In your cruel arithmetic he is only a “cipher,” without the protection which the slave sometimes found in the self-interest of the master; or rather let me say he is only a “cipher” where rights are concerned, but a numeral counted by millions where taxes are to be paid.
In this passage, Sumner discusses the economic exploitation of freedmen, contrasting their value in taxation with their lack of rights.
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They who strive after it, Ixion-like, embrace a cloud.
Let loyalty to one man be exchanged for Love to Man.
This will be the FREEDOM POWER, whose single object will be to resist the SLAVE POWER.
It is larger than the entire profit of all the commerce and manufactures of the world.
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