Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1885-03-27

SeuCln2 Utt SeCGlOQS OF the u MON. In GQ6
meantime time all his minor appointments
have been Democrats. This for begin
ming; now for the rest have patience.
THE STATISTICS OF EMIGRA-
TON FROM VIRGINIA.
A conventions to be held at Richmond
on April 18th OF those most widely inter-
ested in Virginia, seeing that they are lar
gely in the majorlty-the farmers. 1t is a
movement in the line of progress, and
what is better, animated by a decided
spirit Of progress. We are therefore sorry
to see the official call for it prefaced by a
mournful and tear-stained recital, by the
Executive Committee of the State Agri-
cultural Society. of the former glory of che
State. winding up with the depressing
fact that everybody goes away from the
State and nobody comes to it. This looks
like tying piece of Grape on the door of
the convention in advance. But let us
look at the funeral and misleading figures
of the committees patriotic but lugubri-
GUS address. They say, speaking from the
census of 1880, that there are 723, 1856 per
sons residing in other States who wer.
born in Virginia, while there are but II A Al
persons residing in this State who wer.
born elsewhere. A clear loss Of 645,S95
This is very imposing figure and would
have made a stable procession if they had
crossed the Red Sea all at once. But they
did not; they went gradually. And how
long have they been going? That process
sion has been going from seventy to ninety
years, for the census includes many Vlr-
nia-born residents in other States of thai
age. How many was that year? About
1000 year out of the two Vlrginias, not
old Virginia alone! And what sort of
emigration to the South-where, accord
ing to the statistics, two. thirds of it went !?
Why, it was African slaves who were sold
and who are now respondents to census
questions as citizens. We are sorry we
haven't the census tables at hand, for we
would like to give the exact figures OF
emigration from Massachusetts and New
England generally. Those States, for the
most part, have moved en- nlasse into the
Northwestern States, and the emigration
has been greatly larger there than that
from Virginia. But, it will be said, Virgin
ia had no immigration to supply the va
cancy, as New England has. That is true
but why? Virginia. until the last twenty
years was slave State; white i'm
igration could not be expected into slave
State. For twenty years, since slavery
disappeared. it has been classed with the
South and held responsible for disorders
which were confined to the South, and has
been advertised by the whole machinery
Of National Administrations as part of
that South where human life was declared
to be unsafe and immigration unwelcome.
But our figures show that there are II 900
people living in our State who were not
born here. We wish there had been some
means to ascertain when they came. We
will venture to say that two thirds OF that
number came in the last fifteen years.
since reconstruction ended, and we would
not be afraid to say that this seventy
thousand immigrants from abroad and
from the North are worth any two hun
dred thousand colored emlgrants (sold
slaves who went South before the civil
war. To sum up we may say that of the
4SS, 900 "emigrants" born in Virginia who
are living in the Southern States, four
ffths are blacks WHO were sold there as
slaves; the 2s4 900 whites who went North
and West from Virginia were not one
fifth of the number that went from Mas
sachusetts to the West, and of the II 600
white immigrants who have come. two
thirds have come since Virginia commence
ed her new life-since slavery was abol-
ished. In short Virginia is not good
place to go away from but is good place
to live and prosper in.
Again, we see telegram going tine
rounds giving ESTIMATED emigration
from Southwestern Virginia and very
wildly estimated at that. We have carefully
examined the papers of Lynchburg, Car
roll, Wythe, Smythe, Pulaski aud Gray
son, and we can't figure up more than $50.
though the telegraph puts it at thou
sand. This is the Spring time, and the
regular time for emigration. From a Sec
ton of the State of Maryland last Spring,
the emigration far exceeded that now
credited to Southwest Virginia, and yet
Maryland is one of the best and most thrift
ty States in the Union. After giving all
that can be said, the emigration from
Virginia is not larger than from other
States of its slza, but the great difficulty
is to induce immigration to supply the
gap made by emigration. That is the
weak point after all, and how to siren 9Th
en- it is the question. One way is put an
immigration Bureau in the field with
enough money at its back to advertise the
State thoroughly in Europe. But equally
important to that, is to have some sort of
State to show immigrants when they
come. At present Virginia is State
without roads, when compared with the
roads of the Western States. The roads
are good enough for our people? So they
may be, but we notice "our people'' emf
crate from them. But it is to bring peo
pie who are not sour people, to Virginia
to buy ''our peoples" land, that we want
good roads. Not long ago wealthy man
from another State wanted to buy a fine
farm in Virginia, the Bell farm near
Staunton. lie got III a hack with the
agent, drove half way over the terrible
road, and told the driver to bring him
back to Staunton. He never even saw the
farm, and said be wouldn't have it at any
price. Is Augusta alone in this ? Not
aIall; read this from Campbell county