The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1880-01-28
Hon. Moses Jackson,s Bill.
Recently Hon. Moses jackson intro
dueed bill in the State Senate as fol

dueed bill in the State Senate as 70
lows:
An Act to prevent emigration from til
State of Mississippi.
. Section l. Be it enacted, etc, That an
person who shall be guilty of encouragin
or decoyIng emigrants from the State shall
upon conviction, be fined in a sum of Nc
less than ten or more than twenty dollar
Section 2 Be it further enacted, Tha
this Act take effect and be in force fror
and after its passage
Upon this measure the Vicksbur
Herald makes some wholly unwarrant
ed comments as follows:
True this bill is not to be taken as a
index to the political sentiment of the Mis-
sissippI Legislature, neither is it cited as al
indication of what public sentiment is OIL
the subject of emigration but does it no
show disposition to smother conservatism
and restrict the rights of locomotion; ais
! 10 destroy branch of legitimate industry
namely, Emigration Societies. Mississippi
has, We believe, her agents in other States
Suppose those States should enact a law
similar to the one above. Would she not
protest? Such legislation as is contained il
| this bill smacks of pure Bourbonism il
| politics. We know not what the Senator
politics are. We only know that it is not
conducive to the growth of political con-
serVatlsm to enact a law that interferes with
| the legitimate pursuits of men. This State
and the South, will have material prosperi
| ty IN proportion to the conservatism they
| infuse into their political and Legislative
actions The sooner we recognize this fact
the better it will be for us
The Herald entirely misconstrues the
object and spirit of Mr.. Jackson's bill.
There is nothing Bourbonish or anti
conservative about it. 1t is designed
to protect the productive interests of
the State, and to prevent the colored
people from being imposed upon and
vietimized by sharpers, who for small
consideration play upon their credu-
lily and entice them from their homes,
where they are contented, into a re-
gion where they would be subjected to
privation and hardship.
Every State has a right to protect
its labor, and to prevent its citizens
from imposition and wrong. The sharp
ers who are engaged in the exodus bus
mess, are in the habit of saying to the
colored people that in Kansas they
will be furnished with more than the
mythical forty acres and mule
that they will be prosperous and happy,
while all well informed persons know
that precisely the reverse is true. To
show how necessary it is to put a stop
to this outrageous proceeding, in the in
terest of humanity, as Mr.. jackson
proposes to do, read the following ex-
tract from letter written by Eliza
beth L. Comstock, a lady philanthro-
pist of Topeka, Kansas, to the Chicago
Inter-Ocean:
During the severe cold weather many of
the poor colored people have had their feet
and fingers frozen. Children of a South
ern cline, they come in numbers from
twenty-five to fifty, almost daily, in power
erty and rags, and before they can be shell
tered, suffer greatly. Some have been liv-I
ing in wretched tents without blanket or
bed. We are doing all we possibly can for
them with the means at our command but
We need money to buy food, fuel, medicine,
and to provide shelter.
Our most urgent needs just now may
be thus summed up Lumber, money, warm
bedding overcoats, shoes, and all kinds of
clothing. Entreat the pastors in the Chi /
cago churches to make an earnest appeal
from the pulpits, the business men to send /
money or building materials, the ladies to /
provide warm bedding, the girls to lay aside |
some of their trimmings and ornaments, /
and offer them a sacrifice to the Lord by .
helping his suffering poor with their pro- |
ceeds. The children to take up penny co.'s
lections, that all may receive portion of
the blessings of those that are ready TO per
ish,' and be able to prove from their own /
experience the truth of the words 1T is /
more blessed to give than to receive p"
Another letter from the same lady says /:
q We are absolutely suffering for want of
lumber. Beg some for us, if possible, and |
send it speedily. Telegraph to us if some
is promised and started, that we may Dor
row on the strength of the promise. We |
must build a hospital Immediately, if we
can get lumber. Our car load is all used
up. So many sick people! So many frozen
feet Rheumatism, pneumonia, coughs
dysentery and measles, We ought to re-
lieve the overcrowded by removing the sick
to hospital. Our work grows rapidly on
our hands. We are all overdone."
The friend adds this:
''The demand for bread is more impera-
tive than that for clothing. Famine, with
its gaunt form and CHASTITY visage, has
come among them, and strong men as we'll .
as little children quail and faint In its pres
ence. There is no lack of food in our cOun-
try, but these have no money to buy it
with.
eve beg every minister in the city of
Chicago to ask free-will offering for Kan
sas of his congregation on the coming sun
day and forward the money without delay. |
We ask every smoker in the city to give the
price of one days cigars in each week to the
sufferers of Kansas; and every whisky
irinker. the price of one days indulgence
of the fiery beverage which consumes both |
his brain and nerves; of every wealthy lady, |
to forego the superfuous toilet, and send
the surplus to these people, who have been
crushed and ground beneath the iron heel
of oppression, who are hungry and cold and
sick; exposed in rude barracks and huts
and tents to the cutting winds and rains
and SHOWS of a Kansas winter.
1t is to protect the colored people
from this wretched condition, and at
the same time to prevent the State
from being deprived of its labor, that
the bill of Mr.. jackson has been intro
duced. It does not smack of ilIiberalitv
at all. 1t is not Bourbonish nor pros
criptive. 1t is conservative of the best
interests of the State, and would prob
ably save many poor deluded negro
from suffering and death in a region
where the labor and climate are both /
unsuited to him.
Mississippi River Improvement.
n. o. Times.
Washington, January 20, 18S0.-The /
amendment to the rules of the house, which |
General Chalmers has prepared, will give |
the committee on the Mississippi river abso-
lutte control of all matters involving legisla-