3. Moral Condition. The following is an extract of a letter from a gentleman of extensive information and philanthropy in the state of New York. “The fact, that out of 40,000 blacks in this state in 1825, but nine hundred and thirty-one were taxed, and but two hundred and ninety-eight were qualified to vote; and the further fact, that this population, according to its amount, furnishes ten-fold more of the inmates of our prisons and alms-houses, than our white population does, testify conclusively to the general improvidence, indolence, and abounding viciousness and misery of this unhappy portion of our fellow-men.”
The following tabular views, taken from the Report of the Prison Discipline Society, for 1827, exhibit, in regard to several states, the whole population at that time, the colored population, the whole number of convicts, the number of colored convicts, proportion of colored people to the whole population, and proportion of colored convicts.
| White Population | Colored Population | Whole No. of Convicts | No. of Col. Convicts | Pro. of Col. People | Pro. of Col. Convicts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts | 523,000 | 7,000 | 314 | 50 | 1 to 74 | 1 to 6 |
| Connecticut | 275,000 | 8,000 | 117 | 39 | 1 to 34 | 1 to 3 |
| New-York | 1,372,000 | 39,000 | 637 | 154 | 1 to 35 | 1 to 4 |
| New-Jersey | 277,000 | 20,000 | 74 | 24 | 1 to 13 | 1 to 3 |
| Pennsylvania | 1,049,000 | 30,000 | 474 | 165 | 1 to 34 | 1 to 3 |
Or,
| Proportion of the Population sent to Prison. | Proportion of the Colored Population sent to Prison. | |
|---|---|---|
| In Massachusetts | 1 out of 1665 | 1 out of 140 |
| In Connecticut | 1 out of 2350 | 1 out of 205 |
| In New York | 1 out of 2153 | 1 out of 253 |
| In New Jersey | 1 out of 3743 | 1 out of 833 |
| In Pennsylvania | 1 out of 2191 | 1 out of 181 |
The report further states, that “the returns from several prisons show that the white convicts are remaining nearly the same, or are diminishing, while the colored convicts are increasing; at the same time the white population is increasing in the northern states, much faster than the colored population.”
In the eloquent language of Gerrit Smith, Esq., “having these statistics before us, and seeing that the policy of our laws concurs with our prejudices to debase this people, to deprive them of indispensable inducements to well doing, and virtually to close against them all avenues to honor and respectability,—how unphilosophical and ungenerous it is, to look away from these sufficient causes of their vile condition to fanciful and heartless speculations, about the inferiority of their natural endowments. It will be time enough for white men to accuse God of having given an inferior moral constitution to the negro, when they shall have spent as many centuries in enlightening, as they have in debasing him—when they shall have done as much to make him a man, as they have done to make him a brute.”
Having now considered, to some extent, the condition of the colored population in the United States, we come in the next place to inquire what can be done for them.
The object of the Colonization Society, as expressed in its constitution, is “exclusively to promote and execute a plan of colonizing, (with their own consent) the free people of color residing in our country, in Africa, or such other place as Congress shall deem expedient.” It has, by profession and principle, nothing to do with the rights of slave-holders. It wishes for no interference with the tenure of slaves. The society regards these things solely as matters of legislation, and to be affected only in a legal way. They wish, in their organized capacity, only to remove the blacks, which are now free, and shall from time to time be made free by their masters. In doing this, and by other exertions, they hope, however, so to affect the interests and feelings of the slave-holders, that they will enlist in the enterprize, and rejoice to free themselves from all property in human flesh.
That the colonization scheme is tending to this result, and, if properly managed, is adequate to its accomplishment, is certain from many considerations. It cannot, indeed, accomplish the object at once. It would be unreasonable to expect that this, or any other society or system could, in the space of a few years, remove an evil which has been increasing for two centuries. But if colonization can do that in less than one half the time in which the evil has been growing to its present size, it ought not to be accounted visionary, or unworthy of confidence.