The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1851-07-01

1 MN ny quotiHB WHAT He WAS (ldlselJJ IepoIltu
to have said, he would not have been likely to
Overlook this correction, which had been made
a week before he wrote, and was in all the pa
pers that were not too illiberal to publish it.
| We should be glad to know the true differ
ence between telling an untruth, and repeating
an injurious report, after it has been contra
dcted upon the best authority!
The Condition Of tho Free Blacks I'm the
| United States.
| els he not our brother?" This interropatory
is often in the mouth of the Abolitionists, who
profess to feel great degree of sympathy and
affection for the black man. The question has
lately been answered in the negative by some
naturallsts, who have given their opinions adj
verse to the unity of the human race. Whether
they are right or not, we do not presume todecide
We only quoted the interrogatory for the purpose
| of putting another: If the negro is our brother,
why do not those who abuse the South so fiercely
for the condition of their black population, ex-
| pend some of the energies now exerted to dis
turb and break up the Union, in improving
the condition Of the free blacks in the free
States?
We think there is an ample field for the ex-
ercise of all the benevolence, and a part of
the sympathy, of the GARRIsoNs, the GER
RIT SMITHS, the ABBY FoLsoMs, the The
oDoRE PARKERs, the SUMMERS, PHlLLIPsEs,
IVAN BURENs, GIDDINGsEs, and ALIENS,
at home. A more demoralized population
can scarcely be found in any part of our
1 Hal rIo
more disheartening and discouraging circum-
stances and nfiuenees. than the free blacks Of
our Atlantic cities, And especially Of PhIadel-
phia and New Yofk.
In the Northern cities generally, and espe-
cially in those we have named, there are now
but few branches Of industry left open to the
colored man, who has been driven out of many
of those in which he was formerly permitted to
| compete with the whites. But in these cities,
such has been the influx of the Irish and Ger
mans, and such the consequent competition in the
humber branches Of labor, that foreign whites
have driven ont the black man, who is com
PEELED to look for employment elsewhere, and
! within very narrow field The consequence
is, he is often compelled to be idle, and to ac-
| cept of reduced wages when he is employed,
and thus finds it most difficult sometimes 4
hopeless, task to provide for the ordinary and
pressing wants of his household especially in
the inclement season, when fuel is added to his
other wants, and employment is usually most
difficult to be obtained.
Formerly large portion, perhaps three
! iourths, of the house servants in these cities,
were blacks, but such is no longer the case;
very few comparatively now are blacks. they
having been displaced by Irish, French, and
Germans.
| All these circumstances have tended to de-
press them, render their condition much worse
than it formerly was, and TO take from them
the only inducement any people can have to
win the good opinion Of others-the hope of
improving their own and the condition of their
children.
Knowing as we do that in some States free
blacks are not permitted to enter, that their
presence is nowhere favorably regarded by the
whites, and that the feeling Of hostility to them
is fast depriving them of all means of support,
the rejecting man cannot but look upon their
condition with sympathy, and inquire what Is
to become Of them? As for the Abolitionists
taking care of them, that is out of the question;
their sympathes are reserved for the slaves,
who, as class, are really better cared for and
enjoy more of the comforts of life, unattended
by anxieties for the future, than those who
have. escaped from these comforts to enjoy a
life of freedom and want.
The mortality among the free blacks Of our
Northern cities is very great, and must neces-
sarily be 50, for they are always poor and i'm
provident, and are consequently uncared for
when sickness oyertakes them and die for the
want of medical attendance, medicine, and pro-
per food. Many especially children and aged
persons, perish Of want and restitution in the in
element seasons. II, then, every black man in the
United States were set free to day, we could
better solve the problem of ''what is to become
Of them" than we now can; for, in that case,
they would rapidly follow in the footsteps of
the aborigines Of the country. immortality,
idleness and want, would soon reduce their
numbers TO ga miserable few"
As it is, however, their condition is one
which cannot fail to occupy the minds Of states
men and philanthroplsts; it has occupied the
attention Of that great institution Of benevo-
lence, the Colonization Society, which is doing
all its small means will permit to open Geld
Of enterprise for the free blacks, and TO take
them where they may exert whatever energies
and intellect God has given them to provide a
home and country for themselves and their
Posterity. If those who are Vansplanted upon