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Our Legislature

Our Legislature image
Parent Issue
Day
14
Month
April
Year
1845
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

We find in the papers many charges against the members of the late Legisiature'. It i.s said that the stationary bill of the members wil] be nearly $1,500 - that bilis to%he amount of $1,200 have been presented already - that every member went off well freightod vith stationary - that several members got excused before the close of the session and ajtcrwards obtained stalionary lo the amount of from $5 to $15 which thcy carried home - and lhat one membcr rcceived 20 worth at once and $15, and $5, &c., at olhcr times - which he took to hls room, and from thence it disappeared. These things are not statedon responsible authority, and we have therefore forborne to publish the articles. But as Ujcao reporte a.vo vp.i-y generally believed, and as they tend to discredit the whole Legislature, it isdesirable lhat the facLs from authentic source should be laid before the public, that the innocent may be exonerated; and the pilferers may receive the reprobalion they deserve. A man wlio has a soul so little as to go in for the "Stealings" on so small a scale, cannot havethat capacity of mind and amplitude of views which a legislator ought to possess.Q3 The Boston papers contain notices of lectores n that city by Dr. Baird. In bis burlh lecture, Dr. Baird explained the diffurence existing between tije condition of the erfs of Russia and the slaves of this country. The serfs of Russia, that is the mass of them, are bovght and tcld willi thé land. There are about 48,000,000 of these serfs - about 1,000,000 bond serfs are bought and sold separate frotn the land- -these serfa are generally jouse servant?. The tenures upon which he eerfs ore held vary in different provinces. n some districts, the serf pays to his lord the siim of $4 per annum, he being permitted to ieep as his own oroperty whatever additionnl he niay earo. Many of the best mechantes are serfs - they of course pay a much larger 6iim o their lord, and with a passport, travel over the country in search of employment - they kcop whatever thcy earn over and above tlie siim nareed upon between them and their owner. Many serfw are wealthy men. One man in Ruseia, formerly a serf, novv owns 100,000 serfs. A nobleman in St. Petersburgh owns a serf worth infinite'y more property thnn himself - whom he will not free, in order, that at the enterlainments whic!j he gives, when ibis serf is obligcd to wait on him, he may 6ay that he is waited upon by the richest serf in all Rtissia. There are iio serfs in the three Bultio provinces - none in Finland - the abolifion of eerfdom was commenced there in the time of Aloxander and completed by the present emperor. It took about thirty years to effect i). Tne difFerence between the serfs of Russia and our slaves, consists principally in that the former are perpetually altached to the soil, and go with it in all its irapsfgn?.03 We find the following1 statement in one of our exchanges, by which it appears that nenrly one sixth of the officers of llie Navy nre from Virginia, while the Stute furnishes lint n very smnll proportion of the seamcn. The list of 344 shows that of thtfÍIl3 We 'have jast rece Ved intelliger.ee tbat a friend of Liberty hns succeeded in bringing the case of a gírl claimed as c ilavé under the luwe of tliis State, wil! her master befoie the Snpreme Coiírt of liie State by wbich the exislence of Slavery under the nevv cónstitvition wil! bc ftiliy tesled. The quesüon will be argoed befon o fiill court in May. - JYcw Jersey Frccman.Editors of Signal: The Detroit Ad vertiser copies the folloWing from the Aun Arbor Staie Journal: 'The Signa! of tiiGSrly lias a long arlicle (lejsigneJ .o persuade ihe Liberty party tú thnjnfain tlieir groiind oild have noihing to do wii h nny ether pürty,no matter how unlisluve ry il may appnar tobe. Ofcoursc thé Libcriy paiiy will do just as i.ey tve proper. - To tljo leaders Of llmt party wc liiivo but onu word to say: Ymi Imd Uig power nt the last ProiileiiMal eloclion to dofeat tho unnoxation of' Texnp, fn] ihe cxteusioi) of slavery, and you delibeiately icfu.sod tb do k; fttifl f"r tliis grotís dprelïcliou of tl tity , yo;i iirc GU1LT' hefuie Heavtn nnd bet'iire men of lbo crimes and caljnnitics whicli tliat dis.tstrous inei-iirf may briii"" uoon our ccunlrv. - Siatt Journul. A word in roply! To the VVliig leaders the Libeity men huvt "but Mie word to say. You liad II ie power "t the last prpsidemial election to defeot the "annexation of Texas, and (lie extensión oí ".l.iveiVj and you deliborately refli6ed to do "it." Against onticXation yon spakc not in conven: ion. - you took not o presidential opponent, - -You choüe not a nonslnveliolder, - You woukl not nn Abolitionist. Dut you preferrcd n Slavehoider: You selectcd one c'glad (!!!) to ce" annexation wherj some cobweb diflioulties were brushed awny. Yon clung totlie Missouri Comproniifer, - the Árkánsas slnvery giver, - the early friend of Annexaüon, - the supporter of Texas recotriiiijon-- 'he WhigAboülion rejected of Ii39 - nnd the ab-cer of Mendenhall. IVofessing a slavery Jiaired, you would have only him, whocost in your w.Hth, that ït was no objection. Profefssing an umexatiun horror, you had hendsand hearts, but for the aasertor of the startling doctrino thftt "it would be vnwiáe" (!) to rofuse ''the ar.quiíiíion'1' (!!!) because of slavery. Professitiir both Anti-annexatioü and Antislavery, you passed into eflective power - with anthosiasm sSrange, as wiih honor rare,- the great proslavery and onnexation champion,Calhnun. Thus in profession lood, - in Convention silent, - in action falso, - you.weregood tvhige, but faithless to Liberty. With the okl and avowed anti-Texas oarty you would.not cooperale. The representativo of a consistent oppositinn to onuc-xation - you wou ld not eupport. You traduced the one, - ynu Roorbacked the othcr, - and both you reduced to an impotence infantile as the strained sinews of a niighty organization could eíTect. VVith intellect and p'jrse,; - wilh press and tongue, - with truth or without it, as mighl suit: yon essayed to disevedit theouly Antislavery effort of the day: And to crush the first appeal to free Americana on behalf of their Constitution's"one idea' - LIBPUtTV' - you hurled the great weight of your party. "You sovved the wind, you have reoped the whirhvind," and for the fruits of your labor - look to ilie South. "For this grosa direliction of duty you are"GUILTY before heaven and before men of the crimes and calam ties, which that disaslrous toeasure (aunexatiou) may bring upon your country'

Article

Subjects
Signal of Liberty
Old News