Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1859-12-10
From the New York Tribune
Free Labor or the sInve-Trade.

lHVouBn Jne lnVlnclOle courage OF the
Virginia militia-through the promptitude
and energy of Gov Wise-through the
Seasonable arrival at Harper's Ferry of n
detachment of United States marines. the
institution of Slavery in Virginia has escap-
ed the sudden and speedy destruction with
which John Brown had designed to over.
whelm it, But this escape, if we are to
believe the Virginia newspapers, is only
for the moment. The institution of Slave.
ry in that State is undergoing process of
destruction, If somewhat gradual. at least
sure. If John Brown could have had
little patience he might have saved his life
aud spared his pains There is nc occa-
sion to resorting to the violent method
which he sought to put in practice. In.
deed, we are assured by the Richmond En-.
qtlrer, the organ of Gov Wise, that all
along the northern border of Virginia. in
Fairfax, London, jefferson, Berkeley. Nor
gan, Hampshire, and similar counties slave
ry is already practically abolished. In
those counties it is an institution, so we are
told, not so much sustained by the sanction
of law, as preserved by the voluntary suf
ferance of slaves themselves. This state
of things THE Enquirer ascribes to what it
calls the operation of nonintervention, that
is to say, the failure of the Federal Gov
ernment to restore runaway slaves to their
masters. According to The ENQUIRER, if
the negroes of Harper's Ferry and its
neighborhood did not rally to Browns
standard, it was not because they are sat
isfied with Slavery, but because they are
already practically free. They were IN.
willing to risk the consequence of con.
fiict which even if successful would confer
no benefit greater than they already enjoy.
ed the privilege, to wit, of any moment,
hat in hand, bidding adieu to their masters
and decamping to Pennsylvania, quite be-
Eyoid the reach of reclamation or recovery.
In all Northern Virginia, We are assured,
no law enforCes obediance, no authority of
the master cOmpes labor, since to insist
upon either results in the certain loss of the
slave, who remains is the State so long as
as it suits him to do so. The only vestige
OF his former authority left to the master
Is that OF converting the negro into money
by stealthiy dspoSing Of him to some
sIave-trader, who carries him off to the
South. White labor steps in;o the place
of these departed slaves, and in the lam
gnage of THE Enquirer, ''poisens the very
life-bood of Slavery in Virginia, eating in
to its very vitals like loathsome cancer.
That journal seems to think that Wig
orous enforcement of the Fugitive Slave
Law might save Virginia from that en-
croachment Of Free Labor, which it re-
CARDS with so much loathing and adherence
But The DanriLe Transcript, another Vir-
ginia paper, shows that this dreaded en-
croachment of Free Labor is mainly due
to quite another cause--a cause which af
fects not merely the border counties but
the entire State. This cause is the high
price of slaves, which within a few years
has more than doubled. Ten years ago
prime hand sold for $3.50 now he will
bring 81 500. Then, in estimating the val
ue of large number of negroes, 1925 was
assumed as the average valuation per head.
That valuation is now twice as great. Ag-
riculture in Virginia is not sufficiently re-
munerative to enable the farmers to pay
these high prices, or to compete with the
Cotton-planters in the slave market Hence
a result to be seen not merely in the north
ern tier of counties, but everywhere in the
State : wherever and whenever slaves are
to be sold, they are almost certain to be
bought by the negro traders, and trasport-
ed at once to the cotton growing States of
the South Under the operation of this
system there is every reason to believe that
the next census will show, as compared
with the last, decided dminution in the
number Of slaves held in the State But, |
while negro labor is thus diminishing, the !
demand for labor in Virginia is constantly
growing. The extensive system of public
improvements still going on in that State,
not only employs large number of labor
ers, but by opening facilities for a market,
it constantly opens new avenues to the
profitable employment oflabor Within the |
few past years the processes of agriculture
in Virginia have been greatly improved. |
The same has been the case with other in
dustral pursuits. With this improvement |
comes inevitably increased demand for la
Dor. White labor must come in to supply !
the gap. The real danger of the slave
system of Virginia is not from the North
but from the Soath. 1t is the Southern
cotton-fields that are constantly draining
Virginia of her slave labor, and opening
the way for that influx of free labor which |
some of her jornals seem to regard as SO
terrible a calamity.
What a change has come over the spirit
of Virginia since the days of her great
member Washingtons, her Jeffersons, her
Madisons, her Monroes Then the great
problem was, how to get rid of Slavery. |
Now the problem is, how to retain it.
Then this opening for getting rid of the
slaves would have been regarded with hope
and pleasure. Now the draining off of
the slave population is deplored as the
greatest of calamities
There is but one means by which this
drain can be stopped, and that means is the |
revival of the African save-trade. 1t is |
only by giving the cotton-growing States
an opportunity to obtain cheap negro la
Dor FROM Africa that this perpetual drain
upon Virginia can be stopped. The public
mind throughout the South is rapidly pre-.
pairing itself for this consumma tion. 1t
was supposed that a serious opposition to
it would come from the Northern Slave
States. But the argument is now being
put into shape to tell upon them.
They muSt choose betWeen the revival of |