The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1836-1851, March 15, 1848, Image 2
.THE WEST INDIES AND THE SLAVE
TRADE.
The Sugatc Question.?Tlio London cprrespondent
of the National Intelligencer gives
the following interesting summary of these sub.
jects:
Ministers will have to deal with a most perplrxing
question very early in the coming s<>s
sion. and that is the condition of the West Intlia
Islands*00(1 the sugar planters. It seems
to he now almost universally admitted, except'*
" *-? ' tl .1l
..Wg r?y the orators ot t^xeicr nan, uuj nr,
have lately boon comparatively silent upon the
subject, that the condition ofthe African has
not been improved either by the j?20,000,()00
sterling which were expended in giving IVeerlo'fn
to the slaves in the British West Indies, or
by the .?25,000,000 sterling which have been
already expended by France and England in
blockading the coast of Africa, and in other
measures in prevention of the slave trade?to
say'nothing of the expense which the United
Stat?*s Government has incurred for the same
object. Recent returns from British Consuls
that there have been imported front the
east and west coasts of Africa, from 1814 to 18.
43, into the colonies of different European nations,
no fewer than 687, 189. The consular
returns do not of course include those who died
.in the. prisons and barracoons on the coast
whilst waiting to be shipped, nor those who died
during the passage, nor those who were, probttW?
smuggled on shore in the West Indies.
Sir Fowell Buxton has calculated that the
molality of the middle passage lias increased
7 in consequence of the precautions taken to avofoft
the blockading squadrons from nine lo
' c . _i t,j
iwcniy nve per cenu i aiuuu .......u
the number exported to above 820,000; and if
* the other items be added the probablity is that
.th.^ whole number brought to the coa^t to be
sold into slavery will not be fewer than 900.000
or 30,000 annually. Parliamentary returns
.chow that in the sixteen years ending with 1843,
the number of slaves emancipated by the
mUed commission was 57,539, or about 3,000
annually?a number scarcely equal to the loss
n?-British lives in our army and navy every
yajaron the perilous coast of Africa. Again;
look at another scheme of the ''friends to Af.-ica^-^-the
settlement at Sierra Leone. Read
the statements relating to that colony as given
in- the "Quarterly Review" tor December, and
the accoufits in the other journa's of the day of
the intolerable system of management existing
there, and say if more misery, oppression, degriulation,
and moral depravity ever existed
in any other tropical colony in the worst days
of history; and yet this colony at Sierra Leone
ctfrts the English nation ?100,009 annually,
.and has done so for nearly half a century.
/fakp one other item in proof of the present
state of the African slave trade: one hundred
ami- three slave vessels were captured and
brnwght into Sierra Leone in little more than
the last, year; wo have no return of the num.
brir of victims they contained. Another comparison
will force itself upon us. Read the ac
.counts of the American settlement at Liberia;
then "ionic upon this picture and upon that!"
SoJntjch for the success of our exertions to aabolish
the slave trade. Now, what is the true
statement of the case with respect to the emant.v
tcipation of the slaves in our West India Islands?
? >*'lJhe principle was good," savs a writer in ,
.Blackwood's Magazine," for April, 1847, **4)ut t
.ypii-were in too great a hurry. Before giving,
.them freedom, you should have made them fit j
.fo|r>H? They were not impatient. Some out- j
lay^of public money, and extreme care and pru- j
dcncc in your measures, would have enabled ,
you to secure their humane treatmc?nt in the in-;
terval. Thirty or forty years and a million ol
money would have done the business. The re. I
suits would have been from first to last benefi. !
ciabto the colonies. It would have set an cx- j
ample which other nations could have followed.
It would hare been a noble return for having 1
'temporarily used the race as slaves, [t would
have been an act of enlightened philanthropy."
The "Quarterly Review" recommends "that
theJ5*etrr Hall influence, which ba?, up to the
present day, pervaded the colonial counsels in
Downing street, should cease, and that every j
individual sheltered under the British flag, be |
he white, brown, red, black, or copper colored, j
?hottld henceforward be permitted to lapse un-1?
*1.? rS r\r?nr>t inoi rrnvornrnonl nnrl
uur (ue |jivicwiiwu w? ^iuwmvui ^-?.v M..u
.common sense." Again the reviewer says:
"We are quite prepared to allow that the ef.
forts ofthe friends of the African somewhat accelerated
the extinction of slavery in the Brit,
ish dominions, and have since mainly tended to
raise the negro to his present enviable cndiHon.
But that slavery would have been abolished
long ere this throughout our colonics,
without their interference, we are equally convinced:
and we further believe, that had they
been less impatipnt and impracticable, or had j
the Government of that day been less suscepti- j
ble to 'pressure from without,' a most wanton
sacrifice of life and property might have been
spared, and far more permanently advantageous
results in favor ot the negro and ofourcolo- ;
nies might have been imstired."
