OUR SUFFERING COUNTRYMEN AT HOME.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVII, Issue 1779, 16 October 1862, Page 3

OUR SUFFERING COUNTRYMEN AT HOME.

Whatever accusations may have been urged against the British colonies, they have never yet been charged with a want of generosity, when an appeal has been made to that sentimentLet it be a question of expenditure or debt us between them and the parent state, and should it but for a moment be imagined, that there is a spice of injustice towards them in^the

course proposed to be adopted, they will instantly stand on the defensive, and by the adoption of every lawful means of opposition, set their faces against what is conceived to be an infringement , of their rights and liberties. There is, however, a material difference between a pecuniary demand on tbe part of the Imperial Government, and the far borne wail and cry which has echoed across the sea, from the patient sufferers amongst our countrymen, who have been and are now enduring 1 all the horrors and miseries which are the results of a period of great commercial distress. It is needless now to dilate on the stagnation of trades there, which has been the result of a stoppage of the cotton supply. Nearly 4,000,000 of that busy hive of workers are dependent directly or indirectly on the supply of that raw material, for their daily bread. For months the factories have been working at half-time, and the hands have bad their trifling pittance reduced proportionately. Great as must have been the consequent hardship and privation, a deeper depth of suffering was in store, and by the last mail we find, that 33,343 persons, in Preston, Blackburn, Wigan, Ashton and Stockport, were wholly out of employment on the 20th of June last, and that the nunabev was fast on- the increase. In the same towns, the aggregate of those working ou half-time was 24,062 ; and in 21 unions in Cheshire and Lancashire, the recipients, of the paupers grudged dole amounted to the appalling number of 112,000. It is sad enough to contemplate this state of a Hairs, but it is sadder sti'l to think that unless a supply of cotton can be obtained from some quarter or another, the same tale, will continue to be told for many a day to come. As yet not more than a fourth of the required amount has found its way to the English market, as a carefull investigation of the English papers leads us to suppose. From that source we glean the following figures, by which it will be seen that the future prospects of the operatives are dismal indeed. Bales. The stock of cotton in Liverpool on July 4, 1862, was 180,450 The total imports from all quarters, from July 4, to October 4, is estimated at 318,855 Estimated Supply up to October 4, 499,305 Required for consumption and export to October 4. 1862 496,440 Estimated Stock in Liverpool, October 4, 1862 2,865 This estimate, though not professiag to be absolutely correct, is compiled mainly from the Times, and if it be true, it must inevitably follow that the stoppage of manufactures already so much felt will now be verging to its climax. It is a pleasing task to turn from Urn dreary ,ecord, of poverty and pinching want, to the spectacle of a nation rising as one man, and freely opening its purse strings fur the relief of tbe sufferers. Such a spectacle of late years has beeu shown more than once; and the lengthened struggle in the Crimeaj as well as tbe fearful tale of revolt and vengeance in India have furnished examples, that the generous' impulses of a great and a free people have only to be aroused for a fitting object, and they will pour forth with a richness and strength worthy of the source from which they emanate. The present case affords a further illustration of this ; the subscriptions for the Lancashire Relief fund bave flowed in, from every part of the country, noble lords, and wealthy commoners have contributed freely the great body of tbe middle classes have lent thsir powerful aid, and even the working population themselves, out of their limited means have added their mite to help the great and blessed work. Nor have the colonies been behindhand ; Australia, despite the cloud of commercial depression which for the last four years has darkened her prospects, has taken up the movement, and from our own colony, the offerings of the North, and South have been also given. Already by the last mail the citizens of Auckland have forwarded a draft for £500, the Odd Fellows Society has contribute d a first instalment of £50, and a further sum of upwards of £200 has been voted from their funds. Our fellow colonists of the South too, have contributed with their wonted liberality and surely this Province will not lag behind iv the same work of charity. Let us never forget that though separated widely by time ard space from our native land, we still share the same allegiance as our countrymen there and have a common interest in each others weal or woe. Let us show to the Government and the people of England that while protesting against what we conceive to be injustice on their part in throwing a heavy load of debt on our shoulders, we still bear inrnind that it is the great working population there, who have contributed as tax-payers a main share of the funds by which the war here has been carried on ; and that now when the gaunt wolf poverty is stalking at their door we will not refuse to contribute our mite. It does not need a very vivid imagination to conceive the state of distress to which many of them have been reduced. The stern array of facts already quoted shows that suffering roust exist to a painful and harrowing extent. When the earnings of the bread winner cease, when credit has been exhausted, when the furniture of tbe humble dwelling, piece by piece has found its way to the brokers shop, and when the strong, yet helpless man sees his loved wife and innocent children crying out for bread, it is surely I then thnt the best feelings of our nature should be aroused, and that we should stretch forth our hands instinctively in pitying relief. By the lies of blood and* race, by tbe noblest attributes of oar common humanity, and by the duty of < a Christian people, we are called upon to do so.

Let us not then remain deaf to such an appeal,

but be up and doing. Surely if the clergy, the lawyers, the doctors, and the merchants of nearly every other province have already taken up this movement and strengthened the bauds of the Committee at home, Wellington will be both able and willing to do so likewise. We trust then that some speedy nction will be taken in this matter; that a public meeting of the citzens will be held, and a committee formed to collect subscriptions. When this is done we have no fear of the result, and with confidence predict, that the contribution of Wellington will not compare unfavorably with that of any other portion of the colony of New Zealand.