Irish Emigration and The Tenure of Land in Ireland/Chapter 1 Appendix
APPENDIX.
Vital Statistics.—France. (See supra, p. 18.)
"The slow rate of increase of population in France compared with that of England may, therefore, be chiefly attributed to a low ratio of births, the result of late marriages and of hindrances to fecundity. Early marriages have the effect of shortening the interval between generations, and tend in that way to increase the population. The spirit and character of a nation alone determine the limit to its numbers; and the increasing power and prosperity of England and her colonies, resulting from a high rate increase of population, have proved the fallacy of the doctrine "that the increase of the human race should be restricted, so that it may not outstrip the means of subsistence." The proportion of deaths to 1,000 persons living in each of the two countries, France and England, was 21·96 and 22·88 in 1853; 23·57 and 21·80 in 1857; 23·18 and 21·63 in 1861; and 21·72 and 23·86 in 1864. In France, in 1854 and 1855, the deaths exceeded the births. The mean after-lifetime, or expectation of life in England, is 40·9 years. In France it is 39·7 years."
Sir G. Lewis on Irish Emigration. (See supra, p. 23.)
"The operation of a system of relief in facilitating the transition of cottier farmers into labourers ought at the same time to be assisted by colonization, and this on as large a scale as the means of the country would permit. The redundancy of the Irish populaticn is so great, that no one measure can in a short time be expected to produce even an approximation to the great desideratum, the maintenance of the peasantry out of wages. An extensive emigration managed by Government, and in combination with agents in Canada and the United States, would at any rate assist in bringing about this consummation. If Ireland (as it was once remarked to me) could be stretched out like a piece of india-rubber, the peasantry would be as tranquil and contented as that of England. But as this is impossible, we must strive to do what is possible. As we cannot make more land to the inhabitants, we must make fewer inhabitants to the land,"—Sir G. C. Lewis on Irish Disturbances, p. 332.
The Effect of Emigration on Population in Ireland.
(See supra, p. 19.)
Though 500,000 persons have emigrated since 1860 the actual decrease in the population has been only 216,441, showing that the natural increase by births over deaths has filled up nearly one half of the vacancies created by emigration during the same period.
| Population. | Deaths. | Births. | |
| 5,788,415 | 2,831,783 | 2,956,632 | 1861 |
| 5,784,527 | 2,828,357 | 2,956,170 | 1862 |
| 5,739,569 | 2,801,963 | 2,937,606 | 1863 |
| 5,675,306 | 2,765,504 | 2,909,803 | 1864 |
| 5,641,086 | 2,745,753 | 2,895,333 | 1865 |
| 5,571,971 | 2,696,722 | 2,875,249 | 1866 |
IMPORTATIONS OF WHEAT AND FLOUR. (See Supra, p. 32.)
| Quarters in the Year. | |
| Before 1846 (average of 7 years) . . | 127,958 |
| In 1860 . . . . . . | 1,383,609 |
| In 1861 . . . . . . | 1,412,809 |
| In 1862 . . . . . . | 2,112,715 |
IMPORTATIONS OF INDIAN CORN AND MEAL.
| Quarters in the Year. | |
| Before 1846 (average of 7 years) . . | 11,007 |
| In 1860 . . . . . . | 1,317,514 |
| In 1861 . . . . . . | 1,970,988 |
| In 1862 . . . . . . | 1,773,255 |
Twenty-Fifth General Report, 1865. (See supra, p. 3.)
Return showing Amounts of Money remitted by Settlers in North America to their Friends in the United Kingdom from 1848 (the first Year in which we have any Information) to 1861, both inclusive.
| Year. | Amount. |
| ₤ | |
| 1848 | 460,000 |
| 1849 | 540,000 |
| 1850 | 957,000 |
| 1851 | 990,000 |
| 1852 | 1,404,000 |
| 1853 | 1,439,000 |
| 1854 | 1,730,000 |
| 1855 | 873,000 |
| 1856 | 951,000 |
| 1857 | 593,165 |
| 1858 | 472,610 |
| 1859[1] | 575,378 |
| 1860[2] | 576,932 |
| 1861[3] | 426,285 |
| 1862[4] | 381,901 |
| 1863[5] | 412,053 |
| 1864[6] | 416,605 |
Note.— In addition to the above amounts for 1863, 44,123l. were remitted from America and Australia, but the sum from each place cannot be specified.
