Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1869-06-15


thy especial providence, these same african
nooroes whom we caught and brought here
;deIoters and cannibals, have been brought
to the knowledge of christianity and civiliza-
t;on bv these same Southern shareholders, it
is true, and now, if not everywhere among
thy saints, are at least among the likes Of
them, these Southern slave holders, fitted and
prepared to be their equals, aye their superi-
ors All the merits of whose christiauiza-
tion and civilization, oh, good Lord, we hope
and expect thou will impute unto u.s. and not
unto them AS VIC are thy saints, and though
we got the price, the 80 'shekels of blood
yet, oh, good Lord, in spite of the price and
all the profits, which We acknowledge we have
received, yet, still, oh, good Lord, impute all
the merit to us and not them For we are
thy saints, and in all we did then and since,
have been governed by the holy instinct Of
saintship! We confess, too, oh, Lord, that
we, Jew OF us, while these same accursed
Southern people were civilizing and christian.
izing idolaters and cannibals, were, under thy
especial guidance.working to far greater profit,
a much more intelligent class of slaves, white
slaves But then, oh, Lord, though we got
all the best public lands, and all the wealth
produced by their labor, we gave them in
consideration of their labor, a, B, 9, schools,
aud soup shops and poor houses, when, and
only when, they were no longer able to work
Tor us thy saints! Now, oh, Lord, thou wilt
judge letwcen US and them, and whether
when the "beam is in our own eyes, we blame
the mote which We see in their eyes" Grant
unto US, oh Lord, thy saints, even to work
these same and profitable white slaves, and SO
that we, the few, may forever own the prop
erty produced by them, including their pub
T. J., oil that chOica and
valuable, and we, thy saints, will, time with
out end, build splendid churches, pay thous>
ands to thy ministers who co-operated with
us, and give to our accomplished white slaves
A, B, C, schools, soup shops and poor houses,
in testimony that they are our help Slaves
white slaves,) and that we are as much bound
to do so, as the South was to support its old
and inirm negroes, we sold them !"
Such, Mr.. Wade, is, in my opinion, fair
statement, between northern men and southern
men, and between Black, slavery and White
SIdverY! l admit that under avhjte Sluuery,
few men-one in a hundred-may become
the owners of property-but the masses under
that system-and as long as paper-money and
usu1y exist-wil be forever condemned to be
"hewers of wood aud drawers of water for
themw They will never work their own
lands, as you desire, nor manufacture in their
own little shops but still their own-nor
engage in commerce and sell goods on their
own account" This is not enough, Mr.. Wade!
Men want 1oroperty-property of their own J;
and ought to have fair chance to acquire it,
and work it on their own account
Give them, then, ''just weight and just
measure" for all their abor-a stable and per-
manent currency that cannot be made to
huctuate in value at the will of usurers,
brokers' and shavers and money-changers-
such men as Christ himself "scourged from
the temple, and overturned their tables-cease
to give away to rich rail road companies, and
rascaly clubs of specializing congressman, all
the select and best lands-the public lands
the only lands the poor own-and divide to
actual settlers those lands: And, then, if
poor women-Whte women-undcr the dia-
bolical factory system for the benefit of few
millonaries-are reduced to a Whitc-S'dUe1y
and menialism under which ''one-half of them
die at eighteen and the other half languishes
under disease to be transmitted to their pos
terity" they and their protectors and parents
will at least have promised land" to which
they can flee away, and be at peace, from the
the exactions of their canting, hypocritical,
Pharasaic task-masters
So much for the monopoly in land and the
cause of it. l hope the importance Of the
subject will justify the length of my letter
thus far, and that, although have promised
Gin swinging around the circle"-to touch
upon and examine the action Of the same
causes in producing monopoly Of manufactur-
ing and commerce in few hands, | shall be
able to conclude what have to say on these
two subjects more briefly.
Iaflirm, then, that the effect of usury, and of
banks and paper money, the prolific fountains
of usury multiplied and mugnifed ten fold,
is, to create monopoly in the lucrative oc~
equations Of manufacturing and commerce in
all their respective branches, and to consign
them to few favoured hands just as certainly
and surely as if by law they had been pro-
hibited to the mass OF mankind, in general,
and assigned to particular class Of men.
To illustrate, in manufactures, this position,
1 will take the instance of boot and shoe
factories This is large and profitable branch
of manufacturing, and l have seen it stated
that single town in Massachusetts,, in the
good old days of constitutional government
sent $50, 100000 worth Of boots and shoes to
the South Now, these boots and shoes were
manufactured by millionaires, who, under the
usury and paper money system and credit
prices, could alone buy the materials: For
credit prices in fact capitalist prices, and
are always higher than loGor prices, or you
may say cash prices, which are the same thing.
In other words, under this most infamous
system, if poor laborcr would purchase the
materials OF his own trade. he must do so in
gold or labor naked and stripped Of that per-
sonal credit which formerly in his hands was
attached to it, and which personal credit with
all the other personal credits of all other poor
men have been consolidated into banks for the
benefit of the rich and of spectators, and
where not one in an hundred of the labOrinr
poor ever derives any benefit from this con-
soidated and incorporated credit, though all |
personal credits have been swallowed up and