The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1900-10-03

UNCLE SANS SLAVES AND WHERE
THEY COME FROM"
On June "a, 1900 number Of Repub-
lican newspapers throughout the coun-
try printed an interesting letter from
Frank g. Carpenter, the well known
correspondent. This article was en-
titled: Uncle Sans Slaves and Where
They Come From"
Does not this have an odd sound to
people who have been told that slavery
could not exist under the stars and
stripesy
Mr.. Carpenter writes from the Sulu
islands, and says that he was offered
four slaves for fifty gold dollars. This
is considerably cheaper than the market
price-as fixed by Mr.. McKinley-at
which the slaves may purchase their
freedom.
Mr.. Carpenter says According to
our treaty, as understand it, any slave
ruled in the island by the Sultan of Sulu
can be freed upon payment of $50 by
him to his master"
According to the rates fixed by Mr..
Mckinley, these four slaves would have
been required to pay $50 for their free
dom, but Mr.. Carpenter could purchase
them with S3C discount.
Concerning his opportunity, Mr.. Car
penter says;
They were owned by woman who
claims she is Christian, and not by
one of the Mohammedan Moros l went
into the woman's house and chatted
with her for some time about The human
flesh on sale, and later on, persuaded her
to bring the slaves out in the yard that
| might make a photograph Of them.
Three of them were boys, ranging in
age from 9 to 49, The other was a girl
Of IL, the age at which girls are some
times married down here on the edge Of
the equator. The smallest boy had
nothing on but shirt, which barely
reached to his waist, and the other two
wore only coarse pantaloons extending
from the waist to the knees. The girl
was half naked, her only garment be-
ing wide strip of dirty cotton cloth
wrapped about her waist and fastened
there in a knot. l had n photograph
made, with myself standing beside her,
and she reached just to my shoulder.
AS stood thus, the STARE O,Dner evidently
thought l wanted the girl and said
''Mucho bueno," or very good" and
told me that if I bought only her, she
would have to charge me more in pro-
portion than she asked for the job lot
She said the little girl should be worth
at least $40, and seemed surprised when
| did not jump at the bargain.
Il asked her where the slaves came
from. She replied that they had all
been brought in from the mountains,
having been captured by one of the
savage tribes in recent war with its
neighbors.
Then Mr.. Carpenter shows the wide
latitude which slave owners have with
~, Gle SANS sldres'' of 1900. He says:
Had bought them lam told toOuld
hare had, according to the custom,
which prevails in the country about
here potDer Of life and death orer them,
and that l could hare killed them Withom
risk Of a criminal resignation"
To show the extent of slavery under
the stars and stripes in the Sulus, Mr..
Carpenter says:
"Sldrery is common among the people
of Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago,
and am led to believe that there is
form of debt slavery in some Of the
islands further north. Here in Min
danao there are not only debt slaves,
but slaves by birth and by conquest. l
have been told at every place / have
stopped that slavery is common and
that ,oOmen especially ae bought and sold.
All of the Moro datoes have numerous
slaves and the richer of their subjects
have AZ many as they can support.
THE Visayans of the island, at least,
have slaves although it is nominally
against the Spanish laws. Still human
beings are bought and sold, and even
the officials have been accustomed TO
own them. met this afternoon the
ex president of the town of Davao. He