CO885(1-2) — Page 271

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

C.O.

Reference :-

885

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

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EMIGRATION.

Our returns for 1855 have not yet come in.

These returns take no account, of course, of sums remitted through private channels, nor can it be absolutely assumed that the remittances through mercantile houses and bankers really increased be- tween 1848 and 1854 in the astonishing proportion shown in this table. It is probable that in the first year or two the returns were less perfect than they have since been. Nevertheless, as the infor- mation was in each year obtained from nearly the same sources, it may be inferred, after making every allowance for imperfect returns at first, that the increase in the remittances, as years passed on, has been very large. In the years 1863 and 1854 the amount of those remittances was much larger than the whole expense of Irish emigration to America (to the extent in 1854 of probably not less than 1,000,0001.), a striking proof of the disinterested affection by which the persons who made the remit- tances were actuated.

What has been said above relates almost exclu- sively to emigration to America, but from the accompanying return it will be seen that emigration to Australia has latterly increased very largely, and now exceeds the whole average annual emigration from the United Kingdom between 1830 and 1846. Up to 1852 this emigration consisted almost entirely of persons assisted to emigrate by funds arising from the sale of land, and expended either directly by this Board, or under its superintendence, or by asso- ciated bodies, such as the New Zealand and South Australian Companies. In 1852 the gold disco-

veries rise to an unassisted emigration, and the

gave number who have found their way to Australia at their own expense in that and the three following years has been,-

1852

1853

1854

1855

52,088

32,258

41,122

21,992

The Government emigration during the same years has been,--

Emigration to Australia.

Effects of gold

discovery, 1852 -

I'nsuitableness of

unassisted emi-

grants.

Their distress.

Decrease in subse-

quent years.

Causes of decrease

in general emi-

gration?

1852

1853

1854

1855

EMIORATION,

34,005

27,723

41,085

28,016

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No one can have forgotten the rashness which characterised the unassisted emigration of 1852.

Every man who was in difficulty or want, or who saw no prospect of employment at home, seemed persuaded that if he could only get to Victoria his fortune would be made. Young men from the uni- versities, broken-down merchants with large families, shopkeepers, weavers, schoolmasters, medical men, half-pay officers, and those who had no profession at all, pressed out to Victoria, without considering their capability of enduring the labour of gold- digging, or their means of subsistence till they could earn a living. Such warnings as this Board could give were given in vain, and the result was what might have been foreseen. After a few months' struggle, a large proportion of these classes of emi- grants gave way before the difficulties of their posi- tion. Men of education found themselves at a disadvantage as compared with the uneducated but more robust labourer, and were forced to take such work as they could get for a livelihood. Accounts of their distresses appeared in the newspapers, and the stream of such emigrants fell off. Those who had had the wisdom to wait the result of the experiment gave up the intention of emigrating, and the unassisted emigration fell off by 19,810 in 1853, and 10,946 in 1854. But those that went in these latter years were more suited to the colonies, and it may be safely assumed that the numerical decrease implied no equal decrease in the effective labour. – which resorted to Australia.

Ilaving said thus much on past emigration, it is necessary to refer to its present position, and as far as can be safely conjectured, to its future prospects. The emigration of 1855 is the smallest (as has been observed) since 1846, and the decrease appears to bo principally among the Irish. The decrease is due to several causes.

First, and principally no doubt, to the improved

B

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