New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1870-03-24
EMIGR1TING COLONIES.

The commissions attendant upon a trcmen-
dous war. with the arrangements of industry
and currency consequent thereon. have enor-
mousy overcrowded our cities. For years, the
casting of cannon, the fabrication of small
arms, shells, cartridges. uniforms. equipments.
&c, &C., absorbed a large proportion of the
labor of our people. No great empire on earth
! ever had for three consecutive years so large
proportion of its men engaged in warfare and Its
accessories az we had and no other ever re-
turned its soldiers 50 suddenly to the walks
and ways of peace.
One consequence has been an enormous over
crOwding of our cities. After the close COM
partnerships and fierce excitements of the camp
and the field. the solitude and quiet of the
farm and the forest seemed to many unbeara-
bly, tame and monotonOus. The hundreds
of thousands whom the war had suddenly
massed, whether in the ranks or in the found
cries and workshops which ministered to the
efficiency or the comfort of our armies, refused
to be so suddenly dispersed among the by
ways and rudo "clearings' whence they had
been drawn. However willing to work, they
were reluctant to forego the charm of COM
panonship. the magnetism of crowds, the
strength and satisfaction impaired by the
proximity of elbow to elbow
The construction and multiplication of Rail
roads has rapidly enlarged the area which
invites to settlement and cultivation. Iowa,
and even Kansas, are practically nearer to
New England to-day than Western New York
was fifty years ago. Virginia, the Carolnas,
and Georgia, solicit and encourage immigration
as they did not down to very recent day.
There never before were so many acres in
vitng immigrants, as there were never before
so many who might improve their prospects
by immigrating, AZ in this year 1870.
But plunging alone into the wilderness or
the prairie. with intent to carve therefrom "A
homestead, is rugged enterprise. 1t requires
as much true courage as charging battery.
1t is the work of twenty years to hew farm
out Of the primitive forest-years of patient
labor and of multiform priyation and hard
ship. The obstacles and discOuragements pre-
sented by the remOteness Of mills, stores,
smiths and other mechanics the wrctchedness
of roads, the absence of bridges, &C., &C., can
only be appreciated by those who have ex-
perienced them.
Concerted Emigration abOlishes these or re-
duCes them TO a minimum. A thousand heads
of families, combining their means and efforts
may provide themselves with homes, whether
in the West or the South, at half the cost and
with less than 1.-THE of the privation, involved
in isolated pioneering. Railroads whisk them
in few days to their chosen location, where
they lind preparation made TO receive them:
mills, stores, schools, brick yards, &c, sping
up as by magic; tho doctor the blacksmith.
the carpenter, the whccwright, the shoemaker.
are all at hand; most of the blessings and
amenities OF civilization are present in the new
home as IN the old the very first Winter
finds the great majority sheltered. thrifty. COM
Portable, contentcd-as ten years would NOT
had each family gone forth to battle with tLc
wilderness alone.
We deprecate the costly efforts mo1o ,o ui,
immigrants from Europe while our own
Cities remain overcrOwded as now. Tier
are nifty thousand families living within sipbt |
OF our City, steeples that ought to find Lomoo
forthwith In the West or the South by means
oi Concerted Emigration. The 81 900 to s5O0O
each which their worldly wealth would sc,
Tor, which is poverty here, would be wealth. IL
wisely employed in new colony Most of
them might pursue there the calling which
they follow here. but with far brighter
prospects. Their slender mean, wou,J
soon provide them with a homestead whence
they could live without depending ON the
or favor of others-a homestead
winch few years would see doubled and
llddroplcd Ia yIues whereas. they may