It was a most oppressive act towards the
West India planters that they should have been
prevented from introducing additional free laborers
by immigration, especially from Africa, :
thus giving the newly emancipated negroes a j
monoply of labor, and subjecting their late own. j
*rs to- an etxortionate rate of wages. Those '
who are acquainted with the negro character
will bfe quite aware that the difficulty of getting
him to work and keeping at work, will ho in*
creased just in proportion to the wages he can
earn by working. Could the West India plan. I
ter prosper under such a system of things? And
willTlbe believed, that in the year 1810 ''two
? thousand recaptured negroes were apprenticed
. to idleness, want, and vice in Sierra Leone, and
but three have reached our West India colonies!
Mean time the planters have been forced in
despair to accept Coolie immigration, which
fromtho physical debility and peculiar habits of
that people, and from the expense of bringing
them from such a distance, has proved a complete
lailure?"
It was easy to foresee that, under this system, j
. the time could not he very remote when the
capital would cease to flow towards the old sugar
colonics. That time has come; and large 1
investments have been made both in India and
the Mnurititus, where the abundance of labor
more than compensated for higher freights and
an inferior soil. If these new colonies have
not succeeded, their mishap has not benefited
- the old ones. All appear to be fast approaching
one common ruin, and this ruin is caused,
say the opponents of tree trade, ny ino admission
of the cheap slave grown sugars of Brazil
and C'uha upon the same terms as the sugars of
the free British colonies in the East and West
Indies. That the sugar growers of Brazil and
Cuha are flourishing is proved hy the fact thai
the machinery principally uspd in its manafactore,
and exported from England to Cuha, has
increased in amount of value from ?4507 in
1845 to ?17.644 in nine months of 1817; while
' that sent to Brazil has increased from ?17,130
in 1845 th ?25,123 in 1847. The exports to
the British colonies has proportionally declined.
The question which the British Government
has to solve is, what are the measures to be
adopted to avert so dreadful a calamity as that
which seems to impend over our sugar growing
colonies, being nothing less than the ruin of all
connected with them? The advocate of prolection
says. "support your own free tnadc sugar
by taxing all that is made by slave labor" but
this would be an abandonment of the free trade
doctrine, so far as relates to one article of borne
produce, and if it be found to fail in one in.
stance, what is to prevent its failing in a second
and in a third? This will be a hard measure
fur Lord John Russell to give his assent to, but
! many well informed men think he will becom[
pelled to adopt it; others say that the only
course of policy which the West India planters
can adopt is frankly, and at once, to indentily
themselves with the great public interests.
The way to do this is, they say, to acquiesce
without further struggle in the system of free
trade, claiming in return the removal of all impediments
to the immigration of free laborers
>t tropical race into the colonies, lh?
of the navigation laws, the equalization of all
duties on corresponding products of the mother
country and the colonics, and any other reform
that inuy be required to place the outlaying portions
of the empire on a looting of entire equality
with Great' Britain and Ireland.
The 'Examiner" proposes that the evil shall
be averted, and present inconveniences removed,
by the importation of negroes; that the
einmigration oftho natives from Africa should
be as free and unshackled as that of Irishmen
j from Ireland, the cost ot their transport to be
defrayed by the service ol an apprenticeship,
lie recommends that the further employment ol
the blockading squadron on the coast of Africa
be dispensed with, and that money now u elessly
spent in keeping it there he employed in remov.
ins Africans to (he West Indies. Thisamount
about ?800.000 per annum, would, at ?10 per
head, transport thirty thousand persons; and
this, he thinks, would go far trwards removing
existing evils and averting impending ones.
I Whatever be done, and something must done,
I the subject is one which inay materially affects
" * - 1 ?\rtrhnnc nf
the interest ot the sugar-proum-m-; |>u>??. ?.
your Union. I have therefore staled the
whole matter at great, perhaps wearisome
length.
From the X. O. Picayune March 8.
LATER. FROM MEXICO.
The steam ship New Orleans* Capt Edward
Auld. arrived at an early notir yesterday morning
from Vera Cruz, having sailed thence 011
the 2d ins!.
Our accounts by the ship France left Lieut.
Col. Uiscoc and a small command engaged
with a party of guerrillas five times their number.
The issue was as wo anticipated; the
guerrillas were dispersed, hut not without se
| vere loss on our part. The gallant Lieut Henj
derson and twelve men were killed on our side,
and the Mexican loss is supposed to have been
about the same. Col. Biscoe charged the
guerrillas three several times. His teams are
said to have stampeded, and we regret to say
that the Colonel was compelled to leave his
killed and wounded behind and make his way
to Cordova. His wagons, or the greater part of
them, were burned; the mules were taken by
the guerrillas. Col. Biscoe reached Orizaba
the morning of the*2*2d ult.
