Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1850-04-05
SPEECH CT MIR. HUNTER.
OF VIRGINIA,
80 THE TEt;kIrORIAL QUESTION:
[c%oNcLvpEp.

laborers from the Madeira isles, from the East lnoies, u
from the coast of Africa, so as To supply NV os an".n
for labor in The culture of sugar and coffee. me c"hse-
quence has been the creation OF IA new spe'ies1M3I .ass,oo
trade, equal, perhaps: N the horrors o. Is m 'rade before il
was made niracy BY the laws Of the most civilze, ni'ons,
Governor Leisht, of Jamaica, in a letter TO Ea', .mey -,
la& informs hin of the mortality which occirreu "i"' 's:
tsso,, ~ sfricans imported from Sierrc Leone in the snip
aarab;ann Ont of 23s, he says % died IN the passage; 40
4 were Immediately ordered TO the hospital hmu W were 100
81 wretcbed condition! He reports that mere M.s ha S
Africans in SHE yard Gt will not do 10 cal II "oafac00n ,
at Sierra Leone, "who appeared very s,eiE ~ ration.
nEnclosnre 3 in No. 9. D. lO7. vol. i6.-Of 700 persons en-
barked on board the Arabian. % died on me 'oEaee' 40 o :
taken into the hospital, OF whom q TAU "eo' ~
any expected to survive. r.,rassp,inp the
'sIbid, lO7.-All the witnesses agree n pas ana dob;I,v
principal cause to have been the state Oh Gisea'G : y n i
insyhich the Africans were embarked al Sierra Leonc. 80
,6yd that MANY OF these persons, when taken on ooard, were
40 weak that it was necessary TO lit them over ue o iva m
+ of the vessel; that some could hafaly :" lo,e, ,s sick ar hall
uearsnce was that of persons who had been ia.ely sleno ' l )"
- "a supposition which seems TO have been parity sug-
gseted by the voracity with which Ihsy a y Nv mn dav or which
On board; and that the deaths commenced the aay y y" j. . ~
/thfy sailed from Sierra Leone. IL Is aiso sta'eo y h -" 81 -;
geon that their sickly state was noticed by nun 10 ' irb b,n ~
n bv addino that the other Africans were all that way IN Inc
a.nc,osprs . in No. D. 100, ibid.-Spesking Of four vessels
c,gaasd in this business, we regret to state that, in all these
vessels, except only the Morayshirc, a considerable mortality
his taken place." ,h., ,h;s n 90 =,
ci,s OF inc slave trade would have at least Diminished te
otter, which has SO long and anxiousiy engaged ma 40 "'t me
ton of philanthropists. But so farifoul .hIs Gemls p n~, sod
documents prove conclusivey that this trade has I"e aS,
greatly in extent and with aggravated horrors. a Ia =. ,ha
from the London Times, TO be found IN me uano1 W - ~
Democratic Review TO which ] have before reielleu, anu ",
Len go ofHc;al sources. proves that trade TO be vastly on
the increase, and that il is increased or diIninisneo IN d lauo
corresponding very nearly wlth .e rH SC u aun .a; nn ~ moves rave
itself TO have been disastrous or iiusory; nor mas II ever ~
tanned that abstract good for which go much o. human map
n;nesa and social prosperity were sacrificed. The Africans,
he lsborino class. are not, in fact, free; they have changed
masters, and changed 10 their own disadvantage me- ne. ho
no longer the slaves OF one master, but OF many; rue! :
LONG 10 an abstract being-the governmental hasc s'. IN
cd Sotbinp by the change of owners. l found ula' IN an
the schemes Tor relief from the planters .hr'.esps' ' ~
,ronoead additional restrictions 10 enforce the itoor ol III
Unrenrices saw. too, that Earl Grey fell the necessi-
- for this. and was willing TO do what he could without OF,
tending public sentiment at home 10 .t'aih UNI ooJeL" IN
- nccu,red no me Ia see what were tho existing regulations
which had proved SO inadequate. iound lnem s'ingen,
enough; and, as a specimen 81 ,sa h ! p'e nsnse you ,s m' / understand
there is a general similarity in all those laws here II i'
siT as.s volume a.. page IS Victoria, Cap. 4a; passed Jan
parv ID. 1912; for Jamaica. -Firs, section prescribes that II a
servant DE guilty of certain offences therein specifled, or shaN
be guilty Of any other misconduct, miscarriage mlsoel.ea-
nor mr. in beha yior in his or her service, or IN the eAecuuon
thereof or otherwise, respecting the same, every such Often
der on conviction thereof before any two or more justices
of the peace of the parish or precinct where any such offence
.haiI he committed, or where such servant shall be found,
shall a, the discretion of the said justices, forfeit and pay, q
hno or penalty not exceeding rs, or DC c1nii MINI H. " ,e
common iail or house Of correction Of the said parish, there 10
be imprisoned only, or to be imprisoned ana KEPT 10 nara ID
Dor for any term not exceeding thirty days"
These while Justices, WbUUtlS VI tHc iuib5 iaNeJ ,'N
.be rich, to punish these laborers, not only for specified Of
fences. but for the very definite crimes OF "misconduct' lns. ,
carriage, ~misdemeanor, or iI-behavior" ihey ma! Keep
them. Too. al "hard labor" How, ii il be not by The lash, or
some greater physical punishment MI. President, these
unfortunate wretches are, in truth, slaves sun; out ours Is a
slavery more efficlen; and happier than theirs, in the precise
nroportion that the individual management Of q farm or a
factory would be better than that OF a government through
is agents. II is obvious from al this, sir, that these oeauu-
full Islands are fast falling into waste, and Their celored IN
habitants relap.inp into barbarism. 1t is plain, 100. that the
public authorities, both al home and abroad see and feel these
facts; and It's probable that they would siaui! 'st naee umre
steps, if public opinion would permit, and such a sep were
possible. II would be rejecting upon the power oil oosefva'
lion, upon the wisdom of their governors, 10 suppose other
wise. Those beautiful islands OF our eastern sea were
adorned, after the cunningest pattern OF nature, Tor Inc de-
lightful abodes of civilized man. Has Great Britain a moral
right to withhold them from the uses OF ciSlzanon, ana ridie net
nation which had the power, would have The same rish. 10
y, wrs sss ' BSsso islsp d c 'i1GEY edd' u 1sna'G that s1'f :h a." had e+S to take I ihis
continent from the Indians who once possessed IT. me
Indian occupation was more hopeful and happier than such
q rule as the present promises TO be IN nose oeaullui u
misused and ruined colonies.
