New-York tribune., 1900-11-03
THE SLAYER.
HIS PLACE IN AMERICAN HISTORY

II NAV be viewed now without pa ssion or preju-
dice 1t takes its place naturally enough with
erch horrors medieval torture and mutila-
t,on as thing of far away reality We vent
,re IN think that few can read Mr. John r.
suearss book on the American branch of the
Industry without thinking how nightly public
sentiment and the public stomach have changed
from the days. well within the memory of men,
when the facts he tells known but toler-
afed The Spanish InQusition hardly
further away from present possibilities. Mr..
S1ears has related the history OF the slave
trade not exactly without passion. but least
without bias and without sectional prejudice.
He is as unsparing of the Northern partici-
rants in its profits as he is of the Southern. He
punctures the cant and hypocrisy that would
attribute TO the Northern Colonies before the
Revolution and 10 the Northern States for a
long time afterward any particular virtue for
,easinC 10 carry on the institution of slavery.
He says:
The student cannot overlook the fact that the
feeling against the trade was able TO make head
va, hstause there was no financial interest IN
srav.s ~ the North outside of a few ports and
e. .h, South there were increasing numbers of
slave owners who had slaves to sell through the
natural increase of their holdings.
f5e shows hat the laws passed by various
Horrhern Colonies imposing duties on slave i'm
rortations we're for the purpose not of limiting
,.roets. The Quakers of Pennsylvania alone, in
+be Colonial days sincerely opposed the trade in
men There was thought in those years as
some have contended. that the slave trade was
fatal traffic imposed upon the colonists from
without and viewed with dread and apprehen-
SION on the contrary. it seemed the natural
Thing The forced labor of apprentices was
commonly employed in the Colonies; it was sold
Ike r1ar .ha ndiSe The first colonists, indeed at
tempted 70 cnslave the Indians; but these made
the worst Of servants. and soon sickened and
died In short as Mr.. Spears sums the mat
Tar uI,:
Slaves were introduced into the United States
IN answer 10 a demand for labor. They were
purchased ny Inc1, who were accustomed to the
purchase and sale of laborers. and no ones con-
science was in any way hurt by the transaction
The England colonies took the lead in
the slave trade Massachusetts made her ports
g free exchange mart for slaVers" by allowing
2 ira g back on slaves exported. in compensation
for The duty imports. Rhode Island in no
had one hundred and fifty vessels in the slave
trade and Newport was AT one time the chief
centre Of the industry. In the early davs, how
ever. the barbarities Of the traffic were
not developed. Its profits were not go vast as
they after,vard became with the enormous in
, crease of demand from the South; but 1t was
always bad enough. The first slavers were
tiny vessels. some Of them smaller than or
dinary New-York Harbor lighters. Rum was
rre chief medium OF exchange for slaves in the
beginning. BY end OF the eighteenth CEN
7ury when slaves beginning to he OBJ
tafne6 chiefly by murderous raids, arms were
1rar- desired. Still later when the traffic was
mora highly organized, with great depots on
the African coast for the sale OF slaves at
= aoiesale. coin needed. The barter Of
goods however never quite went out of prac-
tice. and possess a precious document Of
Commodore N. c. Perry-commanding the Af-
Tican squadron supposed to exist for the pur-
pose of suppressing the iniquity-in when ne
actually sends home information to what
sort OF goods were needed for the african
trade"
The supply was at first obtained from the
chiefs on the coast who in various recognized
WAYS came into possession Of their enemies
the presence of slaves indeed, indicating a
rnercifuI disposition the part of their own
ers. who ref aimed from killing them. But
these mild days. After the white cap
tains sRarmed TO the coast. cIamorous for big
ger and bigger cargoes. prices steadily rose
and the natives that the supply in
Cre ased. Then came piracy and Kidnapping
and the deliberate melting OF one tribe against
another, and urconcerned and infamous treach-
cry on the part OF the white pirates in making
Of with oaptors and captives alike. AS the
profits sWeed they blotted all other considera-
tions from the sight of captains owners, plant
ers-everybody who in any way came into
profitable contact with the Institution.
Mr.. Spears has presented the horrors of the
Middle Passage in narrative that none can
read unmoved, resting it all well grounded
authority and presenting IL with graphic
touch. From the very first the methods en-
rloyed for bringing blacks across the Atlantic
seem almost incredible in their barbarity. The
Wretches slowed away between decks
sometimes when a lower deck was lacking. on
the tops of hogsheads and boxes In the hold
IN 4 space usually !ess than four feet high often
much less There were cases where the space
We're ironed together two and two, compelled
10 lie squeezed together on their backs, feet
outward and their shackles secured to chains
iron rods or the ceiling. By and by the
trade was outlawed the prices of slaves went
up. Then more were carried in given space
They had 10 lie on their sides sometimes sat
up IN rows one crowded into the lap Of an
Other. IN storms the matches were fastened
DOWN. It used be asserted by naval officers
stationed the TO stop the traffic that
IN certain states of the weather they could de-
tact the odOr Of SLAYER further away than
they could see her on a clear night The odor
often unmistakable at a distance Of five
miles
There penalties for this sort Of thing
sometimes. Profits reduced if the death
rate was too large; sometimes disease struck
the captain and the crew as well the blacks
below. Readers of Whittier's poems will remem-
Der The terrifying incident of the encounter or
the Rodeur and the Lion. both slayers, on which
every man but was stricken blind with