That we may do no injustice to Colonel Biscoe
or his command in regard to his skirmish
with the guerillas?which is represented by
some private accounts as diseredihle to our arms
?wo copy the following account of it from the
Free American of the 1st inst. It was written
after the return of Col. Biscoe and his command
to Vera Cruz:
Lieut. Col. Hiscoc leit this city on me morning
of the 19th February, with the detachments
of Louisana and Georgia Dragoons; on that evening,
at about 4 o'clock, some forty or fifty
guerilleros wore observed at a place called Matacordera.
A charge was immediately made
on them, and the .Mexicans retreated to the edge
of-a chapparal, when our troops, numbering
about twenty five at that time, commanded by
Capt. Wafibrd, of the Georgia Dragoons, came
close upon them, some four hundred guerilleros
rushed out ofthc chapparal, and a deadly conflict
ensued. Our troops however succeeded in
passing through their lines, and then gallantly
returned and again opened the ranks of the Mexicans.
At this moment the main body of the
Americans, consisting in all of about seventy
five men, came up to the rescue of this gallant
little band, and a general fight took place, hand
to hand, in which we have to regret the loss of a
friend, Lieut. Henderson, of the Louisiana Volunteers,
who was lanced, shot, and deeply cut
in the face by tho Mexicans. He died like a
hero, and his name deserves to be recorded in
the pages of the history of his country. We
have also to mourn the death of four of his gallaut
Georgians, who so nobly charged the enemy.
Three other men of the same corps were
severely wounded, and three Louisiuna Volun
teers slightly.
The mules having given out from fatigue, it
was thought absolutely necessary by Col. Hiscoe
to abandon them although we understand
that ho made all possible exertions to save
them,
The guerrilleros having retired from the field,
they were at different times pursued, but they
were not anxious to come in close quarters with
our troops.
The command then proceeded on to Cordova,
and then to Orizjba.
We have no letters from the city of Mexico
so late as the 26th ult., and the New.Orleans
sailed so soon alter the arrival of the express
from the capital, that the news by it had not
finally transpired. Our latest papers from the
city of Mexico aro to the 19th ult.
Mexico, Feb. 19, 1843.
Gen. Cushing.with an escort oft wo companies
of Dragoons, left here on the 15th lor 1'uebla,
to assist in organizing the Court of Inquiry appointed
to investigate the unfortunate' dilficul.
ties between the general officers here. It i*
understood that on the Court being organized,
it will adjourn to this city, and here transact its
business.
On Sunday night a Texan Ranger named
1 Adam Alsence, ofCapt. Robert's company, was
I attacked by a number of Mexicans in the sub.
urbs of the city, and killed. lie was mangled
in a brutal manner, and tire Texans, exasperated
at the cruel death of their comrade, sallied,
into the streets the next evening, to the number
of fifteen or twenty, and proceeding to the quarter
where Absence was killed, took fearful vengonce
upon a party whom they found armed
with pistols and knives. Seventeen of the
Mexicans are reported killed, and forty wounded.
,\!?ence was a German, had served in
Bonaparte's cavalry, and was a good faithful
soldier.
The latest dates from Queretaro are to the
17th ult. Tho American Star of the 19th thus
sums up the news:
Queretaho.?Advices have been received
from the scat of Government up to Tuesday
eMMafcimuMmniu.i. ,
last. Several new deputies liad arrh'ed, bufthe
meeting of Congress was going on very slowly,
and some were -begining to lose all patience.
The Monitor's correspondent says he shall forward
the names of all those who have presented
themselves, and also the names of those
who have not. with the opinion in regard to
the matter, of the Stales to which the latter belong.
At the meeting on Monday last, thirty deputies
were present, though we infer, from previous
letters of the correspondent referred to, that
more than this number have presented thein
selves, and are ready for nclion as as soon as
there is a prospect of a quorum. A communication
was received from the Minister of Relations,
stating that he was using every possible
means for the assembling of Congress, enforcing
the penalties, ordered a previous meeting of
the members, and .such as he was constitutionally
invested with.
The writer adds that the passport asked for
Santa Anna, by Sr. Triguros, had been made
out fur him.
The J rco Iris of ;he 1st lost., lias rumors
that Santa Anna had changed his mind about
leaving the country, and that he. was about to
try his fortunes again amidst the internal con"vulsiotis
which threaten to distract the nation.
He is represented as being in the neighborhood
of Tehuacan, at the head of eighty followers.
