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Leader (1850-1860), 11th October 1856, Edition 2 of 2, Page 3, n^n^n TRRfi l THE LEADER. 963

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      Sanitary Matters. : Health Of London , D...

      VyvlU'fJJJ-v ^ .. ^ y _*»* - * w v- _ j - ¦ ' . . - — That they have been there subjected to forced labours ( travaux forces )? That , like galley slaves , they have been compelled , at least for a certain period , to cut their hair and to -wear the letters ¦ * ' T . F . " and the very word " galley slave" -written in capitals on the upper leather of their shoes ? That , for the first months of their sojourn , they have exclusively lived on metuel and couac , which was the ¦ diet of the blacks before the abolition of slavery ? _ That they have been made liable to corporal punish- onents of the most cruel and humiliating kind , being put ¦ to the rack on certain occasions ; that is , being tied to a stake-with thick ropes around their arms , legs , neck , l > elly , and breast—a punishment lasting , according to ihe circumstances , from four days at the least , to a fort- might at the most ? . . . a That lately , two of them , for some talk at which one of the overseers had taken offence , were dealt with as vile criminals ; and , on their being reluctant to submit to an ignominious punishment , had their bodies fcruised with blows , their beards torn off , and their arms bound so fast as to cause the blood to gush forth ? That none of those unfortunate men can escape but at the peril of their lives—a consideration that did not prevent many attempts of this kind , one of which proved fatal to a man of highly commendable character ? In fine , that the system of secret transportation to Cayenne has been going on till the present time ? These are the charges . They were stated with the greatest possible precision , and minutely circumstan- tiated . ¦ Let us now look to the answer . Nothing could be more confused , vague , and contradictory . 1 . To present the transportation to Cayenne as an act of mercy is really a barbarous joke . 2 . The confirmation of the fact that the political pri- soners are compelled to manual labour as well as the galley slaves is to be found in this phrase of the Jfoni- teur : — tl The obligation of work common to all has in theory been understood in a uniform manner—that is to say , the compulsory right of the authorities went as far as imprisonment . " That , in fact , the most submissive ' among the political prisoners should have been treated ¦ with less severity is natural enough ; but it must be Observed that , under such circumstances , those who are the most harshly treated ave precisely the most honour able characters , because strongly impressed with the sense of the injustice done to them , and preserving in the midst of their misfortunes the pride of their former condition , they are unwilling basely to crawl into the favour of their enemies , and to beg for their indulgence by degrading themselves . Nor does it require : a very deep insight into the laws of human , nature to know that it is the insolent madness of the all-powerful and all-ruling to look upon the self-respect of amorally free man as a crime . In the eye of one-whose power beyond control not to kneel when he passes amounts rebellion . 3 . The Moniteur , in its answer , touches on none of the particular points which go so far to prove that the con dition of the political prisoners is not at all unlike that of the galley-slaves . " The labour of the jbrqats strictly compulsory ; " so is the labour of the political prisoners , according to the above-mentioned avowal the Moniteur itself . " It is always gratuitous ; " so was the labour of the political prisoners at the time we re ceived the first letter published by the English press , formally stated in the following linos : — "At present the political prisoners may be said to be actually starving and while their tormentors benefit by their tilling , em banking , building , they are left without remuneration almost without food . " That there is somo difference between the labour of the galley-slaves and tlnit of the political prisoner ? , as to the productive value , is easily conceivable . Men like journalists' , physicians , barristers , or merchants , can hardly bo expected to work 1 manually with much success , even when ill-treated in , case of failure . | 4 . Tliis phrase of the Governor of Guiana— "From ' the summit of Royal Island we can see with the naked eye all that is going on in Devil ' s Island , " shows how j dimcult . it must bo to escape from a place of such a de- , scription . . lint , difficult . as it is , the attempt is still j more dangerous . If the prisoner do not succeed in , baffling ; the vigilance of the overseer ? , he incurs a mo . sl ' severe penalty . If he succeed , he has to put to sea at night in -whatever bout he may have secured , without knowing whither he goes , without even knowing whether he will be lucky enough to find hind The death of the unfortunate Mayor of BeV . iers is a tragical comment upon the dangers with whicli such uiulcrtnkinys are always attended . It is much to be regretted that the niofitteiir should not have doomed it worth while to Teconcilo what it nays of the mild treatment the prisoners enjoy with their desperate nnxk ' ty to ily from it at any cost . 5 . One of tho questions put to the French Government was thin : — Is it , true that not long ago a workman in Paris disappeared , on a sudden , iuul ho mysteriously that his family was cmito unaware of wlmt had become of him ? Is it true that , upon inquiries , it was found tho man had boon sent to Cayenne V" On thin point we have still to wait for an answer . Thup , of tho accusations put forward in the letter of the thirty-eight , not a Mingle ono enn bo considered to have really been met by the AJonitcur .

