Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1889-07-18
SLAVE TRADE m AFRICA
A BRUTAL BUSINESS THAT SEEMS
TO BE ON THE INCREASE.

me Atrocities Of Slave March Depicted
with Painful Distinctness-The Flag oi
. Great Republic Put to n Base and
Degrading Use.
No one who understands how human
life is estimated by savage peoples viii
doubt the shocking and revolving ac-
counts Of travellers regarding this phase
Of the traffic; and no one who knows
what an Arabs heart is made of will
make any discount even for the ex-
aggeration Of an orator, as he listens to
the following citation from a speech de-
livercd in London by Cardinal Lavigerie,
MANS INHUMANITY.
1.-THE men who appear the strongest,
and whose escape is to b. feared, have
their hands tied, and sometimes their
feet, in such fashion that walking be-
comes torture to them; and on their
necks are placed yokes which attach
several Of them together. They march
all day: at night, when they stop to
rest, few handfuls of raw 'sorgho' are
distributed among the captives. This is
all their food Next morning they must
start again. But after the first day or
two the fatigue, the sufferings and the
privations have weakened a great many.
The women and the aged are the first to
halt. Then, in order to strike terror
into this miserable mass of human
beings, their conductors, armed with q
wooden bar to economize powder, ap-
proach those who appear to be the most
exhausted and deal them terrible blow
on the nape of the neck. The unfortun-
ate victims utter cry, and fall to the
ground in the convulsions of death. The
terrified troop Immediately resumes its
march. Terror has imbued even the
weakest with new strength.
Each time some one breaks down the
same horrible sceneis repeated. At night.
on arriving at their hating place, after
the first days of such life, not less
frightful scene awaits them. The traf-
fiokers in human flesh have acquired by
experience knowledge of how much
their victims can endure. A glance shows
them those who will soon sink from
WEAKNESS; then, to economic the hescanty
food which they distribute, they pass be-
hind these wretched beings and fell them
with a single blow. Their corpses re-
main where they fall, when they are not
suspended on the branches of the neigh
boring trees; and it is close to them that
their companions are obliged to eat and
sleep. But what sleep! 1t may be easily
imagined" ...-.
SLAVERY ON THE INCREASE.
1t is enough. Our hearts are sick with
slaughter. Let the witnesses stand down.
Is the smoke Of this torment to go up for
over and ever? Remember that these
deeds of Blood and darkness are no iso-
lated facts, no temporary misfortunes,
no mere passing accidents of the savage
state. They are samples of a sustained,
accepted and carefully organized system
of cruelty and murder which pervades
and penetrates every corner of this con-
tinent. Do not let it be supposed that
this horror is over, that this day of tribu-
lation is at an end. This horror and this
day are now. 1t is not even abating.
Slavery is on the increase. Time, ciyiliza-
tion, Christianity are not really touching
it. No fact in relation to the slave trade
is more appalling than this.
The fact of this increase, for time
denied, then doubted, has at last been re-
luctantly admitted, even by the govern.
ment of England. In government blue
book her majesty's consulfor the Somali
coast reports that ''thc slave trade has
been very active of late. On the 10th of
Sept. 1885, Capt. Gissing captured three
dhows and brought two hundred and
four slaves to Adcn." The consul at
Zanzibar writes September, 1889 to the
Marquis of Salisbury: There is marked
increase in the slave traffic carried on
under the protection of the French flag"
The consul further states that dhows
carrying French colors were constantly
and regularly leaving for the Comoro
Islands, Mayotta and Madagascar, loaded
with slaves. In June, 1888, Brig. Gen.
Hogg, dating from the Alden residency.
wrote to the Bombay government: 81
have the honor to bring to the notice of
government that have from time to
time received reports of the activity of
the slave trade from the neighborhood of
the Gulf of Tajourra, and deem it my
duty to inform government of this fact
with view to such action being taken
as may be deemed advisable. From
|Slavery in Africn." Ivy Professor Henry
Drummond j.. Scrib;.. IS.