Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1860-05-25
.t,bc African Slave Trade.

Il
The capture of the William and the
"Wildfrc," with upwards of ono thousand nc
,.rocs on board; the scxure oC the Cora, in
Now York, under suspicious circumstances;
and the late escape of another vessel from New
York, now known ;n be bound TO Africa,
the quick succession of all these events plainly
indicate The very great activity that has lately
taken place in the African Slave Trade
The history of this trade, when carefully re,
viewed and scrutinizcd, shows perfect eXemp'
ton Of the Southern States from all partlcIpa'
ton therein, and rs equally demonstrates the
completely of the Northern citizens III what
their press, pulpit and public sentiment dc,
nounce aS 4 nefario,lS and wicked traffic.
Tho efforts 50 lon. and expcnsivcly made by
onr government 10 prevent this trade, have in
our opinion. demonstrated the ;mpoSsIbility OF
stopning the traffic, or the incificicncy OF the
means adopted 10 prevent it. so long as
Cuba belongs to Spain, the slave trade will
continue profitable, and be prosecuted risor-
ously. TO stop the slave trade cllectually,
Cuba must bccon:c State Of the Federal
Union. We to moi know that thc United
States are under greater obligations to respect
the rights Of Spain, than they are under to
prevent the African slave trade.
As Ion; us the right of Spain to the Island
| Of Cuba encourages Il trade that our Go"crn.
mcit is hound by treaty to suppress, and b. a
GsithlcSs disregard Of her own obligations,
Spain prevents the stoppagc of this trade, we
cannct see that any moral obligation is i'm
posed uuon oilr Government TO sacrifice lhc
and treasure in tic suppression OF Il traffic
which Spain encourages. The time has ar
rived to stop the slave trade by taking Cuba
| from Spain, o. frT tic Federal Government 10
abandon the useless espionage OF the coast OF
! Africa. prriinr tie lives OF valuable officers,
ira,c in l,;,::r""S
! IN this connection We would invite attention
10 the lnllnwing extract from the Philadelphia
'.inquirer' nf May 23d:
"Thc rapi,i recurrence Of such events must
awaken scrinas rejection in the public mind on
number Of points.
''Frst. as to the heavy burden cast upon the
National Treasury b. the existing plan Of stop
pin- the slave trade. Second, the fact that the
Slave trade. and consequently the aggregate
number of persons cnslaved, instead Of dc.
crcasinr, are aiarmingly on the Increase. And
third tic additional fact that the main stimn.
lus ard support Of The larbarous traffic arc
given b. the Spanish authorities in the Island
Of Cuba .hS these points may hereafter re.
0uirc discussion in detail a brief glants at each
will suffice for the present
The cost OF the government efforts 20 sup
press the slave trade is growing into, ,srcatmag.
nitudc bv tho frequent captures resulting from
:hc increased activity OF our little fleet oil crui.
scrs. Under the third section of the ac. o
March, 1919, the officers and crew of any M
tional vessel are entitled to twenty five dollar:
fnr nrcry negro rescued from Il Shaver and de
Siatcs Aan4Slh" n IT," apaS r1 Is @f ths nearest Cr
comes the cost Of maintenance while the ne
croes are in the care Of the United States anc
during their return to Africa; making the Sc
cond item, which. for the ten hundred and fifty
now at Key West, sums up S2j, 900 crmonth
After they arc delivered into the custody of {
government agent in their own country, mp
pointed for the purpose under our laws, th'
humane policy first adopted by President Mad
ison, requires that provision shall be made fol
tho support Of the liberated captivcs for one
wear, which is done at q cost Of one hundred
and fifty dollars for every person. The expense
under the second and third Of these heads o
returning and supporting the two hun
drcd and Scvcntv-onc negroes rescued
from the Echo last fall was about fifty
thousand dollars. without taking into account
any charge for tho rIsc Of the steamer Niagara
which furnished the means Of transportation
It is the Presidents opinion that the cargo o.
the )I'ih!frc will cost for the same items, over
one hundred thousand dollars. The cargo o
the William being still more numerous; will O:
course exceed that sum. Hence, the total cost
for prize money, and for support and transpor-
ton Of The rescued Africans from these three
ycsscls will bc considerably above three hun
drcd thousand dollars. If to this is added the
expense Of keeping up the African Squadron
which last year consisted Of the S. LoRis,
CHmhCrldnd, IincenacS, Ddlc and .NnrioH, II
will be found that our total bill for the sup
preston Of the slave trade foots up every year
but little short Of 4 million. Should captures
continnc IL illc present rate Of one 4 month
the expenses will reach two millions. The
practical question tha; arises here is. what ad
equatc return is made for this heavy outlay Oi
the public moneys: Is is true that m occa
sIonal S'l:cr is intercepted and the negroes re-
turned to Africa, but whether to meet thf
same ia;c again. or to bc placed in better ol
worse condition is not very clear. But, how
ever this may he, enc thing is certain the slave
trade is not only moi c%;ingEishcd lnt Is on th'
| incrIHSC
The SLAVE Trade is n:r the increase" AM
the Two millions come out Of an empty
trca>';ry-irom 4 heavily taxed people, wlos'
active energies demand every dollar Of thcl
earnings
Shall this expense continue, or shall vi
abandon our futile but expensive experiments
and send our vessels about their proper bUsI
ncSs-:he protection Of our legitimate com
lnelcr? The Slave Trade can be prevented
and the expense stopped, by one and the same
act--thc @f:"re y CHb0--and The act .islstifict
by the failhesSncss Of Spain-f it bctruc tina
"a (HbaE c',sioW ho"sc nfficrr "ns nct,mi|g N
'""ri io rreeit. tie Captain Gc"c,"Ts shan
cl he prorecds," as stated by previnus par
Of the 'Inquirrr's' article
But rs the ''fruit is not rpc'-nor th'
american sick man" yet dead, sc would sug
gcst the withdrawal of the African squadron
and the commissioning Of Cuban squadron tt
sail, day and night. around Cuba, to pick uT
slavcrs-and the sale Of the negroes thus cap
turcd, net Ia tie roioni:atioH societN, Int Il
American planters.
Every white man iounIl on sla"er shonl'
he hung at the yard-arms by the capt"Ts, th'
negroes sold under proper legal restraints. am
the money placed in lhe Fedora! Treasury
The Grpcnse Of returning the negroes 10 Airica
is not only very great, out the act itself one OF
unnecessary cruelty. American bondage is Il