The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1901-11-19
NAME FOR NEW STATE
Proposal to Create One from Por-
lions of Three Others.
The Name "Defmarvia" Being q Come
binatfon of Parts of DeInware,
Maryland and vtr-
RfnkR.

Delmarvia is the odd name that
some persons would bestow upon a
hypothetical state of the American
union. A proposal to create such
state by the union of Delaware with
the eastern shore counties of Mary
land and Virginia has been often dis
cussed, usually with considerable in
terest and decided approval by the
people of Delaware, occasionally with
qualified approval by part of the peo-
pie of Maryland most directly inter
ested, never with either interest or
approval by the eastern shore men
of Virginia, and usually with unqual-
flied disapproval by Virginia and
Maryland, reports the New York Sun.
The Calverts claimed under their
original grant of nearly 2A centuries
ago not only the eastern shore of
Maryland, but also the whole of what
is now Delaware. They failed, how
ever, after long litigation with the
Penns, to make good their title to
Delaware, and the order of the Eng
lish court for partition of the
peninsula between the litigants
brought about the running of the
most famous boundary in American
history, Mason and Dixon's line.
Whenever the eastern shore coun-
ties of Maryland have felt themselves
aggrieved politically or otherwise in
their relations with their neighbors
of the western shore some eastern
shore men have talked of the ad-
vantages of union with Delaware.
Such was the condition of feeling on
the eastern shore 70 years ago that
the Delaware legislature sent to the
Maryland legislature proposal look
ing to a union of the eastern shore
counties with Delaware, and reso-
luton for a reference of the ques-
ton to the people of the eastern
shore was carried through the lower
house of Maryland and narrowly de-
feated in the senate.
The subject was again much dis
cussed, especially in Delaware, rath-
err more than 20 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 re-
gion to one of the senators was ig-
nored, but the discussion at that
time took on no great Importance.
Were the suggested union of Della
ware with the rest of the peninsula
brought about the resultant state
would have an area of above 5000
square miles, considerably more than
double that of Delaware, and a pop
ulation of nearly 100000. The state
of Maryland would lose in population
nearly 100000, and the state of Vir-
ginia about 47,ooo, while Delaware
would considerably more than double
her population.
Rural Delaware and the peninsula
counties of Maryland and Virginia
have a common English origin and a
population almost exclusively native
and of native ancestry. But Whining
ton, which will soon include half the
population of Delaware, has 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 eastern shore.
Delaware has always been favor
able to the proposed change because
she has everything to gain by it, and
the attempted purchase of seat in
the United States senate by whole
sale bribery at the polls and bribery
on smaller scale in the legislature
has recently called the attention of
the people of Delaware to the dan
gers that may beset very small
4 state.
Such a piecing together of frag-
ments to form a state has not been
known in recent American history,
though such things happened in colo
NAL days, and familiar provision OF
the constitution seems to contem-
plate the possibility of future cases
Transfers of small areas from onv
state to another have been frequent
in the settlement of boundary dis
putes, and within a few years Penn
sylvania formally recognized as Della
ware territory few square miles
which had been in dispute for more
than century.