New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1856-04-08
SATAN REBUKING SIN.

The recent arrest in our harb0r Of q vessel evil
IDENTIFY equipped for the slave trade, and the seizure
of another lately announced in the newspapers, in
the attempt to land cargo of slaves on the coast of
Brazil-which last vessel had sailed from Boston
not many months BEFORE fairly running away fiom,
and, indeed, almost with the United States Mar.
shals, who had attempted to stop her-these two
events have called out on the part of several South
EN- newspapers the shedding of aquantity of crocO
die tears over the pretended fact, alleged to be
proved, or at least made probable by these occur
rences, that with ell their objections to Slavery in
Kansas, Northern AbOlitionists still will adventure
in the lucrative African slave trade.
Nothing can be more natural than the response
which The Journal Of Commerce of this city makes
to these, its Southern cOmpatriots That response
comes in the shape of an article headed "The White
Slave Trade which severely deuounces that trans
pOrtation Of Chinese Coolies TO the West Indies,
Peru, and elsewhere in which numbers Of En-
gsh and American vessels are engaged" the
hitter" says The Journal Of Commerce, "hailing
" in all cases, so far as we are aware from the
"nOn-Slave States, and large portion OF them
from New England and New Ycrk"-which
statement as to the place of hail of these vessels is
very probably true, because, take away New
England and New-York and their shipping, and
very few American vessels will remain to engage
in shipping Coolies or anything else. Very
likely" continues this journal, not less distn-
guished for its devotion to fugitive slavecatching
and Slavery extension than ii is for its piety every
likely some Of the same men are engaged in this
" nefariOus business, who are loud in denOuncing
." the Southern man for not turning large part of
" his family out Of doors, or sending them to the
SHOWS of Canada. Ifa white man were as good
negro in the estimation of the noisy pretended
philanthropists of this day-or rather, if their
humanity was not a sham-they would utter
&" some voice of remOnstrance against the abomin-
d" able system to which we have alluded and which
lis carried on in part by their own neighbOrs and
" from their own ports
In its anxiety to get slap at the pretended
philanthropsts of this day." The Journal Of Com
merce Coca so far as to set down the Chinese as
white men, a statement which, under any other
circumstances, we very much doubt lift could have
been persuaded to make. The Supreme Court of
California, in q decision upon which we may here
after make some comments has decided on the
other hand that Chinese are not white men, and
therefore not competent to testify in the Courts Of
California; and surely even The Journal Of Com
meree must confess that among those held in bond
age at the South and stgmatized by itself and 9th
ers as negroes" are many whose complexion and
features make a much nearer approach to those of
the white race than Is at all customary among
Chinese Coolies. However, We shall not stop to
discuss this point, as, in our opinion it is nothing
to the purpose. Whether the Coolies be white
black or yellow, it is equally crime to entrap
them under false pretenses and to transport them
to America to be sold ard treated as slaves; nor,
in our opinion, should the color of the victims in
the slightest degree add 10 or detract from the de
testation with which such conduct ought to be
visited
We apprehend, however, that the Southern pa
pers to which We have referred, are mistakes, and
The Journal Of Commerce not less so, in supposing
that these reprobated trading and kidnapping
expeditions to the coast of Africa and the harbors
of China are undertaken by opponents of the Fugi-
tive Slave law and Of the extension of Slavery into
. Kansas We doubt not it will prove upon exami-
nation, that the fact is entirely the other way,
and that the ship owners connected with those
African and Chinese operations in kidnapping, had
first duly served an apprenticeship and graduated
with distinction under our domestic kidnapping act.
The Journal IF Commerce may be perfectly able
TO draw for isef those nice distinctions by virtue
OF which acts in their own nature detestable and
dishonorabe, become, by force of the Constitution
Of the United States net only binding on the con-
science, but dear to the heart. But the generality
of men are not up to these nice distinctions They
may be able to tell hawk from hand saw, but to
divide between the east and the northeast corner