundred and sixty
nine freemen. They would support themselves.
More than this-they would stimulate each 9TH
err, and thrive, and in turn make the State thrive
and grow. The eight thousand slaves of Jeffer-
son county, for instance, do not trade so az TO
benefit halter, grocer, carpenter, or merchant;
they want no wares; they need no furniture;
they encourage no one business. This, in the
nature of things, they cannot do. But IL we
had in their stead eight thousand freemen, each
man among them would live comfortably
Each man would have things to sell, and things
to buy. Each mans wife would have things to
sell and buy. Not a shop-keeper, or merchant,
or vender, or maker of goods, or manufacturer Of
wares, or mechanic, Of any description, that
would not feel the benefit nay, this addition, il
slavery were absent, would add to the popula.
ton by increase Of trade, by stimulus to enter
prize, BY the success. Independence. intelligence
Of free Industry, at least ten thousand people!
Wesee this result before us.3we see il in the
decay Of towns in the slave. and the increase Of
towns in the free States; We see it in the grsa,
difference between the States themselves And
We know the cause. Go to New Albany, and
ask the married mechanic why he does not work
in Louisville. Go there and ask the master
manufacturer why he avoids US. Go to our
own hard toiling sons, and enquire why they
leave their native hearth-stsns, and seek in a
free State new homes. From one and from all
where labor 10 degraded: we are freemen and have
not the heart to do twill not do it; we have
families, and we cannot disgrace them; nothing
can drive us to do that; therefore, we 20 away /;
therefore. we emigrate." Is all this pronounced
"moonshine," alssl If so, let us consider facts;
those stubborn things which fancy may not
twist, nor ingenuity subvert-to determine fair
Iy the truth on this important point, Let us,
for this end, contrast Virginia and New York
"Virginia, says Mr.. Parker, "contains more
than $1,000 square miles, or 1880 more than
England The climate is delightful. The State
is Interested by the finest bay in the world;
watered by long and abundant rivers, this, invi-
ting navigation, and allowing numerous and
easy communications with the interior; that,
waiting to turn the wheels of the manufactu-
rer to weave and spin. The soil is rich in miner
ais Iron, lead, limestone are abundant. Nitre
is fou nd in her caverns. Salt abounds on the
Great Kanawha. Fields Of coal, anthracite
aud bituminous, are numerous, rich, and easy