The independent press. (Abbeville C.H., S.C.) 1853-1860, 1857-07-31
Tho Importation Of FREQ Laborcrs from AZ

of The importation Of free labors from Africa,
into british Government. The necessity Of
some such means to obviatc the disastrous re-
suits ol negro emancipation in The West Indies
as well as TO furnish supply OF cotton, in
some potion Of her colonial possessions, has
for some time past, been pressing upon the
public mind of Great Britain. The want Of
labor has been the great obstacle to the pro-
dnction Of cotton and sugar. an.l Tic great
problem to be solved, was ~ to The means Of
furnishing the requisite supply. From the
statements made in the course OF Tic debate
it would seem that the Importation Of cooic;
from India, into tho Mauritias had been attend
cd with an enormous increase in the production
of that colony, and with li;.h state Of consc
Incnt!rrospcrity; bui The geographical .ituation
of the West Indies rrcclucs il from obtaining Il
supply Of labor FROM the samc source The
scheme of.obtainin:; free labor from Africa, in
the opinion Of Mr.. Laboucl,crc was entirely
inpo,itic, If not imrracticablc. The expert
mcnt had hitherto failed and in his view would
dead TO all the honors of intestine war and an
internal slave trade. In this opinion the lead
ing members of the British Parliament seem TO
have concurrcI.
The London Times in the following extract,
attempts to meet this view of the question, and
torrove that the emigration scheme would
not increase existing evils, whilst its policy
would be justified by The peculiar ulaption Of
African labor to the culture Of tropical pro
duets. The argument we regard as entirely
iiconc!usivc, and think that il would be an
easy Task TO show, that the emigration scheme
wpp1I lr lt,ci r
evils than could possibly attend the revival
of the slave trade:
What is the obstacle in Che wav2 The dis
tance If the West Indies, said Mr.. Labouchcre.
had not enjoyed the same ADVANTAGES as the
Aiau'l''us' 1t was owing TO their :,c""raphical
position III relation to the source of the surplv
OF labor not being SO favorable" But is there
only one source! Is not Africa rs po,,ulou, in
many parts rs India? Is IL not as convent
emily situated in regard TO the West Indies, rs
India is with regard to the Mauritius. IuL
""""e an, "fc "ot Air'c""s pfecmi,e"Hy .fhtd
6y ""i"rc jor tropical iaJorf Every one of
these questions must be answered in the affirm
ntlve. IL IS easier TO brimy mcarocs trou Lfjr;,a
tndn Cooitcs from Itdi0, or Chiuu,nc,. tram
lio"g ho"g, a"d ~hcm b'o"ghi, ,thcy ,eonhl make
Tie Gca of Mborcrs. We are driven, therefore.
10 seek elsewhere for reasons against the pro-
cecding, and such arguments were produced bv
Mr. Labouchcre in the debate, and will be
found embodied i'll = letter from Mr.. NJ Foster,
which we publish to-day. ACCORDING to these
views, the condition of the native Africans is
such that TO go to the cost with n demand sn,
their services would infalliLly generate svs.
tenn OF kidnapping in the interior Of the c <;In-
try; and, i'll fact, far rs Africa is concerned
would revive the slave trade, and destroy thc
more legitimate pursuits which the partial rc
preston Of this trade had suffered to sprin,, nm
In considering these arguments VIC find thc
compass OF The controversy very conveniently
narrowed. 1t is not alleged that the position
would be otherwise than good, or hat his
rights rs free laborcr on British territory
could not be cflectualy secured All that IS
said is that lie could not be procured on ihc
shores OF his birth without giving occasion to
fearful wrong. As TO his freedom, regarded IN
,hc abstract, there ~ hardly room for discus
sion about it. WIZ .ft'" r,c.I,iioss, liz frib,s
oGoW lie coast lac IN q siale Of slGre,y nain,
0ty oid co"Sfanty im 80 ,jt,' as concey.n; su5or
Nnotion to tie ~W Of q masicr JH,y ,v,,y
not be W-"stt or orerrorIoL, INT Mcy arc at he
command a"d disposal Of q Tori AT present
they arc engaged i'll the manufacture and cx-
poration Of palm oil and other such products
but if demand were made for Them. tl,eir
kings or masters would Instantly sell them,
and then resort to war 10 procure others who
would be sold in the same way. The necessary
consequence OF such 4 system would be the
revival Of the slave trade atrocities in the frs.
stage. Tile horrors cj hhc middle ,usscye ,"o,ud
Of coarse, hare ctist,mcr, nor ,coni9 ir ,r.,ro
h"rc ""yhi"g 10 jta,, phrn he ,gas fono,a at his
d"stata!ion; hut the effect on Africa itself
would be dcplorablc. Ncgros, in short, there.
arc natural slaves, born so, and kent SO. If
no slave market is opened, their masters arc
content with reasonable service; but if they
out Iight they viii! iniallibly do SO, and steal
others TO keep the supply. Such, rs We under
stand il, is the case or those who, like our cor
respondent, arc avcisc TO the proposed system
of supplying our colonies with free labor from
Africa
Upon this reasoning We can only observe
that, whereas the anticipated uelyoutaycs arc. as
rS hase @o'c", enormously great tic opprehcnd-
CT cvHs arc certainly Somc'rhot circuUscriJld
AS regards the negro himself il is hardly pos.
siblc 10 deny that under proper supervision lie
l9onid DC far better of in a british coLouv Ho,,
hc is at home aualer. thc rme Of a master, who.
as our correspondent admits, could and would,
if thwarted or offended, whip him or stnrve
him into submission, or even murder him out
right Such conditions of service would Ger.
tainly be well exchanged for those under which
the Coolies Of the Mauritius realize freedom
and independence. All that is dreaded ia that
these petty kings, if once they get an oppor-
tunity of shipping their subj jccts so kindly as
to forsakc other occupations for that of man
stealing.
We will not here inquire whether such pro.
but will accept the argument on its own
grounds. Granted that demand for ucgros
wW generate intestine acurs in Il ffrica, docs not
ss,tch de: mail erist mo,c? Whence come the
thousands of slaves yearly landed in Cuba,
and the thousands who die on .the passage
And what is the effees Of such nm expectation :
Clearly, this intestine n,tst DC prevaiiino as
IL IS, bW all the other horrors of Tie slave trade
too. This war, in short, is but part and parcel
OF the very slave trade which free labor would
put down, and tho question is not whetherswe
should or should not run tho risk of creating n
demand fornegros on the Goast Of Africa, but
whether, as we haye never been atle to cxtin.
guish sneh q demand, we should not attempt.
to takeit ID 1Ianl ourselves, VIA ccrtxinty
of suppressingf 611 its abomi1ations in every
stage Of the proceeding but, one, and with Il
at ieaeSa chance Of mitigating. them in,sahat
THE FnEE-SrATE KANSAS CmyALRy-A law.
renee (K IT, CORRESPONDENT Of tho New York.
Tribune gives the following very edifyinp nc
count of an "affair of honor between two Free.
State heroes: .qs.' --l.