The Irish standard., 1899-09-09
because they can be fed at public ex-

~
scale; bu, - the land has re-
vertcd to pasturage, and less OF it is cul-
tivated every succeeding year. There are
broad sweeps of meadow and waste
land, with here and there field of oats
or patch of potatoes.
There is little barley and less rye and
wheat. Even the potato acreage is
steadily declining, and there is little
market gardening. One-half of the
land is a pasture, and only small frac-
ton of the remainder is under tillage.
On the large estates there are droves OF
horses, cattle, sheep and pigs, and the
tenant farmers are mainly employed in
selling milk to the creameries, Cork
having become the most important but
ter market in the United Kingdom.
Stock raising and dairy farming are ap-
parently the only profitable agricultural
industries; but tenant farmers, with
their small holdings, cannot do much
with them. AS for the laborers, there is
no employment for them in either of
these branches of agriculture, and with
tillage steadily declining their condi-
ton is constantly changing for the
worse, especially as the processes of
sowing, reaping and binding of the
chief crop, oats, are now carried on
with machinery
One of these laborers opened his
heart to me as halted in front of a
desolate stone hut one afternoon within
ten miles of Cork. There is no longer
any work for us here" he said. MA
chinery does it all in the oat fields, and
there is nothing for us but stock rails
ing. When harvest time comes tl1ous-
ands OF Irish laborers go over to Eng
land because there is field work there
ard none here. We cannot keep soul
and body together here, and we are
growing poorer every year, if that is
possible. Every Irish laborer who is
not chained here by the necessity of
doing what he can to feed wife and chill
dren is leaving the old country and 60
ing to some place where he can find
work. The only hope for those who
are forced to stay here and starve lies in
the chance of getting work on the
roads. The local government is now in
Irish hands, and with the new county
councils in power the laborers may get
something out of it when the roads are
improved" -A' +' : '-'''-'-- '.-s'@ -
I reminded him that money for i'm
proving the roads would have to come
out OF the rates, and that the tenant
farmers would have to provide it them
selves under the local government bill,
and be taxed for it. "Ah, yes," he said,
it will come out of the rates, of course;
but there will be dale of economy in
the spending of it, and we shall have
some work. Our councils are bound to
do something for us, or we shall turn
them out" The tenant farmer in his
turn is equally confident that he will get
something out of local politics, either
in contracts for keeping the roads in re-
pair or in some other service for the
county. That seems to be the prevail
ing impression among the supporters of
the Nationalist movement, and there
will be bitter disappointment when the
truth is learned that the expenses of
local government can be increased only
at the cost of the tenant farmers and
laborers, the landlords being protected
by law against additional burdens OF
taxation.
1t is beautiful rolling country that
opens in every direction from Cork, but
everywhere there are signs that the
farmers and laborers have been driven
back upon the soil and are over
whelmed with poverty. 1t is lonely
and deserted region. The houses are
a long way apart and there are few out
buildings about them. The villages are
huddles of wretched cabins and there is
little traffic on the roads. The land it.
self lies fallow, and is used mainly for
pasturing stock. Nowhere are there
signs of thrift and prosperity. Every
where is to be seen and felt the blight
of poverty and exhaustion; and the dis
couraged peasantry are trying to con-
vince themselves that the times still i'm
prove now that they have local govern
ment in their own hands and can mend
the roads with the assistance of wire
pullers!