MR. O’NEIL ON IRISH IMMIGRATION.

Dunstan Times, Issue 602, 31 October 1873, Page 2

MR. O’NEIL ON IRISH IMMIGRATION.

Mr. O'Xeil raid the honorable genff e . man who had just sat down had called at. tention to the want of emigration' to tliij Colony from Ireland, and had referred to the Igrge stream of emigration from that country to America. Any tin who studied the papers laid on the 'able of the House, would see a*-once that the fault wi hj re. garSl to emigration from Ireland rested ab together with the Agent General T1 err was not the smallest doubt about that fact. It was only ,in dun 1373 that an agcniw had been established in Ireland. In De. cember last the late Pr-nrier, the Hon M r _ Waterh uise, in the absence of the Minister for Immigration, wrote to the Agent Gene, ral on the subject as follows “ I cannot bat regard th - feeble a'temnt that has b M en made, under the management of Mr. Farnall, to open up a snpoly of i m . migration from Ire and, as emiocntlv un. satisfactory. That gentleman appears t 0 have be n nearly three months in Ireland, and the result of hii labors, as shown i i his correspondence, is, that during thit period he has forwarded twenty-three emigrants. What has been the total expeme connected with the introduction of these tw nty-three emigrant*? It would l, e hard to calculate, a nd probably painful r 0 contemplate, if calculated. The G ivem. ment are thoroughly satislie 1 tint an a le. qnate supply of immigrants is procurable from Ireland ” That despatch emphatically showed that the late Premier saw clearly what was the cai S3 of the want of immigration front Ireiand. The Minister for immigration (Mr. O’Rorke) wrote to the Agent General ‘■n the 2nd August last, and referring to >ir. Mason’s appointment as Immigration \ Agent for Ireland, he stated. “ Bat since that gentle nan’s appointment by you in Itecembor. last, \vc have not 1 heard of his proceedings... .. I shall only make this re nark ; that co isi leii ig the enormous number of Irish emigrants that annually leave that oou itiy. f can hardly be expeetel to comp'imont ynr agents in having induce.l in a ynr an 1 a half nine hnnlred siuris toemi -rite to Xsw Zealand from that country. Kor do Icirr to take advantage of poin'ing out that of ‘ these nine hun he t, more than one third were nominated in the Colony, an 1 consequently reache I this in le lendeut of the exertions of your cithers.” The Government ha 1 not, heard anything of that gentleman’s proceedings, although reports had been received from the agents in Germany, .Scandinavia, and every other p'ace but Ireland. In March last there were fifty-three agents acting for England an 1 Wales, s.vsnty-eigbt for Scotland, and forty-ix for Tre'anl, thirty-six of these hemg in the Province of Ulster alone. It seemed very objectionable th it such a distribution of agents should take place, an I that the Agent Gen -ral should assume to j himself the power of so placing the agents i that they could be but of lit le use as re. ! gards the whole of Ireland except in one part of the Country. It they lo ike lat the advertisements published in the papers, they woul I find alvertisem nts appearing jin 105 paper* published in E igbv id aid : Wales, 32 papers prints I in Scotland, ail )in only 17 Irish paoers. All the advertisements publishe) in Ireland were in Ulster 1 newspapers, with the execution of two papers iuGa'way and onei' Kin ’aCounty. ! There were 47 special a Iviertisemcnts for : domestic servants published in England and Wales and cotl.au I, but not me ap--1 peared in any newspancr in I.e'an 1 Xo ’ wonder, then, that the while syst-m id 1 Irish emigration was gro’s'y unfair ail “eminently unsatisfactory,'’ He thought some m-ans should be adopted by the Go- ’ vernment to see that the Ago it-Geueral 1 1 inked better after emigration fr nil Irela id. He believed that no one could he more aciive in promoting immigration than the honorable gout! man wh i now held the office of Minister for linmigrati un. The ’ c UTe-pondencc showed that he had hem stirring the Agent-Gene ml i i th it direc'iou. 5 The Government was responsible for the a action of the Agent-General, who had most 1 3 ’ g anugly neglected a very im mrtant part * of the home conn ry. lie tins el that the r Government would not delay in informing s the Agent-Genera! of his diry in regard ,-i obtaining emigrants from Ireland. They ■ could get a large mini 1 er of res icctab'ca .d , suitable emigrants from I eland and it w.is much to e regret,t id that tin arrange meats j for the supply id immigiati m fro a thit country were, to use again the words of the Hon. Mr. Waterhouse, si “emiiciuly t v.nsatisfactorv. ”