Year: 1859

The condition Of the free runaway negroes IN


Canada is one of misery and decay. leaving
the more genial regions Of the South, common


ly at the instigation Of some abolition emissary


who excites vague expectations Of a grand
change in life for the better By false accounts,
the deluded darkies find themselves thrown up
on hard country and srugged climate without
any resources to gain more than a scanty sup
ply of the bare necessities OF life. With the
exception Of those who gain livelihood as
servants in hotels, the condition Of the negroes
of Canada is described, by impartial Observers
as pitiable in the extreme. They peak and
pine away, amid the pangs Of starvation by
cold and hunger. The poorhouses andj ais, as a
matter ofcourse, are filled with these poor desti-


tute creatures. Intelligent Englishmen arer,
that with little encouragement nine out often
runsways would return to their former condi-


lion. A young black, in suit of rags, paid


many voluntary attentions to Kentucky gen.


tleman stopping at the Clifton House. At
length be said, "Colonel don't you know me9'
He was runaway from the Colonel's farm,


near Louisville, and asked for aims. BE gave


him enough to buy suit Of decent clothes,


when the darkey said he wanted to go back to
Kentucky. The Colonel replied, swell, Jack,
l shall not give you cent to help you back
again. You ran away from good home, and
you can run back again, where, if you behave
yourself you will be taken care Of" There is
no doubt about the fact, that the runaway ne
groes would leave Canada in q body, if it was
made safe for them to do SO. Kentucky and
Sauthcrn Ohio would be the chosen refuge oi
these people, if they could choose. As Ken
lucky is slave State, it is out of the question;
but should the Abolitionists succeed in making
mere nullity Of the fugitive slave law, the ir-
ruption of the whole horde of Canada negroes
into Ohio may be looked for. 1t is quite true,
that the State has too much negro population
as it is, and in some localities, as for instance
Greene county, the Republicans cry out Justify
against it: but nevertheless it seems to be one
of the chief ends and aims Of their party to
make Ohio refuge for wandering negroes. and
to bring into her midst the great horde which


now shiVers and hocers and star7es upon our
northern border. In spite of the fanatcal ra-
wings Of Abolitionists and negro equality poll
ticians, thoughtful men are beginning to see,
that it is the worst Of cruelty to take the un-
sophisticated negro from the sunny south


transplant him to the cold climate of the rgor-
GUS north, and leave him to fight for liveli-
hood in competition with the shrewd, robust
and hardy people descended from the English,
the Irish and the Germans. Of course the ne
groes 60 under. If emancipation were to take
place in the South to morrow, and the negroes
entered new phase of life, in which they
must compete with the white laborers of the
North, it would be found that their condition
of slavery had beon exchanged for one Of slow
starvation, or one of chronic pauperism and
crime. Now for our part we consider the me-
groes of the South good deal better off and
more useful upon the farms and plantations Of
that beautiful and mild region, than they would
be in the poorhouses and jails Of the North
Besides which we are by no means willing, as


at present advised, to be heavily taxed in Or
der to support them in the latter. Statesman,