Mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado Co., Cal.) 1854-1860, 1859-01-15
From the Missouri RcpubIicnn.
The Beauties of Negro Equality.

\ gentleman who has spent many years in
jamaica, and had ample opportunity ofjudg.
ing Of the effects Of the abolition of slavery
in that island, communicates the following in.
formation on the subject. Should Stewards
Black Republican programme DC carried out,
We should witness the same stIte of things in
the United States. The Southern plantations
would Of necessity lie abandoned to ruin and
dcSsolatiOn, and the thrifty white population,
of both North and South, would have thrown
upon them millions OF lazy, ignorant and bru-
tai negroes, claiming to be the equals Of the
whites.
1t appears that the colorcd people of Jamai.
ca arc not satisfied with the bare equality of
civil and political rights, but aspire to their
exclusive enjoyment. Not content with nc.
quring lands 6y free sale and purchase, and
by squatting OH tracts which twenty years
ago were valuable plantations, though now
abandoned to the first conner, the wish to force
the proprictors Of the estates still undcr cul.
tivation to dispose of the remains of their
property exclusively in favor of the "colorcd
sons Of the soil, mrnacing the Colony In the
event Of the continued rccusancy, with the
fate of IIayti.
For many years the negroes have enjoyed
all those advantages over the whites which
are the unavoidable results of their numerical
superiority in q country governed under
very liberal representative Constitution. Ne.
groes and mulattocs fill n majority of the pub.
Tic offices; and if there arc still some Of the
more important places held by the whites, it
is in some cases, because Of date from peri
cd anticedent to the emancipation, and in 9TH
crs, because individuals OF tho fashionable
color, with anything like the indispensable
qualifications Of mental character, are not
readily to be found. Whenever they do pos.
scss some education and ability, they obtain
preference. do not say that this is the de-
liberate policy Of the British Government aid
its representatives here; it may we'll be the
natural consequence Of the prcdomincnce Of
the cOlored people nt the hustings and in the
Legislature, the Colonial Government being
what is here called parliamentary"
The little influence and responsibility re.
tanned by the whites being derived from their
superior wealth and intelligence, the leading
spirits among the "colored party" have al.
ways cndeavOrcd to effect the overthrow of
the former at the expense Of the agricultural
and commercial interests Of the island and,
with that view, have either legislatcd against
property, or refused to legiSlatc when protec-
ton was required, and, as magistrates, have
used all their authority in favor of vagrancy
and crime, oil in the hope Of driving away the
remaining whites. In the fultilmcnt of this
scheme their progress has been wonderful,
yet still too gradual to comport with their I'M
patience; its originators are growing old, and
some Of them, like Moses, have died before
entering the promised land. a number of
whites Still cling to their possessions here as
drowning wretchCs catch at Straws hence
the wrath of the colored politicians, which
occasionally swells too high to 10 restrained
by prudential considerations.
Some idea may be formed of the extent 10
which the cOlored people carry their preten-
siOns, a. well as the intensity Of their hatred
for the whites, when it was known that the
senior editor Of tho newspaper which threat.
ems the colony with tho fate Of Hayti is (al.
though mulatto) the Governors first minis
ter, or Chairman Of the Executive Commit
tee, y president Of the privy council, custOs
rOtulOrum Of the country, and mayor Of the
city Of Kingston; while his partner also q
cOlorcd MANI is . member Of the privy and
Legislative councils, justice of the peace in
several counties, alderman Of Kingston, light.
house commissioner, &C., &c. The senior ed
itOr virtually governs the island in his capoci.
ty Of first minister, and as president of the
privy council, he would in case Of the death
Of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor, or
the absence Of one and the death Of the other,
succeed without dispute TO the chief execu.
tive power. AS these editors and other col
orcd men are not satisfied with their position,
1t is fair to presume that nothing short Of the
expulsion Of the whites, or extcrninationw will
do for them.
wish it were in my power, in fOw words,
without dwelling too long on most unpleas.
ant subject, to convey to you an adequate idea
Of the poverty, misery and degradation which
the emancipation. has brought upon 4 country
which the anti-slavcry papers Of the United
States baScly represented as-an example for
emulation. can not think of these shame.