Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1858-09-08
To Messrs S. S. Tompkins & others, Committee.


R. F. w. ALLSTON.
: To Messrs S. S. Tompkins & others, Committee
LIVE OAK, Aug. 3Oth, 1858.
Gentlemen: regret very much that it viii
not be convenient for me to accept your kind
invitation to unite with you in the merited com
pliment which you have decided to pay to youi
distinguished Representative. have known
Gen. BoNuAA long aud intimately, and no man
appreciates him more highly than | do. " He is
a gentleman on whom you may build an absolute
trust" You have con6ded, am sure, in one
whose heart will never cherish oil emotion incon'
sistent with your best interests and your highest
honor.
Upon the most vital question to the South.
there is no issue before US, which if rightly
viewed, should divide or distract us. While the
world has beeA madly and ignorantly assailing
us, we are daily standing more erect in the con.
yiction, that there is nothing in Southern organ
ization, Social or Political, for which We need
blush or be ashamed. While the North, in blind
fury, cry out for new God and new Bible, >
we daily "search the Scriptures" and in them
find comfort and consolation, both for ourselves
and our "bondmeh"
The defence of the Institution Of Slavery as q
thing right in ITSELF was begun near 80 years
ago by Professor Dew, of Virginia. The argu
ment was subsequently resumed and pressed to
bolder conclusions by Judge Harper. Then
came Senator Hammond, whose rndication OF
the Institution, morally, socially and politically,
was unanswered, and to this day is unanswera.
bic. These Pioneers rolled back the current of
opinion that was sapping its foundation, and
lifted up Southern sentiment to its present posi-.
ton, viz: That .Starery is a thing that IS, and
IS to be-" Can it harm US to go step farther
and elevate it to the higher position that the In.
stitutioa did not originate in fraud and theft? :?
VIII not something be gained if we can root out
from the Southern mind the idea of man steal
ins which our enemies persistingly associate
wf6 the institution There is all the difference
in the world between man trading and man
stealing. While the latter was condemned, the
former was legalized by the Great Law Giver Of
the Universe.
It would carry me far beyond reasonable limit
to 20 at length into the merits Of this question:
It has, am sure, vitality enough to survive the
orscular ,anathemas, which Mr.. Speaker Orr, has
recently hurled at it. His insinuation that the
purpose of its advocates is "to furnish material
for Black Republicans" is as absurd as it is con-
t.mptible. Mr.. Boyce contemptuously kicks 1t
out of his path as "a bsrren ISSUE" The people
of this State will be sooner reconciled to cheap
negroes, than they will to have annually abstract
ed from their pockets over million OF dollars
for the support Of the Federal Government.
When he submits his proposition 10 o popular
vote, he will find it to be very "barren issue"
The clouds that hang around this question are
daily rising higher and growing thinner. When
these are dissipated, it will be viewed as great
Liz lie, hound Ivifh
modern civilization. With her $50 600 square miles
of Territory, all the South wants is the necessary
supply of labor, to secure the monopoly OF the
great tropical staples; and with these, she can
command the commerce, wealth and manutac.
lures of the world. Why is it, that the inferior
lands Of Iowa, with her inhospitable' climate,
sell for twice as much as the rich lands of Texas
with the finest climate on earth? 1t is because
the former has labor and the latter wants it.
Emigration to the South West has weakened
and must continue to weaken US. Upon our worn
out lands, can VIC hope at present prices, 10 re-
tain our operatives, the mud silk" Of our pros
perity? Is it desirable to supply their places
with Mmud sills" from the North? If we invite
the element, must we not in time expect to hear
in our very midst the cry of "slaye ocracy?':
Are not those in whose hands are now concen:
trsted our slaves, vitally interested in the dFu.
sion of slayery? Can we hope for this at pres
eHt PRICES? Is it wise, is it safe on the part
of those who own slaves, to desire to keep their
price up to a point, that must forever excla'l
the laboring white man from owning them. AS
pir.nts for public honor have heeR threatened
with associated influence, because they have
taught their slaves the mechanic arts. Is it not
better that the white mechanic should he able To
own slave ut a hoiny price, and thus, by the
strongest of human motives, interest, be con.
yerted into friend of the Institution, than to
have him chaing under what he now considers
An unfair competition between free and slave
labor? Can the Institution in the long run, sus.
tain itself as all oligarchy?
If the coast of Africa were to-day thrown
open to us, where is the capital to come from to
buy, and where the Ships to transport that nigh,
ty horde of iBarbarians with which we are told
we would at once be inundated? VIII not the
great law of supply and demand regulate this
Commerce Just as it does all trade? The idea
that the sudden effect would be to reduce the
Price Price e c9tt0n Scents, ysqFeely merits sSri,
have operated to dcpress it, the more cotton We
have produced, the higher has been its price,
5He is o sfar-seeing man who can fix the limit of
tbe worlds want of-this mighty fabric. 1tistss