A history of the Irish poor law, in connexion with the condition of the peopleNicholls, George, Sir
History
A history of the Irish poor law, in connexion with the condition of the people
Nicholls, George, Sir
Poor laws -- Ireland -- History
The long-expected final Report was at length received, embodying all the
recommendations for ameliorating the condition of the Irish poor, which
after nearly three years of inquiry and deliberation, the commissioners
felt themselves warranted in submitting to government. It commenced by
stating, that the evidence annexed to the former Reports proves the
existence of deep distress in all parts of Ireland. There is not, it is
said, the division of labour which exists in Great Britain. The
labouring class look to agriculture alone for support, whence the supply
of agricultural labour greatly exceeds the demand for it; and small
earnings, and widespread misery, are the consequence. Tables are given
of the population of Great Britain and Ireland respectively, of the
classes and occupations in each, the quantity of cultivated and
uncultivated land, the proportions of agricultural produce, and the
wages of agricultural labourers—from which, the commissioners say it
appears—“that in Great Britain the agricultural families constitute
little more than a fourth, while in Ireland they constitute about
two-thirds of the whole population; that there were in Great Britain in
1831,—1,055,982 agricultural labourers, in Ireland 1,131,715,—although
the cultivated land of Great Britain amounts to about 34,250,000 acres,
and that of Ireland only to about 14,600,000.” So that there are in
Ireland about five agricultural labourers for every two that there are
for the same quantity of land in Great Britain. It further appears that
the agricultural produce of Great Britain is more than four times that
of Ireland; that agricultural wages vary from 6_d._ to 1_s._ a day; that
the average of the country is about 8½_d._; and that the earnings of the
labourers come on an average of the whole class, to from 2_s._ to 2_s._
6_d._ a week, or thereabouts, for the year round.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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