The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1851-04-24

the cruelty of the French planters; they are as
weak numerically, in proportion to our white
population, as they were strong in st. Domingo
in proportion to its white population nor is any
bloody revolution contemplated. Our slaves are
far more civilized and intelligent than were the
slaves Of the British West Indies our climate is
less enervating with us, they constitute minor
ity, as in them, they were the majority our
planters attend to their own estates, which are
not covered all over with mortgages, as was the
case in the West Indies. In the event of eman-
cipation. the South would not be cursed by alb
senteeism the planters would be on the spot to
manage to their own interests, and they would pos
sess the political power, so that they could make
what provisions they might deem judicious for
the regulation of the relations Of the employer
and the employed. In the British West Indies,
the act of emancipation was forced upon the
planters against their will at first, they threw
obstacles in the way Of its successful working
then they contented themselves with simply
Withholding cordial cooperation; it was long be-
fore they would try to make the best Of their new
condition. In our country, the Shareholders
have the sole power Of legislating on the subject ;
emancipation by law must be their own act, and
can only emanate from a Sentiment which will
lead them to put it in the best shape, and carry
it out with willn So that the effects upon
the colored people would be very different from
those observed in other countries from a similar
act.
20 "a ~ 90; 10 frora hot
the free people of color are now, TO what they
would be, were the whole race liberated, and
their rights protected The candid stakeholder
will admit, that while, under the system of sla-
very, the free man Of color must be degraded by
his relationship with an enslaved race, curtailed in
his privileges, aud excluded to great extent from
employment, so as to be exposed to poverty and
humiliation, and subjected to the heaviest temp
tations to crime, his condition would be complete
ly changed were the system abolished, and all
bis race converted into free laborers He would
no longer be obliged to compete with slaves. The
free colored people would constitute the laborers
of the South, and at once begin to feel the force
of the usual incentives to industry and thrift
And what an impulse would be given to the
Improvement of the colOred people in the free
States, by change in the condition of their
brethren in the South from slavery to freedom,
and by a repeal of the laws which degrade them,
and impair their spirit of enterprise.
Suppose the Jews in this country were ex-
cuded from the ordinary benefits of education
denied their oath or affirmation in our courts OF
justice, required to give bonds and security wher-
ever they might locate themselves prohibited
from obtaining a legal settlement, forbidden to
acquire real estate, excluded from some States,
and in various ways prescribed and prosecuted in
others, could they be expected to sustain COM
parison in point Of character or intelligence or
manners with other classes protected and encour-
aged in the enjoyment of life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness
On the ground then, that the colored race can
not be deported from this country, or always en-
shaved in it, we 60 for their emancipation, in the
South from slavery in the North from legal disa-
bilties-because it is right, because it is expedi-
ent-an act of justice to them, an act of sound
policy towards our own interests.
Certainly our convenience and safety demand
this, whatever may be our prejudices. For, if
the colored people are to continue among u.s. is il
not desirable that their character should be i'm
proved and their condition Moderated The
higher they rise in the scale of civilization the
more toerabe their presence will become, the less
burden they will be upon the country Every
where the statesman, though he may disregard
the claims of philanthropy, acknowledges the OBJ
legations imposed by self-interest to elevate the
condition of the poor, to improve the character of
the criminal. The Public Safety demands meas
uses for the prevention Of poverty and crime, by
the diffusion of intelligence among the masses,
and the removal of disabilities which impair their
sef.respect and weaken their energies. We have
Il mass of three and a half millions of People
among us, who cannot be thrust out of our bor-
ders and the simple question is, shall we attach
them to the country by dealing justly by them
and seeking their improvement, or make them
freside foes reckless aliens in our midst, by do
ing all we can to degrade and imbrute them?
The North acts ungenerously to the South,
to the colored man, when she at
tempts to rid herself, without regard to the
convenience of her neghbor, of an unwelcome
class of population the South acts ungenerously
to the North, cruelty to the colored man,
when she makes Punishment from her soil con-
diton to emancipation. Both sections violate, by
such policy, every dictate of Justice and Mercy,
injure their own interests, and lay up for them
selves incaculable evils in the future.
Here as in all other cases Justice is Wisdom
Oppression, Blunder, as well as Crime