The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1871-03-30
Sir Sarnu6 Baker On
The ssreus z4zs'seifsS isfhion sf TIE lseas
tual Darkey-For santo Domingo An
,,avarS En- Read a.

/ The SsreaF F4faSe1fer OPINION OF the &c
tual Darkey-For santo Domingo An
nexers to Read. T s.ftrt
/ Tc the Editor of the Pail Mali Gazet te:
Sir: AS some correspondence has
taken place in vour journal on letter
| addressed to the Times of the 18th
I inst, request the favor of your in
/ sertion of a reply. In a letter of the
22d inst, signed " Muts5ilis, Albus
ct Ater," the writer declares me to
have stated that the negro is. g to be
managed only by force or terror. >
4 With equal justice l might declare
that because boys are fogged at Eton
the English are to be managed only
/ by force or terror" There are times
when severe punishment is necessary
and in the fierce moment of q negro
outbreak no other argument but force
I will be respected. AT other times
kindness and gentle management
combined with extreme firmness, viii
| have the same beneficial effect upon
1 the negro that such treatment produc-
| es upon the entire human race, and
! generally upon the animal creation
/ Your correspondent has drawn mes
/ erroneous conclusions from my tfav'
1 els in Africa, which lead me to sup.
/ pose he has derived his Information
from extracts and not from a perusaI
of the book itself. He says: They
(the negroes) tended him, fed him
nursed him, and obeyed him,
81 He survived tlle adventure
to return and to inform the world thai
those among whom he had dwelt were
to be ruled only by the halter and cat
'-nine.tails." beg to leave the cor
rectness of this statement to the read
ers of the "Albert N'yanza." Far
from being the defenceless object that
your correspondent suppeses me to
/ have been, the natives did not dare to
attack, or if they did they were re-
pulsed my safety depended entirely
| upon the military organization of my
| little party of fourteen well-arined
men and the vigilance of the sentries
at night. Ii your correspondent be-
| lieves that / owe my success to the do
cility and hospitality of the negroes,
| can only recommend him to visit
Central Africa, and to trust himself
to their gentleness. He continues =
"Would he have trusted himself and
his wife as absolutely with the Kurds
of the Persian frontier, or the Arabs
of the Syrian desert? ?" &C., &c.
have never been very particular in my
choice of native characters, and I have
had considerable experience of Arabs,
but in trusting myself among such
tribes / have little fear of the people,
provided that | am not fettered in my
diplomacy by the assistance of Eng
lish law. Every nation has its pecu-
liar character, customs, and prejudi-
ces by adapting his conduct to the
conditions of the people instead of
considering that all men are similar to
Englishmen, and by SIMPLY upholding
the character of an Englishmans by a
rigid adherence to honor and Justice,
traveller viii generally obtain an in
fiuence that will carry him through
the most trying path. Turning from
the letter of your correspondent TO
your article of the 18th inst, which,
fairly questioning my opinion, forms
strong contrast to tue eloquent cour-
tesy ~ of the Moaning Star, / must
explain that my experience of the ne
gro is not confined to Africa. l have
witnessed the free negro in Bourt on
and in Mauritius; both colonies are
similar in their conditions to the small
island of Barbados, where it would
be impossible for the negro to squat,
and where he must either work or
starve. In both these colonies, al
though few in number, the negro is
he is exactly in his right
position he must be industrious he
has for many years had every advan-
tage, and he has attained, 1 believe,
the maximum of his capabilities
ftIt hot fc ho . q soht
creature, g sufficient unto the day. is
his maxim his idea of happiness is to
ape the white man in appearance. and
to dress his wife gorgeously for
dance often in white satin, with q
French shawl ana no shoes or stock!
ings, and to dance or play the fiddle.
These are most respectable niggers,
just what they ought to be, in my
opinion, happy, jolly fellows, as
strong as horses, obliged to work, and
kept respectable by the impossibiiity
of squatting; really valuable mem
bers of society; but if they are de-
clared to be equal to the white man
because they are Of the human race,
by the same argument the common
house cat, as belonging to the same
genius (Felis), is equal to the lion.-
Your journal of the Goth instant con-.
tains a long and valuable letter from
the pen of f.J. o." which is entitled
to much respect as emanating from
one of thirty years experience in the
colony of Guiana; but the emphasis
that he lays upon the expression "ti-
ger negro throws upon me the onus
of the word tiger" as one that /
have connected inseparably with
descriptions of the negro character. ]
used the simile the fhorse and the
tiger" and / repeat it, to exemplify the
difference between the negro and the
European in q time of intense hostile
excitement or rebellion, in which case
the negro is utterly beyond control,
and in his fury he knows no medium,
as instanced by a former rebellion in
Jamaica, when the negroes sacrificed,
with great atrecity, many who were
distinguished for their humanity to- 4
wards the blacks, among whom were
friends of my own family. j. o"
in supportiot the capability of the ne
gro, mentions an instance that the en-
gineer of his steam engines was q
black. In Maritius they are generally
thus employed, upon the estates, as,
having been bred in the colony and
educated to trades, they are superior
to the emigrant Indian coolies as me-
chanies; but it must be remembered
that the negro thus utilized is the re-
suit of the white mans influence, and
should this influence be withdrawn
the natural inferiority of the negro |
would ensure his retrogression, and if |
left to himself he would relapse into
a savage state. u. o." admits that /
my charge against the negro of un-
idleness, and that he will |
not wopk unless from compulsion, i'is
exaet,' but on the other hand he con- I
tinues, 81 will, however, ask what
race of white men exists who would |
work better than the Guiana laboror
under the circumstances in which he I
is placed p Without hesitation re-
ply that all white races have all innate
desire for progress, to which the me-