The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1857-10-01
SLAVE LABOR AND HlRELls2 LAB0R...CLf.
MATE AND COMPETITION.

Slow|v perhaps. hut surely enough, is The
Southern mind working itself clenr of every irn
,iituunl prejudice agars, slavery. Ma,l'". if tho
Ahulitioni>,s had LETT MS alone we mirht never
hhve vcnturl 10 "Np!"r" the foundations Of our
systcm OF suriv;v aud might still COVER under
the eci-nccusn,: conviction that il is inrumpnt
ble with reason and justice. But the abolition
ists forced us To the alternative Of abandoning
riavery or defending it upon principle; aud the
result il nn unqu,s:ioning and universal assent To
the proposition that the institutions of the South
are III perfect harmony with the acknowledged
rights ami the obvious interests of humanity
This is great step i'll advance. Our conscience
IS clear; our Judgment is satisfied. At last slu.
very is placed upon an i'nprcgnable basis. mud
We neither shrink from lis support nor u,tcinlt
TO excuse it by tmid apologies This Is The tri.
ulnPh of an earnest spirit Of inquiry and of n phi.
losophy which frarIc.s!y follows out the co,iclu.
SONS Of logic We stand now upon elevation
from which we may eNutingiy look back upon
rocanted error and exploded prejudice. Bu, we
are not yet victorious over every difficulty. IN
some measure tic mind OF the South is still E.t.
tered 10y the tailacies of uncnlig cmrd age
until 1t entirely ESCAPES from The bondage, there
should I've no pause in the work Of discussion aud
agitation.
In the Sout., at least, nobody will now ven.
ture to contend that slavery wants the support
Of right anI reason; but very frequently We hear
intelligent people deny that il sulrs;st in
certain climate or hold its own against the rival
ry Of hircliny labor. Although thcs. faacics do
not st.ikc ut the iuol "f the Institution they are
yet OF sufficient Importance 10 justify formal
refutation
The idea that the slave labor of the South
cannot compete with the hI cling labor of the
North, is the reference Of aud super H.
clal observation. People see hirrlin,s labor in
exclusive possession Of the Northern States aud
without more inquiry they conclude that slave
labor has been driven from the field by II Ic..t
mate rivalry Is such the c;.>e5 Is il tue that
tb.k ftS int. 4 in f.,ir
Was slavery allowed equal advantages IN the
North An emphatic negative will hc the re.
spouse Of every man wh" knows anything of the
history the co;.utrv. From the foundation Of
the Government. 1t, policy las been directed To
the end OF restricting the expansion and impair.
ing the interests Of slave labor Frcm the fpun.
dntion of the Government, its policy has been
directed tn the end Of stimulating the dcv.lop.
Inent and aggrandizng the fortunes of h,eng
labor. The ordnance Of lTsT imposed an arb.
trary intcrdict upon the extension of slavery into
aregion peculiarly rr"piuus TO its establishment.
The Constitution Itself, III one OF those co,nrro.
misses which il is the fashion 10 applaud ,i-rri.
uated iii favor Of hireling labor. In the division
of political power between the North and tF:e
South, every hirrlinu l;l.urcr is re cMoucI 4 unit
i'll the constituent body, while no rcprcsen,:tio
is allowed FOR two iitIls of CIR slaves Then,
again. u positive and pcremptory "f prohibition
ls imposed upon the importation 0s r".;io slaves
into the country; while OH the contrary the i'm
migration Of white luhorcrs Is invi;c, l.v every
inluccment Of interest. And such has been the
consistent policy Of the Government from 1883
to 1855 Protective Tariffs, Fishery Brnmlics.
