CORRESPONDENCE WITH DR. HOWE. 593 



pure blacks are represented by 2, and the 

 whites by 20-24 ? 



Is it not true that in the Northern States 

 at least the mulatto is unfertile, leaving but 

 few children, and those mainly lymphatic and 

 scrofulous ? 



In those sections where the blacks and mu- 

 lattoes together make from seventy to eighty 

 and even ninety per cent, of the whole popula- 

 tion will there be, after the abolition of slav- 

 ery, a sufficiently large influx of whites to 

 counteract the present numerical preponder- 

 ance of blacks ? 



It looks now as if the whites would ex- 

 ploiter the labors of the blacks, and that so- 

 cial servitude will continue long in spite of 

 political equality. 



You will see the importance of considering 

 carefully the natural laws of increase and 

 their modification by existing causes before 

 deciding upon any line of policy. 



If there be irresistible natural tendencies to 

 the growth of a persistent black race in the 

 Gulf and river States, we must not make bad 

 worse by futile attempts to resist it. If, on 

 the other hand, the natural tendencies are to 

 the diffusion and final disappearance of the 

 black (and colored) race, then our policy 

 should be modified accordingly. 



