The Camden weekly journal. [volume] (Camden, South-Carolina) 1853-1861, 1854-10-10
Report Of the. GrandsJury. {

we tl,esGrand Q urors Of ,Richanrd District,
S. .sG., Fall sfefm, 1854, make the following
presentmehts, VIZ. ., =
The Jail, think, is in some few particn-
lars insecure, and .reeommend1that theHparti-
tions Between the cells in tlleupper story should
be .made'more secure; and thesdoprs leading
to the second and third story be made stronger,
andethat the locks thereon, us we'll as the locks
attached to the bolts and .other DOORS, be of a
better quality; andthatFthe outer windows of
the third and second stories be secured byiro
grating and that the front window on the
right hand as you 60 into the first story befal.
so secured By iron grating. or otherwise made
more secure than itnow is.
In reference to the escape Of the prisoners
from the city guard house, while that building
been more from the defects Of the building it.
self than from anyneglect on the part of those
having them in charge. Still the information
before this Jury is such that we would urge
the propriety' of increased vigilance on the
part of those officers who are in charge of the
prisoners. :
" In reference,to matters of public interest,
thesesis. one that has very high claims to our
MISREPRESENTATION, and that is tie removal
by tile General Government of the restrictions
ON the slave trade with Africa. \
In political point Of view. we, look upon
the re- opening of that trade as Of the highest
and last Importance to the interest and pros
perty of the whole South and Southwestern,
and we may say WesternStates. Indeed ma
ny of tho most observantminds are impressed
with the belief that the political existence Of
the Southern States depends upon this impor.
tant change in the present policy of:the gov
ernmentSon this subject 1t is well known
that the immigration into the North and North.
western States amounts annually to about'500,.
600; and very many Of these persons bring
with them large amount Of talent and capi-
tai, by which hmeans the vast resources of those
States are being developed in a most astonish-
ing degree, while the Southern States are com.
parativey at stand still; and when we look
at the States of Maryland, Virginia; North
Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, South Carroll.
ma and Georgia, we will see that their condition
is peculiarly critical, for while their slave pop
ulation is being constantly and rapidly drained
and carried further South and Southwest, where
theirSla is more profitable, there still re.
mains, and will remain for many years 10 come,
enough of this class of labor to prevent white
laborers coming in to fill up tho deficiency,
much less to increase it, and hence the want of
that indispensable element, labor, without which
it is impossible to develop the resources of a
country and hence it is that when we see the
rapid strides in wealth and prosperity Of our
and sister States, We see so many
sof ourpeople becoming disseminated With their
homes, their pursuits, and their institutions.
This discomfort is greatly increased by the
very high price which this class of labor has
attained in consequence of this constant drain,
and many arc actually selling ont and invest
ing the proceeds in other pursuits, and many
more arc undecided what to do, while all are
impressed with more or less unfavorable ap-
rrehension as to the final result of this unfor-
tunate state of things
And when it is observed that in consequence
of the present high price of slaves, the tempta.
tion to sell them is so great that the number
of shareholders are being SO diminished, that
even now, according to the calculations Of the
best informed upon the subject, there is not
more than one-ffth-certainly not more than o
fourth of the voters of the States named Who
are slave owners. 1t is, indeed, enough to
alarm the apprchensions Of every thinking hau.
And when it is further considered, that under
the existing state Of things, the comparative
number Of slave owners must diminish, in a far
greater ratio, each succeeding year, So that be.
fore we have fully awakened to our true con-
dition, demagogues, in the guize of statesmen,
will have found sufficient foodsor their ambi-
ton, and under pretence ofsphllanthropy, will
force upon US a change in our; institutions long
before We are prepared forft. d Who, we. ask,
scan calmly contemplate such :fesults without
tile most gloomy forbodings. We think there
are none. And the same causes that now bears
so heavily upon the growth and prosperity Of
the States named must sooner or later affect
the other Southern States in the same way. :
But let the General Government remove the
present odious restrictions upon The African
slave trade, and enact wholesome laws !regu-
lating their Importation, and remedy for. all
these threatened evils is at once. found. That
class of labor, the only kind at all available for
agricultural pursuitssin the South, will ina few
years become plenty and cheap, so that every
man amongst US, though it may be the misfor-
tune Of soi1eto be born poor, can, by. a few
years Of Industry, avail himself Of servant to
divide with him Ibis tolls. He is then, as soon,
as he becomes slave owner, though it be but
one, strong and abiding friend of our best of
political institutions.a and surely there are none
SO blind but they must see how important it is
that every citizen should be- thus interested,
and that there is no way by, which they can be
thus iuterested,but by their being made cheap
by an abundant importation. And We take
this occasion to urge upon the Legislature. and
our Representatives and Segatorsin Congress,