Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1845-01-10
Tales Of Oppression.

Tales Of Oppression,
Rev Charles I. Torrey, who has been for
several months confined in the Baltimore jail
on charge of aiding slaves to run away from
their masters, tells the following tales in let
ter published in the Boston Chronicle:
"a coored man, poor, free, of good char
acter, belonging to Frederic CO., Md, went into
Pennsylvania with drove of cattle, and was
gone more than the legal twenty days On his
return two mscreants, utterly worthless in purse
and character, but with whitish faces, complained
Of him, got him in jail, and in various ways con-
trlyed to run up the bill Of fines and costs to over
$40. For this he was sold as a slaoe for life,
purchased for a slave-tader in this city, and sent
to the far South. 1t was this summer
"Another case. A certain Dr. D, Of
Howard district, sent to this jail an old black man,
his wife, light mulatto woman, and four little
children, all totiter than her moher Two of
them, the woman said, were her masters. The
husband said they all were No doubt of it.
They have since been sold to the slavc-traders
Such occurrences are by no means unusual here
Yet the Christians of Baltimore never know any,
thing about them, when you ask; in truth, it
would be Incredible news to nine-tenths of the
better sort Of people Of this city, that from two to
four thousand slaves are every year sold in their
midst, including at least five hundred members of
the body of Christ, humble, prayerful, ignorant
but sincere christians, Such topics they do not
inquire into. The righteous perisheth, and no
man ofthem, layeth it to heart Why? The
victims are poor, black or yellow, and Ameri-
can slaves; victims of the great American slave
trade But it is perfect folly to rebuke the slaUe-
trade. The trader is the mere agent Of the slave
holder The great crime is to hold man in
slavery.
"Items of different class 1t is very common
here for the police and other slave-hunting knaves,
to play tricks on Shareholders. Twill give you a
few samples One police firm has in over
twenty colored spies here besides others in Phil
adep hia and elsewhere Their business is to
inveige slaves to run away, hide them up, and
betray them. When the master misses his slave
he soon advertises his 500 reward often he
applies to this very police firm for aid; in a few
days they are ready, of course, and hand over tile
poor victims Of their arts pocket the reward, be-
sides getting praise as very Oigilant officers!
They once had in their pay an active member of
Northern Vigilance Committee, who is well
known to me. He is not non on the Committee.
"Another trick is somewhat similar. Many
colored people for ten miles round, are suffered
to come to Baltimore on the Sabbath to see their
friends, and attend church A constable, desr-
GUS of raising the wind, finds one without pass,
puts him in jail or some place OF confinement
sometimes one of the slave prisons-says nothing
about it till the master offers his reward and
then Mr.. Constable coolly pockets the reward Of
his knayery, Besides, the slave, as a supected
runaway, is commonly sold to the traders at a low
price, and the trader, out of pure gratitude q
gives the officer another fee. defeated one
such precious scheme since my Imprisonment, by
writing to the slavohoIder-a humane man-and
thus saved pious slave from being torn from
his family for life. got taoO enemies by it.
"Another trick is managed by the connvance of
the Jail keepers. runaway is put in jail, and the
keepers, for specific fee, ($5) give exclusive no
tce to a particular trader of the fact. This gives
the trader a chance to negotiate with the MASTER
at a distance and get his slave at half price, buy
ing him 'on the wing This has often been done
this summer. One of the visiters of the Jail, to
whom mentioned it, defended it as a customary
! perquiste of the prison officers.
"Another 'perqusiIe' of these gentry, is 30 per
cen: of the fees for all the cases they are able to
give lawyer, with whom bargain is previously
o made. Ofcourse, none but very inferior law
4 yer would degrade himself by making such bar
= gain. This summer, very amusing quarrel took
, place between our keepers and their legal coadju-
tor, to the honesty of the latter in paying over
the proper share of the fees! They tried to drive
a bargain with another-one of my frends-but
received no countenance from him. You see the
art of 'Sponging' is not altogether to be cassed
among the 'lost arts of prmeva world.
"These hungry animals are very ready to plum
der the saveholder; they do it often, of course;
they will not scrupIe to do the like with the free
: colored man, and Others of the more defeuceles:
classes"