they can find no punishment better adapted to the proposed object. Be
it as it may; custom has decided that it shall be the punishment of
the slave. Theft is the most common crime among slaves, and for this
they are whipped by their masters, and no further notice is taken of
the crime. A slave is simply whipped for an offense, which would
imprison a white man for several months, and then confine him in the
State penitentiary for several years. The master may, if he chooses,
surrender the offending slave to the legal authorities; but supposing
that he does, the punishment is the same; he is simply whipped and
sent back to his master. The crime may be theft, destruction of
property, assault and battery; it matters but little what, if we
except murder, rape and arson, the punishment is whipping; whether
inflicted by the master or the legal authorities. Thus, we see, that
the punishment of slaves is much more lenient, than the punishment of
free white men for similar crimes. Hence, slaves escape punishment
under circumstances, and for crimes, for which white men would be
severely punished. Slaves are viewed, for certain reasons, to some
extent, as irresponsible beings. "Oh! he is a poor negro, and knows no
better," is an expression common in the South. The crimes of free
negroes in the slave States, unless they are of the most flagrant
kind, are seldom punished. I have known repeated instances, where
stolen goods were found in their possession, and they were suffered to
escape unpunished; no one appearing willing to enforce the law against
them. On the contrary, their crimes were winked at and tolerated, for
the reason that they were considered a poor, unfortunate, depraved and
ignorant class.

Transportation of slaves from Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and
Kentucky, to the extreme Southern States, as a punishment for crime,
is not an unfrequent occurrence. I believe that in most cases, where