Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-07-27
HOW ABOUT DELMARyIAs

Proposed Name for n New State to In
clude Delaware and the Peninsula.
From the New York Sun.
Delmarvia is the odd name that some
persons would bestow upon Hypothetical
state of the American Union A proposal
to create such state by the union of
Delaware with the eastern shore counties
of Maryland and Virginia has been often
discussed, usually with considerable inter-
est and decided approval by the people of
Delaware, occasionally with qualified APP
prevail by part of the people of Maryland
most directly interested, never with either
interest or approval by the eastern shore
men of Virginia, and usually with anquali-
fed disapprovai by Virginia and Maryland.
The Calverts claimed under their origt-
nal grant Of nearly two and three Quarter
centuries ago not only the eastern shore
of Maryland but also the whole Of what
is now Delaware They failed however,
after long litigation with the Penus to
make good their title to- Delaware. aid the
order of the English court for a partition
of the peninsula between the iitigaEts
brought about the running of the most
famous boundary in American history
Mason and Dixon's line.
Whenever the eastern shore counties of
Maryland have felt themselves aggrIevcd
politically or otherwise In their relations
with their neighbors of the western shore
some eastern shore men have talk ed of the
advantages union Win DeiaWaFS. SHcn
was the condition of feeling on the eastern
shore about seventy years ago that the
Delaware legislature sent to the Maryland
legislature proposal looking to a union
of the eastern shore counties with Della
ware, and resolution for a reference of
the question to the people of the eastern
shore was carried through the lower house
of Maryland and narrowly defeated in the
senate.
The subject was again much discussed,
especially in Delaware. rather more :han
twenty years ago, and there has never been
time since when the question was not one
of lively If only academic interest, to
Delaware. The eastern shore became
somewhat interested in the matter again
when at the election of Wellington to the
Senate the historic right Of that region to
one of the senators was ignored, but the
discussion at that time took on no great
Importance.
Were the suggested union OF Delaware
with the rest of the peninsula brought
about the resultant state would have an
area of above 5000 square miles, consider
ably more than double that of Delaware,
and a population of nearly 10000 The
state of Maryland would lose in population
on nearly 100000, and the state of Virginia
about 1900, while Delaware would con-
siderably more than double her Dopula-
ton
Rural Delaware and the peninsula coun-
ties of Maryland and Virginia have COM
mon English origin and a population almost
exclusively native and of native ancestry.
But wilmington, winch Will soon lncluIe
half the population Of Delaware, has a
large foreign element Eastern shore ira
ditions also, are more distinctly Southern
and aristocratic than those Of Delaware,
and the strong Quaker element in northern
Delaware has no counterpart on the cast
ern shore.
Delaware has always been favorable to
the proposed change because she has every
thing to gain by it, and the attempted pur-
chase of a seat in the United States Senate
by wholesale bribery at the polls ana Srib-
cry on a smaller scale In the legislature
has recently called the attention Of the peo-
pie of Delaware to the dangers that may
beset very small state.
Such piecing together OF fragments to
form a state has not been known IN
cent American history, though such things
happened in colonial days, and a familiar
provision of the Constitution seems to con-
template the possibility Of future cases.
Transfers of small areas from one state to
another have been frequent in the settle
ment Of boundary disputes and within
few years Pennsylvania formally recog-
nized as Delaware territory q few square
miles which had been In dispute for more
than century.