h generous feelings as thankfulness and
gratitude, a far different line of conduct might
reasonably be expected. I allude to the alarming
increase of crime still perpetrated by the colored
settlers, and who, in spite of the late numerous,
harrowing, _convicted examples_, unhappily furnish
_the whole of the offenses now likely to be
brought before you_!'. . . . .

"But, sir, the wide spreading current of crime
among this unfortunate race was not to be easily
arrested;--and I had long become so persuaded that
it must sooner or later force itself upon the
notice of the Legislature, that on feeling it my
duty to draw the attention of my brother
magistrates to the embarrassed state of the
District finances, and to the greater portion of
its expenses arising from this disreputable
source, I was led, in framing the report of a
special committee (of which I was chairman)
appointed to investigate our pecuniary
difficulties, to advert once more to the great
undue proportion of our expenses arising from
crime committed by so small a number of colored
people, compared with the great body of the
inhabitants, in the following strong but
indisputable language: 'It is with pain and regret
that your committee, in conclusion, feel bound to
recur to the great additional burthen thrown upon
the District, as well as the undeserved stigma
cast upon the general character of its population,
whether native or immigrant British, by the late
great influx of colored people of the worst
description from the neighboring States--a great
portion of whom appear to have no visible means of
gaining a livelihood,--and who, therefore, not
only furnish a large proportion of the basest
crimes perpetrated in the country, such as murder,
rape, arson, burglary, and larceny, besides every
other description of minor offense,--untraceable
to the _color_ of the perpetrators in a
miscellaneous published calendar; but also,
besides the constant trouble they entail upon
magistrates who happen to reside in their
neighborhood, produce a larg