- Government Emigration Board,
Condition of the Irish People in 1834.
(See supra, pp. 3 & 9.)
"The Commissioners appointed in 1834 for inquiring into the condition of the poorer classes in Ireland—a Commission comprising amongst it members Archbishop Whately, Archbishop Murray, and the Right Hon. More O'Ferrall—at the commencement of their Third Report, published in 1836, state their opinion as to the condition in which the labouring classes of the Irish people were at that time. They say:—
"It appears that in Great Britain the agricultural families constitute little more than one-fourth, while in Ireland they constitute two-thirds of the whole population; that there were in Great-Britain in 1831; 1,055,982 agricultural, labourers; In Ireland, 1,131,715: although the cultivated land of Great Britain amounts to about 34,250,000 acres, and that of Ireland only to about 14,000,000. We thus find that there are in Ireland about five agricultural labourers for every two that there are for the same quantity of land in Great Britain. It further appears that the agricultural produce of Great Britain is more than four times that of Ireland; that agricultural wages of Ireland vary from 6d to 1s a-day; that the average of the country in general is about 8½d; and that the earnings of the labourers come on an average of the whole class to from 2s to 2s 6d a-week or thereabouts for the year round. . . . A great portion of them (agricultural labourers) are insufficiently provided at any time with the commonest necessaries of life. Their habitations are wretched hovels; several of the family sleep together on straw, or on the bare ground, sometimes with a blanket, sometimes with not even so much to cover them. Their food commonly consists of dry potatoes; and with these they are at times so scantily supplied as so be obliged to stint themselves to one spare meal in the day. . . They sometimes get a herring or a little milk, but they never get meat except at Christmas, Easter, and Shrovetide."—(P. 3.)
That the condition of the labouring classes in Ireland had not improved up to the famine, is shown by the Report of the Land Occupation Commissioners in 1845. They say:—
"In adverting to the condition of the different classes of occupiers in Ireland, we perceive with deep regret the state of the cottiers and labourers in most parts of the country from want of certain employment, It would be impossible to describe adequately the privations which they and their families almost habitually and patiently endure. It will be seen in the evidence that in many districts their only food is the potato, their only beverage water; that their cabins are seldom a protection against the weather; that a bed or a blanket is a rare luxury; and that nearly in all, their pig and their manure heap constitute their only property."
"Such being the condition of a large proportion of the people of Ireland from 1834 till 1845 when the population was at its highest amount, it is perfectly clear that a mere increase of population was no proof of prosperity; and if so, it is idle to argue that a mere decrease of the population is necessarily an evidence of decline"—W.N. Neilsan Hancock, LL.D., Supposed Progressive Decline, &c.
Comparison of Profits on Large and Small Farms.
(See supra, p. 11, note.)
"This I take to be the true reason why large cultivation is generally most advantageous as a mere investment for profit. Land occupied by a large farmer is not, in one sense of the word, farmed so highly. There is not nearly so much labour expended on it. This is not on account of any economy arising from combination of labour, but because, by employing less, a greater return is obtained in proportion to the outlay."—Mill's Political Economy, p. 186.
Spade versus Plough. (See supra, p. 11, note.)
"Again, the subsoiling by spade labour may cost from 10s 8d per acre, as performed by Mr. Wilson, to £7 or £8, or even £12 per acre, as described by M.Barber, by trenching."—Dig. Dev. Com. Summary, p. 82.
"The cost of ordinary subsoiling with the plough may be taken at about £1 10s per acre."—Ibid. p. 83.
"The ordinary spade subsoiling and trenching, which consists in moving the soil with the spade to two spits deep, must always be a most costly operation." Ibid. p. 84. Pay of the English Soldier. (See supra, p. 30.)
The following extract gives a very fair estimate of the military as compared with the civil labour market in England and Scotland.
