296 



FAMINES IN IRELAND. 



corn, wheat, and salt pork. She carried also a 

 private consignment of 100 barrels of Indian 

 meal and 3 packages of clothing; and also 13 

 boxes, 3 bales, and 3 barrels of clothing. The 

 contributions then sent to the Dublin Charitable 

 Committee (composed of members of the Society 

 of Friends) amounted to 168,000, of which the 

 provisions were estimated at 108,651. In ad- 

 dition the clothing received from America was 

 estimated at 10,000. The Irish in the United 

 States remitted, in small sums, during the year 

 ending March 30, 1847, to friends in Ireland 

 over $1,000,000 through banking houses in New 

 York city. The amount transmitted through 

 financial establishments in other cities was un- 

 questionably very large, but no authoritative 

 computation was ever made of it. In spite of 

 all efforts for relief half a million people perished 

 from acute starvation and from cholera brought 

 on by eating putrescent potatoes. Another half- 

 million emigrated to America. 



In the famine year of 1862-'63 more than 10,- 

 000 deaths were added to the usual death rate, 

 the direct result of destitution, and 80,000 pau- 

 per emigrants sought a refuge in America. Al- 

 though the United States then had a civil war 

 on its hands, we sent to Ireland a sum variously 

 estimated at from $3,000,000 to $9,000,000. 



The relief sent to Ireland in 1879-'80 was 

 mostly in money, although the United States 

 Government again commissioned a war-ship, the 

 " Constellation," commanded by Capt. Potter, to 

 proceed to Ireland with a cargo of provisions. 

 During that famine year the generosity of Amer- 

 ica found its way to Ireland through various 

 channels. A portion of it went to form the re- 

 lief fund of the Irish National Land League; 

 another portion was absorbed by the fund raised 

 and expended by the New York " Herald " ; the 

 New York Committee, of which Hon. Charles P. 

 Daly was president, forwarded about $100,000; 

 $60,000 was sent from various sources to the 

 Mansion House Relief Committee, Dublin ; a 

 special committee was established in Philadel- 

 phia; but probably the greatest amount of all 

 was transmitted directly to the Roman Catholic 

 bishops in Ireland. The Parliament of Canada 

 voted $100,000 as an Irish relief fund, confiding 

 it to the Colonial Secretary for distribution. 

 The Province of Ontario also voted $20,000. 

 The scattered British colonies in the cities of 

 South America were not deaf to the distant cries 

 of distress : Georgetown, Demerara, sent nearly 

 $3,000 to Dublin ; and the city of Buenos Ayres 

 sent over $20,000. 



At the time, therefore, when it became appar- 

 ent that there was a failure of the potato crop 

 in 1890, which was likely to entail a famine 

 upon the Irish people, there was no reason for 

 believing that the distress would be relieved 

 otherwise than by American generosity, as no 

 steps had been taken by the British Government 

 to meet the crisis. In the latter part of August, 

 1890, the newspapers and public speakers began 

 to sound the alarm. The Irish Land Commis- 

 sioners issued a report giving a gloomy picture 

 of the condition of the crop. On Aug. 26, at a 

 public meeting of the Land League, it was pub- 

 licly declared that nothing stood between the 

 Irish peasantry and starvation during the com- 

 ing winter but outside assistance. But the politi- 



cal leaders whom the Irish people had elected as 

 their authorized representatives had given pledges 

 in 1880 that never again would aid be asked from 

 the United States in time of famine, and these 

 pledges prevented a formal appeal from them. 

 Nevertheless, in letters and public speeches they 

 proclaimed the gravity of the situation. On Sept. 

 18 the Roman Catholic clergy of Donegal met 

 and declared : " We feel bound to put on record 

 the following facts relative to the destruction by 

 blight of the potato crop in the mountainous 

 parts of Donegal and along most of the sea- 

 coast. The yield in some places is next to noth- 

 ing, and amounts to one third the usual produce 

 in no parish within these districts. Already the 

 price of Indian meal has gone up more than one 

 shilling per hundred weight. In less than three 

 months hence 40.000 people of the poorer farming 

 class will be without their staple article of food, 

 and therefore helpless, unless something be done in 

 the mean time to bring them money to buy 

 meal." The clergy of Clare Island wrote : " Of 

 130 families (the entire population) 110 have to 

 live exclusively on immatured and half-rotten 

 tubers. Is it food for working men 1 Is it food 

 for young, growing-up children? Even this 

 wretched food can not last beyond October. The 

 little means the people had are now exhausted, 

 for they have been buying Indian meal, most of 

 them, since Christmas (for there was a failure in 

 last year's potato crop also), and their means 

 being gone they have no credit to get food. 

 Already the fine constitutions of these people 

 are becoming enfeebled from the very insuffi- 

 cient food. And in another month we know 

 not what they can do, unless they turn to eating 

 grass or seaweed." The clergy of other dis- 

 tricts made similar statements. 



By the end of September it became evident 

 that there was a certainty of famine, and the 

 daily press in the United States began to suggest 

 the propriety of an American movement to afford 

 relief, pointing out that in all previous periods 

 of famine relief had not been sent until the 

 horror of the situation began to manifest itself 

 by actual deaths from starvation. In the mean 

 time, in order to anticipate the famine and be 

 ready for it, a number of citizens not connected 

 with any Irish societies or political bodies had 

 united in the formation of a committee of relief. 

 Several informal meetings were held, and on 

 Oct. 1 these gentlemen, under the name of the 

 " American Committee for the Relief of Famine 

 in Ireland," published an appeal setting forth 

 the condition of affairs in Ireland and inviting 

 aid from the American people. The issuance of 

 this appeal was the signal for an astounding out- 

 burst of abuse from the Tory newspapers of Eng- 

 land, the organs of the Imperial Government 

 declaring that there was no failure of the potato 

 crop and no prospect of unusual distress in 

 Ireland, and indulging in abuse of the members 

 of the American Committee. But the response 

 from the American people was most encouraging. 

 Newspapers throughout the country notified the 

 American Committee of their intention to assist 

 the relief movement. The New York " Sun " 

 became the treasurer of the committee, and it 

 and the New York " Press " promised to publish 

 the names of all contributors. The Boston 

 u Globe," the Cincinnati " Post," the Albany 