      ' —* ] jt * om kn < - / sid < tha wh cas pol roo lev the the qu < " sla ; it i tlei the A * an 1 m < an 11 ™ oil tn bj " c _ b < so " •' *" ox m tli P * uf E ' U a ( — - P 1 « h « si ° n i s j *> j l is - to j J j 3 3 - * ; i is ' < of ^ ; ' < - j ' as . < ; ' J - , "With respect to -what took place on board the Eryg-one it is no business of mine to refute the statements of the official organ , of the French Government , as I neither knew nor said anything about it . As regards the fact of the political prisoners living side by side with ordinary criminals , the Moniteur states that there ia in Guiana a whole class of common felons who had nothing to do with politics ; these were " occasionally located on one and the same island with the political prisoners , but never beneath one and the same roof . " This assertion may be true , but it is quite irrelevant and uncalled for . It has never been , asserted that the class of those who are merely common convicts and the other class are herded together in Gniana . The question is whether in the political class itself men of honour do not live side by side with liberated galleyslaves , whom , in the dark confusion of the coup d'etat , it was thought fit by the military commissions to condemn , on a pretence of plots or risings , so as to degrade the rest by their contact . If we are to believe the Moniteur , such would be the case , for it says , "Even among these—the political prisoners favoured with the indulgence of the Emperor—there were many whose antecedents , in a criminal point of view , were deplorable . Their descriptions swarm with statements that would have justified the classification of them either with old offenders previously discharged , or with convicts . " TheMvniteur is glad to call to mind that among those deported to Cayenne many have been condemned by the Republic itself . In the first place , by the word " many" the Monitaitr means some nineteen or twenty . Secondly , —the Republic never sent any political prisoner to Cayenne . The selection of Cayenne as a political penitentiary belongs entirely and exclusively to the Imperial regime . Such among the insurgents of June as were condemned by the Republican Government were sent to Algeria . As to the motives for which they were removed from Algeria to Cayenne by the present Government , these motives arid the proceedings used on the occasion , tyill be fully appreciated by the English public , if it happen to have read a letter published of late in several papers , which runs thus :- — ¦ it One of the thirty-eight prisoners signing the document addressed to M . Loui s Blanc is personally known to me — -viz ., M . lafont . M . Lafont , strange to say , up to the present moment , is ignorant of his crime , has no knowledge of his accusers , and is equally unacquainted with i his judges . The regular court of justice that conr demned him altogether forgot so trifling a matter as in-B stituting ' any legal procedure against him , and , moree over , did riot give himself the unnecessary trouble of comy- municating to him his sentence . ¦ .... . . . After lying fo . 1 v ! some time in the casemates of Fort cl'Ivry , he wai d | despatched on board the Christophe Colomb , and disem o : barked as a convict at Algiers , the 22 nd of March , 1862 [ a . i .... First , he had to live in the camp of Doneva , thei 0 was sent , with many of his fellow-sufferers , tinde J military escort , to the Bourdika , a French colony noto e ' ¦ xious for its tinliealthinoss . Lafont , aware of the fat l- that awaited him , stepped out of the ranks , and , in t tt loud voice , cried , ' You are sending us to death . ' Fo is this .... he was tried at Algiers—this time in publi x \ court— -and sentenced to one month of curcerc duro ; bu jf when he had finished his time , another secret trilmna ls ! condemned him—for what reason never transpired—ti > . ' transportation to Cayenne . He suddenly disappeared jg I Only by his signature to the letter of the thirt ; 1 C ' eight have we heard that Lafont is still among th r . living . ^ 1 I will go no further . Let public opinion decide . 1 remain , sir , your obedient servant , ^ Louis 13 la . no . ¦

      N^N^N Trrfi L The Leader. 963

      n ^ n ^ n TRRfi l THE LEADER . 963

      America. It Is Anticipated That The Pres...

      AMERICA . It is anticipated that the Presidential election in Pennsylvania , to take place during the present month , w ill terminate in the success of Fremont . The slave states , however , in all probability , will vote for Buchanan : the chances for Filhnoro seem to be doubtful . In the course of this October , also , tho election for tho Governor of Now York State is to take place . " Tho new Governor of Kansas , " snys an American correspondent . of the Tium , Vims entered upon the duties of his office with an address full of peaceful pro fessions and exhortations' to the settlors to cease strife to lay down the sword , and resume the plough . But recognizes tho Missouri Legislature , and points to that as the only means of relief . When it is remembered thnt one of the qualifications for an doctor to vote upon tho choice of members of thin Legislature , is an oath support the Kansas Nebraska Bill , tho Fugitive S Law , nnd the acts of tho territory , it i . s plain that Free State men h . ivo Httlo to hope for . Jlc also- issued a proclamation diribanding the volunteer militia , w litis attempted to enforce the territorial laws mulcr directions of his predecessor ,, enjoining all the Free Stato men to disband at once or <| Uit the territory , and com manding all male citizens between eighteen and l ' ort iive to organize at once into a militia , nnd to hold them selves in read moss to bo Minunonod into the nervic . o tho United States . Kobinson and Uk ! other stiite soners have been released on bail , and thus for the ment peace is restored in Kansas . " Mr . Emerson , tho colubnitud essayist , has made speech at Cambridge ( U . , S . ) on tha Kunstis « iucstion i- ill ¦ s lie sc of m lie

