laws not only punish men for cruel and unnecessary punishment inflicted on slaves, but there are penal statutes against the unnecessary and barbarous abuse and destruction of horses, and other species of property.  She may tell us that the penal statutes, so far as slaves are concerned, are a dead letter; that they are inoperative; that they have no force or effect whatever.  This also, I know to be untrue, from personal observation.  I admit that slaveholders often evade the punishment due their crimes, and so do men everywhere.  The crimes of men of wealth and influence too often go unpunished, not only in the slave States, but wherever the foot of man has trodden the soil.  All will admit, that as a general rule, so far as free men are concerned, the laws are based on principles of justice and equality, and yet, the wealthy, the influential and the powerful, in many instances, find but little difficulty in evading the law, and perverting justice whenever they come in contact with the indigent and ignorant.  From a superiority of knowledge, wealth and station, men derive advantages in legal transactions as well as in everything else.  It is but one of the misfortunes incident to poverty and ignorance.

Much has been said, and much has been written about the harsh and cruel treatment of Southern slaves; but there is a vast deal of error and misconception among those unacquainted with the facts, and too much misrepresentation among those, who are, or ought to be better informed.  The Southern slave is not amenable to the civil laws for his conduct, except in a qualified sense, and under certain circumstances.  He is accountable to his master, and his master is amenable to the civil laws.  If suit is instituted for damages, in consequence of depredations committed by a slave, it is brought against the master, and not against the slave.  Hence, when a slave is guilty of a misdemeanor, the authority to punish is vested in the master, and not in the legal authorities.  I do not pretend to say, that this is the exact letter of the law, but this I know, by common consent, is the practice in the South.  The right to punish being vested in the master, he inflicts the punishment in his own way, and to some extent, at his own discretion.  The master is judge, juror, and executioner.  Whipping is the ordinary punishment inflicted on slaves for crime.  Whether it is the punishment most likely to deter them from the commission of it, I know not; but I think it is probable, that under the circumstances, 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,