IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) A •t^. ^ 4'^ '*' c^ 5 % r V ^/^^ distortion along interior margin/ La re liure serrie peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distorsion le long de la marge int6rieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajout^es lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, torsque cela itait possible, ces pages n'ont pas iti filmdes. Additional comments:/ Commentaires suppl^mentaires; D D n n L'Institut a microfilmd le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a 6ti possible de se procurer. Les details de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-dtre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la mdthooe normale de filmage sont indiquAs ci-dessous. [~n Coloured pages/ Pages de couleur Pages damaged/ Pages endommagies Pages restored and/oi Pages restauries et/ou pellicuides Pages discoloured, stained or foxet Pages ddcolor^es, tachetdes ou pique<i. , M.P. PtoH'; Hon. D. Pi,i>kkt, M.P W. Kathiione, Esq., IM.P. M. Samielson, Est;., M.P. F. 8ee1!()HM, Es<;. lUtiHT Hon. W. H. Smith, M.P. ]\Iarqi'm ok Tavistoi k, M.P. •J. TiloMA.ssoN, Esq., M.P. .J. H. TiKi), Esq. Sir H. Hissey Vivian, Bart. , M. P. ,1. Watnev, JiNR., Esq., M.P. Samuel Whituread, Esq., M.P. S. Williamson, Es(i., M.P. Of whom tho following consented to form au Executive Committee :— Arthur Pease, Est;., M.P. William Rathbone, Esq., M.P. The Mah(HIs of Tavlstock, M.P. J. H. TuKE, Esq. And subseciuently, lliouT Hon. W. E. Fohsteh, M. P. AllNOLU MOULEY, EhQ., Mi P. The IlioHT Hon. W. H. Smith, i M.P. (Chainnan). ; Samuel Wiutbreau, Esll, who has succeodod Mr. Tidco in Ireland, for Ids kindness in continuing tho work, and giving his servicej to the (-'ommittee. SYDNEY C. BUXTON, Juno, 18,9?. HOWAIJD IIODGKIN, j In ON. Sf.CS. 8 MR. TUKES REPORT. •••♦- It becomes my duty to lay before tlio Committee the chief results of the eommi.«8ion with whicli I wns entrusted at the meeting held at tho Duke of Bedford's, on the 'Ust of March last. The general principles suggested by tho Committoo for my guidance are stated iu the I'reface. The spring being tho time best suited for emigration, it was needful, at tho earlici-t possible moment after the meeting, to proceed to tho West of Ireland, to carry out arrangements whereby the emigrants might reach their clestination.s before the hot weather set in. Leaving homo on tho 4th of April, and spending a day in Liverpool and another in Dublin, for the purpose of making various necessary enquiries and arrangements, I arrived at Glendalough, Galway, tho centre of the Clifdeu Union, on the 7th. Before leaving liome it had been determined, as far as possible, to confine tlio operations of the Fund to a limited area in tlie West, comprising the poorest Unions. Clifdeu, Co. Galway, with Newport and Belnndlet, Co. Mayo, shared this unenviable position. Tho additional reason for selecting Clifdeu was that tho Guardians had, by minute (in February last), unanimously come to the conclusion that cnn'gration was a necessity, and had applied to the Government for assistance. The ton following days were chiefly spent in going througli the district, making enquiries, investigating tho real demand for emigra- tion and the condition of tho pooi>le, and to some extent iu eonforring with tho Union authorities as to future arraugomonts. At Glendalough, Mr. II, A. Ilobinson, Poor Law Inspector, met me, and reported that on tlio 4th of April the Clifdeu Board of Guardians — who were an'aro that the Committee were willing to co-operate with them in assi.sting emigration — had iiiuniiu/oiis/// passed tho following resolution : — " That the Guardians now desiro to intimate that, as they have ascertained that a fund Is fortlicoming out of Avhich assistance will be given to persons desirous of cinigrating-, tlio Board will now bo prepared to receive and consider / y Emigration from TreJanJ. i of appl lout ions from all suoli povsoiis, and will fako 'stops to procure whatever monoy may bo rtMpiirotl for this purpose." This resolution f viorcled with tho views of tho Conimitloo, ftiul it Hconied evident that tho ri{?ht eourso wii.s to lut in eon- junetion with tho Union authorities in all matters eonoerning emigration from that district. Wiicn, therefore, I anived in (Mifden, on tho morning of tho lOth, I eulled npon ^fr. IJurko, tho Clerk of tho Union, and mado arrangement h with liini for carrying on tho work, ho giving instruetions to tho relieving officers, of whom there aro three in tho Union, to make onquiriea throughout their respcetivo districts and to tako down tho names of any who really wished to emigrate. i\\ tho afternoon I drove with Mr. Burke for twenty miles along tho wild stony districts in the south-west of tho Union, for tlie purpose of ascertaining the feeling of the people as regards emigration. The general residt of