The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1859-04-16
COMMUNICATED FOR THE DISPATCH
The Domestic Labor OF Rtchm ond

o'ate ana cannot obtain supply Of ,chiie labor.
Ana II We could, the effect OF our EMPLOYING sucb
labor IN the capitol Of slave State, could not I'm.
% seriously Injurious to the institution of sayerv
besides this, while white labor il certsi,,v cboon.
e'' mueh more efficient and under far mora cor.
'eo' 'hah We can now exercise over onr s,avs.
yer, ey the introduction into our mids, ~ -.
numbers OF Ignorant white laborers. endowed ,,,,.
all the rights aud franchises Of freemen shor,s
t'se the strong conservative influence Of s,ava,.
anu J'e' ourselves to the danger of apreri.n
ism ana moo violence which prevail to sucb az,
alarming extent In cur Northern Cities In snits If
ali 'hese eNiiS' however, so for superior Ia Whit,
labor under moral restraint to slave ra,or -.
no restraint, that many OF our citizens do now
employ white labor, aud many more would n ,h.,,
could get it, '"'9
In my opinion, our true policy is to open wide or
doors 70 the free negroes of our State and inv;ts
them to become competitors for the labor of our
city lam fully aware of the great prejudice which
exists against this class OF our population and that
our llustiugs Court yielding TO this preiudice hos
for many years refused to permit them 10 come into
this city 10 reside. / fully sensible, also. Of
tho difficulty of removing the prejudice Bu,
however well founded it may once have been. or
may now be, am entirely satisfied that i. was
the result Of causes which do not operate with us
Until within the last twenty or twentv.fiye ye wears
the slave labor of our State was redundant and
the tree negroes found it very difficult to obtain
any employment. They were therefore idle from
necessity, aud vicious by corseuuence Thev
could obtain no adequate support from honest in
dustry and were forced to resort for their living
to trnfhcDg with our slaves and to petty tl,ef.s-
The great Glass of them resided In the countrv and
Were without the restraint of an eficier system of
police. Under suck circumstances il ia not surnr;s-
lag that igaerant, sensual beings, without EMPLOYS
Uent and without restraint. should have been
idle and dssotute, and should soon come to h. ra.
Ua n q 81 aOFIQ onta
statute law, as we'll as public OPINION degraded to
the level CT our slaves, aRd there wss no sipeIe
Incentive held out to them for the cultivation and
preservation,o OF moral character. While pa,ure
necessity, ignorance and degradation itself Ali
combined to undermine their virtue and destroy
their moral character.
Such were the circumstances under which this
class OF our population acquired the bad ranuta ,
Iloh "hich no" attaches to them. Man is 90 frai
even IN his best estate, that all the motives en-.
couragement, incentives and restraints of Ubertv
law ana religlo1, cannot always keep him upright
In the absence of the potent Of all these in.
nu9aces; degraded to social position SO low that
no moral turpitude could sink them lower iepo-
rant and sensual, and tempted bv desire and abso
lute want and subjected 10 c0atroing restraint
II the free negroes of our State had preserved
their uprlghibess, they would this day present
one Of the most wonderful and Sublime snectacies
the world has ever witnessed
Bur the circumstances which contributed To
the oemoraiizatio1 of cur free negroes in the
country, 40 uos now exist with us. Labor is in
great demand, and profitable apt constant am
ployment is easily obtained The vices incidant IN
idieneas and want would thus be restrained Tbay
would by employment, be brought into constant
contact with the dominant race, and thus be eIe-
ted, restrained and improved This rasu,t ;s
universally observed in :he countrv ,S<.h siayo.
Where the owners reside upon their farms thav
are invariably more elevated and improved ard
superior IN every respect to slaves whose owners
do not reside upon their farms Again nv concnn
tratiOD in cities. they gopfd ba
mediately under the Influence of religion. thar
CAP be done. when they scattered throug gh the
country In addition to all this we have an eff .
cient system OF police, which has never existed in
The country.
