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MEASURES 
 
 TO BE ADOPTED FOR THE 
 
 EMPLOYMENT OF THE LABOURING CLASSES 
 
 IN IRELAND; 
 
 DETAILED IN 
 
 AN ADDRESS 
 
 TO THE ELECTORS OF GALWAY; 
 
 WITH 
 
 AN APPENDIX, 
 
 CONTAINING ABSTRACTS OF THE REPORTS OF SOME OF 
 THE PROVINCIAL ASSEMBLIES IN BELGIUM. 
 
 By A. H. LYNCH, Esq., M.P. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 CHARLES KNIGHT & CO., LUDGATE STREET. 
 
 1839. 
 
h!) 
 
 syoo.3 
 , L9 
 
 183 9 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 l'rinted by W. Clowes ami Suns, 
 Stamford Street. 
 
 O’NEILL UBhaHt 
 
 BOSTON COLLEGE 
 
AN ADDRESS, 
 
 fyc. fyc. 
 
 When the measure of 1838, for relief of the destitute 
 poor in Ireland, had passed the House of Commons, I ad¬ 
 dressed a letter to you, my constituents, in which I endea¬ 
 voured to explain the various provisions then proposed for 
 accomplishing its important ends. 
 
 I supported the measure through all its stages, and voted 
 in the final majority of 234, under the auspices of which it 
 was carried to the House of Lords. 
 
 The law contains some provisions which I opposed, but 
 they will not practically impair the representative principle 
 for which I contended, if the elective right of the rate-payers 
 be exercised purely, amicably, and widely, without any other 
 motive than the general good ; because the right of voting 
 is sufficiently comprehensive (vesting as it does in every 
 rate-payer) to give the public a predominant influence over 
 the working of this great fundamental measure for the im¬ 
 provement of Ireland. 
 
 The measure is in other respects much improved by 
 clauses calculated to induce more attention to the means of 
 improving the condition of the working classes ; and as I 
 now purpose to address you on the nature and extent of 
 these means, I will begin with a brief description of this 
 law, as altered in the House of Lords. 
 
 Its object, as detailed in my former letter, is to enable 
 local Boards of Guardians to levy a rate on the value and 
 rent of all lands, houses, mines (seven years in work), canals, 
 navigations, rights of fishery, tolls, &c.; for maintaining in 
 
 B 
 
2 
 
 workhouses such families, or adults not having families, or 
 children not having parents, as they shall find to be in a 
 state of destitution, that is, in actual want of the necessaries 
 of life, and without any means of obtaining them; also to 
 authorise the levying of a rate in an electoral division, not 
 exceeding one shilling in the pound on the annual value 
 of rateable property, and by consent of a majority in value 
 of the rate-payers, for defraying the expense of settling poor 
 families in a British colony. The 52nd section of the Sta¬ 
 tute limits its pow r ers strictly to these purposes ; and, there¬ 
 fore, the law does no more, except as to emigration, than 
 render the fixed property of the country liable to a charge 
 which must heretofore have fallen wholly on the property 
 possessed by voluntary contributors to the poor, while it will 
 protect property from loss by the imposition and demoral¬ 
 ization which general mendicancy has promoted, and 
 still afford a subsistence to a greater number of persons than 
 could be supported at the same cost by any other mode 
 of relief. 
 
 The poor-tax is to be levied by “ a poundage rate, made 
 upon an estimate of the net annual value of the several he¬ 
 reditaments rated thereunto; that is to say, of the rent at 
 which , one year with another, the same might in their actual 
 state he reasonably expected to let from year to yearf 
 subject to the cost of repairs, to all taxes, and the charge 
 of insurance. The value is thus to be the actual amount of 
 rent which could be obtained from a tenant liable to the 
 taxes and charges of preservation ; and it will be necessary 
 to have this value fixed with scrupulous accuracy, in order 
 that the tax may be equitably apportioned between landlord 
 and tenant, as required by the law. 
 
