Civilian & telegraph. [volume] (Cumberland, Md.) 1859-1875, 1860-01-05


been employed and slull continte TO be en-
poyed, TO execute the laws against the Alri-
can slave-trade After most careful ard
rigorous examination Of our COSTS and q thor
ough investigation of the subject, we have
not been able to discoyor'thdt any slaves have !
been imported into the United States except /
the cargo hy the Wandcrcr, numbering be-
tween three and fGur hundred. Those Gu
gagged in this unlawful enterprise have been
vigorously prosecuted; but not with as much |,
success rs their crimes have deserved. A
number of them are still under prosecution. |
Our history proves that the fathers Of the
Republic. in advance Of all other nations, |
condemned the African slave trade 1t was,
Notwithstanding, deemed expcdient by the
trainers of the Constitution to deprive Con.
gresc Of the power toiprohibit "tc migra-
ton or importation Of such persons as any
Of tie States now existing shall think proper
to admit" ."prior TO the year ono thousand
eight hundred and eight
l. will be seen that this restriction on the
power of Congress was confined to such
States only as might think proper to admit
the importation of slaves 1t did not extend
to other States or to the trade carried on
abroad. Accordingly, we find that so early
as the 22i of March, 1894, Congress passed
an act imposing severe penalties and punish
ments upon citizens and residents Of the
United States who should engage in this
trade between foreign nations. The provis
ions of this act were extended and enforced
by the ect of Goth of May, 1900.
Again: The States themselves had clear
right to waive the constitutional privilege in
tended for their benefit, and TO prohibit, by
their own laws, this trade ut any time they
thought proper previous to 1903. Several
Of them exercised this right before that pc
Rod and among them some containing the
greatest number Of slaves. This gave to
| Congress the immediate power to act in re-
gard to all such States, because they them
selves had removed the constitutional bar
ricr. Congress accordingly passed an act en-
2Sth February, 1903, ito prevent the i'm
portaton Of certain persons into certain
States where, by the laws thereof, their ad-
mission is prohibited" In this manner the
7 importation of African slaves into the United
States was, TO great extent, prohibited some
years in advance Of 1908.
As the year 1908 approached, Congress
determined not to suffer this trade to exist
even for single day after they had the
power TO abolish it. On the "a of March.
1907, they passed an act to take effect "llom
and after the list day Of January, 1908, ~
prohibiting the importation of African slaves
into ,he United States. This was followed
BY subsequent acts oil n similar character, to
which need not specially refer Such were
the principles and practices of our ancestors
more than fifty Yeas ago i'll regard TO the
African slave-tradc.
Il did net occur to the rcveled patriots
who had been delegates t. the convention.
and afterwards lccame members Of Congress,
that in passing these lams they had violated
the Constitution which they had framel with
so much care and delibcration. They sup
posed that to prohibit Congress- in express
terms, from exercising specified power be-
fore an appointed day, uc sessaiily involved
the right to exercise this power after that
day had arrived.
If this were not the case, the trainers Of
the Constitution had expended much labor
in vain Had they imagined that Congress
would possess no power to prohibit the trade
either before or after 1908, they would not
have taken so much care to protect the States
against the exercise Of this power before that
period Nay more, they would not have at
tachcd such vast importance to this provision
us to have excluded it from the possibility of
of future repeal or amendment to which other
portions of the Constitution were exposed.
| 1t would, then, have been wholly unnecessary
toengraft on the fifth article of the Constitu
ton, prescribing the mode of its own future
amendment, the provsc, chat no amcnGm mt
may be made prior to the year one thousand
eight hundred and eight shall in any manner
affect" the provisionin the Constitution sccu-
ring to the States the right to Admit the i'm
portation Of African slaves previous TO that
period.
According to the adverse construction thc
clause itself, on which so much care and dis
cusson had been employed by the members
Of the convention, was an absolute nullty
from the beginning, and all that has since
been done under it a mere usurpation
1t was well and wise to confer this power
on Congress, because, had it been left to the
States, its efficient exercise would have been
impossible. In that event any one State
could have ctlrctually continued the trade not
only for itself but for all the o,her slave
States, though never so much against their
will. And why? Because African slaves,
when once brought into the limits of any
one State, in accordance with its laws, can
not practically be excluded from any other
State where slaxcry exists. And even il all
the States had separately passed laws pro-
| hbitiDg the importation OF slaves, these laws
would have failed of fleet for want of
naval force 10 capture tie slayers and to
guard the coasts Such n force no State can
employ in time Of peace without the consent
of Congress.
These acts Of Congress, it is believed, have,
with very rare and Insignificant exceptions,
accomplished their purpose. For period Of
more than half century there has been no
pcrccptible addition to the number of our
domestic slaves. During this period their
advancement in civilization has far surpassed
that of any other portion of the African
race The light and the blessings of Chris
tianity have been extended to them, and
both their moral and physical condition has
been greatly improved.
Reopen the trade, audit would be difficult
to determine whether the effect would lie
more deleterious on the interests of the mas
ter or on those of the native-born slave. OF
the wills to the master, the one most to be
dreaded would be the introduction Of wild,
heather, and ignorant barbariaus among TIE
sober, orderly, and quiet slaves, whose anccs-
tors have been on the soil for several genera
tions. This might tend to bsrbarizc, demon
alize, and eXasperatc the whole mass, and
produce most deplorablc consequences.
The effect upon the existing slave would,
if possible. be still more deplorablc. At
present he is treated with kindness and hu-
manity. He is well fed, well
clothed, and not overworked. His condition
is incomparably better than that of the coolies
which modern nations of high civilization
have employed rs substitute for African
slaves. Both the phlanthrophy and the
sclf-interest OF the master have combined TO
pr oiuce his humane result But let tits
trade be reopenol, and what will be the eff
feet? Tho same, to considerable extent, as
on a ncighboring sland-the only spot now
on earth where the African slave-trade is
openly tolerated aud this in defiance OF