Weekly North Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1850-1858, 1857-09-23
Slavery the true Condition of the Negro.

Slavery the true Condition of the Negro.
The following, from the Charlotte Democrat, con-
tains wholesome and pungent truth. Our friend
Yates may be little too severe upon some persons
who manumit their slaves and send them to free
State or to Liberia but there be doubt that
ali attempts TO elevate the negro race, leaving it to
ITSELF whether in this country or in Africa, have
thus far failed. There are persons who honest
y and religiousy of the opinion that they ought to
hberate their slaves, and some of them do so during
their lives, and of them by will. Tha, this
opinion is an erroneous entertain no doubt
and we gratified TO observe that the cases in
which it is entertained and put in practice are rare
But, with our Charlotte contemporary, have no
respect for thas assumed philanthropy which exhb-
its itself on the bed of death. Admitting for argu-
ments sake, that it is just to the community and to
the slaves themselves thus to manumit them and
that the act proceeds from the owner as one of
kindness and mercy it comes at too late period to
propitiate the favor Of Heaven if indeed poor
tai can presume to essay such thing while as a
simple performance of duty it has been too long de-
layed to merit the regard consideration of the
intelligent and right minded portion of society The
true condition of the negro is that of slavery, of
dependence the white race. Every step which
and protector the white man. is absolutely injurious
to him and his descendants; anG in proof cf this,
we have only to point to the condition of the So
called free Africans in both the slaveholdng and
non saveholding States, and in Liberia 1t is noto-
rious, general thing, that the free negroes in
the slaveholding States are more vicious and less
respected than the slaves and that they have fewer
friends and treated with less kindness than their
brethren in blood who have masters to care for and
protect them. We say this is a general thing
for there free persons of color among US who
are respectable and who deserve respect in their
places in life of their sobriety integrity
and industry; but these are exceptions to the rule
In the free States and in Canada, free negroes occu
py the lowest position in society," and their boasted
freedom amounts to little than license to
control their time, and to be discountenanced,
neglected, and especially during seasons of search
ty to beg or starve. In Liberia too, the experiment
of freedom to the African presents picture by no
means inviting to the philanthropist or encouraging
to those who founded and are laboring to build up
that colony. The latest intelligence from that quar-
ter is, that dreadful famine prevailing among
the inhabitants, and that they continued to be har
assed by the surrounding barbarian natives of their
| own race. And we saw it stated some time since,
| that these free Liberians had actually reduced
number Of their own race to bondage! Having
taken some of them in war, they could not lberate
them for fear that they would attack them again,
and so they retained them servants. Withdraw
the sustaining hand of the white man from Liberia
for ten years, and the first voyager to its shores
thereafter would find nearly the entire population
which survived reduced to abject want and given
oyer IN ne barbarian cuStOmS their frican
fathers. There now in Africa not less than one
hundred millions of this race, living in total ignor-
ance of civilization engaged in bloody wars and not
greatly superior in mental resources to the ourang
outang which shares with them the ownership
of those vast and comparatively unexplored re-
gions. They are just what they were when they
descended from the loins of Ham, with the maledic-
ton of Heaven upon them as servants forever of
the descendants of Shem and Japheh They have
invented nothing, they have learned nothing, they
have achieved nothing of nature to elevate their
race in the scale of humanity. Night broods over
them perpetually. There is no hope for them as
civilized or as Chrstianized beings save through
the white man and that hope departs whenever
the attention and of the superior with
drawn. Yet hear no expression of sympathy
from the abolitionsts for these millions of barbara
ans in Africa; all their sympathies are exhausted
upon three millions of the race in the Southern
States who enjoying the blessings of the Gospel
and the benefits of a high state of civilization
The article of our Charlotte cotemporary is as fol-
lows:
"CoLoNIzATIoN A FAILURE.-The news from Ii
IBERIA, where large numbers of emancipated negroes
have been sent from this country, is of discourag
ing kind to those who engaged in establishing a
colony there. The negroes, after they land in Lii
IBERIA, not capable of making living by their
own management or they are too lazy to work-the
latter predominates in most cases. The fact
is, but few of the coored population of this country
possess energy, industry and capacity sufficient to
take of themselves after being set at liberty.
Those persons who have been giving their money
for building up colony in Liberia, will find
that their aims have done good. 1t will not be
long before the whole colony of negroes will degen
crate into barbarsm idleness and misery of the
worst kind.
We frequently hear of some one dying and leav.
ing 30 or 100 negroes to be sent to Liberia. We
have doubt their owners, in most instances, while
living, worked them nearly to death, half starved
and half clothed them. More than likely he was
penurous and iliteral in his intercourse with his
fellow man, until he amassed fortune, then, in or
der to have something placed to his credit in that
book that will be opened at the last day, he eman
cpates his poor, decrepit slaves, ard directs that
they shall be forwarded to Liberia. The last act o