The national Republican., 1861-10-30
Wednesday, October 80, 1861.
ss- Reading Matter ON every page.-sa
MARYLAND.

ai' tne increase OF population IN Maryland,
within a century, has taken place. In the
southern counties, embracing 6,65O square
miles, (ten per cent more than the combined
area Of Rhode Island and Connecticut the
movement of population in sixty years was
as follows:
whites .l07,754 ll2,66l
Slaves ................. S4,303 1888
There was some increase in the number Of
free negroes, so that, upon the whole, the az.
gregate population remained about stationary
during this term of sixty years, as it has sinc,,
and as 1t probably did during the twenty years
preceding 1870. There was no prior census
taken, but Maryland authorities infer, fro,s
the number of "taxables" and "polls" re-
ported to the Continental Congress by he
delegates from Maryland, that there was yery
little increase Of any class of population from
the commencement Of the revolutionary strug-
gle down to 1890.
What Is true of Maryland on the Chesapeake
is true of Virginia on the Chesapeake-thc
odd Dominion" as 1t is distinguished from
the remainder OF the State by the inhabitants.
A hundred years has changed nothing for the
better. If some new towns have thriven, old
ones have decayed, and the agricultural popr,-
lation, which constitutes nearly the whole. has
remained stationary in numbers.
But TO remain stationary, in this busy and
moving world, is to retrograde, aud this region
upon the Chesapeake, pronounced by Genera
Washington to be the most desirable in IL
United States, and in his day the seat of com, ar
ative affilence, numbers and power. produce.
now, upon the thousands frcm the populo Is
North who behold it, the impression Of an un.
Inhabited and abandoned country.
The cause of this comparative decadence is
patent to all men. 1t is negro slavery. which
ought to have been put an end to long ago.
and would have been, but for the ascendancy
of politicians, who have debauched Chris,ia, II,
people into an avowed adoption of the theory
that communities can thrive upon the deestab!e e
business of breeding men and women for "a lie
What is to be done, is to put those politicians
down, and now is the time to do it.
We had occasion, four years ago, to describe
the southern counties of Maryland We repro.
duce that description now, and, indeed, de-
scristion written fifty years ago would not be
out of date:
In addition to the stationary character both
Of the aggregate population of the southern
counties of Maryland, and of the proportion of
the two elements of whites and slaves, the
reader will not fail to observe, also, how in
significant the whole population is, compared
with the area. No region on the lace Of the
globe contains more admirable advantages uf
climate, fertility, salubrity, and position. The
Eastern shore fronts both upon Chesapeake
Bay aud upon the Atlantic Ocean. The West
ern shore fronts upon Chesapeake Bay while
its long southern border is washed by the ma
jestic Potomac, which men-of-war can ascend
more than one hundred miles from the bay.
Both shores are penetrated by numerous navi-
gable streams, and creeks, and inlets, making
an aggregate of water-line superior to that OF
any State in the Union. Proximity and easi
ness of access to New York, Philadelphia, AMI
Baltimore, on the north, and the steady grow h
of Washington on the south, afford the best
markets, and ought to stimulate agriculture to
its highess perfection. One would have sup
posed that the national capital would have
tracted to its neighborhood dense aud veal
thy population /; that the great roads, leading
from it in all directions, would have been dot
ted with villas and villages /; that it would have
been, like Paris, the point of the display and
sale Of the costlest works of art that skillful
workmen would have filed its wide-spreading =
suburbs and that every eligible emnence
within an easy ride would have been crowned
with the residences of men of competent for
tune snd cultivated tastes seeking nearness to
the libraries, the monuments, the society, the
luxury, and the stirring intellect, of the polti-
cal centre OF great nation. These southern
counties of Maryland thus stimulated to ad.
vancement, are among the oldest-settled por-
toas of the United States They embrace An.
napolis, which received its city charter in l7OS
which was considered suitable place for the
sitting of Congress, under the Confederation
aud which yet contains numerous architectural
monuments of ante-revolutionary wealth aud
taste. 1t is region full of historical interest
IN its localities, its traditions, and Its distin-
guished names.
g The Eastern Shore is far removed from the
great lines OF travel. A picture of the baronial
magnifcencG Of one of its great proprietors
drawn by his escaped bondman, Frederick
Douglass, is familiar to the reading public
With that exception, very little is popularity
known of that isolated region, beyond its posi-
ton on the map. Yet, undoubtedly its scene
ry is as attractive as its position and, while
Wge portions of its soil were naturally fertile
re remainder is easily reclaimable by the pro
c"Fses familiar to agriculture conducted by
free labor.
"A correspondent Of the New York hide
pendent says:
80 Any one who will take the trouble to no.
lice Its location on the map cannot fail to per-
ceive that, in respect to It's geographical posi-.
tion, it is unequalled by any other part of the
Union. The ocean on one side, and the largest
and most beautiful bay in the world on the
other affords, at all seasons, a safe, cheap, and
speedy intercourse, with all places desired
THE bold waters OF the bay or ocean,
aboundlng with the finest fish and oysters, and
some of them with wild fowl of favor and ex.
cceuce unequalled elsewhere, are at every
mans door, or within the distance Of few
miles
80 In addition to all other advantages, man
is favored here by the smiles of genial
climate. lie has to endure neither the austeri-
lies ot u northern winter, nor the debilitating