I have before referred to the work of Mr.
Kay as showing the condition of the English
poor. I refer those who wish a farther in-
sight into such mailers to that writer.
St. Domingo is a fair illustration of a free
black community. In the course of thirty
years left to themselves they have degenerated
in every way, and from having been a thrifty,
enterprising, productive people, they have
become debased, idle and sunken in degrada-
tion and poverty. My colleague (Mr. Jones)
yesterday showed that the policy of manu-
mission was abandoned in this State thirty
years ago unless accompanied by coloniza-
tion, and why it was so abandoned. That
crime and pauperism increased, in a greatly
increased ratio, in the Northern States with
the increase of the free black population and
it was because of the influence of this condi-
tion of facts, resulting from the abolition of
slavery in the Northern States, that Maryland
thirty years ago discountenanced emancipa-
tion. It was to free us from the curse of a
large free negro population, and not because
it was '• a favored institution" as charged by
the gentleman from Baltimore. I find, sir,
in a newspaper some statistics bearing upon
the resources of the North and South re-
spectively, and taken from the census of 1860,
which I desire to append to my remarks :
Pood Resources of the Free and Slave States, from
the Census Returns of 1860.
Worth. South.
Horses.................. 4,301,061 2,960,636
Mules................... 152,395 1,122,455
Milch cows............ 5,244,254 3,419,011
Working oxen........ 1,011,928 1,176,226
Other cattle........... 7,859,430 10 054,676
Sheep................... 15,857,043 7,933,434
Swine................... 12,380,130 22,570,561
Total live stock.... 46,806,241 49,236,999
Value of animals
slaughtered in
1860............... $105,670,050 $106,362,005
•Wheat..........bush. 120,715,138 47,460,889
Corn............ " 392,756,465 434,938,063
Peas & beans " 3,105943 11,993,803
Total bus. grain....516,577,546 494,392,755
Bice, pounds.......... 4,139 187,136,034
Irish potatoes, bush. 98,055,199 11,967,940
Sweet potatoes " 2,333,697 39,268,053
Total potatoes......100,388,896 51,235,993
Sugar, pounds........ 37,054,314 304,014,254
Molasses, gallons..... 6,191,334 19,266,085
The product of bay in the free States for
the year 1860, was 17,215,952 tons, while in
the slave States it was but 1,867,554 tons—
and Northern writers have frequently referred
to this fact with great complacency, assert-
ing its value to be nearly equal to the cotton
crop of the South, when it is conclusive evi- |
dence of the agricultural poverty of the
North, particularly those sections which pro-
duce the most hay, arising from the severity
of the climate. The South, from its milder
climate is not under the necessity of convert-
ing its grasses into hay as winter food for its
stock, and raises—without hay—nearly three
millions more animals than does the North
with its immense hay crop.
The relative population of the free and
slave States is as 19 to 12, and as the slave
States are now increasing their food products
to the exclusion of cotton and tobacco, it
will be readily seen that the Northern theory
of "starving the rebels" is not likely to be
realized.
A comparison of the social statistics of the
free and slave States present? some singular
results. The effects of the fanatical, reli-
gious and political isms of the North may be
seen in the returns of the insane and idiotic :
Free States. Slave States.
Insane...............17,864 6.135
Idiotic...............11,160 7,705
The deaf and dumb and blind, afflictions
arising from natural causes, are more nearly
equalized still, with a Northern preponder-
ance;
Free States Slave States.
Deaf and dumb...9,722 5355
Blind................ 7,293 5,342
Crime and pauperism, two very important
elements in estimating the social condition of
a people, have been entirely omitted in the
published returns of the consul of 1860. The
returns for 1850 are very full on this subject,
and may be accepted as the basis for the
present relative numbers:
Number of criminal convictions in
the free States for the year 1850..... 23,778
In the slave States for the same year.. 2,901
Paupers in the free States in 1850.....113,812
Paupers in the slave States in 1850.... 21,160
The six New England States furnish largely
over their proportion in all the above classes,
thus: North and South Carolina, Georgia,
Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, with a
population of 5,217,124, have 2,166 insane;
while Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire,
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connec-
ticut, with a population of 3,135,283, have
4,517 insane—or 3 1/2 to 1.
1 believe whenever a nation is left free and
untrammeled, it will adopt those institutions
which will best promote its interest. Such
seems to be the natural instincts of human
nature. The moral perceptions of the Yankee
community previous to 1808, were not so
much shocked by the existence of slavery
that they could be induced to throw away the
advantages their large commercial interests
derived from the transportation of negroes
across the Atlantic for the purposes of sale,
for it was by Northern votes, against the vote |