 The occupiers of the property charged with the tax are to 
 pay the whole amount in the first instance; and those who 
 have rents to pay are authorised to deduct one-half of the 
 
poundage rate, that, is, one-half of the shilling, ten-pence, 
 eight-pence, or whatever other amount the rate may be, 
 from each pound of rent which shall be paid. Thus, if the 
 annual rent be 60/., and the annual value also 60/., and the 
 annual rate Is. on each pound of rent value, the tenant will 
 deduct sixty times sixpence, or 1/. 106*.; if the annual rent be 
 60/., and the annual value were but 30/., the tenant will only- 
 have to pay 1/. 106*.; which he will be entitled to deduct 
 from the landlord, being one-half of the poundage-rate on 
 the rent, the landlord in effect being* in that case liable to 
 the whole tax, in consequence of his receiving so much more 
 in rent than the value of the tenement. On the other hand, 
 if the rent paid were to be but 30/., and the annual value 
 were to be 60/., the tenant could only deduct thirty times 
 sixpence, or 156*., and would, in consequence of his consider¬ 
 able interest, be subject to 2/. 56*. of the 3/. levied for the 
 poor. Therefore, it is of extreme importance that a bond 
 fide valuation of property to be rated shall be made in every 
 Poor Law Union, before any rate shall be levied. 
 
 The means provided by the law for levying the rates, and 
 applying them to the support of the poor, are well adapted 
 for the ends proposed. The Crown appoints Commissioners 
 (paid out of its own revenue), to form the Unions, superin¬ 
 tend the constituting of Boards of Guardians, frame rules 
 for having the law administered conformably to its enact¬ 
 ments, provide workhouses, control the expenditure, audit 
 the accounts half-yearly, and maintain a uniform system of 
 relief throughout the country. The Unions are to be di¬ 
 vided into electoral districts, the rate-payers in each electing 
 annually a due proportion of the whole number of Guardians 
 for the Union, and every rate-payer having at least one vote 
 —the votes, however, increasing in proportion to property— 
 but t he utmost number in one electoral division to be six, 
 in right of an occupancy of the aggregate value of 200/., 
 
 B 2 
 
4 
 
 or in respect of an equal aggregate amount of rent derived 
 in the division; if both vest in one person, the votes are 
 double. 
 
 If a Board of Guardians were to neglect the business of a 
 Union, or not to carry the law into execution—for instance, 
 if a Board should attempt to make the law inoperative by 
 refusing relief to persons in a state of destitution—the Com¬ 
 missioners would order another Board to be constituted; 
 and if the new Board were also to contravene the orders of 
 the Commissioners, the power of appointing paid officers 
 would then arise, which must tend to insure a due adminis¬ 
 tration of the law by the ordinary local authorities, lest 
 strangers should be employed to relieve the poor and levy 
 the rates. 
 
 The valuators and officers of each Union (except the re¬ 
 turning officer for elections, the auditor of accounts, and the 
 chaplains) are to be appointed by the Board of Guardians; 
 but the officers’ salaries will be fixed by the Commissioners, 
 and are to be on a very moderate scale, according to the 
 following estimate submitted to the House of Lords :— 
 
 1. Clerk of the Union, from . . £60 to 80 
 
 2. Master and Matron of the Work-] 
 
 house jointly .} 60 ” 80 
 
 3. Chaplains, do. . . . 50 ,, 80 
 
 4. Medical Officers and Medicine, do. 100 „ 150 
 
 5. Auditor (from each Union) . 20 ,, 30 
 
 6. Returning Officer . . . 10 „ 20 
 
 7. Collector . . . . 50 „ 70 
 
 8. Schoolmaster and Mistress jointly 50 „ 80 
 
 9. Porter and Assistant, do. . . 20 „ 30 
 
 10. Other Assistants in the Workhouse 1 
 and Union . . . .J 
 
 Total, from 
 
 £450 „ 650 
 
5 
 
 Wardens are to be appointed by the Guardians, for each 
 parish, townland, or other district in a Union, to “ provide for 
 the conveyance to the workhouse of any such destitute poor 
 persons as the Guardians shall directto attend meetings 
 of the Guardians when ordered; and to report to them the 
 state of the poor, and other local particulars required. 
 
