COMMERCIAL CITIES—SOUTHERN COMMERCE.
Our theme is a city—a great Southern importing, exporting, and manufacturing city, to be located at some point or port on the coast of the Carolinas, Georgia or Virginia, where we can carry on active commerce, buy, sell, fabricate, receive the profits which accrue from the exchange of our own commodities, open facilities for direct communication with foreign countries, and establish all those collateral sources of wealth, utility, and adornment, which are the usual concomitants of a metropolis, and which add so very materially to the interest and importance of a nation. Without a city of this kind, the South can never develop her commercial resources nor attain to that eminent position to which those vast resources would otherwise exalt her. According to calculations based upon reasonable estimates, it is owing to the lack of a great commercial city in the South, that we are now annually drained of more than One Hundred and Twenty Millions of Dollars! We should, however, take into consideration the negative loss as well as the positive. Especially should we think of the influx of emigrants, of the visits of strangers and cosmopolites, of the patronage to hotels and public halls, of the profits of travel and transportation, of the emoluments of foreign and domestic trade, and of numerous other advantages which have their origin exclusively in wealthy, enterprising, and densely populated cities.
Nothing is more evident than the fact, that our people have never entertained a proper opinion of the importance of home cities. Blindly, and greatly to our own injury, we have contributed hundreds of millions of dollars towards the erection of mammoth cities at the North, while our own magnificent bays and harbors have been most shamefully disregarded and neglected. Now, instead of carrying all our money to New-York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Cincinnati, suppose we had kept it on the south side of Mason and Dixon’s line—as we would have done, had it not been for slavery—and had disbursed it in the upbuilding of Norfolk, Beaufort, Charleston, or Savannah, how much richer, better, greater, would the South have been to-day! How much larger and more intelligent would have been our population. How many hundred thousand natives of the South would now be thriving at home, instead of adding to the wealth and political power of other parts of the Union. How much greater would be the number and length of our railroads, canals, turnpikes, and telegraphs. How much greater would be the extent and diversity of our manufactures. How much greater would be the grandeur, and how much larger would be the number of our churches, theatres, schools, colleges, lyceums, banks, hotels, stores, and private dwellings. How many more clippers and steamships would we have sailing on the ocean, how vastly more reputable would we be abroad, how infinitely more respectable, progressive, and happy, would we be at home.
That we may learn something of the importance of cities in general, let us look for a moment at the great capitals of the world. What would England be without London? What would France be without Paris? What would Turkey be without Constantinople? Or, to come nearer home, what would Maryland be without Baltimore? What would Louisiana be without New Orleans? What would South Carolina be without Charleston? Do we ever think of these countries or States without thinking of their cities also? If we want to learn the news of the country, do we not go to the city, or to the city papers? Every metropolis may be regarded as the nucleus or epitome of the country in which it is situated; and the more prominent features and characteristics of a country, particularly of the people of a country, are almost always to be seen within the limits of its capital city. Almost invariably do we find the bulk of the floating funds, the best talent, and the most vigorous energies of a nation concentrated in its chief cities; and does not this concentration of wealth, energy, and talent, conduce, in an extraordinary degree, to the growth and prosperity of the nation? Unquestionably. Wealth develops wealth, energy develops energy, talent develops talent. What, then, must be the condition of those countries which do not possess the means or facilities of centralizing their material forces, their energies, and their talents? Are they not destined to occupy an inferior rank among the nations of the earth? Let the South answer.
And now let us ask, and we would put the question particularly to Southern merchants, what do we so much need as a great Southern metropolis? Merchants of the South, slaveholders! you are the avaricious assassinators of your country! You are the channels through which more than one hundred and twenty millions of dollars—$120,000,000—are annually drained from the South and conveyed to the North. You are daily engaged in the unmanly and unpatriotic work of impoverishing the land of your birth. You are constantly enfeebling our resources and rendering us more and more tributary to distant parts of the nation. Your conduct is reprehensible, base, criminal.
