Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1852-09-11
Letter from Cincinnati.


|
CINCINNATI, Sept. 3, 1852.
To The Editor The Bugle.
Our colored friends had a
very appropriate celebration of West India
emancipation, on Monday the I'd of August
in grove a few miles from the city. As DR..
Brisbane has already given your readers an
account of tho exercises, need not enter
into details. The procession as it passed
through the streets to the Dayton Railroad
Depot made fine display, part of it, OBJ
served, consisted of the order of United Col
ored Americans in full regulia. The train
which conveyed the procession and others
intending to join in the celebration was the
largest that ever left the city. There were
twenty cars containing about three thousand
persons.
Last week the colorcd people of the city
held meeting of which John Hatfield was
President, and John Gaines Secretary, for
the purpose of appointing delegates to the
Cleveland convention of their people, and
expressing their views on several subjects
deeply interesting to them. A series of res
oluIions was adopted urging the getting up
of petitions for the repeal of the black laws
yet upon our statute books, aud demanding
the elective franchise, aud the right OF trial
10y jury of their peers; recommending the
encouragement of learning aud the diffusion
of intelligence among them; protesting
against Stanly's Colonization bill introduced
into Congress as an invasion of their rights,
and rejoicing over the liberation of Drayton
aud Snyres.
The colorcd people among us are TO n
great extent an enlightened, intelligent aud
peuceablc part of our population, and for
some years have been making laudnble ef-
forts to educate and elevate their children.
by our present laws they have the privilege
ofhOving public schools where they pay taxes
enough to the School fund to support them.
IN tins city they have two districts aud a
school for each, and vote annually for their
trustees. They have several benevolent so.
cieIies, aud six Churches two Meihodist,one
Wesleyan, two Baptist and one Campbelite)
of which four at least have large, substantial
brick edfices. As a class they are as sober
and orderly as any we have among us. 1t
was remarked at their 2nd of August cele-
bration that there was not one drunken man
upon the ground and the behaviour for so
large an assenhlage was quite as unexcep-
Iionable as it would have been in one of
:. -. A ii. :.
would compare very favorably with some of
the political gatherings aud party conven-
tions of which we have read much in our
daily papers lately, and which might learn
some useful lessons Of respect for law and
good order, und courtesy one TO another from
the conduct Of our colored people.
Some two months or so since ! saw in
your columns some statements from Gin
cinnaii paper relative TO the Coored poor be-
| ing turned out of the Poor house, or Pest
house, with some remarks severely censur-
ing the churches, both Ministers and Mem
bers, for the act, or at least for countenancing
a state of public sentiment which would toll
crate such things. have taken some pains
to ascertain The facts in the case, which are
these. The Legislature at the session before
the last passed new law taking the care of
the poor both within aud without the Hospi-
tai from the township Trustees (who have
had charge of this matter for many years
and vesting it solely in the new board of
; Directors of the City Infrmary, a spacious
building with farm attached, seven miles
from the city, for the reception of INDECENT
poor, and which was erected by authority of
the same law. IL appears that the act re-
ierred to was explicit in prohibiting the Di-
reciors from extending relief to colored peo-
pie or foreigners. In relation to the latter
class, number of cases of great hardship
have occurred, poor and sick Irish and Ger
mans arriving here destitute, aud being cast
out in some cases literally to die in the streets.
These have been noticed and commented
upon in our daily papers, and some change
in the law demanded.
: The INDECENT colored people it appears
have for dozen years been provided for by
the township Trustees in the building for
merly used for those sick with contagious
: diseases, and called I" the old Pest house,
All authority for giving money to the poor
having been taken from tho Trustees, and
their duties confined to the Hospital, their
charge over them ceased, aud the Directors
of the lnfirnary, (Ihe only Board now having
legal power TO provide for the poor from the
public trcasury,) being prohibited from help
: ing them, they have been turned out to be
taken care of by private charity or by some
of our benevolent societies. The oldest and