Internal improvements, and National Banks,
were some Of the cxpclica,S employed for the
purpose of aggran,zny the hirclimg labor inter.
est lie imposition OF the sc"c1c>t penalties
upon the importation OF negroes, legislative dis.
ordinations against the products of Southern
Industry. arbitrary am! unconstitutional rvst.ic.
tions upon the expansion vf Sou! hern Institutions
arc some of the exprdIemts employed Tor the pur-
pose OF embarrassing the fortunes OF the sluvc-la-
Dor Interest The policy OF the separate States
has been OF q piece with the policy of The Fed
eral Government. While the South freely a,l.
n,its the importation of hirc!in. labor. the North
excludes slavery from its soil bv positive cm,rt.
Inent.--Mule. .tle South pr,cr', the white l,l,cr.
er in the enjoyment q tEE>fr.li,s of his industry
the North annihlla,es the value OF tn: S.ss,!,-
moment b. co:ies within the reach OF its power
The South is in way in;inica! 20 the interests
Of hirclins labor; the North mpars the security
OF slave property 10y every mode oi attack and
annoyance.
Since, ,hcn slave labor is not allowed II fair
competition with hirelur lobul-since the one
interest is embarrassed bv every SOFT Of burden
and mpe,lim.nt, and the other is free from all
hihdrancc and assisted by every Advantage
since tho Northern states will moi permit slavery
10 try it's chances on their soil, while they claim
and enjoy AN equal rivalry FOR their sy c in the
venture to affirm that slave labor is incapable
of sstliuiIy Itself in the contest with hirc!inp Ia.
hori Are We not rather driven 10 the conclusion
that the productive energies OF hireing labor are
inferior IL the productive energies Of slave labor
when we discover, that despite SO great Il dis
parity OF advantages. the social system of the
South not only holds its own. but is stronger,
moro secure and more aggressive Than at any
former period Of its history! Notwithstanding
the invld'ous support OF thu Federal government
aud constantly accumIlating rciniorccmrn:s
from abroad So far from ginning ,Ip,n its adycr-
sary, the hireling labor OF the N"r,h acknowl.
edges itself beaten and driven from its strongest
positions. Notwithstanding the exactious aud
expressions ofthc Federal Governmcnt-notwi1i,
standing the exclusion of Succor from abroad and
the restrictions imposed upon its development,
the savc.labor CT the South is admitted even by
its enemies. to exhibit incomp.rab. proSpcri.
ty and an irresistible power. In view o: these
facts, Is 1t not wonderful that scusb!e people
should talk about the inferior energies Of Sonlh
crn insitutionsi
IN like manner orig gina;ing in q want OF com.
prehensvc and rh;loso, ,,cal observations t,,. f,l
lacy that slave labor can snb>i>t only within ccr
tam isotheImll l:nrs, sill cnthruls 4 small uo.
fi"h ol The Southern intellect. Ii is srrII that
slave labor is peculiar to the SourI, and h.r!jnc
labor predominant III the North, and tins fact s,i
Pcrhcal thinkers undertake. to explain by refer
cnce TO the laws of climate They do not prc
tend That the negro is less capable than the white
man OF enduring the severity of a Northern win
Ter They do not deny that, Il mere physical
energy Labor operates with the same elect in
every climate. They do not contend that hire.
ling labor is absolutely more productive than
slave labor. They will not maintain that, while
ilre!Ing laboris Is profitable in the factories Of New
England and uroa the farms Of Illinois, slnvc.la.
DOR would be worthless III these same employ.
h1ehts. lhey cannot affirm, in short, that tie
effect ct a mechanical force depends upon degrees
oi latitude, or that an article which is valuable n
produced by hireling white man is of no account
from the hands of negro slave. The champi
ohs OF the isotierm,al theory maintain none OF
these propositions. and yet you heur them Con.
stantiy cialnorins about all imaginary incomputi
bility between the existence of slavery and the
rigo,s q a Northern winter. If these people
would think moment they wonld discover that
other influences than those Of climate detcrmin
cd the relative geographical residences of s!ay,
nnd i're!ing labor. They might recollcct th.,
save labor is excluded from the North by the ar
.f I.ri,