New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-05-22
THE AFRICAN sLAVE-TRADE.

,..nv At rrr PRESENT pAY-CONDI1ION or
THE FRENCH COLONIES sIACE TIE All vi
EMANCIPATION. ,
,,ro,; 7,,r ,rcrLAK CORRESPONDENT OF THE TKBuNE.l
PAKIs. MAY G-Gamhctta, for the first time III HIS
life appearcd yesterday the anti-slavery plat
form. This new departure is Of piece with that
great orators past career To be true to the prli'-
emile of French Democracy. Of which Gamhctta Is
representative man, he needs mist be on the sue
of the oppressed whether they are white slaves u
The Gar or black slaves of the Egyptian Niccroy'
or of the Spanish planters of Cuba In the present
state of European politics II wond nave ne'n WI
nrudcnt for the President of the French Chamber
who makes and unmakes Ministers. 10 nave siiu
openly that in the proydcntial order OF things 'he
Nib;Ii.ts are officers of Divine Justice. But 1t was
safe to applaud French Senator who attacked the
iniquitous practices to which the grandson oi Meme
met Ali gives his cOuntenancc in Egypt Inc anu
slavery banquet at which Ganbeta dined ana spoke
Yesterday took place at the Grand ORIENT winch
may also be designated the head centre of Free
Masonry i'm this country. The occasion OF the leaSl
was the thIty-thir anniversary of the abolition OF
negro slavery i'm the French colonies. Gamhcta
was asked to preside. But he refused. lie was
only a iaborer of the eleventh honr The hero who
bore the heat and burden of the day was Victor
Schoelcher. now a bent and attenuatcd old man.
deaf and asthmatc, but vigorous of mind and
bright with sacred fire.
FRENCH EMANClPA1OR
This opostle of freedom has been called the VII
terforce of France think he deserves to be quail
fed AZ " greater than Wbcrforce." lie, when
vounc and rich turned his back on the allnrements
which Paris offers TO the wealthy and went TO re
connoitre slavery in its most formidable strong
holds lie penetrated far up the Nile and the
Congo; he went as a merchant into the plantations
of the Antilles, and often the spectacle OF the
horrors he there witnessed led him TO betray his
I'll nd
maladies peculiar to the tropics lay in wait for
him and threatened TO conquer HIM. But
his brave spirit enabled him to withstand them
Hc had not been long home when the Revolution
of 1913 swept away Louis Philippe VINO was
secretly opposed to negro emancipation In the
Frsnch colonies and who had in 1916 received as
n daughter-in-law the Princess Januarla, OF
Brazil where at that time slavery was much
esteemed domestic institution. Schoelcher had
throughout the regns of Charles y. and the Citizen
Monarch belonged TO revolutionary societies. He
was with Bartheemy st. Hilaire and BlanQui in
the Aide tot ct 10 Ciel tadera" society, and was
glad to help with money in the Republican propa-
canda which was sometimes openly and sometimes
secretly carried on i'll the great French towns.
FREEDOM UNDER REPUBLIC AND EMPIRE
When the Provisional Government took the helm.
Is friends Carnot and Louis Blanc caused him to be
appointed Under Secretary of State for the Colo
MES in which post he labored and successfully as
an emapcpationist. 1t was TO his efforts and TO his
burning zeal which was communicative. that the
decree was due TO which the Africans i'll the French
Antilles the Isle de Bourbon. Cayenne and Senegal
owed their freedom The accused legacy OF bar
barons ages was east away and manhood suffrage
was granted to the black well as TO the white
Ever since NJ Schoechcr has been in active sym
pathy with the enancipationlss of other States,
where slavery had taken deeper root. He was pro-
scribed by Louis NAPOLEON for his resistance TO the
Conn Fiat and though upright, loyal and very
rich regarded food for the dry gulliotine OF
CAYENNE by the police of the Imperial Government
In London he wac neghbor of Carlyle. whom he
"could not abide" at Chelsea. He lived there, at
Cedar House. from 1882 10 1870, when he came
back to Paris During his residence in England he
often made antslayery tours in the East. be
lieye there is nobody in any quarter OF the globe
who better understands the vantage ground OF the
partisans of slavery and consequently what forces
should be brought to bear upon them to destroy
them. NJ Schoelchcr has for two years fought a
noble fight against the French Governors OF Senegal
who made 1t a rule to deliver up runaway slaves to
their barbarous owners in the adjoining States
Having the faith and zeal of all apostle he sue
ceeded
STATESMEN ARRAYED FOR LIBERTY.
At the banquet at which he presided yesterday
there was Admiral Cloue Minister of the Colonies
NJ Schoecher was very anxious to secure his at
tendance He felt that if the Admiral mounted
upon the anti-savery platform at the Grand Orient
il would intiInidae the official bigwigs at Senegal
There were also Senator Demozes, Deputies Dieo,
Codin Thompson (of Algeria. de Manly and Ger
maine Case DE Manly represents the Isle of Bour-
bon Cermaine Case Guadeloupe. The st-namcd
DENNY is a brother in-law Of Rcclus, the geo
Crapher and was a pupil, and favOrite one, of
Iacor,iare at Soreze. He is a quadroon. and was
Journalist before he entered the Chamber. l never
met a warmerhearted or more c>tinable man in all
nv life Ruiz Gorilla, the Spanish proscript, was
at the banquet He went to protest against the
support which the Court of Madrid gives to slavery
in Cuba. Legouve. the amiabie and gifted elocu-
zionist and member of the Academy, was also at
the BANQUET which was organized by the eminent
colored Doctor Gerve Reach.
EXTENT OF THE SLAVE TRADE.
Slavery. it appears from what this parsonage and
NJ Schoecher said, Is still a ilourishng weed. It's
greatest stronghold is that traditional house OF
bondage Egypt; its most incorrgible supporters
the Vccroy and his Ministers. Eighty thousand
is the yearly average of negro expectation 10
secure this number of blacks the traders seize upon
Mt least 100000. The 100000 who are not taken
abroad are killed or die. They represent what
generals call the butchers bill at the expense Of
which military glory Is wOn
NJ Schoelcher made striking speech. The pres
ence of Gambetta qualified his style IOpiddire.
When he throws a stone he hits that at which he
aimed. lie was very energetic i'll calling upon the
French Government to put a stop TO slavery in
Egypt. If it wished TO do 50 it could. since the
Viceroy depended on the good pleasure of France
and England The illustTlous old man spoke with
pride Of the prosperous condition OF the French
Antilles. They much better cultivated than
they were thirty-two years ago. Gambetta, Who