The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-11-07
CHARITABLE WORK IN IRELAND SUFFERING COngested Districts Board Is Handicapped by War LETTERING PEOPL E Board Had Power to Buy Fertile Land and Portion It Out to People in
 Allotments-AlsoS SPromoted
 Cottage Industries
LETTERING PEOPLE

Dublin, October 5.-(Correspondence of the Associated Press. )--Among be- nevolent activities in Ireland injuri- ously affected by the war. is the work of the congested districts board. Es- tablished by Arthur Balfour when chief secretary for Ireland quarter of a century ago, it has been fostered by all subsequent governments and has done vast amount of useful service in improving the condition of the peo- pie of the west. The peculiarity of these poyerty-stricken communities is that the country is greatly over popu- lated where the land is rocky, bad and unproductive, and much under popu- lated in the immediate neighborhood where there are great tracts of graz ing land.
 The board has, power to buy land whether tenanted or untenanted and to distribute it in allotments to the people. They can acquire this land compulsory where necessary, and un- der these powers have, after long fight, succeeded in eXpropriating the Marquis of Clanricarde. whose estate near Loughrea was for a generation, one of the hottest storm centers in the land war. Within the past five years, they have bought 672 estates of 1. 1.60,7S3
 
 and there is a great deal more that they might usefully buy and resettle. By direction of the treasury, in conse- Quence of the war, these purchases have not been suspended They may continue with what money they have but are restrained from any further undertakings till the war is over and possibly for afterwards. This inter- ruption of valuable and vital work for the benefit of the poorest part of the Irish people is much regretted, but seems to be regarded as inevitable in the financial circumstances of the time
 The board, besides its agricultural work, does a great deal for the pro motion of cottage industries. This, too has been seriously hit by the war. Last year attention was called to falling off in the earnings of the boards lace and crochet classes due partly to the competition of Austria which had started to make Irish laee,' and part 1y to the dullness in the American mar ket. The outbreak of the war led to economies in dress Lace was a luxury banned by savings committee and the workers of the west suffered for it. The earnings of the lace makers which had been close on f30,000 ($150,000) a year fell to f11,000. Thirty three lace classes had to be closed down and the earnings of the women employed came to an end. A few of them have fortu- nately been able to obtain employment as knitters for the war office. In some districts the amount earned by the women had exceeded thee total rent ro1 and out of their savings it was possible in numerous instances to buy stock for the land and provide cap- fta1 to improve permanently the con- dition of these little farms, as we'll as to secure a fuller supply of milk for the children. The board is doing it's best to furnish other revenues of em- ployment, but so far their efforts are merely experimental. These bleak western coasts are, as the inhabitants call them. the last land in Europe and