Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1858-05-28


every man who does not own slaves but has to live
By bis own labor, is a saTeg That will not do. If
this were true, it would be very unfortunate for
good many Of u.s. and especially so for me. l am
q laborer with my hands, and | never considered
myself slave, in the aoceptation Of the term slave
in the South. do own some; made them by my
industry, by the labor Of my hands In that sense
of the term should have been slave while was
earning them with the labor Of my hands.
Mr. HAMMOND. Will the Senator define a
slaveH
Mr. JOHNSON, Of Tennessee What we under
stand to be slave in the South, is who is held
during his natural life subject to. and under the
control Of, master. The necessities of life, and
the various positions in which man may be placed,
operated upon by avaricc, gain, or ambition, may
cause him TO labor but that does not make slave.
How many men are there in society who go cut and
work with their own hands, who reap in the field,
and NOW in 8 meadow, who hoe corn, who work in
the shops? Are they slaves? If we were to go back
and follow out this idea that every operative and
laborer is a slave we should find that we have had
great many distinguished slaves since the world
commenced Socrates. who first conceived the idea
of the INN ralty Of the soul, Pagan he was, la
bored with his hands;-yes, welded the chisel
and the malet giving polish and finish to the stone;
he afterwards turned TO be fashioner and construc
tor OF the mind. Paul, the great expouuder, him
self was a tent maker, and worked with his hands:
was he a slave2 Archmedes, who declared that,
/
the power of his lever he could move the world was
he a slave? Adam, our great father and head, the
lord of the world vas tailor BY trades wonder if
he was slave?
When we talk about laborers and operatives, look
at the columns that adoTn this Chamber, and see
their finish and style We are lostin admiration at
the architecture Of your buildng@ and their mas
| sive columns. WI can speak with admiration
What would il have been but for hands to construct
! it? Was the artizan who worked upon it slave
| Let US 20 to the South and hos matters stand
there Is every that is not IA slave holder to
| be denominated slave because he labors? Why
| indulge in such notion? The argument cuts at
both ends Of the line, and these kinds Of doctrines
/ do us infinite harm in the South There are opera
! tives there; there are labOrers there; there
mechanics there Are they slaves Who is it in
the South that gives US title and security for the
institution of slavery Who is it let ask every
southerner around me Suppose, for instance We
take the State of South Carolina; and there
many things about her and her people hat admire;
We find that the 1884 984 slaves in South Carolina
| are owned by how many whites? They are owned
| by 25 556 Take the State of Tennessee with
| a population of 800 900; $4,000 slaves are
owned by SO, 1854 persons. The slaves in the State
| of Alabama are owned by 29,292 whites. The
whole number Of Shareholders in all the slave States,
when summed up, makes 347 600, owning three and
half million slaves. The white population of the
| State of South Carolina is 274,00O; the slaves
L X
! of the State is 66S, 507
The occupations in South Carolina, are GO, $40
Now, take the % 600 slaveOWneTs out, and large
| proportion Of the people Of South Carolina work
with their hands Win it do to assume that, in the
State of South Carolina, the State of Tennessee,
the State of Alabama, and the other slave holding
States all those who do not own slaves are slaves
| themselves? win this assertion do? What does
it do at home in our own States? It has a tendency
raise prejudice, to engender opposition TO the in
stituton Of slavery ITSELF Yet our own folks will
do it.
Mr.. MASON. win the Senator from Tennessee
allow me to interrupt him fer moment.
Mr.. JOHNSON, of Tennessee. Yes, sir
Mr. MASON. The Senator is making an exhi-
bion of the very few Shareholders in the Southern
States in proportion to the white population,
cording to the census. That is an exhibition which
has been made before by Senators who sit on the
other side of the Chamber. They have brought be-
fore the American people what they alledge to be
the fact shown by the census, that Of white popu
latiOn in the southern States, there very few
who are Shareholders. The Senator from Tennessee
is now doing the same thing. | understand him to
say there are but sOme-I do not remember exactly
the numbers, but think three hundred thousand or
a fraction more of the whites in the slavehOding
States, who own three million slaves; but he made
no further exposition. l ask the Senator to state
the additional fact the holders of the slaves the
heads of families Of the white population; and
neither that Senator nor those whose example he has
followed Gu the other side, has stated the fact the
white population in the southern States, as in the
other States, embraces men, women, and children
He has exhibited only the number Of shareholders
who are heads of families.
