Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1857-07-25
EQUITY and Expedienoy of Com
nensated emancipation.

No candid man, North or South, can nest'lts
IN admit. that the antagOnismS ana eStiaiise-
ments gencratedb the system oil sANeIS ~,
peril the life o. beloved Union lar i'O'e 'i'"''
a world of foreign foes could do.
Fiffv wears of the nations experience prove
l.h.t neocr harmony and brotherly UNITY can
never pervade his great continental fanny Vi
States while slavery exists; but that on the col,
trary, the embittcrng struggle VIII grow illOIe
and more intense and caIamItous, nhtll sunni
competent measure be auOP'eu lo' wv
ton Of that system.
II the Union were at war with n coalition OF
Euronean Powers and could only escape su9ju-
CATION by the extinction of slavery, the Con
stitution. as we'll as the law of seltpreseTVaiot'
would fully sanction the summary act DOM
these sources of authority would authorize tne
Federal Congress to take equitable ana adequate
steps for putting an end 10 tue snne er .oro,c
der to vanquish domestic foe, more dangerous Ils
TO the Union than all the external enemies tilnt
could be arrayed against 1t
n slavery were abolished in time OF war as
national act of sclEdefence, the Shareholders Of
the South would claim and receive ihueihhI''-
cation from the Federal Government Tor the act
Of manumission, If the system is to be abolish
al -, Jovtrov nm internal enemy, which is sap.
ming the very soul of the Republic, they shonld
be equally compensated for the emancipation oil
For nearly fifty years, the legislatures of the
Southern States have done all that their acts
could achieve, to legalize and sustain slavery
to encourage the people OF those states 10 III
vest their capital in slaves. They cannot now
instv turn round and treat those legislative acts
ms irnInoralities, and destroy the property which
thew hive de flct0 created, without compen-
satinp its present holders for the loss entailed
unon them. What the Southern States cannot
do by themselves consistently with justice ana
equity, all the States OF the uunlon cannot 90
together.
splrIt that would attach all the members of the
| Confederation to each other by stronger bonds
than have ever existed between them; which
should bequeath to its numerous posterity OF
of States a rich legacy of precious memories,
deepening and perpetuating their sense of fra
ternal relationship, as cO-heirs of the nobIcSt
chapters of American history.
OF all parties to this great moral struggle, the
lwcll-being of the slaves must be most depen-
dent upon the prevalence of spirit of brother
hood and bcnevolence throughout the nation at
the time OF their nanumisSiOn. Nothing but
slavery itself of the most alrociOus stamp,
could be worse for them than emancipation in
tempest of malignant passions, and fierce and
fiery hate.
| Great as the system of slavery has grown, it
NAV be equitaby abolished, without increasing
the taxation of the. country by a single farthing
| npr hnad of its population. The public lands
alone would be sufficient to pay for the emanci-
patton of all til slaves in the Union, if apprOpri-
ated exclusively to that object Without in
Guiding the lands acquired from Mexico by the
treaty Of 1858, this national domain contains
l 900, 100000 acres. At 70 cents per acre, it
would yield, in the end, $l,2O0,000,00. Adj
hitting $3.50 per head for the whole slave popu-
llation to be fair average price, taking infant
and aged, sick and intirn, three millions and a
half would amount to 1915, 100000 Thus this
landed estate Of the nation would not only
iemancipate all the slaves in its borders, but
would yield a large surplus for their moral elc-
walton and improvement.
/ considerable portion of the national domain
lies in the slave States, and consequently has
but little demand and value. The removal of
slavery would create both, by the continually
increasing influx of men and capital from the
present free States and from Europe. In Mis-
souri,, for example, there are 1S,0O0,OOO acres of
the public lands unsold and unappropriated, of
only a nominal value. The extinction of slavery
would bring these lands Immediately into ma
ket and ut price which would yield a sum
sufficient to pay for the emancipation of all the
slaves in the State. Thus Missouri might be
freed from the evil without sending her dollar
directly from the national treasury, or the pro-
ceeds Of single acre of land lying outside her
borders
The pecuniary results of emancipation in
Missouri would be immediate and immeaSursble
There would be such rapid development o.
her mineral and agricultural resources; such q
great and sudden enhancement of the price o.
her lands, that Kentucky, Tennessee, Maryland
Delaware and Virginia would be induced to fol
low her example, one after the other, in quick
succession.
by lifting the incubus of slavery from sin
gle State like Missouri. not only powerful pre-
Cedent would be established to work upon the
remaining slave States, but great additional
wealth would accrue to the nation, increasing
its capacity to carry on the enterprise of gene
raj emancipation.
There is no object more national, patriotic, OF
polite, to which the public lands could be ap
prOpriated, than this peaceful and gradual eX
tinction of slavery, State by State They con
stitute resource fully adequate to remove the
great evil from our land, withoutimposing tax
or oCcaSioning loss, which its poorest inhabi
tant would feel. Unless appropriated to thi.
patriotic enterprise they will be frittered away
upon specializing railway companies, or npor
objects of local character, in the new State.
and Territories.
Even in thus approprinting the public domain
to the emancipation of the slaves, 1t would no
be absolutely necessary to withhold iudiciOu.
grants to railway companies; for 1t is assumed
that the every alternate section reserved by thu
government, in conCeding these donations, will
produce as much money as both the sections
without the railway. Thus, no honest aud use
/ full railway enterprise in the new States would
necessarily be deprived ofEany legitimate aid by
the plan proposed.
The Federal Congress would not in the slight
est degree transcend its legitimate prerogatives
nor impinge upon TIE sovereignty of any South
ern State, by making this generous offer of com
pensation whenever it might be disposed tC
elpancipate its slaves. Such an offer would moi
impair its right TO retain or abolish at its owU
will Should it prefer, on due consideration
to put an end to the system, it would perform it
aud by itself every act of legislation necessary
TO effect that object. 1t would distribute the
money received from the national treasury
among its Shareholders in its own way and by
its own officers.
Suppose that $3.50 per slave should be the
average compensation allowed to every South
crn State for emancipation, it would require the
income from the public !auds FOR nearly three
years to pay Maryland for inanumitting all hel