this enquiry convinced me that there existed a very widespread desire for emigration. Many applications were mn for each shipment, the arrangements which were necessary for bringing them from their scattered and distant homes at the right time to the ship's side, and for providing thsm with suitable clothing and outfit, involved an immense amount of detail and work. The lists of those anxious to emigrate, already referred to, were four in number, one for each Disponsary district of the Union. These were carefully enquired into, and about a week or ten days before the arrival of the steamers, the relieving officers again went through their districts, and marked off on these lists a certain number of families who would be able and ready to leave on the appointed dciy. The lists of these selected cases were again brought before me, and I went over them with the Clerk of the Union and relievinsr officers, discussing the size and general condition of each family, and their fitness to go, and rejecting those who did not seem to be suitable. Most of the families, as before remarked, were very destitute of clothing, particularly in the districts where evictions had taken place, so that it was necessary in going through the list? to allot to nearly every family a certain sum of money, usually about £3 or £6 for the purchase of clothing. The mode adopted for the distribution of clothing was as follows: — Mr. Burke drew an order for eacli family for the sum which we had fixed upon, and these orders were made available for clothing at any shop in Clifden, &.c. The emigrants conUl therefore choose their own shop or shop^-. Even in this way there was some danger that the orders might be abused ; but it seemed the only satisfactory mode of distributing the clothing, and the relieving olfioers and others were constantly in and out of the shops to look 14 Emiqmtion from Ireland. after tlieir pooplo. In fact, tlio oontingont from oacli distrlet oamo into Clifdon under the cliargo of their respective relieving olfioers. Ill addition to tliis revision and examination of the lists, in almost every case I saw tlie head or some other member of tlie fam'ily, either iu their own homos, or more usually at the Workliouse. Tliis' of course, enabled mo to judge better of tlie condition of the people and of tlieir suitability for emigration. All I saw confirmed my belief as to the reality of their poverty. Some of tliose thus coming to tlio Workliouse had borrowed the jacket or other clothing they wore, to bo " a bit dacont." I must mention that as the Guardians had at that time presumably some share in the emigration, many of them, the shopkeepers in particular, used to como to the Workhouse and, claiming to have tlio right to determine who wore and who were not suitable to be assisted, took a very active part in scrutinising the lists. This right I always admitted, but its exercise often caused me considerable annoyance, and loss of time. Another matter reciuiring much thought and arrangement was the conveyance of the people from these reuioto districts to Galway— usually fifty to sixty miles— so that, without being too long upon the road, they should all bo at Galway the evening before the sailing of the steamer. Tlie difficulty will be more fully understood when it is remembered that among tlio emigrants were a considerable number of small children, that tho districts from which the emigrants came are extremely scattered, and that many of the people live in places very difficult of access, to which even a ear cannot approach within two or throe miles. In no case was there any railway communication. It was, moreover, no easy matter to obtain a sufficient number of cars or other conveyances. Many of those engaged drove tho fifty miles froniGalway the previous day, and back the next with the emigrants. Some families travelled on the common carts of tho country— a slow process for sixty miles— and some of the men walked a con- siderable part of the way. Tho arrangements for conveyance were, liowever, successfully carried out by local assistants, whom I employed, and by the relieving officers, so that no family was in any instance too lato, though many of them were not in Galway till two or three o'clock in tho morning of tho day on which the steamer left. Ihe cost of this conveyance necessarily formed a considerable item in tho total cost of emigration. Arrangements had also to bo made in Galway for lodging the two, three or four hundred emigrants the night before the vessel saikd, and for supplying thorn with food there and on the road. Emhi ration from trdand. 