﻿566
AN GAOḊAL
Colonization.
THE CHANGES WHICH ONE-HALF CENTURY HAS
WROUGHT IN THE SOCIAL STANDING OF THE
IRISH ELEMENT IN AMERICA.
Telegram to the New York Tribune, —
"Boston, Feb. 21st, — Mayor Grace, of New
York, lectured to night in the Boston Theatre to
over 4,000 people in behalf of the Carney Hospi¬
tal. His subject was, "The Irish in America."
Mayor O'Brien presided and on the platform were
Lieutenant Governor Ames, Ex-Governor Rice and
other prominent men. More than one-seventh of the
entire population of New York is of Irish birth.
He regarded this tendency to the centre of popula¬
tion as unfortunate for the Irish people. The most
fruitful direction that practical philanthropy can
take, having for its object the relief of the Irish in
cities and of the Irish emigrating, is to be found
in colonization projects which avail themselves of
the advantages offered by the Western states and
territories."
The above is one of the most remarkable as well
as one of the most important incidents recorded in
American history as far as the Irish element is con¬
cerned. — Remarkable because it is within the me¬
mory of men not yet old when the City of Boston
did not embrace within her limits a single Irish
Catholic householder, yet, on the 21. of Feb. 1886
the Irish Catholic Mayor of that city, in her lead¬
ing theatre, presented to an audience of over four
thousand people, of the elite of the city and state,
the Irish Catholic Mayor of New York City — the
metropolis of the Western World — as the lecturer
of the evening: The contemplation of such a state
of things fifty years ago would be treated as a ro¬
mance. The Irishman has been bruised, maimed,
scarified, but his recuperative powers seem to bor¬
der on the miraculous — the plaster is peeling off
his wounds and requires but slight nourishment to
restore him to a state of perfect convalescence. —
Important, because the leading Irishman in Ame¬
rica — a man who has, by his splendid business
tact and talent, become the possessor of millions of
of wealth, apart from his representative capacity,
has announced, prescribed and recommended a pan¬
acea for the evils which beset the Irish people on
their landing on these, — shall we say, friendly,
shores, — Colonization.
Mayor Grace and other wealthy Irishmen like
him are the very men who can push the idea to a
successful issue; and they should combine and
take steps to place every struggling family in our
large cities on a farm of land.
The prospectus of The Homestead Company lies
before us which, among other matter, says. —
PROPERTY, The Company begins with a purchase of
the entire land grant (unsold balance) of THE LIT¬
TLE ROCK AND FORT SMITH RAILWAY COMPANY, in
Arkansas, about 632,000 acres. These lands are
under constant sale at from $2.50 to $7 an acre,
and are being taken up for settlement at the rate of
about 40,000 acres a year. Of this body THE CEL¬
TIC HOMESTEAD COMPANY buys of THE HOMESTEAD
COMPANY 200,000 acres, and takes option upon 200
000 acres more, The Celtic Company also takes
over the Land Department of the Railway Compa¬
ny, with its established system of agencies, and
thus succeeds at once to a retail business showing
a net profit of something like $100,000 a year. By
its own system of agencies for the stimulation and
direction of immigration. The Celtic Company ex¬
pects to increase many fold this margin of profits
without recourse to any undue methods,
CLIMATE — The extreme cold of the northern re¬
gions to which emigration has heretofore tended
is now beginning to be contrasted with the com¬
forts of a climate always genial and delightful,
where cattle may feed the year round, and two
crops may be harvested, and the tendency to try
the kinder weather will grow rapidly enough with
out forcing.
TIMBER AND SOIL. — It is worth noting that a
large proportion of the Company’s Arkansas lands
are covered with heavy timber of great value, and
the fertility of the soil, alike for grains and fruit,
is evidenced by the award at New Orleans to the
products of these lands of the FIRST PRIZE in the
department of agricultural products."
Now, there is no doubt but this company will
make money; but if a hardworking, struggling
mechanic or laborer, say after five or ten years, is
enabled to become the owner of a 100 acre farm
of good land by the Company said, is he not, as
well as the company, the gainer to the amount of
the value of his farm ?
Here follows the Brooklyn Eagle's remarks on
Mayor Grace's suggestions, and coming from such
a source merit attention — apart from the statistics
exhibited. —
(From the Brooklyn Daily Eagle of Feb. 28.)
"In his very interesting and instructive lecture
on 'The Irish in America,' delivered by Mayor
Grace at the Boston Theater last Sunday evening,
he laments the tendency of his countrymen to con¬
gregate in the large cities. Of the total Irish po¬
pulation of the United States only one-ninth is
engaged in agricultural pursuits. The Mayor
shows that the conditions of city life are unfavor¬
able to them. Taking the death rate of New York
for example, it appears that the mortality among
residents of English birth is 20.09 per thousand;
of German birth, 19 96; while among the residents
of Irish birth it is 28.02. His remedy is in some
scheme of Western colonization. The suggestion
is a wise one, Nature intended the Irish for an
agricultural people. They inhabit one of the most
fertile sections and possess one of the most genial
climates in the world. Injustice and bad govern¬
ment have prevented them from improving their
opportunities. But there is no reason why a New
Ireland should not rise west of the Mississippi,
where the starving kerne of Connaught may ex¬
change his present miserable existence for that of
a happy and prosperous farmer."
We naturally feel some pride in having our
colonization scheme endorsed by such competent
authorities. To be sure it is not altogether a new
idea except as regards the mode of operation. It is
the salvation of the Irish in America, and we hope
Irish Editors will keep agitating the matter until
every poor family in our large cities is placed on
a farm of land.
