Phenix Gazette

There lies in the Clerk's Office of the House of Representatives a huge manuscript volume, communicated to Congress some days ago, containing the returns of the Fifth Census or Enumeration of the People of the United States. It is an interesting political document, and if any one would take the trouble to analyze it, would, we doubt not, disclose many curious facts. We casually opened it the other day, at the Recapitulation of the returns of the State of North Carolina; and the most careless glance at the aggregates, presented to our view facts which seemed worthy to us of more serious notice. The free white male population of the State numbers 235,954; the female, 256,889: total free white population 472,843. Of these, 202 only are foreigners not naturalized! Fifty-eight of the whole number of the people are over one hundred years of age. Of deaf and dumb there are 250; of blind, 225. Of Slaves, the whole number of both sexes is 245,601, and of free people of color 19,543. Of this number, of colored persons, slaves and free, two hundred and forty-seven are over one hundred years of age! How is this much greater longevity of colored persons than of white people to be accounted for? We turned to an Eastern State, to compare this with the state of things there. Massachusetts, with a population of 610,859 free white persons, has, we find, only five over a hundred years of age; whilst out of 7,645 free persons of color in that State there are fifty over a hundred years of age! Facts, they say, are stubborn things.—Nat. Int.