Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1858-03-17

i the acknowledged seat Of the empire Of the
world. The sway of that valley will be as great
as ever the Nile knew in the earlier ages of
mankind. We own the most OF that valley
The most valuable part of it belongs to us; and
although those who have settled above Us are
now opposed to us, another generation will tell
different tale. They are ours by all the laws
Of nature; slave labor will GO over every foot of
this great valley where it will be found protita
BILE to use it, and those who do not use it are
soon to be united with us hy such ties as will
make lis one and inSemrable. The iron horse
will soon be Gathering over the sunny plains OF
the South to bear the products OF its upper
tributaries to our Atlantic ports, As it now clat-
tiers over the ice-bound North. There is the
great Mississippi, a bond Of union made by ma
ture'S law. She will forever vindicate her right
to the Union. On this fine territory we lave
population four times rs large is that with which
these colonies separated from the mother cOun-
try, and a hundred, might say q thousand,
fold as strong. Our population is now sixty per
cent. greater than that of the whole United
States when we entered into the second war of
independence 1t is as large as the whole
population of the United States was ten years
after the conclusion of that war, and our exports
are three times as great as those of the whole
United States then. Upon our muster-rolls we
have a million Of men. In defensive war, upon
an emergency, every one Of them would be
available. At any time, the South can raise,
equip, and maintain in the field, a larger army
than any Power of the earth can send against
her, and an army of soldiers-men brought up
on horseback, with guns in their hands.
If we take the North, even when the two
large States of Kansas and Minnesota shall be
admitted, her territory will be one hundred
thousand square miles short of ours. 90 not
speak Of California and Oregon; there is no an-
a tasonism between the South and those countries,
and never will be. The population of the North
is fifty per cent. greater than ours. have noth=
ing to say in dsparagement either Of tho soil of
the North or the people Of the North, who are
brave, intelligent, energetic race, full of intel
lect, but they produce no great staple that the
South does not produce; while we produce two
or three, and those are the very greatest, that
she can never produce. As to her men, however
high they may bc, they have never proved them
selves to be superior to those of the South,
either in the field OF in the senate.
But, sir, the strength of nation depends in
great measure upon its wealth, and the wealth
of nation, like that of a man, is to be estima-
ted by its surplus production. You may so to
your trashy census books all of which is perfect
nonsense, and they will tell you that in the
State of Tennessee the whole number of house
servants is not equal to one half those in my
own house, and such things as that. You may
ascertain what is made throughout the country
from these census books, but it is no matter how
much is made if it is all consumed. If man
is worth millions of dollars and consumes his
income, is he rich? Is lie competent to embark
in any new enterprise? Can he build up ships
or railroads? And could a people in that con-
diton build ships and roads or go to war? All
tue enterprises of peace and war depend upon
the surplus productions of people. They may
lie happy, they may be comfortable, they may
enjoy themselves in consuming what they make /;
but they are not rich they are not strong. 1t
seems, by going TO the reports Of the Secre-
tary Of the Treasury, which are authentic, that
last year the United States exported in round
numbers S279 100000 worth Of domestic pro-
duce, excluding gold and foreign merchandise
re-exported Of this amount $l5S,OOO, 900
worth is the clear produce Of the South; arti-
cles that are not and cannot be made at the
North. Here are also $S0000,0OO worth of
exports of products Of the forest, animal pro-
visions, and breadstuffs. If we assume that the
South made but one third Of these, and think
that is low calculation, our exports are $685.