remain, so that they are unfit for any useful employment. But foreign commerce is not absolutely necessary to the prosperity of a state. Ohio has scarcely any foreign commerce, yet the rapid increase of her population, the excellent cultivation of her lands, the progress of her domestic manufactures, and the extent of her public works, now in progress, announce a degree of prosperity hitherto unexampled in so young a state, and call for the admiration of all who visit that peaceful and happy community. Although at so great a distance from the seaboard, she already competes with us in one of our staple commodities. Her tobacco, cultivated by free labour, after being transported three hundred miles in wagons, is sold in our markets, and affords a better profit to the grower than is yielded to the Maryland and Virginia planters, who have a market at their own doors. This is, we think, a most conclusive evidence of the greater economy of free than of slave labour, and the same state exhibits a no less evidence of the moral effect of a free population, in promoting public enterprise, general intelligence, and virtuous habits. Within a few years past a number of manufactories have been established in the neighbourhood of Baltimore, which are almost entirely carried on by free labour. The circumstance of their employing free labour in a slave-holding country, shows that they have found it more to their interest to do so. It has no doubt been found that they could not in any other way bring their fabrics into successful competition with those made in the eastern states. But still it is found that some kinds of domestic manufactures do not flourish there to the same extent that they do in the free states, and the only reason that can be assigned for it is the character of the population. The wages of the labourer must always be sufficient to maintain him, and in Maryland it costs him more to maintain himself than it does in New England; because slavery has introduced into his neighbourhood that want of domestic ecohomy which always results from it, and because most articles of consumption being the produce of slave labour, are dearer than they are in free states. It is true that breadstuffs are cheaper, owing to the greater fitness of the soil and climate for producing them, but the poor generally buy these articles by retail, and a pound of flour is sold nearly as cheap in New England as in Mary. land: but even supposing it to be a cent in the pound dearer, this will add very little to the expense of maintaining a family, and is much more than counterbalanced by the greater cost of almost every other article of consumption. It is, indeed, a remarkable fact, that cotton and wool raised in Virginia are transported to New England, manufactured there into cotton yarn or cloth, and brought back again to Virginia, and sold cheaper than the same fabrics can be made here, although large quantities of the bread-stuffs used by the manufacturers are also taken from Virginia. It seems then that free labour is so much cheaper than slave labour, that they can afford to pay a profit here to the purchaser of the cotton or wool, a freight on them to New England, a commission to the merchant who buys them there, a profit to the manufacturer, a freight back again to Virginia, and a profit to the merchant who sells them here, and still sell them cheaper than they can be manufactured by a person here, who buys the materials at his own door, and sells the fabric in his own neighbourhood! If any further evidence were wanting to prove the greater advantages of free labour, it will be abundantly furnished by the greater affluence of those parts of the upper counties of Virginia where slaves are least numerous, and by the general independence of those industrious families and religious societies, who have for a length of time depended upon voluntary labour. An inhabitant of Virginia, on visiting the northern and eastern states, is forcibly struck with the contrast they exhibit to his own. He can travel but a few miles in New England without passing a flourishing town or a beautiful village, where the man sions of the rich are surrounded by the neat and comfortable dwellings of the poor, and where every house appears to be the abode of contentment, and every countenance wears the smile of cheerfulness. From almost every eminence that he ascends, he can see the village spires shooting up in all directions around him, and almost every stream that he crosses, contributes its strength to some flourishing manufactory. In the western part of New York, he will be still more astonished to behold the works that have been accomplished, within a few years, by the industry and enterprise of a free population. Their well cultivated fields, their populous towns, and their prosperous villages, have sprung up with a rapidity that seems like the work of enchantment, and they are still progressing with a pace accelerated by the assurance of success. After witnessing these scenes, let him return to his own state-a state that is peculiarly dear to all her sons, from the remembrance of her former greatness-and what will be the nature of his reflections? In those parts of the state where slaves are most numerous, he beholds her towns generally stationary, and some even in a