The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1846-06-19
The Condition Of Ireland--The Privattons
of fts Formulation.

cry and restitution Death from starvation is by
no means unfrequent and if such has been the
case in seasons Of comparative plenty, what will
il be in the present awful crisis, when one-thrd'
if not more ofthe potatoe crop, the sole means OF
subsistence, of millions OF the people, has utterly
failed
The report of the Commons Committee of 1880,
states, that neutrality-suspicious. one-fourth OF the
entire population is considered to be out OF en-
ployment; and it states further that this, together
with other evils, produced misery and suffering,
which no language possibly describe"
commission of inquiry was issued in 1888,
among the members of which were the Profess
tant and Catholic Archbishops Of Dublin This
commission having worked until 1886, were, even
then, prepared to give but preliminary report,
in which they state that great portion Of the po
pulation are insuficiendy provided, at any time,
with the commonest necessares of life, their habi
tations being wretched novels, several of a family
sleeping together on the bare ground, and some-
times without blanket to cover them Their
food consists of potatoes and even of this food
there is not always a sufficiency. The commits
sion recommended the adoption of means to al
levate this dreadful Indebtedness, but the mat
ter was suffered to drop.
Another commission issued in 1889, which
reported, among other revolving details of misery
and restitution, that the Irish peasant is BADLY
housed, badly fed, badly clothed, and badly paid
for his abor-that in many districts the only food
of the peasant is the potatoe, and his only bever-
age, water His cabin IS seldom protection
against the weather, and bed and a blanket is a
rare luxury" This report recommended remu-
nerative employment as the only means OF relief.
No adequate means Of relief have as yet been
adopted.
Alexander Nimmo, Esq, in his evidence be-
fore the committee of the House of Lords in 1924,
says, g conceive the peasantry of Ireland to be
almost in the lowest possible state of existence,
their food being potatoes and water, very often
without any thing else" Mr. Nevenham, in his
evidence before the Commons committee in the
same year, says, 81 have seen several countries,
and never saw any peasantry so badly off," In
Meath, Wicklow, Waterford, Down, Armagh,
and other counties where fuelis scarce, the pea
SAINT suffers great prvations in winter, being often
obliged to burn his straw bed, and to break up
and burn his chairs and tables, if he happens to
have any, to produce some warmth in his COM
fortress cabin; and this, too, when, in many
cases, he is surrounded by rich boys such boys,
OF course, belonging to the owner of the land.
The dress of the peasant is of the poorest des-
cription, and wthal extremely scanty. The chill
dren are literally half naked from the time that
they are ten months, till they ten years old
Even then they clothed in the msftting gar
ments ofther parents. They very seldom
provided with decent raiment.
In parts of Munster, visited by the Commission
ers, the cabins are said to have in general bed
stead filled with straw. The better class Of la.
borers and herdsmen have feather beds, coarse
sheet, and quilt laid them. AS 10 furniture,
board laid over potato pot, is frequently the
only table. They have also some stools There
is a recess IN the wall that serves cup board,
and some wooden vessels serve crockery.-
There is seldom more than one bed in a cabin.
Labor is estimated at such a low standard, that
a farmer can get as many men as he wants TO
work for him at rs. and los. per quarter, and
their diet, and sometimes they are glad to work
tor diet as their only remuneration.
Two evils that consnire to impoverish the Irish
PEOPLE are absenteesm and want of fixiy Of te-
nure. Verv few large landed proprietors live on
their estates. They generally reside either in
England or on the continent. They leave their
estates TO the care of agents, who generally
trive to enrich themselves, regardless of the ruin
of the poor tenantry. The price ofland is raised,
until it is utterly impossible for the tenant to pay
his rent, and he is then elected without any re-
Enumeration for his years of toll. From one of the
reports of the Land Commissioners, it appears
that within the period of five years, from 1927 to
1888, inclusive, as is proved from the records Of
the Civil Bill Courts, and the Superior Courts, no
less than 100, 900 tenants subjected to eject
ment process.
i These causes conspire TO produce agrarian
crimes and outrages for most of the Irish crimes,
as appears by the calendar, are of an agrarian
character.
The people often without food, clothing, or
even Judgment of any description Their families
are frequently turned out to starve on the road
side. They possess strong passions, of which the
desire of revenge is one of the most predominant,
and they think it no crime to take wild vengeance
for injuries inflicted on themselves and their fami-
/ lies. From the numberess cases of misery and
restitution, these outrages must necessarily be Of
more frequent occurrence, but for the influence
of the clergy, who do all in their power to keep
the peasantry under the restraint of the laws.
Taking these things into consideration, it is not
at all surprising that there should be such IN in
cessant influx of emigrants from Ireland to this
country. Here they can earn decent sustenance,
and can clothe and lodge themselves comfortably
by the exercise of that industry, which, under
their own government at home, is vain and pro-
I fitless. The contrast between the grinding OPP
pressions which they suffer in their own country,
and the prosperity which the freedom of Ameri-
can institutions enables them to attain in this be-
ing so striking, it is by no means strange that they
should cherish strong attachment for the land Of
their adoption. They make excellent republicans;
and they have shown, by their readiness to fight
for their adopted country, in the present war with
Mexico, that they are not cxcelled by native born
citizens in loyalty and devotion to American nsti-
tutons.
CANADIAN INTELLIGENCE see by the Cana
dian papers, that some important ministerial
changes in progress in that colony.
L. =. IL. L.