Staunton vindicator and general advertiser. (Staunton, Augusta County, Va.) 1858-1860, 1858-07-24
Tho CO0Eie Slave Trade What Becomes
OF the apprentices in Cuba.
From the London Star, June 80.

{ tits now no longer a.sccret shut Us ii
the despatch Boxes Of the foreign Ofic,
that 4 heightened correspondence upon til,
Coolic trade and tic laws relating to it has
taken place between the British and tn,
French and American governments couch
ed, on the part Of the two latter, in tht
strongest possible. language; and even 20
ing to thc extent 81 demanding the suppress
sion Of a trade alleged to be characterized
by all the horrors and incidents Of a rcgu
lar slave traffic. It is possible there may
be tingc of cxaggeration in the zeal with
I Which these two governments prefer thep
request, hut we believe there is none in the
nature Of the facts they submit, at least in
1 so far as they relate to the transporting Of
Chinese in British vessels to Cuba. The
Earl of Carnavon has very properly pointed
out that there are two distinct branches of
this new traffic in namely, that which
enibraces the conveyance of the so-called
Immigrants to British colonies, and that
which involves their transmission to foreign
possessions. For the present we viii con-
fine our attention to tie latter, because it is
unquestionable That France aiid America
have the strongest grounds for resisting The
circumstances addressed to them by our go
vernmcnt on the subject Of tie slave trade,
which the one permits under his flag, and
the other openly practices, SO long as Brit
ish vessels and capital are perinittea. to be
employed in carrying on a trade in Chinese
Coolies to the Slave colonies Of Spain: Now
we unhesitating!y declare it to be the duty
OF our government to prohibit this blanch
OF the traffic as being open to all the sobjec-
tons that can be urged against the slave
trade itself, or that new form of it called
free emigration from Africa The Earl of
Carnavon states, upon the authority Of Sir
John Bowring, that to obtain these CEincse
laborers for Cuba there is scarcely a single
device left untried. They are drugged with
opium until stupefcd, and in this condition
taken on board, or they are Violently kid
mapped, or bribed, or openly purchased. 80
When once on board they are made to sign
what is called contract to serve eight
years in colony they hear named, but
which subsequently turns out to be differ
ent one. In one case number Of the I'M
fortunate Chinese, who had been cnticcd on
board under false prctences, fell sick, and
we're landed on the beach and abandoned, it
being considered too expensive to trcat them
medically, Many died Of starvation, and
the others were devourcd by dogs and swine
| Fhe mortality on the voyage to Cuba is Of
ten frigbtful From the Odd Of February
! to the LIST of September, 1856, 3.S6S men
and seven women were imported into Cuba
r.
grants, 1913 died during passage Of 149
days. FL another, 20 died out of IT'S du-
| ring passage of III days. Both these oo-
Cured on board British vessels. The total
number of Chinese coolies imported into
Cuba. from the Sd of June, 1917, to tie fst
Of September, 1s5G-since which date. no
returns have yet been published is 1856
What has become Of them They have all
been absorbed il. the slave population for
Mr.. Consul Crawford atfirins that they arc
/ treated with little more consideration, and
that not more than ore. half will s,outlive
their eight years. term Ct service. Yes, this
Is the system which our. gtyefH.nens per-
nlits whilst it IS reinon strating with Franco
against the prosecution Of her free immi-
grafton scheme. and with the United States
for allowing tic Stars ard stripes to cover
! the negro slave trade. It cannot be denied
| that SO long as it does not prohibit the con-
veying Of Chinese fc slave colonies in Brit
! ish vessels, foreign governments lave a tol-
cradle pretext for declining to take any
steps to check similar enterprises prosecu5-
ed by their subjects. AS Lord Brougham
very pcrtinently remarked, their answer
would naturally be-''You have no right to
complain Of our obtaining slaves from the
Western coast Of Africa, when you are car
Trying a similar trade in coolies"
But it may be alleged that the same OBJ
jections do not exist against the system of
Fobtainirg Chinese Coolies for the British
West india colonies We apprehcrd the
difference is scarcely aprreciah1e.4 The CHI
nese immigration act Of 1855, which came
into operation on the first of January, 1856,
lfwas intended to. provide remedy for the
notorious abuses Of Che Chinese Coole traf-
Fife. Yet what is the admission of the Earl
Of Carnavon? Why, that the working of
the act has turned out to be far less salts
factory than had been anticipated, for it
had been constantly and Systematically eva
lsded. But even if the contrary we're the
case, immigration, as at present conducted,
is radically vicious. It is, in fact. only an
Eorganizod system Of obtaining labor upon
sarbitrary terms, at the expense CT the Gre
.ole population ard to t'ae detriment Of the
colonies into which the immigrants are in
Produced. In 1857 the colony CT British
| Guiana paid S94 500, or Ell 900 sterling,
out of its general taxation on tie imi1siggra-
ton fund account, and there was then oW-
ing to the public treasury from the employ
crs the further sum of $50, 900, about H.
1000 sterling, which had been advanced to
them on INN Grafton account Yet the
bulk Of this enormous expenditure was paid
by the laboring classes, with whom these
immigrants are brought into competition
The total number of the immigrants which
reached the colony in that year was 1896,
Of whom 139 died Immediately after THEN
arrival There is no return Of the number
that died on the passage. We are told il
is philanthropy run mad to attempt to pre-
vent immigration. But philanthropy does
not oppose perfectly free Immigration
What it objects to is the conveying Of i'm
migrants into our colonies under contract te
work at rate IF wages fixed by the en-
ployers, according 70 some arbitrary stand
ard Of their own, and for term Of years
also determined by them 1t is not true,
as.has been said, that the Chiuaman or the
4 Hindoo have one dollar day offered them
II II a. cL;ll:no az IN.