      reprobating the atrocities of the border ruffians , and the tyranny of the pro-slavery party . He observed : — "In this country , for the last few years , the Government has been the chief obstruction to the common weal . Who doubts that Kansas would have been very well settled if the United States bad let it alone ? The Government armed and led the ruffians against tbe poor farmers . I do not know any story so gloomy & s the politics of thi 3 country for the last twenty years , centralizing ) ever more manifestly found one spring , and that a vast crime , and ever more plainly , until it is notorious that all promotion , power , and policy are dictated from one source—illustrating the fatal effects of a false position to demoralize legislation , and put the best people always at a disadvantage ; one crime alwayspresent , always to be varnished over , to find fine Jiamds for , and we free statesmen , as accomplices to the gnilt , ever in the power of the grand offender . Language has lost its meaning in the uniA'ersal cant . Representative government is really misreprflsentative ; Union is a con ^ spiracy against the northern states , which the northern states- ' are' to have the privilege of paying for ; the adding of Cuba and Central America to the slave marts is enlarging the area of freedom . Manifest destiny , democracy , freedom , fine names for an ugly thing . They call it otto of rose- and lavender —* I call it bilge -water . It is called chivalry and freedom—I call it the taking of all the earnings of a iioor man , and the earnings of his little girl and boy , and the earnings of all that come from him , his , children ' s children for ever . But this is union , and this is democracy ; and our poor people , led by the nose by these fine words , dance and sing , ring bells , and nre cannon , with every new link of the chain which is . forged for their Iimb 3 by the plotters in the Capitol . What are the results of law and union ? There is no ' union .. Can any citizen of Massachusetts travel in honour through Kentucky and Alabama and speak his mind ? Or can any citizen of the southern country , who happens to think kidnapping a bad thing , say so ?" The speech concluded thus : — " Fellow citizens , in these times , full of the fate of the Republic , I think the towns should hold town meetings , and resolve themselves into committees of safety , go into permanent sessions , adjourning from week to week , from month to month . I wistywe Could send the Serjeant-at-Arms to stop every American who is about to leave the country . Send home everj' one who is abroad , lest he should . find no country to return to . Come home and stay at home , while there ¦ ¦ is a country to save . " When it is lost , it will be time ¦ enough then for any who are luckless enough to remain alive , to gatheT up their clothes and depart to some land r where freedom exists . " 8 Mr . William T . Colernan , President of the San - Francisco Vigilance Committee , has been arrested in . New York at the suit of . James B . iVIaloney , one of the i exiled , and has been heltrto bail in the sum of 50 , 000 r dollars . The danger from y ellow fever is considered over in e New York . The suspected vessels have been allowed to a come up to quarantine anchorage from tho south-west r spit . c Sir . GeorgeTeabody has declined the public dinners t tendered to him by New York , Philadelphia , Boston , 1 and other cities , which desired to do honour to his efforts ) a to promote international good fooling between Great I . Britain and the United States . y Mr . Corwhie , the commissioner sent to Panama to rec port upon the massacre of tho California passengers , concludes his report with a recommendation that possession be taken of the Isthmus . He asserts that the present Government is responsible for the outrage , and ought to pay a line of 50 D , 000 dollars ; and that it i » cither unable or unwilling to protect passenger ' 9 * ' The Government of Panama , on the other hand , imputes a hml animus to Mr . Ward , the American consul ; asserts that many of the Californian passengers are very violent ; admits its own weakness , owing to the constant refusal of foreign residents to pay their taxes ; fjtutes thut thoro has been an increase of tVircc since the not ; and promises to make jnst reparation for any proved injury , Money in in demand at New York , but sufliciciUly in abundance for sound commercial purposes . Stocks arO depressed , tho recent ririe having been succeeded by a decline .

      - , It To Lave The Hich The; -.Y- - Ol P...

      - , it to lave the hich the ; - . y- - ol primo- fl . o-V' THE ORIENT . ' l INUIA . [) t l The last mail from India brings scarcely any news of m importance . Oude is < j . uiet , and the Santlmln arc porto fectly tranquil , being in a great munsure- tlisjtiritctl by a vc famine from which they are suffering , as ono of the conhe sequence !* of last year's risings . . Thoro liavu Ijcoii somo e ( 1 disturbances nt Pesliawur , wliero a couple of troopers ,. were attacked , while patrolling , by some fellows in uinll 0 bush , who wounded them so severely that one bus biuco . I , ' , died , —Mr . Cope , of Lahore , has been condemned by tho ... authorities of the I ' unjatib , and by the Supreme ( iovern-[ v uuint ( though without ji formnl trial ; for concealing , . ' ,. with fehmious intent , a box of jewola intended for the ol- Paris Exhibition . —The lknk of Bengal hao further ro-, i _ < 11 iced its rules of discount nnd interest ono per cent , nil 110 I round ; and bullion and . specie are abundant , CHINA . ! a Tho rebels continue to advance . Tlio . y havo taken on , Tan-yang , uxul arc thua brought into proximity witu

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 11, 1856, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_11101856/page/3/