North Branch democrat. [volume] (Tunkhannock, Pa.) 1854-1867, 1866-10-10
Pauperism and Crime North and south

An interesting subject for the attention
of the phianthtopist is presented by a
comparison of the amount of pauperism
and crime which formerly existed respect
lively in the States under the free and
slave systems. A careful writer has made
thorough examination of, the statistics as
exhibited by the census of 1860, and gives
the following as the results of his investi-
1 cations: B. % #t'
1t appears from the census of 1860 that
the Eineteen Northern or Free States, with
a population of 1922, 1853, had, within
that year, I4O,23S native and l56,25l for
eign paupers, and 29,6s6 native and 62,-
l159 foreign criminals who We're convicted.
The fifteen Southern States, including
Delaware and Maryland, during the same
time, with population of II ,240,693, had
1858 native and 4,546 foreign paupers,
and 3,677 native and SAT- foreign con-
victed criminals.
From these tables it appears that the
amount of pauperism in the Northern
States, during the twelve months which
they include, was l,57 per cent. of the pop
ulation of these States-0-73 per cent of
the paupefs being native born and 8-83 of
foreign birth
The amount of pauperism in the South
ern States during the same period is found
to have been l9 per cent. of the popula-
ton Of that section of the country, of which
OLA per cent. was supplied by native born
paupers and O-04 per cent. by those Of
foreign birth.
The criminal statistics show that, witdin
the year, the number of persons convicted
in the Northern States was O-48 per cent.
of their population, of which 0-15 per cent.
were native Americans and 0-33 per cent.
| foreigners.
3 The convictions in the Southern States
atthe same time, were 0.06 per cent. of
their population, fraction more than half
being native born, and fraction less than
half being of foreign birth.
Thus the ratio of pauperism and crime
in the North were, in 1860, "each eight
times greater than they were in the South "
| Massachusetts, and we here invoke the
attention of phlarthropists. in the year
1860, with population Of 1921, ,O66, had
1900 native and $3.50 foreign paupers,
aud ,440 native and S,202 foreign con-
victed criminals. Virginia, during the
same year. with a population of 1,594.3I6.
! 100000 of whom were slaves had 5.SO8
native and 2l9 foreign paupers, and 1872
native and 4l6 foreign convicted criminals.
| From these facts it appears that in
! Massachusetts. that boasts of her superior
| education, advancement and civilization.
one person in every twenty three of heI
population was returned as IA pauper. Ia
! Virginia, on the other land, only one in
every two hundred and slxty-four of her
| populatiol was pauper, Again in the
moral State of Massachusetts, one in every
ninety-sevcn of her population was
convicted criminal, while in Virginia, only
one in two thousand six hundred and
twenty-five of population was convicted of
crime, These facts ought to arouse the
public mind TO an investigation of the
causes which lead to snch great differences.
1t may ell be doubted with srch arccord
looking rs in the face, whether. Massachu-
sets has made that progress in civilization
that she boasts so much about. If her ad-
vancement produces the astonishing results
exhibited by these figures, then it may be
pertinent to inquire wherein her progress
has been productive eff good.
| To what extent pauperism and crime
have been increased in the South, since the
abolition of slavery, we have no figures by
l-aI h,Nf -
Judging from the accounts that are publish
ed in the daily and weekly papers, the in
crease must exceed at least ten hundred
| thousand fold. A gentleman from Missis-
sippi not long since, told US, that child mur-
der, among the negroes in that vicinity
where he lives, is now an every day occur
renee that the negresses strangle, drown
or get rid of them in some other way, Just
as they are born ; that hundreds Of them
had been found in his town and the neigh
boring country, ia pond holes, cisterns, run
ming streams, and other places of conceal
ment; AID in the State at large, he has no
doubt they could be counted by thousands.
AS to panperism, we know all that the
great mass, both of whites and blacks, in
| that section, have been reduced to the low
est depths of poverty aud want In the
appeals that were made to US last winter
in the pulpits and in the papers of this
State, we were told that not less than $4,000
negroes would die during the cold season
flom sickness, destitution, want and starva-
ton. To releveth millions who had been
reduced to poverty and distress by the alb
olition policy of crushing OUT the long
established system oflabor at the South,
was. the design of the fifteen millions drawn
from the public treasury, by the negro
bureau" but that sum. administered as it
was, proved inadequate to the purpose, and
the poor blacks, dragged away from their
comfortable homes, aud left to provide for
themselves, have died off by thousands
destitulion, sickness and starvation, amid
| a I