Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1857-04-08


sion. a paper cannot DO good one so long as
it is published on credit
We End that our new arrangement works WE'LL
true, we have refused some advertisements
which perhaps might in future years have yield
ed something, but still our receipts are secure
and average great deal more It's the only
system and the only salvation Of newspapers.
SoxE or TIE EYr1s OF SLAVE LApoR, AND De-
CLINE orLAXDs IN MANY oFTuE EARLY SETTLED
PAIRS OF Y1RcSlA.-We had OCCASION, some
lineage. in expressing our assent to the idea
thatan equitable distribution of the public lands
would doia great deal to ameliorate the present
condition of our over.taxed State, to add that
the relief would not be radical, but merely pal
Iative
1t seems that this idea was prevalent IN very
respectable quarters once, in our commonwealth,
as instanced in the speech of Hon. c. j. Faullz-
ner, which We published, and in the following,
which has been furnished US from an old file of
the Richmond Enquirer Of the year 1881. 1t
seems, to us, to smack quite strongly of eman-
cipation, and to point ont very lucidly us to
what is the real cause Of yirginia's decline 1t
readsas follows:
length of time, that some person would call
the attention Of the people of Virginia TO the
consideration of the decline of that part Of the
State where the cultivation Of the earth has been
chiefly performed by slaves,
twill appear from observation, that the peo-
pie, in settling the State, have made choice Of
the best lands for their slaves to cultivate, one
effect of which has been to destroy large forests
of delightful wood land containing timber of in
calculable value. This has been done by betting,
burning, and other expeditions means of de-
Stroyin;s timber and fuel.
The best lands in Virginia, except creek aud
river lands Cas far as my observation cxtends,)
are generally rolling; and what has been the ef-
feet on them of slave cultivation; and the want
of proper management and due attention by the
owners? Behold country, once fertile-now
washed in nUmberlesS places into guIIevs large
enough to bury ship!-without soil except in
the bottoms, and without timber to enclose
them; the homes of our fathers are forsaken by
their children; and when life lasts longer than
the land and the timber, want at length over
comes love of country, and ALL both young and
old are found forSaking the land Of their birth,
and seeking home in the unWorn regions of
the West
Inthe short period of thirty years, which is
within my remembrance, many of the above
changes have taken place OF my own know
ledge. in certain neighborhoods of land, origi-
nally fertile, softand easy to cultivate ! there
fore think it requires prophet to tell, that if
the present and former state of husbandry is
not altered, a large portion of the once valuable
lands of Virginia must become a deserted will
derncss; for, instead Of making our lands better
from the time of their being cleared, they are
daily growing poorer from constant and bQd til
lage, close grazing, and the washing Of heavy
rains. How unlike some of our sister states,
having no slaves, where many generations of
the same family prosper ON the same spot of
land
E,o,o +J1os.5 cons;5 o,.+;ons Eo,,o, ;F ,,.. Ia,
aside the matter of instructions, &c. 1 should
like to suggest few inquiries for public deliber-
alton.
1st Is not slavery the principal cause Of. the
decline of the lands in certain parts of Virgin
%. Doesit not induce great many of the
white people to dislike laborS And does itnot,
likewise, have a great influence over the morals
Of many of the white people Of Virginia, by
encouraging idleness, gluttOny, and drunken
ness, the companions Of every vice and dissipa-
ton, and the torerunners of poverty, misery and
disease, as dyspepsia, melancholy, gout-in short,
all the worst forms which are named in the Doc
tors vocabulary, and which bring human life to
n premature end?
81. 1snot slavery the principal cause direct
Is and Indirectly Of emigration from Virginia,
and of our not having more dense white popu-
lation
4th. Is it not high time for the people of Yir-=
GINA to urge their representatives in the state
legislature to adopt some plan gradual " to les
enthe slave population, either with or without
a final view to abolition?
9Th. Would it not be expedicnt to tax slaves
SO heavily as toleSsen their value to a conside-
Table degree, and to apply said taX-First, to
the removal and colonization of all such as may
be given up by their owners. Secondly, to the
removal Of all free negroes disposed togo. And,
thirdly III. a fund can be TaiSed large enouglI,j
TO the purchase and colonization Of slaves; taxi
ing care, in the mean time, to provide for She
whole expenses Of the government of the state,
8 by taoson other property.
9th. Would not such tax on slaves, by re-
ducing their price, increase the southern trade
to an extent greatly beneficial to the state Of
Virginia
Suppose the state to raise $1,000, 900 annual
u, and the price of negroes TO average 5000,
including the expense of colonizing. This would
clear us5 of five thousand a year; and If the
southern trade is stopped, it:Would, likely, clear
us of 9 much greater number than we could
coIoni2e. A. BIZ
October oath, 1881.
'sTne Ballad. The boys are now hawking
upon onr streets a two-penny ditty, 5entitlcd.
John Dean and his own Mary Ann; OF, the
Gallant Young Goodman. It is set to the do
lorous air of wilkins and his DiDah !" and the
first stRnza runs thus
- Oh listen % me while story I tell,
s 4e KIN FaeGGe you 70 DEATH I kno WsVeFytWels
s les about 0ne John DEAN cOaehTnan by tEaie,
Who tnye4gied the teetons Of Ticll young fair maid.