"Let us now shortly examine the state of the facts with regard to the actual terms we offer. We engage to give every recruit 7s 7d a week, and certain prospective advantages of good conduct pay and pension, with lodging, fuel, light, and medical attendance. I purposely exclude from this estimate certain articles of clothing which we have to give soldiers gratis, and certain articles of food which we supply to him on peculiar advantageous terms, as the sum which he must still expend on food and clothing, notwithstanding these advantages is equal to that which food and clothing would probably cost him in civil life." ....
"We buy the man out and out for the period of his service. We require him to give up in a great measure his ordinary civil rights, place him under a severe discipline, force him to serve, even in time of peace, two-thirds of his time abroad in climates which are often of great severity, forbid him to marry, and expose him to risks and discomforts to which no walk in civil life affords any parallel. It cannot be said that this bargain is to us a hard one. Nay, is it not evident that relatively to the present enhanced price, even of unskilled civil labour, it is a most advantageous one for the employer?"
Emigration from the Scotch Highlands. (See supra, p. 21.)
The following conclusions arrived at by the Duke of Argyll and Sir John McNeill with respect to the Emigration from the Highlands of Scotland, are very apposite to the topics considered in the foregoing chapter:—
"I will now shortly restate to the Society the facts and conclusions which can, I think, be satisfactorily established in regard to the past and present economic condition of the Highlands:—
1. That before the end of the last of the civil wars, the condition of the population was one of extreme poverty and frequent destitution.
2. That on the close of those wars, and the establishment of a settled Government, there was, during half a century, a rapid increase of population. 3. That this increase was out of all proportion to the means of subsistence.
4. That the introduction of potato cultivation increased the evil of a rapid increase in population, without any corresponding increase in skill or industry.
5. That the emigration of the Highlanders arose as a necessity out of this condition of things, and was in itself the first step towards improvement.
6. That the introduction of sheep farming was a pure gain, not tending to diminish the area of tillage where tillage is desirable, and turning to use for the first time a large part of the whole area of the country, which was formerly absolute waste.
7. That for the old bad cultivation of small crofters there has been substituted for the most part a middle class of tenantry, thriving, holding under lease, and exhibiting all the conditions of agricultural prosperity.
8. That the displacement of population by the introduction of great capitalists holding farms of very large value, has not taken place in the Highland counties to an extent nearly equal to that in which it has taken place in some of the richest counties of Scotland.
9. That the process which has been going on in the Highland counties, of a diminution in the population of the rural districts, is the same process which has long ago been accomplished in the other counties of Scotland and in England.
10. That in their case it was also deplored under the same economic fallacies—fallacies which are now applied only to the Highlands because the process is not yet completed.
11. That the prosperity of the Highlands will only be complete when the process shall have been completed also.
12. That no part of Scotland, considering the late period at which improvement begun, has advanced so rapidly, or given within an equal space of time, so large and so solid an addition to the general wealth of the country."
of the Highlands of Scotland, p. 534.
"Any one acquainted with the county of Argyll will at once perceive that this progressive diminution in the proportion of paupers to population corresponds closely with the diminution in the proportion of the population depending for subsistence on the produce of small crofts, and that the proportion of paupers increases as we recede from the districts in which the old crofting system has been superseded, and the system of the more advanced parts of the country has been established."
President of the Poor Law Board in Scotland.
Note as to the Reduction in the number of Persons of different Religions and Races in Ireland, from 1834 till 1861. (See p. 33).
A religious census of Ireland was taken in 1834 by the Commissioners of Public Instruction, and, when compared with the religious census of 1861, it exhibits a very great reduction in the population of Ireland.
| In 1834 . . . | 7,954,100 |
| In 1861 . . . | 5,798,967 |
This shows a decrease of 2,155,133, or of 27 per cent.
The greatest part of this total reduction took place amongst Roman Catholics, who may be taken to represent the Celtic element of the Irish population.
| In 1834 . . . | 6,436,060 |
| In 1861 . . . | 4,505,165 |
| Decrease . | 1,930,795 |
The members of the Established Church—the element mainly of English origin—were:
| In 1834 . . . | 853,160 |
| In 1861 . . . | 693,357 |
Showing a decrease of 159,803, or about 19 per cent.
The Presbyterians—the element chiefly of Lowland Scotch extraction—were:—
| In 1834 . . . | 643,058 |
| In 1861 . . . | 523,291 |
Showing a reduction of 119,797, or about 19 per cent.