Whether Southern merchants ever think of the numerous ways in which they contribute to the aggrandizement of the North, while, at the same time, they enervate and dishonor the South, has, for many years, with us, been a matter of more than ordinary conjecture. If, as it would seem, they have never yet thought of the subject, it is certainly desirable that they should exercise their minds upon it at once. Let them scrutinize the workings of Southern money after it passes north of Mason and Dixon’s line. Let them consider how much they pay to Northern railroads and hotels, how much to Northern merchants and shop-keepers, how much to Northern shippers and insurers, how much to Northern theatres, newspapers, and periodicals. Let them also consider what disposition is made of it after it is lodged in the hands of the North. Is not the greater part of it paid out to Northern manufacturers, mechanics, and laborers, for the very articles which are purchased at the North—and to the extent that this is done, are not Northern manufacturers, mechanics, and laborers directly countenanced and encouraged, while at the same time, Southern manufacturers, mechanics, and laborers, are indirectly abased, depressed, and disabled? It is, however, a matter of impossibility, on these small pages, to notice or enumerate all the methods in which the money we deposit in the North is made to operate against us; suffice it to say that it is circulated and expended there, among all classes of the people, to the injury and impoverishment of almost every individual in the South. And yet, our cousins of the North are not, by any means, blameworthy for availing themselves of the advantages which we have voluntarily yielded to them. They have shown their wisdom in growing great at our expense, and we have shown our folly in allowing them to do so. Southern merchants, slaveholders, and slave-breeders, should be the objects of our censure; they have desolated and impoverished the South; they are now making merchandize of the vitals of their country; patriotism is a word nowhere recorded in their vocabulary; town, city, country—they care for neither; with them, self is always paramount to every other consideration.
Having already compared slavery with freedom in the States, we will now compare it with freedom in the cities. From every person as yet unconvinced of the despicableness of slavery, we respectfully ask attention to the following letters, which fully explain themselves:—
Finance Department Comptroller’s Office,
New-York, February 17th, 1857.
H. R. Helper, Esq.,
Dear Sir:—
Your letter to Mayor Wood has been handed to me for an answer, which I take pleasure in giving as follows:
The last assessment of property in this city was made in August, 1856.
The value of all the real and personal property in the city, according to that assessment, is $511,740,492.
A census of the city was taken in 1855, and the number of inhabitants at that time can be obtained only from the Secretary of State.
Very truly yours,
A. S. Cady.
State of New-York, Secretary’s Office,
Albany, February 24, 1857.
H. R. Helper, Esq.,
Dear Sir:—
Yours of the 17th February, in regard to the population of the city of New York, is before me. According to the census of
| 1855 | the | population | was | 629,810 | |
| 1850 | " | " | " | 515,547 | |
| 1845 | " | " | " | 371,223 | |
| 1840 | " | " | " | 312,710 | |
| 1835 | " | " | " | 268,089 | |
| 1830 | " | " | " | 197,112 |
As to the population now, you have the same facilities of judging that we have from the above table.
Very truly yours,
A. N. Wakefield, Chief Clerk.
Mayor’s Office, City Hall,
Baltimore, December 26, 1856.
H. R. Helper, Esq.,
Dear Sir—
His Honor the Mayor of this City has requested me to reply to your communication of the 24th inst., addressed to him, requesting answers to certain questions.
In answer to your first interrogatory, I would state that the amount of direct taxation assessed January 1st, 1856, was $102,053,839; the amount of exempt taxation (i. e. property out of the limits of direct tax) assessed at that date was $6,054,733.
In reply to your second inquiry, I would state that no census of the city has been taken since 1850. The estimated population at this time is about 250,000. Respectfully Yours. &c., &c.,
D. H. Blanchard, Secretary.
Office of the Mayor of the City of Philadelphia,
December 30, 1856.
H. R. Helper, Esq.,
Dear Sir:
In reply to your note of the 25th inst., received to-day, I hasten to give you the estimates you ask.
Real Estate, 150 millions; it is about one-half the real value. Its market price is at least 300 million dollars.
The Personal Estate is returned at 20 millions; it is over 110 millions. There has been no census since 1850. The population now is 500,000.
Yours truly,
G. Vaux.
State of Louisiana. Mayoralty of New Orleans,
City Hall, 3d day of Jan’y, 1857.
Mr. H. R. Helper,
New-York:
Dear Sir:—
In answer to your note of the 24th December, I beg to refer you to the enclosed abstract for the value of real estate and slaves according to the last assessment.
There has heretofore been no assessment of personal property—there having been no tax authorized until this year. The assessment is now being made and will probably add about $5,000,000 to the assessment as stated in the abstract.
There has been no census since the U. S. census of 1850, except an informal census, made in 1852, for the purpose of dividing the city into wards anew.
The estimated population now is about 150 to 175,000 inhabitants—permanent population—including the floating population at this season, it would probably reach not less than 210,000 inhabitants. The U. S. census was taken in the summer months, and is very incorrect as to the absolute population of New Orleans.
Very respectfully,
Your obed’t serv’t,
J. B. Walton,
Secretary.
By reference to the abstract of which Mr. Walton speaks, we find that the value of real and personal property is summed up as follows:—
| Real Estate, | $67,460,115 | |
| Slaves, | 5,183,580 | |
| Capital, | 18,544,300 | |
| Total, | $91,188,195 |
City Hall, Boston,
Dec. 31, 1856.
Dear Sir:—Yours of the 25th inst., addressed to the Mayor, has been handed to me for a reply—and I would accordingly state that the value of real and personal estate in this city, on the first day of May, A.D. 1856, was $249,162,500.