 The workhouses are to be provided by the Commissioners, 
 and the money for the purpose will be advanced by Govern¬ 
 ment, to be repaid by each Union in twenty annual instal¬ 
 ments, commencing in one year after the completion of its 
 workhouse ; but interest is not to be charged until the period 
 for paying the tenth instalment shall have elapsed, and then 
 only upon what remains due. 
 
 The master of each workhouse is to keep a registry of 
 the name and usual place of abode of each person admitted. 
 This registry is to be subject to revision by the Board of 
 Guardians, and the electoral division in which the Board 
 shall determine the previous place of residence to he, will 
 become chargeable with the cost of maintenance; but if 
 the Guardians cannot assign the pauper to any one of the 
 electoral divisions, then the cost of maintenance will become 
 a general charge on the Union. This provision gives direct 
 operation to the re-active principle of the law, by fixing the 
 cost of pauperism on the localities to which the pauper shall 
 actually belong; but still most wisely enables the Guardians 
 to place a charge on the Union, generally, for the wandering 
 poor who have no fixed place of abode; and it also empowers 
 the Guardians of electoral divisions to agree to a joint 
 charge, after the expiration of three years from the first 
 opening of the workhouse. 
 
 The law does not contain any provisions against mendi¬ 
 cancy ; but, when workhouse relief shall be afforded in a 
 Union, the good sense of the community must suggest the 
 necessity and policy of withholding alms from mendicants— 
 
6 
 
 because then, unless the house be full, of which the wardens 
 of each district should give notice, all who will resort to beg¬ 
 ging must be vagrants by their own choice. 
 
 Neither does the law make any provision for the support 
 of medical charities. It leaves them to the resources on 
 which they have heretofore depended ; and merely directs 
 the Commissioners to report, after they have formed the 
 Unions, whether the public medical institutions are suffi¬ 
 cient ; or, if not, at what cost the requisite extension could 
 be made. The medical superintendents to be appointed 
 by Boards of Guardians are only for the inmates of work- 
 houses. 
 
 As a supporter of this great measure, I rejoice that in 
 whatever part of Ireland the preliminary arrangements for 
 carrying it into effect have been commenced, its object, when 
 honestly explained, has been warmly applauded, the quick 
 intelligence of the public mind being at once convinced of 
 its security, and public sympathy having long desired a safe 
 measure to protect the unblamable poor—to terminate a 
 wasteful and demoralising mendicancy—and rescue the 
 children of paupers from privation and corruption; above 
 all, to make the entire of the fixed property of the country 
 chargeable for these objects, and thus compel its owners to 
 co-operate for improving the condition of the poorer classes, 
 by extending employment in the natural sources of indus¬ 
 try, as the only means of lessening pauperism, or preventing 
 its increase, and saving property from a heavy taxation. 
 The Commissioners cannot carry the law into effect with 
 sufficient rapidity to satisfy the people. In many places the 
 introduction of the law has been loudly called for; as in 
 Dublin, Cork, Waterford, and Galway, where the public 
 feeling appreciates the advantages of this most salutary 
 measure. 
 
 The sound policy of this law is, that, in providing 
 
7 
 
 succour for persons deprived of the means of subsistence 
 by want of employment, it does not force the community to 
 provide employment for labour which the ordinary demand 
 does not appear to require, but affords its succour within the 
 walls of asylums, leaving to the community of rate-payers 
 the adoption of measures for averting pauperism from the 
 working classes, and by the prohibition of out-door relief 
 it sustains wages, which the recipients of out-door relief in § 
 England have depreciated by underselling their labour, and f 
 then compelling the body of rate-payers to supply to them, 
 as paupers, a portion of their means of living, that otherwise J 
 they must have acquired in wages. 
 
