The Press.
London, England, 1857-07-11 00:00:00

3rtlant.

THE IRISH AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS for 1855 and
1856 have been published. There is an increase
only in wheat of 109,144 quarters ; in oats, barley,
here, rye, potatoes, turnips, wurzel, flax, and hay
there has been a marked decrease. On this subject
we cannot do better than quote the commentary of
Mr. Donnelly, viz.:—
Although the yield per acre was less, the total produce
of the wheat crop was greater by 109,144 quarters than in
1855, on account of the increased breadth under that crop,
amounting to 83,•273 acres in 1856. Oats decreased
1,029,481 quarters caused by a diminution of 81,421 acres
in the extent sown, and of half a barrel per acre in the
average yield of Ireland compared with 1855. Barley and
here also show a lower amount of produce in 1856, a
smaller area having been cultivated and the yield per acre
being under that of the previous year. These two crops
show a general tendency to decrease for some years past.
Rye, with a greater breadth, gives a smaller total produce
in 18.56 than in 1855, owing to the difference in the aver-
age acreable yield in the two years. Potatoes, with an in-
creased area of 122,403 acres, exhibit a decrease in the
total produce cf 1856 compared with 1835, the yield per
acre being less in the former than in the latter year. In
the total yield turnips also show a decrease of 1,492,462
tons, a smaller breadth having been sown in 1856 than in
1845, and the average produce being estimated at 12'9 tons
per acre in 1856, while in the previous year it was 16'6
tens.

Appended to the agricultural statistics are a number
of interesting tables, showing the amount and cha-
racter of the Irish emigration in the year 1856. The
actual numbers were as under :

January. February. March. April.
Persona. Persons. Persons. Persona.
1856
1657

Increase in the first

four mnths.of 1857 884

!,730 2,645

1,247

It will be seeni(observes Mr. Donnelly) that Irish emi-
gration has continued almost equal in amount in 1855 and
1856, and that, during the first four months of 1857, 6,386
persons more have left the country than during the con
responding period of 1856. It will be found from the
tables that, during the entire period embraced by the
returns, the sexes emigrated in the proportion of 101 men
to 101) women, while in 1856 the proportion was 110 men
to 100 women ; 68.7 per cent. of the emigrants in 1856
were between the ages of 15 and 35 years, and only 13.7
per cent. were 35 years old and upwards—showing that
the majority of those who left Ireland last year was from
among the young and vigorous portion of its inhabitants.

A SERIOUS ORANGE RIOT occurred last week in
Crossgar, on the Ist of July, a day so histori-
cally memorable. The Protestants of the town as-
sembled in numbers in the immediate vicinity, and
began to beat drums and play their favourite airs.
They had not long continued when the sound at-
tracted the attention of the " navvies " employed at
the construction of the extension line of the County
Down Railway. The workmen immediately came
down to Crossgar, reinforced by a number of the
opposite faction, and an instantaneous riot was the
result. As usual, the origin of the affray is not
ascertained; but it is believed that the rankling
animosity of years found vent in the struggle of the
antagonists. Firearms were used, awl wounds ia-

flicted by other weapons. The town soon became
the scene of frightful violence, and the result was
that an aged man, named Martin, from an adjoining
village, who had taken no part in the excesses, was
shot dead. Very many persons have suffered severe
injuries from thrusts of sharp instruments and front
stone-throwing. Lord Dungannon, the county
Grand Master of Antrim, has issued an address to
the Orangemen of that district, in the course of
which his lordship tenders the following piece of
advice:

The near approach of the 12th of Jaly reminds me of a
duty which, as your Grand Master, I must not overlook.
I have to call to your remembrance that obedience to the
law is the first principle among Orangemen, and I feel
confident that the brethren of Antrim will on that day in
no shape transgress it. Commemorate the occasion with all
honour in your several lodges; meet together in friend-
ship, unity, and conviviality, and thus preserve a perpetual
memory of those events to which we are indebted for the
preservation of our constitutional privileges and the free
exercise and profession of our faith. Let nothing, how-
ever, induce you to proceed further ; but by your order,
moderation, and steadiness, reflect honour upon the insti-
tution to which both you and myself have the fortunate
privilege of behnging. My public duties will not allow of
my being among you ; still, my best wishes—my prayess
for your prosperity—will not be wanting.