The census of the city of Boston, on the first day of May, A.D. 1855, was 162,748 persons.
The estimated population of the city of Boston at this date—say January 1st, 1857—is 165,000.
Yours, very respectfully,
Saml. T. McCleary,
City Clerk.
St. Louis,
Feb. 27, 1857.
H. R. Helper, Esq.,
New-York:
Dear Sir:—
In reply to yours of the 9th inst., I beg leave to state, that a census of our population was taken in the spring of 1856 by the Sheriff, and although it was inaccurate, yet the population as returned by him was then 125,500. That his census is too low there is no doubt. Our population at this time is at least 140,000.
Our last assessment was made in February, 1856. Value of real and personal estate, is, in round numbers, $63,000,000.
Trusting this information will be sufficient for your purpose, I remain,
Yours, &c.,
John How,
Mayor.
Mayor’s Office. City Hall, Brooklyn,
January 24th, 1857.
H. R. Helper, Esq.,
Sir:—
The answers to your inquiries are as follows:
The last assessment of property in this city was made in August, 1856.
The value of all the real and personal property in the city, according to that assessment, is $95,800,440.
A census of the city was taken in 1855, and the number of inhabitants, according to it, was 205,250.
The estimated population now is 225,000.
The last annual report of the Comptroller, together with a communication of the Mayor to the Common Council, made on the 5th of Jan., 1857, have been transmitted by mail to your address, and from them you may be able to obtain any further information you may desire. Yours, respectfully.
S. S. Powell,
Mayor.
By C. S. Brainerd.
Mayor’s Office,
Charleston, Feb. 16, 1857.
H. R. Helper, Esq.,
(New York,)
Dear Sir:—
Yours of the 9th has just been received, I sent you, through the Clerk of Council, some time ago, the Annual Fiscal Statement of the Committee on Accounts made to the City Council, which would give some of the information which you desire. I will have another copy sent you.
No census has been taken since 1848. The population at present must be between fifty and sixty thousand.
Any information which it may be in my power to furnish you with, will always give me pleasure to supply.
Very respectfully,
Wm. Porcher Miles,
Mayor.
From a report of the “Annual accounts of the city of Charleston, for the fiscal year ending the 31st of August, 1856,” it appears that the total value of real and personal property, including slaves—nearly half the population—was $36,127,751.
Mayor’s Office,
Cincinnati, Jan’y 2, 1857.
Dear Sir:—In reply to your note of the 25th ult., I beg leave to say that the value of all the real and personal property in this city, as assessed for taxation, amounts to $88,810,734. The realty being $60,701,267; the personalty $20,795,203, and the bank and brokers’ capital $7,314,264. The assessment of the realty was made in 1853; that of the personalty is made in March of each year.
Our present population is estimated at 210,000. No complete census has been taken since 1850.
The total of taxes levied on the above assessment of $88,810,734, for city purposes, was $529,727,05.
Very respectfully,
Your ob’dt. serv’t,
Jas. J. Faran,
Mayor.
H. R. Helper, Esq.,
New-York.
Mayor’s Office,
Louisville, Ky., January 1st, 1857.
H. R. Helper, Esq.,
New-York City,
Dear Sir:—
Your favor 24th ult. is received—contents noted. I will remark in reply, that the taxes of this city are levied only on real estate, slaves, and merchandise, (exclusive of home manufactures,) which are taken at what is supposed to be their cash value, but is much less than the real value. Our last assessment was made the 10th January, 1856, and amounted to $31,500,000.
There has been no census of this city taken since 1850, our charter requiring that it shall be taken this year. I am now preparing to have it done. It is supposed Louisville at this time has a population of 65 or 70 thousand.
I send with this my last annual message to the Gen. Council and accompanying documents.
Respectfully yours,
John Barbee Mayor.
Daily Tribune Office,
Chicago, May 21, 1857.
H. R. Helper, Esq.
Sir:—
In the May No. of Hunt’s Merchants’ Magazine you will find some of your questions answered. The actual cash value of property is not taken by the assessors. Citizens are not sworn as to the value of their personal effects, nor is real estate given in at twenty per cent. of its selling cash price. An elaborate estimate of the real value, in cash, of Chicago, which we have seen,
| puts the real estate at | $125,000,000 | |
| Improvements on the same, | $24,000,000 | |
| Personal property, | $22,000,000 | |
| In 1857 total value, | $171,000,000 |
On half a dozen streets in this city lots sell readily at $1,000 to $1,200 per foot front, exclusive of improvements.
