The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1848-08-19


enactment Of prospective emancipation law
whose practical effect should begin in ~ to 2.
years. and then proceed gradually errang eft,
years more, cause an increase in the value o
Iaads. eommeasHrate il, time and araoHnt with
the diminution which itwould cause in III,
value Of slave properly
The following considerations may serve e
show, that the enactment Of such a law woult
have an almost Immediate effect upon the value
Of our lands. and would continue 10 enhancs
the value Of them, until the gain from thin
source Car exceeded the loss incurred by the
slayeholders from the operation Of the law.
In the first place we might look with GER
talnty Cor a considerable increase Of popuia-
ton from the enactment Of an emancipation
law. -
Experience han plainly demonstrated that sla-
very checks the Increase Of popalaioa in q
State, as soon as It's chshse lands hare bren &C.
cupled, and slave labor has had timss.o produce
is effects upon the seia OF she coplj,s saS the
nabissr,sf ,lsu psosiss. \ b<kss >k<e. 81
assigned for the slow growth Of Kentucky, In
comparison with her fee neigtbors pnthe OPP
posiie side Of the Ohio, So soon as en- ernan-
cipation law shall condemn slavery toertinc-
ton. and cause q rapid removal Of slaves from
the States the great obstscle to the influx Of in.
dusirious emigrants, and the great cause Of the
emigration Of industrious freemen from the
State, will have been in great measure re-
moved, and an accelerated increase o. popula-
ton may be expected. An increased demand
for Kentucky lands, and an increased home con-
sumption Of agricultural produce, would ne
eesssrily follow and cause rise in the value OF
these lands.
Secondly, we may notice the striking fact that
much larger proportion Of the population is
engaged In manufactures and commerce in the
free States than in the slaveholding States I,
is chiefly this difference, in the employments OF
the people, that gives TO the free States their s,.
periOrity Of growth and Of population. Man
ufactures and trade have never Aourshed in a
slayeholding State. To this fact we must at
tribute, in great part, the inferior value Of their
lands. The cities, towns, and manufacturing
establishments Of a country, afford the besi
market for the produce Of the lands near them,
and add greatly to the value Of these lands
This fact 10 so well known that we may take II
for granted Whatever measure. therefore, shall
tend 10 increase the capital and population en-
ployed in manufactures and commerce, will tend
in the same degree TO increase the value Of lands
in the country. Now, 1t matters not how sla-
very comes 10 abstract the increase Of csmmer-
ciAl and manufacturing townsville fsa Of it.
doing so is obvious and indisPutabe. An eman-
cipatiOn law would begin Immediately to take
away this obstruction, and to open the way fol
an increase Of the trading and maaa featuring
population. Every lardholder would soon fee
the benefit Of the change in the increased valus
Of his produce, and consequently Of his land.
Thirdly, ii iss general and well sscestaine<
fact, that sgricalhrs itself d not 50 well con.
duclsdin SLAVE State 10 iS.es~ that issspliiss-
ted wholly by free labor. This is owinf prob
ably to two causes: first, 10 the unsklful ans
sluggish way in which slaves commonly labor
combined with the INDECENT habits which SLAYER,
generates in large portion Of the whit, popu
lation; and, secondly, TO the want Of hom'
market, just noticed, which In conjunction will
the unfitness Of slaves for any business requir
ing skill. care, and good economy, oomPels tn,
cultivators 10 confine their operations 10 few
staple products that can be exported to distan
markets-such hemp, cotton, tobacco, an,
livestock; when such is the case, the ,sndency
1 "a II. La, H..
tenn Of tillage. Thur small farmers am grsdu
ally banished, the free population presently de
clines, the slaves increase, a general langou
creeps over tho country, and the soil is impov
erished; first, where naturally thin soils are sub
jected to hard tillsge, and, finally, even wher
deep soils are employed as stock farms. Agri
culture being thus, on the whole, less skilfall
conducted and less profitable than in a FIRE
State, and tending also to decline; the land
are on this account less valuable. An emancI
patton law would soon give q different tura I
agricultural industry by Diminishing the mum
Der Of slaves, and introducing the more profits
BILE system of the free States. Thus the lAnt
Of the country would be improved both in qua
Ity and value. The gain In this way would
considerable in twenty five years, when the AZ
tual loss from emancipation would be just begiI
ming. Ere this time the improved system
cultivation by free labor would lave made col
{ siderable progress-northern farmers won
have come into every neigAborhood with the
white laborers, and rasny Shareholders won
have wholly or partially adopted their system.
II Fourthly, the value Of lands in the sla'
States is kept down by the want Of cheap tran
portation by roads and canals. The slave Stat
are far behind the free States in these intern
, improvements. The reason Is, that they are
behind in population and vealth--and we mi
add, in enterprise TO begin, and fkill to condu
fhs-a imDrorements. Mont Of .ths works
this sort now existing in the st.sthern Stats
/ yield little or no profit 10 tins stockhoIders.
1 The reason is obvious-a canal or railroad W
/. cost the same to make il and 10 keep it u
whether the business upon II be much or lit
But the business upon it win be sccording to Z
8 amount Of population and wealth In the cou
E try that II is designed 10 accommodate. Su
: pose that a railroad require a capital Of t'
!. millions Of dollars 10 make Il and keep II up
this Is equivalent 10 one hundred and TWEEN
4 thousand dollars year. ssPpose, ali'o, that
country through which IL runs wil afford
business enough to yield an income Of on
= eighty thousand dollars year. This will
only four per cent on the capitals loss TO
!, stockholders. If they raise their charges
a frsights and fares, people will not employ tn
|. road, or IL they DO, the country viii derive
,. benefit from IL.
+ Now suppose that the population and b,