It is evident that the black man has not deteriorated during his sojourn
in these countries; on the contrary, he has improved in physique: the
repulsive Congo type has changed, and the Circassian features appear. It
is the result of the law of contact and example; it is the effect of
civilization.
Has the white man gained in similar ratio? Go to the cotton fields and
rice lands, and learn a lesson from the instructive contrast of the gaunt
and apathetic white laborer, with the sturdy, well-developed, lively
black. You will then observe that these vast alluvial lands, which rank in
richness and fertility with the best on the globe, must be consigned to
waste by reason of insalubrity, if not cultivated by races of men who are
congenial to the soil and climate. There is no white race who can
cultivate these lands, and enjoy life and establish society with any
duration. Malaria would forbid, if other conditions were favorable.
The littoral lands of the lower tier of Slave States, which are composed
of post tertiary and alluvial soils, tertiary sands and secondary chalk
marls, can be tilled in safety and with economy and with gain only by the
black man. Below the upper terraces and the slopes of the mountain ranges
of the northern limits of these States, where we find the primary and
metamorphic rocks and their debris, the white laborer cannot descend
without contending with the full force of his nature, with disease,
degeneration, and premature death.
There are now in the States of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and
Louisiana thirty millions of acres of arable land yet belonging to the
United States, unsold and unoccupied. In all England there are but seven
million acres of uncultivated land.