A census of the population of Chicago was taken in October, 1853, and in June, 1855, the latter by State authority. That of October ’53 found 60,652; that of June ’55 found 80,509. The best estimate at present makes the number, on May 1st, 1857, to be 112,000, which is rather under than over the truth. The amount of building, in the city, is immense, but as quickly as a tenement can be spiked together, it is taken at a high rent; and at no former period has there seemed so rapid an augmentation of population.
Very truly yours,
Ray & Medill,
Eds. Ch. Trib.
Richmond, Va.
April 25th, ’57.
H. R. Helper, Esq.,
Dear Sir:—
Yours of the 14th inst. has been received, and should have been answered sooner, but it was impossible to get the information you desired earlier. The value of the real estate in the city of Richmond is $18,000,000. The value of the personal is $191,920. Total value $18,201,920. This does not include slaves, of whom there are 6,472 in the city. The State values each slave at $300 each—making $1,941,600, which, added to the total above, makes $20,143,520. The number of inhabitants—white and black, is 34,612 within the corporation limits. The assessment was made in 1855 throughout the whole State.
Yours, very respectfully,
B. W. Starke.
Mayor’s Office,
Providence, Dec. 31st, 1856.
H. R. Helper. Esq.,
New York,
Dear Sir:—
Yours of 25th is this moment received. You will receive with this a communication from the Chairman of the Board of Assessors, giving the requisite information from that department. I send you this day a census report, taken 1855, which will give you the information asked. Our population at this time is between 50 and 60,000.
Respectfully,
James Y. Smith,
Mayor.
Assessor’s Office,
Providence, Dec. 31st, 1856.
H. R. Helper, Esq.,
Dear Sir:—
His Honor, the Mayor of this City, has requested me to answer your communication of the 25th inst., addressed to him, so far as relates to the valuation of this city, &c., which is herewith presented.
The valuation of this City in 1856 is as follows:
| Real Estate, | $36,487,116 | |
| Personal Estate, | 21,577,400 | |
| Total, | $58,064,516 |
Our last assessment was ordered in June last, and completed on the 1st day of September last.
Rates of taxation $7 75 per $1000.
Amount of tax raised $450,000.
Respectfully yours,
Joseph Martin,
Chairman of the Board of Assessors.
Herald Office,
Norfolk. Va., 28th April, 1857.
H. R. Helper, Esq.,
New-York,
Dear Sir:—
The value of all the real estate, as re-assessed about two months ago, is set down, say, in round numbers, at five and a half millions. The actual value would bring it somewhat above that mark. The assessment of the personal property will be completed in three or four weeks hence; but its exact value cannot be arrived at from the fact that a large portion of this description of property—including slaves—is taxed specifically without regard to its value. It is estimated by the assessors, however, that the personal exceeds the real estate, and may be safely set down at six and a half millions.
There has been no census taken since 1850. The State authorities assume the population to be 16,000, but I am informed by the assessors that 17,000 is a fairer estimate.
Hoping that the information given may answer the purpose for which you require it, I am,
Respectfully yours,
R. G. Broughton.
Mayor’s Office,
Buffalo, March 10, 1857.
Dear Sir:—Yours, of the 9th inst., was received this morning. The answers to your questions are as follows:
The last valuation of the property of our city was made in April, 1856.
| Valuation | of real estate, | $38,114,040 | |
| " | personal estate, | 7,360,436 | |
| Total real and personal, | $45,474,476 |
The last census was the State census, taken in the summer of 1855. That showed a population of 74,214; a fair estimate now is 90,000.
Respectfully,
Your ob’t serv’t,
F. P. Stevens.
Mayor’s Office,
Savannah, 9th January, 1856.
H. R. Helper, Esq.,
New-York,
Dear Sir:—
In reply to your first interrogatory, I send you the last Mayor’s report, in which you will find the information you seek.
No census has been taken of the city since 1850.
The estimated population is 25,000.
Very respectfully yours,
J. P. Screven,
Mayor.
From the Mayor’s annual report, we learn that the “assessments or value of lands and improvements,” for the year ending October 31st, 1856, amounted to $8,999,015. The value of the personal property is, perhaps, about $3,000,000—total value of real and personal estate $11,999,015.
City of New-Bedford,
Mayor’s Room, 1 mo., 6th, 1857.
H. R. Helper:—
Yours of the 4th inst. came to hand this morning.
In reply to your inquiries, I will say that the amount assessed on the 1st day of May, 1856, was as follows:—
| Real Estate, | $9,311,500 | |
| Personal, | 17,735,500 | |
| Total, | $27,047,000 |
The returns of a census taken the previous autumn gave 20,391 persons, from which there is not probably much change.
Respectfully,
Geo. Rowland, Jr.
Mayor.
Mayor’s Office,
Wilmington, N. C., May 23d, 1857.
