River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1880-08-12
A TALK WITH MMIGRANTS.
The spain's ship Load of Human he
tnSs--An IriskmRns's story of Per-
xerted Gharity---N hat was Told Of a
Priest TN May County
New York Times.

Castle Garden does not often present
such Il scene as was witnessed there
Sunday. Fourteen hundred persons,
representing the very poorest classes Of
German, Welsh, and Irish Immigrants,
who were unloaded from the steamship
Spain, sweltered in the afternoon sun
with the Enclosure, wondering what
kind of a place New York was, and
whether all the poor people Of the city
were placed up in catlie-pens, such rs
those that surround the new arrivals,
hedging them in from the gaze of the
vulgar mob. The most touching fea-
ture of this remarkable picture of real
life was that presented by the little
children, who in the language Of Eliza
beth Barrett Browning, were resting
their young heads against their moth
ers, and sobbing sorrowfully under the
stress of fatigue One beautiful girl Of
10 or Il years was the centre of Il Ger
man family group, and appeared TO be
the life of her jaded companions The
voyage had not blotted the roses from
her checks The party informed the
reporter that they were going to Chi
cago, where they had wealthy friends
who will assist them. Other German
immigrants expressed their intention of
going west and settling on farms.
About 800 of the arrivals are Welsh,
and they, too, are going westward. They
appeare d to be well posted concerning
the real condition OF things III the am
thracitc coal region where they have
many friends, and talked as though
they had II horror of going there. \
Il Il L.,
u sort of leader. said the Welsh must
give up the notion of going III great
| numbers to the coal mines. From
what he had read and heard, he said,
Of Scranton and Schuykill, the people
had hard times Of it, struggling along,
and it would be madness to add to
their misery by going there to make
labor cheaper and increase the
scramble for bread and butter
A great many of the immigrants wC.e
Irish, and they appeared the most
wretched and detected. They too, were
going west, at least the greater part OF
them, with IA view Of settling ON farms
| 4 number Of them came from Donegal
Many spoke in discouragng terms of
the practical benefit of the ReliefCom-
mittee A man who said he was from
Foxford, in the County of Mayo, spoke
enthusiastically of what America had
done to alleviate the awful distress Of
| the poor but told terrible story of the
misrepresentation of the charity by To-
cal relief managers, who, he said, were
using it to make themselves rich He
was exceedingly bitter in dcnouncing n
priest, who, he said, was using the re
Iaf t,I,i ,ayanfit pE ip,eaif 4
relatives The reporter asked the man
if he was a Catholic, and he replied that
he was, but he had no patience when
was acting. When he came among AS
first, " he said we all had to suhcribe to
buy him a horse, that he might bc able
to carry spiritual consolation to his par
ishiOners, and now he owns II stock
farm while the people are starving.
Why, sir" added the indignant immi-
grant. 1T WIS only few days before
left home that this same priest bought
forty bulocks and put them on II farm
that be purchased for little or nothing
from the agent who had rackrented Il
poor family that lived on it until they
could not pay any more, and were put
out. An instance Of this priests con
duct is shown in how he handled the
seed potatoes that the Land League
sent him He stored the potatoes in
the chapel, and during the night gave
them away to his own personal friends
and relatives When the people
learned that they were all gone they
were very indignant and raised II hula
buloo about it, but that was all the good
it did them. The Protestant minister,
Mr. Jackson, went to him and asked
why he had desecrate1 the house OF
God by making it storehouse for his
favOritee, but no satisfaction war given;
the potatoes had disappeared during
the night, and that's all there was Of il. "
This man spoke very highly of Mr..
Jackson, the Protestant pastor Of the
parish. and said that all the Catholic
people loved and revered him THAT )
80. sir" said another frieze-coated i'm
migrant, who stood close by, "and he
deserves every bit of it.
II don't know what's coming over
the priests at home, atall, sir, said the
first speaker sorrowfully Education
spoils them They come out Of college
naughty, and they domineer over their
fiocks using the poor people like dumb
cattle to enrich their relatives. The in
telligent people generally rebel against
il. and, rs n rule, they are punished
severely and denounced ar dogs for dar-
ing to protest against wrong. ! leave
a wife and sly children at home sir,
and a father and mother who depend
on me for support And, he added,
his eyes filling with tears, II know they
/ IL ,.Iliaf t,,tft | gafaI -
to them. God bless the Duchess Of
Marlborough and the people Of Amer
lea for what they are doing 10 save the
starving people, but they ought To see
| that somebody besides the priests have
the distribution Of the fund in Mayo,
where there is3 the greatest distress.
The people are glad TO get half late
Of stirabout once a day, but some Of
the committees who have the distribu-
ton Of il are 50 avaricious as to rob
charity Of it, worth" This man spoke
| very earnestly, and frequently express
ed a wish that the newspapers might
take notice Of the matter. and wake up
| the priests 10 a sense Of their duty and
responsibility in the great emergency.
/ He said that the greatest distress ia the
famine districts would be felt from this
time forward until the lst Of Septem-
Der. 4 good many Of the people were
50 very poor that they actually sold the
seed potatoes given them by the Land
League to put in the ground and in a
good many places let their farms go
/ uncultiyated for this reason alone, 50
that when the crops come IN they won't
amount to much Several Of the i'm
migrants thought the worst feature Of
/ the Irish famine had not yet been Wit
messed while they were all conscious
( Of. and grateful for. the kind interest
America has taken in the famine-strick-
en- island
4 Itis an important feature Of immi-
/ grafton 10 find that like the Star of
Empire. il takes it, way westward
The mining towns are already over
! crowded with labor and impoverished
in consequence. 20 that il would be fol
1 II to think 81 going there where the
| people have only three DAYS a week Of
! work. and wretched pay al that
The Russian Army.
PsH Mall Gazette.
/ 4 German military paper iemarks
( that while undoubtedly when the En-
/ per0r Nicholas wa on the throne e6ag-
/ geratcd ideas were entertained 81 the
/ power Of Russia il is nevertheless an