Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1855-06-07

uooe oeEWeen Afrlca and the opaDlsn " esJ
Indian colonies, several thousands Of negroes
are annually smuggled by the slave traders
into Cuba from Africa7 So little service is
rendered, in the suppression of this slave trade,
by the British naval cruisers in the African
and West Indian seas, (said to be expressly
placed there as kind Of pc ice detectives,)
that the suspicion Is justified of conniva nee
by them at the traffic, not merely in the face
of the treaty with Spain and of acts Of the
British Parliament, but, too, in the face Of
thsoft repeated and loudly vaunted superemi-
nency of British philanthropy in this regard.
That Stzty-ons".! 0he above statement al
leges the British detectives in Cuba arrested
that number only out of siE hundred that got
son shore y were all that could be found out
of ten times that number landed, is Ger, ainly
q circumstance not creditable to the vigilance
Of the British naval officers and other dstec
tive police of the British Government in Africa
and in Cuba, and it naturally suggests the
inquiry, whether they may not have been
"conciliated," or "grati6ed," or "subsi
died" or, In other words, b,ibed, or whether
their laxity was not understood and encour.
aged and winked at by their superiors at home,
or whether they can be so stupidity inefficient
as the facts imply? Some explanation should
be given of this matter for the credit of the
British Government, and its superior as well
as subordinate officers.
The vessels Of war of the United States are
not permitted by the laws of ations in the alb.
sence of treaties authorizing it, to overha ul
the vessels of Spain or of any other nation
though known to be engaged in tho slave
trade. If any citizens of the United States
are concerned, the vessels may be arrested
but If none are so concerned the flag of the
vessel is full protection against interference
by our naval officers, and "slavers'' and
crews are only amenabls to the laws of their
own country. The force Of eighty guns that
We have engaged by treaty with England to
keep on the coat of Africa and the vigilance
Of our execution and judicial authorities has
put an end to such trade by our citizens and
by vessels owned by them, and By vessels
owned by foreigners fitted out frem our ports
and we believe that in every one of the limited
number of cases that there has been occasion
to bring before the courts of the United States
since the prohibition of the trade by law,
others than citizens Of the United States have
been the prime actors And we cannot now
call to mind any case OF citizens that has &C
Cured south of Philadelphia within the past
ffteenyear The federal constitution, adopted
in 1887, provided for the abolition Of the slave
trade, and the law enacted in 1907 under tn at
provision, was, We believe, the first law adopted
by any government for its suppression. Tba.
law branded citizens Of the United States who
should engage or participate in such business.
directly or indirectly, as PIRATES! though il |
reserved the power to apprehsnd and to pun.
ish the yiolators, to our OWE tribrnsls, and
we have ever properly withheld from the vas
sells Of war and naval officers Of other countries
the right to board or visit and search our yes.
sells, or arrest our citizens sailing under our
flag on the high seas under any pretencc
The same act and others since enacted impose
heavy penalties and severe punishments upon
foreigners fitting out "slavers" from our ports
We have never heard of but one case of
cargo OF African negroes being brought into
the United States since 1907, in which the
guilty parties and their abettors upon being
detected, were not punished in an exemplary
manner, and the negroes returned to their n a.
tive country at the expense of the Federal
Government; and in the excepted case, the
Africans, it is said, were allowed to remain in
his country, at their OWN request, insomuch
as some Of them had contracted matrimonial
engagements here, &c. We will furnish our
readers during the present week with state
ment taken from the official returns mado to
the British Parliament year or two since of
the numberOf Africans ascertained and known
to have been brought from Africa into Cuba,
Porto Rico and Brazil since 1885. II is a Gu
rious statement 1t shows several hundreds of
thousands have been SO brought from Africa
and safely landed Undecided by the British
cruisers, their statistics being chiefly founded
on African accounts Of the number ascertained
actually to have been shipped, and, therefore,
considerably short Os the true number.
Before We read the statement at the head O,
these remarks We had been ad sised that the
opinions of intelligent Americans-gentlenen
who saH the Horatio" at Key West, and of
officers Of the British Navy who visited Kew
West to examine her, were unequivocal and
decided on the point that she ad been recent.
iy employed In the slave trade, and had prota
bly, brought a cargo of negroe. from Africa
within few weeks. 1t was conjectured tina
she might have landed her cargo in Cuba, and
had then upon an alarm, been suddenly aban.
doned by her crew, to prevent the detection
of those concerned. We had not heard Of the
"arrest'' Of the sixty.ons of the six hundred
negroes comprising her cargo until We read
the above, and We regret to say it yet requires
verihcation as a fact. We hope it may be 80,
for if mono of the cargo were landed, VIC arc
left to conjecture the possibility that the hor-
rible means was adopted, (of which the history
Of the African slave trade it is said affords
prscedentS) Of th,ovlng tbs SLAVES into the