The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1848-06-24

disparity between the free and the slave s,.,--.
Can any good reason be given, whv m. -
merce Of the Old Dominion alone. ia No, -.
TO that Of the Empire State ConId -
have been made TO believe hundred vs.r.
that the merchants Of this western world -,
Kentucky and Tennessee in particular, WON'T
at this day, purchase their goods in New yorI
and Philadelphia, and not in Norfolk. vir,i.,-,
We will here let DIR. Raffner Of Virginia. So.
Listen to him, ye aPOlOgists for slavery:
The Northern people derive much If -
wealth from eommeree and shipping Bar -
slave States are more deficient in In. 'U'
they are in manufactures. They onl,- 10 -
cotton and tobacco for Northern men .ud "a
signers 10 buy and ship. We have meDr,a1o'.
in general terms, the excellent facilities 49,
! our State possesses for commercial p0rsuits.-
We may say, that her bay and tios-riy.,~ =,
make one great haven, 500 miles long. .i,s., 81
midway between the Northern and so.,s~.o
extremes Of our Atlantic coast NorfolL -
natural centre Of the foreign eoasting 49,
the United States IL ought TO have coTo,.- y
dsd the trade Of North Carolina, Of all tbe go.
tries upon the waters OF the Chesapeake 49, :,
half the great West 1t ought to have De- ~
second II not the nrst, Commercial city in tbs
United States.
Norfolk Is an ancient borough, ana o,..
stood in the first ranks Of American seapo-ts
. Bat its trade declined, its population va. Ion,
at stand, and nothing but public Nav vs.
Z has kept IL up. Meanwhile, Northern TO-
have grown up 10 cities, and Northern ei,i.-',
great and wealthy emPOriums; until our Vi,-
!, ginia seaport once their equal, would cut boo,
" hgure among their suburbs. On, that No..
were as prosperous as her citizens are kind sos
z hosPitible.
This sketch Of the natural ADVANTAGE IN
e folk, compared with its condition, Is a good in
dex Of the commercial history Of Virginia. n,
fact the commerce Of our old slave-eaisu Con,
: monwealth, has decayed and Gwinded aWsv 4,
o. mere Pittanee in the general mass Of AMI
y can trade.
. The value Of her exports, which tEsntv.fv-
- or thirty years ago, averaged four or i've mi.
~ lions of dollars a year, shTunk by IS45 ia D
,e 900 dollars, and by 1874, 10 ?, 100000
Z Her imports from foreign countries wsr.- fl.
the year 1865, valued at upwards Of T. 900 900 Of
= dollars: in 1871, they had sunk TO , . million.
in lo21 they had fallen 10 a little over one ,B8
~ lion; in le27, they had come down 10 about bsf
~ this sum; and in 1913, 10 the hall Of this sy,i,
Q" or about one quarter of million; and mere d.
have stood ever since-at next 10 nothing
OIL % BIcdl VII Win all her natural L.
"a cilites for trade, bring TO her ports about a..
five-hu ndredth part Of the goods, ware 49,
merchandise, imported into the United State.
Shall We be told that the Cause Of this q.
de cline OF virginia commerce, is the growth If
a. Northern cities; which by means OF their canal.
and railroads, and vast capital, draw I'll IN,
trade from smaller ports TO themselves And
ne what them The cause assigned is itself the al
ss feet Of prior cause. We would ask tboss M.
- al t. -
n. should the great commercial ports be all Outst,-
of Virginia, and near or in the free States Wbv
&c should every commercial improvement, svsry
ed wheel that speeds the movement Of trade serve
nj but to carry away from the slave States. uor-
: and more Of their wealth, for the benefit Of The
great Northern citiesl The only cause thai can
NJ be assigned is, that where slavery prevails com
lid merce and navigation cannot flourish and com.
us mercial towns cannot compete with those in the
free states. They are merely places Of deposit.
for such country produce, as cannot BE- carried
're directly TO the Northern markets. Here Norm.
I'VE ern and foreign ships come to carry away these
products Of slave labOr-and this constitutes
nearly all the trade of Southern ports.
No State has greater convenience fer skIp
navigation and ship building, than Virginia
SO Yet on all her fine tide waters, she has hiils
shipping: and what she has, is composed alu,os,
wholly Of small bay craft and few coasiing
The number Of tons that her vessels will carry
So a. snamefully small, compared with that Of ID.
. maritime free States Maine and Massachu.
~ sets, with about equal population, haze abou
. fifteen times as much; little Rhode Island haa
considerably more; New York has Al less
"A twelve times as much; Pennsylvania, with be-
one seaport, has more than twice as much an
so 50 has half-slayehOlding Maryland.
Il As to ship building, Virginia, that oughl
w uffh har aAv -
Il to build as many ships as any State in Ii
Union. does less al il than the least Of those re
States Ali that she builds in year on her lonl
foresight shores, would carry only eight o
lOl nine hundred tOns-that is, ABOUT much a
one good packet ship Of the North. Maine an
Massachusetts build thirty-five times as much
50 little Rhode Island builds twice as much: Ne,
II York twenty times Is much; Pennsylyani
81 twelve times much; and Maryland seys
. times as much; and what would asionish Us,
We did not know many like facts, IS, ths
much Of the ship timber used in the North,
~ actually carried in ships from Southern f0l
ests; where il might rot before Southern me
% would use il for any such purpose We 90 Nd
. blame the Southern people for abstaining fror
40 all employment Of this kind, What could the
. dot Set their negroes to building ships WI
ever imagined such absardityl But coui
they not hire white men to do such things W
~ for in the first place, Southern white men hav
no skill in such matters; and in the sec0n
place, Northern workmsn cannot be hirec .
% the South, without receiving heavy premium
= for working in a slave State
Thus saith the Doctor. In our ne1t We vi
again speak to our old friend who solves all OF
Ia mysteries, removes all our difficulties, amin
lates all our facts, and answers all our argu
81 ments, with his agricultural wand. And m
"a dear sir, we would suggest to you befOrshanc
- the PrOPriety Of your procuring a new wand.
Caro-.