H. L. Pinckney, Mayor of Charleston, on behalf of the City Council, reports that "they have recently passed an ordinance establishing a mart for the public sale of slaves within the corporate limits of the City by which it is provided that after the erection of said mart no slaves shall be sold by brokers and others at public auction or outcry except at the mart so established by the City." He points out "this measure has been resorted to as an important act of public policy and convenience" and that "it was very much desired by public opinion and the interests of planters and others having large bodies of Slaves for sale." Pinckney further notes that "it may not be improper to add that the prices of keeping slaves at the said mart and the expenses attending the keeping and sale of slaves there are decidedly cheaper than at any other place in Charleston." Pinckney concludes by asserting that "the object of establishing a mart is not to make money for the City, but to carry out an important measure of public policy, and to accommodate the public respecting the safety and the sale of large gangs of negroes."
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Repository: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina
