The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1858-05-20

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be said 81 shareholders and THEN cruelties 10 the
slave by persons who have knowledge of south
life, doubt if there is another six millions of
people ON the globe possessed with the spirit of
humanity and indulgence, moved by the impulses
~f6dntf ssiC. tb filled with the milk of human kisd.
ness, as the much abused and traduced six millions
OF white people who inhabit our southern States.
The Impress OF indulgence ana generosity is stamped
upon tAeir whole industrial system, and the very
results Of the sbssnes Of al rigor sxaction and
verify in their treatment Of the slave which appear
In their lax industry, are sddpced against them ss
proof Of the bad economy Of the system, and the
curse Of slavery They IRE indeed proofs not these
things, but Of the patriarchal kindness Of the master
to the slave, and his generous indifference TO gain
There is no doubt Of the fact that if the southern
system oflabor were vigorously driven and forced
to it's highest capacity Of performance at least
third greater probably douby greater results would
be accomplished, in the product derived from slave
labor than is derived under the prevailing system of
mildness and indulgence. If the southern people
were bent upon profit, and could consent to treat
t'AS n'"'S "itaA NV oS'VAiy uASy aAO ehABCu WIN
doing. they could at once add an increased produc-
tive power to their industry equivalent to the labor
of several millions of new Africans imported from
across the ocean. t., fta 'nf ~ Hogi pee'si +ti
The Characteristic Of the southern temper is its
comparative indifference to emolument and profit ;
and the small product which is exacted Of slave
labor is conclusive evidence of the continual
sacrifice of gain which they make to the prevailing
sentiment Of indulgence to the slave This greatin-
dustrial fact this concessum of foe and friend ar
CUES for them larger expenditure of active and
real philanthropy for the negro than is bestowed by
all tho noisy champions of abolitonism the world
over, a4t',@ ~ 49, lfFl
The refusal of the southern people to exact of the
negroes which they already own more than half or
than twohrds Of the labor they are capable of per-
fosming is'conclusive proof of their general ndis
position to reopen the slave trade The only object
Of such proceeding would be the increase of labor
But they have at command almost double the labor
they already employ; and their very unwIngness
put this reserve of labor into requsition demon
srases the existence of temper which would resist
the importation Of additional labor. y v $500
The revival of the ssve trade il a measure which
could only result from cold, caIlous, ayaricious
calculation Of gain and thirst for profit and we con-
tend that this is not the spirit which actuates the
southern people. Evenin the period when the Afri-
can slave trade was in full progress the southern
people demonstrated against its prosecution 1t was
recited in their Declaration Of Independence as one
of the intolerable grievances to which the mother
country subjected them; and, when the trade was
abolished, it was urged as a southern measure and
was abolished by southern votes At no time during
the existence Of the trade could the southern people
have been gotten to sanction it by vote and it was
carried on in spite of their opposition to it, by Eng
iish and Yankee vessels who infested southern
waters, and English and Yankee factors who infest
ed southern seaport towns After long course of
complaint and remonstrance ! the southern people
procured the passage Of laws denouncing the traffic
as piracy and putting end to the further impora-
etion Of slaves into the southern States ~, boa
y The southern sentiment has never since under
gone change on the subject. No southern State
has demanded or suggested the renewal Of the trade.
and even South Carolina the most ultra State of the
South on allquestions connected with slavery, has
recently, by her legislature refused to countenance
the project by most decided vote--by vote taken d
too, at juncture of public affairs which strongly
provoked TO steps of that character. -, 1.5;s
ltNorsdo we believe that single southern State
can be induced to espouse the measure There are,
no propositions absurd but that some minds will
be found to embrace and espouse them and it ia not
at all remarkable that there are men in the southern
States willing ready to mount this question as
hobby and to parade it with great zeal and ener-
gy before the southern public. We dare say, as
many dsjonted minds can be found also at the North
to espouse the project and to argue its expediency
and propriety with plausiblty and eloquence! But,
in each sections these exceptional cases and the
public, always willing to be amused with chimeras.
are willing to tolerate them for while merely for
the sake Of discussion and mental recreation; only
however, to repudiate them in the end R I'm
We believe that if there were any mode of taking
the sentiment Of the country, the South would be
found to be even more averse to the measure than
the North; for the latter worships gain, and
the trade would open to it source of many
millions of profit while the South which has never
shown itself actuated by the a.ri sacra flames, could
never consent to infest their community with troops
Of wild and gbbering negroes for the sake Of profits
which they would not avail themselves of even if
they had them at command. ~ .fis .sn 3 4
If contrary to all probability or even possibility,