H. R. Helper, Esq.,
New-York,
Dear Sir:—
I am in receipt of yours of 19th inst. The value of real estate as per last assessment, 1st April, 1856, was $3,350,000
We have no system by which to arrive at the value of personal property: I estimate the amount, however, exclusive of merchandize, at $4,509,000
There has been no census taken since 1850—the present number of inhabitants is estimated at 10,000.
I regret my inability to afford you more definite information.
Very respectfully, &c.,
O. G. Parsley,
Mayor.
From the foregoing communications, we make up the following summary of the more important particulars:—
NINE FREE CITIES.
| Name. | Population. | Wealth. | Wealth per capita. |
| New York | 700,000 | $511,740,492 | $731 |
| Philadelphia | 500,000 | 325,000,000 | 650 |
| Boston | 165,000 | 249,162,500 | 1,510 |
| Brooklyn | 225,000 | 95,800,440 | 425 |
| Cincinnati | 210,000 | 88,810,734 | 422 |
| Chicago | 112,000 | 171,000,000 | 1,527 |
| Providence | 60,000 | 58,064,516 | 967 |
| Buffalo | 90,000 | 45,474,476 | 505 |
| New Bedford | 21,000 | 27,047,000 | 1,288 |
| 2,083,000 | $1,572,100,158 | $754 |
NINE SLAVE CITIES.
| Name. | Population. | Wealth. | Wealth per capita. |
| Baltimore | 250,000 | $102,053,839 | $408 |
| New Orleans | 175,000 | 91,188,195 | 521 |
| St. Louis | 140,000 | 63,000,000 | 450 |
| Charleston | 60,000 | 36,127,751 | 602 |
| Louisville | 70,000 | 31,500,000 | 450 |
| Richmond | 40,000 | 20,143,520 | 503 |
| Norfolk | 17,000 | 12,000,000 | 705 |
| Savannah | 25,000 | 11,999,015 | 480 |
| Wilmington | 10,000 | 7,850,000 | 785 |
| 787,000 | $375,862,320 | $477 |
Let it not be forgotten that the slaves themselves are valued at so much per head, and counted as part of the wealth of slave cities; and yet, though we assent, as we have done, to the inclusion of all this fictitious wealth, it will be observed that the residents of free cities are far wealthier, per capita, than the residents of slave cities. We trust the reader will not fail to examine the figures with great care.
In this age of the world, commerce is an indispensable element of national greatness. Without commerce we can have no great cities, and without great cities we can have no reliable tenure of distinct nationality. Commerce is the forerunner of wealth and population; and it is mainly these that make invincible the power of undying States.
Speaking in general terms of the commerce of this country, and of the great cities through which that commerce is chiefly carried on, the Boston Traveler says:—
“The wealth concentrated at the great commercial points of the United States is truly astonishing. For instance, one-eighth part of the entire property of this country is owned by the cities of New-York and Boston. Boston alone, in its corporate limits, owns one-twentieth of the property of this entire Union, being an amount equal to the wealth of any three of the New-England States, except Massachusetts. In this city is found the richest community, per capita, of any in the United States. The next city in point of wealth, according to its population, is Providence, (R. I.,) which city is one of the richest in the Union, having a valuation of fifty-six millions, with a population of fifty thousand.”
The same paper, in the course of an editorial article on the “Wealth of Boston and its Business,” says:—
“The assessors’ return of the wealth of Boston will probably show this year an aggregate property of nearly three hundred millions. This sum, divided among 160,000 people, would give nearly $2,000 to each inhabitant, and will show Boston to be much the wealthiest community in the United States, save New York alone, with four times its population. The value of the real estate in this city is increasing now with great rapidity, as at least four millions of dollars’ worth of new houses and stores will be built this year. The personal estate in ships, cargoes, stocks, &c., is greatly increasing with each succeeding year, not withstanding the many disasters and losses constantly occurring in such kinds of property.
“It is impossible to get the exact earnings of the nearly six hundred thousand tons of shipping owned in this city. But perhaps it would not be much out of the way to set the total amount for 1855 at from fifteen to twenty millions of dollars. This sum has probably been earned by our fleet engaged in the domestic trade, and in commercial transactions with the East and West Indies, South America, the Pacific, Europe and Africa. The three sources from which the population of Boston is maintained, and its prosperity continued, are these: Commerce, trade, and manufactures. Its annual trade and sales of merchandise are said now, by competent judges, to amount to three hundred millions of goods per annum, and will soon greatly exceed that vast sum. The annual manufactures of this city are much more in amount than in many entire States in this Union. They amount, according to recent statistics, to nearly seventy-five millions of dollars.”
