Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1854-08-26
Communicate
A FAULT AMONG EDITORS.
EDlroR OF THE BrGLl :

fDllON " u
Dear Friend: Nv attention has been for some
time attracted by the mode Editors Of newspapers
take in recording the misdueds Of individuals be:
longing to the different classes Of mankind. add |
have tried to account for il, ot rather to Frame
some excuse in my mind why it should be Thought
necessary to be so very particular to mention to
what nation those who commit or are accused OF
committing crime belong. Itappcars that anti-sla-
very Editors have to some extent adopted the same
practice, and it Seems but right and fair that some
one of them should give to their readers the rea-
son for SO doing. They profess to mctc out equal
and exact justice to all, without distinction VI
sex, sect, color or party. For instances: When u
white man of common standing commits a murder
no mention is made by the paper of the affair which,
is calculated to prejudice the public mind, or inhict
a wound on the feelings Of his relatives br country
men, and the papers frequently say, we forbear to
comment, because the dccused by law, and in
Justice is entitled to a fair unprecedented trial
But let a poor undcvelorcd Irishman or German
commit the same offence, and the papers will most
of thcn bc particular to state that "a most horrid
mtftltr was committed by an lrishman or German,
lis though it was far worse for an ignorant man to
do wrong than for an enlightened man. Again, il
n negro commits a crime or is unfortunate enough
to be accused of crime under precisely the same
circumstances, what say the papers about it?-
1Iorrid murder and rape by a negro, &c. Now it
is horrid to think that any man high or low should
commit any or all crimes. Does it follow Of course
that because a native American commits n crime,
that all Americans will do the same. Or because
II German, an Irishman, or a Negro has been gull
ty Of crime, that all of the nations or people they
sprung from or are nearly or remotely connected
with, would be guilty of the same crimes. Who
ever read an account of a murder or rape, headed
IIorrid Murder and Rape by a Massachusetts, man,
a New Yorker, a Pennsylvania, an American or
a Yankee. Is it right because a man sprung from
a nation that has been cursed by being u2dcr t-
rants and opprcssors, that he should be always
tainted even with the wrong doings of those Of
E his countrymcn who have not had any opportunity
of rising in the scale of beings. What further
use for that long since accused proverb, 1.-THE
fathers have eaten sour grapes, and their childrcn's
teeth are set On cdge?" Again if a steam boat
I burns up or any other accident happens either
a~voidablc or unavoidable, the papers speak Of it
as a great calamity or n shocking affair, just ir
proportion to the number of deaths that occurred
among the passengers and crew that belonged to
, the higher order, as they are called, and the rest
D are mentioned in n careless wholesale manner, as
though they were half as many bales of cotton, or
= so many swine. If the cars run over a man or
| men, who were they, is the question. If told it is
\ Col. or Mr.. or Judge somebody, from Kentucky or
: Mobile, lie is properly cared for, but if it shou1
turn out to be the fireman, an Irishman or q Ger
y man, or even Il poor negro, the answer goes round.
| from one to another, O., not much only one Irish.
man, two Dutchmen and u Niger! and ON tho
p train goes, as brisk and merry as before. If any
: thing more is said about it, it will most likely he
said it was rather bad for those old country men,
but niggcrs have no business on tho cars anyway.
f But Il few days since ] read an aces unit of a black
$ mans being accused of an enormous crime, to
which charge he plead not guilty. But his pro-
y ~testations of innocence were not needed. He was
taken to n vice, i suppose II blacksmith's) his
e hands pat into it, still crying l am not the man.
Y and screwed up till the bones Of his hands wcrs
crushed, AS the story goes, confession was then
~ ~extortcd from him of his guilt. lie was then pub
lc licly burned, and the press and people say Amen.
To belong to either of the last mentioned classes,
ESPECIALLY the latter all that is necessary to con
y, denim a man is to accuse him, for to be accused is
" to be criminal. The right to life, liberty, or tho
pursuit of happiness is based on a mans standing
III society, anu Dirln, property anu COlur, consul
titutes that standing. a few words more, and l
am done. Not long since l read two accounts OF
persons who had lived some years on the charity
III Of community, who died Of cholera, and on whose
bodies large sums of money were found. The pa.
'e pers most all sound the alarm, Beware % Imposi.
ton. As though men and women were more mp;
e. 10 relieve distress than they ought to be. Is it not
~ 10 a fact that not one case in a hundred is relieved
h tlfGt ought 70 be, and are not the stingy crerlast
II ingly speaking of a few impositions, to find an ex
cuse for their s~neaking course through life.
On think so, and l think that every time Editors pu'
such excuses into the mouths of such men and
to women, they do the most they can towards drying
W. up what little sympathy still remains in the colo
OF OF obdurate heart of man, and very likely cause more
" to be withheld than all they themselves will give
in the course of their liyes-and many editors arr
is, proverbially liberal.
&C. OLIVER O.. BROWN
Il NEwBuRc, Ohio, August 9th, 1854.
lie
~ There is much truth in what Our correspondent
to says. Facts arc much as he represents them
rs Nevertheless there is often great ~proprety in stat
ne ing the complexion or country of the individual
" referred to. The facts would often lose their full
IS" force and even truth without such statement. Blu