15 or After tlio people had arrived at Galvvay our agents aud others weut round to the lodgings and gave the emigrants their tickets, in excliange for the written orders which they had previously received, and which Avero a guarantee of tlieir identity. The following accounts of tlie embarkation of the people, written at the time, may be of interest : — Galway, Ma^J Ml, 1882. You will, I know, liavo been much interested to hear by telegram of the successful departure of the 350 emigrants in the " Nepigon." She arrived here about Sdven, and lay in the Bay nearly a mile fr.im the ([uay. The tug, with its first freiglit of 200 poor Connemara people, was soon alongside. The C(jnfusiou and searches for missing children, bimdles of clothing, itc. , were considerable, though perliaps not greater than might have been t-xpected. The wish to change the place of destinati(jn on the tickets, the anxiety to know that the ticket was all riglit on the part of those who could not read, the sense that they were couunitting their all and their future to an unknown and distant world, doubtless troubled and disturbed many, aud led to an endless amount of (juestioniug and little diftieulties. Then, again, some families who had been expected to come did not arrive, and others had been substituted ; two or three brought other members of tlie family (or near relations), who had Jiot been put down, earnestly begging for them to be accepted at the last moment. One girl went into a paroxysm of grief because a sister was not allowed to go with her, aud when she was admitted went into another because a brotlier was not allowed. This was too nmcli ; and she became so excited that she and her bundles were at length replaced on the tender. But, on the whole, the atl'air was very well and (piietly conducted. Tiie greatest trouble really wm, that after all we had done to clothe the people, many came up utterly unfit to travel. The £'3, iCo, or £'0 allowed had not been sufficient ; and had it not been that Father Stephen went back in the tug, and then returned in a sailing boat with two or three bundles for the captain to distril)ute towards the end of the voyage, many would have left very poorly provided for. A local newspaper gives the following account ; — "Family Emigration from Connemara.— Mr. Tuko . . shipped fifty- five families, numbering over 300 souls, in the ' Lake Nepigon ' this morning iu Ciahvay Harbour. The families arc all from Connemara, and had nearly all been recently evicted. The 'Nepigon,' which belongs to the Beaver Ijine, is well- fitted up ; the berths are bottomed with canvas instead of the ordinary boards. The captain has the reputation of being most kind and attentive to his passengers. The ' Citie of the Tribes ' steam tug nuule two trips to the steamer, aud Mr. Keogh, of the Custnms, and Dr. Jlicc cleared and examined the passengers. IMr. Tuke was prcs'.Mit, aud they all assembled on deck and cheered lustily, men, women aud chilcren l)i'ing in the best s[>irits. ' A fortniglit later, " The third and largest balcli of Connemara emigrants, numbering in all 430 persons, had, with ihe invaluable aid of Major Gaskell, been gathered together, and by car nv dnniibus or Ik inker, were, Avith no little ditiiculty, collected in readiness fi>r tli'J ' Wimiipeg,' appointed to sail tlie following morning. Punctual to her time, at five the following morning her steam whistle told us that she was in the bay — that all hands were needed. It is not needful to describe that which is involved in the collection from the lodging-houses the exchange of lickt-ts, the transfer of so many men, women, and children from { 10 Emigration from Ireland. tlic tuy to the steamer, and the final shakedown on board. Hufficc it to say, that with the aid of Major Gaskell, two Dublin gentlemen who became interested in the work, and gave us nnich valuable help, the oHicers of the ship, and our own hard-working assistants, it was done after six hours strenuous toil, and with cheers the emigrants left— left on their voyage of discovery to the New World. Through the kindness of Father Nugent, of Liverpool; the Rev. J. O'Donnell, R.C. Chaplain of the Liverpool Workhouse, had been induced to take charge of them." I may perhaps be allowed here to say, that in any future work which may l)e carried on I would most strongly advise, on all accounts, t\\Q shipment of smaller numbers. Batches of not more than ten or fifteen families at the utmost should be sent out. Tho doing so would lessen the great strain on this side, and at the same time reduce the cliances of any diflicnlty in finding employment in America, which the larger numbers may cause. Having said thus mueh of tlie arrangements on this side of the Atlantic, it niay be well to give some account of the organization on the other side for receiving and looking after the emigrants — arraugomeiits which were essential if the scheme were to be a success. As regards tlie emigrants going to (Janada, no ditficulty was encountered, the Canadian Cfovernment undertaking through their agents not only to meet tlie emigrants on their arrival, but also to find employment for them, chiefly in