may
be judged of from the facts which appear in the following statements,
recently published in the _Times_ and _Morning Chronicle_, shewing the
amount which comes yearly from America.
"A curious fact is presented in a letter from a correspondent at New
York, showing that it is not to England alone that the Irish
proprietors are largely indebted for the support of their poor. It
has generally been understood that the Irish emigrants to the United
States have always remitted very fully of their hard earnings to
their relatives at home, but most persons will be surprised to hear
the extent of this liberality. 'A few days since,' says our
correspondent, 'I called upon the different houses in New York who
are in the daily practice of giving small drafts on Ireland, from
five dollars upwards, and requested from them an accurate statement
of the amount they had thus remitted for Irish labourers, male and
female, within the last sixty days, and also for the entire year
1846. Here is the result--"Total amount received in New York from
Irish labourers, male and female, during the months of November and
December, 1846, 175,000 dollars, or 35,000_l._ sterling; ditto, for
the year 1846, 808,000 dollars, or 161,600_l._ sterling."' These
remittances are understood to average 3_l._ to 4_l._ each draft, and
they are sent to all parts of Ireland, and by every packet. 'From
year to year,' our correspondent adds, 'they go on increasing with
the increase of emigration, and they prove most conclusively that
when Irishmen are afforded the opportunity of making and saving
money, they are industrious and thrifty. I wish these facts could be
given to the world to show the rich what the poor have done for
suffering Ireland, and especially that the Irish landlords might be
made aware of what their former tenants are doing for their present
ones. I can affirm on my own responsibility that the amount stated
is not exaggerated, and also that from Boston, Philadelphia,
Baltimore, and New Orleans, similar remittances are made, though
not to the same amount.' With regard to the feeling in America upon
the calamity under which the Irish people are at present suffering,
the same writer observes: 'Collections are being made for their
relief, but the distress is so general that our benevolent men have
been almost afraid to a
|