 Many of the zealous friends of a compulsory provision for 
 the poor of Ireland were hostile to the workhouse system, 
 as applied to the condition of the able-bodied classes. But, 
 in requiring public productive employment to be pro¬ 
 vided, they overlook the stimulant of poor-rates, which, 
 when left to its full action through the levies requisite 
 for workhouses, must enforce productive employment in its 
 natural sources, where the labourers will obtain it, not as 
 paupers, but as hired workmen, paid according to their qua¬ 
 lifications ; while public employment, if it could be every¬ 
 where provided, would, if productive, prevent an extension 
 of employment by individuals, and leave crowds of labourers 
 to be worked in gangs like slaves. 
 
 If men are out of work and unable to subsist themselves, 
 let them be sustained at the public charge, and that charge | 
 will cause employment to be provided by those who are 
 to bear it, if employment can be given ; while, on the other 
 hand, the necessity of submitting to work-house rules, and 
 the separation of the males and females of every family, 
 essential to public decency, must tend to make labourers 
 careful of their earnings, and assiduous in their work to 
 obtain a continuous employment. 
 
 

 8 
 
 But, in creating this liability for the rate-payers, the legis¬ 
 lature is bound to remove every obstruction within its control 
 which impedes the use of the sources of employment, and 
 correct every defect in legislation by which the means of 
 employment are misapplied. It is not reasonable or 
 righteous to tax the community for the support of labourers 
 out of work, while denying it the means of employing them. 
 
 The object of the Poor Law is to protect against destitu¬ 
 tion ; and to guard against fraud it applies the self-acting 
 and unerring test of the workhouse ; and, while it protects 
 the community at large from the cost and heavy charges of 
 mendicancy, and secures an equal distribution of the bur¬ 
 den of support of the poor, and a due application of the 
 funds raised, it will serve as a stimulant to the employment 
 of the people. 
 
 There the Poor Law stops. Such are its proper and due 
 limits. It is the duty of the legislature to proceed farther; 
 to pass measures for raising the condition of the people, and 
 not only to provide against destitution, but to place the Irish 
 peasant in that situation which the soil and the climate of 
 Ireland, and the physical and moral energies of her sons, 
 entitle him to be placed in: finally, to give him the com¬ 
 forts which are enjoyed by his English and Continental 
 neighbours—afford education and employment; and this 
 desirable object will be effected. The subject of edu¬ 
 cation is foreign to my immediate purpose. I cannot, 
 however, omit this opportunity of calling the attention of 
 the public to the Belgian Reports, set forth in the Appen¬ 
 dix, as to the provision in that country for the education of 
 the people, an example well worthy of imitation. 
 
 Our present business respects the employment of the 
 people. The want of that employment is one of the 
 greatest and most pressing evils of our unhappy coun¬ 
 try. And yet the means of employment, as well as the 
 
9 
 
 sources of production, are most abundant. There is no 
 country in the world where labour is more required, and 
 none where it can be more profitably employed. The means 
 so bountifully given by Providence have hitherto been neg¬ 
 lected ; and what is the consequence ? Misery of the peo¬ 
 ple, agrarian disturbance, and insecurity of property. The 
 Statute Book unfolds the sad history of Ireland. In it are 
 contained numerous Acts passed within the last 100 years, 
 penal and coercive in the extreme. From the titles and 
 recitals of these Acts you may discover the causes of their 
 being passed, and you may trace them all to agrarian dis¬ 
 turbances, arising from the opposition of the people to the 
 payment of tithes, the want of employment, and the scarcity 
 of cultivated land appropriated to their use. And why is it 
 that the people are not employed, or fairly or adequately re¬ 
 munerated for their labour? The discouragement of her 
 manufactures—the neglect of her agriculture—will easily 
 account for this; and, as a consequence, the unsettled state of 
 the country. 
 
