The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1855-09-13
SLAVERY IN MARYLAND.

| how Maryland has suffered from the curse of
Slavery. BY contrasting the Northern with the
Southern counties, we have made it plain that
the latter, which are greatly superior in natural
resources, have been blighted and withered by
the poisonous tread of the slave, while the for
mer, in which Slavery has little more than
nominal existence, are rapidly improving, but
are still greatly behind the adjacent counties
in Pennsylvania. Some eight counties in the
latter State, equal to about half of Maryland in
| territorial extent, are worth, in the value Of
farms alone, one hundred and forty millions of
dollars, while all the farms in Maryland are
only worth eighty-seven millions. The coun-
ties in Pennsylvania, it is to be remarked, too,
are in the interior, and have neither commerce
nor manufactures. They are distinguished for
nothing but agriculture. Maryland, on the
contrary, is intersected by the Chesapeake Bay
and by its numerous tributaries, and borders on
the Atlantic, thus enjoying every facility for
commerce and manufactures, while in fertility
of soil it is not a whit inferior to the counties
of Pennsylvania to which we have compared it.
This we shall proceed to show by an extract
below, from the letter of a Northern man, which
we find in the New York Independent. 1t is
written from the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and
the writer speaks, from personal observation, Of
the extraordinary advantages of that section of
the State, in an agricultural point of view
We republish the article, with the sincere wish
of promoting the welfare of the Marylanders, by
| drawing the attention of Northern farmers and
others to the State, as a most desirable field for
| settlement. Let the farmers of the free States
come in fifties and hundreds, and settle togeth-
| er, and they cannot fail to be pleased. One or
| two individuals from that quarter, locating
among the shareholders, will not find it agree
able, from the dissimilarity of their tastes,
habits, and modes of thinking, to that of their
neighbors. But let them send a trusty agent
ahead to buy the large shareholders out, and let
| them come in such numbers as to constitute a
congenial society of their own, and they will find
no difficulty. One or two individuals would find
| it difficult to maintain anything like independ-
ence and equality in the exercise of their polit-
cal and social rights, but colony of one or
two hundred families, or even a less number,
would command respect in any part of Mary
land, and almost anywhere in the South.
We believe the day is not distant when the
tide of immigration will turn Southwark, from
the North as well as from Europe; and while
we are aware that these things are regulated,
to great extent, by the laws of political econ
omy, there can be no doubt that the natural
course Of events is often thwarted or diverted
by moral influences. Tse institution of Slavery
is, in an economical pc 1T of view unfavorable
to the increase of the G S. of freemen, by sink
ing capital, by cheaper g labor, and by its in
compatibility with the &. and with commerce,
which prevents the gro of towns and cities
but there can be no do that the malignant
intolerance of all freedo of thought, in religion
and politics, which plS ails in slavehalding
communities, is also great obstacle to the in
gress of a free population:
The short-sighted big9try of the shareholders
is as impoltic as it is .&East in spirit 1t ex-
cludes thousands of intelligent farmers, mechan-
ics and merchants, from the North from set.
Ting among them, and thereby prevents the
three fold increase in the value of their lands
|
the people of Maryland to the manifold evils of
Slavery, and we have appealed to the more
liberal Press of Baltimore to aid us in the dis
semination of facts among the people, which
will be disputed by no one, but which are so
suggestive that the dullest understanding can.
not be cognizant of them without coming to the
same conclusion that we do. But eve have
piped, and they have not danced; we have
mourned, and they have not lamented."
The following is the description of the East
ern Shore of Maryland to which we have re.
ferred: G..
I" 1t is bounded on the north by Mason and
| Dixons line, (which separates It from Penn3yl-
vania, as it does the slave from the non. slave.
holding part of our Union, on the east by Del
aware and the Atlantic ocean, on the south by
the Eastern Shore of Virginia and on the west
by the Chesapeake bay. Any one who will take
the trouble to notice its location on the man
cannot fail to perceive that, in respect to its
| geographical position, it is unequaled by any
other part of our Union. The ocean On one
side, and the largest and most beautiful bay in
the world on the other, affords at all seasons a
safe, cheap, and speedy intercourse with all
places desired.
"In respect to its location for the sale CT ts
produce, eItirclel as il is by the three great
markets of New York, Philadelphia, and Balti.
more, the ingenuity of man could not have
given it a superior situation. Nature, compass.
sionating the labor and expense of man, the
construction of canals and railroads in other
sections, has here generously given every facil.
ity of intereommunication, and, so to speak, al
one stroke of her master hand, has blended in
one the highest beauty and the greatest utility
"The bold waters of the bay or ocean
Astounding with the finest fish and oysters and
some of them with wild fowl of flavor and ex
cellence unequalled elsewhere, is at every mans
door, or within the distance of few miles
, The same waters are nayigaSSiie Tor the largest
schooners or steamboats,, which can convey the
produce Of his farm to market, and in return
bring whatever he may require for convenience
or for luxury. Therefore, whether to the active
working farmer to the retired professional
man, this country seems to beckon settlers t.
her soil, and to present attractions which are
almost perfectly fascinating.
go Its scenery, though deprived of the grand
eur of mountains, is more than compensated in
beauty by its unrivalled water prospects. The
rivers penetrate far up the country, winding
gracefully from farm to farm, which seem te
seek the embrace of the clear blue waters, in
whose bosom they lie. The fresh streams which
are bordered by the large marshes, in some sea
sons OF the year, present scenes of the mos
ravishing beauty. The waters of these stream.
are of a dark amber color, from the organic
matter of the marshes WHICH border on them
and are covered with the water-lily, very large
and most beautiful white flower; and the
marshes on the sides next the river are filled
with wild roses, whilst those parts next to the
highlands are one unbroken forest of magnolia
|