New-York daily tribune., 1858-07-23
LIBERIA AND THE FRENCH EMiGRA vYON
To ne Editor ef The y. y. Tribune

| FiercA Guiana or 10 C.b,l Toese qoes,ions are
pressed upon tie American people, AID regret TO see
ttst, to cone extent en- yeiy idp,rf5ct ds.a the
charges implied BY them are assumed 10 be true.
But who are the psrtio. and what are the facts A
FIeI cl vetseI the Regina Coli is fund at sea by 40
Erglsh steamer, in possession of sbou, tro hundred
not,res, who had murdered eleven of the crew. Er-
| Prescept Rnbsits who had gone up in .hs Ecglsh
steamer to r.take the French vessel, welcomed by
tbtse poor raives e. dti,reTer. He found .Asn On
bosrd utder sucn Circumstances a. convIced HIN hs
trey had nearly or quite all beenput on board By force
sId mary KEEP, il msi sces aid therefore in opsn de-
fsnce Of the laws Of tie Republic. The Freuch cap
tam came t il bis boat and den aided bis vessel but
a. importsbt legal qutsnors were involved, ste
taken to Morrova and placed under the authorities Of
the port. The Ergsh vessel ed in saving the Regina
Colt densrded So vsge, which at fret was refused
| BY tie French osrer Capt. SiDoud., but IL was
tusy sgreed 20 submit the question OF salvage to the
| Lib. iiaD Court Of Admiralty.
| MtsItiue, as by the Liberia laws no man eau be
| he ss saye, these poor psiives landed. A. 'his
the Ferch Captsin ard commsLdant on taat station
Of the Frei CD man Of var, seized the vesselconary
and 10 cobenpt Of the Ia and sovereignty Of Libs
| ns-aDo by force took her away.
Tie Couit Ct Admiralty nevertheless heard the tes
tin oby al awarded aslysge to the cspt1n end gave
bin certified copy Ct their decree. Do the trial Of
this civil su,t it proved that the native Attic ans
bed all been teken board contrary to the laws OF
Liberia go tbst had tie vessel remained, SOS might
| have been lbel.d and sold tor violating the laws
| agsitat tie slave-'race.
| Tie parties ave, then, a French csptsin and his
pbysci.p, who have vios'ed the laws OF lhoerA ara
tphlly, With the sstarce Oi nst,0na vesssl, eOlen
away In cefsIce of its sttucrty tteir ship, aad to
shie II enseyes have ,ds repre- .ntsons Involving
the good nsue the honor aud tue future property OF
ANAL community, whcse Ctiicers and Shose Govern-
neIt have previously sustained the highest reputation
| foi fidelity.
Tie mere relation of these fscts, it would seem.
rsht to euoIgy bias our lucgnent ageinst the nc.
cuser Yet so ,eDsiive to the honor and good
| rame of Libera-thst forgetting bis crimes-Capt.
Sin oDds hs uuroered crew. aud the di'regald OF
Litenan sovereignty are forgotten IN hs nome quss
ticp Liberia with out homer ard tiu'hl ana co her
potlett coIupily aid in the ienewed s!sve traae
We answer wittout ooubt .Dat the charges are n-
c,etibe ard supported by even probabilities. one
touI on which they have been baaec ls the state
me Mt of the Minister Of Marie of the French Govern
melt founoed q report of Lieut. Ponfel, VIZ; tnat
not only was the Lberan Government coopers-
tive but solictous TO have Capt. 81 nonds
p,ocrre the emigrsnts in Liberia, srd had
actually received a large sum Il 500 piss
tes for pass for 400 emgrants. This allegation
We oiscrtdt for Several reasons. |. The passports
oily ifsped when vessels are getting their cear
arce for foreign port this the Regina had not done,
IS ber load not completed. 2. The sun stated as
having been paid for passports is incredibly large.