His design is said to be to unite, his
fortunes with the Vice Governor of San Luis
and Gen. Alvarez, and then march upon Querrtaro,
overthrow the Government of Pena y
Puna, and establish a Dictatorship. Ibit hefore
executing this grand design, he. proposed
striking a blow at the Americans, in order to
recover credit with his countrymen. The Arco
Iris puts as little faith in this project as we do;
but that Santa Anna is still lurking about Tehuacan
there would appear to be no doubt.
CONGRESS.
Washington, March 7, 1848.
In* Senate.?Mr. I)ix presented a petition
! from ship owners and consignees ot the city 01
New York praying for a law to facilitate the
landing and warehousing of cargoes from vessels
from foreign ports.
On motion of Mr. Rreese,
ResolceA, That the Committee on the Judiciary
he instructed to inquire into the expediency
of establishing by law a tariff of fees for the
Attorneys of the United States respectively
where, for services rendered in the Supreme
Court, there is no established fee bill or allowanee
fir such services.
Mr. Downs, from the Committee on Private
Land Claims, reported a bill to relinquish the
reversionary interests of the United Stales in
certain Indian reservations4n Alabama.
On motion of Mr. Sevier,The Senate ('20 inin
tiles past 12) procccde.i to the consideration of
Executive business. ,
Hot'jg ok Representatives.
Mr. (iayle presented a memorial from the
Mobile and Ohio Railroad Company, and of citizens
oft he State of Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee
and Kentucky, asking the right of way
: over the public lands, and a grant of the public
: lands to said company. Referred to the Corni
mittee on Public Lands.
Ou motion of Mr. Putnam, the Committee
on Public Itoildings, &?., were instructed to
examine and determine, whether the Hall oft he
House of Representatives is sufficiently ventillut.wl
...If!, r/icniirl to tlio hi.-illti nf till* Mll'mlll'l*
.?.? V. .. .... .V -v ... ...?
and if not, report by bill, or otherwise, what
vcnillntioii i>. neeessafy.
Mr. flmit, from the Commitiee of Commerce
reported a bill to to remit the duties upon certain
goods destroyed by the firo in New York.
Read twice and referred to the Committee of the
whole on the state of the Union.
Mr. Stephen?, from the Committee on Pub!
lie Lands, to which was referred the bill grant.
! ing to the Alabama, Florida, and Railroad
i Company the alternate sections oflho public
lands along the route of the contemplated roads
j uncertain conditions, reported an amendatory
! bill. Referred to the Committee ul the Whole
on the state of the Union.
Mr. E vans, of .Maryland, from the same committee,
reported a bill to amend an act entitled
an act to raise for a limited titne-an additional
force, and for other purposes, approved Februaj
ry 11, IS 17. The object of the amendment is
I to secure to non-commissioned officers, musicians,
and privates, who may have been pro.
moted to commissions, their bounty land.
The bill was read twice, and .Mr. Evans, after
a few remarks, requested that it might now
be put on its passage.
Mr. Richardson proposed an amendment,
providing that they shall have been elected or
promoted after their arrival at the seat of war.
Mr. Haskell pointed out the injustice with
which the present law operates. Those sob
diers who serve their country but a single day
and are honorably discharged, are entitled to
the bounty land; while the soidier who may serve
eleven months and twenty days, and on tho
twenty first day, for meritorious services, may
be promoted to a commission, is deprived of his
bounty land.
Mr. Evans,opposed the amendment of Mr.
Richardson, and supported the bill as repotted.
IMr. McClcruardal.su was in favor of the bill.
It had been carefully considered by the cotn;
inittee on public lands; its object was to extend
I the benefits of the bounty land system to such
soldiers as may have been promoted from iho
ranks lor meritorious services; and there was 110
reason why a soldier w ho, by his gallant coni
duct on the field of battle, has gained promotion
shall he deprived thereby ot the bounty land
which he would have received had he remain*
I ed a private soldiers.
Mr. Haralson was in favor of referring the
hill to the Committee on Military Affairs who
had already reported a hill 011 the same subject,
which had been referred to the Committee ol
tho Whole.
Mr. Pollock believed the construction given
by the War Department to the existing law is
erroneous, and that the Department ought, without
hesitation, to givo the bounty land in all
such cases. Hut as the decision had been made
and ll,ie object is to correct the error, tho hill
should he passed; hut it should first go through
the ordinary stages of legislation.
Mr. Wick considered the bill previously reported
by the military committee as sufficient.
It was not just because a soldier has been promoted,
and therefore cannot he discharged, that
ho should he deprived of his bounty lands. It
was proper that they should pass a law making
promotion equivalent loan honorable discharge,
and such was the character of the hill from the
military committee.
At tKn nniir*litaS/in \f r* Wlflr'n rnrm i*l:e
without further action on the bill,
On motion ol Mr. Vinton, the House resolved
itself into committee of the whole, and resumed
the consideration of the bill further to supply
deficiencies in the appropriation for the services
of the fiscal year ending 30ih June 1813.
