Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-03-21
THE IRISH ELEMENTIN OUR POPU-
UATWnK


the celebration of st. Patrick's day,
says the Irish in America have this
curious and undeniable character
istic, that they never cease to be
Irish, and at the same time are as
good Americans as the best. They
are, indeed, among the most
remarkable of modern people.
Genius, wit and eloquence seem TO
lie the common heritage, in a
greater or less degree, of the whole
Irish race. Among their most
prominent characteristics are the
courage of the men, the purity OF
the women, warm hearts and open
hands of all, strong religious faith
and an imperishable love of old
ireland.
The magnitude of the Irish ele-
ment in our population may be
judged of by the fact that in the
forty,six years, 1S15-1S6O, the total
number of immigrants arriving from
the United Kingdom of Great Brit
ain and Ireland on our shores was
2,750,S74. In the same period
l,196,521 persons emigrated from
the United Kingdom to the British
colonies in North America, a large
portion of whom are known to have
eventually settled in the United
States. By the census of 1860 the
population in the United States of
Irish birth was 1911, 304, and that
of German 1,3Ol,136. Since that
period the German element has in
creased, relatively speaking. The
greatest number of Irish reside in
the States of New York, Pennsylya-
MIA, Illinois, Ohio, Wisconsin and
Michigan. II is computed that the
four millions of immigrants enumer-
ated in the United States in 1860,
together with the number deceased,
must have brought into the country
an amount of property not less than
S400O00,O00, besides the much
greater capital which the immigrants
in themselves represent, physically
and intellectually. One fact to
which We would call special atten-
ton is the large sums of money
which have been sent by settlers in
North America to friends in Great
Britain, amounting, from l84S to
1860, according to the returns of
banks and mercantile houses through
which they have been forwarded,
and not including sums RENTED
through other agencies, to SGT, 49,
1913. Taking as a standard the in
crease ofpopulatiOn of Irish nativi-
ty, from 1850 to 1860, which was
about 75l, 900, the census of next
year will probably give 2,362,3O4
persons of Irish nativity in this
country, not counting the large
number OF Irish descent.
No accession TO our population
from abroad has been more valu
able than that of the Irish. They
may be said to have been the pio-
neers in the emigration to this coun
try, and as such their labor was in
dispensable in all the industrial en-
terprises which have been necessary
to the development Of our national
wealth. The public works of the
country, the canals, the railroads,
the clearing up of the Western will
derness, have been accomplished in
great measure through their bone
and muscle. They have formed the
front ranks in the armies Of peace
as well as Of war. Their creative
energies are as great as their de-
structive, and when we say that, we
need add nothing further. In al
our battles, whether by sea or land
their courage has been conspicuous
In all the wars of England it is thu
Irish who lead the advance, anC
even in the late expedition to Abys'
sinia, it was an Irish column which
swept away the barbarians arounC
Theodorus, at the moment whel
some Of their own countrymen wer'
lying in Jail in England, or pre-
pairing to mount the scattold as tn
penalty of alleged treason. 1t i
not, however, by their physlca
stamina alone, either in peace o
wal, that the Irish have been o
value TO our country. They haV
! contributed 10 our moral, intel
lectual and political forces as largel
as any class ofimmigrants, and the
and their descendants are anon
the leading and able men in all de
partments of our public and privat
: life. Henry Clay once pointed OF
, a striking resemblance between tt
Irish and Kentuckians in their in
1 pulsive, hespitable, frank, intrepi
f character. In truth, they assimilat
, with our people with wonderf
t facility, and may be said to
:, full hedged Americans before thu
Il step on our shores. To those who a
II accustomed to speak of the pover'
II of the Irish peasantry as proof
e 4 want of industry and econom
st we need only to exhibit the pro
Is porous condition of the same pee
ple here as evidence that the state
things in their own island is due
IA other causes than defects of (
national character, whilst the Vi