MRS. SPOLLEN, the wife of the man arrested for
the murder of Mr. Little, continues in a very weak
and depressed state. She has repeatedly denied any
participation in her husband's alleged guilt, and
avers that she knew nothing of his intentions either
to rob or kill Mr. Little.

THE ADJOURNED INVESTIGATION into Mr. Little's
murder took place on Thursday at Capel-street
Police-office. The evidence elicited went to prove
the finding of the razor and the hammer in the
canal basin in December last, and also the finding
of a second razor near the same place on the let of
the present month, with the name " Spollen "
scratched on it. A cutler named West, residing in
Dame-street, deposed that he wrote the name
" Spollen" on the razor, which was left with him to
be ground or set some time before Mr. Little's
murder, but whether six months before or seven
years before he could not say ; neither would he
undertake to swear whether it was left with him by
the prisoner, or by a man, woman, or child. Another
piece of new evidence was that a small brass padlock
was found in the vessel containing the red lead on
the top of which some of the money was found,
and that a key which fitted into it, and also another
padlock, were discovered in the drawer of the pri-
soner in which the eight sovereigns referred to on
the previous day were found. The only other addi-
tional evidence brought forward on this occasion
was the testimony of the station-master of Athlone'
to show that he had forwarded certain specified
sums of money, called " surplus money," rolled up
in dockets, to Mr. Little, within a few days before
the murder; Ind the books of the deceased were
produced to prove entries in his handwriting, ad-
mitting the receipt of those sums which formed a
portion of the money found adjoining the Castle
platform. The further hearing of the case was post-
poned to Monday at eleven o'clock.
PRINCE LOUIS NAPOLEON and suite arrived in
Kingstown Harbour before nine o'clock on Thurs-
day, and shortly afterwards proceeded to Dublin.
His Highness is at present stopping at the Gresham
Hotel.

THE PROPOSED TRANSPORTATION OF AFRICAN
NEGROES TO THE FRENCH COLONIES has excited
some discussion in our daily papers. It is generally
regarded as an attempt certain to lead to the revival
of a modified slave trade. The Assemble Nationale
this week, just before its suspension, published the
following statement
The Council-General of Martinique, having been core
salted by the Government with respect to the project of
introducing into that colony of 10,000 Africans, engaged as
labourers for a certain number of years, /has replied :
That it opposes in principle this emigration of Africans,
but that it nevertheless accepts the consequences of the
contract made by the Minister of Marine with the firm
of Regis, of Marseilles, for the introduction, as a trial,
of sOO Africans, inasmuch as that contract is defi-
nitive and irrevocable. The council begs that
the Minister will annul the contract concluded
with the firm of Regis, in virtue of the right
reserved to him, so that the introduction of Africans may
not exceed that number. It desires that in order to
remedy the actual recruitment of labourers amongst
Asiatic races the monopoly granted to the company, styled
" maritime," should cease, and that every vessel bringing
Indians to Martinique, in conformity with the laws and re.
gulations concerning emigration, shall receive the usual
premium. It proposes, moreover, to grant a higher premium
to those Indians who at the expiration of their five years'
engagement may consent to contract a new one. These
resolutions are eminently prudent, in our opinion, and they
prove that the .-Ixsemblee Nationale had well understood the
interests of the colonists. One of the members of the coun-
cil who opposed the Ministerial project with the greatest
warmth is of African origin. He regarded the question in
its most elevated point of view, and proved that nothing
could be more injurious to the most numerous portion of the
colonial population than this introduction of uncultivated
savages.