But she could assuredly retain more if it were possible to create some industry. Unfortunately this seems very difficult. I am convinced that we are destined to see, in a very near future, a large number of industries removed: all those dealing with materials that are neither produced nor consumed in the country, that is to say, the only ones which are possible in Ireland, which does not produce any raw material, and where the consumption is always very small. I believe that many of these industries, if not all, will be forcibly transported to other localities than those where they are now working, and that in choosing these localities the owners will be guided in a great measure by climatic considerations. Workmen of all countries evidently aspire to an equality of enjoyment. On the other hand, the facility of transport, the amalgamation of working apparatus, resulting from the diffusion of capital, impose upon masters the levelling of salaries. Now with equal salaries, men suffer more in cold damp climates than in dry warm ones. I add that they work less. This fact is well known in the French navy, for a ship built or repaired in Brest costs infinitely more than if the same work had been executed in the dockyards at Toulon. In Ireland, a workman must always spend more for his food, his firing, and the maintenance of his family, than if he lived in France or America. The workman’s associations, which are now multiplying on all sides, will soon reveal this disadvantage to him; he will demand an increase of salary and ruin his master. I have therefore little faith in the resurrection of Irish industries. But what is impossible for private enterprise may be done by Government. I even think it may be considered a Government duty. The Irish landowners are reproached for their absenteeism, that is, for the habit of spending their income outside the country. If there is a landowner guilty of absenteeism it is certainly the Government. For instance, the Irish coast is broken by a series of roads, each finer than the other. If England were to suppress one of her Channel arsenals and re-establish it in Ireland, the transfer would certainly cost her some money. But the money would be well spent, for it would enable some thousands of families to remain in the country, instead of being forced to expatriate themselves before long.