The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1876-06-11
!. ML R1RRS THE LAND.S
lLiverpoei lTiuea, ]

L P.t9@NNEPoSir44ut~A.J
Almost before he has passed from the
| title of our article to these words, the read
er has completed the quotation
III fares ,h. land. TO hast'n'Dg lila . prey.
TrnSs. vssI @ B. % nav and men
brssth esa make Ihem rs = breath has msdsi
When onoe d,stroyd can never bs suppned
Millions of hearts broadcast over tho whole
earth are often touched with q wonder as
to how 1t fares with the sold land" OF
which those lines were written by one of
her many sons in whose genius she may
glory. Are happier hours the lot Of the
| remnant of the Irish race dwelling upon
Irish soilf Or are the causes still opera
ting which drove weeping people from the
country which no people ever loved so we'll,
though no people in any land ever suffered
go much or so longf While, on this side of
the Channel. we are being told that the
toiliDg milIions are every year increasiD q
in numbers and happiness, their sources Of
comfort being opened out, their means Of
subsistence being enlarged, in that other
land, only few miles distant, are the cots
on the hill side being multiplied, are their
owners merrier in their songs, and their
purses any fuller than used to be when the
gale was duef We are not far wrong in
saying there are thousands and thousands
of men, exiles from the land of their birth, =,
to whom replies to these inquiries will be-
of no small interest. Happily, ample ma
terials are at our command from which we
can obtain accurate knowledge as to the
people, and these materials have been
placed in the hands of every member of
both Houses of Parliament.
Ireland is an agricultural country. 1t is
therefore to her agriculture we must turn
if We desire to ascertain the extent of her
prosperity" The agricultural statistics
of Ireland for 1874 we're presented to Par
lament last week. The Lord Lieutenant
had already had an opportunity of utter
ing congratulations over the increasing
wealth of the country in which he repre-
sents the Sovereign. Whether he be cor
rect in his views depends upon tho princi-
Piles of political economy which he adopts.
of the poet we have quoted than to the
teachings of the school to which the Duke
of Abercorn belongs. 1t will be some
time before we shall persuade ourselves to
regard good heifer in full possession of q
rich pasture as q compensating set- off for
q toilIDg peasant turned off to make room
for the beast in possession. But in the
ducal economy the man would be estimated
at nothing, his wife and children included
the animal would figure at six pounds
ten. 1t would take more than all the dukes
in the peerage to induce us to regard
man with a deposit in the savings' bank as
satisfaction for dozen men who bave de-
parted to another land because they could
not otherwise see the prospect of finding
food for themselves or their families but,
seen through ducal spectacles, fifty pounds
in the bank would be full value for more
than twice that number of people who had
fed from the country. What ducsl econom-
lists ask is, Have the exports of fanimals and
of agricultural produce ombined increased;
ls the value of what is left greater than 1t
was is there more money in the country Z
What we would ask is, Have the people
h@ L.
for them grown more abundant, and is food
for the peoples sustenance in greater plen-
ty Judged by the Dukes principles Ireland
has reason for rejoicing; judged by oura,
only for such rejoicing as she may indulge
in over the telling of the old old story of
the decay of the Irish race on the Irish soil.
Since 1870 there has been an increase in
the value of the live stock, which reached
it's maximum in 1873. But since the year
1851 not less than z, 1853, $50 persons have
left Ireland for other lands. In the year
IS45 the population of Ireland was over
eight millions and quarter in the middle
of 1873 it was estimated by the Registrar
General to be about three millions less. In
the face of such fact what consolation is
it to be told that there were Sc, 600 more
pigs in Ireland in 1874 than the y ear before 7
aud that the value of live stock was nearly
two millions more in 1874 than in 1870 =
WDat reason have we to be thankful for
the cattle and the sheep have more than
doubled in number, when on the other
hand, everything suggestive of labor and
the inherItence of man has declined
Horses, the friends,-almost the partners
in toii-of their MASTERS have grown fewer
every year since 1859. The number of acres
under fax cultivation, a crop which leads to
decreased between 1873 and 1874
by % 800, and since 1869 by l22, ,345 acres.
Without going into further figures we may
say that the acres of land cultivated by the
hand of man have been growing gradually
less the acres of pasture, upon which cat
tie may browse, without even q dog to guard
them, have been growing gradually more.
Wealth cumulates but men decay.
John Dalton, Jr., of Concord, Fla, sends
us, under date of the 23Ilt., the following
story: "There is great excite
ment prevailing in this section of the