THE FAMINE IN IRELAND.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1175, 22 January 1880, Page 2

THE FAMINE IN IRELAND.

The meeting called by his Worship the Mayor, in response to a requisition, for the purpose of considering what steps should be tak.en to raise funds for the relief of the famine.-stricken people of Ireland was held at. the Yolunteer Hall eveping. There between 120

and 150 persona present, and a large amount of enthusiasm was shown in the proceedings. The Mayor occupied the chair. The Chairman, in opening the proceedings, said they all knew the purpose for which the meeting had been called —to devise means for providing relief of the distress in Ireland.- , They had not.a,great. deal of information "'upon the subjept,<but they ! knew/, sufficient to; convince; them that the people of Ireland were sorely distressed. It was therefore their duty.~as fellow-men to come forward-and- assist in distressed'peoplp of Ireland. They were not called upon to give ostentatiously, nor to injure themselves and those who belonged to them by giviug beyond.their means ;.but if everyone gave, a littl o according to,-what he could afford, the money obtained would in the aggregate amount to a-large sum. Many of those present could form but a faint idea of the horrors of a famine. He had a vivid recollection of the misery and distress occasioned in Ireland by the potato famine of 1845 and 1846, and if the distress in Ireland now was only half as bad as it was then, he could only say, God help them. His Worship then read letters of apology and sympathy from the Revs. H. Dewsbury and A. B. Todd, who, having to be in Dunedin, could not attend the meeting. The Chairman then called upon Mr. G. Sumpter to propose the first resolution. ; ■

Mr. G. Sumpter said that he was not prepared to make a speech, as he had received no intimation until after entering the room that he would be called upon to propose a resolution. Had he known that he would be called upon to do so, he would have endeavored to obtain some information upon the matter; but, judging from the manner in which the. Oamaru people had responded to the call for assistance on the occasion of the Indian famine and in other cases, he "did not think it would be necessary to press the matter very much upon them in order to elicit their sympathy. . He well remembered the distress that occurred in 1846, and the liberality displayed by Mr. Paget, the well-known banker, who gave up°all his rents from a large estate iii Ireland for the example of generosity which the speaker had not forgotten. They had all in a measure felt the effects of the partial failure of the crops last season, and if they would stretch their imaginations and'think what the result would have been had the crops totally failed, they might be able to form some faint idea of the calamity that had befallen the people of Ireland. There was every prospect of a good harvest this year, and it occurred to him that they could not adopt any better means of showin" their gratitude for an abundant harvest than by coming forward and subscribing liberally towards the distressed Irish. °He thought it might be well, to auopt the same means for obtaining subscriptions as were so successfully followed in the case of the Indian famine relief fund. He concluded by moving the following resolution : That in view of the alarming distress which exists in Ireland it is desirable in the interests of humanity to adopt measures for raising a fund in this town and the surrounding districts for the relief of the sufferers, and lis was quite sure that we, who had given so much towards die relief of the Indian famine, would be ready to do as much for our own kith and kin.

