Mr Vere Foster, of Belfast, has issued another appeal on behalf of
his Irish Female Emigration Fund, which has already been the means of
granting assisted passages to twenty thousand two hundred and fifty
girls from the west of Ireland to the United States and colonies, at
an expenditure of about thirty thousand pounds. This scheme has the
support—as it should have—of the clergy of all denominations, and there
is little doubt that if carefully gone about, it will prove a benefit
both to Ireland and the colonies. Mr Foster, who has exhausted what he
can spare of his own means and the funds placed at his disposal, has
also given assistance by loan to four hundred girls, who have promised
to repay him. We trust they may do so, as the good fortune of four
hundred more hangs on this contingency.
The purpose of the fund is the relief of present poverty in the densely
peopled districts of the west of Ireland, by assisting the emigration
of young women of good character of the farm and domestic-servant
class. To such it gives a chance of well-doing impossible at home,
where, if they marry and rear families, there is but a prospect of
poverty for themselves and all concerned. The scheme is a resumption of
that adopted with gratifying results immediately after the great famine
of 1846-7.
The plan which Mr Foster has had in operation for helping these young
women for the past five years is a very simple one. Blank forms of
application are issued to inquirers, when, if returned and approved of,
vouchers to a certain value are issued in their favour. These vouchers
are available within three months of issue for embarkation from
Liverpool or from any port in Ireland where the necessary arrangements
have been made. The promoter of this scheme does not approve of
shipping young girls in large companies, but leaves them the utmost
freedom in their choice of ship and port and time of embarkation. This
enables them to take a passage when perhaps they can have the company
of friends and neighbours. The young women thus assisted were between
eighteen and thirty years of age; and it is satisfactory to know that
most of them are going on well, and that many of them have sent home
money to their friends more than once.
One of the most satisfactory forms of good doing is to help people to
help themselves. This is the object of the Irish Female Emigration Fund.