The southern press., 1851-08-27


B- The New York Tribune quotes pas
sage from the address Of Mr.. BARNEY to the
PRESIDENT, on his recent arrival at the White
Sulphur Springs, Virginia, as follows
SIN your tour through the entire length of
this ancient Commonwealth, you have realized
that the home of the slave is not the abode OF
TIE oppressed, and that the misplaced sympathy
Of Northern fanatics is az gratutous as it is i'm
polite for you cannot but have Witnessed that
their comforts are cared for, and their every
want supplied-the MASTER still more frequent
ly the mistress, always the lady Bountiful) } are
themselves enslaped by their devotion in sick
ness and in health to watch over, protect, and
make them happy; and my own experience JUS
titles the assertion that the fair daughters Of
wealthy Eastern farmers perform daily as much
domestic labor as our operUorked slaves"
And the Tribune makes sundry commenta
res, and among them the following:
aBut Mr.. Barney informs us that the Virginia
masters are 'enslaved' hy the system they up
hold. There is far more truth in that remark
than its author intended. Slavery does involve
in its fetters the despot well the serf race,
and Injuries the one as we'll as the other. The
master is enslaved by his fears his appettes, his
remorse Not for the sake of the blacks alone,
but for that of the whites also, do we plead for
the speedy triumph of emancipation. And we
70 beyond Mr. Barney on another point, main
tanning that one well schooed, well trained,
free, sclf-respecting, pure-minded daughter of a
New England farmer, acconpshes more work
than iro average female slaves. Bondmen may
sometimes be overworked, but, rs a general
rule, they are incapable, indolent careless, and
inefficient.
"But Mr.. Barney grievously mistakes the main
point when he asserts OF the slaves that their
erery ,canl is supplied Admit all that he af.
firms specifically, and it only appears that their
animal appetites and weaknesses are duly min
istered to-that they are treated as well as their
masters cattle. But their every want includes
much more than this They want opportunity
and aid 10 develop their moral and intellectual
faculties they want legal protection against
the sale of husband and wife, parent from child,
at the auction-block, or the travelling man
monger. They want chance to enjoy what
they produce, to clothe and educate their child
rem, and to obtain such distinctions and con-
sideration in society as their talents and virtues
may fairly command. All these are imperative
ly denied them by the system which Mr.. Barney
tells the President that he must have realize d
is 30 benifcent and admirable. We venture to
assure the orator that there was never corner
.ot in the prospective Owl Creek city Of Ltho-
graph, on which it would be so difficult to real
ize' as on the picture Of slave blessedness which
he so gratuituously presented to the President" "
The recent discussions of the slavery ques.
tion have driven the anti-slavery party in the
North into the doctrine of socialism. The su.
perior health, comfort, wealth, morality, increase
and order of the Southern whites and blacks
as compared with the Northern, which has been
shown from documentary evidence, has com
PEELED the Northern reformers to denounce thei
own state of society, as well as the Southern.
The Tribune, which is one Of the leading
papers Of the Northern school, is therefore al
most as much devoted to socialism, as opposed
TO slavery. But IFS consistency is not well oh
served, and hence it is often inadvertently be
trayed into denunciatons of the South, in terms
which amount to an assertion of its inferiorit,
10 the North. ".
We suppose the Christian principle concern
ing the institution of property to be, that it is
trust which the holder il bound to execute in
manner the most conducive TO the welfare Of hi
fellow creatures, as well as himself The doc
trine Of the anti-slayery and socialist parties is
that property is a thing Of natural right-tha
all are entitls& at birth at least, to an equa
share, or at least to sufficient share, to rende
life comfortable. II results from this principle
that not only is wealth wrong, whilst any elias
or individual wants, but il is fraud.
And now let US see how the North will com
pare with the South on Northern principles i
The North there is greater inequality of propert
than in the South-more luxury and more wanI
Hence, there is more fraud, and Of course, W
presume, more remorse. We suppose that thi
remorse ought TO be particularly poignant wit
the leading anti slavery men. Many of then
are wealthy. The Tribune establishment
very valuable and productive. Its editor goe
abroad, and rambles at great expense over Er
rope. Yet around his office are multtudes sui
fering in all the varieties Of priyation, to sue
an extent as 10 perish at an untimely az,
Thousands of children are born annually in Ne'
York in destitution, whose natural right to prop
erty is equal TO that of the Tribune editor, an
yet he is rich, and they perish 1t will not d
for him to say that i Earned all his money. o
his principles, he has no right TO earn more tina
mere comfort requires, whilst others are Dor
with less. If he earns or acquires more than h
pInts, he monopolizes and renders it more di
ficult for others to earn, and he withholds fror
the infant its natural rights
l.s- :. A. ~
gravely that slavery does involve in its fettel
the despot as well as the serf race, and injure
the one as well as the other" Well, who is
greater stakeholder than such as the editor {
the Tribune. lie does not buy slaves for lif
No, he is too economical for that. If he did, b
would be compelled to provide for the old ag
and sickness Of his slaves and for their ofsprinl
So he buys human aesh in its best condition.
its prime--by the day, or month, or year-whe