The motion was seconded by Mr. W. J. Smith, and carried unanimously. ' The Rev. Father Coleman, in proposing the second resolution, said Mr. Sumpter had dealt with the urgency of the appeal. The next thing to consider was the appointment of a good Committee. He said that it was not necessary to dwell at any length on the resolution, as he knew well that the gentlemen appointed would actively co-operate in the work in hand, and that they would have the assistance and sympathy of those upon whom they would call for help to relieve the distress of the Irish. From his knowledge of the people of this town and district there were none to be found anywhere more ready to pome to the relief of those in distress' than the good people of Oamaru. He, moreover, said that it was hard to expect the young New Zealanders to have the same lively sympathy with those suffering from famine as those can have.who had witnessed scenes of distress in the past. Yet from what he knew of the young New Zealanders, they would generously share in the work of relieving those now calling. Whenever the people here were called upon for help, whether it was for those in India, those in England, or those in any other country, they responded promptly and liberally, and that without any reference to creed, class, or nationality. He felt sure they would do likewise in the present case. He moreover added that, seeing in an able article in the Maii, on this subject, a paragraph containing the word '' Quauerish," and thinking that it might imply.a reflection on the Quaker body, he felt bound to say that in the Irish famine of 1847 the Quakers were among the most generous in coming to the relief of the Irish poor. He then thanked the Chairman and conveners of the meeting, all of whom were Scotchmen and Englishmen, with one exception. It gave him great pleasure to find these gentlemen thus showing their kindly feeling and deep sympathy for his fellow countrymen. Their pondupt was the best proof of the union, peace, and harmony that prevailed in this community. Without further delay he begged to propose the following resolution That, for carrying into effect the object of this meeting, a Committee be formed, consisting of Messrs. W. J. Smith, G. Greenfield, W. H. Ronayne, J. Moss, B. W. Hayes, G. Jones, J. Mi rams, S. E. Shrimski, M. Grant, A. H. Maude, A. S. Otterson, G. Sumpter, T. W. Hislop, J. O'Meagher, His Worship the Mayor. Rev. H. Dewsbury, Rev. A. B. Todd, and the mover, with power tq add to their number.

Mr. Toohe'y seconded the motion, which was also carried unanimously, Mr. O'Meagher, on rising to propose the next resolution, referred to the many famines that had occurred in the world. The first they read of was when the sons of Jacob went down to Egypt to buy corn. Since then families had swept millions off the face of the earth ; but he thought that considering the smallness of the area occupied by the island, the number of the population, and the previous prosperity of the inhabitants, the severest famine ever I experienced was thaf; wljioli occurred in Ireland in 184& He had a yivid recollection ofthat famine; he saw the dead and thp dyipg s he saw people who, when rglief came, were beyond the. power of recovery. Indian meal was then served out, and was greedily .eaten raw by the wavside by the people who were too hungry to wait , till they got time to cook it. The result .of this . was disastrous. People were smitten with dysentery as a consequence of eating the raw meal, and scores of them died from this affliction. Indeed, he doubted whether the cure was not worse than the disease, Who then came to the relief? That very class of men tq whom reference had already been made by the Rev. Father Coleman—the Quakers. ' They sent a consignment of si?ty tons of ri<;e, accomr panied by a vat and apparatus for cooking the rice by steam. This was then served out to the people, who were so hungry that in many cases they ate it in its hot state, But within a short time the hue of health returned to the cheeks of young and old. Only one man in Dunedin, Mr. J. G. S. Grant, had raised his voice against this charitable movement, and he regretted to say that one of the local papers, the North Otago Times, had published a leading article which had a decided coldwater tendency, whether the writer so intended it or not. In the same issue appeared a letter signed " North Britain," advocating a penny relief fund for New

