362 Emigration-Report. [Ocr. 
he may not always realize the full amount—where, under other cireum- 
stances, and with wealthier tenants, he would not dream of asking two 
an advantage, we may be quite sure, that will not be lightly aban- 
doned, ‘especially, if with the abandonment, he is expected to beat 
any considerable part of the cost of removing his profitable though *pre+ 
carious tenantry. No, no; this is as wild a scheme as the other);“the 
one resting upon figures, the other upon’ contingencies. The Com: 
mittee should first establish the poor-laws, and then they will be ‘ablé, 
with a simplicity and unity of plan, that must, we think, charm theni, to 
offer security for loans, and proceed on the English plan. 
For by some such plan of emigration, if not exactly the one sug- 
gested by the evidence before them, the Committee seem to be tfou- 
bled with no doubts of the redundancy they talk about being quickly 
drawn off—this redundancy of 700,000 in England, and as many, or 
perhaps more in Ireland! The very entertainment for a moment of so 
gigantic a scheme, to be executed by means so unsubstantial and preca- 
rious—so completely impracticable—such a papier-machée construct 
shews their utter unfitness for any other occupation than that of record- 
ing the follies of heated enthusiasts, or the projects of crafty specula- 
tists, or the illusions of blundering and selfish ignorance. 
And not only do they contemplate the realization of these plans of 
theirs, but they are even looking forward to the means of preventing 
the necessity of any such second emigration in after-times. We could 
‘not but smile, in the midst of our vexations, at the reach of their mter- 
minable foresight, and the promptitude and ardour with which they pro- 
‘vide against evils, that lose themselves in distance. “ Your Com- 
mittee,” say they, “ being fully aware that one popular objection, 
which is continually offered to any system of emigration ‘on ‘an 
extended scale, is the argument, that the benefit would be: only 
temporary, and that the temporary vacuum would be rapidly filled up, 
felt it necessary to direct their inquiries to the consideration’ of such 
collateral measures, both of legislative and of a practical nature, as 
might be calculated to repress, if not to prevent that tendency; they 
have therefore pursued their inquiries very extensively, and have been 
fortunate to collect very valuable evidence on this branch of the sub- 
ject.”— Where they have put this part of their valuable evidence though, 
should it never be found, it is a matter of no mighty importance— 
is beyond our discovery. We have thumbed over the report pretty 
well, but m vain; and even the index points but to two pages, one of 
which recommends the prohibition of sub-tenancy, which applies to 
Ireland alone, and the other page only tells us, what does not seem 
much to the purpose, that if great numbers emigrate, those who are left 
behind will get better wages. ry 
But this popular objection, as they call it, originates entirely with 
‘their masters the Economists, and their own dutifal submission to-those 
teachers is the sole reason, why it really and truly receives no refuta- 
tion. It is the simple and direct deduction from that dictum of) Mr. 
Malthus (he must surely have been grievously misrepresented «botl» by 
friends and foes, and his own-self too), that population is alwaysetread- 
ing upon the heels of subsistence, and continually tripping them up; 
_ that is, that in any given space or country, more people can be pro- 
duced than food. This is theoretically and algebraically proveable, but 
never has this result actually occurred, or in any degree approaching to 
EE ee ee 
