The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-03-19
.V|RG|N|AS 0|
TODAY AT FRONT D! |
Old Dominion, Producing More
Distinguished Men Per Thous-
and Than Any Other State.
HEAVY DRAIN ON POPULATION
Many People Leave State and
Comparatively Few Come Into
It From the Outside.

Says William Garrett Brown, IN his
'"rhe Lbwer South IN American History.
speaking Of the period prior to the Civil
War. when Virginia reused herself from
her trance Of forty years, she nWoke to
such a conflict of8high motives and pas
sionate impulses, to be beat uponaby such
stormy appeals, to be torn with such COLI
trury aspirations, as no tragedy queen on
any mimic stage ever VI bcsct with
The imperial Commonwealth had fallen
on that sleep weakened with the pain Of
bearing States. and wenried ont with the
toll of setting In order the spacious man
sion which should shelter them"
There are many people to-day who as
scrt that Virginia, wcaried with the birth
4hrocs OF those heroic figures OF tho Sc
cesson period. has gain fallen on u
4 sleep OF forty and odd years. and de-
clare. ii, the words of q President Of the
United States, that all Yirginia's great
ness lies In the graveyard. Such SANDER
It Is the object Of this article to refutc.
The Answer.
The answer Is this: Outside OF the New
England States and the State Of New
York with It's cosmopolitan city, Virginia
is 10 " producing more distinguished men
per thousand of her population than any
other State In the American Union.
Besides. be II remembered TINT culture
ID far moro evenly distributed In New
England than In Virginia; hnce Il! Is not
I at all unlikely that on the basic OF pro-,
portion OF herShlghly cultured cnot merely
iliterate) class, Virginia stands at the,
very head OF the list. III Al
5 But 4 It may be objected, Il that, Il yir-
yinia has 50 maliy distinguished Sons
& the country to-day. why has she fallen
4 from her former enlinent:e among her.
sisters 2? The answer Is simple. Virginia.
mother OF States, Of statesmen; and of
colonies. may also be called the MARTYR
STATE Like the pelican, she has given
OF her own flesh and blood that her
4 young may live. The State that through
4 her JET fcrson, her Madison. her Alonro c.s
her Lewis. her Clark ]. her Houston and
her Austin, added vast empires to the
country. has stripped herself voluntarily
Z of herSSoWn imperial domain, and sent
forth many OF 81 her brayest and noblest
sons 10 the appearing Of her progeny
With SUCH a terrible drain, no wonder
that the old Commonwealth has suffered
End he 8rnarve! of ills that she still dis
plays such splendid ';italitb'..
z ties Of the Nirginians. let LIS refer to the
census reports. In 1890 over 610, 900 of the,
sons of Virginia (not including West yir-
giniaJ were living IN other Stat es. 1T But
-four other States. New y ork, Pennsylva-5
MIA, Ohio and illinois talla greatly larger.
In population and area that Virginia. had
sent out a greater number According to
the last census the number OF cmigrnnt
Vilgininns had fallen to 5s7. As, and N,ir-i
mi fha ,Nytl ,N, ~ ~
the fifth place in the table OF losses-an
indication that Yirginians arc staying a t
home more Az, y }iasss 9.5s5 8sg5 H 4E3 5l5{
The nlojorlty OF the c,nigrnnts have
found homes In the NorthSand West, the
emigration to the South being compara-
lively small. West Virginia has 81 sos:
Pennsylvania, 81 200; District of Column
bia, 46 s07 Maryland, 40,553; " MISSOURI IS
S76; New York. 32,J0i q Ohio, 3ee,3 1922 Ten.
Texas. q $50: New Jersey, 1945s: Illinois,
4 1928; Indiana, 1863; mississippi 1882,
Kansas, l2,..57; nd 50 on in Decreasing
numbers for the other States.
Returns Very Slight.
In return for this immense emigration
we%get comparatively few. Compare loss
i migration 163.73l tone-third of which
comes from North CarolIna). net loss,
= 4336S7. 1t Is indeed remarkable that
the birth rate can overcome such Il dra In.
The total number OF people born within
the limits Of the present Commonwealth
OF Virginia and now resident in5s the
United States Is 2,2s7.S7l: still living In,
the g Commonwealth, - 200, 45S. Present
population or Virginia Qast census); i.
5S54.1s4. Compare this with the figures
for the nelghboring State of North Car
I DINA. Natives of North Carol M in the
United StatesIS2 1893, 653 i living. IN the
state. ISL i.02S.. Total population OF the
State. 1,SQ4, 02s: showing an Immigration
OF s7.7S2 one-third OF which Is from
Virginia. ltSmay be mentioned that tho
wholesale exodus Of negroes has contri-
sbutcd to swell Nirglnia's cmigrlnt col
s umn. In 1900 there were 19O.d7 Virginia
negroes living outside the Commonwealth
The above sta tistcs will give an idea
of the conditions that obtain in Virginia
q at the present time, and we shall proce ID
TO the demonstration of our thesis that
Virginia's sons are ut the very forefront
a of american life to- day. But at the
Z same time, be itgremembered, that the
I majority OF these sons arc living ont.
side the State, and It is3merely the ma
7 ton at large that gains from their La
bors The cry Of Yirginians now should
\ no i'Virginia for the Virginlans," and
with the consummation Of such q dream,
4 Virginia would then resume tho position
Of pre-emnence which is her historical
and traditional right. "a 81 "
The statenents5at the outset are based
on an investigation Of WHO'S Who in
4 America" Doubtless there hre In this
e hook many names unentitled to the honor.
and, on the other hand, many omitted
that should have found a place there;
=,-.-.---.---...- - -