Page:The Collected Works of Theodore Parker volume 6.djvu/276

Rh $51,872,446. Thus Slavery and Freedom affect the value of land in the new States.

Michigan had, in 1855, 699 miles of railroad, which had cost $19,000,000; Arkansas had paid nothing for railroads. The total valuation of Arkansas, in 1850, was $39,871,025: the value of the slaves, $23,264,400, was included. Deducting that, there remains but $16,576,625, as the entire worth of Arkansas; while Michigan has property to the amount of $59,787,255. Thus Slavery and Freedom affect the value of property in the new States.

In 1850, Arkansas had 115,023 children under twenty, whereof 11,050 were in schools, academies, or colleges; while Michigan had 211,969, of whom 112,382, were at school, academy, or college. Or, to omit the coloured population, Arkansas had 97,402 white persons under twenty, and only 11,050 attending school; while, of 210,831 whites of that age in Michigan, 112,175 were at school or college. Last year, Michigan had 132,234 scholars in her public common schools. In 1850, Arkansas contained 64,787 whites over twenty—but 16,935 of these were unable to read and write; while, out of 184,240 of that age in Michigan, only 8281 were thus ignorant— of these, 3009 were foreigners; while, of the 16,935 illiterate persons of Arkansas, only 37 were born out of that State. The slave State had only 47,852 persons over twenty who could read a word; while the free State had 175,959. Michigan had 107,943 volumes in "libraries other than private," and Arkansas 420 volumes. Thus Slavery and Freedom affect the education of the people in the new States.

Now, see the effect of Slavery and Freedom on property and education in their respective neighbourhoods. I take examples from the States of Missouri and Virginia, kindly furnished by an ingenious and noble-hearted man.

1. In the twelve counties of Missouri, which border on slave-holding Arkansas, there are 20,982 free white persons, occupying 75,360 acres of improved land, valued at $13 an acre, or $989,932 : while in the ten counties of Missouri bordering on Iowa, a free State, though less attractive in soil and situation, there are 26,890 free white persons, with 123,030 acres of improved land, worth $19 an acre, or $2,379,765. Thus the neighbourhood of Slavery retards the development of property.