The weekly Anglo-African., 1860-01-07
A PROPOSITION TO ENSLAVE THE
FREE COL0RED PEOPLE OF
MARYLAND.

The following memorial to the Legls-
lature is in circulation:
TO THE HONORABLE, THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF
| MARYLAND
We, the undersigned citizens of this
State, beg leave respectfully to present to
your honorable body, that the State of
Maryland, in all her varied interests, social
and industrial, essentially demands firm
and decisive legislation on the subject of
our slave and free negro population, NOW
amounting to 0,000 or more, who are in the
main of idle and depraved habits; that they
congregate in the cities and villages, and
subsist by theft and the performance of
short jobs of work by the day Or hour, and
that they will take no permanent employ
ment; that we have a large number of poor
but worthy white citizens, who are of right
entitled to such work, but are superseded
by such free negroes, to the great injustice
of such needy whites.
1t is also known that in the country
those free negroes will not hire by the year,
with but few exceptions,) as laborers to
our farmers, but live mostly by dishonesty
and by the aid of slaves, whom they cor
rupt and prefer to marry. That few of
them, compared to the mass, rent farms,
and thereby force our poor white renters
| to leave the State for the west and other
sections. 1t is also known that some of
said free negroes enter into trades and me-
chanism of various kinds, to the great in
jury of our worthy white mechanics.
These constitute only a fraction of our vast
number of free negroes, but the effectupon
the poor white labOrer, renter and mechan-
ic is disastrous as it is unjust. Charity
should begin at home first, and we should
be Just to our white citizen population be-
fore we are so generous to the free negro.
Even if the free negro performed such work
as we'll as the whites, (which we deny still
that would furnish no justifying plea as
against the necessities and interests of the
poor white man.
Such plea is insulting to our citizens,
for it would base the justification on the
ground of equality between the free negro
and citizen That rule would be sound as
between all citizens, but extremely unjust
as between our citizens and free negroes.
This government was instituted for the bene-
fit of the white man, and as he has to sus-
tain its burdens by taxation and defend its
safety by his own life, it is his Legitimate
and exclusive right to have all the benefits
it affords.
To allow the free negro to compete with
our white citizens, in the industrial pur-
suits of life, is gross injustice on the part
Of the State. 1t is a contingency never
contemplated by the trainers of the feder'
al constitution, or by the trainers OF the
constitution of this State.
But the vast bulk of our free negroes
are foreign to all habits of industry, and
live by stealing the fruits of the white mans
sweat and toll, when he is quietly asleep
They drift about from place to place, vita
ting the slaves, and often act as agents Of
abolitionists to aid in the escape of slaves
for which they are paid by emissaries from
the North. They are burden upon US
filling our county jails, taxing US heavily
for court charges, and finally are sent tc
the penitentiary, where we have to vote
them large supplies of money for their sup
port =,
1t is useless to disguise the tact tina
slavery and free negroism cannot mucf
longer exist side by side in this State
One or the other must give way. Many
, shareholders in this State are anxiously
awaiting the action of your body, and
nothing is done to secure their property
thew will take it further South and leav,
MARYLAND free negro State. The aboli
f ton of free negroism is essential to the Sc
curity of slave property, as well as tn
rights of our laboring white population,
q No more parleying, no more timid ant
compromising legislation will meet the Is i
d sue of this question. If the State woul
), preserve her integrityas loyal ally OF tn
f Soulful she would remove the horrors
house burnings, poisoning and servllestrlf