Daily national era., 1854-01-06
G. BAILEY, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR.
WASHINGTON D. G.. FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 1854.

other property? | do this, not for the purpose
Of raising an argument 10 sustain the power Of
| the Legislature to remove them, which think
! have satisfactorily shown, but mainly to call
his attention to the title, that If doubt as to
that should be created il may operate in some
measure in Withdrawing opposition to the re-
moval Of the slaves Let ns, sir, in the invest,
CATION of this title, 90 back to its origin.
Whence came slaues INTO this country? From
Africa. We're they free men there? At one
time they were. Hon came they to be concerted
into slapes? By the stratagem of war and the
strong arm OF the conqueror; they were van
to the slave trader, who brought them to our
shores, and disposed Of them to the planter Of
Virginia Had the congueror an absolute and
unqualified right to thems
The gentleman from Campbell, Mr.. Daniel.
in arguing this part of the subject, stated that
ancient authors insisted upon two modes by
which y free man might become slave, viz
1 by voluntary compact, and by conquest; but
he was in the end compelled, by the course of
his reasoning, to admit that those doctrines
have been exploded by modern writer's. IT.
then, Liberty rightfully, cannot be converted
into Slavery, may not question whether the
title OF the master to the slave is absolute and
unqualified, and beyond tho disposition Of the
Government In general cases, the deriyative
title cannot be better than the primitive. II
the warrior had no absolute right to the person
OF his captive, may there not be some doubt
whether the Virginia planter has an unqnali-
fed one
What, sir would be thought at the present
day, if an elephant were taken, by force or
fraud, from its true owner on the coast of
Africa, and brought to our country, and an in
dividual, knowing of the circumstance were to
purchase it--would it not be said that hc par
ticipated in the crime? Would not the old
adage, " that the receiver Of stolen goods is as
bad as the thieGn apply? And, sir, is the rea
soning different when the subject is human
being-when man has been taken, by force
or fraud, from his native shore, and sold in
yonr market? II may be said that our ances-
tors did not know the circumstances under
which the slave lost his liberty. | hope they
did not Ii will in some measure extenuate tho
crime, but cannot enhance the title The truth
is, that our ancestors had no title to this prop
erty and we have acquired it only by legisla-
tive enac,ments, sanctioned by the necessity of
the case.
It may be argued, that length of time has
created title. Some thirty years ago, a
frigate, which had been captured from the
French by the valor and skill Of our gallant
tars, after having been brought into port, was
reftted and sailed on cruise she has never
been heard of since. Imagine, for moment,
that it was now announced to this nation that
the ship had foundered on the coast of Africa
and her crew, or part of them, were alive, slaves
to some petty monarch in that country Think
you, sir, that we would listen to the plea of
length Of time? No. the voice of mighty
people, with resistess force, would proclaim
that freemen can never be made slaves and
the hum Of preparation to demand our long
lost brethren, would soon resound throughout
the land. And, sir, but for the degradation
and absence of nationality in Africa, one of the
most interesting principles of international law
might be presented to the American people,
which has ever engaged the attention Of tho
statesman-a principle that would be advoca-
ted by the good and wise throughout the Union.
Were Africa erected into sovereign and in
dependent State, and recognised as nation
by the potentates Of the world, TO make a de-
mand upon our Government for her iong-iosf
and enslaUed children, accompanied with re.
cital of all the circumstances Of fraud by which
they were taken from their native country, il
would present claim too strong to be discuss
| ed-a demand too Just to be denied by the free.
born sons of Virginia These reflections have
thrown ont Mr.. Speaker, in the hope that il
masters OF slaves should perceive some defect
in their title, they may be inclined :" to let them
gon
| have, MIR. Speaker, entered into but few
statistical details; the course Of my argument,
] trust, made it unnecessary One estimate,
however, will mention il il this: that il the
slave population increases as il has done for
some years past in the year lss0-lcss than
fifty years hence-there will be, in the seven
States Of Virginia, North and South Carolina,
Georgia louisiana Alabama, and Mississippi,
something more than 5000 900 of slaves, OF
which Virginia alone will possess largely up
wards Of 1000 000-an amount too great, too
appalling, for q statesman not to apprehcnd
some danger from acknowledge, | trcmblc
for the fate OF my country at some future day,
"unless we do something
Extracts from the speech Of Thos ,. Randolph,
Of dibemarie.
| will quote, in part tho statistics Of the gen.
tleman from Dnwidde, whose accuracy can
not be questioned. Judging tho future by the
past, in forty years the colored population in
Eastern Virginia will exceed the white 200 600
In the last forty years, the whites in the same
district have increased 81 per cent, tho blacks
1856 per cent. Forty years ago, the whites ex.
Cooutu tuc tbtoftuJ Go.bOVy tuc tOtoFcu INV
exceeds tho whites 81 ,00O--a net gain of the
blacks over the whites, in forty years, ol
I06, 900 and these results, too, during an ex-
portation Of noar $50 900 slaves since the year
i79O-now perhaps the fruitful progenitors Of
half million in other States. BY reference to
Document No is, on your table, you will per
cciye that, in the year 1890, of that part Of the
population Of ten years old, and under, the
blacks exceed the whites 20 per cent. over
that age, only per cent What change will
not eighteen years make for the worse, when
those children shall be grown; what change
will not forty years, with its geometrical pro
gression, evolve, when they shall become fathers
and mothers and some Of them granjmothers?
IL expectation ceases, some Of those now within
the hearing Of my voice may I've to $40 the col.