rchases a slave with his money, the slave frequently
costs him one thousand dollars. If we suppose his money worth ten per
cent interest, per annum, the amount of the interest on the purchase
money, is one hundred dollars per annum. Here is eight dollars and
thirty-three and one-third cents per month, that the farmer is paying
for labor. To this add fifty dollars per annum for clothing, viz.,
four dollars and sixteen and two-third cents per month; making an
aggregate of twelve dollars and fifty cents per month, that the farmer
expends for slave labor. During a residence of forty four years in the
South, I never knew the time when white laborers could not be procured
for that amount, and frequently for less. To this we may fairly add at
least twenty-five per cent for loss of time by sickness, loss of slave
property by death, physician's bills, &c., so that we may put down
slave labor at fifteen dollars per month. Fifty per cent more, than
white labor ordinarily costs in the slave states. This is a fair
statement of the case. But the disadvantages of slave labor do not
stop here. As a general rule, land cultivated by white laborers, will
produce from twenty-five to fifty per cent more than land cultivated
by slave labor. This is owing to the careless, slovenly manner in
which slave labor is performed. To this we may add the destruction of
farming utensils and implements of husbandry, over and above what
occurs in the hands of white laborers; and also the injury inflicted
on horses, mules and oxen; the loss of stock for the want of proper
attention, regular feeding, &c.

None can comprehend the force of my remarks so well, as the practical
farmer. Well does he understand the vast expense incurred, and the
loss that is sustained, by the careless and reckless wear and tear,
and destruction of farming utensils and machinery--the improper
treatment of horses--inattention to hogs, cattle, &c. Slaves are
remarkable for their listlessness and indolence, and the little
interest they manifest in anything. Many of them perform their round
of labor with as little apparent concern or interest, as the horses or
mules which they drive before them. There are, I admit, exceptions,
but as a general rule, my remarks hold good. I never owned a negro,
but I frequently employed them as cooks, washerwoman, &c., and many
years observation satisfied me, that as a general rule, that when left
to themselves, they consumed, or rather wasted, one-thi