New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-06-11


represent them
TIE theory On the subject Of the reistions of the
black auo ytite races on which rests the monstrous
doctrine Of the necessary eternity @: pegro slavery
now 30 generally accepted at tie oosih' and no'
uithau,nuuerous converts 81 the North, Is this II
ia ALLEGED that the slaves OF the South II set free
from the perpetual vigilance, TIE Interested over
nrht, sDd tie ce.potic control OF white owners,
would inevitably sink down into condition OF
vicious idleness aud torpid bsrbarity. Useless to
them selves, nuisance to Others, ard burden TO
the community 1t ia asserted thst the only wsy
in which these black people can be made to fulfil
the duty incumbent upon them of earning their
bread b, The sweat Of tier brow, is tho master :
suthorty-th.t 70 iberste the slaves would be fatal
ct ouce snd forever to the whole system OF Southern
industry, at least 50 far as the black population is
concerned, since the only effect OF such an emin-
cpation would DO to convert the negroes from use
ful sborers into Idle ysgsbonds. And this view Of
the case is alleged TO be fully sustained By the
present condition Of the free colored population
both in the Northern and Southern States.
Now it so happens that the State Of Maryland
has tired this experiment of emancipation and Of a
re-ident free negro population on much larger
scale than any other State in the Union. She be-
gun in 1870 with S,0i3 free colcred inhabitants,
which BY emsacipations AID natural increase, had
risen in 1850 TO "A 72 and by the estimate of the
Shareholders Convention amounts now to at least
20 coo, and probably more. In the same interval
the slave population, which in 1870 WAS l03,O3G,
bad declined by ESQ to 903i-, ard probably by
this time does not exceed if it equals the free col
ored population. From 1890 TO 1850 the white
population increased from SIS, 20i to ii7,9i3, and
amounts at this time TO at least half a million.
Now what has been and is the effect on the State
of Maryland Of this emancipation of half her col
ored population Has she fallen behind her sister
aveholding States 10 the career of wealth, i'm
provemtBt and increase Of population Compared
with the other Slave States of 1890 her increase IN
wealth aud population has been, to say tho least,
quite equal to that Of any OF them, though so lar
as the coored part Of the population IL concerned
the increase las been exclusively of free persons
Let us note at the same time that this advance Of
Mary land Is not to be ascribed to any increased
proportion of the white population, for though the
ratio Of slaves to white people has decreased more
than one half, the ratio Of the white population to
tie coored population remains very nearly the same
as ever And what is the actual condition in an In
dustrial ard economical point of view of this mass
Of the poor colored people of Maryland, compared
with that of the orresponding mass Of cOored peo
pie still held in Slavery Let us refer for an an
swer to this question to the report OF Mr. James
Alfred Pearce, Senator in Congress, and Chairman
of the Committee on resolutions Of the late Slave
holders Convention, for an answer to that ques-
ton; and not to him only, but to the Convention
itself which, by the almost unanimous acceptatlon
Of this part of his report added their testimony Ia
his. Are these free negroes vagabonds nuisances,
mere burden on the white population. contributing
nothing to the wealth and productveness Of the
State7 On the contrary, tho shareholders of
Maryland assure us that their removal from the
State "woud deduct nearly fifty per cent from the
" household and agricultural labor furnished by
Z" people of color, and indispensable to the people
I" of the State" at would produce grtat dseom-
fort and ineonrsnisnoe to the great body Of
destroy The property Of a large number Of land
"holders and land renters, class whose interests
:" are entitled to as much consideration as those OF
" any portion of our citizens" The free colored
population of Maryland just about equals in number
the slave population, and here we have the solemn
testimony of a Convention of shareholders expressly
called TO consider the subject, and in which it
underwent full discussion, that, both for house
hold services and the cultivation Of land tho free
blacks furnish just as much labor in proportion to
their numbers as the slaves and that their services
are indispensable to the household comfort
and agricultural productweness of the State.
What reason then, in Heavens name, exists,
why Maryland should not go on, AID in the course
Of the next generation fully complete that generous
work which the men Of the revolution CON-
testimony Of convention Of Shareholders to the
practicability of emancipation, and to the sllm-
portsnt fact that just as much labor is to be had
out of body Of free negroes rs out Of the same
number Of negroes held in Slavery conclusion
arrived at after an experience of seventy years
why need the Convection proceed TO stultiiy Itself
by recommending new obstacles in the way Of
emancipation
While this important report throws SO much
light on the uuproductive value Of negro labor,
slave ard free, it also incidentally helps to explain
the living anti slavery sentiment, which, in spite
of the efforts of the slave holders to suppress it, is
so strongly diGused among the white non-slave-
holders of Maryland. 1t appears that the interests
of the great body of househoders and Of a large
number of land holders and land renters is ideat.-
fed, not with slave labor, bat with free colored