Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1858-1860, 1860-01-13

and have checked its growth and broken
down The value of property to ruinous ex-
| tent a few years. since, Chatham was
bright prosperous village. Now it is one of
the most neglected and unpromising in West
| efn Canada One long, crooked street runs
through the town. on which are the principa
places of business. The market. a brick
building, formssa square in the middle of the
! main street, and round this mart the negroes
congregate night and day in full force. One
meets half dozen black faces in the streets
to one white. Those who are employed get
low wages. eight or ten dollars a month,
either as port rs boot blacks. BARRIERS. or in
some similar occupation but the greater
portion of them live as they can upon the
profits of odd jobs, charity. or worse. There
are of course some negroes superior to the
general run and in better position than
their neighbors; but am speaking of the
colnred population of Chatham IS whole.
The colored population of Chatham is con-
stanfly increasing. A citizen remarked to
me in conversation, They are flowing in
here, until the whites are terrified at the in
| undaiion." And well they may be, ior their
property suffers more and more as the num-
Der of blacks increases. while the crowd of
colored prisoners in the Jail affords evidence
| of the SORT of neighbors with which the I'M
d. rground railroad furnishes them.
THE NEGROES IN ESSEX cDUNTY-TRE TOWN
or WINDSOR AND VICINITY.
Windsor opposite the city of Detroit, is a
place that has felt probably more than any
other in Canada. the blight of the negro i'm
migration. Naturally prettily located vii
| lage, and with a few minutes ierriage of the
| city, il is just the place for country residen-
ces, and for the attraction of a fiue aud intel
/ ligent community. There is gradual rise
! from the river bank up TO a natural terrace
| that stretches along for miles. and offers
/ beautiful spots for dwellings and grounds.
| But the property is now unsuitable. the
| growth of the place Is prematurely checked,
/ and the respectable portion of the eonmuni-
| ty is fast being driven away or overrun by
the lazy. worthless and dem0ralized iugitiyes
| from the States.
The Herdlds correspondent proceeds to
| give details of the condition of other settle
ments, hut we have copied enough 10 indi-
cate the general drift of his history. He pro-
ceeds to comment on:
THE SOCIAL AND MORAL EFFECT OF THE IMPCR-
TATION OF FUGITIVE SLAVES INTO CANADA.
He saws: We have seen that tue immigra-
| ton of fugitive slaves into Canada is unat-
tended by any social or moral good to The
negro. 1t is injurious. also, TO the white cit-
! zens of Canada, inasmUch as it deprrsses the
value OF their property, diminishes their per-
| sOnal comfort and safety, and destroys the
.
Sheriff Mercer, Of Kent county, assured me
that the criminal statistics of that county
prove that nine-tenths of the offences gains
the laws are committed by coored persons
The same proportion holds good in Essex
county, and the fact is the more startling
when il is remembered that the blacks do not
at present number more than oue-fourth of
the whole population
In the township of Anderdon. Essex county
this TALL, nearly every sheep belonging to the
white farmers has been stolen. The fact was
presented in the return of the Grand Jury OF
the county, and some twelve negro families.
men, women and children, were committed
to Jail on the charge OF sheep stealing. The
cases of petit larceny are incredibly numer-
Gus in every township containing negro set
Elements, aud it is a fact that frequently the
criminal calendars would be bare of a pre-
sentatiOn but for the negro prisoners.
The offences of the blacks are not wholly
confined to those of light character. Occa-
siOnally some horrible crime stariles the COM
ununity, and Is almost invariably attended by
savage ferocity peculiar to the vicious ne
gro. Ii a murder is committed by black.
| II Is generally of an aggravated and brutal
nature. The offence o. rape is unfortunately
peculiarly prevalent amongst the negroes
! Nearly every assze is marked by a charge OF
this character. A prominent lawyer OF the
Province, who has held the position of pub
| lie prosecutor, told me that his greatest
| dread was OF this offence, for that experience
bad taught him that no white woman was
| safe at all times from assault. and those who
were rearing daughters in that part OF Cana
| da might well tremble at the danger by which
| they are threatened. He told me that he
never saw a really brutal look on the human
| face until he beheld the cOuntenance OF the
negroes charged with the crime of rape
| When the lust comes over them they are
worse than the wild beast of the forest. Last
| year, in broad daylight, respectable white
woman, while walking in the public road
within the town of Chatham, was knocked
down by black savage and violated. This
| year, near Windsor, the wife of wealthy far
mer, while driving alone in wagon. was
stopped by negro in broad daylight, drag
! ged out into the road, and criminally assault
| ed in a most inhuman manner. 1t was inn
| possible to hear the recital of these now COM
mon crimes withou; shudder.
| The fugitive slaves go into Canada as beg
CARS and the mass of them commit larceny
and lay in Jail until they become lowered and
debased and ready for worse crimes. Nor
does there seem at present prospect of edu-
cation doing much to beti II their condition,
for they do moi appear anxious to avail them
selves of school privileges as a general rule
The worse class of blacks are too poor and
! too INDECENT TO clotbe their children in the
winter, and their services are wanted at
home in the summer. The better class af-
feet airs soon they become tolerably
well to do. and refuse to send their little
ones to any but white schools. In Windsor
there are Nv public colored schools, but the
negroes of that place chose to refuse TO al
low their children TO attend these institutions
and sent them TO the schools for whites
They were not admitted, and two of the
black residents, named Jones and Green, ties
ted the question at law, to try whether the
trustees or teachers had right to exclude
their children. 1t was decided that the irus-
tees bad such power when separate schools