The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1848-07-22
WHOLE NUMBER Ks

and admitting 10 the rights Of citizenship, the
surplus Of the oyer-PeoPled and over governed
countries of Europe. These annual addition.
constitute an element Of no inconsiderable force
In the ratio Of our progression. In the last
quarter OF century-about the period we take
for duplication of our numbers-ve have re-
ceived from the United Kingdom Of Great Brit
ain and Ireland alone, nearly million Of i'm
migrants; and from continental Europe we have
had large additions. These drains on the one
hand, and accessions on the other, are not only
likely 10 continue, but TO increase in force. A
surplus population, provided for BY emigration.
Is certain to be regularly produced. Europe,
therefore, viii not be numerically weakened by
these annual Grains, even though they should be
indefinitely augmented; and every addition 10
our numbers from abroad renders the force Of
immigration more intense, by relaxing the ties
which bind to their native soil the kindred mul-
titudes left behind.
r or an Indefinite period, then, we may calcu-
late on large andeonstaatly increasing additions
10 our population by immigration; and the nat
ural multiplication Of our own people. under
the impulse Of the powerful siimaisnis cen
tsined in sod Of extraordinary fertility, and in
me suPerabundant supply Of food, viii doubtless
maintain our past rate Of increase, and give u.s.
al the close OF the present century, hundred
millions Of Inhabitants.
One Of the most interesting and important
problems, both for the American statesman and
philosopher, Is TO determine Of what race or
races this vast population shall consist; for Oh
the solution which future generations shall give
to il, will essentially depend the prosperity Of
the community or communities they will con
stltute, and their ability TO maintain such form
OF government as shall secure to them the bles-
sings Of political liberty, and an advanced civil
iZatiOn.
In uanaraI surva,, IF Al. - l. - "a
earth Is PeoPled, though the varieties are in
Unite there are but four grand divisions-the
Asiatic, the Caucasian, the Ethiopian, and the
Indian The whole surface Of Europe, with
some uncomfortable exceptions, is occupied by
the Caucasian race-by the descendants Of the
energetic and independent hOrdes, which, from
the shores Of the Caspian, spread themselves
over Germany, and ultimately over western
Europe, and laid the foundations Of nearly all
the civilization the world contains. From this
indO-Germanic or Caucasian race We are our
selves descended; and we are doing for the New
w ord what they did not for the Old-spreading
ourselves over and subduing it-not, indeed, by
arms, but by the arts Of peace. In whatever
portion Of Europe emigration TO the United
States takes lis rise, it brings with IL homOgen-
eous currents The same blood fills the veins
OF all IL shades Of variety exists n the intel
lectual and physical characteristics Of the noul-
titudes who come among Us, it is TO be traced to
the influences which diversities Of soil, climate
and government have exerted upon them in the
different sections Of Europe in which their lot
has been cast In the great outlines Of this
animal and moral, they are iden-
tical; and they are distinguishabe from all other
races by Peculiarities not to De mistaken.
believe il to be In the order Of Providence.
that the continent Of North America, with the
exception, perhaps, OF some incOnsiderable dis
tricts, is ultimately to be peopled bv the same
race which has OversPread Europe, and made il
what il is in science, in art, in civilization and
in morals. We may, BY misapplcaion Of the
means at our command, thwart for a season the
divine PnrPose-we may postpone the cOnsuma-
ton OF the end We have 10 accomplish, bat the
deeply-seated causes which are at work will ul-
timately triumph over all obstacles. Years, pos
sibly centuries and what are centuries in the
history of nations and empires II say pos
sibly centuries may be necessary TO complete
this process; bat Il must, in the end, be COM
pleted.
| believe IT may be satisfactorily shown that
the free black population in the northern States
does not increase by its own inherent force.
doubt whether it is fully reproduced. In four
Of the New England States-Vermoni, New
Hampshire, Rhode Island and Connecticut--the
black population, from 500 to $50, materially
=.
Maine, there was an increase during the same
period; but this was doubtless due TO the Immi-
grafton Of manumitted blacks from the south,
finding their way to the principal commercial
States. Without these accessOns, the result in
these States would probably have been the same
as in the four New England States referred to.
Under the most favorable circumstances, il is,
and must continue 10 be, an inferior caste in the
north. 1t counts nothing in the estimate, phys
ical or intellectual, Of the strength Of the body
polite, Even when the forms Of its admission
TO the privileges Of freemen are complete il is an
excluded class. Let the liberal and the humane
do what they may, they cannot change the IN
alterable law Of its destiny. Public opinion at
the north-call it prejudice, if you will-pre-
sents an insuPerable barrier against its eleya-
ton in the social scale. My own State has re-
Gently, by majority Of about one hundred and
thirty thousand, refused to place blacks on the
same footing as whites in the exercise Of the
elective franchise. Illinois and Connecticut
have, believe, done the same thing by decided
votes. A class thus degraded will not multiply.
This is the first step in retrogradatiOn. The Sc
cond almost certainly follows IL will not be
reproduced; and in few generations, the pro-
cess Of extinction is performed. Nor is il the
work Of humanity or wrong. II IS the slow
but certain process of nature, working out her
ends by laws steady, and yet so silent, that
her operation is only seen in their results.
am not sure that this fact is 50 supported by
statistical data that il can be settled beyond
doubt. IL il were, il might solve great prob
lem in population in the United States-a prob
lem full Of consequence and Of instruction for
our guidsnce-the manumitted blacks, as
class, do not multiply, and perhaps are not re-
produced.
Is il the part Of wisdom or humanity to pro-
a.. saH
has its destiny written in characters not TO be
mistaken OF effsced-an extension adding moth
ing TO the public prosperity or strength, and en-
larging the basis of human degradation and SUI
feringl
What is the true policy Of the country, look
ing TO its rapid growth and 10 the steady exten-
sion Of our people over the unoccuPied portions
Of this continentl Sir. there IS a grave cause
for reflection in the unexamPled increase Of our
population by its inherent force, and still more
in the vast accessions annually made to our
numbers by immigration The public order
and prosperity depend in some degree on giving
to these accessions, foreign and domestic, uni
form and homogeneous character. We could
not divert the current of immigration If we
were disposed TO do what every dictate Of hu-
manity repels and condemns. IL Is in the vast
and fertile spaces Of the West that our own de-
scendants, as well as the oppressed and needy
mullitudes Of the Old World must find the food
they require, and the rewards FOE labor, which
are necessary to give them the spirit and the in
dependence Of freemen. | hold II to be our
sacred duty TO consecrate these spaces to the
multiplication Of the white race. Our part Is to
see, as far as in us lies, that this new material
is made TO conform TO the political organization,
Of which IL is to become an integral part.
have always believed this object would De best
accomplished by liberal policy. The Federal