Edwardsville spectator. [volume] (Edwardsville, Ill.) 1819-1826, 1824-05-11


sumed, IN this forbidden traffic"
The extension OF the trade for the
last wenty five or thirty years, must in
degree be conlectural; but tho best
information that can be obtained on the
subject, furnishes good foundation TO be-
ieve that during that period the number
oil slaves Withdrawn from Western Arr.
Ca (oniy) amounts TO upwards Of one
million and haif The annual average
would be mean somewhere between
\ ffy and eighty thousand"
he trade appears TO be lucrative IN
proportion TO its heinousness-and as il
IS generally inhibited, the unfeeling slave
dealers, in order to elude the laws, in
crease is horrors. The innocent Atri-
cans are mercIlessly forced from their
native homes in irons--are crowded in
vessels and situations which are not
adapted for the transportation of human
beings, and this cruelty is frequently
Succeeded, during the voyage TO their
destination, with dreadful mortality"
he detestable crime OF kidnapping
the undicndng inhabitants of one coun-
try and claiming them 10 slavery in ano-
Their, is marked with all the atrocious
ness OF piracy, and as such il is stigma
lized and punished by our laws" See
the Journals oil the House OF Represen-
! tatives Tor the day.
In Senate, Friday, April 10Th, 1892
! Mr. Gorhan from the comnitlee for the
suppression oi the slave trade, made the
following report, accompanied by reso-
luton, which was read From this able
! document we extract the tollowlng:
Your committee find il impossible
to measure with precision the effect pro-
duced upOn the american branch Of The
SlaUe trode, by toe laws above mention
ed, and the seizures under them. They
are unable TO state whether those Anne
rlcan merchants, the American capital
and seamen which heretofore aided in
his traffic have abandoned it altogether,
or have sought shelter under the flags OF
other nations. 1t is ascertained, how
ever, that The American flag, which here
toiore covered SO large portion Of The
slave trade, has wholly disappeared from
the coast Q! Africa. The trade, notwi,h-
standing, Increases unusually under the
flags Of other palIons."
" But the conc usion to which your
committee have arrived, after consulting
all The evidence within their reach, is,
that the African slave trade now prevails
To grea extent" See Journals of the
Senate Tor tie day.
The statements which we have QUO
ted, iurnsh us With abundan, proof Of
the iniquity and cruelty Of The slave trade,
bot IN lis effects upon those unhappy
beings who are its immediate victims !;
misohiels which it has brought upon The
pea e'ul natives of Africa, who during
its cessation, were beginning to taste the
sweets, and to reap the adv sntages al
tendant upon civilized life. Promising
as tie dawn OF improvement among them
was, and well founded as the hope OF
Atrica's future prosperity seemed to be.
the renewal OF the trade has crushed
every such expectation, while the indus
try and rapacily win which IT is now
pursued, have inflicted upon her, evils
OF more hopeless and rulnous charac-
ter than have al any former period fallen
TO her portion. The traffic ii appears
evident Is still! carried on ~nh great sue
cess, and to an extent which ought TO
alarm every American CitIzen, since il
IS well known that notwithstanding our
| flag has from necessity, been exchanged
Or the colors OF France or Portugal, yet
| American merchants, American seamen,
and American capital are still deeply i'll
volved in this illicit occupation.
During the year 1922 it has been es-
| timated from the best informs alton that
can be obtained, that an aggregate OF
one hundred thousand slaves have been
orn from Africa and carried into the
| American colonies--and some of then,
INTO the United States. The colonists
of the Wesl India Islands laboring IN
der the pecuniary difficulties which the
destructive system OF slave cultivation
entails upon them, are not in condition
opurchase very large numbers of slaves.
Indeed it is evident from their recent APP
plicalion for relief to the Parliament OF
Great Britain, and the statements which
they there exhibited, that unless they
make some speedy change in their me-
thod OF cultivation, or receive bounty
from their government, general ruin
must ensue. Their absolute want Of
funds must necessarily restrain them
from taking the carsoes which are sent
there. The demand for slaves in these
lsa.,ds must therefore, we think, DIM
nisL and shnnld The measures which