Means of Abolishing Slavery.

BELCNERTOWN, July 19th, 1847.

DEAR SIR:

Permit me, although a stranger, and only a private in the army of reformers, of which you are one of the chief captains, to offer, for your consideration, my ideas respecting the means of abolishing slavery. Without saying more by way of preamble, I will present the main points.

You are aware, I presume, that cotton was formerly much higher than it is now. At the close of the hot war with Great Britain, it was worth about 33 cents per pound: and the other products of slave labor, such as rice, sugar, molasses, tobacco, &c. were high, compared with present prices, in nearly the same proportion. Slavery was very profitable then. Slaves were worth from 1200 to 1800 dollars was. But the products of slave labor declined gradually. Cotton fell to 30 cents, afterwards to 25, still later to 20, 18, 15, and now it is worth only 12 or 13 cents per pound. Sugar, rice, tobacco, &c. have fallen in about the same ration. From temporary causes, there has, occasionally, been a rise in these articles, but their general tendency has been downward; and they will probably continue to decline. As a natural consequence, the price of slaves has fallen. From having been worth from 1200 to 1800 dollars, they are down to 400 and 600. If cotton continues to fall until it goes as low as 3 or 4 cents, and the other products of slave labor decline in the same promotion, (and I see no reason why they should not the price of slaves must also come down too, until, finally, they will be valueless.

Slave labor is more expensive than free labor; and manufactures generally have now greatly the advantage of slaveholders. While the latter are obliged to purchase their laborers, feed and clothe them, take care of them in sickness, and support them in old age,—the former manage to obtain the services of their operatives for the mere pittance of a comfortable, decent support, so long as steady employment lasts. But very few of these operatives accumulate property. Their wages return, through various channels, to their employers; and when, from any cause, they are out of work, they are left in a state of destitution. This is true as a general rule, to which, however, there are many honorable exceptions. But it is a well-established principle, that those who live by the labor of their own hands only, cannot become rich. If southern planters had half the sagacity of our Northern manufacturers, they would hire free negroes, build tenements for their accommodation, and open stores in their vicinity, for the sale of such goods a they may need or fancy. By pursuing such a course, they would find that nearly all the money paid for work would return to their own coffers. Cotton cannot be raised at 4 or 4cents per pound by slave labor; and soon after slavery ceases to pay, it will cease to exist. This is a question, after all, of dollars and cent —of profit and loss. Mammon is the god of the civilized world—the principal object of worship—and he rules with despotic away.

In the West India islands, as well as in our southern States, the same principle has long been undermining slavery. It has generally been supposed that slavery was abolished in the West Indies from motives of justice and humanity, and it cannot be denied that these had something to do with the case; but, after all, we have good reason to believe that it was rather a question of finance than of morals. The head had more to do with it than the heart. Giving British statesmen credit for great sagacity and penetration, I suppose they saw that a crisis was coming—that West India produce would continue to decline, until slavery would become a burden, and that, as a natural consequence, the planters would be ruined; and therefore, to make a merit of necessary, and save their character, they concluded to buy all the slaves, and abolish slavery, while they could do so with a good grace.

If this view of the case is correct, whatever has a tendency to raise the price of southern staples, tends also to perpetuate slavery. War, by increasing the demand for food and clothing, and by drawing off laborers from their customary employments, has this effect; so does the extension of commerce, by opening new marts for the sale of cotton, rice, sugar, &c.; and every advance in luxury and dissipation, by adding to the number of artificial wants, enables the owners of slaves to hold on to their property in human flesh with a firmer grasp. This bloody war with unhappy. Mexico, we have good reason to believe, was contrived, 'with malice aforethought,' for the same diabolical purpose. I need not add, that the opposite of all this will have a contrary tendency.

The opposition to slavery is so strong in the northern States, that it may lead to a dissolution of the Union, and perhaps to war; but, in any case, it with not necessarily abolish slavery, though it may have a tendency to hasten that event. The Anti-Slavery and Liberty parties, and the Colonization Society, like contending tempests on the bosom of the ocean, may ruffle the political surface of our country; but there is an under current, strong and deep, unaffected by these winds of doctrine, and mostly unnoticed and unknown, which is bearing slavery onward to the gulf of oblivion, where it will shortly arrive thenceforth to be known no more on earth, except as found recorded on the pages of history.

Very respectfully yours,
GEORGE FILER.

We shall be glad to receive other communications from our Belehertown correspondent.] — Ed.