am justified therefore in saying this Conven-
tion does not represent the public sentiment,
and believing as I do, that this Convention a
few days ago, passed an article, the effect of
which is to make all white men slaves, and
that they are now engaged in what I consider
plain, downright robbery—I am opposed to
its action. There is one question, it seems to
me, and but one, that properly enters into
the determination of this question. Will, or
will not the interests of the State be promo-
ted by the abolition of slavery? And that
question embraces the advancement of the
material interests of the State and her status
in reference to this unhappy civil war.
I do not believe that her material interests
will be best promoted by such abolition.—
Gentlemen may boast of the greater pre-
tended advances in the elements of national
power claimed for the free States, of their
many churches, their school houses, their
thrift—greater population, greater industry,
greater wealth, &c., but sir, I have not seen
it. I do not know it to be so, nor do I be-
lieve it to be so. One gentleman has told us
that sailing down the Ohio, a blind man
could tell you upon which side was the smil-
ing face of freedom and on which the barren
waste of slavery.
Some time ago I had prepared some
tables from the census of 1860, and from these
tables, I think, I can show the Convention
that the prosperity of the slave States is
greater than that of the free States.
The population of the free States, by the
census of 1860 appears to be 19,201,546.
Slave States, free, 8,290,000
Slave States, slaves, 3,950,000
—, 12,240,000
Valuation of real and personal property,
1860.
Free States................. $9,325,945,000
Slave States................ 6,833,671,000
Wealth per capita of free population—
Free States............. $485.50 (about,)
Slave States,............. 824..13 "
Wealth per capita of entire population—
Free States................. $485.50
Slave States,.............. 5:18.40
But deducting from the wealth of the South
the value of the slaves, 1,185 millions—esti-
mating them at $300 per head, (which is
higher than their assessed value for purposes
of taxation, ) and then rating the slaves with
the free population, and we have per capita,
Free States........ ................ $485.50
Slave States,....................... 461.50
Let us now make a comparison between
some of the individual States.
1. The two Western BORDER=0 States, Ohio
and Kentucky—
Ohio, per capita.................... $510 00
Kentucky, free population....... 725 00
Kentucky, free and slave......... 576 00
2. The two Eastern BORDER=0 States, Penn-
sylvania and Virginia— |
Pennsylvania, per capita,....... $487 00
Virginia, free population, ...... 661 00
Virginia, free and slave,......,.. 486 00
3. The two States where the products of
the forest form the leading feature—
Maine, per capita................. $303 00
North Carolina, free.............. 563 00
North Carolina, free and slave, 361 00
4. The two States having the largest ship-
ping ports—
New York, per capita,......... $474 00
Louisiana, free,..................... 1,683 00
Louisiana, free and slave,........ 850 00
5. The two largest manufacturing States—
Massachusetts, per capita........ $662 00
Georgia, free........................1,091 00
Georgia, free and slave.......... 610 00
6. The two States purely agricultural—
Indiana, per capita,............... $391 00
Mississippi, free,....................1,716 00
Mississippi, free and slave,....... 767 00
It is observable in an examination of the
census, that wealth is more diffused and
equalized in the South than in the North.
Whilst there are but few of the colossal for-
tunes, such as have been realized in the
North from commerce and manufactures,
there is comparatively but little pauperism in
the South, thus the number of paupers in
Maine and Massachusetts is equal to the en-
tire number in the fifteen slave States.
When, therefore, gentlemen tell me of the
greater prosperity of the North, of their
thriving villages and prosperous communi-
ties and I answer that their assertions are
not sustained by the census, are not borne
out by facts, because the census, the official
authority, shows it is not so. The gentlemen
who have preceded me have gone into an in-
vestigation as to the quantum of crime, pau-
perism, immorality, vice and all those other
moral evils that usually afflict the human
family, with a view of proving that in a
slaveholding community they exist in a
greater degree than in free communities.
And the gentleman who preceded me (Mr.
Daniel) read a report with regard to the isl-
ands of the West Indies. I might safely leave
the argument upon this branch of the subject
to the very able argument of my friend and
colleague (Mr. Jones) who spoke yesterday.
But let us for a moment glance at the review
of San Domingo as given by the English
historian Alison. " The following table
contains the comparative wealth, produce
and trade of San Domingo before 1789, and in
1832 after forty years of nominal freedom :"
1789 1832
Population.......... 600,000 280,000
Sugar exported....672,000,000 lbs. None.
Coffee " 88,789,000 " 32,000,000
Ships employed.... 1,680 1
Sailors................ 27.000 167
Exports to France..£6,720,000 None.
Imports............... £9,890,000 None. |
