Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1857-03-11
LONDON LAB0RERS AND SOUTHERN SLAVES.

LUNDDN LAB0RERS AND bUUThEkN NIafES'
The late arrivals from England bring us Il
dings of distress and deStitution among the fret
laborers of London, which has no parallel ii
this country, except among the laborers in tht
! free States, where similar scenes sometimes oc
cur. With the double object of teaching oul
people the value of their institutions, and tt
show our friends in free society that there i:
ample employment for all their benevolent i'm
pulses elsewhere than among the negro slaves
we present the following glimpse at the beau
ties of free society:
The miseries of the unemployed classes il
London continue 10 make themselves painfully
apparent. The several police courts are be
sieged daily by applicants for relief; and large
groups, We learn, parade the streets, ehauntne
words of Distress and bearing public declara-
ton that they are out of work and want en-
ployment The proceedings at The Mansion
| House NAV be taken as Il type of what occur
red at the other offices. Three parties, describ-
ing themselves respectively as graner, a house
decorator, and bricklayer, waited upon the
Lord Mayor on Wednesday, to make application
on the part Of themselves and others. Here
are their statements:
The bricklayer said he had not been to the
parish, and did not want to 80, if there Was n
possibility of getting work, or keeping away
at all.
The house decorator said he had a wife and
child, and having been out Of work for four
months, bad only been able to support them by
pledgng and s-lling everything belonging to
him except the clothes on their backs. Yes
teltay, beng at the last push, lie went, with
$50 others, to the workhoIse where they were
set to break stones and at the end Of tile day
lie got Is and quartern LOAF, but most Of the
men who were single got only I'll. or td and a
half q,lartcrn loaf, after being all day without
ANYTHING to eat That was u very little, and
the stone breaking had SO blistercd his hunt!S,
that lie could not 60 to it again, for if he did,
bis hands would be in such state as to make
it impossible for him 10 do any work at his own
business for three weeks or month, even it he
got any. The poor fellow here held out his
hands, the palms Of which, rs he had said, were
bstered all yer.
The grainer said lie did not appear so much
for himself as for the Others many Of whom,
who had been twelve or twenty-four hours with
out food, were growing worry noisy He had done
all lie could to keep them quiet, but they were
growing desperate and threatened to have food
by fair means or foul, unless something was done
for them, and that quickly. A good many Of
them were anxious to emigrate to Australia if
they could get free passage, and land to culti-
yate when got there.
What startling and instructive contrast to
all this is presented by tho institution of saVe-
ry in the Southern States! At the very mo-
ment that the free laLorers of London were
bowling through the Streets and beseeching the
Mayor to give them work, our slaves were
quietly resting in their cabins, with no madden
ing hunger torturing them BY day, or corroding
care to disturb their slumbers' by night. Both
classes of laborers were without work, but one
was pinched with hunger, frenzied by the suf-
ferings of wife and children, ready to starve if
honest, or to plunder to satisfy the cravings OF
hunger, while the other was comfortably hous-
ed, clothed and fed, saw wife and little ones
enioying similar comforts, and was totally I'M
concerned whether the morrow should be clear
or cloudy, as, in any event, his sustenance was
sure. Without work the free laborer starved,
t. G slave laborer feasted; the former howlcd
as he ran through the streets seeking work or
bread while the other sang cheerful songs, or
danced to the music Of the banjo, as the wood
burned in the chimney, shedding warmth and
light around Which, let lis ask the abolitonist,
had the better PARTON, the free laborer with
his poverty, hunger, physical and mental an
gnish, or the negro slave with his plenty, con-
trntment and comforts?
Such are the contrasts constantly presented
by free society and slave society. Whatever
Ginciful, sentimental notions may be entertained
about freedom and slavery, no observant man
can deny that the free laborer is infinitely be-
low our nj gro slaves in all physical comforts,
cunvenenccs and enjoyments, and that slavery
avoids thousand privations and sufferings to
which the free laborer is subjected. Is there
nothing in all this compensatins the slave Tor
his slbjection to the will and control Of another?
Is self control so valuable that it must be re-
taned at the risk of starvation? Must man
perish for food, after seeing his wife and Gail
cren perish, sooner than submit to the govern.
ment of master? Does the masters care Of
the slave, at seasons when there is no work to
be had, and when free labOrers starve, give him
no Just claim upon the services and willing obe-
dence of the slave ?-Richmond Enquirer.