Washington sentinel., 1854-04-07

and that people, including the whites and three
ifths of the eslaves be adopted in its stead. They
insisted Upon greater proportion than three
| ifths giving corresponding representation,
but the south obstinately resisted the change
and Mr.. Madison says three-ffths was adopted
| as compromise between the wide opinion
| and demands of the southern and other States"
Thus it was forced upon US, that we might be
taxed.
Under the articles of confederation, the ex.
penses were to be borne by direct taxation
and, to force upon the south a large portion Of
the burden, the rule was changed, and three
fifths represent alton was forced upon her. Now
these expenses are borne by indirect taxation
| and let us see who bears them. In the able
speech of my colleague Mr.. BRooKs] on this
subject find the following table:
Total southern production exported. .S126 40i 6Ol
Total non-saveholding production ex-
ported. announcements. 6o,so72s3
Giving an excess in favor of the slave
States Of. $50, ,434, ,3OS
Thus nearly double as much is exported from
| the south as from the non.slaveholding States !;
and as the importations correspond with the
expectations, and the duties are levied upon the
importations, il follows that the slave States
contribute nearly twice as much towards the
expenses of the government as the on-slave-
holding States. The south now pays, by indi-
rect taxation more than the proportion the
three-ffths rule compelled her to pay by direct
taxation. And yet, while you force the pay
ments, you would destroy the consideration. /
now ask: "Can effrontery further go?"
The tendency of these restrictive measures Of
Congress is clearly to imprison the institution
of slavery, and ultimately to extirpate it. Let
us turn to statistical accounts, and see what a
blow its destruction would deal upon northern
prosperity. In other words, let us see whatthe
north makes out of its connexion with the
south. From the official tables in 1850, the
north had in shipping 1901, $3.50 registered ton
mage, and ,456, ,3l4 enrolled tonnage. Deduct
ing the whaling and fishing tonnage, there
we're l,O09, $50 registered, and 1922, ATS coast
ing tonnage, applicable to the transportation of
merchandise. More than three-fourths of this
entire tonnage was lit is asserted by a leading
review employed in the transportation of pro-
duce exported from southern ports. The rough
1 estimates of the profits of the north by southern
connexion may be summed up thus:
Freghts of northern shipping on south
| ern produce. ...>....... SlO OlS6,S2s
| Profits derived on imports at the north
| on southern account. 100000
| Profits Of exchange operations. ...... 100000
| Profits on northern manufactures sold
at the south. th...................... 22,25oooo
| Profits on western produce descend
ing the Mississippi. ............. 100000
Profits on northern capital employed
at the south. 100000
Aggregate profits Of the north per an
num-. ..................... SS,4o6,12S
Take the single item, cotton, and note its
Importance:
Bales consumed Hands en- Capital
in ls4e ployed: invested
Great Britain. i, ,S19,422 100000 $366,000,000
Europe. ......... 9S3,943 $4,000 1s3,000,O00
United States =. $4,000 16o,63l 122,ooO,OoO
Of this large consumption, two millions eight
hundred thousand bales were furnished by the
southern States, and its fabrication supported
four millions of whites. The production, num-
Der Of persons supported by, and capital en-
gagged in this staple, are yearly and daily
increasing. Sir, convulsion which should
swallow up this single article Of southern pro-
duction would shake to their downfall the most
powerful governments on earth. ] will not
press this inquiry further. Fanatcism unre-
buked by reason, sectional ambition unchecked
by a solemn compact, may see here their VIC
tory turned to ashes and defeat. Yes, sir, if
the south were base enough, if she were craven
enough, to submit to the overthrow Of her honor
peace, and existence, the triumph of the north
would be that Of the gladiator who died in re-
ceiving the submission of his foe.
We have been told, sir, that desolation fol
lows the track of the slave A latter-day saint
Mr.. SUMNERl says that sterility tracks the
slave as it tracked Attila's horse. These tables
are the answers. But appeal from the Mosaic
whg Of to-day to the genuine whig of l776.
appeal to old John Adams, revered still in Bos
tom He said, in 1776 "TAat as to this mat
ter (thc wealth of State) it was of no conse-
quence by what name you called your people,
whether by that of freemen or of slaves. That
in some countries the laboring poor were called
freemen, in others they were called slaves !;
but that the difference as to the State was i'm
aginary only. What matters it whether land
lord, employing ten laborers on his farm, gives
them annually as much money as will buy them
them the necessaries Of life, or gives them
those necessaries at short hand? The ten
laborers add as much wealth annually to the
State, increase its export as much, in the one
case as the other. Certainly FIVE hundred free
men produce no more profits, no greater sur
plus for the payment of taxes, than FIVE hun
dred slaves. Suppose by any extraordinary
operation of nature, or Of law, one-half the
laborers of State could, in the course Of one
night, be transformed into slaves. Would the
State be made the poorer, or the less able to
pay taxes? That the condition Of the laboring
poor in most countries-that of the fishermen,
particularly Of the northern States-is an nabject
as that of the slaves Madison Papers, lst
vol, 10Th page.)
These, sir are the words Of one who was
braced by the storms and purified by the thun.
ders Of the Revolution, and uttered in the very
crisis Of the struggle. We have been told, too,
that the institution furnishes anfdegrades both
races. ] submit tables drawn from returns Of
the last three decades as sufficient answer to
charges Of this kind. Sir, fanaticism must
stain our records, and burn up our archives,
before 1t can even plausibly make them. We
nave nave been told, also, that there is acerbity in
the relation between master and slave. That
there lave been specific cases of excess, and
even Darbarity, none will deny; but whoever
asserts cruelty to be the rule falsifes fact to
utter a base slander. When, sir, have south
ern slaves perished Of famine in the highways
OF life and in the crowded marts Of the city?