THE IRISH RELIEF FUND.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1273, 6 May 1880, Page 2

THE IRISH RELIEF FUND.

The following has been received by ! Mr. W. J. Smith, the local Honorary 1 Treasurer of the Irish Relief Fund, from 1 the Lord Mayor of Dublin. It contains s information that will, we are sure, be of ' interest to our readers : " "Mansion House Fund for the Relief of i Distress in Ireland, > March 0,1880. ' ©ear Sir. sending you a list of r subscriptions to this fund, I find it is im- ' possible adequately to express my sense of i gratitude to the people of Australia for 5 their unbounded munificence towards this 1 country. When I reflect that from the 3 Australian Continent and the Isles the 5 subscriptions up to this reach the sum of ? 1(54,070 it is little to say that the memory s of suqh generosity will never be effaced f from the mind of the Irish Nation. The 3 generosity becomes still more remarkable > when it is remembered that all the in- - formation that has reached your country ' was contained in a few meagre telegrams, ■ and that without pausing for detailed > information, regardless of eveyy consideration, saye that Ireland was in dis-: L tressi the hearts of your people were 1 opened, and the tide of generosity which set in, in a few hours after the .first • communication was sent fiom this Comt mittee, has continued to flow uninterruptedly to the relief of a stricken land. So rapidly have the contributions come, so little did any consideration of self weigh with your generous that.]! r have not enable to thank the Committees' by ! the names of their Chairman or Secre--5 taries. I postponed from time to time making this acknowledgment in hope that ■ some information of that natyirp wo.v>ld ' reach me, but as yet it has not arrived. ■ One of our Melbourne communications " bore the respected name of John o,'Shan-r I nassy, and \ have asked him to be thp > medium of making this communication to the other cities and places from which ' contributions have so bounteously come. According to the entries in the books of this Committee the contributions from Australasia stand as follows ;—- Victoria.-—Melbourne,, larat, I4OQO. New South Wales. —Sydney, LIB,OOO. Queensland. —Charters Towers, L6OO ; Brisbane, L 7500. South Australia. —Adelaide, L 4500. Tasmania^ —Launceston, LSOO. New Zealand.— Wellington, Ij2QQ ; Dunedjn, LI2QO; |nyercargill, L 80 0; Christchurch, L 600.; Qamaru, L 20 0; Hokitika, L 470. Making a grand total of and this, as I have said, in response to a few meagre telegrams. Our hearts are filled with admiration for such a people. I would ask as a favor that lists of your committees and of the subscriptions to your fund be sent us here, that thpy may be prpseryec} with thp records qf this Committee, as 3 bright example of generosity to succeeding generations. Qur entire fund now amounts to LX00,647- Of this we have distributed through local committees up to this date the sum of L 50,432. These local committees are now spread over 29 out of the 32 counties of Ireland, so you will see that the area of our operations is not, limited to any of the country. Wherever distress of an exceptional nature exists, we have endeavored to relieve it. Of CQurse, the distress is greatest in the bounties along the western and north-western coasts j but in some of our midland Counties and in wide portions of the north and south, the pressure of famine is keenly felt. A list of the grants made out in Counties accompanies this letter. The local Committees, of which over 600 are now working, comprise (with very, exceptions') the glergyrflen of the' Qatlialie and Protestant Churches, the dispensary doctors, and

guardians of the poor. We can refer with pride to the testimony recorded in oui favor on a recent occasion by the Catholic Hierarchy of Ireland, and by his Grace the Protestant Archbishop of Dublin, t£ whose constant we are 'm&ch indpbtpd, This testimony, coupled with that borne by clergymen and laymen from all parts of the country to the worth of our organisation enables me to assure you that your'contributions have not failed to answer the noble purpose for which you, I am confident, wish then? applied, namely j the relief of distress, without distinction of creed or party. This has been, and will continue to be, the aim and object of this Committee. The total of the persons who are dependent for, weekly supplies on this Committee, according to the returns of the Copinutteeg, numbers considerably 9ver 300,000. But this : Committee fears the worst has not yet come. During; the period that has elapsed since th© of our Qornmjfctee the inclemency of the weather, and the absence of all employment in the fields and in the farm-yard necessarily intensified the peoples' suffering, and they demanded our constant and most generous attention. We have spares neither labor nor in relieving afflicted. Thank God, we have succeeded in saving hundreds, thousands of lives. '

The funds now in handawiU emWeua to continue our work during: the months of March and April. , ; 'i But we are painfully convinced that the) moat trying period of this year of bittW trial for our people "will be vhac comprised in the summer quarter (May,. June, and July), when field-work, will not be required, and the harvest is ripening. Such has been the history of former famines. Many-persons in Australia will remember the expression so familiar in the mouths of our peasantry, " the year of the dear summer." We have, however, great confidence that the generous friends of humanity throughout the world, sympathising with our poor people, will enable us to continue our operations to the end. In my own name, and in that of tho Mansion House Committee, and in tho name of a country not unmindful of ita benefactors, I thank you and all tho people of Australasia. And have the honor to be, Yours faithfully, E. Dwyer Gray, Lord Mayor, Dublin.

Since, writing I have received the following additional subscriptions, not included in the list before given : Melbourne ... ... £3OOO Sydney... ... ... 2500 Hobart Town 1000 Geelong 660 Wellington 800 Christchurch 400 Waimate ... ...> 315 Kapunda and Light Relief Fund, Victoria ... 300 The last Melbourne subscribtion inoluded the munificent donation of tho Victorian Railway Employes of LllOO. This makes the total subscriptions from Melbourne L 22,000, and from Sydney L 20,500, and the entire sum received up to date from Australasia L 62,735. March Bth, 1880.