The Washington herald., 1913-03-16
POTATO POPULATED EMERALD
ISLE, THEN DEPOPULATED IT

/ fess to know nothing of the efforts put
forth to induce people to leave home and
L go to the United States. As the sys-
tenn works, however. the movement Is
stimulated in ever possible way, and
all parts Of Ireland are constantly In.
vaded by emigration missionaries"
and showered with advertising matter
describing the opportunities offered by
the New World.
| II the steamship companies waited for
such business as would come to them.
naturally thousands of Irish who start
for America would never receive the
initiative push necessary to dislodge
them from their natural environment.
In view of which statements. II is
possible to understand more clearly the
significance Of the appeal made by the
Sim Fein to President Taft. The let
| ter Of this patriotic organzation, al
ready quoted. went on to say:
The departure of our workers 10 due
mostly to the activity of the transpor-
tation companies. the prepaid passage
ticket. and enticing letters from en-
ployers. who are anxious to secure
cheap labor. One-third OF the people
who leave ireland do not pay ti:eir own
passage. but travel on tickets purchased
4
States. II such tickets were not avail
able at least Y, 600 Of the men and wom-
en- ireland loses every year would. in
stead of deserting their country, remain
at home
! 1t would be very difficult. however, for
the president to discourage immigration
from Ireland ever II he wished to do
SO. Doubtless there are many viola
tions of the contract labor law. such as
sIa ETafy Of n hfIf q h1y M
means easy to obtain proof in such
cases. II Irish immigrants commonly
travel on prepaid tickets, they get them
I In a great majority of instances from
relatives and friends on this side of the
water. And unquestionably 1t Is a fact
that many of those who leave the Green
Isle do in order to rejoin members Of
their own families already here.
Facts About Famine.
In a curious little book by Samuel
r. Hole illustrated b. the famous car
toonist. John Leech. and describing
tour through Ireland in 1850, one finds
some interesting remarks about the great
famine. which, at that date. of course.
was distressingly recent At Galway.
after dinner a man who had waited
upor them said:
May ye niver know what II Is to
crave for food. and may ye niver see
the likes of what I have seen. here in
the town o. Galway.
| .T mind the time when the poor
craters came crawling in from. the
country, with their faces swollen and
Crane and yaller along Of the YARDS
| they had been eating. We gave EN-
bits and scraps. but they was mostly
too far gone out of life to want more
than the priest and pity. I've gone out
of a morning. gintlemen, and seen them
lying dead in the square, with the
Crane grass In their mouths" And he
turned away to hide his tears.
! On another page Of the same little
book we read that. 'in the beautiful
country of the merry-hearted, all joy
was darkened-the mirth of the land
was gone There was not heard one
note of music, nor one cheerful sound
only the gasp of dying men and the
mourners' melancholy wall. The
crowning PLACE OF Egypt was trans
cended here. for not only. In some dis
dead but there were homes In which
there was but one living-in which
one little child was found calling upon
mother father, brothers, and sisters TO
wake from their last long sleep; and
| homes from which the last survivor
had fed away IN wild alarm Men
were seen vainly endeavoring (such
/ was tnelr WeakneSsp 10 dig grave
for their children, and staggering with
the useless spade in their hands"
| Thus 1t appears that while the po-
tato helped largely to populate Ire
| land It accomplished much toward its
depopulation.
| The Emerald Isle in 1858 possessed
| only s,500.000 inhabitants, having lost
nearly 1000. 900 of its people in a quar-
\ ter of a century. In 1906 only $4,000 600
were left. During the last twenty-five
years about 10000 Irish have come TO
this country-mostly young men and
young women. who should have been
the vigorous and fruitful hope of Erin.
! No wonder that patriotic Irishmen at
home find that prospect melancholy
But to America their coming has
been an undeniable blessing. They are
of the very best kind Of people in the
world to-day-cheerful. courageous.
| intelligent, and hard-working. They
have given us an infusion OF the right
kind of blood. II the American race Of
the future is destined, as must be the
case. to be a composite. We are for
tunate that 1t should be so largely Irish.
According TO the latest government
States 1.s15.567 per sons who were
born in Ireland. and 2,2eO.11O who were
born here of Irish parents. Would that
there were still more of them to cele
brate ST. Patrick's Day in the year
1918 on American soil,
RENE BACHE.
Rye has nearly diarrearcd in American grain
I npry hsrxh