 The description given by the Poor Law Commissioners 
 of the labouring poor in Ireland is one of the greatest po¬ 
 verty ; inhabiting wretched hovels, scantily covered, and 
 scantily and badly fed. The description is too true. The 
 Poor Law does not touch these cases. The legislature has 
 properly and wisely kept distinct the measures for the relief 
 of destitution from those necessary for alleviating poverty 
 and raising the condition of the peasant. But it was from 
 the commencement admitted that other measures were ne¬ 
 cessary as adjuncts and auxiliaries to a Poor Law. Mr. 
 Nicholls, in his first Report, states,— 
 
 30. “ It is, I think, a circumstance favourable to the establish¬ 
 ment of Poor Laws, that there is so much land lying waste and 
 uncultivated in Ireland. A large portion of this land appears to 
 be susceptible of profitable cultivation; and the order and secu- 
 
 
10 
 
 rity which the introduction of Poor Laws would tend to establish 
 would encourage the application of capital to such objects. If 
 capital were to be so applied, considerable tracts would be brought 
 under culture, and thus afford immediate occupation to the now 
 unemployed labourers. I have no experience in the reclamation 
 of bog-land, but the finest crops which I saw in Ireland were on 
 land of this description, and this often very imperfectly drained. 
 Most of the recently-reclaimed bog which I saw in the western 
 counties was reclaimed by the small occupiers, who partially 
 drained and enclosed an acre or two at a time ; but such opera¬ 
 tions were without system or combination, and for the most part 
 indifferently performed. In this way, however, the reclamation 
 of these wastes will, of necessity, proceed,—constantly adding to 
 the number of small cottier tenants, and consequently swelling 
 the amount of poverty and wretchedness in the country,—unless 
 proprietors and capitalists shall be induced to take the matter in 
 hand, and, by enclosing and effectually draining whole tracts, 
 secure the means of applying improved and economical manage¬ 
 ment on a large scale. It appeared, from what I saw, and from 
 all that I could learn by careful inquiry, that, wherever sea-sand 
 or sea-weed or lime is to be obtained, bog-land may be cultivated 
 to advantage,—presuming always that it is first effectually drained. 
 Now Ireland abounds in limestone beyond any country that I 
 have ever seen, and along the western coast sand and sea-weed 
 are plentiful. The elements of fertility, therefore, are at hand; 
 all that is wanted is capital and enterprise to call them into action. 
 The enclosing and draining, and the whole process of reclamation, 
 would afford employment to a large number of labourers, who 
 are now, for a great portion of the year, idling about without 
 occupation ; and, when the land so reclaimed becomes subjected 
 to a regular process of cultivation, it will continue to afford 
 them regular employment at daily wages, instead of the often 
 miserably insufficient produce of their own small holdings, to 
 which they now are compelled to cling as their sole means of 
 support.” 
 
 Whilst the interest of the landlords to seek means for em¬ 
 ploying the people outside the poorhouse, rather than sup¬ 
 port them within, will be increased, it will on the other hand 
 be but just and expedient that all facilities should be afforded 
 
11 
 
 to the landlords, every obstruction to their employment of 
 the people removed, and every legitimate means used to as¬ 
 sist them. Emigration is recommended by some : it is by 
 others considered the only remedy. Emigration, to be use¬ 
 ful or effective, must be on a very large scale, and must be 
 made at once, and not from year to year. There is at this 
 moment a considerable annual emigration from Ireland, and 
 it is not felt. The Railway Commissioners, in their second 
 Report, state that— 
 
 “ It is impossible that emigration coukhbe effected on so large 
 a scale, were the people themselves ever so anxious to embrace 
 it, as wholly to remove the pressure of distress arising from the 
 excess of the population over the means now available for their 
 support. It can only be resorted to as a secondary relief, effectual 
 as far as it goes, and therefore deserving of attention and encou¬ 
 ragement; but it must always leave behind it so many destitute 
 and unemployed that the cares of the legislature or the burdens 
 of the country can experience no very sensible alleviation from its 
 aid.’’ 
 
