The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1877-03-11
LIBERTY RESIDES IN THE COUNTRY.
SOUTHERN IMMIGRATION.
lLe.lies' Illustrated weekly ]

among Cne notable events OF this year 16 the
formation of q colony at Boston to settle in the
State Of Virginia. The movement is healthy
| in more respects than one. Massach husetts,
especially in its chief cities, 10 overorowded
with population. Manufactures were unduly
stimulated by the war of the rebellion, and
| retrenchment of production has created an
army of the unemployed. Many of these must
necessarily look to some other employment, for
o long time to come, n means of livelihood,
and i5 is manifest that neither the soil nor oil
mate of New EoGland afford . good field for
the ordinary agriCulturist- On the other hand,
the Old Dominion proffers genial climate and
q soil that promises an abundant yield to
faithful labor. EARNING in Virginia has been
found by recent immi grants to be both plea
SAINT and profitable, and the same may be said
of Kentucky and Tennessee. In many respects
these are the finest part ef this continent, cd d
yet they are much in need of a people to culti-
tivate and utilize this earthly paradise.
Among those who already have given proof of
their admiration of this favored latitude are
Caleb Gushing and General Butler the latter
having invested, it is said, in some two hun.
dred thousan acres of the sacred soil of the Old
Dominion. 1t may seem singular that New
England should lead in the march of immigra-
ton, but we live in e period when the preju-
dices of the past 60 for nothing, and when the
prospect of a future, rich beyond all former
dreams, has blotted out many sectional an
tipathies.
Those who study the problem of our popula-
ton are convinced that there should be come
outlet for the overorowded cities of the North,
with their severe winters and terrible records
of destitution and suffering. OF late years
here has been an influx of our young men
from country to city, in addition to the large
foreign element that seems to prefer taking it's
chance in the tkrong to the still wider chance
of success offered in the agricultural districts
All our large towns are overrun with stalwart
youths looking for situations as bookkeepers
and clerks, and with able bodied laborers seek
ing odd jobs and insisting that the tax xpayers
shall support them, whether there is work to
be done or not If matters are to remain as
they are, the result will be that every large
city will have permanent army of paupers,
whose independence has been destroyed by
public charity, from which crime can always
recruit it's ranks. Snch result s in every
way undesirable. 1t tends to vitiate the m asses
and to heap heavy burdens upon the taxpayer.
The evil notion that q man must needs be
furnished work by the authorities at whatever
point he may choose to pitch his tent needs to
be eradicated. So long there are broad
fields waiting to be titled, railroads yet to be
built, mines in which the shining ore is ready
for the touch of the pick, and, in a word, OPP
portnnity every where else. there is no reason
why city should give it's surplus population
places Of Virginia, with their fertile soil and
genial atmosphere, are opened with promise of
abundant return for labor. There Is no pioneer
work to be done there. The wilderness was
Now there is only hard labor for a while, CON-
bined with q little selfsaori6ce, and the golden
returns await the husbandman. There, too,
the email capitalist may betake himself with
sure hope that fortune awaits him, and that all
difficulties will vanish before q determined
spirit. 1t is strange, indeed, that there is
much talk of emigration to the West and SO
little of the South and it's claims, when there
every comparison, in point of agriculture and
and markets, is in favor of the latter section.
a little capital will go good ways there, and.
under the pressure of these hard times, there
ought to be any number of colonists furnished
from the large cities of the North. An organized
movement in this direction, influenced by lead
ing and responsible citizens, might go far
to " ards solving the problem of BurDIu6
population. The one objection made to the
scheme is that sectional prejudces may make
it unpleasant for Northern men to seek home
in Virginia and it's neighboripg States. This
is a mere bugbear, and has no foundation in
fact.
In this connection, we would call special
attention to the following letter, copied from
last Sundays Picayunc, on the
PROFITS OF PLANTING IN LOUISIANA.