The Port Gibson herald, and correspondent., 1849-03-30

edy of the lash to the money changers who
profaned the temple. It is consistent for
rigid sect like the Quakers to oppose sla-
very, because they prescribe and repudlate
war, and luxury, and all other evils. And
we may all hope for the time to come,
when, in the progress of Christianity, the
evils of slavery in the South, and those Of
pauperism, crime, and mortality in the
North will be greatly mitigated or abolish
ed. But the North can now make no pro-
test, because the luxurious system Of Nor
thern civilization not only subjects the
great mass of the people to unwonted la
Dor and priyation, but actually sacrifices IN
peace greater amount of life than is usu-
ally expended by communities at war.
If, then, the welfare of neither white
nor black in the South would be promoted
BY the restriction or abolition of slavery,
would the prosperity Of the North be adj
vancet! The only thing of which the
North complains, on Its own account, is
tire ratio Of representation fixed by the
Constitution, which gives the South vote
equal 10 three-flihs Of the blacks. But on
the other hand, in consequence Of the eXis-
tcnce Of slavery in the South, the North
has a monopoly of foreign emigration.
This amounted, as we have seen, from
1929 to 1910, to a million and a half, IN
cuding its increase. In the previous thlr-
" years it must have been, with its IN
crease to this dav at least half million
more. Since 1910 it has amounted to
million besides SO that the North has
the vote and the power Of three millions Of
people against the political power which
slavery now confers, and that is equivalent
% a white population only Of about two
millions.
And furthermore. by the peculiar agri-
cultural employment of Southern industry
and capital, the South is a customer and
con umer Of Northern manufactures and
commerce, and of Northwestern agricul-
ture. Abolish slavery and convert the
South into a people Of Mechanics, artizans
and merchants, and instead Of being Gus
toner, she becomes competitor of the
other section. And if the march of pau
perism, crime and mortality Of the North
be 50 great now, what would it be then!
The condition of modern civilization is
far more laborious and oppressive than the
ancient The seats Of ancient science and
The arts were in the mild climates Of the
Mediterranean shore, or in the south Of
Asia and Europe. And III America the
ruins Of her unrecordcd civilization are to
be found in Palenque and Copan, all in a
similar climate. The genius of England
has carried civilization toa more Northern
latitude, and that of America has extended
it, if not higher in latitude, TO still more
rigorous climate than that of England.
The wants Of such climate are great and
mperiouS. The cost Of fuel alone in the
city Of New York exceeds $I6,000,O00
annually. The clothing must be much
warmer, the houses more substantial, the
food more nourisInng, and all more exPen-
sive than a milder climate And this
great augmentation Of the burdens Of civl-
lized life must be borne in the North by
lreemen, not as Of old by slaves.
Hence have we seen the fearful struggle
Of Northern labor for subsistence, notWlth-
standing the immense aid it has derived
from modern machinery and invention.
But take from that labor the custom, and
subject ii 70 the competition of the South,
where 50 much less is required for suhsls-
Il nee, and that so much cheaper, aud the
result would be as runous to the present
system Of the North as to that Of the South.
These two great systems have grown up
together That Of the North could moi
have so much expanded without market
in Southern agriculture-nor could this
have grown so great but for the demand
and supplies Of the North. Together they
have hourishcd; together they must faltcl
and fall. To restrict, therefore, the terri
torial extension Of the South, and by cir
cumscribing its industry render it unprof
table, is to restrict and paralize the pros
perity of the North in all its departments
Together these institutions have marched
tremendously to that eminence and success
which have won the prosperity Of both a
home. and extorted the admiration of th,
world abroad. If either should fall by tn,
hand Of the other, the crime would no
only be fratricide, il would be suicide; ant
over the mouIderng ruins of both woul,
deserve to be written the epitaph: Her
were a people who disputed about the ca
pacty Of the African for liberty and civil
zation, and did not themselves possess tn
capacity to preserve their own.