Year: 1877

among Cne notable events OF this year 16 the
formation of q colony at Boston to settle in the
State Of Virginia. The movement is healthy
| in more respects than one. Massach husetts,
especially in its chief cities, 10 overorowded
with population. Manufactures were unduly


stimulated by the war of the rebellion, and
| retrenchment of production has created an


army of the unemployed. Many of these must
necessarily look to some other employment, for
o long time to come, n means of livelihood,
and i5 is manifest that neither the soil nor oil


mate of New EoGland afford . good field for
the ordinary agriCulturist- On the other hand,
the Old Dominion proffers genial climate and


q soil that promises an abundant yield to
faithful labor. EARNING in Virginia has been
found by recent immi grants to be both plea


SAINT and profitable, and the same may be said


of Kentucky and Tennessee. In many respects


these are the finest part ef this continent, cd d
yet they are much in need of a people to culti-
tivate and utilize this earthly paradise.
Among those who already have given proof of


their admiration of this favored latitude are


Caleb Gushing and General Butler the latter


having invested, it is said, in some two hun.


dred thousan acres of the sacred soil of the Old
Dominion. 1t may seem singular that New
England should lead in the march of immigra-
ton, but we live in e period when the preju-
dices of the past 60 for nothing, and when the
prospect of a future, rich beyond all former
dreams, has blotted out many sectional an
tipathies.


Those who study the problem of our popula-
ton are convinced that there should be come
outlet for the overorowded cities of the North,
with their severe winters and terrible records
of destitution and suffering. OF late years


here has been an influx of our young men


from country to city, in addition to the large


foreign element that seems to prefer taking it's


chance in the tkrong to the still wider chance


of success offered in the agricultural districts


All our large towns are overrun with stalwart


youths looking for situations as bookkeepers


and clerks, and with able bodied laborers seek


ing odd jobs and insisting that the tax xpayers
shall support them, whether there is work to


be done or not If matters are to remain as


they are, the result will be that every large
city will have permanent army of paupers,


whose independence has been destroyed by
public charity, from which crime can always
recruit it's ranks. Snch result s in every


way undesirable. 1t tends to vitiate the m asses
and to heap heavy burdens upon the taxpayer.
The evil notion that q man must needs be
furnished work by the authorities at whatever
point he may choose to pitch his tent needs to


be eradicated. So long there are broad


fields waiting to be titled, railroads yet to be


built, mines in which the shining ore is ready
for the touch of the pick, and, in a word, OPP
portnnity every where else. there is no reason


why city should give it's surplus population
places Of Virginia, with their fertile soil and
genial atmosphere, are opened with promise of
abundant return for labor. There Is no pioneer


work to be done there. The wilderness was
Now there is only hard labor for a while, CON-
bined with q little selfsaori6ce, and the golden
returns await the husbandman. There, too,
the email capitalist may betake himself with
sure hope that fortune awaits him, and that all
difficulties will vanish before q determined
spirit. 1t is strange, indeed, that there is
much talk of emigration to the West and SO
little of the South and it's claims, when there
every comparison, in point of agriculture and
and markets, is in favor of the latter section.
a little capital will go good ways there, and.
under the pressure of these hard times, there
ought to be any number of colonists furnished
from the large cities of the North. An organized
movement in this direction, influenced by lead
ing and responsible citizens, might go far
to " ards solving the problem of BurDIu6
population. The one objection made to the
scheme is that sectional prejudces may make
it unpleasant for Northern men to seek home
in Virginia and it's neighboripg States. This
is a mere bugbear, and has no foundation in
fact.


In this connection, we would call special
attention to the following letter, copied from
last Sundays Picayunc, on the


PROFITS OF PLANTING IN LOUISIANA.