Maryland free press., 1866-11-22
From Me Bltimors Cl:ette.
The New Trade.

/. ....I The New Trade. ..,.rr-
The very clever and admirable article
which follows is taken, with the above til
tie, from the Philadelphia Age. 1t relates
to subject which cannot be discussed
without pain aud repugnance,~ but whica
it would be mawkish to pass without con,
ment. The statistics Of the country show
direct and remarkable ratio between Pu-
ritanism and prostitution, Hawthorne
powerful but morbid story of the ''Scaiicc
Letter. which Only a New England1r
could have written, is not without its boar
ing upon this singular fact; for itiilus-
trates with the vivilnsss Of genius, th5
strange and unnatural religious teaching
and practices upon the moral constitution
and the physical temperament. Thus 1t
is that the New England States, while cru
cifying the rest of the land by the enforce
nent of their 'ideas," ian1 wearyiug the
world with the perpetual proclamation Of
their virtue and piety, afford apractical
demonstration of what it all amounts by
contributing to the stews and brothel'.
North and South, larger proportion Of
its inmates than any other section Not
only that, but it is notorious that under :
sort of Monroe doctrine of their own, they
assert a supremacy in harlotry even in the
West Indies and the "Sister Republics"
of South America The recent tragodyito
which the Age refers is, therefore, full Of
dark moral. and the able writer below
has painted it with pathos. severity 'and
truth: .'r.',.,...l ai ..v .Hu 2Gl !l.t
| 'tThe organs Of Northern loyalty have recent
ly entertained their readers with narratives
more or less in detail Of the frightlnl shipwreck
! of the Evening Star. 1t was truly narrowing
tale, but there was one comment on it which
none of them, in their haste to sympatse, made.
What was the chief freight which this. Northern
ship was carrying to the South What the car
60 which New York was sending to New Or.
leans? What sort Of average would there haya
| been if some Of the living load had been thrown
overheard to save the rcst2 Were the profits or
the adventure insured by Yankee or New York
underwriters? 1t was literally q load ofipiaNy.
A notorious bawd, with forty or fifty prostitutes,
was on board the wretched ship, .and they per
ished together. This is the plain English of tha
story. Now, of these poor iwomsniy creatures,
who, in the hour of terror and agony, behaved
bravely, we have not word to say, In, truth,
there is something touching and picturesque in
the farcwells in New York harbor 10 their COM
panions, in the superstitioas fantasies asto
dreams nd all sorts of omcns, and their assiini-
lation in the course of their voyage TO those who
were purer than themselves and who pegished
with them. Still,.. was freight Of pollution,
shipped by the philanthropic, triumphant ani
virtuous North to the degraded, subjugate1, uh-
toly South. Now let US suppose fora romeat
different course of this sort of trade. Thsta
steamer should be dispatched from New Orleans
to New York, or Boston. or Philadelphia, load
ed with quadroons or octoroons' 'eullsd from the
pavements or balls masques of the Crescent city
what would be said of it or thcnl2 ''Such are
the enormties of Southern society,"" = Such sro
the representative women Of the South" ESuc.l
are the fruits of that wretched state of sotict.
which ripened and bore fruit in rebelions gainst
the best goFernment-as latterly, in its honeh-
cence, it has proved itself to be-the world has
ever seem" "tiow dare" would the cry haze
been from every New. England pulpit, echoed,
tso, mildly, from philadelphia, ''How 'dato
those Southern merchants scnd TO us the refuse
or the choice of their stews2''' "Whatl infamy,is
it for Southern ships to carry, and Southern sail
ors to pilot, such cargoes of crime" And hal
the vessel, thus freighted, perislied. in soino
northern surge Off Sandy Hook or 'Nan,hs-
ket, with her PROV turned to New York7or Boz
ton, and had poor, swretched Southern strunabets
gone to their last account would not every rako-
li.on sheet been filled and everyabolition pulpit
resounded with insectives at the audacity which
such commercial adventure Illustrated? III
seems in its reality, an awful deyelopementJo Jof
the spirit of our times: There is but one thirg
which accounts for it or tnakesit natural. New
Orleans 10 which market this shipment was
made, has since 1862. been In the possession qf
New England adventurers. Butler was there
first, and.in his celebrated General orders; show
ed his familiarity with the habits oftLe pave and
the stralling which there was Piled" siBanksj
another representative of Massachusetts mprair
ty, succeeded-and every one knows whata
reign of low debauchery was inaugurated. john
Covode was there. sitting in the dark shadoNof
the st. Charles, ,istening to the conversation of
Confederate gentlemen, and watching tho Cow
and reHow of fshamelessness on tho ,sidewaiker-y
But, after a time and the return of what is called
peace, the market, or rather the supply of'this
sort of thing was exhausted. Perhaps, too! !ithe4d
was repugnance on the part of Southern oTups-
en-, however degraded, to Northern rassociaieub
which could not be overcome henye it ,te-;
came necessary to have new importation. Itis,
not the first export the North ana East Have
made. A few years agoiwe read Of a. acargb' Of
Yankee women being sent to .'Califorpia and Or
egon and manageable market" Fathers and
mothers withouta pang, shipped off their daugh-
ters, utterly careless Of their DOOM and res,Ie4s
uaidens were ready to go and change the dishal'
oclibacy of a factory life at home for dtbe errie
chances abroad. And thoy did 60, and they arr
rived safely, and are scattered Somewhere on fho'
frnges Of The West Not SO, lalas, nthese; ponr
| Innfsrtnnates Mlla were sent not from pure hoECa