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Show 86 m:SPOTISI\1 SECTION II. Slavery, as it affects the security of the privileged class. I. We will consider in the first place how the security of property is affected by the mstitUtion of sla-very. · t I'roperty is better secured in proportwn_as a _grea er part of the population is made to !eel a d~rectmterest in its security. '1-,he moral force of opmton m ttus as in other cases, has an cffica_cy greater than law. Laws nnsustaiucd by public opinion can only_ be enforced by a great and constant exertion of _physteal power. 1. With regartl to the slave holdmg states, a large part of the populatio_n, to wi_t, the sla~cs, so far from having any personal mterest m uphol~n1g the laws of property, have a direct and p~werf1~lmterest the ot_her way. The laws of property 111 their eyes, so far f10m being designed to promote the public goo~, and to ~onfer a benefit npon all, arc but a cunmngly dcvJsed system by means of which the character ~~d tl~e name of Rirrht is be::;rowcd upon the _rankest lllJHStlcel and the m;st flagrant usurpation. 'rhis attempt to mo1.10 ... polize the benefits of property,_ this system by which a large portion of the commnmty are not only dcpnved of those benefits bnt arc actually themselves con· verted into articles of pr~?pe rty, has the neccss~ry effect to create in the very bosom of the commumty, a state of feel ing utterly hostile to security. Slaves a~e universally depredators upon the property of fith~Ir masters. Such depredation they regard as j)Cr eel Y justifiable a11d even praiseworthy. lt :eqm~cs the most incessant vigilarlcc to guard agam~t 1t, n,or will the most incessm1t vigilance always. sufhcc. 'I he security of the slave-master is the secunty of a h?usc· keeper· who knows that he en.ter~ains a gang oft:.~~:~~ upon his premises, anti who rs m constant app sion of being robbed. . . . fi d to Nor is this systematiC sp!l'tt of plunder con nc IN Ai\IEI:ICA, 87 the unprivileged class. It cmb;-aces also the large class of free traders who gain their livelihood by a ~raffic in stolen goods. It is these persons who offer mducement for a large part of the depredations which thc.slaves commit upo~1 thei-r. m~stcrs. These depredatwns, t~ough small m the md1vidual instances, arc er:ormou~ m the total amount. The extreme severity w1th whiCh the laws of the southern states visit the offence of trading with slaves in articles suspected to be stolen, and the terrtblc outrages occasionally committed upon this sort of offenders by planters who tlunk the mfhctwns of the law to be too mild or too uncertain, are a sufficient proof in how serious' a light these depredations are regarded. 2. By the institution of slavery, the slaves them· selves become the chief article of property. Property of alllnnds has a certam tendency to take wino-s to itself and fly away. This is peculiarly the case ~vith slave ·property. In addition to all the other accidents to which slaves, in common with other species of property, are exposed, they have a propensity to impoverish their masters by absconding. How frequently this propensity comes into exercise, any body may learn by exammmg the columns of the southern newspapers. Of the slaves that run away, the greater part are recovered: this is true, but still the master is a loser. He loses thc.i~ services during their absencc,often at the most cnt1cal moment of the crop,-besides the expense of their apprehension and conveyance home, mcludmg the reward offered, which in itself is often equal to half the money value of the slave. 3 .. Many slaves submit with great reluctance to the station and duties which the law assigns to them. To keep these unquiet creatures in due subordination it bec~mes necessary to wound, to maim, and someti~es to k11l them. 'rhis chance of loss takes away in a certam degree, from the security of this kind of property. ~· We come now to a cause of insecurity of a more senous character than any yet enumerated. Property |