Mr.. JOHNSON, of Tennessee. The Senator says
I have not made exhibit of the fact. The Sena-
tor interrupted me before l had concluded. gave
way as a matter of courtesy to him. Perhaps his
speech would have had no place, if he had waited to
hear me a few moments longer.
Mr. MASON. l shall wait. thought the Sena-
tor had passed that point
Mr.. JOHNSON, of Tennessee. was stating the
fact that according to the census tables three nun
dred and forty seven thousand white persons owned
the whole number of slaves in the sOuthe States
was about 10 state that the families holding these
slaves might average six eight ten persons, all
of whom are interested in the products of slave
labor and many of these slaves are held by minors
and by females. l was not alluding to the matter
for the purpose the Senator from Virginia seems TO
have inlimated, and l should have been much OBJ
lged to him if he had waited until he heard my ap
plcation of these figures. l was going TO show
that eX pressions like those to which have alluded
operate against in the South, and l was follow.
ing the example Of no / was taking these
facts from the census tables, which were published
by order of Congress, to show the bad policy and
injustice of declaring that the labOring portion Of
our population we're slaves and menials. Such de-
clarations should not be applied to the people either
North or South l wished to say in that cOnneC-
tion that, in my opinion, if few at The North
and at the South, who entertain extreme views on
the subject of slavery, and desire to keep up agis
ton, were out of the way, the great mass Of the
people, North and South, would 60 on prosperOusly
and harmoniOusly under our institutions.
Now, sir, am | a conservative; but am for ad-
ministering this Government correct principles.
l believe the time will come when the northern
States will be the advocates of the institution of
slavery in the South I believe the time will come
which We heard announced on the other side of the
House, when Massachusetts will be for free trade
How long is it since she standing here advOcat-
ing protection, high tariffs, and bountes? Yeser-
day her Senator told she was for free trade, and
the abolition of ell custom houses. 1 am not
prophet, nor the of prophet, but l predict
here that the time will come when the nOthern
States will be the advocates of the institution of
slavery it exists in the South Why? The
whole difficulty, in my judgment in regard to sla-
very has arisen from jealousy of political power
in the Congress Of the United States. The people
of the North have been told that the South obtain
undue proportion of power in the councils Of the
nation because of the three fths representation of
slaves that the three million slaves they get
eighteen Representatives Now, if the question |
we're looked at properly, it would be found that in
stead Of slavery being element of political |
power it is element of political weakness If |
slavery abolished in tho South and her slaves
made treemen, instead of the South having egh- |
teen Representatives for her three million slaves,
she would have thirty Representatives But for |
this provision Of the Constitution all The negroes
the South would be counted, and we should have a
larger representations in the councils of the ma
ton.
This is what was going TO show and the time
will come when the South will hear the North advO
eating the institution of slavery. Why do l say
Let US 60 on with the policy proposing, settle
and cultivate these lands reduce them to eutivs-
ton, wideI the demand for cotton, widen the de-
msnd for rice, widen the demand for sugar and 20
baccO, widen the demand for the product of slave
labor; and just in proportion as you do that, you
reconcile the North TO the institution of slavery -
Let us populate our public lands, and reduce them
to cultivation; let us embrace Cuba; and when We
shall have sufficient amount of country adapted to
the production OF sugar, and to the production of
cotton, we shall supply the demands at home
Taking four hundred thousand bales of cotton as
the amount consumed in the United States and run
your population TO one hundred and fifty millions
and you create demand at home for every pound
of cotton that can be grown in the United STATES
Run it up to five hundred millions and there will
be more demand for rice, cotton and sugar at home
than you produce.
When the northern people come to see and know
hat sugar, cotton, and rice cannot be produced by
any other kind of labor than slave labor thew will
become reeOnciled to the institution. The demand
becoming great hey will see and feel the necessity
OF having those articles Cotton must be had: sugar