The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1867-07-02
IRELAND AND EMIGRATION.

IRELAND AND EMIGRATION.
We had occasion, some months ago, toHpeak
of Lord DuFFER1N's letters tu the TIM. AheSe
he has now republished in book S'fm' anu we
have thus an opportunity of ofre-Nhamlnlng tnem'
and in a more connected rorm. The book Is
entitled "Irish Emigr,aion and the Tenure OF
Land in Ireland." His lordship is thoroughly
conversant with the subject in hand, and we
believe is borsstly disposed to tell the unvar-
nished trsfh; although, of course, many of his
statepsats will prove unpalatable to preju-
died persons, who will be.prompt to contra
dict his facts and impugn his motives.
The main questions Lord DUFFERIN attempts
to answer are these: s'Is Irish emigration good
for Ireland ?" "Should it be prevented by a
law giving fxity of tenure to tenants3" He
shows that as Ireland is now, emigration is an
unavoidable necessity; that if no emigration
had taken place from Ireland, and if the popu-
lation had continued to multiply at its normal
rate, the additional increase to the present
numbers would by this time have amounted to
three millions of souls; and as there is no rea-
son to believe that such o circumstance would
have materially expanded the restricted manu-
featuring operations of the country, the larger
population Of those three millions would have
to depend upon the land for their support
Now it appears from an official report that in
1886 FIVE persons were employed in the culti-
vstion of the land of Ireland for every two
that cultivated the same quantity Of land in
Great Britain, while the agricultural produce
of Great Britain was four times the agricul-
tural produce of Ireland. AS matter of fact,
therefore, so far as the past is concerned, the
addition to the agricultural produce of Ireland
has not been proportionate to the excess Of the
agricultural population.
Lord DUFrER1N, after careful calculations
and comparisons, comes to the conclp-..l that
upwards of half a million psrsq4 are still EN-
ployed in Irish agriculture above the number
employed on the same amount Of Scotch and
English land. His view is th It the industry Of
these people is as misapplied and unproduc-
tive as that of a crew which s4eckons twice as
much hands as is justified by the size and ton
uape of the vessel. He then asks: eff, instead
Of the reduced NUM- Ars left in this false po-
sitac : the hundreds of thousands who have
emigrated had remained at home on the over
burdened soil, is it not evident that state Of
things would exist in Ireland such as no man
can think of without shudder 7"
Belgium is usually held up as an example by
the opponents Of Lord DurPERrs'., opinion
They say it is useless to assert that Ireland has
too large an agricultural population, since
Flanders has, area for area, one much larger.
But the objection does not hold good. Bel
gium is country of coal, iron and manufac-
turing industry, only interspersed and gar
nished with agriculture. Lord DuFrERIN says;
According to popular belief, Belgium is cult
waited by peasant proprietary twice rs nume-
rous in proportion to the area they occupy as
the agricultural population Of Ireland, living
in peculiarly easy circumstances, and adording
unmistakable evidence Of the advantage Of Ia
petite culture; whereas the real facts are, that
making proportionate deduction for the popu-
lation, employed on the pasture lands of both
countries, the total population dependent on
the tillage in ireland is probably almost as
dense as that of Belgium; that the greater part
of Belgium is cultivated, not by small proprie-
tors, but by tenants; that the competition for
land is intense, and rack-rents universal; that
the condition of the agricultural population is
worse where the subdivision of farms is great
est, and best where the farms are largest; that
the Belgian taborer is supposed to be the most
industrious and the worst paid Of any laborer
in Europe; that the farmer is scarcely better
off than the laborer, and that in Flanders
population is not merely at standstll but
diminishing.
lord DuFEER1N quotes an opinion of Judge
LoNGFIELD, whose knowledge of agriculture
and the agricultural population enables him to
speak with authority. The Judge says: "But
mere agriculture, even in its most improved
state, will not afford sufficient employment to
the population of ireland, unless it is reduced
very considerably; and in order to keep the
people in comfort, or, indeed, to keep them in
the country, it is necessary to find some means
of preventing them from being entirely de-
pendent upon that one branch of industry for
their support"
One ofthe greatest grievances ofIreland ishcr
want of manufactures. Lord DUFFRRIN censures
the policy of England severely for the many re-
strictions she has placed on the manufacturing
industry of Ireland during the past three GEN.
turies, and for the mischief and misery which
this jealous policy entailed on ireland. De-
barred for $50 years from any manufacturing
and commercial enterprise beyond the limits Of
their own small isle, the Irish necessarily fell
back on the land. 1t became to them all in all.
1t was the sole subsistence of many-the sole
ambition and distinction of others-the grand
object of competition of all.
If over-population is the sole cause, or even
one of the leading causes, of the present sad
condition of Ireland, we may soon look for the
dawning OF brighter day on green Erin
sea-girt shores; for her children are emigra-
ting by thousands every week; many Of them,
the greater number, doubtless, finding their
way to the United States, where they ore wei
coined by their millions of kindred, and where
Uncle Sam has land enough to give them all O
farm. Emigration has thus triple benifcent
effect. 1t first reduces the number of the
dwellers on Irish soil, and thus benefits those
who remain by giving them more elbow room
and breathing space. Secondly, it benefits, in
the great majority of cases, those who emigrate,
as they usually attain to degree of worldly
prosperity they could not have aspired to at
home; and thirdly, it again benefits those who
remain behind, by the liberality and bounty Of
the emigrants, who, in large number of cases,
remit to their less favored relatives and friends
- bona sums oraatar or 1aaa accordino In