The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1854-08-17
STATISTICS OF IDIOCY, INSANITY, AND PAU
PERIsM

The newspapers and politicians of the Pro-
Slavery school had the temerity, some years
ago, to challenge comparison of the slave
with the free States, as regards wealth and
general prosperity. They have been routed
and driven from that position, so completely,
by the incontestable facts of the Census, that
they no longer venture to contest the matter
They now content themselves with making
garbled and unfounded statements relative to
criminal and church statistics, which We have
already set correctly before the public, or IN
reference to the number of idiots lunatics, and
paupers On this head, VIC find the following
statement going the rounds of the Southern
press:
Population of Massachusetts, 993, 399
Population Of Tennessee 1882, 625
Tennessee exccss of inabitsnts 1926
PauPerisnl.
Massachusetts, has (paupers) 5.549
Tennessee 531
Excess in Massachusetts 1858
Massachusetts,, with SO, 226 inhabitants less
than Tennessee, has over eight times as many
paupcrs.
Insane.
Massachusetts has 1,647
Tennessee 478
Excess of Massachusetts 1,169
This partial comparison is accompanied with
the usual Qualifications over the moral superb
GRITTY of the South to the North, when it only
proves that Massachusetts has been at greater
pains to provide for the destitute classes than
Tennessee But the latter State being some
SIX times as large as Massachusetts, and with
little more population, for the most part en-
gagged in agriculture, must of course be better
supplied with the nero necessaries of life than
the former. This is particularly true IN refer
ence to fuel and clothing, owing to the mllder
climate of Tennessee. Still we will proceed to
snow, from a comparison of other Northern
and Southern States that the great contrast
between Massachusetts, and Tennessee, as to
the number of paupers, is owing to the better
PROVISION for that class by the former State.
There can be no doubt that this is the true
secret of the matter in regard to lunatics and
idiots Miss Dix, who has made personal
exploration of the Southern and Western
States, in which the claims Of these unfOrtu
mates have been greatly neglected, invariably
made reports to their Legislatures which as
tonished every one By the number of lunatics
whom che found scattered over the country,
often without any public provision for their
necessities It is not probable that any ap
proach has yet been made to the truth in this
matter, in any Southern or Western State
while in Massachusetts the greatest pains and
expense have been incurred, in order to provide
for the physical wants, and even the education,
of idiots and lunatie5.
1t is yell knOa0n fact, that a large number
Of l,natics are sent from the South to Baltimore,
Philadelphia, and other Northern cites. They
have few Lunatic Asylums in the South, the
general practice being to cODfno insane per-
sons in the county jails, unless they or their
friends have the means of paying tho expense
of a residence in Northern asylum.
We present the following tables, showing the
numbers Of insane and idiots in the Northern
States, including New England, Now York,
Pennsy lyauia, New Jersey, and Delaware, the
Western FREQ States, and the Southern or slave
States: --'..s.sy-y.s.