New-York daily tribune., 1858-08-16


opeIstlot of tie slave syssem IL excluding 'hem
from employment IN the cultivation oi c''.o"' su'
great sg1culIursl staple Of those States oi "H'9u
the production is carried On almost exclusives! "
slave lsto-.
It's undoubtedly BY this exclusion, under tue oP.
erston CT the ssTe iys.em, Of the g'es5 n'a'' VI
tie white population Of the Slave States iron aH!
share in tie productive and profitable industry o'
tho.e States, ths. the stability OF the slave system
il at this uonep. most seriously tnrea'enea. Il
our Scutteru frier ds who ae such zeaiots ior tue
perpetustion Of negro slavery expect 70 see 'neu
hopes in that respect fulfilled, 1t oehooses 1neln
tste ~ onoe into consideration the means OF FUR
rishirs some regular, constant and respec'so'e e"'
rloyue ut for the mass Of white men among them
bo orsn no slaves. and who are reduced, IS things
uov are. 70 an dleness iIksome TO themselves ana
which cspnot fail to prove, sooner or later Tue oc
cssion Of serious civil coIvulsions.
Now there seems TO be 10 otter means OF fur
ri.bipe these people with employment, ex'ePt the
introduction Of manufactures into the South. Az
ricuture, in all its larger sfd more Prohsaoie
branches, is already engrossed BY slave labor and
Slavery, had stigma placed upon it, which Do'ning
abort Of the abolition Of Slavery Will be likely TO
remove. Manufacturing labor, being as yet almost
unknown in the South, is Of course free from a'y
such stain; aid tie slight experiments hitherto
made 20 strongly to prove that an abundance OF
wfite labor may readily be bad at very moderate
rate of wages. If the cultivation OF the soil, at
m
crossed By negro labor, which the per-
p.tuahon of the slave sy.tem certainly
implies, then most uIquestionably it is incumbent
uICn Southern patriots and statesmen to provide
the white lsborers Of the slave S.ates with some
occupation in which they may be employed in in
creasiDg at once their own wealth and that OF the
community of which they form a part. But, IN or
der to do this our Southern friends must cast aside
their free.trsde notions ard become the atvoca.es
of 8 protective tariff They may perhaps be told
By some jealous free-trsders that this would not
help tbeuthat the question Of tariff or no tariff Is
only question whether the South shall be supplied
with manufactured articles by Old England or by
New. Ell gland. On the other haad the operation OF
the existing low tariff system is to expose the South
to New. England competition, which while it lasts
will render the introduction of manufactures into
the South almost hopeless undertaking. There Is
in New England and the other northeastern States
a great msss Of manufacturing labor now employed
in the production Of the coarser articles which,
under the protection of an adequate tariff, would
be rapidly diverted to finer fabrics, thus furnishing
an opening to the South, which does not now exist,
to engage in thoee coarser manufactures with
which the introduction of manufacturing industry
must always commence. 10 order to create an
opening for the South to try this great experiment
Of furnishing inviting and remunerative employment
to that great and increasing body Of its people,
whom the slave system, as it now operates, con-
demns to forced ideness, the pressure of Eastern
competition in the production of those fabrics with
which the experiment must begin must first be re-
moved. Give these Eastern manufacturers chance
to employ their capital and their ingenuity in the
production of finer articles, and they will readily
step aside and give the South chance to try their
hand at the cosrser articles. Such has been the pro-
eress Of manufacturing industry all the world
As the produ ,tion of finer fabrics, requiring
greater amount Of cspital and skil and in which
the cost of the raw material besrs but small pro.
portion to the labor bestowed upon it, gains ground
the production of the coarssr fabrics is relnquished
to Districts or countries where the raw material
is nearer at hand. To fee the South from hope
less competition with wEngland and the other
Eastern States these States must have new avenues
opened for their industry, BY beirg secured from
like competition on the part of Europe. This seems
the only possible chance for quieting stavng off
the Anti-Savery agitation. II is absurd to expect
that if agriculture is to remain the only industry of
the Southern States the labotiug people of the
country, North or South, will rest satisfied with
tie existing arrangement, which deprves the great
body Of the free people of the South of any reasona
bic chance Of employment