Western Ontiirlo, where there is now a great demand for agricultural labour. The authorities at the Canadian office in London took a warm interest in the matter, and advised their Agents as to tlie number of our emigrants going out, requesting that especial attention should be shown them. Besides these advantages gained by sending emigrants to Canada, the Canadian Cfovernment offers £1 a-head towards the passage of agricultural labourers and their families. It was, howe\er, found that very few of the emigrants wished to go to Canada. Most of them had relations in the United States, or knew of friends who had done well there, and consequently preferred going to the country of which they had heard such good reports. One family only went to Canada by the first vessel, and by the second ten families, or fifty-six persons. When it came to the third vessel, how- ever, and tlie chances of emigrating iit all, became less, the people's desire to get away anywhere, led them to accept willingly almost any offer by which this oould be effected, and oonsequontly 170 persons went to ( 'anada by the " Lake Winnipeg." The Canadian emigrants were eliiefiy booked through to Toronto, where the Canadian Government undertook to find them work. A considerable proportion of those going to the United Stat es went to join their friends ; but nerertheless it wa.s uviously needful Emigration from Ireland. 17 that some arrangoments should Lo made for having all the einigrauts met oil tlio other side, ospccially on account of the cliildren. Before leaving homo I liad Avritfon to a personal fiiend in Philadelphia, and he, together with some other gentlemen, havo rendered most land and efficient services in looking after tho emigrants arriving at Boston by steamer, or at New York and Philadelphia by rail, from Ciuebeo, I have had accounts from him of the arrival of the three first ships. Some of the people at their own wisli were sent on to Pittsburg, Cleveland, and other places, while my friends found employment for many of them in the Eastern States, somo in village manufactories, tlie masters being so anxious to engnge them that they not only paid the railway fares, liut also provided liouses for the emigrants and their families, in wliieh I hear that many of them are already comfortably settled, and earning good wages. Already some private accounts have reached Clifden of the happiness and success of individual families who have gone to the States. Information lias also been received that suitable agricultural work has been found by the Canadian Government for tlie families sent to Toronto. or On the '20{\\ of May, the day after the sailing of tlie " Winnipeg," I returned to England, leaving Major Gaskell, who had joined me nearly a fortnight previously, in Galway, to continue the work. He is still in the West of Ireland, and some account of what he has done up to this time has been appended. Before concluding this lieport, there are one or two other points to which it may be well to refer. When the movement was commenced it was thought very possible that opposition to the work of the Committee might arise from certain quarters ; but after two months' experience, I can state that no such opposition has .shown itself, at any rate openly, though some has arisen from a quarter whence it had not been expected. Some priests have openly helped and encouraged the work, some have privately sympathised with it, while if others have been hostile to it, their opposition has had no apparent effect. Opposition, however, has come from tlie shopkeepers of the district. I Jiavo iilready alluded to this on the part of some who were Cfuardians, but it has not been confined to them. A deputation of ten shopkeepers waited upon me one day at Clifden, in the liotel, and rej)resented to me that the assistance from the Eund should be given only to those tenants who Id Emigration from Ireland. hail boon evicted, or to labourers who coukl not find oniploynient. Their cliiof complaint was, that many of Llio wonhl-bo emigrants were in their debt, or well off, and tliey proposed that I sliould submit tho lists to tlieir scrutiny, so that "those deeply in our books, having the means of meeting their J!ist liabilities, but now taking advantage of this emigration scheme in order to avoid them, may bo struck off." I liave liad numbers of notes, more or less angry, to this effect, objecting to names on tho lists, and asking me to pay their debts, &c. Tliis opposition en tho part of many of the shop- keepers had, indeed, a more serious effect. Many of them are Guardians — perhaps it would not bo beyond the mark to say that most of tlio elected Guardians are shopkeepers — and it is probably dn.e to their influence tliat on tho 3rd of May tho Board actually rescinded tlio resolution of tiio lOtli of April, already referred to, by which the application for a loan of £"2,000 