Blue hen's chicken. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1848-1854, 1850-03-08

These statistics shsw that Sussex il In
} rapid decline. and so its present aspect ani
condition vi prove. Dssul iion seems {,
hang over it's fields. 'rhr pestIlential inancac,
: ci slvery is driving its citizens from thei
homes to more congotial abodes, where homes
labor is respected Other causes may have
been at work 10 bring about this deporablr
state Of things, but The morr throughly iht
subject is-investgated the clearer sill he The
conyi 'tion that slavery is nj the root of all n
mischief. Those :. Hundreds - Of Sussrs
county which contain tho greatest number ol
slaves, are the very ones which have suile,ud
most from depopulation. The Hundred Of
Northwest Fork, contained in 1880 total
population Of $3.50 ; 3ii OF which were slaves.
In lS4O We ind that il hdd Increased it's num-
Der of slaves 10 36i, but was reopccd in lis
whole population 10 3,l67; loss In ten yeirs
Of 3i2, or about one-ninh Of its people. Lit
/ tie Creek flundr' presents results neatly sim
liar 10 Nurth.west Fork. Its population in
| 1880 was 2O1, in 1910, 2,973. These two
Hundreds will he found 10 contain, in proper
lion 10 their population, the greatest number
Of slaves Of any Of the Hundreds Of Sussex
county, or oi the whole State. No other parts
Of Delaware have drpopuaIrd so last. Broad
Kiln Hundred Of the same county has the few
est slaves, in proportion to lis population, oil
population OF 3.s93 liz Of which were slaves
Ia 1910 population was 3,7il; iOi of which
were saves-iis loss in ten years 1852. On
lcomparng ilis Hundred with North west
Fork, we find that the drpopuaiion cf each
has been very nearly in exact proportion TO lis
number Of slaves. North. west Fork, with a
less population than Broad Kim. and more
than three times MS many slaves, lost In trn
years nearly three tunes as many oil It's inhab-
iiants.
Slavery in New Castle county is rapidl,
disappearing. la those Hundreds which IL
contiguous to Pennsyvania, II mny be said 10
have died out. These Hundrads are more
lpopulous and 4 urishlng than those in the
southern part OF the county, where slaves are
st!l held. To the most casual observer il Is
obvious, that where there is the least slavery,
ftliers is the grssisAi ,lses psrity. tnh g being
rbs Of NJ eal,ls, community Is
mos prosperous where the laborer is most re-
spected. Slavery makes labor disgraceful, by
lassociating it with the degraded condition oil
the slave; 50 that at last, idleness becomes TO
bs more honored than honest industry, and
that large class OF the people who are neither
slaves nor slave holders, having in eiIecl their
hands tied by public opinion, become drunes
IN the hive and burden upon sorirty. We
refer tile poor whites in the midst Of slavery Il
10 the poor whites Of the Carolinas, of Virgin.
Ia, o. lower Delaware. Stricken with poverty,
hut unwilling to work; in The darkest gno
rance but despising knowledge; they stand
before our eyes inconieslibly the Legitimate,
progeny OF that insaue system we are uphod.
lug, and appeal to us, as friends Of humanity
10 remove the cause OF their deep degradation
and assist them to rise. Is illis an untrue
picture or III any way exaggerated When, in
several OF the districts of our own State, one.
third OF the white men aud women knew moth
Ing ot reading or writing to the friends Of ed
ucalon. language cannot exaggerale their de-
plorable condition. One-ihird OF the white
men and women il it possible Yes, aud
worse still. Consider that the colored people
form more than one fourth Of the inhabitants
Of our State, and that they, as a class, may br
set down as destitute Of learning, and what
Kind OF population have wei But as tor
the unfortunate descendants of Africa, they are
hardly esteemed within the pale of humanity .
All the cries about educating the people, with
very few exceptions, are meant only for the
white ones. We forget that men are men
from whatever cline they come or whatever
color they may be that they are human be-
lngs, with all the feelings, hopes and aspira
lloas common to ourselves that they are con-
meeting links in humanity's great chain, and
It Is vain to believe or hope that this degrada-
ton Is not our own great loss, or that we can
keep from them the full measure oil their rights
without cur,aiing our own.
There is abundant evidence 10 prove that
slavery keeps knowledge from the masses, aud
thus may be considered the gfand foe OF COM
mon school education. The Louisville, Ky.
Examiner says that the :. truth is now pretty
generally admitted, that State which cher
ishes the institution of slavery, shall also BIZ
cursed with an ignorant white population" "l
Delaware is one Of those States. She cherish
es such an institution; particularly in the
southern part OF her domains. And what do
the statistics Of the last census in relation to
tue amount of Ignorance show Clearly this !;
That slavery is the main cause Of that Ignorance.
The white population of the State was, ia 49,
40, 55,56l 1882 Of these, over twenty years
OF age. could not read or write. In the differ
ent Hundreds Of Sussex county, the number
Of ignorant whites is very generally proper
TONED to the number Of slaves. Broad kiln
has l04 slaves and l0i ignoran, whites. North
west FORK has 36i slaves and 36s ignorant
whites. But let US present these statistics in
the torn Of table, and compare two Of the
most northern Hundreds Of the State, where
slavery is little felt, with two of the Hundreds
Of Sussex, befvre quoted, which contain the
greatest number of slaves.
CENSUS OF 1910.
Tofnt white nou M nf .lavea Ia ulutes 1