 How much more politic it would be to employ public 
 money where it would create wealth and employment at 
 home, than expend public capital in removing labourers to 
 the colonies, and settling them there ! The expense recently 
 incurred by Major MacArthur, in sending to his property 
 in New South Wales forty persons from Dorsetshire, 
 amounts to 747/. 16<s\ 8 d., being 18/. 13v. 11c/. for each 
 individual. To remove one million of persons at this rate 
 would cost nearly nineteen millions of money. Sir Wilmot 
 Horton, one of the leading advocates of emigration, esti¬ 
 mates the expense of settling emigrants in Canada at 12/. 
 for each individual, including support until the growth of 
 their own supplies. At this rate, the removal of a million 
 out of the population of Ireland would absorb 12,000,000/.; 
 yet the withdrawal of a million would leave in the country 
 five millions of people more than it contained at the time 
 
12 
 
 when Swift described its miserable and impoverished con¬ 
 dition. Many thousands now emigrate annually; but their 
 departure makes those who remain not sensibly better in 
 their circumstances: on the contrary, whenever the cost 
 of the removal is more than the cost of employment, the 
 remaining population must be injured in proportion to 
 the amount of capital withdrawn. 
 
 But suppose Canada to be in the most peaceful state ; let us 
 consider what the effect of such a wholesale emigration must 
 be upon it, or any other colony. The change produced by 
 such an irruption would be terrific; and one consequence to 
 be dreaded would be famine. Having landed these emigrants 
 upon the colony, how T would this million be disposed of, 
 until by their labour the lands were cleared and brought 
 into some sort of cultivation ? They must be supported by 
 supplies from, or procured by, this country. Here, a great 
 and uncertain expense is to be incurred, and which must 
 
 continue for a considerable time. And whilst this country 
 
 %/ 
 
 is unable to grow sufficient for its own consumption, the 
 hands for creating the necessary supply are to be dimi¬ 
 nished, for the purpose of being supported in the colony by 
 the community that remain at home. Again, when emigra¬ 
 tion is recommended, its effect upon the parent stock should 
 
 I be considered. The young, the active, and industrious will 
 be inclined to emigrate; they will leave behind them the 
 | old, and impotent, and idle. One of the provisions of the 
 New Zealand Bill introduced last year, but not yet passed 
 into a law, was, that none should emigrate under that bill 
 beyond the age of thirty. In our present financial situa¬ 
 tion, can this country afford such a diminution of reve¬ 
 nue as would be caused by the emigration of one million 
 of persons? Can our manufacturers at this moment suffer 
 such a diminution in demand as would be thereby occa¬ 
 sioned,—little as, it may be supposed, from the description 
 
13 
 
 already given, such million does contribute either to the 
 revenue or the purchase of manufactures, but great as this 
 contribution would necessarily be if the people were regu¬ 
 larly and continuously employed, and our natural resources 
 made available? 
 
 Has it been ascertained, or is it admitted, that there is an 
 over-population? The committee of 1835 state— 
 
 “ Your committee cannot concur in the opinion, that the social 
 disease of Ireland is produced by a real excess of population. It 
 may be doubted whether the country dees contain a sufficient 
 quantity of labour to develop its resources ; and while the empire 
 is loaded with taxation to defray the charges of its wars, it ap¬ 
 pears most politic to use its internal resources for improving the 
 condition of the population, by which the revenue of the Exche¬ 
 quer must be increased, rather than encourage emigration, by 
 which the revenue would suffer a diminution ; or than leave the 
 labouring classes in their present state, by which poverty, crime, 
 and the charges of Government must be inevitably extended.” 
 
