Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1857-12-05
THE QUESTION oF CoMpEN NsAT1oN.

We take the following suggestive extract from the
Impending Crisis Of tho South by Ii. II. Helper :
Would tho Shareholders of North Carolina lose
anything by the abolition of slavery Let us see.
According to their own estimate, their slaves are
worth, in round numbers, saw one hundred and
twenty millions Of dollars. There are in the State
twenty eight thousand Shareholders, owning it may
be safely assumed, an average Of at least five hum
dred acres of land each-fourteen millions of acres
in all. This number of acres, multiplied by thir-
ty'three dollars and ninetyone cents the difference
Ill value between free soil and slave soil makes the
enormous sum of four hundred and twentfour
millions of dollars
Compensation to Shareholders for the negroes
now in their possession The idea ia preposter.
Gus. The suggestion is criminal. The demand
is unjust, wicked. monstrous damnable. Shall we
pat the bloodhounds Of slavery for the sake of do.
ing them favor? Shall we foe the ours of slave
ry in order to make them rich at expense p
Shall we pay the whelps of slavery for the privil-
ege of converting them into decent, honest, upright
men? MOI never Tho non Shareholders expect
to gain and will gain something, by the abolition
Of slavery but Shareholders themselves will, by
far he the greatest gamers for, in proportion to
population, they own much larger and more fer
tile tracts of land, and WILL as a matter of course,
receive the lions share of the increase in the val
ue of not only real estate, but also of other gen
uine property, of which they likewise the
principal owners, How ridiculously absurd, there
fore, is the objection, that if we liberate the
slaves, ruin the masters Not long since,
gentleman in Baltimore, q native of Maryland,
remarked, in our presence, that he was an Abo-
litionist, because he felt that it was right and
proper to be one; bot inquired he, are there
not in some of the States many widows and or
phans who would be left in destitute circumstau-
ces, if their negroes were taken from them In
answer to the question, replied that slavery
had already reduced thousands and tens of thous-
ands of non-slaveholding widows and orphans
to the lowest depths of poverty and ignorance,
and that we did not believe ono saveholdiUg
widow and three orphans were Of more, or even
MS much consequence as FIVE non-slaveholding
widows and fifteen orphans 'Ye are right ex
claimed the gentleman, L have not viewed the
subject in that light before; perceive you go in
for the greatest good to the greatest number
Emancipate the negroes, and the ex-slaveholding
widow would still retain her lands and tcnaments,
which. in consequence of being surrounded By
the magic influences of liberty, would soon rem
der her far more wealthy and infinitely more
respectable, than she could possibly become
while traffcking in human flesh.
The fact is every slave in the South costs the
State in which he resides at least three times as
much he, in the whole course of his lfe
is worth to, his master. Slavery benefits no one
but its immediate individual owners, and them
only in q pecuniary point Of view, and st the
sacrifice of the dearest rights and interests Of the
whole mass of non-saveholders, white and black
Even the masters themselves, as we have already
shown, would be far better off without it than with
it. To all classes of society, the institution is
curse especial curse Is it to those who own it
not Nonslaveholding whites look well to your
interests