was sanctioned. The application Jiad, in due course, been made to the Local Government Board, and had been approved by them and by the Public Works Loan Commissioners — though several further forms would have been necessary before the money could be advanced ; — the Guardians had, subsequently to the 10th of Ajiril, fully accepted and understood their position, by alluding in one of their resolutions of the 2Gth to the emigrants who were being sent out " by tho aid of the funds of this Union," and yet on the 3rd of May they abandoned the position they had token np, and broke with the arrangement which only a fortniulit before they had come to with tho Committee, and upon the faitli of which the Committee had com- menced, and already partially carried out, an extensive scheme of emigration from the Union. The work had in consequence to be curtailed, and many persons who had their names on the lists, and were hoping to emigrate, were thereby prevented from leaving. Tho invaluable services rendered by Mr. John Burke, the Clerk to the Union, must not be passed over without acknowledgment ; it is hardly too much to say that without his assistance tho work could not have been accomplished. In reference to other Unions where the Committee had hoped to have been able to assist, it may be needful to say that the Newport Board of Guardians had passed a resolution somewhat to the same effect as that passed by tho Clifden Board on the 4th of April. But they never advanced beyond this, except to apply for a loan of £100 towards emigration, to bo devoted to cases in the Workhouse only. It therefore seemed very doubtful whether assistance could be given to any number of the poor people of Achill and Midranny ) \ i Tvmv/ratlon from Ireland. 19 ' / ) I wlioni I had bcoii to soo, or to others in this Union. As the Union decliuocl to borrow further, it remained that tlio only terms upon which T was able to offer assistance were those already mentioned, namely, that £;5 per faro (/>., per adult or two children) should be forthcoming from the emigrants or from other local sources. However, early in May, Mr. llodgldn, who had been assisting me with the second shipment in Clifden, taking my former lists with him, went to that district to see to what extent the people were able to avail themselves of the assistance. But ho fomid that upon the above terras it was almost impossible to help families, thougli there were a certain number of individuals who were able to find the necessary £'."3. To have helped iitdifiihiah to emigrate extensively Avoidd, however, not have been in accordance avIUi the objects of the Fund. As a matter of fact about twenty individuals ^^•ere assisted, while as regards families only three were assisted, out of thirty who were nnablo to find the required amount. The demand for emigration was still very great, though owing to the knowledge of the £3 limitation, the niti'licants did not come forward as thoy would otherwise have done. But on all sides it was reported that almost every poor family in the district would bo glad to emigrate if free emigration were found for them. It was evident in this district, as elsewhere, that the most suitable cases and those Avho most wish to go, are those who arc least able to pay anything towards the cost. The result of all I have seen and heard in the last two months, more and more convinces mo of the extreme poverty of the people in those Western Unions, and of the impossibility of their contributing to any material extent towards the cost of emigration, at the present time. A gentleman who has property in this neighbourhood, in speaking of the extraordinary demand for emi- gration, said that to his mind it was tlio most complete proof that could be given of the abject poverty of the people, and he added that he was certain that if <]io tenants were called on to pay any portion of the passage money, it would at once stop the whole affair, and that if even " the bit of clotliing " now given v/cro not granted the people would not go; and this statement is confirmed by the fact, that, in spite of the £3 or £-> that had been allowed to the emigrants, a number of those who came on board tho "Ncpigon" were most insufficiently clothed, and at tho last moment a considerable amount had to bo expended on them. No Irishman would leave homo willingly in rags, or without she.. ..id stockings, and the fact that so many, after the allowance deemed needful by the ofiieials, were still so ill-provided with clothing, is an added proof of the oft-repeated story 20 Kmigration from Ireland. of tlio abject poverty of these poor people, niul of the usolessness of offering to send them out at half-faros. Another proof of tlie poverty of tlio people was the numerous evictions that were taking place tliroughout the district, usually ou account of the nou-paymout of rents so small, tliat even