It has been supposed from these figures that there has been something unfair in the way in which the Celtic population has been dealt with.
But if we take the largest Presbyterian agricultural population, that of the diocese of Derry (which includes the greater part of the county of Londonderry, the barony of Innishowen, and a few parishes in Donegal, three baronies and two parishes in Tyrone, and one parish in Antrim), we get the following result:—
| In 1834 . . . | 118,339 |
| In 1861 . . . | 79,287 |
Decrease . 39,052, or at the rate of about 33 per cent.
Again, if we take the agricultural population belonging to the Established Church in the south of Ireland, in the diocese of Ferns (which includes the whole country of Wexford except three parishes, part of Wicklow, and one parish in Carlow),we get the following result:—
| In 1834 . . . . | 24,672 |
| In 1861 . . . . | 14,383 |
Showing a decrease in 1861, 10,280, or 42 per cent.
If we take the Roman Catholic population in the diocese of Tuam, the largest diocese in Connaught (which includes a large part of Galway, part of Mayo, and one parish in Roscommon), we get:—
| In 1834 . . . . | 467,870 |
| In 1861 . . . . | 302,367 |
Showing a decrease of 165,603, or 35 per cent.
In the same way, if we take the Roman Catholics in the diocese of Ardfert and Aghador (which includes all Kerry except two parishes, and part of Cork), we get:—
| In 1834 . . . . | 227,131 |
| In 1861 . . . . | 215,028 |
Showing a decrease of 82,103, or at the rate of 28 per cent.
It appears, therefore, that there has been about the same decrease of agricultural population from 1834 to 1861, in Derry, in Wexford, in Galway, and in Kerry; the same among the original Celts, the Scotch settlers, and the English settlers; the same in the diocese which includes the estates of the London Companies; the Protestant landlords of Wexford, the county of Kerry, with its large resident proprietors, many of them Roman Catholics, and in Galway.
The Presbyterian and Protestant emigration commenced earlier, and took place to a large extent before the famine, because they were then better educated than the Roman Catholics. When a generation of Roman Catholics grew up, who had been educated in the National Schools, commenced in 1830, they followed the example of the Presbyterians and the members of the Established Church. The famine accelerated this movement, but it would have taken place before the present time if the famine had never occurred.
Reclamation of Waste Land in Ireland.
As to the Cultivation of Waste Land in Ireland, and its effect on Emigration. (See supra, p. 27.)
In 1841 the land of Ireland was thus distributed:—
| Arable . . . . . 13,464,000 |
| Plantations . . . . 374,482 |
| Water . . . . . . . 630,825 |
| Uncultivated . . 6,295,735 |
The 6,295,735 acres of uncultivated land were frequently referred to in the evidence before the Land Occupation Commissioners, and in their report.
In consequence of the extensive drainage works carried on to give relief at the time of the famine, and in consequence of the number of mountain and bog roads, made at that time under the public works and under private proprietors for the purpose of giving employment, a great deal of land was brought within the limits of profitable cultivation between 1841 and 1851. It was accordingly reported by the Census Commissioners in 1851, that the arable land of Ireland had increased from 13,464,300 acres in 1841, to 14,802,581 in 1851, showing an increase of 1,338,281 acres. The waste land had diminished from 6,295,735 acres in 1841, to 5,023,984 acres in 1851, showing a decrease of 1,271,751 acres. There was also a diminution of about 70,000 acres of plantation, converted into arable land.
Sir Richard Griffith reported in 1844, that 1,425,000 acres were improvable for cultivation, and 2,330,000 were improvable for pasture, making a total of 3,755,000 acres improvable.
As the drainage and making of roads consequent on the famine were all executed after 1844, it follows that the greater part of the 1,271,751 acres reclaimed between 1841 and 1851, were reclaimed between 1844 and 1851, and yet this period of the most rapid reclamation of waste land in Ireland that probably ever took place, was followed by the largest emigration, showing how little the improvement of waste land in Ireland, the greater part of which, according to Sir Richard Griffith, is improvable only for pasture, (and which when improved has in fact been principally devoted to pasture) can be relied on as an important means of checking emigration, when it arises from comparatively low wages and inadequate means of living in Ireland.
