The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1866-03-07
THE DISPATCH BUILDING is ON Co
VERNON STREET, NEAR TO MAIN. AND
YEARLY orposiTE THE OLD DISPATCH
CORNER.
The Promotion OF Immigration into the State
oil Virginia.


Tho Promotion or Immigration into the State
oil Virginia.
While we entertain the highest opinion of
tho ability and earnestness of the management
80 tho companies which have been incorpo-
r,teI for the purpose Of encouraging and pro-
NOTING immigration, II has always been our
relief that they could be- materially aided I'm
heir endcayors if their plans We're cordially
encouraged and co operated in by the State
;,self Those classes of persons who, as emf
Grants. are most desirable in this country, are
particularly chary of listening to the golden
PROMISES and faitering estimates of the Agents
If Joint Stock Companies thinking, as they
do that il Is intended to make money out of
them. and that personal motive prompts every
word that is said But these same persons
who are hard 10 drive, and harder to convince,
have an English reverence for all persons in
authority, and will readily accord TO any Off.
cial statement that credence which they would
pcrsistently deny 10 the assertions of those
whom they consider TO be interested parties.
The Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, New
Brunswick, Tasmania, and Australia, and
the States Of Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, and
Minnesota, have recognized this patent fact,
and in each instance, pamphlets have been
issued officially, containing every requisite
information concerning that section Of country
ia which they invite the hardy and industrious
emigrant TO make his future home. Virginia
need not fear any competition in the race,
and if all her advantages are authoritatively
made known, we shall be able to change the
of emigration and bring new blood, new
muscle, and new life, to fill up our depleted
rha in
ion once again, in material prosperity and
political power, the most influential, although
the most conservative, State in the Union
On the Sd of March, the General Assembly
passed an act to promote and encourage i'm
migration into the State of Virginia, which
provides that there shall be appointed by the
Governor of Virginia, on the first Monday OF
April of each and every year, three lit ana
rroper persons, who shall be corporation,
under the style of Board of immigration y:
that il shall be the duty of said Board to set
tie upon and carry into operation practical
nlan for the introduction of sober and indus
trious immigrants, with their families, from
Europe and especially from Scotland and
England into this State to open correspond
ence with emigration agencies and steam
ship companies in Europe; to cause to be pub
lished such information as will fully show the
neural resources of the State, its soil, climate,
and mineral wealth and productions, and also
the demand for labor, and the inducements
which Virginia offers as 4 home TO the emf
grant: TO cause correct and accurate lntelH-
grnce 10 be furnished to emigrants desiring to
remove to this country; to aid and assist
them as far as possible, in their removal 10
this State; 10 make suitable arrangements to
receive immigrants upon their arrival, and
TRANSPORT them to their destination or place of
employment, and generally to adopt, estab-
lsh and organize such plans and measures as
will tend to secure or facilitate the introduc-
lion of foreign labor into this State; and that
said Board shall appoint fit and proper per-
son, who shall be known rs the Commissioners
of immigration" and who shall be subject to
removal by said Board.
The act also profides that if any person
residing within this State shall receive Ia
borers through the instrumentality of said
Board, such person shall pay 10 the
said Board 4 bonus of five dollars for each
male laborer over the age Of sixteen years, ana
two dollars for each unmarried female over
the age of eighteen years, so furnished. SAID
bonus in no case to be charged by the employer
against the employee, under penalty OF nifty
dollars in each case; and that if the said Board
shall make any advance to any immigrant
laborer in the payment of passage money, or
be subjected to any outlay in lodging or feed
ing such laborer upon his arrival in this coun
try, or in transporting him TO the place OF his
destination or employment, the amount so
advanced or expended shall be charge
against him, and a lien upon the first wages
due to him by his employer; and it shall
be the duty of the said employer, after
being notified by said Board Of said charge
against said laborer, to pay over to the
said Board, out of said first wages, the
sum so advanced by said Board and charged
against said laborer. Said Board, on the fail
uTe or refusal of the said employer 10 pay such
sum out of the first wages they fall due,
and after notice as aforesaid, may have an
action for such sum, and recover the same
from such employer, whether he shall have
paid the said wages 10 the laborer or not.
The last clause of the bill provides that the
Board may receive donations or loans Of money,
but that all its expenses shall be paid out OF
such donations, and the funds raised by the
bonuses charged on immigrants furnished.
This clause destroys much of the power of the
act, and it would have been far better to appro-
pirate ten thousand dollars to meet expenses
until the Board became self-sustaning, as was
originally proposed. Economy, however, was
the guiding star of the last legislative session;
and we can only hope that the Virginia Board
of Emigration will not find themselves ham,
pered by want of means, but will be able to
carry out all their admirable plans to sue
sessful and prosperous conclusion, as crafty
ing to themselves as they will be advantageous
TO the interests of the people of the United
States.
The Virginia Historical Society.