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Evidence.

Extracts from to consolidation by the ejectment of whole villages, in order to make large farms, there is nothing of the sort; but where there is a beggarman, and he is inclined to go away, or one man is inclined to buy of another, I have made both into one holding, and have always assisted the party by lending him money, and in every way I could. 55. To what size have you thought it desirable to bring the farms? If I could I should not like to have any thing under twenty acres; but I am content with ten, and put up with six. I do not think you have a better tenantry in the world than a tenant farmer who holds twenty acres: he is a respectable man-he tills and works his own land, and is a useful member of society; and when you come to a farm of 100 acres, you get a creature between a hawk and hound, and it is difficult to know how to deal with him: he is not a gentleman, and he is not a farmer.

Sligo.

377, Q. 42-46,

48.

Captain K. Lloyd, land proprietor, agent, and magistrate. 42. Has there been any consolidation of farms, and to what extent, in the district?—Yes, it is very generally practised now.

43. To what extent, and with what objects ?-To introduce a better class of tenantry, and also to benefit the proprietor, who finds, if he can increase the size of his farm, it benefits the land.

44. To what sized farms has it gone?-I think they vary from fifteen to twenty acres and thirty acres-that seems to be the favourite size, I think, for persons removed above the mere peasant.

45. Do you mean to say, in many instances, large numbers of people have been dispossessed with a view to increasing the size of farms?—No, by no means; but I say that practice is generally introduced, and is recognised throughout the country; and where it can be done without oppression, it is generally practised; and the persons going out have been generally assisted to go to America, or otherwise provide for themselves; it only anticipates the day when they must go for it is manifest that sooner or later they must go: the longer you keep them the worse is their condition.

46. When you say consolidation takes place in order to get a better class of tenants, is the new tenant brought upon the townland, or is it given to one of the larger holders?—Yes, if he is competent to hold the land; and if not, a stranger is brought in: but there is a general prejudice against strangers being brought in.

48. When you say a great number of ejectments took place, do you mean that it was to consolidate farms?—Yes, partly so; the property had been a long time under the most wretched management, it had become the resort of a great many paupers and persons of bad character, and under those circumstances there was no choice; you must get into possession of the property, and you must put it in such order as to promote your own interests and the interests of those upon it.

CHAPTER XIII.

LABOURERS.

Summary of Evidence on-Extracts from Evidence on, viz. :-ULSTER WITNESSES~~ Mr. Miller, Wages and rent of-Mr. Barklie, Employment weaving; fall in wagesMr. Prentice, Condition, wages, cottages, and rent of-Colonel Blacker, Majority of, weavers-Mr. M'Manus, Wages and rent of-Sir James Stewart, Nature of agreement with farmers-Mr. Wray, Amount and how rent paid to farmers-Mr. Stewart, Condition and miserable cottages of, under farmers-Mr. Durham, Condition improving-Mr. Taylor, In great poverty-Mr. Orr, Employment and how affected— Mr. Golding, Different classes and their condition--Mr. Lafferty, Employment and truck system-Mr. O'Neill, Circumstances and destitution of. MUNSTER WITNESSES-Mr. Bindon, Condition of those employed by him-Mr. O'Callaghan, In wretched condition-Mr Lloyd, Suggestion for improvement--Mr. Meade and Mr. Smith, Agreement with farmers-Mr M'Carthy, Dealings with farmers, and breach of agreements by-Mr. Payne, Acts of oppression towards-Mr. Alcock, Condition wretched; how treated-Mr. White, Cannot be worse off-Michael Sullivan, labourer, Mode of living, &c., detailed -Mr. Sullivan, Condition miserable, and how affected Mr. Clanchy, Wretched in the extreme- Mr. Monsell, Many in state of destitution-Mr. O'Brien, Social system depends on condition of; details relative to different classes of Mr. Walker, Temperance cause of improvement in Mr. O'Donnell, Subsistence dependent on con-acre-Mr. Hayden, Want of employment for-Mr. Galway, Oppressed by farmers-Mr. White, Frequently cannot obtain employment at 4d. a day. LEINSTER WITNESSES-Mr. Fishbourne, Rent and wages of Mr. Hussey, Disadvantages of cottages-Mr. Butler, Condition and nature of agreement with farmers-Mr. Sherrard, Respective values of payment in kind and payment in cash-Mr. Fawcett, Some possessed of stock-Mr. Walsh, Payments by cash, kind, and truck, compared-Rev. Dr. Crawford, W. ges of-James Carey, labourer, Mode of living, &c., described-Sir John M'Neill, C. E., Condition, and how affected by public works-Messrs. Carraher, Hughes, and Boylan, Those in constant employment well off Mr. Gerrard, Lifference of condition under large and small farmers-Mr. Sheane, Wages, condition, and houses of, wretched-Mr. Lalor, Hold under persons poorer than themselves--Sir Percy Nugent, Benefits of task workMr. Wa ker, Oppres ion and extortion from, practised by n:iddlemen--Denis Murphy, labourer, Mode of living, &c., described-Mr. Quin, How supported on amount of wages-Captain Tate, Much improved; cause stated-Mr. Saunders, How circumstanced. CONNAUGHT WITNESSES-Mr. Mullins, Thousands happy to work for 6d. a day-Dr. Duke, Miserable condition and consequences of, described-Dean Lyons, Employment and rate of wages of Mr. Irwin, Wages of, and fraudulent manner of payment-Rev. B. Durcan, Emigrate from want of employment; consequer.ces of— Mr. Duckworth, Calculation of average rate of wages-Mr. Armstrong, Details relative to those who migrate to England.

