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Things In Detroit: Correspondence Of The Signal Of Liberty: ...

Things In Detroit: Correspondence Of The Signal Of Liberty: ... image
Parent Issue
Day
23
Month
March
Year
1846
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

Detroit, March 18lh, 184G. Fiuf.nd Fostkr : - Paíng through the strects of tbis young Crotham a fcvi' daya since, my cyo was arrestcd by tho sight of on of thc numcrous band bilis Wllh Which tho corner of our streets, poeta, bdxéB, &c. ore constnntly adcned, advising thc passót by, that a meeting would bebelií that evaning at iho City Hall, at which ihe que6tion of Colored Suffragc would be discuesed by t.Mer Munroe, Mr. Lamben and other of our colored íelbw cinzens: during wliich they would take occasion to examine the recent report of our grave Senators upon that subject. Knowing that this Iabored crFjrt of those wise Solons, to make "the voorst appear !he botter cauae" would níTord our colored friends rare picking, nnd that they would doubt!c8S do themselves ampie jutitice. I was anxious to be present; but was unavoidably prerented. I was informcd however, that thc atiendance was large, and tho subject handled with Tiurked ability by thc speakers. Upon the subject a( "social intercourse," about which the Comroittee prate, in this silly report, Í was informoii, oju; of the speakers instanced his own oermfrïcxasa, u evidence that the Anglo-Saxons (or as tbe wie Com mi ttee would have it, "the dec8endarrtsof European nutions,")did not feel it to bo such a horrible thing to commingle wih those of a darkcr hue. Alihough modestymight blush at the argument, vet its force and truth nre undeniable, and pon no theaire are these facta more abundant or ehameful than where Slavery holds undisputed sway, as every shade of complexion in our Southern States willabundamly testify.Your strictures upon that report, published n short timo eince, were well deeerved, and if there was nny conscjence or eense of shame left nmong that class of men upon this subject, I hould hope thcy might be feit; but from constant dcvelopement8 aniong leading Deinocrats, I have been led to conclude that as far as jtisticc to the colored man is concerncd, there is but little to hope for, from thetn. It is truly sickening to see how low men will debnse thcmselves, and how they will do violence to the dictates of judg ment and the better feclings of their nature, eithcr to secure office or maintain the euprcniacy of their party. And it is pamcularly d6gu6ting V witness tho deepicable pusillanimity which now marks the conduct of sonic of the leaders of that party upon this subject - the right of colored uffrnge- when contraeted with their fawning sycophancy as manifested towards the truo friends of the colored mnn pending the Prcsideniinl clection of '44 - then, there was scarcely a ptinciple claimcd by the former in favor of the lattnr, ftr a mensure that wasproposcd (or their good. but what niet the approval of these Preudo-Democrats: - and although neeessity coinpelled them to vote for "Polk and Texas'" as the ohoice of cvils, yetslavery was an adrnitted abomination, and all these unrighteoue disiinctions towards the free colored man at the North shouIJ by right be done away - but how is il now ? A friend while circulating a petition through our city to the Legislature a short time sincc, requesiing them to take mensures lo have this rchc of Barbarism blottcd from our Conêtitution, could ecarce prevail on a single leading man of that party tosignit! Some of thetn (office-holders) werc constrained to admit tha. il was jist and rijfht, but - but - they could not sign it - or in otherwords, if the naked truth had been spoken. hey dare not. Oh theslavery of cffïco eeeking nd office-holding! - how itblinds the judgment, -sears the conscience, and blunts the moral sense. Perhaps some of your readers may think 1 an tlisposed 10 be particularly severo upon the Democratie party or eome of its leading niembers. - To this I might reply that so far as want of principie upon the subject of slavery or tho rightsof the free colored man is concerned, I can aay nothing that could be more severe than the trul'i. and it is more in grief than nnger tbat we speak this - but as much of the political capital of theState isdoubtle8s manufactured hcre. ii may be vell for the honcst yeomnnry of th country to kauw now much sympnthy is lelt by their leaders, tu the great principie of Humnn Liberty, and how mucñ moral courage they have in exprésame it, even j thc refusal of signing a petitíon foTan object they arecompclled to admit is juët. We beliove the bone and sinew of that pariy - tho untrnmmcled Democracy aniong the fnrtning interests of our state nrc right upon this subject, anc! will, ere long, show their independonce of euch unvoriUy leaders who have too long cajoled them in ihese mattere. The Soné of Erin liad a Tcmperance celebration yesterday, contiected with the Anniversary of their patrón Saint. Aithough aa protestante wc may not relish the worship of eaints, yet it ia satisfactory to eee that the great principies of Temperance are brought into requijition in so many celebrations where but a few years since tho Orgies of the godof Eacchus were so generally observed. Great excitcment is occnsionally nwakered nmong ue by ir.tclligence received from thoCopper (and Silver) regions of Lake Superior. - Fro.n the most recent accounts sonie of tho companies now in operation are meeting with extraordinar succesa. I saw a letter roceived from there last week in which, among other aatonishing facts, it was stated that upon one of the locatioii8 now being workcd (the Boston and Pitteburgh) the amount of ore tlirown out by two men in one dny was valued at $1,6001 Altho' somo of the rcporls from there are doubtless much cx3ggerated, yct from cxaminaiions already made, there can bc no qucBliort that it will prove onc of the richest mineril regions in the world, and íts discovery will créate a new era in the business of this and some of our ndjoining Weetern Smtes. Two or three public sales of "Copper stock" havo already taken place here, and will probably bo frequent herafter. The pi ice of stock at these sales, as yet has rauged from $2 to $30 per hare, according to the supposcd comparativo valué of different companier: while some of them will prove valuable investments, other8 will undoubtedly bc found to contain much "trap rock" in their substratum. A steambont (the Ben Franklin) came up from Cleveland this morning, being the fust arrivnl of the season. Shc reports much floating ice between hcre and there. Tho Jno. Owcn left this morning for that place, and navigation may bo considered as fairly opon to thatpoini. Yours truly.