Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1860-11-06
I~conespandense 6i the Mex T'rs ae'aia.I

RIcuMoSD, Va, Oct. "a, 1850.
Tic Conflict bttmesn LHbor amt Capitat-1he
.Uoneiaru Conrusion-StntiStics ef' Help
e's LIoo$-Thc Horrors IF CicH Var, dc.
In the year 1871 l first visited Boston, with
a heart burning with enthusiasm as the glorious
rccollcctions of the Revolution rose up to my
memory. As the harbor rose before my view,
and as / caught sight Of Boston Common, the
old churches and Bunker Hill, | felt indeed
that was upon classic land. What, then,
must have been my surprise when accidentally
attended Il Fouricrite meeting. 4 man some
forty years of age, low in stature and deformed,
with the marks Of care and want deeply
plourhcd upon his face, was inVeighing in
tcrlus Of angry and vindIctlve passion at the
opnrcssion Of capital over labor. Call you
this a free country, when ], forced to labor
when an unthinking infant, placed to act my
part as a machine until my body has become
deformcd, and an old man, though young in
years, struggling on, OIL, from day to night
and from night to day, ut hard labor, to earn
a mere %pittance, barely sufficient to provide
the c~oarsest food for my stomach and the ru-
dcst clothing for my body B.? And yet, as if IN
,nockrrr, We see 4 huge smoke stack arising,
which they call n monument to commemorate
the achievement of our liberties upon the
bloody heights Of Bunker Hill. 1t should be
rather Il smokc.stack through which the
signs and groans of the oppressed laborer
should ascend to Heaven calling aloud for veA-
~reance.' 1t seemed, indeed, that the old war
OF labor and capital was about to be Inaugural
ted, from the shouts ofapplausc that followed his
address. But, ,ncn of the North, you may have
stillcd that cry by pitching Il tub to the whale,
and vo,, may have taught men to forget their
own wrongs in their sympathy for the Cypress
ed slave Of the South. Take care, when this
slavery hurnbug is removed, that labor does
not return with fresh and boldcr attacks Hpon
capital.
What is il but the old war Of labor against
| canital, that is promulgated in the spacious
plca that slavery makes an arIstocracv-thal
Of the 5000, 900 of whites at the South, only
some 200, 900 are the owners Of slaves, and oil
these shareholders over one half W but one
slave? .
It is ridiculously inferred from this that all
others have no interest in the institution. anu
If abated no others would suffer. 1t is needless
to stop to enquire into the injustice that would
he done to these shareholders, If they were dc.
privcd of their property. The sudden destruc'
ton of $400, 000, 900 Of property would pro:
ducc a monetary commission such as the world
never before witnessed. And, besides, 1t is
not true that only the owners Of slaves are III
~tercstc,l in the institution. 1t is probably true
that this species Of property Is more snodlvldeh
than any other. As Il matter OF contrast, TO
make this clear, how small 4 proportion the
stockholders Of the banks bear to the whole
Dopulutinr. How few are the owners OF rail-
road stock in comparison with the population
of the country through which the road passes.
Is it tn bc hence inferred that the banks should
be DESTROYED, and that the railroad track Is 10
be torn up and the cars demolished: Would
not All Suilsr-the borrowers from no longer
obtaining accommodation 1T the bank, and The
people from not having convenient means Of
travelling or transporting their crops to mar
kct? No property can be nnniililated without
producing injury to others than the owners.
But perhaps the imposing answer that can
be given to Helpers argumcnt-tiat rs only
100000 persons are interested in slave proper
ty, these are an ariStocracy endured by the Da-
lance of the 5000, 000-is to be found in tile
statistics of Ncw York and Brooklyn. The mum
hers OF owners Of land in Brooklyn and New
York, comparatively, waS rs follows in ls'':
brooklyn. New York.
po;nnlation 20j,2jn i29,Sl0
ounnrs If land l0,SS7 l+,7S+
Value of Real Estate. Sit ,o3S,O0o "'',ouU Ooo
~. Ill ono % 100