A number of amendments were proposed and
adopted. Among others, the appropriation for
outfits [of Charges to Nalpes, the Papal Slates,
and the Republics ofEcuador, Bolivia and Guatnmala,
were stricken out, and an appropriation
ofS4500 for a Charge to Nalpes only inserted.
Appropriations were inserted to provide for the
employment of an additional number of clerks
in the Second Auditor's and Pension Offices;
and an appropriation of S'2000 to pay Mr.
Crutchett (or light ins the Capitol and grounds.
Mr. Vinton proposed a further item to the bill
of S800,000 for clothing in kind the volunteers
for the year ending the 30ih June, 1849, and al
l .1 r
lowing the department to use so mucu iiimrui
as may he necessary f??r the present fiscal year
which was adopted?as were also one or two
other amendments of no great importarcc.
An amendment, proposed by Mr. Vandyke,
as a proviso to the. bill, that no portion of the
money appropriated shall be expended in the
prosecution of the war with Mexico, or in any
farther attempt to subjugate that country, or any
part thereof, was rejected.
The. committee then rose and reported the. bill
to the House, and the amendments, with the
exception of those relating to the papal States,
Azc., were concurred in. On concurring in the
amendment of tlio committee, striking out the
outfits to Naples, the Papal States, Bolivia,
Guatemala, and Ecuador, the yeas ami nays
were, ordered, and were?yeas 63, nays 93. So
the House refused to strike out.
On concurring in an amendment ot the committee,
striking out the quarter's salaries for the
charges to the Papal States, Bolivia, Gautcmalii,
and Ecuador, the yeas and nays were aj.
so ordered, and resulted?yeas 42, nays 106.
So tho House refused to concur in the amendment
of the committee. The other amendments
having been concurred in, and the question
being on the engrossment of the bill.
Mr. C. J. Ingersoll expressed a wish to ad. j
dress the House on the Italian Mission, and
moved an adjournment*
The House adjourned?yeas 80, nays 68.
GEN. TAYLOR'S LETTERS appear to
be attracting some fresh notice from the press.
We refer to the two which have been often rej
(erred to before; the one written to Hon. Joseph
R. Ingersoll, of Philadelphia, and the one
written last Dec., to Peter Sken Smith.
In this letter to Mr. Ingersoll he says he is not
an ultra partisan whig, but a whig in principle.
He says it was known to all with whom he
mixed, during the Presidential canvass, that he
was dscidedly in favor of Mr. Clay's election,
and would now prefer to see him in tha'office
to any indivinnl in the Union. lie "considers
; his views and those, of the whigs, for the most
part are more nearly assimilated as regards
political matters, to those, of Mr. Jefiersen"
(in whose political creed he was reared) than
that of their opponents. He again says that
40 ypars of his life have been spent in the military
service of the United States, and he has had
but little time to devote to political questions,
never having voted since he joined the army.
He greatly doubts his qualifications for
the office, and almost trembles at the idea of
the under:aking; but feels bound to serve the
people, if they elect him; and will administer
the government honestly and faithfully, in accordance
with the constitution," as it was construed
and acted upon by our first Presidents."
But he must accept the office untrammelled.
Such is a short sketch of the August letter.
The latter one to Mr. Smith, of the Native
party, is short, and dated Baton Rouge, La.,
Dec. 30, 1817. In this he says that he feels
honored in being nominated by any body of his |
fid low citizens, whether called whigs, demo. |
crats, or natives, and "would accept such nomi- j
nation, provided it had been made [we suppose
he means the nomination by the Natives] entirely
Independent of party considerations."
But he certainly will not agree to "be brought
forward by them [democrats, whigs, or natives]
as lho candidate of their party, or conquered as i
the exponent ol their party doctrines."
Should (Jen. Taylor ndt bonctude to cat these j
words, it is evident that he cannot be a candidate;
and if he does, he cannot be so with any
chauco of success.?JVorlh> Carolinian.
VARIETY OF VOICES!
The whig presses begin to complain of Gen.
Taylor's writing too much. The democrats
complain that lie lias not sufficiently unma-ked
his principles, if he lias yet formed any, upon
the great questions of the day. '1'hey arc also
calling out lor a full collection of all his correspcndence,
to show the unguarded character
of his letters?as lie first writes to a wiiig meet
ing, and then to a democratic one.
Some of the whig presses, too, complain of
his letters. The Albany Evening Journal, for
example, uses the following ominous language
on the occasion:
Gen. Taylor's Letters.?It is scarcely neccs.
sary I hat wo should repeat what has so often
been said in our columns, that, in our judgment,
presidential candidates cannot employ themscivesmorc
unprofitahly than in writing letters.
