The Sun.
London, England, 1867-09-18 00:00:00

EMIGRATION.

The Standard exclaims, "Two very different
voices come to us; one from the United States of
America, the other from our own colonies at the
Antipodes. One says to the working men of
Europe, ' Come,' while the other shouts across the
Atlantic ' Stand off.'" This, and a great deal more
in the same strain, is the commentary of our Tory
contemporary on the proceedings of the Labour
Congress at Chicago. The Standard forgets to
state who say " come" at the Antipodes, and who
shout " stand off" in America. In Australia the em-
ployers of labour say " come," in America some of the
labourers with whom the corners compete say, "stand
off." There is not a colony at the Antipodes, there
is scarcely a settlement in one of those colonies, in
which the working men have not distinctly signi-
fied their objection to the free importation of
labour, that have not endeavoured to dissuade
their fellow-workmen from emigrating, and taken
stronger steps with this object than has ever
attempted in America. We have had the re-
sults of labour conferences both at Sydney and
Melbourne, one would think, too recently, more
especially in the capital of New South Wales, even
for the Standard to ignore the fact. "The prevalence
of Trades Unionism in America, says the Stand Trd,
proves that it is already afflicted with some of the
worst maladies of old States. Victoria and its
sisters are young, and strong, and English, and free
from those taints of age. Let Englishmen answer
the message from Chicago, by turning their eyes in
the direction of Melbourne."

In the first place, the statement is simply untrue,
as there is no country more afflicted with this
malady than Australia. In the second place, if it
were true, it would not be regarded as an induce-
ment to select these colonies by that class who make
these combinations for the protection of their own
industry. It might., therefore, be supposed there
was no necessity for the Standard to pervert facts
when thus addressing the labouring classes, but it
may be that the old habit is so strong that it finds
a difficulty in telling the plain, unvarnished truth.
There is one aspect of this question that is overlooked
by tho.ie who vainly endeavour to turn the tide of
emigration from the United States. The American
Republic is the greatest of natians. It is above all
things for the advantage of the human race that a
more cordial feeling should grow up between that
country and Great Britain. By encouraging the
exodus and half driving the Celtic population from
Ireland to America, more than by any other means,
a feeling akin to enmity has been generated over
the continent. We believe that there are few sub-
jects of greater importance to England than check-
ing and counteracting the influence exercised
throughout America by Irish emigration. The
most effectual means of combating this, is by
encouraging English and Scotch emigration. In
such a fair field the Briton would have every
chance of rising, and many would become pro-
minent American citizens. A. residence in the
United States, while giving a strong Republican
bias, would have no influence in making the English
or Scotchman hostile to his native country, and those
who succeeded iu attaining to a leading position
would have weight in correcting prejudices, and
spreading more just conceptions among Americans
of the land of their birth. It is more important to
England to direct English emigration to America
and Irish to her own colonies than the Standard is
aware of. The simple laws which induce the action
of trades' unions over the world, in their broad
features are too clear to need much comment.
When labourers attempt to grasp the intricate ques-
tions of political economy they display their lament-
able ignorance ; but when a Union in America or
Australia denounces the competition to which they
are subjected in their trades by the influx of
strangers, we can all understand the motives that
influence them. An excessive supply leads to a fall
in the market price of the commodity in which they
deal, and a scarcity leads to a rise ; causes and
effects which all know, and from ROTHSCHILD down
to the boy that polishes boots, all endeavour to avail
themselves of. While the Labour Congress at Chicago
decries emigration, impoverishing alike the labour
of America and Europe, the tailors' union of London
is weekly despatching fifty of its members to
New York, on the principle that, by thinning
down the numbers even at a considerable outlay,
it will secure better terms for those who remain.
Thus the action of the Unions on each side of the
Atlantic is in direct variance, as, in truth, is their
interest. In like manner, the employer in America
hails with satisfaction the influx of the labour he
requires. But should the tendency of wages in any
branch of industry in England be to increase, the
employers will deprecate the emigration of their
workmen. No argument can effect iu the smallest
degree these simple rules which the very instincts of
people induce them to act on. Writers who seek
to divert emigration from America to Australia must
show not only that Australia is a better country
than the United States, but also that the chances
of doing well in the former country are greater than
in the latter. This has been repeatedly tried, but
never successfully ; the volume of emigration to
America gathering force year by year, while that
to Australia remains comparatively stationary.
There arc many reasons for this ; but the one that
has had most influence, is the reports of emigrants
to their families and friends—the unpublished mass
of curiously composed and tnis-spelled productions
which have gone the rounds of the family circles,
carrying a weight and conviction to the minds of the
readers that the most brilliant articles and elaborate
pamphlets can do little to shake or confirm.
Thee
Standard may feel assured that the emigrants who
weekly cross the Atlantic in
thousands have surer
and more reliable information than it dreams of,
nor ought the inference derivable from the. fact
to be overlooked.
People emigrate to America
coun.try, r bo
mainly because they believe
fit
toe
hto be
la th
best, the
most open and free the
ew
their stock-in-trade. It asked their reasons, they
produce the letters of their cousin Tom, their brother
Dick, or their uncle Harry, plain unadorned tales,
detailing the wages of their own trade, the coat
of
living, the employment open, th o
e pportunities of
advancement, and the general advantages and
drawbacks of the position. That these documents
are favourable to America in the highest degree is
shown by the flight of whole German duchies and
Irish counties across the Atlantic—lean and
famished birds who are passed on the wing by
plump and fat ones, on their way to have a look at
the nests in which the old birds were hatched.—
; Auglo-American Times.