Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-12-08

ject as everywhere forced itself upon the
attention in the southern states. Our first
serious difficulty, therefore, arose in deter
mining the relative value of the slaves
brought before us.
Expert In Slaves.
'The law fixed the limit of average COM
pensation, but left it to ths commissioners
to determine the amount to be paid for
each individual slave. After setting value
upon one or two individuals, by the ad-
vice of intelligent and disinterested by
ISLANDERS. whose presence could not al
ways be counted on 1 proposed to my
colleague. Mr.. King, before the appearance
of DR.. Brodhead, that weB should procure
the constant attendance of an expert
in other words, a 'negro-trader'-to aid
US In setting values upon othe slaves. MT.
King was a democrat in1 good standing,
and was unwilling totdo what might seem
like a defiance OF the deep-rooted senti-
ment of the dominant party. But l pro-
posed to take all thes blame on myself, II
he would consent to the procedure ana we
at once wrote to Mr. B. M. CampbeL OF
Baltimore, an extensive dealer in slaves.
We agreed to pay him ten dollars per day'
and he remained with US about fifty days.
His valuations, 1 think, were Impartial,
and he gave almost entire satisfaction 10
the claimants, while the commissioners hao
no cause to complain. The limit or average
compensation being fixed by the law TINS
question of employing a slave-dealer as an
expert only concerned the government 10
the extent Of the five or six hundred dol
lars which were paid to him, Whlle every
claimant was deeply interested In having
an equitable distribution of the fund. Al
ter the commission was organized Tor Dusl-
ness their meetings were held in one or
another of the two large court rooms IN
the city hall. and the claimants appeared
with their troops of slaves at their backs,
often presenting pictures which. In these
mining times Of peace' would tempt the
pencil of a Mast. But at that day, amid
wars loud alarums.' they were suffered TO
pass without notice from the pictorial
press A difficulty which confronted the
commissioners at the threshold was tho
fact stated by Mr.. Campbell and others
that slaves in 1862 had no salabie value.
Basis of Valuation.
when Intercepted upon oath, he de-
clared that there had been no sales, and
that no salable value had existed since
the early part Of 1861 He exhibited his
books to the commissioners, which showed
that from February to May Is. 1861, his
purchases amounted to thirty-seven slaves,
at an average cost of six hundred and
thirty-six dollars and seventy-five cents
Four of these are described as children,
but the greater portion were in the prime
of life. After May, 1861, when all com
munication with the south was cut on, ne
ceased to make purchases. Other witness
es testified to the same state of things:
And yet slaves had not ceased to be or
value to their owners; there was abundant
testimony to this fact They were hired
out for wages. as formerly; they were en-
ployed as domestics, and on the border or
the city they were employed as usual TO
work in the farms and gardens, and with
more than ordinary advantage to the own
ers.
But to make an appraisement OF 1900
slaves upon data such as was furnished
by these facts would have required far
more time than the commissioners had at
their disposal under the limitations of the
law, The alternative was to classify the
slaves according to their value before the
war, and then to reduce these classlfica-
tons to the average compensation allow
ed by law. The classification thus made
was necessary to a fair appordonment or
compensation among the claimants. HaV-
ing determined that the maximum allowed
by the act, viz, an average of $500 per
slave, should be paid, 1t became an easy
sum in proportion to ascertain the amount
to be paid for each Individual slave. Thus,
there were 1859 slaves valued for whom
compensation was awarded. At $500 each
their aggregate value was 1896, 700. At the
values placed on them by Mr.. Campbell,
based on the range of prices before the
war. the aggregate value of these 2,9S9
slaves was something over two million.
Therefore, as this aggregate of. say two
millions. is to the value fixed by Campbell
upon any particular slave, so Is the az
gregate allowed by the act to the allowance
made for that particular slave. BY this
process We arrived at relative values. This
relative value which we awarded was 43.S 80
per cent of Campbell's estimates.
The Number of Claims.
THE whole number of claims presented
within the time limited by law was 96G
and the number of slaves embraced by
them was 300. OF these claims, 80 in
whole and q in part were rejected as the
Of po for of
disloyalty or for defects in the titles These
rejected claims embraced Ill slaves, for
whom compensation was withheld, and as
above stated 1859 were paid for under the
act of April TO-
In addition to these cases, thirteen other
applications were made after the expIra-
ton of three months, that being the time
within which petitions were required by
the act to be presented. Under the cir
cumstanCes, of absence and ignorance of
the existence of the law, 1t was decided to
value the slaves, twenty-eight In number
embraced in these thirteen cases, and rec
cmmend them to the favorable considera-
ton of Congress. They were ali paid by
special appropriations. The total number
of slaves paid for, therefore, was 3Ol7
These twenty-eight fell below the average
the award for them being only S.Nb3, 81 so
The commissioners recommended also two
or three other cases to ConGress-cases in
which the right of the slaves to freedom
under the act was contested on the ground
that they were here as runaways. In such
cases the commissioners leaned to the side
of freedom. but at the same time were not
unwilling for the parties to have the bene-
fits of the law as loyal claimants
For the first two or three months of the
term during which the commissioners held
open sessions for the purpose of receiving
and examining petitions, the court room
was generally crowded with claimants and
their former slaves, and by idle spectators
Mr.. Campbell took his stand in front of
the commissioners, who occupied the iu-
dicial bench, and as the emancipated blacks
came forward he closely inspected them
one by one. asking them questions as to
their age, health, occupation etc. He scan
led them closely, but without going fur
Their than occasionally to look into their
mouths to see the condition of their teeth
Ambitious To BE Thought Old.
Mechanics, cooks and accomplished do
nestle servants he valued considerably
higher than unskilled laborers, and the
man elsewhere referred to who commanded
the highest price paid by us for any one
slave was proven by witnesses to be
frst-class blacksmith, in the prime Of life,
and sound in body. Mr.. Campbell attached
condition of ha