Those we publish to-day from Gen. Taylor,
though consistent with all he has written upon
the subject, are neither designed nor calculated
to present him favorably before a whig national
convention. The whig national convention
will not need to beg for a candidate; nor will
its suffrages be tendered to any man who refuses
either to accept its nomination or '*to be
the exponent of its principles."
This squints pretty strongly at rebellion
against the General. Another exponent of the
whig faith (Mr. Andrew Stewart, of Penn.)
has addressed a card to this morning's National
Intelligencer, with facts and arguments to prove
that General Taylor is ''a whig in principle;"
ay, and a Clay whig, too?the most ultra class
of all the whigs. Mr. Stewart argues that the
General is a whig on the power over internal
improvements, and decidedly a protective tariffwhig.
A part of Mr S's. argument runs thus;
"I addressed a letter to General Taylor, con
voting to linn me resolutions or a wnig meeting,
of which the following is one, viz:
"Resolved, That wo havo the fullest confideuce
that Gen. Taylor, if elected?having declared
that he will follow in (ho footsteps of
Washington?will udopt his repeated recommendations
to Congress to extend adequate protection
to American manufactures and industry
in every department, and to promote internal
improvement to the full extent of the surplus
means ofthe nation, which he regarded as of
the highest importance to the union and prosperity
of the republic."
In reply, General Taylor says: "I have read
the resolutions adopted by the meeting with
greut pride and pleasure, and beg you to convey
tn iIih iiuMnherR ofthe mep.tinff. on a suitable
occasion, my tlinnks," &o.
Is nottliis enough? Is it not satisfactory? If
I it is not, nothing that Gen. Taylor could say
on the subject would he.
1 Mr Stewart goes further; and, in reply to
Mr. Giddings, (whether Gen. Taylor was opposed
to slavery,) contends that he is?that he
is a Wiltnot Proviso man.
Such are the many-tfolored hues which tho
General's letters have been made to assume;
* 'M
ft i i l,-gt Tun ?i .i-n-r-T-a
and thus, ton, it appears that though he has (
written loo many letters already, he will he j
compelled to write more, in order to explain j
those he has already written.
THK CAMDEN JOURNAL.
Wednesday Morning, March 15, 1848.
i WILLIAM B. JOHNSTON, EDITOR.
Return Days.
For Kershaio?Saturday 18th March.
For Sumter?Saturday 25th March.
For Lancaster? Saturday 1st April.
uur inniKCi*
We have had but little cotton offering during the
past week, but prices ha\ e advanced in consequence
of the late news from England. We now
quote from 6} to 7\c. Bacon 8 Corn 48 to 50c.
Flour ?5. Fodder 75,
The Treaty.
At oar latest dates from Washington, the Treaty
was still before the Senate. It was supposed a
final action would take place on Saturday, and that
the Treaty would be r.* tincd.
Remains of Lieut. J. W. Cuntey.
We leain from the Cornier of il/onday. that the
remains of Lieut. J. W. Cantey were shipped for
Charleston on board the Arcadia, which vessel sailed
from New Orleans on the 25th uIt., and was
daily expected at Charleston.,. ..... .
The Daily Crescent.
We have received the first and second numbers
of this Daily paper published in New Orleans by
Messrs. Hayes M'Cmkc, at fifteen cents per
week or eight DolIaitHK annum. The proprietors
say that "diveste^W rfll party politics it will
discuss the great questions of State and National
policy with impartiality and freedom," and that "the
cnterprize is not one hastily got up, to he as hastily
abandoned." The paper is of large size, and
elegantly printed, and judging from the numbers
before us, will be conducted with abi lity.
me war nna us u urrion.
Is the title of a book sent us by Messrs. Hogan
& Thompson of Philadelphia. We have read it
through, and think it is a very good history of the
war from the time that Gen Taylor was ordered
to occupy the left bank of the Rio del Norte,
until the occupation of the city of Mexico.
The biographical sketches of the chief officers, are
interesting. The book will be rfcad. For sale by
A, Young.
D" Captain Thomas Baker, of Sumter, has
been elected Major of the 5th Regiment of Cavalry,
The vote was for B.iket 137, Richardson 91
Foreign News.
Tho steamer Bri'aniu arrived at Boston on the
4th with dates from England to the 12th ult Commercial
matters seein to be brightening. The money
market had improved, and our great staple
cotton had advanced f to $d. The general intelligence
is not of much importance." Lord George
Bentick, in a debate in the House of Commons,
recommended the seizure of the Island of Cuba by
the British Government, for a debt of ?45,000,000
due British subjects by the Spanish Government.
The bill removing the existing Constitutional
Jewish disability had been read twice in Parliament,
and it is thought will beccmc a law. The
Archbishop of Canterbury 'is "dead. Lf.wis Philippe's
general health is good, he is troubled with
a cough.
