relative position of slave Maryland and free
New Jersey. I have selected New Jersey to
bring into this comparison, because these two
States are somewhat similar in size, soil, cli-
mate, and natural advantages, with a large pre-
ponderance, however, in favor of Maryland.
Now, what are the facts? They are as fol-
lows: That while Maryland has 3,149 square
miles of territory more than New Jersey, yet
New Jersey has 130,781 more white people
than Maryland; that while Maryland, a slave
State, had, in 1860, over 83,000 free negroes,
New Jersey, a free State, had only a little
over 25,000 free negroes; that while the ag-
gregate value of real and personal property
inl Maryland in 1860, was only $376,919,944,
in New Jersey it was over $467,918,000; that
while the population in Maryland, from 1790
to 1860, increased only 53 per cent., free New
Jersey increased over 70 per cent.; that whilst
in Maryland the average value of land is only
about $35 per acre, in New Jersey it is worth
$92.70 per acre. In New Jersey there were
over 91,000 children who attended school,
while in Maryland there were only 62,000.
In Maryland there were over 41,000 white
adults who could neither read nor write,
whilst in New Jersey there were only a frac-
tion over 18,000 who could neither read nor
write.
And now to make the contrast yet stronger,
let us come nearer home, and compare the 14
slave counties of our own State with the 7
comparatively free counties, and see what the
result will be. It will be shown from the
census reports that, while the population of
the slave counties increased from 1790 to 1860
only 14 1/2 per cent., the population of the free
counties—exclusive of the city of Baltimore—
increased in the same period 120 per cent.
That while the real and personal property in
the slave counties was worth only a little over
one hundred millions of dollars, it was worth
in the free counties over three hundred millions
of dollars. It will be found further, that the
farms in the slave counties averaged 153 acres
each, worth $3,433, while the farms in the
free counties averaged only 102 acres each,
and were yet worth $4,935. Free land was
worth $48 per acre, slave land $23 per acre.
These, Mr. President; are stubborn facts and
figures which cannot be ignored. Gentle-
men must meet them, and meet them honestly,
And when we reflect that the same compari-
son may be instituted between Maryland and
any other free State than New Jersey, though
Maryland has the advantage by position, soil
and climate, the same humiliating dispropor-
tion will be found lo exist against Maryland.
We assert boldly, without tear of successful
contradiction, that it is slavery and slavery
alone which is responsible. These facts and
figures prove that wherever this institution of
slavery exists, " it undermines and enervates
all those principles of public and individual
enterprise and self-reliance, which lie at the |
basis of all true political and material pros-
perity."
I will just here beg leave to state that I am
indebted to the Hon. Mr. Creswell for the
facts and figures which I have read. I have
not been able to get here the full census re-
ports from which I could get them.
A fifth reason why I shall vote for eman-
cipation in Maryland is, because the legisla-
tion demanded tor the protection of slavery
and slaveholders, is arbitrary and unjust,
and oppressive to the people.
I do not mean, Mr. President, to elaborate
this point very extensively, first, because I
wish to take as little of the time of the Con-
vention as possible, and, secondly, because the
mere announcement of a proposition, the
truth and applicability of which is so gener-
ally felt and acknowledged, is, of itself, suffi-
cient for all the purposes of a legitimate ar-
gument.
I cannot, however, content myself to pass
from this point without referring to a few
facts in the legislation of our State, which,
without any extended citations, will serve to
put this portion of my argument beyond the
shadow of a doubt.
And first, the slave code wrests from the
non-slaveholding portion of our citizens an
undue and unequal proportion of the public
taxes. The entire property, real and personal,
of the non-slaveholder is assessed by a sworn
officer at a fair valuation, and the taxes are
exacted to the utmost farthing. But the man.
who may be the owner of a slave, or a hun-
dred slaves, can be taxed, at the utmost in
any case only $300, or it may be $400, though
they be worth under ordinary circumstances
four times that amount.
And again, the master who owns a slave-
who commits a felony or murder and whose
life pays the forfeit under the sentence of the
law, receives from the commonwealth a res-
titution to the full value of his negro; while
the family of the outraged or slain victim are
left lo mourn and repine, perhaps in poverty
or disgrace, without the least remuneration
for their sad deprivation and bereavement. It
may be the husband, or the only son of a
widow who was dependent upon that son for
her support; who was the staff of her old age,
the prop of her declining years, and yet she
is compelled, under the laws of the State of
Maryland, to pay her portion of the taxes to
remunerate the master for the loss of the slave
who killed her son.
And once more, the depredating nuisance
of a negro slave, whose nocturnal raids and
pilfering have outraged the community for
miles around; is at last shot while attempting
to elude the officer; and the code of a mild
and generous chivalry levies & tax to pay the
master his full valuation upon the very com-
munity whose peace and immunities the out-
law has ravaged and outraged for years. .
Sir, I dare to say that these provisions in the |