Freeman Hunt, the accomplished editor of Hunt’s Merchants’ Magazine, writing on the “Progressive Growth of Cities,” says:—
“London is now the greatest concentration of human power the world has ever known. Will its supremacy be permanent? or will it, like its predecessors, be eclipsed by western rivals? New-Yorkers do not doubt, and indeed have no reason to doubt, that their city, now numbering little more than one-third of the population of London, will, within the next fifty years, be greater than the metropolis of the British empire.
“New York, with her immediate dependencies, numbers about 900,000. Since 1790 she has established a law of growth which doubles her population once in fifteen years. If this law continues to operate, she may be expected to possess 1,800,000 in 1871, 3,600,000 in 1880, and 7,200,000 in 1901. If twenty years be allowed New York as her future period of duplication, she would overtake London by the end of fifty years; London may then have five millions; New-York will almost certainly have more than that number.
“Will the star of empire become stationary at New-York? The interior plain of North America has within itself more means to sustain a dense population in civilized comfort than any other region of the world. The star of empire cannot be arrested in its western course before it reaches this plain. Its most promising city at present is Chicago. The law of its growth since 1840 seems to be a duplication within four years. In 1840 it numbered 4,379. In June of this year it will contain 88,000. At the same rate of increase carried forward, it would overtake New-York within twenty years. If six years be allowed for each future duplication, Chicago would overtake New-York in thirty-three years. If the growth of Chicago should in future be measured by a duplication of every seven years, it would contain 5,622,000 in forty-two years.
“In 1901, forty-five years from this time, the central plain, including the Canadas, will contain about eighty millions of people. Its chief city may be reasonably expected to contain about one-tenth of this population. Before the end of this century the towns and cities of the central plain will contain, with their suburbs, not less than half the entire population; that is to say, forty millions. How these millions shall be apportioned among the cities of that day, is a subject for curious speculation.”
A FLEET OF MERCHANTMEN.
The Boston Journal, of a late date, says:—
“About one hundred sail of vessels, of various descriptions, entered this port yesterday, consisting of traders from Europe, South America, the West Indies, and from coastwise ports. The waters of the bay and harbor presented a beautiful appearance from the surrounding shores, as this fleet of white-winged messengers made their way towards the city, and crowds of people must have witnessed their advent with great delight. A more magnificent sight is seldom seen in our harbor.”
Would to God that such sights could sometimes be seen in Southern harbors! When slavery shall cease to paralyse the energies of our people, then ships, coming to us from the four quarters of the globe, will, with majestic grandeur, begin to loom in the distance; our bays will rejoice in the presence of “the white-winged messengers,” and our levees resound as never before with the varied din of commerce.
COMMERCE OF NORFOLK.
The Southern Argus thus speaks of the ruined commerce of a most despicable niggerville:—
“We question if any other community, certainly no other in the United States of America, have made greater exertions to resuscitate the trade of Norfolk than the mercantile portion of the inhabitants; in proof of which nineteen-twentieths of those engaged in foreign commerce have terminated in their insolvency, the principal cause of which has been in the unrelenting hostility, to this day, from the commencement of the present century, of the Virginia Legislature, with the co-operation of at least the commercial portions of the citizens of Richmond, Petersburg and Portsmouth.”
How it is, in this enlightened age, that men of ordinary intelligence can be so far led into error as to suppose that commerce, or any other noble enterprise, can be established and successfully prosecuted under the dominion of slavery, is, to us, one of the most inexplicable of mysteries. “Commercial” Conventions, composed of the self-titled lordlings of slavery—Generals, Colonels, Majors, Captains, etcætera—may act out their annual programmes of farcical nonsense from now until doomsday; but they will never add one iota to the material, moral, or mental interests of the South,—never can, until their ebony idol shall have been utterly demolished.
BALTIMORE—PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE.
We are indebted to the Baltimore Patriot for the following interesting sketch of the Monumental City as it was, and as it is, and as it may be:—
“The population of Baltimore in 1790 was 13,503; in 1800, 15,514; in 1810, 35,583; in 1820, 62,738; in 1830, 80,625; in 1840, 110,313; in 1850, 169,054. The increase of inhabitants within two particular decades, will be found, by reference to the above table, to be remarkable. Between 1800 and 1810, the population nearly doubled itself; between 1840 and 1850, the increase was two-thirds; and for the past five years, the numerical extension of our population has been even more rapid than during the previous decade. We may safely assume that Baltimore contains at the present time not less than 250,000 inhabitants. But the increase in the manufactured products of the State, as shown by the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, is a matter of even greater astonishment. The statistical tables of 1840 estimate the aggregate value of the manufactures of Maryland at $13,509,636—thirteen million five hundred and nine thousand six hundred and thirty-six dollars. In 1850, the value of the articles manufactured within the limits of the State amounted to $32,593,635—thirty-two million five hundred and ninety-three thousand six hundred and thirty-five dollars! A signal proof that the wealth of the State has increased with even far greater rapidity than its population. A quarter of a century ago, the sum of our manufactures did not much exceed five millions of dollars per annum. At this day it may be set down as falling but little short of fifty millions. These are facts taken from official sources, and therefore understated rather than exceeded. They are easily verified by any one who will take the necessary trouble to examine the reports for himself; and they justify us in the assertion that we are but fifteen years behind Philadelphia in population, and are only at the same relative distance from her in point of wealth.