Rich!
We are informed that a gcn'leman in this town
has received a consignment of some kind of merchandize
from Philadelphia, with instructions when
sold to invest the proceeds in a likelynegro.
For what purpose this likely negro is sought as
an investment we know noV it'toay be the consignment
was forwarded as an art of^philanthrojjy
by a tender hearted citizen of the Quaker city,
llipugh we are disposed to believe it is nothing
more than a money making speculation. .
IT It is stated that Henry Clay will'nice more
become a United States Senator; he has consented
to serve at the earnest request of
the event of Mr. Crittenden's election as Governor
of Kentucky, of which there is nodonbti
Wc have been permitted to make the following J
extract from a letter .from CapifJftseph Kennedy,
who, it will be recollected, spent some time in
our town during the last fall in the recruiting service
for the Palmetto Regiment The friends of
the Recruits will be gratified to learn that they arrived
at Vera Cruz in good health:?
Vera. Cruz, Feb. 9th, 1348.
I sailed from Charleston on board the Brig
Cambria, on the 21?t January, with 40 Recruits
for our Regiment and 52 fir the Voltiguers,
Lieutenant Mcintosh. We arrived yesterday
at 4 o'clock, P. M. and by dark we
were at camp, ono mile from this place with
our tents pitched, with our camp and garrison
equipage complete. I found a battalion here
from Georgia, mounted men, and part of the
13lh infantry. Major Ma nigault commanding.
A train left only three days ago tinder Colonel
Bankhcad to take Orizaba. Our, company of
dragoons leftjthis morning for Saota Fee, to rout
some guerrillas reported to be there. .1 do not
know as yet when wo will be able to get off
from bore. We aro all well.
For the Camden Journal:'
Mr. Editor:?I wish to call the attention of
the public, through your paper, to the subject of
Jails in our State. It appears that all Jails are
constructed with reference to the safety of the
prisoner, and no attention is paid in the least,
to his comfort or health.
Many of tho Jails have no fire places, and
the cells are small and suffocating, and even
where there are hearths, no provision is made
by law, to supply wood; and often much carelessness
is manifested by those who have the
control of Jails, as the glass is frequently broken
out of the windows, and thus without fire,
exposed in an open room, tho suffering of the
poor prisoner, is oflen truly affecting. When
it is remembered that no means aro prepared
for wanning the. rooms of a Jail, and that the
prisoner is without fire, except in cases he is
permitted by the Jailor to haul, and furnishes
wood at his own expense, it will be conceded
at once, that the prisoner is trcntcd unjustly.
Men are thus doubly punished; and it often happens
that a man is charged with a crime and
is unable to give sufficient bond, and though innocent
and afterwards acquitted, perhaps he has
been incarcerated for months, and has suffered
frotn cold and other causes to a very great extent.
And even whero the prisoner has been
convicted of crime, I entertain the opinion, that
imprisonment is designed by the law, for depris.
V -
ving a manJof bis liberty, and not for putting
him to tnrturps after the manner of barbarians,
for it ran be called nothing else but torture, ttf
confine u inan, and deprive liiin of the necessa- *
ries of life, so far as to ruin his health, and ren*
dor life intolerable. -
The h?altl> of many prisoners is much injured
from cold feet, and when set at liberty, they ga
forth upon the world again, with shattered con*
swntuons ana a jinny low opinion ot me justice
and humanity of those who have control ove/
these thing*, ft will be readily assented tit/
that for a man to suffer the damp air of brick
buildings without artificial beat, it is not at allr
surprising that he should be subject tor disease/
A man under these circumstances as I have o\t*
served above, is punished doubly: first, by buIa
fertng the abridgement of hf.s personal liberty#
which the law designs, and the suffering of cold"'
etc., which the law permit*, by m>t providing-,
against it.
I would suggest to the public, and cjtptfciaJf/
to the. Commissioners .of public buildings, tit
remedy the evil cotnpiaitied of above, by hen.*,
ling the rooms, by means of stove pipes vrbrrlft
could be erected at a trifling cxpcn?e. Tbll.
would be better than using wood fires, as it
would often be dangerous to permit a prisonc?.to
get fire as he might attempt the destruction
of the building, and yet, this same prisoner
should be prevented from suffering
When the bleak e. inds blow cold, and ths
pelting rains descend, and everything is frozen
up, then persons who are comfortably enjoying
the luxury.of a blazing fire and the society of;
their family and friends, should give one. thought
at lea<t to the unhappy sufferer iu the dreary
confines of a Jail, who perhaps is there, for no
greater offence than inability to pay his debts,
or for an assault and battery on some individual
who crossed his way: and even if his crime is
enormous, he is the more the. subject of commiseration
and pity as be hit* the.longer to suffer.
and the more to account fin to the Author
of his being, ant! rharty, humanity and justice,
demand that his sufiorishould 1?? no grcatejf ,
than the laws ofbi%^$untyy,..jfquiro. It becomes
a civilized and enlightened people to sen
to these things, and they should not pass over
the unjust suITbring* of the vietimsof. liiolaw,,
for no man knows how soon he or some friend^*
may unfortunately be placed in circumstance '
where he may need the same relief that is now
passed over with such blind indiifcrence with
respect to others.
