THE FREEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD. [From the Times, April 27.]

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VII, 23 October 1850, Page 3

THE FREEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD. [From the Times, April 27.]

Good stories usually begin, " Once upon a time ;" and this commencement, we know, is at least as old as the days of the Greek theatre. But, though we are going to tell a story as good as ever was written, we shall not throw back the scene to any such distance. What we are about to relate has only just occurred, has often occurred before, and | will probably occur again ; and yet, for all this, we feel perfectly assured that ninety* nine oat of every hundred of our readers will share out own amazement at the prodigious quality of extravagance exemplified in the facts. On Thursday the master of a merchantman was summoned before Mr. Yardley, at the Thames Police Court, to answer the demand of his ship's steward for wages due. His plea to the charge was, that the services of the said steward had been suspended for two months, although he had heeu maintained in the interval, so that the complainant, in fact, was a debtor to the extent of eight weeks' work, and a proportionate amount of unearned wages. The poor steward was fain to admit the facts, and yet, on the other hand, the master acknowledged that he was invariably well conducted, had made two voyages in the vessel, was a particularly intelligent and respectable man, and had failed in no act of his duty. AH this was exceedingly mysterious, and wofully was Mi. Yardley perplexed at the aspect of the case till the captain considerately entered upon the following little explanation of the affair :—: — The steward in question, Isaac Bowers, was a man of colour, being a native of Antigua, and the port to which the barque had been bound was a port of the United States of America. Now, by the ancient observances of South Carolina, it is ruled and determined that so soon as a trading vessel shall touch

the territory of this little commonwealth, it shall be boarded by an officer of the State, who examines the crew, and in cases where Mack parentage is indicated by their complexion, transfers the owner thereof to the town gaol daring the sojourn of the ship, the cargo of which is duly charged with the maintenance of the prisoner. Accordingly, when the Mary Ann arrived at Charleston the constable came on board, and, espying the said Isaac Bowers, the ship's steward, him did incontinently claim and carry off to gaol. The Mary Ann remained two months in port, so that tbe steward lay exactly that time in prison, the master being all the while charged with his keep, though losing bis services, as in the opening of the case was duly set forth and alleged. We can picture to ourselves a general chorus of readers, echoing Mr. Yardley's breathless expression of incredulity and amazement — "Do you meau to tell me that they come aboard at Charleston and take men of colour out of vessels ? Do you mean to say that a British subject was taken out of your ship and imprisoned for two months because he was a man of colour ?" Yes, we do. At least, it was so stated with the utmost plainness and naivete, and without any contradiction from any party. The captain alleged tbe fact, and the steward admitted it. The unfortunate black passively submitted to his fate, nor did tbe master offer any resistance or remonstrance against what he well knew to be the laws of this enlightened republic. In fact, he had beforehand advised the steward to leave the ship at Boston, a precaution which his officer, either careless of consequences, or fancying himself whiter than he was, had chosen to disregard. Nobody, indeed, threw any question upon the main facts of the case. When a man of colour approaches the shores of the slave-holding states of America, he is taken out of the ship and put in gaol, the state being indemnified for his maintenance by a lien upon the vessel. Nothing can be plainer than the custom. Now, it must be confessed that the first impression of a story like this partakes somewhat of the titillation produced by any anecdote of extravagant coolness or assumption. When we read of a Dey of Tripoli ordering every Jew in his dominions to buy two white hats within twenty- four hours, or of a musical Prince encoring the whole of Don Giovanni without allowing the performers to quit the stage, we can hardly repress a smile of astonishment at tbe spirit exhibited and the authority assumed — and some such homage may certainly be claimed by tbe States in question for their very remarkable proceedings. The idea of instituting a regular douane for articles of humanity, and declaring certain complexions contraband, is a piece of unreasoning arrogance bordering very closely on the ludicrous; nor does the practice acquire much more gravity of character from the explanation given of it. It seems that tbe man of colour is to be locked up lest he should "contaminate " tbe slaves of the place. This can hardly mean lest he should deepen their tints ; for, according to American proverbs, the negroes of the locality are already so black that charcoal makes a white mark upon them. The infection apprehended must be wholly moral, so that it is the national character which is thus cared for. In America free man means white man, and blackamoor means slave. A free black is a contradiction in terms, a lusus naturcß, a social anomaly, and a political monster. So the hybrid, out of respect to the public eye, and for the protection of public morals is promptly locked up, for fear any slave should infer from the sight that slavery is separable from colour, or any white that black skins are compatible with freedom. A black is a slave, and, if he does not come to the Carolinas in his proper capacity, they will take care that be' assumes it for the time being. We may suppose, then, that the facts are now made comprehensible, and that it is understood that when a gentleman of colour visits the Southern States of the American Union he will not be allowed to touch thereat, or even to remain in bond at the port, but will be taken up and put in gaol immediately, and that this is " the law of the country," to he complied with, as Mr. Yaidley observes, " whatever it may be." Yet it still really does seem hard that a British subject should be imprisoned for no offence whatever beyond the inferences which his complexion may suggest to a foreign population. We doubt exceedingly whether the practices which the Greek Government is now made- to rue were ever half as sharp as this. A country, it will be said, has a right to protect itself against " contamination" however it may define the term. The Chinese exclude "barbarians" from their cities, and the Emperor of Japan puts every strange sail in moral quarantine as soon as it makes the port of Jeddo. This in some sense is true, but, by the application of the self same doctrine, if, Mr. Bright, should feel inclined this summer for a trip to St. Pc-

tersburgh the Emperor of Russia would be perfectly justified in taking him out of the steamer and locking him up at Cronstadt during the vessel's stay. After all, the story seemed to create such wonderment and' perplexity in the court that it was at length declared to be '* a case for Lord Palmerston," — an ambiguous expression, perhaps, of its qualities or capabilities, but intimating the instinctive rebellion of English feeling against oppression and tyranny. Mr. Yardley, as much bewildered by this Transatlantic usage of the subject as William Perm would have been by the injunctions of the Koran, suggested that " in future contracts with men of colour it be made a matter of stipulation that they should not be paid while they were in prison ;" a clause which might wonderfully edify some legal antiquary five hundred years hence, as shewing that there were certain seafaring men to whose capacities imprisonment was naturally incidental, all offences apart. The cate, however, is to come on again next Monday, for, although the poor steward was held fairly entitled to bis wages, which were forfeited by no offence or act of his own, an incompleteness in the accounts suggested a remand. In the interval the opinion of the Foreign Secretary upon the question may perhaps be ascertained.