A change has been going on for some time past in our commercial and industrial affairs which all may have noticed, but the extent of which is known to but few, and we hazard nothing in saying that this enormous progression must continue, because it is based upon a solid foundation, and therefore subject to no ordinary contingencies.
Occupying geographically the most central position on this Continent, with vast mines of coal lying within easy distance to the North and West of us, with a harbor easy of access, and with railroads penetrating by the shortest routes the most fertile sections of the Union, we need nothing but the judicious fostering of a proper spirit among our citizens to make Baltimore not only the commercial emporium of the South and West, but also the great coal mart of the Union. Our flour market is already the most extensive in the known world—we speak without exaggeration, for this also is proven by unquestionable facts. There is more guano annually brought into our port than into all the other ports of the United States put together, and the demand for this important article of commerce is steadily increasing. Our shipments of tobacco are immense, and as the improvement in the depth of the channel of the Patapsco increases, must inevitably become much greater.
Such, then, is our present condition as a commercial community, and when we add that our prosperity is as much owing to our admirable geographical position as to the energy of our merchants and manufacturers, we design to cast no imputation on these excellent citizens, but rather to stimulate them to renewed efforts in a field where enterprise cannot fail of reaping its due reward.
Take any common map of the United States and rule an air line across it from Baltimore to St. Louis, and midway between the two it will strike Cincinnati—the great inland centre of trade—traversing at the same time those wonderfully fertile valleys which lie between the latter point and the Mississippi river. Now let it be remembered that since the introduction of railways fluvial navigation has been, to a considerable extent, superseded by inland transport, because of the greater speed and certainty of the latter. Let it be remembered also that the migration westward is incessantly going on, and that with every farm opened within striking distance of a great arterial railway, or its anastomosing branches, a certain amount of freight must find its way to the seaboard markets, while the demand for manufactured products, and for domestic or foreign commodities, in exchange for breadstuffs or raw material, must necessarily increase; thereby adding greatly to the prosperity of the commercial centre towards which articles of export tend, and from which imports in return are drawn. It would be difficult to estimate the value of what this trade will be fifty years hence, or what the population of Baltimore, situated as she is, will by that time have become.
Reasoning from causes to effects, and presuming that ordinary perseverance will be used in promoting the interests of our city, industrially and commercially, we are justified in believing that its progress must be in an accelerated ratio, and that there are those now living who will look back with surprise and wonder at its growth and magnitude, as we have done while comparing its present aspect with that which it exhibited within our own memory.”
It is a remarkable fact, but one not at all surprising to those whose philosophy leads them to think aright, that Baltimore and St. Louis, the two most prosperous cities in the slave States, have fewer slaves in proportion to the aggregate population than any other city or cities in the South. While the entire population of the former is now estimated at 250,000, and that of the latter at 140,000—making a grand total of 390,000 in the two cities, less than 6,000 of this latter number are slaves; indeed, neither city is cursed with half the number of 6,000.
In 1850, there were only 2,946 slaves in Baltimore, and 2,656 in St. Louis—total in the two cities 5,602; and in both places, thank Heaven, this heathenish class of the population was rapidly decreasing. The census of 1860 will, in all probability, show that the two cities are entirely exempt from slaves and slavery; and that of 1870 will, we prayerfully hope, show that the United States at large, at that time, will have been wholly redeemed from the unspeakable curse of human bondage.
What about Southern Commerce? Is it not almost entirely tributary to the commerce of the North? Are we not dependent on New-York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Cincinnati, for nearly every article of merchandise, whether foreign or domestic? Where are our ships, our mariners, our naval architects? Alas! echo answers, where?
