Page:Cheap cotton by free labor.djvu/7

 life and that the negro is naturally indolent. The decrease in the export of sugar from the island of Jamaica is cited in proof of the allegation. Let those who believe this statement to be conclusive, examine a little, and they will find, 1st, that the decrease began and rapidly continued for thirty years before the emancipation of the slaves. 2d, That with the decrease of export, the import of food has decreased, although the population has increased. 3d, That the aggregate value of the exports of all the British West Indies is now nearly as great as it was in the palmiest days of slavery. 4th, That the cultivation and preparation of sugar requires a very large capital, expensive machinery, and, under the slave system, the most arduous and exhaustive labor, continued day and night during the grinding season,—so hard and