Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1859-01-04

that there Is no ADVANCE oi eiA Pei 'N'- Va
other per cent. in the average price oil cot
ton. The truth is, as We all Know, that
slavery is gradually concentrating ~ The
cotton country. 1t is rcccding from delaware
and Maryland, Virginia, kentucky and Missouri
and in some degree from some other States,
and concentrating itself in the cotton REGION
There are W causes powerfully operating 70
! remove it from those States. One is, the
supcrior value of Slave labor in the cotton
lands the other, the rapid increase of white
/ population and the inevitable consequence of
cheapncss of labor. One of the most distin-
ruished sons of Virginia has shown, by
Irresistible reasoning, that this latter cause
| will ultimately remove the institution from the
Old Dominion and from other States. These
! causes arc natural, and according 10 the
irresistible course of events. We cannot stay
these results; but letus. ut least, not precipitatc
them. And if slavery is ultimately to find lis
destination, in the cotton region of the South
and Southwest, where its province will be
limited, let us not so increase its numbers rs to
compel that region to exclude them in self
defence, or to render them less valuable III their
sphere.
With this reduction of the price of cotton,
from the increase Of its production, it is mani
fest that the price Of cotton lands would depre-
ciatc in n corresponding degree, instead OF he
ing enhanced, as was said, by the increase oil
the Slave population. An acre of land is val
ued according to the amount OF money It's pro-
ductivcncss will bring to the proprietor. II
that acre will produce one bale OF cotton, and
the price of that bale is reduced to five cents
I per ID. the land is worth just half as mich as
when the same cotton was worth ten cents
II is very true. that the fluctuations OF price,
which arise from occasional causes and are only
temporary in their nature, will not affect the
! value of real estate so a. TO make it rise and iall
with every change. But this is Il fair mode
and the true rule of reasoning. And when any
| cause of n permanent nature reduces the price
of the product of the soil, it has 4 tendency, to
| that extent, to reduce the value of the soil IT.
self.
Having now ascertaincd the elect Of this po-
licv upon the price of our great staple, we are
the better prepared to resume the point when
was suspended for this purpose in respect to
the value Of slave property, rs influenced by
the African slave trade. That point we have
had under review, 50 far rs to consider the direct
effect which an increase of the number Of ne
groes in market would have upon the price.
and so far as to combat the paradoXical propo-
sition put forth in the report OF the Slave trade
committee, as to the effect Of the importation
upon the negro property already in the conll-
try. In reviewing the reasoning of hat report
| also. upon the subject of population and cheap
labor, this subject incidentally came to light III
several points of view, and some observations
were made which would he equally just and
appropriate in this connection. Now, the re-
duction of the value of negro labor. Ivy redtl-
, cling the price of cotton and the value OF the
nerro's productive labor, is i more direct
stroke Mt the interests OF this institution than
the mere ovcr.stocking of the market. and it is
a stroke from which il would lie more difficult
TO recover.
The pricc of all article Is lis eXclIallseablc
Wallis, The price OF those commodities which
perish II, the Use. consists Of the cost of pro-
duction plus .ae effect Of supply and demand.
The value OF reai estate is estimated by lis pro.
ductiyencss either Ii. rents or the proceeds OF
its fruits. And negro Prosperity partakes Of the
nature of reality to sonc extent, and its price
is estimated by its productive value plus the
effect Of the supply and demand Of negro labor;
and the demand, aS has been intimatcd, is slim
ulatcd or decreased by the value Of its produc-
~tivcness. TO reduce the price of cotton, then,
or other products of slave labor, is TO reduce
the value of the negro. II is absurd to talk
about cheap cotton without involving the idea OF
cheap negro labor; and equally absurd to think
Of cheap negroes without the idea OF cheapncSS
in the products of their labor. The mistake
made by some in the Southern Convention,
who advocated the slave trade upon the ground
that il would furnish cheaper negroes, was,
that they denied that his productive value
would be chcapcned when he was made cheap.
The one is iliseparablc from the other. To talk
about buying negroes ut $500 when the pro-
duct Of his labor is the same that it now *,
would BIZ TO deal in ~fallacieS and SophiStrics too
transparent for the most ~illiteratc tillcr Of
Southern soil. The elements that enter into
the value OF Il negro. the figures by which he
is bought and sold, are too well understood
and known from experience. Even an increased
supply would be constantly countcracted in its
depressing effects by this stronger cause, If that
cause remained the same, and was not itself
removed by reduction Of the price Of products.
And thus the vast profits arising from the diff
ference in the cost of the Africans imported and
the purchase money here, would be reapcd by
the kidnappcr, and not by the Southern planter
who purchased him. lie would be sold here
by the rule Of his productive value, and to say
that he would be some cheaper, because he pre-
scented n cheaper form of Slave labor" or. in
other words. because no could do but poor work,
is to Inisconccivc the import of the term; for i
negro who sells for less than other negroes, on
" in proportion to his wOrthlc>sneSS, is no
cheaper. though you should buy him at sou.
If that is the idea, there are cheap forms of
Slave labor already in our midst.
1t cannot require more argument to establish
this point. II is clear that those who are
bnp;nr Ca. ,1,nap G1ayn 1nhnr on ibn nun hnpI
and high prices for their products, on the other,
are hugging to their bosoins n delusivc phantom
of Southern prosperity.
us sec what would he the consequence,
reasoning upon the hypothesis of $500 as
the price Of q negro, which was the amount
mentioned by a gentleman in the Southern
Convention, AS a result desirable and attaina-
bic by the African Slave Trade. The three
and a half millions Of negroes we now
possess arc worth, at their present valuation,
more than three times what they would he
worth after the reduction Of field hands to $500.
So that, when six millions are added by that
policy to our present number, the negro prop
ertv of the Southern States will be worth no
more thar it is at present uJon his cdiua'ion.
Would the South gain by the exchange in num-
bcrs:
Again, if a negro now is worth in Alabama
or Mississippi four hundred dsllars a year. he
would then he worth one hundred. If in
Georgia or South Carolina. hcis now worth tw"
hundred dollars a year, his productive value
would then he fifty dollars. lie would then
hire. 1robabiy. for food and raimcnt. This
would enable all our poor people, who are notable
to buy negroes at the present high prices, to
.., tl.,. r.,- 1ntnn mud -, that ypnt. oil
would become deeply interested in Slavery. It
would enable the owners of the waste lands in
the older Southern States To reclaim and enrich
sedgc fields and pincy groves, say others. But
would a poor man buy negro. if that ncgros
labor was only worth fifty dollars. Il year: He
could not afford to feed him. And indebted
-- Il L .-u. ....1l ..l,r nlrn.l, nnn Ininrth