Reader! would you understand how abjectly slaveholders themselves are enslaved to the products of Northern industry? If you would, fix your mind on a Southern “gentleman”—a slave-breeder and human-flesh monger, who professes to be a Christian! Observe the routine of his daily life. See him rise in the morning from a Northern bed, and clothe himself in Northern apparel; see him walk across the floor on a Northern carpet, and perform his ablutions out of a Northern ewer and basin. See him uncover a box of Northern powders, and cleanse his teeth with a Northern brush; see him reflecting his physiognomy in a Northern mirror, and arranging his hair with a Northern comb. See him dosing himself with the mendicaments of Northern quacks, and perfuming his handkerchief with Northern cologne. See him referring to the time in a Northern watch, and glancing at the news in a Northern gazette. See him and his family sitting in Northern chairs, and singing and praying out of Northern books. See him at the breakfast table, saying grace over a Northern plate, eating with Northern cutlery, and drinking from Northern utensils. See him charmed with the melody of a Northern piano, or musing over the pages of a Northern novel. See him riding to his neighbor’s in a Northern carriage, or furrowing his lands with a Northern plow. See him lighting his segar with a Northern match, and flogging his negroes with a Northern lash. See him with Northern pen and ink, writing letters on Northern paper, and sending them away in Northern envelopes, sealed with Northern wax, and impressed with a Northern stamp. Perhaps our Southern “gentleman” is a merchant; if so, see him at his store, making an unpatriotic use of his time in the miserable traffic of Northern gimcracks and haberdashery; see him when you will, where you will, he is ever surrounded with the industrial products of those whom, in the criminal inconsistency of his heart, he execrates as enemies, yet treats as friends. His labors, his talents, his influence, are all for the North, and not for the South; for the stability of slavery, and for the sake of his own personal aggrandizement, he is willing to sacrifice the dearest interests of his country.
As we see our ruinous system of commerce exemplified in the family of our Southern “gentleman,” so we may see it exemplified, to a greater or less degree, in almost every other family throughout the length and breadth of the slaveholding States. We are all constantly buying, and selling, and wearing, and using Northern merchandise, at a double expense to both ourselves and our neighbors. If we but look at ourselves attentively, we shall find that we are all clothed cap a pie in Northern habilaments. Our hats, our caps, our cravats, our coats, our vests, our pants, our gloves, our boots, our shoes, our under-garments—all come from the North; whence, too, Southern ladies procure all their bonnets, plumes, and flowers; dresses, shawls, and scarfs; frills, ribbons, and ruffles; cuffs, capes, and collars.
True it is that the South has wonderful powers of endurance and recuperation; but she cannot forever support the reckless prodigality of her sons. We are all spendthrifts; some of us should become financiers. We must learn to take care of our money; we should withhold it from the North, and open avenues for its circulation at home. We should not run to New-York, to Philadelphia, to Boston, to Cincinnati, or to any other Northern city, every time we want a shoe-string or a bedstead, a fish-hook or a hand-saw, a tooth-pick or a cotton-gin. In ease and luxury we have been lolling long enough; we should now bestir ourselves, and keep pace with the progress of the age. We must expand our energies, and acquire habits of enterprise and industry; we should arouse ourselves from the couch of lassitude, and inure our minds to thought and our bodies to action. We must begin to feed on a more substantial diet than that of pro-slavery politics; we should leave off our siestas and post-meridian naps, and employ our time in profitable vocations. Before us there is a vast work to be accomplished—a work which has been accumulating on our hands for many years. It is no less a work than that of infusing the spirit of liberty into all our systems of commerce, agriculture, manufactures, government, literature, and religion. Oligarchal despotism must be overthrown; slavery must be abolished.
For the purpose of showing how absolutely Southern “gentlemen,” particularly slaveholding merchants, are lost to all sense of true honor and patriotism, we will here introduce an extract from an article which appeared more than three years ago in one of the editorial columns of the leading daily newspaper of the city of New-York. It is in these words:—
“Southern merchants do indeed keep away from New-York for the reason that they can’t pay their debts; there is no doubt that if the jobbers of this city had not trusted Southern traders for the past three years, they would be a great deal better off than they are. * * * Already our trade with Canada is becoming as promising, sure, and profitable, as our trade with the South is uncertain, riskful, and annoying.”
Now, by any body of men not utterly debased by the influences of slavery, this language would have been construed into an invitation to stay at home. But do Southern merchants stay at home? Do they build up Southern commerce? No! off they post to the North as regularly as the seasons, spring and fall, come round, and there, like cringing sycophants, flatter, beg, and scheme, for favors which they have no money to command.
The better classes of merchants, and indeed of all other people, at the North, as elsewhere, have too much genuine respect for themselves to wish to have any dealings whatever with those who make merchandise of human beings. Limited as is our acquaintance in the city of New-York, we know one firm there, a large wholesale house, that makes it an invariable rule never to sell goods to a merchant from the slave States except for cash. Being well acquainted with the partners, we asked one of them, on one occasion, why he refused to trust slave-driving merchants. “Because,” said he, “they are too long-winded and uncertain; when we credit them, they occasion us more loss and bother than their trade is worth.” Non-slaveholders of the South! recollect that slavery is the only impediment to your progress and prosperity, that it stands diametrically opposed to all needful reforms, that it seeks to sacrifice you entirely for the benefit of others, and that it is the one great and only cause of dishonor to your country. Will you not abolish it? May Heaven help you to do your duty!