For 400 persons the amount would nave been only
500. lie officer who made tie report has doubtless
plstsken the sum psid for Custom-House duties as
psid for passports. 3. The Hon. b. V. K. James,
wbose word, to all who know him is as good as his
bord ssys no money mad been paid by oy the Regina
Cpi fer passports.
With these remarks on the charge Of passports, We
leave that point until the Lberisn authorities can be
heard fIUm.
| Another ale CATION has been that the emgrsnts
were Libersns, who, being tet 'ree in Americs and
sent cut at great expense by our Colonization Society
as 9 pbilaJthropic measure, were thus violently cent
away by the COZ nivsnce of the Lbsrsn Government.
| =; al. "a hass n q HfQlAIS
tkysicisn who declared that 300 could read. To this
we reply that the natives of the Vey l6s, Tear Gai-
Ira and Mama, have inverted asyliAbic slphaoet
Of their owp and msry Of the young men can rss IL,
| ard even If DR.. Brulsss statement we're true that
| 2Ot could read it would not follow that they ever
| em'erated from America
wac ut in the Courts of Monrovia when the legal
question Of salvage was tried, and he assures me Ina.
eyeIy emigran board was native Afrcan, ana pu
| one Of them could even 1880 the Ney cnaracter
Now if there were Others who could read they must
have escaped and We learn from the papers that the
French ca ain murdered them as they came on shore
IL this tue he ought TO have been hung Tor shocns
Llbersns. 49,,
| Thus much as to the two principal charges. have
not Iar;ice of doub that botn are untrue. But there
remains duty which we owe to Liberia, 10 eApiah "
the public why IT Is that tfercn OF any Vessels
| right to her coastipg trade. .
| Tbis is the rtsut Of uncomfortable circumstances
Prior TO the settlement of Liberia the European ma
,ons bad traded along that coast f'r long perod,
arc their subjects bsd acquired nghts OF Wsoe Holh
the uatve chiefs, which they were lot wlihbg 10 re-
| ipousb Hence, when Liberia decafed ner Gov
eieIenty over the coast and asked for reooguiion,
Er fret and then France required this privilege
for their merchaLts- e. to obtain hcenses-Dy payug
| dn,iss at Moproyis or come other port OF entry.
In thsir circumstances, the little community when
We have established, when asking TOR recogniion
ard treaty with such grest nations couid moi resisI
the deIosId, and it was yielded. No douo. " Is
privilege capable Of abuse, and very injurious, oy ns
competition, to the Lberian merchants; but 1t Is
privilege which the Government OF Liberia cannot re-
| pudiate. ;h
ing the purchasing Of slaves copiscatng any Vesse
witch may be proved guilty of -snd ia this fact we
perbsps the key TO the violent ana UNJUST act VI
the FfeIch comman dant who foIc0y took possession
of the Regina and carried her away from the LDer 40
authorities.
Had she remained, and by examination of her inmi'
Grants il had been proved that they were slaves OF
Ield by force or in manscles, his bond would nave
be. n forfeited ard his vessel condemned. :,
The truth seems to be that the French, being ols'
covered in a plain violation Of Lbsris law aud the
French comm andant the station in gross outrage
upon The sovereignty Of Liberia, they are now, oy
msre pre- sentatoD, trying TO lmphcste tue LioehAus
with Them l do not oOubt that Liberia will be YIN
ocated from these charges, and would ask the Puonc
Lot to credit stories TO her injury, upt they can oe
| EXAMINED. Every act and law, and the aole No
tion feeling of Liberia against the eno
they have never willingly permitted IL b9s ior ieai
acme xtracts from the Liberia Ia VS. sho wing the care
with which they have guarded sganst any sNemp. y
taking slaves from the coast within then Juiisocuon
and that President Benson could not have coopers.eo
in the obtaining of slave emigra "tnou.
himself liable to in pescbmebt aud disgrace. Ins
however muet be omitted, and the suplec' leit un =
receive the direct reply TO these charges, wnich 81
expect from Liberia within few weeks
'H' "'' ''O'c Cor Sec. N Y. Gc'nil.;oa Society.