Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1859-03-23

upDn tEr I,Ir, ami ~ Iar rs " LvuiU,I ,nc
parinluxicai proposition put furth in the Rppor,
OF the Slave Trade Committee, as to the effect
Of tie importation upon the negro property
already in lhe county. In reviewing the rea.
soning Of that RePar; Also upon the subject
of population and cheap labor, this subject in
ci,teutay came to lght i'll several points Of
view, and sume observations were made which
would be equally Just and appropriate in this
! connection. Nnw the reduction OF the valu'-
of negro labor, by reducing the price Of cntion
and the value uI the mgrus productive labor,
is more direct strokspt tile interests Of this
institution than tie mere uvrr.stUckng uf the
m ,rkrr, and i! is srJkr from which il would
ue :Ilvre difficult 10 rec Jver.
The price OF III article is its excEangeable
value. The price Of those commodities which
perish in the Use, co"SSts of the cost Of pro.
iucton plus the effect Of supply anu demand.
The yalue Of real estate is estimated by lis
prulucfiyencsS either in rents or the proceeds
! y! its fruits. And negro property partakes o.
the nature Of realty 10 some extent, aud its
price is estimated by its productive value plus
the effect Of the supply and demand of Ea. gro
labor; anil the demand aj has been animated,
is stimulated or decreased hy the value Of its
prUuctivcnrs,. To reduce lhep price OF cotton,
lhn, or other products OF slave labor is to
reduce 10 the value Of the negro. 1t is absurd
to talk Ib Iut cheap cotton without involving
the idea Of cheap negro labor; and equally
absurd 10 think Of cheap negroes without the
iirA Of chcapncss in the products of their
labor. The mistak: malc by some in the
South .rn Convention, who advocated the Sltvu
Trade upon the ground that it would lurn:si
cheaper neyrncS, w:lS, that they dtniei that
his productive value wonll be rll"apcn':l when
he w;ls made cheap. The one is insrpar,hlr
from the other To talk about buying negroes
at $500, when the pr..ddct Of his labor is the
same that it now is. would be to deal in f:lIia
cies and sophistrieS TOD apparent for the most
ilteraLc tiller of Southern soil. The elements
that enter iuto the value Of negro, the figures
by which he is bought and sold, are toI we'll
understood and known from exp rience. Even
IN Increased supply would hQ constantly y
counterAeic, in it, depressing uii;aci1 by ihio
tlrvn9sr r4uaa. Il ti,nt c.asc rrHlh:He,l ii>r
t:,!ar, hHl was s,us it.r!f rein,Ysi b. REDUCTION
uI iha priec uf p.,,lltr, Aud ;hus tic vast
prriiis nt,i;g i,'un Tie difference III ra cos,
vi ,l,s At!'cais imported and the purchase
money here; woa!d he r,apel by hs kilaap.
per, anal n,l b: TIE Snu'!lera pl.ut.r whu ,'ur
ciri,scd him. lie woul,l lie slid here by tho
rule Of his productive value, and say that
he wpaNl BE- so;na cheaper, because he pre-.
semlcd "a cheaper ioriu OF slave labor or, i'll
other words, because lie could do but poor
work, is to mSconceive the import Of the term;
for negro who sells for less than other negros,
ouly is proportion to his worthlessness, is NO
cheaper, though you should buy him at $500.
II that is the idea, there are cheap forms of
slave labor already in our midst.
1t cannot require more argument to estab
lish this point. 1t is clear that those who are
hoping lor cheap slave labor, on the one ham,
and high prices Tor their products IN the other,
are h,tggin5 to their bosoms dclusive phan-
tom of Southern prosperity.
Take it, then, That this is true, and let us
see what would be the consequence, reasoning
upon the hypothesis Of $500 as the price Of
lle!rD which WAS the amount mentioned by q
gentleman in the Southern Convention, rs u
result desirable and attainuble by the African
Slave Trade. The three and half million OF
negroes we now possess are worth, at their
present valuation, more than three times what
they would be worth after the reduction OF
field hands to $500. So that, when six mil
liens are added by that policy to our present
number, the negro property OF the Southern
States would be worth no more than it is at
prcsuat upon lis valnuiion. Would the South
gain by the exchange in numbers?
Again, if d negro now is wo:th in Alabama
or Mississippi four hundred dollars a year, he
would then be worth one hundred. II in
Georgia Or South Carolina he is now worth
two hundred dollars o year, his productive