Free Produce Convention, 11.15.1839 and 11.16.1839 (Meeting)

BOSTON.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1839.

FREE PRODUCE CONVENTION.

The first annual meeting of the American Free Produce Association was held in Philadelphia on the 15th and 16th of October. More than 100 delegates and friends were in attendance. Three were present, we perceive, from Massachusetts, among whom was our much esteemed friend WM. BASSETT, who presided over the deliberations of the Convention. Letters were read from GERRIT SMITH, ALVAN STEWART, D.L. CHILD and others. The Executive Committee, in their annual report, while they lament that so little has been accomplished, express their belief 'that the cause of abstinence has taken a deeper and deeper hold on the public mind, and that the action of the friends of the cause throughout the country manifests a greatly increased interest.' Emancipation in the West Indies, and the efforts of the friends of humanity in Great Britain to enable the produce of the labor of freemen to come into competition with slave produce, are adverted to as events calculated to inspire the friends of the enterprise with hope and confidence in its success. The efforts of the committee to establish stores for the exclusive sale of free goods have not as yet met with success. They express the belief, that beneficial results would flow from the creation of a fund for the encouragement of the production of cotton by free labor, and that by the judicious application of such a fund, the quantity so raised might not only be greatly increased, but that at present produced be more effectually secured for the benefit of the conscientious consumer or manufacturer. Such a fund, they think, might be well employed in purchasing free cotton, which sometimes comes into market in larger quantities than individuals are able to purchase— in sending well qualified agents to the South to collect free cotton, which the committee know to be raised by persons, some of whose names are in their possession— and in the payment of a premium for  free labor cotton. say from five to ten per cent. where the market price of that grown by slaves. If a supply of the raw material could be obtained, there are abundant facilities for manufacturing at hand. Several proprietors of extensive cotton factories have expressed a desire to exclude slave-grown cotton from their works; preferring, at a sacrifice, to encourage the honest labor of paid freemen. A resolution, instructing the committee to raise such a fund, was adopted by the association.

Among the resolutions adopted were the following:

Resolved, That the exaction of labor without wages is a violation of the right of compensation, guaranteed by the Creator when he pronounced the sentence, 'in the sweat of thy face shalt thou ear bread,' and that no power inferior to that which conferred can revoke the grant.

Resolved, That in the language of John C. Calhoun, 'he who earns the money, who digs it out of the earth with the sweat of his brow, has a just title to it against the universe;' that 'no one has a right to touch it with at his consent, except his government, and that only to the extent of its legitimate wants, and to take more is robbery;' that, therefore, he who deprives the slave of the fruits of his toil is a robber, and he who partakes of his plunder shares his guilt.

Resolved, That we call earnestly upon those abolitionists who do not abstain from the products of slave-labor, to reflect on the glaring inconsistency of protesting against slavery as an immorality, and yet paying for its support, and that we press upon their consciences the inquiry whether thousands of slaves are not kept in bondage by their participation in the fruits of robbery.

And, whereas a lamentable apathy on this subject extensively exists among abolitionists, therefore

Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed to correspond with Anti-Slavery Societies, for the purpose of inviting free discussion in respect to the duty of abolitionists in relation thereto.

Henry Grew, C.C. Burleigh, and Wm. Bassett were appointed the committee.

Resolved, That we hall with joy the complete emancipation of the slaves in the British West Indies, and the formation of the British India Society, as events calculated to have an important bearing on the cause of freedom generally, and on our enterprise in particular, for the prosecution of which, it will greatly increase the facilities, by bringing the productions of free labor in both Eastern and Western India into competition with those of slave labor, and thus multiplying the sources of supply of free goods.

Resolved, That a delegation be appointed from this Society, to the Anti-Slavery Convention for the World, which is to be holden in London, that Summer. In accordance with the last resolution, Daniel Neal, Charles Marriot, Abraham L. Pennock, Lucretia Mott, William Basset, James Mott, Charles C. Burleigh, John G. Whittier and Sarah Pugh, were appointed to represent this Association in that Convention. The Executive Committee was authorized to fill any vacancies that may occur, and add to the delegation.

Resolved, That the Corresponding Secretary be instructed to open a correspondence with the British India Society, with reference to the objects of our Association, and to assure that body of the sincere gratification with which we have heard of its formation, as well as the important assistance to our cause which we anticipate from its labors.

Resolved, That for the purpose of affording information to persons desirous of avoiding slave-grown productions, the Executive Committee be directed to prepare and publish a list of the places or countries where articles, the result of remunerated labor, are raised, or whence they can be obtained, together with a list of Stores in the United States, at which free goods can be purchased.

The following are the officers of the association for the ensuing year.

President.
William Bassett, of Lynn, Massachusetts.

Vice Presidents.
Thomas Hambleton, of Chester Co., Pa.
Charles Marriot, of Hudson, N.Y.
Lucretia Mott, of Philadelphia,
William H Johnson, of Bucks Co., Pa.

Recording Secretary.
William C. Betts, of Philadelphia.

Corresponding Secretary.
Daniel L. Miller, Jr. of Philadelphia.

Treasurer.
Elizabeth T. Bunting, of Philadelphia.

Executive Committee.
Charles C. Burleigh, Caleb Clothier, Alice Eliza Hambleton, Sidney Ann Lewis, Henry Grew,Mary C. Pennock, Lydia White, Lewis C. Gunn, Samuel J. Levick, Eli Hambleton, Benjamin S. Jones,Edward M. Davis.