state of decay. He sees large tracts of land ruined by bad cultivation, and thrown into common. The mansions of the rich seem, generally, to speak only of former grandeur, while the hovels of the poor, and the cabins of the slaves, exhibit the extreme of wretchedness? In contemplating this scene he is forced reluctantly to withdraw his gaze from the last rays of her departing glory, and fix a desponding eye upon the dark cloud that hangs over her future destiny. But lest this picture should seem to be coloured too darkly, and be attributed by some to the gloomy imagination of an abolitionist, we will present one drawn by a slave-holder in this neighbourhood, who stands deservedly high in public confidence, and is no less distinguished for the excellence of his judgment than the benevolence of his feelings. The expressions which follow, will be found in the controversy between Caius Gracchus and Opimius, on the American Colonization Society. Speaking of the "moral principle in society favourable to emancipation,' which the Colonization Society had been charged by Caius Gracchus with "attempting to create," Opimius replies: "But the little, the very little danger to be apprehended from the moral principle which the society is charged with attempting to inculcate, cannot be better attested than by the simple fact that during the eight years of its existence the country which a “single spark," it is said, "would be sufficient to throw into a flame," has remained undisturbed, even in its most delicate relations. And what, let me ask, is the object to be effected by this "moral principle?" The removal of a population cruelly forced on the present generation by those who have preceded it—a population equally injurious to our morals, our wealth, our political, purity, and our physical strength-a population which Caius Gracchus has not more eloquently than justly described as 'degraded and debased from the very knowledge of their condition as slaves, dissolute and abandoned in their moral character, and with passions and feelings of the most lawless and brutal kind." 66 And is it possible that any rational man, any "member of a christian community, and citizen of a republican country, can seriously object to the operation of an influence whose object is the removal of such a popu lation? If a feeling of justice does not prompt us to restore to others when we can, what has been forcibly wrested from them, if a sentiment of philanthropy inspires us with no wish to civilize and enlighten a benighted portion of the world-if we do not feel under obligations to carry to Africa, whom we have injured, the healing balm of the religion in which we believe-yet let us not be deaf to the calls of patriotism, let us not look with cold indifference on our country, gifted by nature with every advantage of soil and climate and location, hourly diminishing in its wealth, losing its comparative weight "Is there any inhabitant of the south who will pronounce this picture overdrawn? or is there any citizen of Virginia who will attribute the evils it presents to any cause than the character of our population? Let him look to our languishing agriculture, our deserted farms, our decayed fortunes, our decreasing population; let him cast up in his own ledger his profit and loss account for the last fifteen or twenty years, and then let him say whether the labour of the slave is not a curse to the land on which it is expended? But I forbear, the theme is as fruitful and as inspiring as it is delicate. "The sentiments I have uttered are the sentiments of a slave-holder, of one, too, whose interests are peculiarly those of the country in which he lives. He has examined this subject in all its bearings, and he unhesitatingly pronounces an early and a combined operation of the states and general government, essential to preserve the country from progressive debility and premature decay." OF THE CAUSES WHY SLAVE LABOUR IS DEARER THAN FREE LABOUR. From the facts and testimonies adduced in our second number,* we think it is evident that the labour of freemen is actually cheaper to the employer than the labour of slaves. This evidence we chose to draw principally from facts in the history of our country which may come within the knowledge of every reader, rather than rely entirely upon the experience of other countries, as recorded by former writers, and which, in every instance goes to prove the same position with an increasing weight of evidence. We shall, however, when we The first number of this series is omitted because it does not relate particularly to the objects of this journal.