Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1832-01-19
VOL. ~XXvIH.---NO. rs.

of Whites, 5.397
Colored, 10 40
Decrease of Whites in forty years, 522
nearly equal TO 9 per cent.
Increase of Colered, 3,464
equal to 80 per cent.
Gain OF Colored in 40 years, 3oS6
Should the Whites decrease and the colored
increase, for 40 years to come, in the same RAJ
tics, the population will then stand thus,
Whites, 1912
u Coiored, 1858
three time as numerous as the Whites.
In 1870, Halifax had,
Whites, OH
Colored, SOL
In 1880,
Whites, 12.9I5
Colored, 1917
Increase in 40 years
of Whites, 1884
equal to A per cent.
of Colored, 1926
equal to l6l per cent.
Gain OF Colored in 40 years, 5.344
III both increase i'm the same ratios, 10. the
Whites, 1897
Colored, 1896
or two Colored 70 one White.
a part OF the table 1 have just read, Mr.. Speaker, is ex-
tracted from the petition referred to your Select Commit
tee from the County OF Hanover. l have already stated
that there are several counties in the States, in which the
slaves are twice, and many others in (which they are, near
Iy twice as numerous as the whites; and it would be very
easy to shew, that ifthe two kinds OF population increase
in the same ratio for the next, that they have done for the
last forty years, the slaves will, at the end of that time, be
from three to five times snumerous as the whites, in those
counties.
But, Sir, having said enough to satisfy any reasonable
man, that the slaves are rapidly gaining on the whites I
shall now endeavor to show beyond controversy. that tbev
must gain upon them more rapidly in time to come, than
they nave done In time past. The population of every
country must of necessity, be limited to the means of sub
sistence which it affords, and of course there can be no in
crease of population in countries in which the inhabitants
are so numerous, as TO consume all the means of subss-
tence which 1t can be made TO produce; the population of
il was a thousand OF two 4}ReoTGiss annd Years AGO IN o,b.~"ri
settled countries, such as Holland, France and many narts
of Germany and Italy, the increase of population is scarceIS
pcTCepuDle. In new countries. In. which u;;o -
abundant, like the States of Ohio, Indiana. and soua h
population doubles itself, in from ten TO twelve years, and
In the whole United States, il doubles itself in about t,ycn
ty-hvc or thirty years, as has been aScertained from actual
enumeraions, independent of emigration from abroad,
The means of subsistence in every country consist al
most exclusively OF the products of the soil, and the
quantity OF these products depends very much upon the
manner in which the soil is cultivated. England, for
example, sustains three times as many inhabitants.
ing to its high state of cuivation, as it would do If
cultivated as lands are cultivated in Virginia. And
every country, in which all the inhabitants are free
will sustain double as great a population s one in which
slavery exists. In attempting, then, 10 ascertain what
number of inhabitants Virginia will maintain. W. as n"t t
to be governed by the number of inhabitants TO the souorc
mile, in countries in which agriculture is carried TO the
highest perfection, but by the amount of the necessarics
oil lie which can be drawn from the sell by our mode of
cuIuvauon. Estimating the population which Virginia,
or rather that part of it lying East of the Blue Ridge, will
support, upon that principle, it is perfectly apparent it can
never sustain more than one-third in addition TO IFS present
population. The whole number of inhabitants in Eastern
Virginia, according TO the census of 1880, is 1872, SOS: bv
adding one-thlrd TO this number, L ascertain the whole
number OF inhabitants which Eastern Virginia can sur
port, TO be 1~,llO,f90. That this estimate is suficieniv
high, is proved by the fact, that there are seventeen COM,
ties i'm that part OF the State, which have a smaller popu-
laton now than they had forty years ago. that there are
many others which have scarcely increased at all in that
period, and probably many more which have decreased i'm
the last ten or twenty years. And the additional fac. fur
nlshed by the statement made out by the Auditor for the
ConVenuon, thai IN the TWO great Eastern divisions of the
State from the Blue Ridge 10 the Ocean, the ratio of in
crease has been but a very small fraction of one per cent.
per annum Tor many years past. Again, Sir, it has been
ascertained with great certainty, that the whole slave ma
pulaion in the United States increases at the rate of two
and a halt per cent. a year, and doubles itself in about
twenty-eight years. Surprising the whole coIored ~
lation of Eastern Virginia to double itself in that period.
1T will in the GEAR 1858, amount TO 914 ,O26, or more than
the entire population of that part of the State at present.
and within 1864 of as many as il can ever contain:
consequently, there will then be but one white to every
five coIored inhabitants in that portion of the Common
wealth.
But | may lie asked why | assume that the colored ~
pulaiOn is TO continue to increase as heretofore, and that
the white will decrease as the coored advances. To such
a question / should reply, because the checks upon the
increase of population growing out Of the want of means of
subsistence operate exclusively upon the white people.
One of the immediate effects oftI,e want of roeans - ~ r.
sistence in all thickly settled countries, is that it so limits
the number of marriages that the number of children born
scarcely ever exceeds the number of deaths in any given
period. How far this cause operates in Eastern VIRGINIA.
we may judge from the fact, that Notwithstanding the en-,
tire white population of that part of the State. "
greaterby 06,60O in 1920, than that of Western Virginia,
yet the number of whites under five years old, was two
thousand greater in 1880, in Western, than i'm Eastern
Virginia. / will mention another fact, which proves CON
clusively, that this cause does not nj all retard' the growth
Of our colored popoluIaton, and will shew its effects az 70
both kinds of population in a very striking point of view.
it is, that according to the census of 1880, the whole nun,
Der of the cOlored population in Eastern Virginia, under
ten years of age, was upwards ofone hundred and ffv-6ve
thousand, whilst the number Ofwbitcs. of a corresponding
age, was but a little over one hundred and ten tlonsanJ
making a difference in Iav0r Of the former of nearly forty
five thousand. Another of the immediate checks upon fbe
increase of population, in densely Inhabited countries.
arising from the wantof means ofsubsistence, is The mum
bero poor persons, who perish in times of great scarcity.
from hunger. II there ever be any Of the inhabitants of
This State, who perish from want, they must belong y,
the poorer class OF white people, who have no persen
able TO relieve them, interested in preserving their lives
The slave is always secure from this dangcr-the masic,
being always prompted by motives of interest to sell If MOI
able TO support him. Another, and the principal cI,ecg
upon the increase Of the population of This State. IL he
immense emigration from it. This check has hitherto one-
rated pretty equally upon all classes Of our inhabitants. and
the gain Of the blacks has not been greater tban can rea