The Sun.
London, England, 1860-05-30 00:00:00

EMIGRATION.

The Cbrk Reporter has some sensible observations
on the progress of the second Irish exodus, which
that journal regards in a great measure as the con-
sequence of a more adventurous spirit among the
people, which leads them to cast their lot in distant
and newly occupied lands, rather than apply them-
selves to the more plodding industry to which they
must resort in the home country. "However,"
adds the Reporter,
"We may deplore the loss of our ' bone and
sinew,' which are thus taken from us, we must say
that we cannot take quite the same view of it as
some of our contemporaries, as we shall presently
explain. The great extension of steam traffic, both
by land and sea, has increased largely the facilities
of emigration. There are few places in Ireland now
whiCh are far removed from access to one or other
of the great lines of railway that lead to our prin.
cipal ports. And within a few years several lines
of flrst.elass Ocean steamers have been brought
into ectivity, by which the Atlantic is traversed
with wonderful regularity, certainty, and safety,
in not many more days than it took weeks by the
old sailing emigrant ship to cross it. Add to this
that the cost of the voyage is hardly if at all in-
increased, that its old miseries, which it was painful
to dwell upon, are nearly all got rid of, and that it
may now be made respectably and comfortably.
Let it be further borne in mind that American lo-
comotion has advanced with still more rapid strides,
while, by the system of 'through-ticket' arrange-
ments the emigrant can pass, on his arrival, at
once, safely and expeditiously, to the ultimate point
which he desires to reach, and it will at once be
seen how greatly the temptation to go is increased,
for all persons whose thoughts are turned in this
direction. Formerly, what was the position of the
Irish peasant ? He had his farm, small in dimen-
sions, yet too large for his limited means of turning
it to account. On it he remained, and brought up
his family, isolated from communication with the
busier world, and ignorant of its ways and of the
opportunities it offers to the active and enterpris-
ing. All his ambition was to live on his bit of
ground,' eat the simple root that it yielded to him
in abundance, and as his children grew to maturity
to divide the farm into smaller patches, on which
they squatted and reared their progeny, in increas-
ing poverty and with diminishing hope and ambition
—if we can use such a word in speaking of such a
class. When subdivision of land could proceed
no further, leaving the :means of support to the
dwellers on it, and that starvation was imminent, he
looked, as his last earthly chance, to the emigrant
ship. In his isolation and in his ignorance one fact
had reached him, that somewhere, afar off, beyond
an all but boundless expanse of ocean, there lay a
great country called America. If he could make his
way to one of the seaports of his own land, he had
ascertained that means would be found to transport,
him to this distant region. More he knew not.
Quebec, Boston, New York, Montreal were names,
perhaps, that had reached him, but they were mere
names to him. He had been told that all were in
America--and all were alike to him. To reach any
he must journey over land for many days, and must
then enter on that appalling voyage—full of pri-
vation and of peril—of many weeks. But fly he
must—fly from ruin and from death. And so he left
on his dreary and dreaded exile. Such it was to
many of our people, even a dozen years ago. But is
it anything like this now ? The National School
has familiarised the young peasant with all that it
is possible to learn of that great continent, and of
the newly-peopled land over which our great em-
pire extends. The railway is at the door, or a few
miles off at furthest. The steamer goes direct from
its terminus, and lands him within a fortnight be-
yond that ocean that seemed so illimitable before.
He knows all about the place he wants to go to,
There is some struggle with the strong Celtic feel-
ings at leaving the old land and the old home; but
there have been many sad partings during the last
15 years, and the Irish nature has grown somewhat
used to them. Besides, the educated man minds
these things less than the uneducated—we stop not
to discuss the good or ill of this, but so it is. The
National School, as well as sterner teaching, has
made the emigrant's parting easier to him, and he
goes to-day with full as much hope as grief. So that
altogether his emigration is quite different from
what it used to be, and he no longer waits to be
driven into exile by the misery which alone would
have coerced him formerly, but goes -freely, man-
fully, and with a will'—a spice of adventure giv-
ing its zest to his more calculating desire to better
his condition."