Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 October 1896 — A WHITE MAN AUCTIONED. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

A WHITE MAN AUCTIONED.

A Kentucky Vagrant Sold to the Highest Bidder Under State Laws. Human slavery is not wholly abolished in the United States. Under the laws of Kentucky a man who does not support himself—that is, a yagrant—can be sold at auction to the highest bidder, whereby he becomes a mere chattel. For a certain time, dependent on the length of the sentence imposed by the court, his time and labor belong to the man who buys him, and he is a slave, virtually and in fact. Recently a white man, Lawrence Peak, was so disposed of at Elizabethtown. Peak was duly convicted of vagrancy and found guilty, and the court ordered him to be sold at auction for a period Of three months. On the day of the sale a crowd gathered at the court house and the district attorney acted as auctioneer. He detailed the age and qualities of the man and stated the period during which he would be the slave of the highest bidder. One dollar was the fixed offer and the sum ad-

vanced until a saloonkeeper purchased Peak for $12.75. Peak will have to be clothed and supported while with his new master, and the State will see that the slave does his duty.

BELLING A TRAMP BY AUCTION.