If yyu_coi)sider the above senliiijpnt* of *ut,,
ficieut interest for your paper, you will publish
them, or give them some notice in an editorial, }
and thereby subserve the cause of humanity, .-a A
PRISONER. ,v
_______ ?
Highly Cukditaw.b.?While in Washington
City, Mr, Clay called on Mr. Polk, and paid
his respects to the Chief M<\gistrate of the Nation.
The President in turn invited Mr. Clay
and a number of other prominct Whig gentle- ..
men, mostly members of Congress, to dine with
him; and accordingly, on the 15th of February
they sal down at his hospitable board and en- r
joyed not only a feast of the good things Imneath
which it groaned, but also an interchange - is
of sentiments and feelings worthy ol the exalted
positions of the respective parlies. If these
great captains of the! warring.' hosts can thu?
mingle together, at "the feast of shells," why
cannot the schoolmates do the same thing??
Narrow is the soul of him who can see no mer- ;
it in a political adversary; and the example of
these.men should go far to put down that as- .
purity of denunciation too often inconsiderately.^ indulged
in by Whig* and Democrats towards
each other. If the speakers and writers?the
orators and editors of this country were all to lie .fr
believed, what a nation of rascals would the
rest of the world esteem the American people!
North Carolina Argus.
Cotton Statistics.?It in generally es.
timated in 11:is quarter that the whole Coltan
crop of the U. States, for 1547-43, will rnry but
little from 2,(100,000 bales; of which, nearly or f ***
quite one-half will bo received at this porl^ii
It is alacfV^thv ofremark, in this connection*. > ?
lhat the receipts here from 1st Sept. to thepresent
time (just one-half of the commercial-***;
year) ^already reach 73:3,932 bales, against
525,990 hales to the same time last year, and
are only 6,737 bales short of the total receipts
of last season. If fir the coming six month*
the arrivals bear similar proportion to last year'*
New Orleans will hnro received at the
nf the Vf?r-at least 1,100,000, bates,''
740,GG9 bales for 1046-47. d, *
N. O. Delta 1st iust. j. We
understand that Locomotives are nowpassing
the Bridge across thy) VVateree River,
and pushing forward the materials for the Contractors,
who arc expected to reach the new de- ,
pot, '-Clarendon," in a few days. As a matter
of accommodation, a few passeh^rsfwith mails,
have been transported, and a car load of Cot
Ion trom mat .point reacneutnc :>i ary-street ae?~-r*
|M)l yesterday.?Char. Mercury.
' I
Father Matijew.?This distinguished phi*
lanthropisl wit! shortly come over to our shore*
in tho fine packet ship 4,New World," the owners
of which, Messrs. Grinnel & Minium, bar*
tendered him a free, passage. Capt. Knight, of
the New World, being on the eve of his departure
(or Liverpool, was present on Thursday
evening, by invitation, at a meeting of a number
of Female Temperance Societies of New
York, and received, on behalf of Father Mathew,
a beautiful white banner, which is thus
described in the New-York Tribune.
The banner is most appropriate, being an
amp'e one, of while bunting, pu'e as tho snowy
mantle which covers the earth, and having m
dove in the centre, bearing in its bill the olive
branch of peace* It is designed to be worn at , v
the mizzen pe$k on kis departure from the Old
World, and being displayed "in the offing, into
announce the approach to our shores of the met*
songer of peace and good will.
A Young Ad vent cue a.?Tho Chicago
(III.) Commercial Advertiser relates the following
interesting story:
A few afternoons since there came into tho
office of Messrs. Drown & Coles, of this city,
a lad about 13 years of age, who asked for a
few pennies with which to buy his lodgings the
then coming night. There was something .
about the boy that interested those present, and caused
them to make some inquiries concerns
I ing him, which led to tho following siaiemeqv
of facts;
His father, whom he represents as a respect
table farmer, emigrated from New York State
last fall, and embarked on board the stcqnief
Sam Ward at Buffalo, on her last trip to thif
place. The father had with him his family, iq
all some four or five persons, bound fiir Mill
wnnkie. At Buffalo, after the family had gon#
on board,, this lad went on shoro to buy some
apples, and during his absence the steamer left.
As navigation was nearly closed, and no boata
were to leave after that tsmr, the little fe!low*a
situation and feelings can be better imagined