The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1859-09-08

SHutt DC q tnOfOltgn OeO6OCfQL ana q NOfOfiyi
Free ISOiler, we shall not lift finger IN The bal
lie. But everybody knows how Kentucky anG
the whole South will vote in such lamentabl'
contingency"
We trust that this frank rejection Of the prof
fered union viii settle the matter The edito
of the Journal is Northern man, and perhaps
cares as little for Slavery as he does for Budh
ism bat he adheres 10 the power which i.
dominant in the South, and will listen to nj
proposition of union with the open enemies o.
that power. Certainly, no Northern man not q
thrtee-sOdden ass" to borrow the classic figure
of the Journal, will persist in urging union with
the Southern Opposition, after reading thi,
scornful refusal from high Southern authority
THE CONDITION OF THE WEST.
The gathering of harvest more abundant
than has ever been known does not vet relieve
the financial embarrassment of the West. The
golden grain does not come forward to the mar
ekets, and the small traders of. the hundreds OF
villages and thriving towns Throughout the
wheat region cannot meet their obligations.
Previous to the harvest, but little money OF
produce was to be found in the country. En-.
barrassments pressed down business men in all
quarters, and the farmers only were saved from
actual want by the productiveness of their fields,
which furnished most of the luxuries and all
the absolute necessities Of life.
The low figure that rules in the wheat mar.
ket evidently disposes the farmer to hoard his
crop. He expects rise in the price of bread.
stuffs, and is disposed to avail himself of the
future chances of the market, in the belief that
the present crop will relieve him from bur
densome debt. But this action stops the wheels
OF Western trade, and extends the commercial
depression under which the country has long
labored. 1t prevents the revival of activity in
the markets, and the gradual advance of the
price of real estate, as the consequence of re-
newed prosperity.
We have before expressed the opinion that a
considerable advance in wheat and -four cannot
reasonably be anticipated, and that any opera
ton near the wheat fields, or here, based upon
such an expectation, would result in disaster.
Two hundred millions Of bushels of wheat.
which is the lowest present estimate of the
present crop, will leave a considerable surplus
after making calculation for liberal home
consumption. The crops in Europe are large,
and the price for twelve months has there been
so far below that which ruled in America, that
importations of wheat have been made with
profit into this country
Had the European war continued, as was an
ticipated when hostilities commenced. it is more
than probable the coming year would been
characterized by large enhancement of price
in this country, and the commencement of re-.
munerating shipments of breadstuffs. The sud
den rise OF wheat and -four in the West pro-
duced by the expectation of an early European
demand, added to the embarrassments that pre-
viously existed. All speculations in breadstuffs
predicated on higher prices abroad, growing
out of the existence of war, proved disastrous,
and absorbed most of the active money of the
West. I
The produce of the West, this season. must
find a market in the great distributing ports of
the seaboard. The sooner it is in market the
better, for its sale will relieve, to some extent.
the local trade, and then, by the payment. of
Western debt in New York and other cities.
increase the activity of trade Throughout the
whole country.
The present condition of the West is sue
gestive of warning. When did not rash specu
lation, in the grain States, take the place of n
sound and safe businessH Cities, apparently.
grew like mushrooms-lots increasing in value,
merely by changing hands, until fabulous
prices were obtained The whole country was
induced to rush into debt, and credit formed
the basis OF almost all transactions.
The progress of the South, though not an
parently so rapid, has really been more valua-
BILE. We are virtually rich while the West is
now poor. We are now more independent than
at any time in our history; they have an in
cubus of foreign and domestic obligations that
it will require more than one year of prosperity
to throw off.-N o. Picayure. -
There is much truth in this statement of the
condition of the West. The West increases in
population and accumulates wealth far more
rapidly than the South, but its wealth is less
available, because the profits upon its invest
ments are less. The South enjoys the monopoly
of the European as well as American markets
in the sale of its staple products of cotton. to-
bacco, and rice. 1t is also protected at home
in the production of sugar The agriculture
of no other portion of the world enjoys such ad
vantages and it is to this monopoly. and not to
Slavery, that the South owes its financial pros
perity at time of general embarrassment. The
South is prosperous in spite of Slavery, and not
in consequenceIof it. If the positions of the
free West and the slaveholding South were re-
the free West possessed the monopoly
of producing the great staples of foreign and
domestic commerce, while the slaveholdinp
South only produced the necessaries of life, in
common with Europe and Amerca-the insti
tuition of Slavery could not exist. Slaves would
not be worth feeding on such terms, and they
would be permitted to go at large, or the exist
ing chattel slavery would lapse into system
Of serfdom, similar to that of Russia, in which
he serf takes care of himself, and only pays
certain annual rent to the proprietor of the SOIL
Slaveholding States arrive at an early matu-
.ity, and then either decline, or indicate prog
Tess in proportion as they slough off the sys- |
EN- of Slavery. Mississippi has every element
If civilization which is possessed by South |
Carolina. The latter has been in a stationary |
Or declining condition for thirty or forty years.
Slavery has done for it whatever il can do. and !
is future prosperity and progress can only be
n proportion to the decline of the peculiar In |
titution. This truth is conspicuously illus
rated in the history of Virginia, which re-
NAMED stationary for some thirty years. during
period of great progress with the old States of
he North, where the population was and is
hree to four-fold more dense. At length, the |
Did Dominion shows signs of recuperation, but
t is in consequence of, and in exact proper !
ion to, the removal of Slavery, by sale or emf |
grafton. |
Free communities know almost no limit to |
heir growth. They only begin to be deve- |
,ped, and to understand their resources of
wealth and moral grandeur, at that period Of
progress in population at which slaveholding
States eliminate. The West by which we
mean the States west and northwest of Ohio
$ but just arrived at this stage. II is in the |