-ED. AFRICAN OBSERVER. come to speak of the means of preparing slaves for manumission and colonization, state the result of some experiments that have been made in other countries for this purpose, and which also afford additional confirmation of the position advanced by Dr. Adam Smith, in his able work on the wealth of nations-"That the work done by freemen, comes cheaper in the end than that performed by slaves." As this position is so contrary to the usual habits of thinking among many persons in the southern and middle states, we will endeavour to show the principal causes why the labour of slaves is so expensive to the employer. Although it may seem, at first view, that the slave costs his master no more than his food and the coarse clothing he has allowed him, yet there are other items of expense often overlooked, that are, perhaps, greater than both of these. The most prominent among them is, the expense of rearing children, to replace the slave, when he shall be worn out by labour, or released by death. This expense can in no wise be avoided by the master; for if he purchases his slaves, instead of rearing them, he must pay the expense that has been incurred by another; and when he comes to estimate the interest on the stock so invested, and the value of its annual depreciation, he will find it amounts to more than half the hire of a free labourer. Suppose, for instance, that a young man slave costs $400, the interest on this sum is $24 per annum, which is a fair item of expense, because it could have been invested so as to bring this interest. But he cannot calculate upon the slave living more than twenty years after he attains to maturity-the average term of human life is not so long -he must therefore set apart $20 per annum, for twenty years, in order to replace him when he shall die, or become too infirm to work: in the event of his living much beyond this period, he must also set apart some of his former earnings to maintain him in his old age; but this we will not take into the account, though it is a fair item of expense. The clothing of a slave, to keep him in tolerable com were returned without 'distinction of age or sex. In the year 1820, an improved, but still imperfect, census was taken. It is to be regretted that an arrangement of the slaves and free coloured race, similar to that adopted for the white population, had not been pursued throughout the enumerations. It would be interesting to compare the relative numbers of the several classes, in the different periods of their existence; and to trace, by the light of unquestionable documents, the effects of slavery, on the duration of life. A question of great importance to the people of these United States, the comparative cheapness of free and slave labour, might probably have received some illustration, from such comparisons, as a complete and uniform census would have enabled us to make. Unfortunately nothing of the kind can be drawn from the three first; and the comparison to be made by means of the last enumeration, loses a part of its interest, from the extent of the periods. We have, indeed, the white population sufficiently subdivided; the numbers, being given under ten, from ten to sixteen, from sixteen to twenty-six, from this age to forty-five, and those of forty-five and upwards. But as the slaves and free coloured people are divided by the ages of fourteen, twenty-six, and forty-five, no comparison of numbers can be made between the black and white for any age below twenty-six. comparison at either ten, fourteen or sixteen, would probably have furnished some interesting results. Instituting a comparison for the only practicable periods, the relative number of the several ages, and of each class, in each of the states where slavery pre A Free white males, 100 23.8 15.6 Free white females, 100 22.9 13.4 Male slaves, 100 22.5 9.0 Female slaves, 100 32.2 11.9 Free col. males, 100 32.8 39.5 Free col. females, 100 32.8 37.7 From an inspection of this table, it appears that slavery is unfavourable to the continuance of life. Comparing the number of whites between 26 and 45, answering to 100 below 26 with the corresponding class of slaves, we find in Delaware, Maryland, Columbia and Tennessee, the superiority on the side of the former. The states of Kentucky and Alabama, furnishes a similar result on the male side. In Tennessee, however, the difference is trifling, and in North Carolina scarcely perceptible. In the other states, including the female side in Kentucky and Alabama, the scale within those ages, preponderates in favour of the slaves. The inference to be drawn from the table, thus far, seems to be, that a larger number of the children born among slaves, pass the age of twenty six, than of those born of white parents. In Delaware, indeed, the relative number of slaves between 26 and 45 falls so far below the corresponding number of whites, as to induce a suspicion that this result is produced by some cause which is not at once perceived. It might be supposed, that manumissions, granted at an early age, had sensibly diminished the number of slaves; but as the free coloured population preserve nearly the same proportion within these ages as the whites, this explanation becomes rather questionable. Where slaves are allowed to be sold beyond the limits of the state, there is no doubt but the sales would be marked in the relative numbers of this class; but as such exportation is prohibited by the laws of Delaware, we can hardly suppose the traffic is prosecuted there to any great extent. Extending the comparison to the third period of our existence, the truth of the proposition above announced, becomes instantly apparent. The relative number of slaves of 45 and above, with but a single exception, and that a trifling one, falls below the number of whites of the same age. Such an unvaried result, must arise from a general, and not an accidental, cause. This difference in one case, (the males of Delaware) exceeds ten per |