Preble County Democrat. [volume] (Eaton, Ohio) 1857-1859, 1858-05-13
The Letter of secretary Cass to
Lord Napier.

The Letter of secretary Cass TO
Lord Napier.
For years we, oathis side of the At
~lantic, have been greeted from England
with complaints made BY her govern
ment touching the African slave trade,
and the administration of motherly ad-
vice to the eud of its restriction if not
its suppression. "A recent diplomatic
letter from Secretary Cass to Lord Ma.
pier SO efectually estops all further com
plants on the subject, from the quarter,
that its points should receive general
publicity.
The blockading policy of England is
we'll known as regards the coast Of Africa
to suppress the African slave trade be
tween Africa and America. In thus al
luding to the fact we do not attempt a
Justification of the traffic, but simply re
fer to it to show the Inconsistency OF
Englands mock philanthrophy in the
matter. Touching this system Secre-
tary Cass says, ".tiiat the benefit it has
produced bears no reasonable proportion
to the expenditure of life and treasure
it has cost and the Philadelphia Penn
s~yLcahfun in an able article reviewing
this. subject very ~pertinently presents
the points Of this diplomatic note by re-
marking
But this. failure need not discourage
the hopes of Christendom, for there
was another method of proceeding, less
difficult and more eficacious. If slaves
could not bc sold, they would not be ex-
ported To shut the, ports OF Cuba to
their entrance, would be SHUT ng the
ports of Africa to their departure, Cuba
was the only country where the slave
trade was carried on extensively. Eng
Hand exercised great political influence
over Spain and might employ it in this
cause. This is a very severe home
thrust, for jealous as England is Of slave
labor, she would not now urge a measure
calculated to injure the productive Ca
pracity Of Cuba. The immense Spanish
debt is owned by E~nglisbmcn principal
ly, and the diminution Of the Cuban
revenues would utterly depreciate all
claims against Spain. Amongst the
causes now operating to render the
blockade of the coast of Africa still
more useless, the Secretary mentions the
market effect upon public opinion in
Europe, produced by tho lamentable
condition of the once fourishing colon
les of England and France, the defcen-
cy of labor there, the Incidence and dis
tress of the emuncipated negroes,-all
ofwhich were matters ofgrave reflection
for the statesman and philanthropist.-
/ Means had been restored to remedy these
evils England herself had set the ex-
ample, and was supplying her colonies
with coolies, and France following her
lead, was furnishing her Islands with
Africans, Which was but another form
of slave-trading. Official reports from
the American Squadron on the African
coast confirmed this opinion; also, the
last message of the President of Liberia,
etc. ra. -F
* y X
The Secretary discusses them with
eminent ability and great force, the i'm
portant question of the right of search,
against which he demonstrates as a dan
gerous pretcnsion, and a breach of the
law of nations, as practised by Great
Britain. To permit a 4 foreign officer to
board a vessel of another power, to as
sumo command in her, to call for and
examine her papers. to pass Judgment
upon her character, to decide the broad
inquiry, whether she is navigated accor.
ding to law, and to send her in at pleas
iure for trial, could not be submitted to
by any independent nation without in
Jury and dishoner. No such right was
recognized by the law of nations.
The United States deni- the right
of the cruisers OF any Power whatever,
for any purpose whatever, to enter their
vessels by force. They had no DISPOSE
ton to surrender the police Of the ocean
to Great Britain, and would never falter
in their determination to enforce their
own avs in their own vessels, and by
their own power, and 10 oppose the pre-
tensions OF every other nation to board
them by force in time of peace. The
Secretary proves by nu nervous quota
tons that the principles of information
al Law involved in this question has been
admitted by the most eminent states
men of Great Britain. He explodes
completely the distinction made by
British diplomatists between the right
of visit and the right of search, showing
that both are equally illegal as applied
to vessels of foreign Powers. 1t APP
pears that ord NAPIER communicated
to the State Department Il list Of vessels,
said to have been American, and to
have been engaged in the slave trade
To this the Secretary replies that he had
no means Of verifying the list. but the
statement, "even if accurate only
showed that the laws of the United
States might be evaded as we'll as those
of other nations.
The prosecution of the slave trade.
being stimulated by extraordinary profit,
additional capital and enterprise had
embarked in it. There was a class of
ships built in the United States famed
for their speed, and these were eagerly
sought and purchased by foreigners for
the slave trade, but the people disposing
of them could not be held answerable
for the purposes for which such vessels
were afterward employed.
"1 o.