Rutland herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1823-1847, 1836-04-12
NUM- E u 20.

=" "hue question ~ public ssftty To begin
,ne WORK OF abohshing slavery. and to tsni.b The
oe,s''"e'e 'rot,c IN human ncsh from ,his district.
~ll 40 arc told. tend 10 excite a splrit az ,n.,,
nrchon ~ The Southern States; nd gentlemen rive
'ol rem TO their apns'iors In depicting N, ho,,
fors OF rape rspino and murder vtncb viii G,l,ou
~ NOT permit my,elf to DON'T the petfce, SINGER.
ny ~ gentlemen In these gloomy i,rrhndiny,
know 'h"v -rc IN position 20 rec what rsnnot
see ana Tel what ! cannot frtl. will NOT sIo,v
mvsef tn 'tife with their views or feelings on This
subject. though mus, be permitted 10 doob, m,
correctness Of the one. ant the instne.. ~ tho
other nv
tnd may not well Doubt a, II /. true do no,
profess very familiar scqu,in,Nnc. with tho di..
p'''uon o' the slave population or the probable 10.
hnrncc upon them " discussion az md ,c,ion
/ upon this subject And while would hesitate "a
"pr'ec NY u~n individual opn,on to Tho assertions
I "i honorable gcnlcncn, 81 confidently made they
must permit mr 10 confront them not sltor.,bcr
WIN my own opinion, but With the authority OF
intelligent aud respectable ssveholJcrs themselves
mold IN my hand a petition presented To tbis
House IN the wear 1898 signed by more than eley-
On hundred citizens of this district prsyiop for the
abolition Of slavery and the slave trade within ,s
! UNITS II was referred to the committee on the
district OF Columbia and remained unacted on until
'he la't session, when II was called No. on motion
Iihmprhlrc
ilubbard) and ordered to be printed, with tho
names of the sgncrs. send it to the Chair and
ask That II may be read by the clerk
Here Mr. Garland. Of Virginia interposeJ md said
he should object TO the reading of ,ha, and all 9th
er petitions on the subject unless the gentleman
used II asa part Of his argument.
Mr. slade replied that he intended 50 10 use H.
and should read il himself but being exhausted he
wished il read by the clerk
Mr. Garland withdrew his objection. and con.en.
ted to the reading us an act of courtesy TO Mr.
Snde.
The petition was then read by the clerk 40 fol.
lowss
TO dc HONORABLE, he Senate and Hons, of RENE.
seniatres Of he United States Of .4mertca in Con.
gress assembled:
I'VE the undersigned citizees of the counties NJ
Washington and Alexandra, in the dis,ric, of Co.
iumbIa beg leave 10 call the attention Of your hon
oabIe body to an evil of serious ma uniude. which
greatly 'mpars the prosperity and happiness Of this
district, and casts the rcprouch of inconsistency
upon me Tree institutions established among as,
While the laws of the United S,o,cs dono,n,.
The foreign slave trade rs piracy and ppuisb ,,h
death thnso ",h" g &c. - ye, t,.,.s-
ton, there exists IN this district the seat of the
National Government, a domestic slave trade
scarcely less dsgrecciul in lis character and even
like the former. carried against q bnrb,rous m.
tnn-its victims reared ~ among the peopl.
OF this country. educated in The piecepts Of tho
same religion. and nbued with similar domestic
attachments.
"Thesc people arc. without their consent. torn
from their homes; husband and wife are frequently
separated and sold into dieren, parts; children are
taken from their parents, whou, regard to the ties
OF nature and the most endearhg bonds Of n,iec.
ton are broken for ever
"Nor is this traffic confined to those vino are L.
gally slaves for life. Some who are entitled to
freedom, and many who have limited time to serve
are sold into unconditional slavery and, owing to
the effectiveness of our laws. they are generally
carried out Of he district before the necessary steps
CO be taken for their release
1--WE behold these scares continually taking
place among ms, and lamen, our innbiny to pre-
vent them. The people of this district we with
~ themselves, no means of legislative redress and
we therefore appeal TO your honorable body, as tn,
only one invested by the American Constitution
with the powor TO relieve us.
Nor is 1t only from the rspacity Of slave ira
ders that the colored race in this dstrc, are DOOM
cd 20 suffer. Eyen the laws which govern rs sane.
ton and direct, IN certain cases, a procedure that
We believe unparalleled, ~ gbrinq injustice, by
ANYTHING a, present known smoug the Governments
these lsws, which occurred during the last summer
~e vii briefly relate
a colnrsd man. who stated that ho was entitled
to freedom, was iLken up as runaway slave, and
lodged IN The jail Of Washington city. lie wss sd.
ver'ised, bat no ono appearing "a cisim him, he
~as according to law put up at public auction for
thu payment Of his lnl fees. mad sold slave Tor
life He WAS purchased by slave trader, who
"ss not required 10 give security for his remaining
10 the district, and he wss soon shcr shipped At
Alexandra f'r one Of the Southern Slsies. An
attempt made By some benevolent individuals
10 have the sale postponed until Ills claim 10 free
dom could be in's-tgSted but their efforts were
unsysiling; and thus was h0nan behg cold mo
prrpeus, bondage Inc capital nf the fressi Gov
ernneni on earth. without even pretcnce Of trial.
or on allegation of cflfne.
~ blush for our country While we rotate ihls
disgTacciDl Transaction, aud would iaB conceal
Il from the word did not It, very enormIiy inspire
us with the hope ihsi II will rouse the phsnibro-
pist and the pptfioi 80 eEerlion. We have no hes
iisrion in believing your honorable body never To-
tended tbs, This odious las stoulG be enforced; II
wa adopted with the old code 81 Maryland from
t.-H 49, - HhA