ing the influence of slavery on the general prosperity and advancement of the States where it exists. Unwarrantable comparisons have been made, and unjustifiable conclusions formed, by those who understood not the relative condition of the free and the slave States, nor the causes which operated to produce the difference which actually exists. The contrast between Kentucky and Ohio, for example, has been often drawn, and the real difference magnified to an extent, which would well nigh justify the conclusion that they existed in different ages, in different climes, and under different forms of government.
That there is a difference between these two States, taking into consideration their ages as States, we are free to admit; but, that that difference is wholly owing to the fact of one being a slave, and the other a free State, is false, both in principle and in fact. If this were true, the same principle would hold good when applied to different counties and sections of Kentucky itself. But that it is not true, facts clearly demonstrate; for, by examination into this matter, we find that in the wealthiest, most intelligent, and refined sections of that State, as well as of any of the slave States, the greatest proportion of slaves are to be found. We can cite to counties, and to parts of counties, and, indeed, to individual cases, and in every instance show that there is a marked difference in favor of the slaveholder, when confined to the native born citizens of the State.
Ohio, it is true, has more flourishing towns and cities, and has increased more rapidly in population than
