The weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1852-1858, 1857-10-17
,Uha Reueueration of Ireland.

The ireland of 1S47-S is hardly to be rec
ocnized as the same country as that of 1857.
The famine which seemed to threaten the ex-
tinction of the Celtic race, was the starting
point from which the regeneration of their
country is to be dated. That event compell-
ed the British Government to grapple with
the evils which had so long Overshadowed
the land, and the result has proved that it
was equal to tho task thus imposed upon it.
The master evil of all was the complicated
tenure by which the actual occupants of the
soil held possession. Estates were shingled
over bv such multiplicity of claims that
the nominal proprietors had lost all control
of them, and tenants had no guarantee that
they might not be dispossessed at any mo-
ment, with the loss of all their improvements.
Responsible persons, therefore, had no mo-
tive to make improvements, and the best es-
tates were Overrun by small cottars, who in
good times maintained bare existence. and
I in bad became Il charge upon their respec-
tive parishes. The famine brought this sys-
TEN to a crisis. The Government, having
spent some forty millions of dollars to keep
the people from starving, with only partial
success, determined on revision land ten
ures, and the Encountered Estates bill was
tho result. In the course Of few years
thousands Of estates have been sold by the
Commissioners and taken possession of by
men Of capital and energy, who have changed
them from the abodes ofpauperism and hope
less dilapdatiOn to scenes of smiling abun-
Il nee and thrift. The improvement of the
country has been further aided by the gener-
Il! system of drainage adopted by the Gov
ernment, at an ultimate cost of seven million
pounds, whereby millions of acres OF land that
had been utterly worthless for purposes of
cultivation had been rendered highly pro-
ductivc.
Some idea Of the change which has been
effected by the improvements referred to may
be obtained from the following facts gather
ed from an interesting article in the last
number of the Edinburgh Review In the
yeir 1911 the farms in Ireland exceeding thir-
ty acres in area were in the proportion of
seven to the hundred. At the close of 1855
they had increased to more than twenty-sx
PER cent, and occupied upwards of three
fou;ths of the country. In the year 1S4l
there were about 6,250O0O of acres out of
cultivation in the year 1855 only 100000.
In lo47. 100000 acres Of Ireland were under
a green crop; in 1855, thenumber had near
ly doubled. In lS4l, the live stock of Ire
AMI was valued at ELS, 100000 in 1855, at
the Stme rates, it had reached 933 100000
The average circulation of all the banks of
ireland. was in 1850 S5,5OO,0OO : at the close
of 1850 it had increased almost a third
Lastly, while the Irish excise duties of 1850
amounted to 81 10000, those of 1856 were
e2G00, 900.
The change effected in the condition of the
people is quite as remarkable as that which
has taken place in the face Of the country.
Pauperism has been so greatly diminished
that Ireland, in that respect, compares very
favorablv with England. All classes of la
borcrs find constant employment at better
wa4es than ever before, and much better
style Of living has been introduced among
thc:n. They work now under the stimulus
uf a well grounded hope of being able to bet
ter their condition. Multitudes, indeed, con-
time to e,iligrate, bat it is now no unusual
circumstance for Irishmen to return to their
old homes to spend the remnant of their
days amid the friends and scenes of their
youth. 4 desire for an improved system of
education has been stimulated by other i'm
prOvcmcntS snd the schools of the country
are much more numerous, of a higher charac-
ter, ard better attended than in any former
period Of its history. The moral and reli-
gious character of the people has also been
elevated in corresponding degree.
Snch are the results of few simple meas
ures of administrative reform. They were
long in coming, but we believe they have
bccn 4 thousand times more efficacious than
aEy system that patriotism could have de-
y;Sp,i N ,.yno D,eec