Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1879-06-24
Immigration to Virginia.

We publish below letter from J. 4
| H. st. Andrew, Esq, to Capt. R. Irb,
General Agent Of the bureau of Imm
grafton of Virginia. 1t should be carr
fully read and considered -
t HUNTINGDoNsHIRE, May %, 1879.
, My Dear Capt. Ar6y:-
When I wrote to you from Melton
Mowbray, in reply to your kind inqui
ries, it did not occur to me that my al
rival in Virginia would be too late fo
urging on the Bureau of immigration
prompt and effective action for maxim
known the advantages of our State t
the immense numbers of European far
mers who will attend the Internationa
Agricultural Exhibition in London thi
summer. AS, however, I sail per tn
"Ohio" on June 21st, I will not reacl
Virginia in time to press this matter OF
the Bureau, and I therefore hasten t,
present to your consideration few fact
which ought to carry to every candle
mind the conviction that Virginia ha
now a grand opportunity, which ough
not to be lost, for striking while tn,
iron is hotn In the great interests of i'm
migration.
AdVO 6POAV SVVC10k WCChS LII VlSlb1ut
the purely agricultural districts of OLD
proved beyond all question that the grea1
bulk ofthe farmers throughout England
and Scotland must sooner or later seek
mer has been for several years wedged
Reuts have gone rapidly upward and
| IQhnP hoo ho0nnnn doo nd Ioo
The farmer cannot live under the exist
ing condition of affairs. 1t takes usu-
ally many years of bad crops and other
losses to land an English farmer in
bankruptcy. A bankrupt farmer used
to he seldom heard of. Now, however,
there are disastrous failures everywhere,
and the honest>and industrious agricul-
turist is beginning to see only two
courses open to him-insolvency or en-
igration. Farms are being thrown up
in all directions, and I could mention
whole villages where the landlords hav e
had to undertake the cultivation of eve-
ry farm on their own account.
! Ten years ago when farm was vacant
there would be fifty eager applicants
now there are often fifty farms vainly
seeking tenants. The farmers have kept
on hoping that the landlords would re-
duce rents, but the Prince of Wales and
the Speaker of the House of Com
mons stand hitherto almost alone in
having made substantial CONCESSIONS
Agriculture is passing through great
economical crisis, and it would almost
seem that natural causes are bringing
about the social revolution advocated by
Stuart Mill and others, and that in the
not distant future we shall see the class
of tenantry largely diminished and the
class of landowners who are also land
cultivators largely increased. In the
meantime an exodus of English farmers
is inevitable.
| In all former emigration movements
the farmers have been the last to take
action. They are in truth aslow-think-
ing and still slower acting race. They
will never leave their old homesteads
unless driven out. In these times they
are feeling the whip as never before ;
they cannot evade the future. Their
prospects are unredeemed by any glim-
mer of hope except in the der'.ier resort
Emigration. The vast English emil
grafton which has largely peopled the
northern and western States was SIM
ply movement of labor seeking new
employments. The emigration of the
English farmers will be very different
affair. It will be the transference OF
capital and enterprise from unproduc-
tive to reproductive spheres. Within
living memory there has been no such
state of things as now exists.
1t cannot be expected that Virginia
should under any circumstances absorb
more than portion of the emigration
about to commence. Australia, Cana
da, and New Zealand offer tempting
openings and are incurring expendi-
lures in promotion of colonization. II
the farmer must, 4aolens vOlens "move
on" they will naturally prefer to go to
colonies where they will remain Eng
lishmen and retain their allegiance to
Queen and country. They are not the
people TO 60 to the northern or western
States, but if they select any of the
States for settlement the probabilities
are that old Virginia will attract them
most. Isubmlt that we have at least a
reasonable chance of competing for the
favor of the emigrating farmers
chance which no other State in the
Union can expect to have.
The happy conclusion of the State
debt controversy, which has at last
thrown open the English press to the
advocacy of the cause of Virginia, and
which has also ended the deadly oppo
sition of Lombard Street to everything
Virginian; the rapid growth of oul
manufactures, the wonderful develop
ment of our mines, especially along the
Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad the re-
duction of the tobacco tax, the peace
and contentment among our colored Ia
borers, the building Of the railroad o
the State-all these things are eloquent
foofo xuhinh cin of
times coming" The English farmer
loyal above all men to his Queen anC
country, knows that in the Old Domin
ion, as our gifted friend, Gordon Nc
Cabe, says. "If you scratch Virginiar
you find an Englishman.
We have no reason to doubt our sue
cess in immigration if we can only ge
at the English farmers. How can thi
be done? To send agents among then
would be very costly and would inevita
bly, arouse opposition. What Virgini.
does must be done quietly and effective
ly. My opinions have not been formed
hastily nor without personal investiga
ton. I place them before the Bureal
and the people for what they are worth
To me, therefore, it appears that tn,
international Agricultural Exhibition
is the golden opportunity of Virginia
I have not met farmer who is not 90
ing to see 'the great show" Ever,
village and hamlet in the United King
dom will be represented there. Tn
leading farmers of every European
country will be at the Exposition. M,
J plan would be to circulate during th'
Exhibition half million copies Of tn,
first report of our agricultural commits
} sioner, the Hon. Thomas Pollard.
have no hesitation in saying that tn
said report is, for its size, the best docu
ment ever issued in behalf of Virgins
immigration. It should be revised. n,
doubt, but 1t is literally n,ultuna in parvo
To ascertain the cost of printing thes'
} reports, you can easily arrive at tn,
amount by getting estimates from thre
large firms, and deduct say thirty pei
cent. from the lowest estimate. The,
could not only be printed more cheapl!
} on this side, but by having them thu
J printed the Bureau would avoid all Gus
tom-house bother.
If the Bureau would take the actor
suggested it would not be necessary t.
incur any great expense in the distribu
ton of the documents. No agent neet
be sent here at cost of several thou