Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1883-06-29

Last Saturday President Arthur received a
large delegation OF representative Irish Amer
leans, who went to Washington to remon-
strate against the pauper immigration which
the British government is now inhicting on
this country. The delegation stated it to be
the deliberate policy of that government to
get rid of its poor-house inmates and its can
didates for outdoor relief by paying their
passage to this country and giving them
beggarly pittance of cash with which TO Ego
to their friends on their arrival here-and
evidence was submitted in support of this
statement 1t is a matter of general knowl-
edge, they said, that parliament has appro-
priated 100000 for the above purpose, and
that agents of the British government have
come to this country to perfect arrangements
for the reception of such aided emigrants.
The president received these gentlemen with
becoming consideration, and assured them
that our government had already taken meas
ures for looking into this matter.
By somewhat curious coincidence, on the
very day on which these Irish.American citi.
zens visited Washington on this errand, and
on the day following, three several steamers
grants to New York Investigation by the
emigration commissioners showed that they
had been given passage tickets by workhouse
commissioners in Ireland. There were sixty
families of them, including 1872 grown persons
and 2i3 children. Two or three of them
were women with one or more Legitimate
children each. All of them were poorly clad.
and they bore unmistakable marks of the
squalid misery of their condition. The en-
tire amount of money possessed by them did
not average above 50. 80 for each adult, and
this munifcent @ sum was given them by
the same parties who furnished them with
tickets. 1t is difficult to believe that the high
er British authorities countenauce or are aware
of such proceedings. We prefer to think
that these means of getting rid of an unwel-
come population have been adopted by local
officials on their own responsibility
But whatever may be the fact on this point
our government owes it to the people to take
immediate steps to prevent the continuance
of such proceedings. The old Fourth -of-July
idea that our American republic is to be IAN
asylum for the downtrodden and oppressed of
every nation" is a fine one in theory, but
level-headed men are coming to see that even
in this matter the line must be drawn some
where, and good place to draw it would
seem to be at the deliberate and premeditated
emptying of foreign warehouses; into this
asylum and the consequent burdening of
the people of the several states with pauper
and vicious element for which they have no
responsibility, either moral or legal. We are
told that the case of these latest assisted"
arrivals has been brought to Collector Rob
ertson's attention, and that it is possible that,
after due investigation, he may exercise his
prerogative to compel the same steamships
which brought them over to take them back.
In cabinet meeting held Tuesday it was
decided to instruct the collector at New York
to cooperate with the commissioners of immi-
grafton of that city to prevent the landing of
immigrants that are paupers within the
meaning of the law" and to re-ship all such
as may have already landed.