The Sun.
London, England, 1822-05-20 00:00:00

AMERICA.

SUPPRESSION' OF THE SLAVE TRADE.
SENATE, FRIDAY, APRIL 12.
Mi. GORHAM, from the Committee on the suppression of
the Slave Trade (in compliance with a Resolution of the 15th
January last), made the following Report, accompanied by a
Resolution, which was read :
The Committee on the suppression of the Slave Trade, to
whom was referred a resolution of the House of Representa-
tives of the 15th January last, instructing them to inquire
whether the laws of the United States prohibiting that traffic
have been duly executed ; also into the general, operation
thereof, and if any defects exist in those laws,- to suggest ade-
quate remedies therefor, and to whom many memoriali have
been referred, touching the same subject, have according to
order had the said resolution and memorials under considera-
tion, beg leave to Report :
That under the just and liberal construction put by the
Executive on the acts of Congress of March 3, 1819, and that
of the 15th of March, 1820, inflicting the punishment of piracy
on the African slave trade, a foundation has been laid for the
most systematic and vigorous application of the politer of the
United States, to the suppression of that iniquitous traffic. Its
unhappy subjects-when captured are restored to their country,
agents are there appointed to receive them, and a colony of the
offspring of private charity is rising on its shores, in which
such as cannot reach their native tribes will find the means of
alleviating the calamities they may have endured before their
liberation.
When these humane provisions are contrasted with the sys-
tem which they superseded, there can be but one sentiment in
favour of a steady adherence to its support. The document
accompanying this Report, and marked * states the number
of Africans seized or taken within or without the limits of the
United States, and brought there, in their present condition.
It does not appear to your Committee, that such of the naval
force of the country as has been hitherto employed in the exe-
cution of the laws against this traffic, could have been more effi-
ciently used for the interest and honour of the nation. The docu-
ment marked t is a statement of the names of their commanders,
ordered upon this service, with the dates of their departure, &c.
The first vessel destined for this service arrived upon the coast
of Africa, in March, 1820, and in the few weeks she remained
there, sent in for adjudication four American vessels, all of
which were condemned. The force which have been since ern-
ployed in this service have made five visits (the Alligator hav-
ing made two cruises in the past summer), the whole of which
have amounted to a service of about ten months, by a single
vessel within a period of near two years ; and since the middle
of last November, the commencement of the healthy season on
that, coast, no vessel has been, nor as your Committee has been
informed, is under orders for that service.
The ( ommittee are thus particular on this branch of their
inquiry, because unfounded rumours have been in circulation,
that other branches of the public service have suffered from the
destination given to the inconsiderable force above stated,
which, small as it has been, has, in every instance, been di-
rected both in its outward and homeward voyage to cruize in
the West India seas.
Before they quit this part of their inquiry, your Committee
feel it their duty to state, that the loss of several of the prizes
made in this service, is imputable to the size of the ships en-
gaged in it. The efficacy of this force, as well as the health
and discipline of the officers and crews, conspire to recommend
the employment of no smaller vessel than a corvette or sloop
of war, to which it would be expedient to allow the largest
possible complement of men, and if possible she should be ac-
coilipanied by a tender, or vessel drawing less water. The
vessels engaged in this service should be frequently relieved,
but the coast should at no time be left without a vessel to watch
and protect its shores.
Your Committee find it impossible to measure with precision
the effect produced upon the American branch of the Slave
Trade, by the laws above-mentioned, and the seizures under
them. They are unable to state whether those American mer-
chants, the American capital, and seamen which heretofore
aided in this traffic, have abandoned it altogether, or have sought
shelter under the flags of other nations. It is ascertained, how-
ever, that the American flag, which heretofore covered so large
a portion of the Slave Trade, has wholly disappeared from the
coast of Africa. The trade, notwithstanding, increases annu-
ally under flags of other nations. France has incurred the re-
proach lof being the greatest adventurer in this traffic prohi-
bited by her laws; but it is to be presumed that this results
not so much from the avidity of het subjects for this iniquitous
gain, or from the safety, which in the absence of all hazard of
capture her flag affords to the greedy and unprincipled adven-
turers of all nations. It is neither candid nor just to impute to
a gallant and high-minded people the exclusive commission of
crimes which the abandoned of all nations are alike capable of
perpetrating with additional wrong to France herself of using
her flag to •cover and protect them. If the vigour of tha
American Navy has saved its banner from like reproach, it has
done much to preserve unsullied its high reputation, and
amply repaid the expence charged upon the public revenue
by a system of laws to which it has given such honourable
effects.
But the conclusion to which your Committee has arrived,
after consulting all the evidence within their reach, is, that the
African Slave Trade now prevails to a great extent, and that
its total suppression can never be effected by the separate and
disunited efforts of one or more States ; and as the Resolution to
which this Report refers requires the suggestion of some remedy
for the defects, if any exist in the system of laws for the suppres-
sion of this traffic, your Committee beg leave to call the attention
of the House to the Report and accompanying documents sub-
mitted to the last Congress by the Committee- on the• Slave
Trade, and to make the same a part of this Report. That
Report proposeS as a remedy for the existing evils of the system
the concurrence of the United States with one cr all of the mari-
time Powers of Europe, in a modified and reciprocal right of
search on the African coast, with a view to the total suppres-
sion of the Slave Tradv.
It is with great delicacy that the Committee have approached
this subject, because they are aware that the remedy which
they presumed to recommend to the consideration of the House
requires the exercise of the power of another department of the
Government, and that objections to the exercise of this power
in the mode here proposed have existed in that department.
Your Committee are confident, however, that these objec-
tions apply rather to a particular proposition for the exercise
of the right of searcn, than to that modification of it which pre-
, sents itself to your Committee. They contemplate the trial and
condemnation of such American Citizens as may be found en-

* Five hundred and seventy-three Africans are stated in do.
cement A to have been taken without the limits of the'United
States. _

fi Tha United States' vessels ordered on this service on the
coast of Africa were the Cayane, Hornet, John Maros, Alliga-
tor, and Shark.