The daily gazette., 1881-02-01
FACTS REGARDING IRELAND.

many CJOo 0iO hOW buluou W 1TC-
laud, and one hears tn g most CONTRA
dictory statements regarding the is
land. 1t ought to be possible to state
some naked facts without twisting or
coloring them, the knowledge of which
may aid persons in forming the ir
judgment on pending questions. We
content ourselves with the hum BILE task
of saying what is, and do not enter on
the disputed "whys" and "where-
fores."
Ireland has 81, ,S74 square miles, and
a population of 169 Inhabitants to the
square mile. England and Wales
have $50 inhabitants to the square mile,
and are more densely populated than
ony other country in Europe, always
excepting Belgium. Measured as the
farmer measures, Ireland has 20,322, =
Gal acres.
The uaion of Ireland with England,
by the two Parliaments becoming one,
went into operation at the beginning
of 1900. The Imperial Parliament is
politically all-powerful over the Uni
ted Kingdom, the colonies and depenn
denotes. Us authority exteuds to &C.
NAOoAaobiSoi1 OlNh QAA
tary matters. ltcan modify OF change
the constitution of the realm, and it
has no court above 1t. The modes of
elections, and the rights of electors,
are much the same in Ireland as ia
Great Britain. The Monarch, at the
head Of the Executive, has nominal
power the real is vested in commit
tee Of minis ers called the Cabinet.
England and Wales had in the House
Of Commons in 1879, 497 members,
Scotland but 90, Ireland had 105, max
ing total of 652 members. Ii num-
bers fixed the rate of representation
England and Wales would have 476,
Scotland 10 and Ireland 112. II on
the other hard, the payments to the
revenue regulated the rate, England
and Wales would have 614, Scotland
70 and Ireland o5.
From the Union onward until 1S41
the population of Ireland steadily in
creased, from $685., 456 in 1901, to g.
l75, 124 in 1841. Bat in 1881 the popu-
lation declined nearly 20 per cent, and
it has continued since over the whole
four Provinces OF Ireland, Ulster, how
ever, being the lowest in the scale. It's
population in 1871 was 1880, ,308, that
Of Munster 1890, 402 that of Lein-
ser l, s35, $50, aud that Of Connaught
S45, ,S93.
five population o. Ireland Is distribut
ed religiously, according to the census
of 1b7l, as follows Roman Catholics, A..
l4l ,933, land l. .2S3, ,S4S Protestants, Episco-
palians, Presby t5rans and Methodists-
the last named not pumerous-and
about 30, 900 of smaller bodies.
IL Is commonly thought that utter liz.
nolauce prevails over Ireland, and shat
"the three RS" are comparatively un.
known. But in point OF fact, besides
IN my schools under denominatlonal and
individual control, there is we'll man
aged National system, with united seeu-
iar aud separate religious instruction, |
and the Results are apparent even In |
America. Thirty years ago the IRISH |
men, who came TO this country offered |
themselves for work that iu piled no ed |
ucation' Now they go into stores and
departments OF labor implying it. In
some parts of England and Wales scarce
ly more than one half of the women mar
rled between 1850 aud 1877 could sign
their names. Ovef all England the |
, 'oportion of women writing their
mark was in 1876 % per cent, and in
all Ireland 81 per cent. This does not
mply comparative barbarism:
In conclusion, having gwen the fore.
going figures, Oh which as much depend
snee may b5 placed as on any statistics
by authority aud submitted to
public scrutiny, to aid others In formIuR
opinions, the present writer may be par.
ioned tor submitting some considera
ions which are to be taken into account
u the process.
International affairs, In the nrst place,
ire not always understood outside -
jreat troubles rave been deplored abroad
" rampant here in America when we
we're sitting under onr vine and figtree,
n peace and security. Party feeling
n the next place, Is not excluded from
he Anglo-Saxon mind by ireland being
he topc of discussion. Mr.. Gladstone
las Tory enemies who made the most
)f supposed eu barassm of his gov
,rn nsnt. The dear and productive old
sla1d Is not going to be submerged in
he ocean nor dreDched in blood, She
las troubles which the government will
partially remove, but no government
ian make the land an Eden
daving lived there through two mild
re bellions," and severe famine, and
Tot being wholly without feeling or fear,
should not be unwilling TO live in it
Igain, aud To count upon it smiling in
rood crops aud behaving itself on the
whole in 1881, as it did to my ewes in
ssO.-IPe0. Dr.. John Hall in Neu York
ledger.