p. 480.

No fact seems established more clearly by the Land Commis- 186, Q. 37— sion evidence, than that employment for the agricultural 228, Q. 34labourers is almost universally deficient.

The wretched condition of the labourers in Ireland is a

p. 482. 14, Q. 52p. 507.

414, p. 499. 720, p. 488.

937, p. 510.

652, Q. 31p. 491.

p. 481.

necessary consequence of this deficiency of employment. The supply of labourers being so much greater than the demand for them, the employers are able to rate their wages at the lowest amount which will support life.

Various expedients were adopted for enabling these low wages to provide necessaries for the labourers and their families, all consisting of some method of obtaining a small portion of land for raising a stock of potatoes as a supply of food for the year. These will be found treated in the subsequent chapters-Con-acre and Allotments.

The evidence of James Carey, a labourer, gives an interesting account of the mode of life of this class; as do also the statements of Michael Sullivan and Denis Murphy.

The labourers may be divided into three classes—unmarried farm servants, who reside with their employers; cottiers, who hold, in addition to their cabin, a small lot of ground at a fixed rate, generally payable in labour; and those who hold only a cabin, with perhaps a few perches of land as a garden, and who depend for their subsistence chiefly on potatoes raised on land taken in con-acre.

The first class, or farm servants, seem to be much the most 245, Q. 22 fortunate; they are provided with food, and their wages, though small, are sufficient to supply them with clothes, and even in some cases to permit them to save some portion of their earnings.

181, Q. 51p. 479. 892, Q. 49p. 493. 820, Q. 36p. 495.

277, Q. 45395, Q 55

p. 496.

p. 514.

190, Q. 54p. 483.

734, Q. 45p. 484.

p. 487.

414, Q. 3

The other classes of labourers in general hold their tenements from the farmers, who usually receive the rent in labour, calculated at the lowest rate of wages payable in the district. This is, however, more beneficial to the labourer than a payment in cash, as it secures to him a certain amount of employment which he might otherwise be unable to obtain.

Of these classes the cottiers, with land, seem to be the least miserable; they are in a great measure in the position of sub-tenants of the allotments which they hold, retaining 726, Q. 56- the same ground in their hands year after year, so as to derive the benefit of the manure which they may be able to apply to it. There is in most districts a customary cottier's "take," which defines the privileges of the labourers so holding; and these are, or at least until the failure of the potato crop were, not utterly inadequate to provide for the

p. 499.

