The Sun.
London, England, 1862-11-03 00:00:00

people." At one of these meetings, held on the 11th
inst., at Pittsfield, fears were expressed that the
solders who returned to their native towns and vil-
lages at the conclusion of the war would find it im-

possible to procure work at their ordinary avoca-
tions, in consequence of the number of negroes that
_ _

would be brought into competition with them at
lower wages. Many angry speeches were made
and angry resolutions passed. One resolution
stated " that the influx of a large population of
blacks could only tend to destroy the dignity of
white labour, by bringing black labour into ruinous
and disgraceful competition with it." Another
" that it was not only the duty of the people to pro.
tect the homes and property of those who have
volunteered to defend the country, but to protect
and keep open all the channels of industry through
which those volunteers, when they return home,
can earn by honest labour a support for themselves
and their families." Both ng these were passed by
acclamation. At another meeting at Broadwell, in
the county of Logan, the speeches were fiercer in
their tone, and declared that the 'bringing in of
negroes was calculated to disturb the peace and
impair the growing Prosperity of the State, and
that any one who introduced theni set the laws
and Constitution at defiance. One of the reso-

lutions warned all
very letter—peaceably,
hi This
m significant
to
o execute threat
the
my
the people, would se such persons that we,
State
that the Constitution
and laws of the
necessary."
Government. The concleuidfingporsessioblinet;ion
were enforced to the
forcibly,three in
declaration of war
office under against Mr. Stanton and the
number, called upon the Governor and all others in
Illinois from being was
tCI clearlyprevent
overrun with " worthless ne-
groes," and to protect the white labourer; adding,
in the following words, pregnant reminder that
Judge Lynch was still a
and " Lynch-law"
alive,
still current in Illinois :--4, We hereby give all those
who will encourage, harbour, and give any aid to
warning
negroes in this precinct that they will be
whoseduty summarily dealt with if those it is to
enforce the law fail to do so •" and that " we hereby
,
pledge our lives to the maintenance of the fore-
going resolutions." The Chicago
same..journal,
which report this and • similar meetings contain also
the report of a law case in which the salary due to
a school teacher •in Montgomery County was re-
fused on the ground that he was "at least one-
fourth negro." The Judge ruled that " good taste
and sound policy" - forbade the employment of ne-
groes and mulattoes as teachers in the public
schools. The Constitution,
he said, did not ex-
pressly disqualify such
persons from exercising this
particular function, but as it prohibited their immi-
gration into the state,
and the Common School Law
children did not permit negro to attend as pupils
and enjoy the benefit of the schools, it was clear
that the employment of negro teachers was contrary
to the spirit if not to the letter of the Constitution,
and he decreed accordingly.
Mr. Wendell Phillips,
Mr. Greely, Mr. Chas. Sumner, Mr. Ward Beecher
and the President, together with the whole Abo-
lition party, would do well, in the face of facts
like these, to leave the question of slavery to the
management of the South until they shall have
settled upon a more Christian foundation than that
on which it stands at present. The question that
more intimately concerns all true philanthropists is
that of the social and legal status of the negroes in
the North and West. The question of slavery is a
very difficult and dangerous one, with which, if
the Federal Government were wise, it would have
nothing to do. The question of the mere exist-
ence of the negro in the Western States is equally
difficult and perhaps more dangerous, as the Federal
Government may discover at no distant day if it
should be so unhappy as to succeed in its double
purpose of restoring the Union and emancipating
the slaves.
The habeas corpus case in Vermont,
mentioned in
my letter of Sept. 9, has been decided in a manner
that is scarcely gratifying to the friends of consti-
tutional liberty, though it must be highly distaste-
ful to Mr. Stanton and the instruments of his arbi-
trary decrees. Three persons, named Lyman, Barnes,
and Field, were accused of disloyalty
at Burlington,
—why or by whom they knew not, and committed
to prison by the Provost-Marshal. The Provost-
Marshal was cited to bring up th •
eir bodies before
the civil tribunal, and refused,
pleading military
authority from Mr. Secretary Stanton as his justifi-
cation. The Court leniently gave him time to con-
sider the point ; and when the time
production of the prisoners the Provost-Marshal
was cited for contempt of Court and fined 100 dole.
He paid the money, declaring that he only desired
to perform his duty faithfully. But the question
will be asked, what has become of the prisoners ?
Are they still in custody ? And
can
a Provost-
Marshal, for £2O, which the Government will reim-
burse him, detain men in prison,
without trial,
although a judge on the bench declares his conduct'