Since 1851 the reclamation of waste land seems to have gone on at a slower rate: the best and most profitable land having been first cultivated, and the inferior soils being exposed by facility of intercourse and free trade to an increased competition with foreign soils.
From 1851 to 1862 the waste lands have been ascertained by the Registrar-General, and appears to have been reduced from 5,209,492 acres in 1851, to 4,507,733 in 1862, showing a decrease of 701,759 acres in waste since 1851.
If these be added to the 1,271,751 acres reclaimed between 1841 and 1851 (and mostly since 1844), it follows that of the 3,755,000 acres reported by Sir R. Griffith, to have been improvable at the commencement of 1845, almost 1,973,510 acres, or more than one-half have been reclaimed since 1844.
Thus, instead of the 3,755,000 acres, reported by Sir R. Griffith improvable in 1844, there would appear to be a little less than half that quantity (and that, of course, the most unprofitable half) now available for improvement.
As an increase of pasturage in Ireland, as well as an alleged neglect of cultivating improvable waste land, is often urged as a cause of the emigration, it is important to notice that the true explanation of pasture having increased so largely in Ireland, without any material diminution of the land under tillage, is to be found in the fact that nearly 2,000,000 acres have, as before shown, been reclaimed at that time.
The Emancipation of the Dorsetshire Labourer.
In connection with the subject of Irish emigration it may not be out of place to consider an incident which has lately met with a good deal of attention from those who interest themselves in the condition of the Dorsetshire labourer.
I give it as described in the "Times" of April 2nd, 1867.
"Distressed at their unsatisfactory condition, Mr. Girdlestone saw that their wages could only be improved by the force of competition. So he announced in our columns his willingness to act as a sort of agent for introducing the labourers of his district to masters elsewhere who would give them more liberal pay. He at once received numerous applications from Lancashire, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Kent, and even from Ireland, and the result has been that within six months he has sent out of his parish and neighbourhood as many as fifty labourers, of whom only one has as yet returned, of these sixteen are married men with families, and the remainder single men. The married men, instead of 7s. a week, are in no case earning less than 12s. a week, in addition to a house and garden. In fact, they have doubled their wages. Nor is this the most important result. Of course, the rate of wages about Halberton has risen at the least by 1s., and in some places by 2s. a week. The process, having been once thus started, must, of course, go further. Those who have migrated will continue to send back accounts of their prosperity; and if the farmers want to keep the young men of Halberton in their service, they will have to pay them as high wages as they can gain elsewhere."—Times, April 2, 1867.
"Of course, this is not in all respects an agreeable task to undertake. The farmers in such neighbourhoods as these are not the most enlightened of their class, and will scarcely appreciate a change of which the only effect immediately visible is that they are compelled to pay higher wages to all their labourers."—Ib.
"But we have no doubt that, in time, even the farmers themselves will come to acknowledge that Mr. Grirdlestone is doing them the greatest possible service. No one will benefit more than they from an improvement in the condition of their labourers. We believe that, in many cases, they will even pay less. What the farmer has hitherto refused to pay in wages he has had to pay in rates, and the poor-rate will assuredly be diminished as the rate of wages increases. In one way or another, a labourer and his family must receive enough to live upon. A half-starving man has neither the will nor the power to work, and there can be no doubt that the proverbial sleepiness and sloth of agricultural work are in a great degree due to sheer lack of vital force. If the farmer has to double the labourer's wages, he may be sure that he will double the work which he gets out of him. In some cases we dare say almost everything else on the farm has been improved by intercourse with other districts. The labourer may be improved in the same way, and with equally beneficial results, not only to himself, but to every one concerned."—Ib.
Now, what more has Mr. Girdlestone done than to stimulate the very process which is now taking place of its own accord in Ireland?
Instead of deploring the desire of the Irish farmer's son "to go forth and seek his fortune," we ought to rejoice at the exhibition of so much enterprize. One of the most pernicious weaknesses of the Irish character was an unwillingness to allow the junior members of the family to leave home. "Subletting exists from a mistaken wish to keep the family together until they are too old to go to a trade."—Dig. Dev. Com. p. 434. This evidence is repeated up and down the whole volume.