The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-06-03

JS''os ~"u '"o fsPFu c4SenSiOn OF slave JaC0
into new Southern trrtory, which Of course i
attended with increased mortality But willis
the white man thus has a natural increase ut tn
South Of thirty-six per cent, and the black maj
OF twenty -two,-in the North the natural in
crease Of the white is only eighteen per cent
and OF the black only nine per cent in ten years
and this although the black consists largely O
fugitiyes, who Of course are the most cnterpriz
7 ing and energetic of their race, and of the mos
prolific age
Let it now be considered that the natural in
crease of people depends not only on their fe
cundity but their longevity: and that fecundity
and longevity are the most unquestionable ind
cations, that we have of peoples morality and
comfort Length of days and plenty of chill.
dren are the old fashioned and scriptural indi-
cations and rewards ofrighteousness. And the
nation or people which succeeds in securing the
longest term Of life, and the greatest number OF
offspring. is the most virtuous, happy, aud pros
perOus-and is entitled to occupy the earth, and
to enjoy the inheritance of the races whose vices
have curtaed or restricted their numbers. It is
a remarkable dispensation of Providence, that
the fate of the two barbarous races of this con-
tinent, the Indians and the negroes, has been
given to the two sections of the Union respec-
tively-the North and the S0uth-so far AS the
fate of one race can depend on another The
Constitution confers ample power over our In
dian relations in the federal government And
that government has always been under the
control of the North. For the North has gen.
orally had a majority in the Senate and always
majority in the House of Representatives. On
the other hand the destiny of the negro has been
confided to the South instead of the North--for
Congress has not been authorized to interfere
with slavery, and in the South alone has African
slavery prevailed to any considerable extent.
The number ofnegroes imported into these col
onies and States from Africa could not have ex-
ceeded the original number of Indians already
here. Yet under Southern institutions and pol
icy, the negroes have increased to number
lore than ten times as great as those originally
imported whilst the number of Indians under
Northern power, policy, and philanthropy, in
stead of increasing to the same extent, or to any
extent, has diminished to about one-tenth of the
original number Such is the result of the two
systems Of the North and South on the two ra-
ces respectively under their care. And yet the
North presumes to reproach, to reform, and even
| to coerce the South!
| The truth is, the whole system of Northern
civilization is essentially erferninating 1t ex-
terminates that portion of the white population
which it devotes to servile employment We
have seen how it reduces the adult fugitive me-
gro population, to natural increase of nine per
cent. in ten years-a rate which applied to the
whole negro population, and allowance were
made for the unproductiveness Of young and
old, would render the whole race declining
one And we have seen how the Indian race
has been exterminated. Let then the South re-
nounce the theory, that in the present state of
society and progress slavery is moral or polit-
ica evil Let her regard it as trust conferred
on her to promote the welfare of the African
race within her borders and let every man to
whom this trust is committed, discharge its du-
ties with religious fidelity. Let him be merci-
full, benevolent, just and faithful. But let us
hear no more canting, at least in the South,
about the moral and political evil of slavery. If
slavery did not exist in the South, there would
be no South in the cotton and sugar and rice re-
gion, for the white man, 1t is one of the most
wonderful, yet one of the most demonstrable of
the results of the great phenomena of the age
and country in which we live, that without sla-
very neither the white nor the black race of the
Soutnern States would ever have attained a
tenth of their present numbers. II the negroes
who were brought here from Africa had re-
manned there, they could not have increased ma
terially beyond the other native population Of
that region which has scarcely increased at all.
Hence the greater part of the three millions of
American negroes never would have existed a.
all So if there had been no negro labor to cul-
tivate the South, the white man never would
have occupied the rice, the cotton, and the sugar
region. The white race would have remained
in the North, would have crowded more the
cities Of that region, and instead of increasing at
the rate of thrty-six per cent in ten years, as is
the case now in the South, must have reduced
| the rate Of increase in the North even below
eighteen per cent,-the existing rate. Hence
millions of the existing race Of the Southern
whites would never have been.
If, therefore, slavery in the existing state o.
the world is moral and political evil, then Tho
vast region ofSouthern population, wealth, com
fort and refinement i, a curse ,-and Northern
I States cold and sterile, and Northern people
crowded, sickly, barren, and shortlived, are tn,
$ only legitimate products of moral and politica
principles
' ~ Every one recollects the emancipation ex
element which sprung up in Kentucky som
=" years ago under the auspices of HENRY CLAY
and which, it was at one time apprehended, wou
: make il Free-soil State.