The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1858-08-19

bacco planters of this State realize a greater
profit on their investments than the cotton
growers of Alabama. In the production of
wheat, the other chief staple of Virginia agri-
culture, the labor of the negro slave is scarcely
less remunerstive. What is the consequence
The very reverse of the statement in the Her.
AIDS article. So far from relaxing its grasp
upon the soil of Virginia, Slavery Is daily en-.
largipg its basis and strengthening its founda-
tions. The tide Of Southwark expectation has
been checked, and, instead of converting their
slave property into money, our farmers are act
uslysmbarrassing themselves to increase their
supply of labor. This was not the case twenty
years ago. Then the slave was a burden
rather than an instrument of wealth, and the
unhappy, master was compelled to sacrifice an.
nually part of his property for the support of
the residue. If he could manage to extort
bare subsistence from an impoverished soil, he
thought himself abundantly accompanied in the
natural increase of his negroes. But q bright
or era dawned with the introduction of q wiser
system Of agriculture. Husbanding his re-
sources with . more judicious economy, and
directing the application of his labor With
more intelligent skill, the farmer soon began to
realize such profits as never before entered into
his imagination. After the discharge of the
debts incurred through many years of improvi.
dent and Hnproductive effort, his chief concern
was to extend the investment which he found
30 profitable. To-day, Slavery stands upon a
stronger basis in Virginia than at any former
period of its history.
From this representation it is evident that
Is the pressure of the free white labor of the
North" to which the Herald attaches so much
importance as an abolition agency, has exerted
no appreciable influence on the value and sta
bility of slave property in Virginia. The truth
is, that the alleged "pressure" is an idle fiction.
In what particular department does the free
white laborer from the North compete with the
negro slave? In none. Immigrants from the
North live by their wit rather than By the toll
Of physical energies. They may be found in
the counting room or the work shop, but rarely
in the field; and no matter in what numbers
they come among Us, they will not depreciate
the value of Slavery by competition of labor.
The existence of local Anti Slavery senti-
ment in Virginia" as an efficient agency of
abolition, is another fgment of the Herald S
counties of the west, Abolitionism occasionally
ventures to exhibit itself, but is incapable of
influence even within it's own restricted area.
In the State at large it is silenced and abashed
by the prevalence of strong and resolute Pro-
Slavery spirit.
By one only of the causes enumerated by the
Herald is Slavery injuriously affected in this
State, and that lie, the operation of the under
ground railroad" We do not dispute the zeal
or the success of the Yankee In this particular
enterprise We simply deny that the stability
of the institution is impaired by occasional in.
stances of kidnapping.
From this brief review of the Heralds aboli-
ton argument it is obvious that journal exults
without reason when it anticipates the speedy
extinction of Slavery in Virginia.