SLAVERY

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 5, Issue 1482, 13 September 1883, Page 2

SLAVERY

Spain, in its-Colony of. Cuba, has . been the last nation to tolerate' the system of negro slavery. But since '■■ the passing.of the. Moret Law, says the Home News, which came into opera- .. tion three' years ago, emancipation is','.. : . slowly but surely making head in the . ■ Queen of the Antilles. The number of slaves set free annually, is increasing rapidly, while.their price is djepre- ! dating so fast that numbers.'-ere .'■. enabled to purchase their.own mission. It is supposed that' abolition, will only be 1888, within a couple of yjears slavery-. .•:, will practically, have ceased to ; exist in • Cuba. .Meanwhile the condition of;,.', the slaves has been greatly implied.'!(!..-: Flogging has disappeared, 1 and' no : ' punishment but that of the stocks is ■ permitted. The immediate consequences of abolition promise to be much the same in Cuba as in our" own.. West Islands. Ruin threatens the planters,., especially the poorer ones.. The richer <J '. ■ owners got rid of their slaves,whita ' prices were still good, and with the capital thus raised and more added, procured machinery and other labor.' : ' Nor does it seem likely that the emancipated negroes will work of their own free will in Cuba any more than they did in the West Indies. Already hordes of. idle negroes infest . the island. Highway. robberies and'"'" murders are of frequent occurrence. All classes, including the lowest, carry arms, aud assassination ■ societies notably that of the Namingos, 'a'band".'....' iakin ,to the Thugs, of Hindustan—.'"■• secretly plan and cany out murder wholesale. Cuba will not be a pleasant country to live in during the next few yeais. ;

FATAL AFFRAY. » In the year 1861 one of the most exciting topics of mess conversation was the terrible and fatal affray which took place in Northumberland street, Strand, between Major Murray (an oxhussar) and a Mr Roberts (professional money-lender). Led by motives of jealousy, Roberts enticed Major Murray to his rooms in the street above named and here tho latter suddenly felt the bullotof his'enemy's revolver, which carried away fart of his skull and rendered him for a time insensible. Rallying, however, as the assassin was about to complete his work, the major engaged in a desperate fight, with Roberts, and with several empty bottles beat his opponent senseless, and then managed to escape,by the window. Roberts died of histybuhds, and Major j Murray was tried and; acquitted. The incident/narrated at full length in the | newspapers of the. period, has been | most effectively introduced in the drama "Humanity" now playing at the Standard Theatre. The combat and life and death struggle are most realistic.