Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1832-01-17


on the Whites, shall now cndcavor to sbew he
yond controversy, that they must gain upon then,
much more rapidly in time to come, than thcv
have done in time past. Tho population of every
country must OF necessity, DO limtsd to the means
OF subsistence which it affords, and of course tbers
can DO no increase of population in Countr;cs i'm
which tho inhabitants numerous as 10 CON
sumo all the means of subsistence hich il can bo
MADE TO produce; the population of China, has
long been stationary, not being greater now thon il
was thousand or two thousand years ago In other
old settled Countries, such as, Holland France and
many parts of Germany and Italy, the increase of
population rs scarcely perceptible. In new Coun
tries III winch provisions abundant like tho
states OF Ohio, Indiana, and some Others populd
ton doubles itself in, from ten to twelve wears:
and In the whole United States it doubles itself in
aoou. twenty-five or thirty years, as has been as
rtained from actual cnumerations independent of
emigration from abroad. The means of subsistence
IN every country consist almost exclusively of the
products OF the soil, and the quantity of these
PioeIc.s depends very mech upon the manner i'm
winch the soil is cultivated. England, for oxam
ple' sustains three times as many inhabitants ow
ing to its high state of cultivation as it would do
II cultivated as lands cultivated in Virginia
u every country In which all the inhabitants
are Tree, will sustain double as great popuIotop
) as one I'm which slavery exists In attempting then
10 ascertain what number ofinhabitans Virginia will
MAINTAIN, we are not to be governed by the num-
80 W r'aoi.ahts TO the square mile in Countries
w"'c" agriculture is carried to the highest per-
lection, but by the amount of the necessaries Of
i're "hch can be drawn from tho soil by our mode
Oh cultivation. Estimating the population which
virginia, or rather that part of it lying East of the
nue tidge, will support, upon that principle it is
perfectly apparent 1t can sustain more than
one thrd In addition to its present population The
whoe number of inhabitants in Eastern Virginia
ding one third to this number 7 oscertain tho
whoe number OF in habitants which Eastern Vir-
g'nia can support TO be 1,1IO4 That this csti
ete is sufficiently high is proved by the fact that
eneie are seventeen Counties in that part of the
state, which have n smaller population now, than
'"ey had forty years ago. that there many others
"hch nave scarcsl y increased at all in that period
an ana probably many more which have decreased in
s"e iast ten or twenty years. And the additional
| fact furnished by the statement made ouI nv, th
Audltor TOR the Convention, that in the two great
Eastern Divisions of the State from the Bue RIDGE
10 the ocean, tho ratio of increase has been but
very small fraction of per cent per annum for
many years past. Again, Sir it has been ascer
| tanned with great certainty, that the whole slave
population in the United States increases at the
rate OF two and half per cent year, and doubles
ltseif In about twenty eight years Supposnp
the whole colorcd population of Eastern VIRGINIA
TO double itself in that period, it will in the wear
1898, amount to 914 026, or more than the entire
OF that part of the State present. and
"ithih ISo,4|4 OF as many as it can ever contain:
| consequently, there will then be but one white to
Comm enwealth Va ~
But may be asked why assume that the CO.
| increase
tefore, and that the white will decrease ms the co
| iorea advances. To such question should re-
ply, because the checks upon the increase of non
uiatioh growing out OF the want of means of sub
sistehce operate exclusively upon the white peo-
ple One of the immediate effects of the want of
means OF subsistence in all thickly settled Coun
tres Is that 1T so limits the number of marriages
that the number OF children born scarcely ever ex-
ceeds the number of deaths in any given period
| How lar this cause operates in Eastern VIRGINIA.
we may Judge from the past, that Notwithstanding
the entire white population of that part of the
State was greater by $4,000 in 1885, than that of
western Virginia, yet the number of whites under
hve years DID, was two thousand greater in 1890
| IN western than in Eastern Virginia. 1 Will
mention another fact, which proves conolusvely
that this cause does not at all retard the growth
OF our coored population, and will shcw its effects
Us TO both Kinds of population in 4 very strikinr
point OF view; 1T is, that according to the census
OF 1884, the whole number Of the colored popu.
iation In Eastern Virginia, under ten wears of
was upwards of one hundred and ffty five thou
sand, whilst the number of whites, of a correspond
| ing age, was but little over one hundred and ton
thousaho' making a difference in favor of the for
mer OF nearly forty five thousand. Another Of The
immediate checks upon .hc increase of population
In densely inhabited Countries, arising from the
| want of means of subsistence is the number of
poor persons, who perish, in times of great search
| W, from hunger. If there ever be any of the in
habtants of this State, who perish from want thew
| must belong to the poorer class of white people
who have no person able to relieve them interest
GU III preserving thelr lives. The slave is ALWAYS
secure from this danger, the master being always
| prompted by motives of interest to sell. If
not able to support him. Another, and the
| principal check, upon the increase of the
! population Of this state, is the immense en-
igration from it. This check has hitherto one.
rated pretty equally upon all classes of orr
inhabitants, and the gain blacks has not been
greater than readily be accounted for upon other
| principles which l have mentioned already. But
SIR, the time has come, when the emipration
must be confined almost exclusively TO the
white population all the states of this Union
VIII ever continue open to such of our white
people as may choose to enter them. On the
other hand, many of these States have been
long closed against colored population; and
even the Southern States, to which in times pnst
so many thousands of slaves have been carried
have at length become alarmed at tire immense
| number OF slaves among them, and are taking de-
cslye measures for excluding any more of them
beng carried there in future. The Legislature of
LOUISIANA has recently passed an act to exclude
slaves from that state under very severe penalties
The gentleman from Mecklenburg MIR Goodo ) |
attributed the passage of that act to the action
OF this Assembly at its present session. upon the |
SUBJECT OF slaves; but unfortunately for that idea
the act OF The Legislature of Louisiana was passed
short time before this Legislature convened | !
also learn from the newspapers, that the Lepisla |
lures of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky and the rest !
OF tile slave holding States, about to adopt the
same policy with Louisiana. The market for !
slaves may be considered then, as closed forever
ana the inevitable consequence will be, that the !
blacks Will continue to increase without any check
whatsoever; the slave holders will be compelled |
IN order to find them employment, to drive off their
poor white tenants from their lands; the small |