New-York daily tribune., 1849-06-12
Counsel TO Immigrants.

~-N+~-~-+F~
and force. Each week witnesses the ARRIVAL Of
thousands each year sees the immigration OF any
former year surpassed. Estimating each yesr
increase at only ten per cent. the number oi hu'
sopeans who will come over to US annually VIII
very soon reach Half Million.
We rejoice in being able 70 state tba' 'ne imp
sitions and extorti0ns formerly prscticsd oh '"s
ignorant and frendless immigrants oy way o' our
City have already been greatly oiminisneu Oy
i,,as of the recsnt acts Of Congress and our State
Legi.ls,ure-the former guarding against the
crouding of ha ndreds into al inadequate space
often unventlatcd and every way noisome
while the latter Is intended 70 protect them
against fraud and iniqoty after nearing our shore
The arrangements for this purpose are not yet
perfect, bu. " believe they have already reduced
the average cost of Transporting immigrants from
this City TO their various Destinations West Of
Buffalo fully one half. Not that the iorwarders
are content with half that they formerly received,
bat the enormous sums formerly distracted from
the immigrants by runners, passage agents and
boarding houses are essentially reduced very
large proportion Of the immigrants now arriving
Mt our port never land IN or City at all bu, are
tran,ferred from the ships directly 70 the steam
And toyboats which take them 70 Albany On their
way ~ Buffalo and the West. Thus large Por-
ton OF the waste Of means formerly encountered
here has been Obyiated, while the saving Oi health
and morals is at least equally theme tor COO
graduation. And we believe the average cost
including absolutely necessary food, OF immi-
grants conveyance from sbipboard at this port 70
their future homes between Detroit and the Misss-
sippi is rather under than twenty dollars per
family Of two adults and two children. The
trsnsportstion Of their effects, beyond hundred
pounds TO each full passenger, is Of course an ad
ditional charge.
Ono Of the best signs ofthe times for immigrants
il the rapid and striking change in public sent-
ment with regard TO them. IL is not many years
since the settlement Of a shiP-load OF Dntch or
Irish in any county or section was apt to be re-
garded by It's earlier inhabitants with regret and
aversion. The uncouth garments, unntellgi0ie
language singular modes Of culture, and difference
in almost everything from our American-born peo-
ple. were subjects Of constant and uuiavorapie
comment. Tho fact that many ofthe lcssdestitnte
cultivated bat q small portion OF the farms they
bought, leaving the residue untouched, was thought
10 threaten whole Counties with the Canada this
tie aud other migratory scourges. Bat experience
has removed one half the causes OF complaint and
taught our people the groundlessDess OF their fears
with respect TO the other Each Of the New States
is now systematically seeking 10 draw to herself
larger and still larger portion Of the great stream
Of immigration, and one at least lMichganl has
lust appointed an agent to act for her in our City
with that purpose. And this is bat the beginning
A part OF the immigrants now arriving Will
persist in stopping at one or another OF the Allan
tic ports. Just as they may happen TO be consigned
or landed They might rs sensiby stop at Sandy
Hook or Coney Island. If they have money
enough 10 live without exertIon, they may OF
course stop where they like but If they have
their living to earn, il is madness to stop IN any
seaport. The simple fact that vessel after vessel
losdsd with immigrants is constantly landing at
each Of these ports should convince them that they
can have no fair chance in such localities Every
department OF labor industrial effort is crowded,
and those Of professional or intellectual character
most OF any hod-carrior or street-sweePer
freshly landed in New-York or Philadelphia has
some chance but doctor, lawyer or writer for
the press has none. The naked fact that he has
delibersty exehangeda country where his capacl-
ties must to some extent be known for one IN
which they are necessarily aud utterly unknown
raises a very strong presumption against his abil
ity or his good conduct. why should he have
semixrated If he were successful in his vocation
at home and il not, how can he hope TO succeed
sherer Such are the natural though unuttered
questions which preclude his obtaining even a
chance to show lat he is good for something. He
must confront here kindred band OF aspirsnts
from every part OF our own spacious land, as eager
aud as capable of endurance us himself aud
who are not doomed to encounter the like depress
ing presumption. Thus our City has constantly al
enormous excess OF Poets Doctors toi all sorts
and Meo Of Letters not to speak OF the legions OF
ex Clerks who cannot possibly rack irom their
brains the wherewthal TO ill their stomachs, and,
but for the Aims House and the Lunatic Asylum,
the majority of them could not be able 10 live at
all Men trained to manual labor have little
. better chance but still hard one IN these sea
board cities. II there were work enough las there
10 not) To day for all who are here the next wave
OF immigration would absorb it all and call ior
more. Meantime food, shelter &c. are neoesse
rily much dearer here than in the country, and a
married laborer in constant employment can hard
ly save a dollar il sick out OF work, he can
scarcely save himself from beggary. At least
Of some sort to enable them to get through a
Winter.
It's far otherwise in the thinly settled portions
of the New States. Cheap Food, Cheap Timber
and Fuel, and a very general demand for Labor,
put another face on the poor mans condition.
Even il sick or idle his rent and fuel cost little,
and his children or his cow can pick up something
toward a subsistence in the open forests or 10y the
wayside. No man who has the spirit of WORK IN
him need spprehend starvation in any oi our new
settlements.
Our immigrants begin to appreciate these
truths, and nearly all of them who have any prac'
tical faculty make bee-line for the West lesv-
ing mainly those Of the least adaptation or eincen
cy trying 10 live ia the cities. The Poets stop
here the spaders and ditchers steam straight by,
and make their frat halt somewhere about the
Great Lakes. hat even these are apt to fall into
one error, and Il Is against this we mean to warn
them, even at the expense Of their good WILL
The frat idea Of a Enro pean landing here and
.>sh,r, work is Nish WaVes He A.. -, -.