Staunton vindicator and general advertiser. (Staunton, Augusta County, Va.) 1858-1860, 1858-10-09
The Slave Trade.

AO 0AMvO 0uOO
The revival of the slave trade is beginning
to attract attention in various portions Of
the Union, if the journals Of those regions
speak the sentiments Of the people. The
capture of the SLAYER Echo has been one OF
the causes Of bringing this before the people
and the demand for slaves and the enormous
prices which are paid for them is another.
We are opposed to piracy in all its forms
and especially piracy where so many lives
are frequently lost, but we belive that the
sentiment Of the people is fast approaching
point at which they will demand the laws,
forbidding the importation Of slaves, to be
repealed. We are opposed to any clandes-
tine measures on the subject, but desire thai
it shall be brought before the people ano
lot them decide for themselves. The En-
quirer says on the subject:
We would also desire modification in
the laws Of Congress that compel the Presi
dent to send back to Africa negroes brought
to an American port under the circumstan.
ces Of those in the Echo" We are op-
posed to consigning again "to that worse
than Egyptian bondage" any um'ciUin9
African, who may have been SO fortunate
as to be removed therefrom. We desire tc
see the whole world brought under the inau-
ence of Christian civilization, and are OBJ
posed to any law Of Congress consignine
again to cannibalism and barbarism those
that may have been rescued
John Mitchell, of the Southern Citizen,
has the following on the same subject:
To what are we to ascribe the vast stride
of Southern sentiments in this direction
within the past year? We think to the
plain straightforward democratic principle
Of No Monopoly. Men say, if slavery be
indeed right, just and benefcent; if it be
right to buy and hold slaves at all, then it is
right to buy them where they are to be had
cheapest. If we can procure negroes on
the coast Of Africa, where they are always
on sale, and lard them here at one hundred
dollars head, including freight and insu-
rance, then there is no sense in confning
ourselves to the market Of Virginia planters
who make us pay twelve times as much.
Farmers who have abundance of land, but
who have been crippled and disabled by the
high and still increasing price Of hands,
have begun to ask themselves why are these
hands so dear and the obvious answer is
this twelve hundred dollars is not the natu-
raj price it is the monopoly price we pay
the Virginia planter, first, the value Of his
negro, say one hundred dollars, and then
we pay him eleven hundred more, for which
we get nothing The Federal Congress of
these United States has decreed that we
shall pay for every hand we put on our
fields twelve times the right price for whose
profit ?-merely for the profit of those large
planters who have plenty Of slaves for their
own work, and who make good business
Of breeding them for us, and that at their
own price. People begin to say this is not
democracy-it is protection of the most strin-
gent kind-it is monopoly-it is aristocracy
Slavery is either right or it is wrong if it
be right, and if free-trade be also right,
then let us have free-trade in slaves.
So the cause of slave trading rolls like a
stone down hill. Let it only be thoroughly
discussed, and the side on which justice,
policy, humanity, democracy and fair play
lie, will soon be manifest enough.
These extracts show very plainly that the
subject is being discussed and this is the
only way by which we are to arrive at a
full and fair expression Of tie opinions Of
the people.