Staunton vindicator and general advertiser. (Staunton, Augusta County, Va.) 1858-1860, 1859-08-19
The African Slave Trade Laws

The African Slave Trade Laws.
Unpublished last week the letter of Judge
Douglas to Col. John L. Peyton on this nc
longer abstract, but present real and absorb
ing question. We intended even then tina,
the brief comments which accompanied it.
should soon be followed by a mere elabo.
rate enquiry into its merits The reader
will pardon the occasional recurrence of any
previous remarks, as without their help fire..
qucnt gaps might be found in the argumen
which we now propose to submit to his can.
dor and not to his prejudice
From the earliest times Of which we have
any written record-and even farther back
in the obscure twilight of barbarous tradi-
ton, We observe its slavery, or call
it servitude if you please. Or give it any
name you will, SO that it plainly says the
poor mast work for the rich-has existed
uninterruptedly in every country and in
every society down to our own enlightened
nineteenth century. In all this while the
minds and hearts of men have been engaged
in detecting and avoiding the errors of their
fathers, and most especially and assiduous-
ly have they applied their efforts to the anne
Iteration of the condition of this necessary
class Of unfortunates. Experiment one af-
ter another has been made, and even here,
now, in our own South, we still find that
the institution has not arrived at an imposs-
ible perfection, though its race towards that
goal has been pari passu with the march Of
civilization. It being conceded that slavery
of some sort is a necessity of society, there
then remains but one other question
Of ali the conditions of servitude that have
ever existed, or which now obtain, is best
suited to advance the common interest of
master and man? We are all of us more
pregnable to the assaults of profitable HUI
manity,~a compassion that pays, than &C.
eessiole to the promptings of more lnde-
pendent philanthropy.
"Borrow'd" and Hack Horses" have
been driven in all time over the turnpike
roads at such Gilpin speed, that they have
now passed into proverb of persecution
and it only needs familiarity with the
western waters alone fer US to class the poor
Irish and German slaves with these unfor-
tunate brutes.
There the mild and efficient correction of
the lash is never used, but in its stead the
first stick or block or other missile is seized
and cast without care of consequences in
short you turn sick at the ingenuity and
variety of the crueltes Of the "mud- Innate !"
not that these "mud-mates" are by nature
more inhuman than the rest of the world.
but simply because they are wholly irres-
ponsible.
On the other hand, when Southern
slave requires correction. We administer the
lash with sharp eye to our pocket; when
he is sick, our humanity. prompted by our
interest, does not hesitate to incur pecunia-
ry expense, or suffer personal privation to
restore him to health ard the corn-feld.
These scattering remarks have been sug-
gested to us by the knowledge, that there
are yet many gentlemen in the South who
even now look doubtingly upon this insti-
tuition as 1t is. They were not designed
for such as Mr.. Douglas, who unhesitating-
~ admits the proprety and practically reaps
the benefit Of the blessings which his fathers
secured to him, and yet with singular and
unprecedented inconsistency for one in his
high place, he declares in the face of Chris
tendon that he now conscientiously holds
property which was unrighteously acquired,
and which to add to, would be an enormity,
as if the receiver was better than the thief
--as If be had better right to retain in SER
vitude the wretched Africans which Wash
ington and Franklin ravished from their ma
tive shores, than to supply the necessities
of the State BY an application to the same
uueAh6usteo seminary.
But the stereotyped cry Of all those who
have thought fit to raise their voices against
the repeal Of the African slave trade laws
and loudest of all we hear the astonishing
howl of the Southern Mr.. Orr-is. that the
States would at once be overwhelmed by
paralizing swarm Of raw negroes, cheaper
ing the value Of the resident slaves. DRIVING
the poor white citizens farther into the
woods, creating an over-supply of cotton
and other staples. and then the grand trag
edy is to wind up in rebellion-a sad pic
ture, with most sad ending
But in answer to this we would submit
that the laws Of interest and necessity are
self-regulating.
What reason have we to suspect or fear
that the South will be guilty of deliberate
suicide That she will, with wide open
eyes, introduce more labor than her wants
demand? Three times each day do we seat
ourselves before table heavy with pabu
ium sufficient for hundreds, and rarely do |
we remember to have eaten beyond our ne