The Irish standard., 1898-07-02
life. The country needs decent a


one is struck forcibly by the lack Of
vegetables and fruits.
Men, women, boys and girls labor
cheerily enough on the relief works
which 1 saw being carried on with q
grant from some money raised in Man.
chester and elsewhere. The men were
doing the heavy work of road making
and the girls and women were slandinl
nearly up to their knees in mud anl
water digging out drains to carry tho
water Off tho land. There is something
more to be said in their favor, The
parish priest is endeavorng to get them
to remove all the manure heaps, and
so ready are they to improve that in one
village | visited they have all promised
to get it done this summer, then TO fill
the holes with stones and make the
heaps further away and behind their
novels. In another village a few OF
them have already been changed and
the space turned into little gardens,
small shrubs, and trees having been
given by the congestcd districts board to
help to improve the surroundings.
The people really seem anxious to make
things better and the board referred 10
gives help In the shape Of roof mate
rial for outbuildings to induce the pco-
pie to keep their live stock out of the
nuts. These poor creatures, indigent
rn hn,,
When l was taking a photograph, two
women who were washing clothes went
away with tho remark that they were
ashamed. No wonder they were
ashamed, but there is no chance of i'm
proving things without outside help
and better application of the luw-or.
perhaps, 1t may be wiser legislation.
But with shame present there is hope
of personal Improvement; opportunity
alone is wanted
The land. too, which they cultivate is
either bog or stony--exccssivcly stony.
When 1t is reclaimed, Il work of diff
Guilty and labor, 1t produces but mod
crate crops In the absence of sufficient
manure, and tho practice of all land
lords or agents used to be to raise the
rent Immediately the land was i'm
proved. TO realize the payment OF In
creased rent on tenants improvements,
one should see these holdings. The
urea of land each occupies is scarcely
enough to provide n living in the best
and most fruitful seasons, and they are
only kept from chronic starvation by
the yearly earnings of the mon who
come to England for two or three
months farm work. This, of course,
takes the men away from their own
holdings, and their friends consider ii
would be a good thing if they could be
kept at home instead. If 1t were pos
siblc to discontinue the practice of 60
ing to England for five years and they
could be maintained ut work at home
during that period-thcY would, it Is
said, get their holdings into such state
as to make the periodical English visit
unnecessary. The holdings arc so
small that tho peasants would never be
we'll off, but their position could be much
improved. Some land which is cui-
tivatcd it is almost Impossible to keen
free of water, and 1t is only by the
raised beds that the potatoes are lifted
out of It. Such spots indicate how {:
crop will quickly rot when II season is
the least unfavorable. One Cf the troll-
bles which has had to be met wns the
want of seed potatoes. This was partly
overcome by gifts from the COnges:e I'd
Districts Board, but they were not SO
extensive as they might have been
and were In many cases much too late
In distribution. So the peasants not
only had insufficient food, but were
without the means to obtain more
There are two other good features in
the picture. The people, though poor
are honest, and the girls arc remarka-
Bile for their virtue. The peasants ere
| generally healthy, through being out of
doors SO much; but there are old and
decrepit to be found, and children who
ing food and better surroundings. All
these circumstances combine to make d
case which should have more attention
from the governing powers
A point worth mentioning is the
drain which is going on by depopula-
tion. The bulk of the young men &c
either to the United States or to Eng
land, and the girls almost without ex-
ceptiOn to tho United States In Amer
lea they do well, and they help their
parents In most praiscworthy manner
an empty letter" ii. G., containing nc
money! seldom arriving home. In one
| town l was informed that the Irish girls
| in America found the money to rebuild
| the church of their native place, and q
| nice church 1t is. | felt sorry to think
that these girls, on whom good inlIll-
| cnccs had made their mark, would short.
| ly go to foreign country
! have purposely refrained from men
| tioning the villages l visited, but
| should not do what is right if | did not
| plead for some help for these poor peas
ants. If any of my rcaders-whethel
| rich or poor, whether living in Il man.
f,i. Pnp 1,In