Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1857-01-30
,;s,t,.tt srNrAtuy.

a somewhat lengthy d i-Gui4ition upon Tie subject 81
: ,.,hrrn Slavery aud Northern AUuliti0n;siil. The
m,yiu, occasion seems IL have been the fabricated
minors nf extensive in.u directions anon. the slaves
N the South, al! Of which having bad their day, ~
part OF the turmoil Of thu Presidential election, have
zone unietly to sleep. The "Tines,'' believing, a.
every Eugiisi newspaper is bound to believe, that
every runner urtavurabie to the condition Ut the slave
population of the South Is NJ cess arily true, takes the
nccmsion to address some wholesome remarks Ia the
ph,ianthrOpisis "f the North, as TO their real duties
owarGs the slaves aud their masters. 1t maintain
that the slaves are proper ty. legal property; that they
are 80 by the Constitution nt the United States and
that to talk of emancipation by any other means than
~ reuluuerating their owners for fhe value Ut their
.,-"Deriy, is to talk Of nothing else than Wholesale
robbery.
But The Times" really seems to contemplate the
possibility OF such remuneration. Ii estimates the
number Of slaves in the Southern States at three
millions, and their average value q; five hnndre,!
Iollsrs, thus making q gross amount OF ) ,oOO, IWo,UUo
This is much under the real value-the number OF
slaves being about four million, and the average Va.
lue not less than six hundred dollars. This would
raise the sum total to e., iO0, UOO, 900. But this is only
a statement of part uf tn. case. The Federal Gov
ernment lives, and hes long lived, upon a comineIce
sustained almost exclusively upon the products OF
slave labor. With emancipation that commerce
would vanish. The Federal Government would be-
COIupSlIcu, " lb ely cAiSaCuSC, v = " lu'Ci uoi
taxation. There would be 10 use Of tariffs then. for
the sea would bring nothing worth taxing The
great cities that have grown up, tnstered by this com
merce, would dwindle away. That vast Southern
industry, which has formed the market OF the North,
would, not slowly, but swiftly, disappear. All those
immense branches Of Northern industry, which have
grown up under the shelter OF protecting laws
would be utterly destroyed, and q large part OF the
markets o. the North West would pass away with
The sure decay of Southern prosperity.
The Liverpool Times has lost all consideration OF
these immense changes. which must occur in the in
dus,rial condition Of the United States, when II re-
commends, as q matter OF Justice, that the phllan-
thropist. should settle the Question of slavery by pay
ing the value Of the slaves. With emancipation
there would be nobody left TO pay. The interests or
this property would amount To nearly one hundred
and fifty millions of dollars a year. Add to this the
support of the Federal Government by direct taxa
ton, aud we should present a picture OF national bank
ruptcy such as the world has never seen.
And what il the occasion, the Justlhcation, Tor this
recommendation Of changes which must have such
mortal effect upon every part OF our own country
aud the blight of which would reach Liverpool and
Manchester, quite as swiftly as Lowell and New
York; What call of philanthropy. is there to work
this Vas. destruction of the peaceful industry OF til.
world The Liverpool Times seems disposed to dc
us Justice; but, side by side with its proposition thai
law seould be regarded, and that just compensation
should BIZ made for all property confl'cated by the
Government, it places the impossible conditions that
those should pay Tor II VINO Hou!u Ue !cit ny lHe NcTy
measure, without the means OF paying, and that Il
great nation should ruin itself for the sake OF doing,
not good, but evil to its own population. 1t will
needs, in gentle language, to treat OF The Southern
| people as consisting Of two classes Inc oppressols
and the oppressed. We have seen them in all their
relations with each other, and We maintain that they
consist of the two classes The governors, and lhe
governed; the protectors and the protected; aud that
10 sever tie connection between them, Is TO reduce
The one GLASS to poverty, aud the other 10 onroaTisn'
British philanthropy has made some experiments tbs'
illustrate this position.
But what right has Europe, in any form, TO coin
plain Of our condition, end TO speak dtsparaSingly OF
the relation Of classes in our country! Is there any
part of Europe where the laborers are more kindly
treated, better cared for, in sickness and III health,
than in these Southern States! Is there not at this
moment a great mass OF restitution, psuperlsm and
~beggary, crowding around the doors Of these very
men who write their sympathetic essays upon SCUM
ern Slavery Have not these same men VIGOROUSLY
converted those gardens OF wealth ana comforts
the West India Islsnds-into haunts OF des;tnlior,
vice, and barbarisml DO they not see their work
before them, aud no they not See the sort OF late
which, in their protested love for humanity, they are
trying 10 work ont for the Southern States' Why
can they not tie satisfied with what they have done!
IL IS evil enough for one generations; anu x Is strange
that men fseling they have heart. i'll their bosons,
should still disturb themselves because they cannot
accomplish more of such work.
But have they nothing q, home TO busy themselves
about Is there no call for humanity there, that We
must be perpetugliy made TO listen to lis hysterical
| cries across The Atlantic I Let US read further in this
same journal on which We have been commenting
Directly following the article on he 'oppressors' and
the 'oppressed' of The Southern States, We mud the
following exhibits Of the condition of British society
at home:
THE leading morning Journal has turned the
| Christmas s.asuu to admirable account this week By
drawing attention TO the dwellings OF the poor in the
great towns and cities, more especially those OF Inc
METROPOLIS. The opinion of q gentleman is quoted,
who ,hus speaks There are he snys. more than
~, 900 working people and their families in my own
ward alone. Many Of Tics: poor people are living iii
houses built back to back, badly CONSTRUCTED, with
narrow passages and low stE!rchses, ana dark, c!'ae'
f.tid, unhealthy - totally unit for Human habltattons.
Tls.. bous.sar commonly situated III narrow courts
where the wholesome hrrez II never enter and the sAl'
never shines. S~croiula, fever. and consumption, are
consequently abi;ual visitants.'
Between the poor mans club, the gln-pniaee,
with ia faring ges, with it's %cong.nial society, with
ia warmth, with its gin. and the rich mans home III
Gro,yenur or Beigrave squars, and a pleasing ma
trpn. all velvet and smiles, half Il dozen LITTLE ladies
and gentlemen, whose only anxiety 10 whether Adolf
pbas shall go to Eaton next half or whether little
Cord.lia's pony shall be black or grey t'he question
Of tho tail being reserved, and three or four power
full r.faiuers IN plush, with a iarge development 81
calf. who contrive to throw q religious expression
into THAR faces whenever their master requires his
hat between these two extremes, OF high ana num-
| ut lie tUuS tbNN
This is the pictur. OF the condition Of city life
Now lei, u. gee wins. has been the working of the
great problem Of human happiness in the country
From the same paper we take the following para
graph: -
crowded with a denss population huddlei together in
the .malies; possible compass before 'lie nece-sitlrs
of manufactures confined In. lnborlng classes III huge
mills for twelve or fourteen hours in tie day, the
peasan,ry of this country were the me-; IN the world
Then, we are told, every rood of ground maintained
it's man The change is melancholy h.d H.. During . r I the
rioratsd. TINT the standard of recruits for the army
had to BIZ twice. il not three times, lowered"
From the statements Of their own journals, 1t ap.
pears that the very stamina Of the Brlli.h race il
wasting away under their social condition. They
have wasted into deserts and haunts OF barbari,m
tloir West India possessions. II was for some iancied
game of politicians ut home. The poisoned chalico
has returned to their own lips. They wish nov TO
put it to ours, but we have no intention to drink OF
that cup of wr..chedness and Chor!esf07
Mercury.
pUBLIC MEETING IN NORTHUMBERLAND