if they were throe or four years in arrear, a tenant with £(> to £10 in his pocket could have paid them and remained on the land. To quote one instance, evictions were to take place ou twenty-four holdings, the rents of which ranged from £1 to £5 ; the arrears of rent varied from five to seven years, but though the landlord offered to wipe off all these arrears on condition of one year's rent being paid, in no single instance had this as yet been done. A gentleman in the district told me that a few weeks ago he liad uoi thought that the people were so poor, or that it was impossible for them to pay their rents, but now tliat he had seen the way in which such numbers of the people had allowed themselves to be evicted, he was constrained to believe it. I was also much struck with a growing feeling among the people themselves that cnugration is the only help for them. I hear that within the last year or two they have become more and more disheartened with their prospects, and have ceased to care, as they formerly did, for the land which they now find fails to support them, and leaves them in their present miserable condition. ^ Another fact, which very much complicates matters, is that, owing to many accountable causes, the demand for labour in these districts is very much loss than it used to be, and is continually decreas- ing. ^ This growing dcartli of employment tliroughout the whole district, and the hundreds of strong men demanding work and unable to get it, is indeed most alarming. The work of the Fund has, 1 am convinced, been of the greatest use and ; benefit in lessening to some extent this tension,''and in alleviating the unfortunate condition of this one Union. But to apply an effectual remedy to this and to other districts lies beyond the scope of any private society, and I am, therefore, more than ever assured that it is the immediate and imiierative duty of the Govern- ment to take up and investigate the condition of these Western Unions, and adequately and promptly to deal witli their special circumstances and special i)ovcrty in a special and liberal manner. ^ ^ The following statement will shew the numbers and dates of Bailing of the three parties : — April 28th, per "Austrian," 152 fares, families or parts ..t families ; total 201 persons. ■i-*i Einitfmfion fjium. Tnlund. 21 ■i-S total Mfty 5tli, iti'f " Nopigoii," 200 fivvcH, fuiiiilics or {'M'.th of fiimilies ; total .'U5 pOl'HOllH. iMfiy l!lth, yicc " Wiiinipoi,'," .'{."id ftircs, fjimilioa or piivts of familicH ; totiil 4152 i)uiHoiis. In aiMitlon, 280 persons wore sout out by vavioua other sbipmouts, m.-ilvinp^ a total of 1 ,267 persons. In Lrlni'Ing this report to a conoluslon, I liopo it may not be doomed presumptuous to offer one or two suggestions in reference to any po.tc-4«>- Sim, Keckss, Oai,way, 21d< 3f<(i/, 1882. Ah Mr. Tiikc liiis ^'oiic— to iilteiid tlio meetini;,' of tlio Coinmitteo, fHi tlio S.'Jril iiist., aiul to niako ii report — I think it possiblo that you may look for an iiulupciulont account of tho iinprcssioiiH made upon my mind by the work which ho h'ls conducted, and in the last section of which I have takon tho part of a disciple. Tho area covered by his exertions is mainly that of tho Clifdon Union, which must bo worked from a base line about thirty English miles long, through branches extending from fifteen to thirty miles laterally. In consotiuence of tho decision of tho Clifden Board of Guardians to cancel a previous resolution to provide funds, the work, since I joined Mr. Tuko, has consisted in cutting down tho lists of persons previously selected for emigration. This has been no easy task, in view of tho uniform level of poverty apparent in tho district, and of the pressing nature of the cases put forward by local ofHcials and others from whom information has been sought. Throughout this district, containing from four to five thousand families, there is a dearth of paid employment. A few are engaged in trading turf for fuel to County Clare and Arran IslandH, and seaweed for manure to Gahvay ; but tho bulk of tho population, now that tho seed is in the ground, have nothing bettor to di> than to watch tho growth of their potatoes. Without money to take them to England or Scotland, with no store of provisions at homo, unable (happily) to obtain credit at the shops, those people seem to have realised the impossibility t)f living on their holdings, and tho prccariousness and hopelessness cf their conditiori generally. For the past two years they have boon buoyed up Vvith tho expectation of better times — I don't say reasonable expectation, for tlioy appear not to reason but to look for blessings from the clouds — but expec- tations have been held out to thorn which are proving unreal ; and they seem now to bo sinking into despair. That is tho tone — to speak generally — of all classes alike — clergy, owners of