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CONDITION OF THE FUGITIVE SLAVES IN CANADA.
If an abolitionist succeeds in stealing a slave from his master, and placing him beyond chance of capture, in Canada, he thinks he has done something of high laudation. If the deed were done purely out of consideration for the welfare of the negro, and means were taken to render the fugitive as comfortable when free as he was when in slavery, some palliation might found for the dishonesty of the transaction. The fact is, however, that the abolitionists are not in the least solicitous about the well-being of the negroes. In running them off, their only desire is to spite the South. The fugitives may starve, for all they care; and nearly starve a great many of them undoubtedly do. Parker, Phillips, Garrison and their followers, will do almost anything to aid a slave in escaping from his master; but who ever heard of any of this set advancing a dime to support a fugitive, when, as is often the case, he finds it impossible to support himself? No one has yet; and in all probability, no one ever will. Abolition philanthropy extends only as far as that. Charity is a virtue with which the professors of extreme anti-slavery views are wholly untinctured.
The Albany Argus of Monday last, under the head of ‘Starving Fugitive Slaves in Canada,’ publishes the following:
We have received a circular, calling attention to the condition of fugitive slaves in Canada. It comes from colored people, we presume, and is signed by J.J. Rice, Amhertsburg.
It states that they are in great want and destitution, and in need of bedding, flannels, and clothing generally suited to the climate; food, medicine, and assistance in every shape. Rice states that he has lived in Canada thirteen years, ‘on incidental donations, and sometimes on scant fare.’ He denies that the government does anything for the fugitives, and appeals to American abolitionists for early aid on behalf of his suffering fellows, reminding them that ‘to furnish bedding, &c., to a destitute family just from slavery, is what slaveholders, who work the colonization enterprise, do in Liberia.’
Rice, we fear, appeals to deaf ears and close shut purses. Negrophily prefers mass conventions, political action, and double tracks for underground railroads, to caring for the passengers after they have reached their uncomfortable destination. It prefers election tickets to checks payable to fugitives in Canada. It delights rather in long speeches than in large collections. It thinks to be ‘heard for its much speaking.’ So that the poor negroes across the borders may perish with cold and starvation in the fierce Canadian winter if opponents of the ‘Nebraska iniquity’ be only returned to Congress in the fall election. Great is humbug! – Detroit Free Press.