Zealand. He trustedj however, that the people of this town and district would not" be influenced by either the article referred to or the painfully economical proposals of "North Britain. ' It was true they had no details to lay before the meeting, but what had they to/ do 'with harrowing details ?, Sufficient that ;the ; Mayor of Dublin had telegraphed that great distress existed in Ireland, and that they a position j-" if ftiey - would, xto aid? in alleviating it; Those who; hiad" riot seen a famine .could not form any idea of its | horrors. He had seen people in Ireland during,the famine eating a bitter plant, a kind of wild cabbage, and endeavoring to live upon it rather than show their distress. They had all at some time heard a child,, cry for a piece of bread, and kilew.' how bitter was its'cry when there was plenty of bread because its wants were-not at once attended to, but what must be the feelings of parents when they heard their little children crying for bread and there was none in the house to give to them. To such parents the feeling would be agonising in the extreme. He need not say more. It was their business to act and not to talk. A good Committee had been formed, composed of men who would, not scruple to give their time. The people of Oamaru had given liberally towards the sufferers by the famines in India, China, and other places, and in fact, there never was a cry for help that was not responded toby Oamaru. He hoped that within 48 hours from the time the collection was commenced, they would be able to flash along the telegraph LSOO, or even LIOOO, for the relief of the sufferers. They should not wait for the details, but should each give at once according to their means. To quote a sentence used by one of the most humane men in the Colony, the Rev. Dr. Stuart, they should remember that ."He gives twice who gives quickly." He then moved— • That the following gentlemen be requested to act as collectors in the various districts in which they reside, viz.: —Messrs. W. Murcott and Mr.Bremner, Hampden; Messrs. T. Henderson and Beckingsale, Otepopo; Messrs. A. ..Thompson and W. Maiming, iKakanui; Messrs. T. Shalders, H. Schluter, T. Duncan; Oamaru to Pulceuri ; Messrs. D. Borrie and G. Millington, Papakaio; Messrs. John Johnston and W. Smillie, Awamoko; Messrs. A. A. Smith and P. Thomas, Duntroon; Messrs. J. Campbell, D. Barry, and Conlin; Ngapara;. Mr. C. Todd, Waiareka Valley; Messrs. T. Common, J. Reid, and E. Menlo <re ; and Messrs. C. F. Roberta and M'Quade, Livingstone. Mr. G. Greenfield seconded the motion, The Rev. Father Coleman alluded to the different views taken on this subject by the local papers. He said that the Matt. j in an article very able and humane in its tone, urged the necessity of active support being given to the Irish people in the hour of their dire distress. The other paper took a different view of the subject. Yet he thought the Times was entitled to the expression of its opinions, and he felt sure the gentleman who wrote the article in the morning paper would be ready to" lend his assistance, whatever his views may be, and at anyrate, he trusted they would lay aside all difference of opinion, and join together in promoting this benevolent work. The motion was carried unanimously. On the motion of Mr.. O'Meagher, seconded V.y Mr. W. J. Smith, Mr. B. W. Hayes was appointed Secretary; and on the rr>o f ioii of Mr. Ronayne, seconded by Mr. jldniiigu, Mr. W. J". Smith was elected Treasurer.

Mr. O'Meagher proposed that the Secretary should be requested to write to the proposed collectors, asking their co-opera-tion, and enclosing subscription lists. This was seconded by Mr. Mirams and carried.

Mr. Shrimski then suggested that a sub-, scription list should be opened in the room, as by that means many persons might be induced to give who might not afterwards be reached by the Committee.

Mr. O'Meagher suggested that it would be better to allow the collection of subscriptions to rest with the Committee. If a list was opened in the meeting many persons might be forced to give beyond their means simply because others who were present might put down their names for large amounts. Mr. Hislop said he hoped that the meeting would not be led by the remarks of the Rev. Father Coleman into supposing that young New Zealanders were less sympathetic than those born in the Old World. His opinion was that they were even more sympathetic, and he attril: uted it to the fact that their feelings were not deadened by frequently witnessing scenes of distress and suffering, as was the case at Home. He claimed to be a young New Zealander, though not born in the Colony, and urged that they were always ready to sympathise with and assist those in distress. One of his earliest recollections was the famine in Lancashire, and he well remembered that the New Zealanders gave prompt and efficient aid. He did not therefore see why it should be said that they could not sympathise with those in distress.

The Rev. Father Coleman briefly replied. He said that Mr. Hislop had misunderstood him, and again repeated what he had already sa,id. He reminded Mr, Hislop that when assistance was given to the distressed in Lancashire he was only a boy. He ought to remember that the contributions were given by the old New Zealauders—the old folks from had given suoh a good example to the young New Zealanders, and he trusted they ' would generously and humanely follow their bright example. Amid much laughter, Mr. G. Jones suggested that Mr. Hislop and the Rev. Father Coleman should cease wrangling, and come forward with L 5 5s each in aid of the fund. The Rev. Father Coleman, amid much cheering, stepped forward and complied with the suggestion, On the of Mr,. seconded bv tlie Rev, Father Coleman, a vote of thanks was passed to the Mayor for presiding, and the meeting terminated. A subscription-list' was then opened, and about L3O subscribed.