property, shopkeepers, ai'tisans (though this is a very small class), labourers. No payments, no spending of money, want of employment, want of industry, want of confidence between classes ; evictions in many directions, a general doadncss and listlcssness prevailing everywhere. Employment, the opportunity of earning money on the spot, seems a necessiiry remedy, or failing that, emigration to ether fields of labour; and there exists an epidemic desire to emigrate ; .an eager, inicalculating desire on the part of thousands, as I believe, to bo helped to leave their country. If this be true it is as significant as sad, in reference to a people, perhaps impulsive and improvident, but certainly homo-loving. They are a fine population, teeming in numbers, crowded on a narrow fringe of coast, with miles of moor and mount-ain behind them, in holdings which, if the rent were nil, and the "farming" 24 Emigration from. IrelanJ. many ti.nes better than it ,s, coukl not support tl.eni. The manufacture of kelp used to bnng tlieni in money, but tlie demand now is small and only for a .luahty d.thcult to make, l.ol.ster fisliing is profitable to a few durin^ two or three monthr, and other fish there must be in the sea. But there IS no nuirket, the people are not fishennen, and the sea is the open Atlantie l.nngration and on a large scale, seems a necessity pf the moment. Whom Mr T'i.L /'''l them; and how to take them, are the questions which Ml. ruke has been engaged in solving with a degree of success which I am sure ho lumself has not had time to realise, but which others nu,st very gratefully ackiiowledge. * In a short month he has organised a double system of selection on this side and of supervision on the other side (,f the water ; and sent 1,000 persons rejoicing on the way which, subject to their own exertions, leads, by aM accounts, to competence. ' ^ The season is late and it may be expedient that this feverish desire for emigration should l>e a lowed to col, and some test applied as to the ability o the people to help thnnselves ; but my own conviction is that any scheme of emigrati^.n, to be useful to tliis coast and island population, should be one providing lor the whole cost of passage from thi Lttage door to tie des ination. The families are large ; and the most they can Scrape together -and they will sell every particle of property in order to emigrate-will I have the honour to be, Sir, Vour obed-ent Servant, Sydney C. Buxton, Es.,. ^^- ^'' ^'-^«l^ELL. 97 f > felK, mil June, 1882. Since the above letter was written 1 have been engaged in eompletin.' *vork marked out by Mr. Tukc ; and in assisting whole families able to v,^ f.^J per fiire to emigrate from the remote parishes of Killcen and Rossinuck, includ- ing Carrowroe and the islands in Kilkieran Bay. The result to this date is that J7:i fivres, with Hve infants, have embarked m two vessels of the Allan Lin,>, the " Scandinavian ■ and " Waldensian • " booked f<,r the most part to tl. s American ports; but in a considerable number of cases to Pittsbt, ^,,. ; an.l a few t.. Minnesota. All will bo met on their arrival at Boston, the port of disembarkation, by Mr. Smith or his repro- seiuatives ; to whom, at Mr. Tuke's request, lists have been sent, -nvin- the names, numbers, and description of emigrai.ts proceeding to each destinrtion. H-inbarkation at Uahvay involves a .juarter of an hour's passage on the open deck of a tug steamer to a somewhat exposed anchorage ; and this in wet and stormy weather is an uncomfortable introduction to tUe voya-e But the emigrants seem delighted to go ; and their bright countenances, th.e physique and respectable appearance convey the impression that their transfe'r to a country where they may e;.rn good wages cannot fail to assure to them a life materially better than they jiave been accustomed to lead at home. The rule under which whole families ems no demand for anything but potatoes and jiigs the latter so dear that few of the jicople can atibrd to buy them. The best eggs in the kingdom q., M.P. (in two years) J. Gurney Barclay, Esq. Algernon Peckover, Esq. John E. Wilson, Esci. (in two years) Arthur Kavanagh, Es(i. (in two years) Hugh Mason, Esq,, M.P. (in two years) B. Samuelson, Esq., M.P. Sir Joseph Pease, Bart., M.P. Arthur Pease, Esq., M.P. James Cropper, Esq., M.P. ... Samuel Morley, Esq., M.P. ... Hon. Henry Cowper, M.P. ... Alfred Illingworth, Esq., M.P. (in two years) S. Williamson, Escj. , M P. ... A. H. Brown, Esq., M.P. (in two years) W. Fowler, Esq., M.P. Arnold Morley, Esq., M.P. ... Fredk. Pennington, Esq., M.P. Rt. Hon. W. H. Smith, M.P. J. Watney, Esq., Jun., M.P. SirH. H. Vivian, Bart,, M.P. (in two years) R. Jardine, Es(i J. P. Thomasson, Esq Francis BuxtoD, Esq., M,P. ,.. £ R. d. ICOO 1000 .500 500 250 500 300 200 100 100 100 200 200 100 200 200 200 100 200 100 100 20O 250 200 100 200 250 100 £ a.