Southern Debts

The capital of the North as naturally lows to the South as waler runa down hill - i. e. to fill up a vuccuum below it. - yoars ago, a great stotesman, in ;he Jjritish Parliamcnt, laid it down as nn ixioro in political economy, that planters ire ahvays in debt. The systcm of sociey in a slavebolding community is such aa ■o lead to the contraction of debt, which he sysicm iiself does not furnish the means )fpiying,and which must, therefore, bc ■vipud oii'by penodical bunkruptcics. The 11 economy pi slavo labor is seen in a housand particulars; the wasiefulness of he alavés ia exeeedud only by the exiravarauce of lbo masteis, whfle tho social runk (!) which ia coucuded to liim who exercises power over his fellow men, ia a pussport io credit. So long as ?rodit lusts and linies nre prosperou9,tha jlaveholdor is a very good paymaater, lnit ihe general indebtednass is all the while incroasnig until a conunercial crisis comea Lo discloso tho truc state of tilinga. There is, then, this difrcreuce belwccn a slavcholding and a IVoe counnunity. VVhen a prèssuie cojnoa upon a free people,they unmediuiely begin lo curtail expenses and increase üveir producís, ihey work harder and save moro; wear the old coat; soil all thoy can; and buy notlung thcy can do without; because ihey intend to pay tlKir debts. Theslaveholders, on the coiitrury, aiways drive iheir producers, (ihe blaveá,) toiho utmost, and ihe time of high prices ia especially the time of high pressures, and this makes tbe poor lave pray ihalcutiun mny be cheap. Consequenlly, whou hurd tiinc8 come, üieslhveholder has no way lo increase hiá producís, and there is no way he can curtail ihe weekly peck ot'coru, and ihe yearly shirt and overalls which hu expends upon his slaves. And as to lus own expenses, it ia of more impurlance to him lo nmintain his standing as a gentleman planter, than it is to pay tho rascally shdpkecpera, and therefore, when a prosaure cornos, we do not seo in thu slavehoiding States any such calculations and etïurts lo pay lbo old debt, as are found in ihe frec ömles. The sense of obligation to pay debts is essentially difierout belween people who always live onihe earoings ol ibe poor, aud thoss who huve nothing bui wlml tlioy have earned by iheir own industry. The effect, is that in cornnif rci-il revulsions, lliore is a general calcuhuion that ihe bulkof indebted.ñess frora the frce States will bc paid, and tliat tha bulk of the slave debt will be lost. The free expect to pay their debts, ff it takes years of toii and selfdenial; the slavciiolder likes to pay debts if it is convenicnt, but to work and save to pay au old debt enters not iuto I1Í9 thoughts. And since slavery does not, iu faet, support itaelf as it goes along, it is ofcourso imt)os3ible that it shouid furnish the meana of paying the old debt. Ilere is a history of any and every one of our commercial rovulsions, solar as slavery is concerned.