Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1859-03-04
ai99mon9 enquirer.
BY RITCInE DUNNAvAST. TYLER 4 WISE.
-. = = --..-.....x,
THE ACQUISITION OF CUBA.

lately re-puollSIcu III our Columns, eSpOScu tn
! great commercial consequence which must re
suit from the admission Of Cuba, as a non
| slaveholdinS State, to the Union. II can b,
summed up again in few words The aboli
ton Of slavery in Cuba will inevitably destroy
the production Of sugar in the island. So soor
as this shall be accomplished, Louisiana ant
Texas will command monopoly of the sugai
market throughout the Union, without depend
ing longer on protective bountics; the increased
rate of prices will put money in the purses o
sugar planters, and remove it from the pockets
Of sugar consumers e. e. from everybody'S eX
cept sugar planters, pockets to an extent in
comparably more cxorbitant than the present
rate Of sugar bountics.
On the other hand. the admission Of Cuba y,
slavehoding State would sweep not only
sugar bountics, but sugar planters too, entirely
off the surface Of our now sugar growing
States. Hence il is very reasonably inferred
by our cotemporary, that the easerneSS with
which Louisiana Senators are urging the ac
QUESTION of Cuba is melted by the confident
expectation that Cuba, if admitted TO the
Union, will be pushed in, like California was
with an emancipation clause annexed.
The late debate in the Senate opens the way
for new field of enquiry on this topic. viii
the ruin Of Louisiana and Texas sugar plant
ers constitute the only serious injury to South
ern interests, to be effected by the annexation
Of Cuba as slavcholding State?
BY the proclamation of constitution from
military camp in the midst Of an unorG.n'
ised territory, California VA, hurried into the
Union, for the purpose OF excluding slave
holders from participation in her mineral
wealth. 4 more fragrant violation Of consti-
tutional guarantics--a more violent infraction
Of popular rights-a scverer blow at the equal
ity Of sovereign States, hlS never been effected,
than was thus pcrpc;ratcd by the Congress OF
the United State, under the recommendation
of President Fillmore. Bat Mr. Fillmore and
his coadiutors ovcrShot the mark. The anti
slavery huntsmen fairly ovcrran the hare. All
things considered, it is we'll for the political
power of the South that they did so. Had Cal
ifornia been fairly opened to Southern comrc'
tition, it is more than probable that all the
more Northern OF the slavcholding States would
at once have transferred the bulk Of their slave
property to the gold fields Of California, and
that tic final result would have been the eX
tinction ofslavery in Maryland, Virginia. North
Carolina, Tennessee. Kentucky, Missouri and
Arkansas In other words, the South would
have gained two Senator'S and lost fourteen
making proportional accretion Of new non
slaveholdins power equal to about twcnty-slS
Senators.
The constantly increasing demand for slave
labor in the Gulf States. has already proved a
serious drain Of the laboring population in the
breadStuif States. The number Of slaves in
Virginia, it is true, ha, been slowly increasing,
but their increase has in no measure kept pace
with the growth Of our white population, the
development OF new uncultivatcd tracts oi
lands and of new fields of industry. In many
parts Of the State the free negro population
has become Indispensable to the farming inter.
est. and in more numerous instances. white Ia
borers command monopoly Of employment.
In any event, we can hardly, under present
circumstances, expect 10 see the number oi
slaves increase in Virginia in proportion TO the
increasing requirement for slave labor, so long
as our fields are drained percnniallv to supply
even the ordinary increase Of demand for labor
in the more Southern States.
Indeed, there may be causes even NOW opera
ting, sufficient to effect an actual decrease ol
the number of slaves in Virginia. The rapid
tide of emigration now pouring towards Texas
alone, may, in the course of a few years, he
found sufficient for the accomplishment oi such
extraordinary dcpopulation.
The demand for labor in Cuba i, how sup
piled BY her surreptitious trade with Africa,
which would be ut once .stopped by her annex
alton to the Union. If admitted as a slave
holding State, not only would thi, demand
have to be supplied by slaves exported from
our midst; but the immediate and vast influx
of Yankee capital and Yankee enterprlHe, woai"
at once largely increase the present demand
for labor And this demand would be supplied
with all the inevitable certainty which attends
the law Of demand and supply. How would
this new element affect the productive energies
aye and the political status, Of Maryland Z"
Virginia. of the Caro'ina-, Of Tennessee, Men
lucky, Missouri, Arkan>as-eren Of the "ui
States themselves Sand especially Of Louisiana:
This is very momentons question: and one
which it we'll bchooveS our toa haSiy statesmen
to weigh with all the nicely of elaborate con
sideration, before they precpitate its practical
solution by step which, once taken can neve'
be rctraced.
Bolts in 1856 and 1852 or Scraps for the Campaign
As hv the action Of the Richmond Convcn