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’ aud the name? of the charitable donors, ifpublished, would astonish the world. Governors, Senators, Editors, Lawyers, Merchants,! and of course politicians, swell the capital | stock of the underground railroad. Scarcely I a week passes without witnessing a band of 1 negroes, of from three to a dozen, paraded ' quietly in some of our cities by the agent of ; the Abolitionists, and showm to those from• whom subscriptions are solicited as a “ fresh importation.” The negroes are always badly clad and apparently in a suffering condition ; and sympathy being thus excited for them, a contribution follows as a matter of course. Itlaineu ai mui depot, ana again pm to practical use as a means of raising money. The respectable colored agent of the underground railroad in that city once more parades them amongst the charitable—the same tale of their sufferings, their destitution, and the lack of means to help them into Canada, is repeated, mid another contribution is extorted from those who are inclined to credit the storv.* vyui'uiCoo 11lit: \ t^.;i iic scmeiucui uua uuwgoue to pieces.A thorough personal examination made in all the townships named where negroes are settled has led to the conviction that every scheme for the amelioration of the condition ofFrom Albany the property is frequently transported to Trov, aud there, and at every city thence to the Canada line, the same use isi is probable that in every instance the money is misapplied. The “ agent is always a man who. without any visible means of support, makes himself well off. Half a dozen hangers-rafr1ou find a living out of the funds. But the poor slave for whom the charity is craved receives barely enough to carry him to the limit of his journey, aud is set down, a half clad, half starved beggar, in u strange, inhospitable country, aud congratulated on having achieved his “ freedom.”made of the “ poor fugitives,” and the cash of the credulous tbws into the pockets of these underground railroad speculators, and remains there. The “ poor fugitive” receives just sufficient to keep body and soul together, until he lauds in Canada a half clad beggar.There, are,in fact, two separate oganizationsI1of the underground railroad kind in existencethe old Tappan and Gerrit Smith organiza-!the fugitive slaves iu Canada, has proved, and muat prove a failure, and that any assistance given to the white aud black Abolitionists, British and American, who are at present engaged in running off the slaves of southern citizens, is only an injury to the negro, and helps to transfer him from a comfortable home, and a position in life to which nature has fitted him, to plunge him into suffering, sickness aud crime. I shall proceed to lay before yourreaders a faithful description of the principalnegro settlements of Western Canada, and of the habits, condition and prospects of the residents.The underground railroad is no myth. A regular organization, to which this name has been applied, stretches through everv freet|tion. and one of more recent date, in whichthe New York Tribune holds a prominentposition. The headquarters of the former are at 48 Beekman street, New York, and Messrs.rHR ELGIN ASSOCIATION.Tappan and Josceyln, whites, and Charles B,nl AARay, a colored preacher, the “ resident directors.” The office of the other is at No. 5Rpnkman street, and William H. Leonard andThe settlement of Buxton, in the township of Raleigh and county of Kent, about twelve miles from Chatham, is the most important negro settlement in this part, probably in any part, of the province of Canada. Itis under the direction of a regularly incorporated association, called the Elgin Association, and bythp titlp nf tVkP At
Newspaper Details
Banner of Liberty
Middletown, New York, US
Wed, Jan 25, 1860
Page 6
Full Page
Clipped by
Middletown T.
NY, USA 27 May 2021
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