They are peculiarly adapted for our labor becanse
they occupy the same social position with our
slaves; and their employment in the caDitaI of a
slave state, wonid present no antagonism to the
institution OF slavery, as the employment of free
white labor would. They recognize, and the
Law eDforces, the superiority of the white race -
they are humble, deferentisl and respectful far
more SO than our slaves. They are kept 10 suffice
tion and subordination TO the,wbite race by Sc
we're code OF legal enactments while fres white
labor is entitled 10 all tbc.<priyiieges. immu-
mites, and ffsncbisssyfssbsoIutesci shr.-
iney are dependent ApoE obedence and f.
appeal for protection odly fe the law: while slaves
are morally irresponsible, and are ever ready upou
any real, or pretended grievance, to APPEAL 10
their masters, who will always take sides with
tttLtI 81 as OF their Whlms does
not diminish their hires. TO speak plainly, the
truth is that cities not the proper places for
dlaves even where they are all owned by those who
employ them. Because, every man in CITY is too
much under the influence of public opinion, to en-.
force tie discipline necessary for the proper pre-
servation.of the institI,ionS | have ALREADY at.
tempted to show that corpoTeal punishure at is the
only discipline which can be applied to slaves
Now in the city. this discipline cannot be enforc.
ed, even by the owners, without subectipg shem-
selves to ceUsOTiOu3 rsmarE-it ba
in corner; it must be known; and where
the fact of punishment is known without know.
ing the resson for it, an unfavorable impressjon
against the party inflictipg it must be made
Ii is, therefore, known fact, that even the owners
of slaves in our city rarely infict upon then cor.
pareal punishment. But, if this be true in 2 CITY
wdere all own their own slaves, how much more
potential must be the il uence of public sentime mt
IN city where most Of the slaves are hired and
where large portion of our beet citizens have been
reared, under influences which strongly prejudice
them against the institution of slavery For these
reasons the labor of cities is such "a shoDId he
controlled by moral Influence and legal euactme eI ts
Now, t is simply Dpracticable for us to get
white labor but if We could get it, our SER
wants, in every legal right and franchise, would
be our equals, and the only restraint we
should have upon them would be by an ap-
peal TO heir sefishuess, and the threatened loss
of their place. In the older countries of Eu-one,
where labor is redundant, and the distinction OF
classes is sharply defined, and slmcst xed and
as hD ueit tuIs appear 70 tue SAiE
fishness, aided by pinchiDg want aud stringent
system of laws, is sufficient to enfore obedeuce--
But in this country, where labor is scarce and in
great demand, and where the laboTer Of to-day
may be the legislator OF tomorrow, such an ap-
peal is simply idle.
Now our free negroes are fixed in their social
posi.ionthey are bound 20 be Aetvers Of soood and
drawers Of scater They are dependent for their
support upon their obedience TO their employers
and they are under the most rigid code OF laws
a
aided by stringent code of laws-n word, we
have all the control which can be enforced in q
crowded city, and all that is necessary to secure
obedience aud fidelity. Then. again, it isa self.
supporting labor-it bears it's own burdeus-it
pays its own taxesit nurses itseifin sickness aud
old age; and when it dies, capital i. losa con-
siderstion not unworthy of the serious attention
Of a commercial people. -
In every age and in every country where slavery
has existed, The right to manumis slaves has elso
existed, and may say boldly, that it will ever
exist-the ex xistenee of freedmen is a natural in-
cdsnt to slavery-it grows out Of n, from the very
constitution of man's nature, az the pearl grows
ont of the bowels of the oyster. Aud it would
supply the varied wants of a slave holding people,
for in the country, the uniform pursuits and M.
VARYING necessities of agriculture demand n more
fyed aud perma nent kind Of labor: and therefore
IL is, that our agrcultnrfsts universally desire to
own their labor. Ii they were dependent upon
hireiBgs ia country where free labor Ia as
scarce as it is with Us, the consequences would
often be most ruinous-thoy might not be able to
obtain it iu time to their harye or from
caprice or malice It might abandon them in the
midst of their harvests. In q slave holding conn
try therefore slave labor Is Indispensable for the
purposes of agriculture. While in the cities, free
labor, for the reasons already suggested, is the
most suitable, the rlost efficient, and the most
easily controlled. This excrescsuce therefore
from slavery, which bas SO long been under the
ban in our State, is most admirably adapted to
supply the wants of our cities.
There are some 10000 free negroes in our state
from this number, we could reasonably expect to
obtain some ten or twelve thousand, which would
be about sufficient 10 supply our present wants
At all events, there cannot be q doubt, that we
could at once obtain sufficient number to break
down the monopoly which now exists by means Of
the combination of agents, aud thus reduce the
price of our labor Free labor is cheaper than