32, Q. 92

p. 497.

support of a family, and were free from the risk of the spe

culation in con-acre.

p. 491. 61, Q. 81

But the third class, holding merely a wretched cabin, or, 652, Q. 31— with it, only a so-called garden, in general unable to obtain employment even at the lowest rate of wages, and dependent p. 507. for their subsistence on the success of their speculation in con-acre, appear to be the most wretched amongst the many wretched classes in Ireland.

720, Q. 3

p. 488. 620, Q. 24p. 491. 277, Q. 45

p. 496.

The farmers are generally bound to repair the labourers' 181, Q. 51— cottages; but it is asserted that they frequently neglect this duty, and permit them to become so ruinous as to be scarcely habitable.

p. 479. 139, Q. 28p. 481. 190, Q. 53-

p. 482.

p. 487.

The small farmers especially are inclined to neglect the 726, Q. 57— terms of their contract with the labourers, and not only thus permit the houses to become uninhabitable, but when (as they often are) bound to draw manure to their labourers' fields, they frequently neglect this until it is too late for the 703, Q. 7— profitable cultivation of the crop.

p. 486.

p. 507.

Labourers holding from proprietors or large farmers appear 61, Q. 81to be somewhat less wretched than others; at the same time 32, Q. 92their means of support continue lamentably deficient, and P. 497. their condition for the most part is miserable and destitute, chiefly in consequence of the low rates of their wages, and the impossibility of their obtaining regular or sufficient employment even at those rates. These difficulties are strongly represented as existing in different degrees in almost every county throughout Ireland; though in Munster and Connaught they are most severely felt.

It appears that in some of the northern counties the labourers do not depend for their support on agricultural employ- 88, Q. 14→ ment alone, but in certain districts are, or were, much engaged P. 478. in the manufacture of linen. The introduction of machinery 128, Q. 7in this branch has, however, much reduced the demand for labour in those districts.

p. 477.

In the counties of Antrim, Armagh, Down, Londonderry, 131, Q. 87Tyrone, and Carlow, the most general rate of daily wages given to the labourers appears to be 10d. in winter and 18. 181, Q. 53in summer. In Donegal, Fermanagh, Monaghan, Kildare, 245, Q. 23Kilkenny, King's County, Louth, Meath, Queen's County, 333, Q. 61Westmeath, Wexford, and Wicklow, 8d. in winter and 10d.

p. 479.

p.481.

p. 480.

320, Q. 50

p. 478.

734, Q. 48p. 484.

568, Q. 69p. 493.

32, Q. 95p. 497.

820, Q. 33

P. 495. 403, Q. 138p. 499.

924, Q. 13p. 509.

in summer; and in all the other counties, except Dublin, where 18. per day is usually paid, the general daily pay seems to be 8d.

Where labourers receive food from the farmers, their pay is of course less, and generally ranges from 4d. to 6d. per

day.

Women and boys employed in agricultural labour usually receive one-half the wages given to men.

It is stated, that in particular seasons the rates of wages often vary much, in consequence of the varying amount of employment; that in the summer months men may be had at very low rates, or occasionally even for their food, whilst in harvest wages frequently rise to 1s. or 1s. 2d., sometimes even to 18. 4d. or 1s. 6d. per day.

The modes of subsistence of the various classes of labourers in Ireland have long been an enigma, even to those investigators who have given the greatest degree of attention to the subject. There is one fact, however, that all readily admit, namely that the continued existence from year to year of this large portion of the population mainly depended on the potato, which is no longer available to them; and consequently a distinct provision must now be made for their future support, without reference to former habits or practices. There are but two alternatives by which this object can be accomplished

1st. Gratuitous relief to the families of able-bodied labourers, which, if extensively adopted, must produce ruin to all classes in Ireland, and great loss to the nation at large.

2nd. A broad principle of permanent improvement of the lands, which are capable of affording ample employment for some years to come to all the labouring classes. This latter course, if supported by a sufficient Government loan fund, will give the temporary relief required, with great profit to the nation, as well as to all parties concerned; and it will give the time necessary to adopt the principle of transferring the required portion of the population from densely-inhabited districts to reclaimed waste lands, or to the colonies.— See chapters Drainage, Waste Lands, and Emigration, Size of Farms, &c.

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