According to the reports of the estates commission, the number of farm hands employed in 1871, in addition to the owners of the land and their families, was 446,782, or more than twice as many as are employed at present. In 1881 the number was 300,091. The number of occasional laborers or extra harvest hands employed in 1871 was 189,829, as against 76,870 employed in 1907, which indicates in a striking manner the decay of agriculture in Ireland. At the same time wages have increased 30 per cent and the cost of boarding farm hands has increased 40 per cent. The hands now demand better accommodations and better food, and everything they require is much more expensive than it was thirty years ago. The average wages for steady farm hands in Ireland with board, according to the official statistics, is $12 a month, while ten years ago labor was plenty at $9 a month. Wages of household servants are about the same and have advanced as rapidly. The census statistics of Ireland are quite interesting and show that for the last ten years the population has remained fairly stationary, the excess of births over deaths making up the loss by emigration. The latest vital statistics available are for the year 1905, which show a population of 4,391,565, an excess of births over deaths of 27,671; an emigration of 30,676, and a net decrease in population of 2,915. The following table shows the number of births, deaths, and emigrants for ten years: Years Births Deaths Emigrants 1895 106,113 84,395 48,703 1896 107,641 75,700 39,995 1897 106,664 83,839 32,535 1898 105,457 82,404 32,241 1899 103,900 79,699 41,232 1900 101,459 87,606 45,288 1901 100,976 79,119 39,613 1902 101,863 77,676 40,190 1903 101,831 77,358 39,789 1904 103,811 79,513 36,902 1905 102,832 75,071 30,676 ------- ------ ------ Average 103,811 80,731 39,549 Through the efforts of Mr. Boland, M.P., the foreign commerce of Ireland is now given independently in the statistical reports of the United Kingdom, and the following table shows the imports and exports for recent years: Imports Exports 1904 £53,185,523 £49,398,536 1905 54,793,183 51,174,318 1906 56,365,299 55,598,597 1907 60,521,245 61,617,225