Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1854-11-16
THE SLAVE TRADE.
IdE SLATE IhABG.
,anneSs nf Lihnr is essential to the materia

aTalllSl II. Ine aUollIlon Vi Lne StlFe T.tue, (,
by cutting off the supply, tends to this result.
Slaves were never so high before in the South.
They have within the last few years advanced
SO per cent. in prize, and in some instances. even
more. To what is this attributable? Is ii 10
an Increase in the value Of their productions
We think not. Taking the three great staples,
cotton, rice and Sugcr, us ths standards, We can
discover no such incroase in the profits OF their
culture rs would warrant this advance. Indeed
it may well be doubted whether planting through
out the South during the last ten years, has been
rs profitable rs for the same preceding period.
1t has certainly not been more so, ana The pur-
chaser now Of slaves at six hundred dollars each,
has no promise of better returns for their labor,
than when he bought them at four hundred dol
lars. The slave can neither cultivate nor pro.
dure more now than formerly. Thus, so far Us
the planting interest is concerned the anomaly
is presented, of IN advance in the market vaiue
of the capital employed, without any c"rrespon
ding increase in its profits. We must, therefore,
seek elsewhere for the real cause OF the present
high price of slaves.
The influx OF gold from California, in swelling
the cost of almost every species of property,
necessarily affected that Of slaves. Blu, there
is Il reason deeper and beyond this. 1t is the
scarcely Of, as compared with the multiplying
demands for, labor demands, too, so imperative
that they must be supplied at almost any cost.
In the last few years internal improvements III
the South have been prosecuted on scale
greater than ever before. With the conscious
ness Of her resources has come the detrrmina-
ton TO develop them. The Surfacc of our own
State has been traversed in many directions by
the iron-horse. and soon his snort will awake in
the gorges Of the Blue Ridge echoes which
have been slumbermg since the world began.
Throughout our whole section, the same active
enterprise is exhibited, and the result ll,s brcn
to create new fields ana greater demand for
Southern labor Under this state of things,
there is no prospect whatever that Slaves will
grow cheaper, but rather continue TO advance un-
iii they reach the point where cost exceeds re.
ceiptS, and the usual reaction takes place. This
happily, is still very remote. But Slave labor
is necessity with the South, and the hardship
Of the present restrictions consists in reducing
the supply and increasing the price, while the
demands are multiplying, thereby REFRESHING her
enterprise, and rctarding her progress. We
have, in former article, shown how inadequate
that supply is, ethe: for home development ar
colonization, and we now approach the most
important and delicate point in The whole matter.
1t is needless TO disguise the fact that the i'll
stituIion Of slavery is threatened by internal
danger. lmperilled and assailed by Il host Of
external enemies, its last and only hope is in 4
hearty and effective union within Nowhere can
discord BE- more fatal-nowhere the maxim di-
vide and conquer" more completely triumphant
Union Of the South in defence of Slavery, has
been for the last thirty Years growing more and
more urgent, and the want of it, has emboldened
every attack, and brought upon Us the crisis 10
which none but the most unlhinking can be in
different In the final struggle. which must
come sooner or later, when Abolition. flushed
with past trumphs. and inspired bv her Subms-
sion, shall sweep on TO its grand, diabolical con-
summation-lhe subjugalion and ruin of the
South, union, 1nion will be her only refuge.
To secure this against the trials Of that cvcniui
day, should be The aip of the statesman aud
patriot. Il must be union founded in ;he in
tereSts OF every man, woman and cllld-interes
So paramount and so universal, us to call forth
the sterneSt energies.
Now, the evident tendency of the high and in
crcasng price uf slaves is, 10 concentrate this
property in the hands of The few. and weaken
the feeling Of interest in its maintenance and
preservation. The poor will sell, and none bul
the more prosperous will he able to buy. The
small earnings OF economy and Industry, will
seek other Investments, and transfer to them
that constant and watchful interest, which alone
attaches to ownership. Aud with this state o.
things, there will grow feeling that slavery i
matter which concerns only save-owner> thu
aggressions upon it injure, and are to be resiS-
ted, by them alune-and that even It's final abo-
lition, while overwhelming them, will leave the
nOn-owner unharmed. Such was the idea and
spirit Of that infamous pamphlet, "Brulu>,"
which was scattered through our State Il few
years since; not more infamous for The vile pas
sions it sought 10 excite, than for the falsehuud>
it uttered.
Slavery is, and so long as the South prcSer.
YES her existence. must continue to be, the basis
Of all property-catues in The South Every ar
gres>ion which weakens it, affects all other kinds
of property, and its abolition will involve the
ruin of every interest-even the most remote.
The rich will DC robbed Of his abundance, and
the poor of his little ALL" No change of in.
vestment will save. The owner, and the nom
owner, will fall side by side, beneath the gene
raj ruin, which, like 4 vast c"nilagralon, devours
the palace and The hut. The means Of the lat
ter, though not invested in slaves. are stakcd
upon that which derives all its value from them
and when the foundation crumb'es, the super
structure must follow. When we speak Of
Abolition destroying ,he South it is of Il whole
people-,leir civilization: property, hopes-ail
sinking together. How false and fatal, then.
the policy which exciies the most deluSivc hopes.
weakens the South in the unity and strength Of
its resistance to abolition ard makes men luke
warm in defence of an institution. in whose ruin
they must be swallowed up! And how mi>cra-
bly, short-sighted are they, who fancy that there
is no danger 10 them or their property, in sub
missions aud concessions which prepare the way
Of fana,icsm!
Bnt increase the supply Of labor, and thus
cheaper the cost Of slaves. and the South will
escape this internal peril. The number bT slave
owners would multiply, the direct interest in
its preservation would be more universally dil-
fused, and that great necessity OF the South
union in defence of slavery, more readily accom-
plishrd. If it were possible. every man in her
whole limits should be II s!avc-owner here
would then be no chances, that Bruius, and
ike incendiary publications, would tiad response
in any quarter Of the South, exciting one class
against another, and dereiving part into beIiev-
ing that their fate can be different from that of
the whoe.-Charleston Mercury.
THE CoTToy CRoP.-The Jacksonville (Ala.)
Republican of the 7th inst. says:
''The fall has been exceedingly favorable thus
far for the maturing and gathering the cotton
crop in this section. No frost Yet to kill the
weed no destructive storms or heavy rains, nor,
indeed, any weather to interrupt the process of
gathering The favorable fall aud late frost will
make The upland crop of this part Of our State
much better than anticipated n few weeks since
This, though exceedingly fortunate for our pro-
pie these hard times, will have little or no per-