The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1880-02-13
Ireland's Former Fsmines.

n view of the dreadful distress now pre-
vailing in Ireland the following IN regard 20
previous yisitaticus of q similar character,
which we find ia the Chicago Ddiit NeIcs OF
Fr day last will bs read with great deal OF
interest
The failure 0: the potato erCp Ia ireland n lsAs
and subsequeut years did not some without
warning. A diseased state Of the pisnt called the
curl became prevalent previous TO that date,
showing that the constitution Of he tuoer vas
endangered In fact. as early as 1854 william
Cobbeit called the potsto dirty weed said II
vcu lc he q curse TO Ireland: that th"re were =
cultivated acres; that this land must be drAined
and brought under cultivation. aDd sovn VIII
grain; thst the potato would not lstt twenty
years longer that lt WCuld work Itself out that
then Ireland would be reduced 70 wretched
state but thst if the country returned TO grain
would DC one OF The nDest countries in tbs world.
The potato failed, rs Cobbett predicted the
famine came, end hundreds Of thousands perisbed
Of hunger and disease, superindueed thereby.
The frightful effectE of this famine uazy he ape
precIated when say that previous 70 ls+e the
tenant hold inEs in Ireland 1o16 337 oi these
So, ,8S7 were under 81 per annuul rent and 332lll
over Es while the holdings n 1870 were but esq.,
0o1. Of which sl2 ,os0 were valued a. than ELS
per annum But even the large number Of hold
Ings Of Is45 does not rePsesent the extreme divi-
sion OF that time. many OF the small holdings
were sub-iet and held BY separate families Of squat
ters.
There were also potato famIues in Ireland in
1872 and 1879. In those years mu;titudes Of hr-
beings were in state OF destituton. In
the County Of Glare 90 o39 persons were subsisted
on charity; In Cork, l22 COS in Limerick, 1000.
out of a population Of o. .OCO. The government Of
England placed e5oo,eio at the disposal of the
Irish Government in lsZ3: in addition, ESQ. 90
was subscribed by private individuals in Great
Britain, and s15O,o0J raised in Dublin. Another
failure Of the potato crop occurred in 1881. That
suferings were also srayated by the severity Of
the weather, and want Of clothing and fuel
Parliament voted f6O,uOo for the slIeyistSon OF
Immediate wants during that year.
Next We have the frightful famlns OF 1875 and
in the autumn Of Is45 but its total estruction did
rot occur Gntil 1885 aud 1s47 Not less than ,ooJ
600 Of persons in these years received ratgons sup
Piled BY the pOo- rares, public allowances, and
private charity.
The civilized world was appalled, BY the reports
Of starvation, disease and death. On this occasion
AIRY acts advanced e. 26s for the relief Of the
suffsrers About half Of this was a free gilt.
while half was TO be repaid in ten years. Event
ualiy, the Whole was made freo gilt. At the
same time, 81 1929 was subscribed By private
individuals. # may be stated in this eonnection,
thai much o. toe money voted By Parliament and
contributed by private charity was worse than
wasted. In his work The Condition OF Ire
land, ~ Mr. PIN, o. Dublin. shows that there were
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS., corruption, nepotism. EhIrk-
Ing Of work and numberless other forms Of mis-
management, to say nothing Of Tosds commencing
nowhere, and leading 70 the same place, II con
pection with t5s distrL button OF the money.
since 1853, II Ireland, the potato crop has
suffered more or less from disease The inferior
iy ~ tae crop 70 1872 is due 10 imperfect cuTiva-
tion and unfa yoTabis weather which have pre-
vented II from being properly mAtured. The
famine OF 1877 accustomed the Irish people % 9TH
er descriptions of food. The country now i'm ports
annually over 2, 900 90 ewts. OF wheat corn and
-Four cf thiE. par- IS used for feeding cattle
The imported barley IS used for distilling ana
brewing. Still the wheat and h0ur i'm ported are
nearly u goo 600 OF fcvzts OF atout ewts tor g. "a
head Of tiis population
The danger o. the country IN elinEing % one
prineipai crop is manifested by this fact
alone such winter have in northern
Illinois Wisconsin H0 uId destroy every potato
stored for ths winter aud sumner TODD OF the pe0.
Deen experiences in both Great Britain and Ire
Land,