Mr.. President, | have presented YOU with no exaggerated
picture of the results of this experiment OF the British Gov
eminent. Can ANY inan, from mere ABSTRACT CONSCIENTIOUS
of right and wrong, pronounce a measure when leads TO
such consequences 10 have been good ana proper IS mere
a philanthropist in all the land who would ilsH a repetition
of such measures, with the teachings of this experience be-
fore him Suppose that, in 1893, African slavery had been
abolished all over the world in the colonies of France and
Spain, in Brazil, in the United States, wherever, in short, il
existed-what would have been the consequences to man
I;nd9 WHY sir cotton and surar would have disappeared
as staples in the markets of the world. l do not pause Ia
calculate the effects Of such a measure upon the Internal CON
Germs of the society in which slavery existed. ask, how
such a policy would have operated upon the world at large
No cotton No sugar But little coffee, and less tobacco
Why, how many people would thus have been stricken rude
" and at once from the census Of The world An lnteili
GENT member from Alabama, in 4 recent and striking lettei
20 his constituents, has said that the entire loss OF one cot
lou crop in the United States would produce more misery
and ruin in Europe tnan any two of Napoleon's most de
structiye campaigns. He presented truth in u striking bu
not an exaggerated form. IL there he any reliance TO ht
nlaced upon the English statistics, as TO their interest in III.
.nrtop tuTg Their. IRE more, probably lar more wnltt
people out Of the Southern States whose subsistence de
ponds absolutely upon the cotton crop, than there are IL
those States themselves. Such a blow TO the human race
was never dreamed or imagined as would have been strucl
had the philanihropisis OF Exeter Hall possessed the power
of legislating for the world In 1883, when 'hey accomplished
20 far as the British government was concerned, the obJec
of their wishes.
Rp, Mr. President, the philanthropisis of our day refust
10 regard measures in the gross; they refuse 10 aEe tue les
of experience, but insist upon recurring TO simpler PROPOSE
lions, and what they call fundamental principles. slavery,
they say, is abhorrent to the conscience OF every r1ghtniina
al man: IL Is rcpugnant 10 the best feelings OF our nature
and = matter as 10 which it is now too late in the day 10 rea
con. | know, sir, that these ideas have become so common
that they are now matters rather OF sentiment ,ian VI oplhio.
and ,he harder 10 combat for that reason. And yet II Is an al
s,raction upon which no one acts or can act at home
What is slavery, Mr.. President2 This question has beer
asked here before, and never answered MS yet; Tor answer !. !
who NAV, he will find that the definition will embrace evll
which exist at home. ] shall be told, perhaps, that II tbs IN
.njnn,arv seryi,ude" and that involuntary servitude, except
for crime. is abnorrent 10 God and man. Why, sir, mvol
untary servitude exists in the only government which w
Know certainly 10 be OF Divine orisin-i mean, sir, the taml
~ uOy6rnmcNt. no CuHu - oupJS|' " 'o i-~i'Sa NV
out the world, and according TO our practice, for more than
third of his life the father is the head and rules me house
hold. II is true that this government is tempered by naia
rai Elections and instincts, which soften and eldear u "
Sts subjects. Bat is not the establishment OF a southern
nl,ntstion a modification and en- extension OF the SAM
family government The ties which bind them together az
no, so close nor the affections SO warm as In the family pro
ner. but still those ties arc far closer, and those affections Ia
warmer, than persons imagine who have no actual know
ledro of the relation between master and slave as 1t exists II
the South. But what is involuntary sorvitudei-what i
slavey1-asI asked before. I.know of no voluntary servitud'
except the labors of love. The socialist tells us, that the IN
s,itution of wages is an Institution Of slavery; and surely al
ser,itude for wages is involuntary, and therefore a state
Of slavery according 10 tho common definition. We serve
Tor wages 10 avoid something which IS more painful to u
than serving another; and upon what other principle is i
that the African works for usl Will any man pIerene TO say
that the seryitude of the laborer in the crowded populations
of Europe is voluntary Go into the English coiiicry, ant
tell me if those boys who are hitched TO carts by dog chains
10 draw Goals through the dark, damp, and narrow pas
sages OF the pits, are voluntary servants; if those wo'
men who toll like beasts OF burden, without even the blan
ke, that covers the coach horse, are voluntary servants
ii those beings who know nothing OF the most esssen,ia
truths of religion, nothing of the most common facts II
human history, who pass through life knowing nothing
caring nothing, and fearing nothing, but the tasSmas
80. .d;c, md tho fostmnSferg lash, (fOr II seems