FARMERS' REGISTER-EXPENSES AND PROFITS OF REARING SLAVES. 



253 



Charles Minor, Louisa. 

 Moses M. Pallen, Richmond. 

 Thomas L. Preston, Washington county. 

 Charles Randolph, Richmond. 

 Edmund Rurtin, Prince George. 

 Frances S. Sampson, Goochland. 



amine for ourselves what is the true amount and 

 value of the pecuniary interest of each slave hol- 

 der, and properly estimate the worth of what we 



I are contending for. The general interest is only 

 the aggregate of all the individual interests — and 



I to arrive at the truth respecting both, a little arith- 

 metic will aid us more than volumes of dcclama- 



Th& follntolng Students received Certificates 6f\ ^^^^^_ j ^^i^ ^j^^ attention and assistance of those 

 '^ "■" '" who are Uke myself interested in this kind of pro- 



perty, in the attempt I shall make to estimate the 



Proficiency, in Political Economy 



John H. Christian, Henrico. 

 James H. Davis, Universityof Virginia 

 John VV. Stevenson, Richmond. 

 Thomas B. Washington, JcHerson. 



SCHOOL OF LAW. 



Wm. n. Brockenbrough, University of Virginia. 



James L. Carr, Albemarle. 



William Frazier, Augusta. 



Barwell G. Gartli, Albemarle. 



William Martin, Henry. 



John B. Minor, Louisa. 



William M. Randolph, Povv-hatan. 



McClurg Wickham, Richmond. 



John B. Young, Henrico. 



The following gentlemen have attained the De- 

 gree of Master of u-irts of the Cniversiiy of Vir- 

 ginia — the highest honor which the institution can 

 conler — and that requires the Student to have 

 previously graduated in the Schools of Ancient 

 Languages, Modern Languages, Mathematics, 

 NaturarPhilosophy, Chemistry, and Moral Phi- 

 losophy. 



John H. Cochran, Loudoun. 



James H. Davis, University of Virginia. 



John A. Meredith, New Kent. 



Charles Minor, Louisa. 



Charles H. Randolph Richmond. 



Edmund Ruffin. Prince George. 



John B. Young, Henrico. 



ESTIMATES OF THE EXPENSES AA'D 

 OF REARING SLAVES. 



[Written in 1832.] 



For the Farmers' Register. 



The great question of the effects of slave hold- 

 ing on the prosperity of the people ol Virginia, 

 has lately occupied the attention of every citizen: 

 but long as the subject has been debated, and nume- 

 rous and oft repeated as were the arguments and 

 estimates presented, still the existence of slavery 

 was considered only as to its effects on the welfare 

 of the community, and not on private and individ- 

 ual interests. A party question was raised — and 

 whether it was treated in its political, moral, or re- 

 ligious bearings, partizan fiielings entered into, 

 and governed both sides of the discussion. Nei- 

 ther truth nor reason can be expected on any sub- 

 ject, from arguments and debates so influenced. 

 No one more than myself" contiemns the manner 

 in which the debate on this subject was raised and 

 conducted in the Legislature of Virginia: and as 

 an owner of slaves, (and one whose income is de- 

 rived almost entirely from their labor,) I assert an 

 ■ unquestionable right to my property, and protest 

 against every attempt to deprive me of it without 

 But at the same time, it may be 



cost of rearing slaves, and the market value thence 

 derived. I shall endeavor to avoid all the other 

 considerations, important as they are, that press 

 upon this subject — and without meddling whh po- 

 Utics, or morals, mine will be the more humble ob- 

 ject to ascertain how far the private individual in- 

 terests of farmers are concerned— and by the same 

 mode, and on similar grounds, as the profit or los3 

 of rearing live-stock of any kind would be esti- 

 mated. 'The consideration of slave holding as a 

 matter of agricultural, finance, is presenting the 

 subject in a form that may be disgusting to many, 

 and repulsive to all. Nevertheless, it is the only 

 correct mode for establishing the truths I seek, or 

 of erecting a sure and solid foundation for the dis- 

 cussion of the general question. 



The rearing of slaves in Lower Virginia has so 

 generally been considered a source of profit to 

 fheir owners that it has scarcely been questioned 

 or doubted. But I have never known any proof 

 of the fact exhibited, nor even sought for. A few 

 female slaves, in the course of twenty-five or thir- 

 ty years, will often yield an increase of eight or 

 ten times their number, and as great a multiplica- 

 tion of their own first value — and the great aug- 

 mentation of capital in such cases, is taken as suf- 

 ficient evidence that great profit has been thence 

 obtained. Yet nothing is more fallacious than de- 

 ductions so made. An estimate of profit or losa 

 inio-ht however be obtained, with sufficient accu- 

 racy, by using the following data: 1st. The cost 

 in purchase money, or the value of the mother, 

 and the annual cost of maintenance of herself and 

 children, for a certain length of time. 2nd. The 

 market value of the slaves at the end of that time 

 — and 3d. The average probability of the continu- 

 ance of life during the same time. 



Money may be lent on good security for 6 per 

 cent, interest. If a man vests his money in trade, 

 or in building houses for rent, and thereby obtaina 

 10 per cent, only 4 per cent, is the amount of hia 

 profit for the risk and trouble attending his invest- 

 ment, as the remainder was the fair value of hia 

 money. If the whole average annual returns 

 from his new business amounted to no more than 

 6 per cent, there would be no profit whatever, and 

 no man knowingly would vest his money so use- 

 lessly, it" there was in this business more trouble 

 or risk, than in making ordinary loans. 



The net hire of a slave shows what is the value 

 of^his labor to his employer, and to his owner. 

 The price for which he would sell shows what 

 amount of capital is so vested. If the demand lor 

 ihe labor of slaves was limited to one district, the 

 prices of hire and of sale would always bear a fair 

 proportion to each other. But the price of" hire 

 marks the value of labor here, while the selling 

 price is fixed by the demand of" Alabama or Lou- 

 isiana — and therefore the two may be quite dispro- 



my consent. 



both proper and expedient, that we who hold this | portioned; and the selling price being now regu- 



property, and contend for these rights, f?hould ex- , lated by the far greater demand, must of necessity 