 I admit that population is greatly increasing; but the in¬ 
 crease is in those counties chiefly where the greatest wastes 
 lie, where there is the least employment and the poorest re¬ 
 muneration is given, and where internal communication and 
 the means of transporting agricultural produce and manure 
 are the most scanty. In Galway and Mayo the increase is 
 at the rate of 25 per cent, while in Wexford and Louth it 
 is only 8 per cent. In the county of Galway there are, of 
 reclaimed land, 945,212 acres; of unreclaimed land, 464,957 
 acres. In the county of the town of Galway there are, of 
 reclaimed land, 10,501 acres; of unreclaimed land, 12,000 
 acres. In Mayo there are, of reclaimed land, 871,984 
 acres; of unreclaimed land, 425,124 acres. In Donegal 
 there are, of reclaimed land, 520,736 acres; of unre¬ 
 claimed land, 644,371 acres. 
 
 Another consideration should also be attended to, and 
 that is, the effect which this wholesale emigration may have 
 
 * 
 

 « 
 
 14 
 
 upon the agriculture of Great Britain. Without the assist- 
 I ance of Irish labourers the harvest in this country could not 
 f be secured. The English farmers rely, when sowing their 
 } corn, upon the supply of harvest labourers that annually 
 1 come from Ireland; and, if they could not rely on such 
 supply, they would not sow so much corn. This supply is 
 so regular, that some Irish labourers are engaged from one 
 year to another by the same farmer, and are so employed, 
 the English harvest being always earlier than the Irish. 
 In the towns also there are large quantities of Irish,—in 
 London, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, Paisley, and 
 indeed almost every manufacturing town,—and the price of 
 labour is not reduced beyond its proper level. It is there¬ 
 fore essential for the towns to have this constant supply 
 from Ireland; and, if this supply should be stopped by 
 means of emigration, it is unnecessary to state that serious 
 injury would arise. The fear that was once entertained, 
 that the influx of the Irish would throw the English popu¬ 
 lation on their parishes, is at once answered by the fact, that, 
 in the year 1825, 54,913 were relieved in the township of 
 Manchester, and in 1831 the number relieved was only 
 11,514; during which interval the Irish migrated to Eng¬ 
 land, and to Manchester in particular, in greater numbers 
 than at any previous time. 
 
 Whilst I object to wholesale emigration at the public cost, 
 and to its being considered the remedy for Ireland, I think 
 every facility should be afforded to individual emigration; and 
 in some places, where the pressure is very great, it may be 
 advisable, and the more convenient way of disposing of the 
 surplus of any particular spot; and therefore I voted for the 
 emigration clause in the Poor Law Act, with the guards 
 attendant upon it. Emigration, to some extent, may also be 
 necessary to answer the increasing demand for labour in our 
 colonies ; and a colonial fund for that purpose may be ob- 
 
15 
 
 tained by the sale of lands; but such limited emigration 
 cannot be sensibly felt, and cannot be the remedy for Ire 
 land. 
 
 It may be asked, what are the emigrants to do ?— 
 Reclaim the wastes of Canada, or New South Wales, or 
 Van Diemen’s Land, or New Zealand? Are there no 
 wastes in Ireland to be reclaimed? No wastes in Galway 
 or Mayo, in Kerry or Cork, in Wicklow or in the metro¬ 
 politan county of Dublin ? 
 
 The unimproved condition of Irish estates has a most ex¬ 
 traordinary appearance, in close proximity to markets re¬ 
 quiring increased supplies of food, and yet as open to those 
 of Ireland as they are to English produce. Ireland has 
 never yet supplied England in a year with much more than 
 half a million quarters of wheat and flour; while the defi¬ 
 ciency of English home produce has frequently required an 
 importation of nearly six times that quantity, thereby ren¬ 
 dering recourse to other countries necessary for supplying 
 the wants of English consumers, which, under proper ma¬ 
 nagement, Ireland is to a great extent, if not wholly, capa¬ 
 ble of supplying, with greater advantage to England. 
 
 It is commonly said in England that Ireland is more fitted 
 for being a cattle country than a producer of corn ; but her 
 lands yield as fine wheat as any soils in England: indeed, 
 wherever the Irish lands are well drained, corn produce is 
 abundant and excellent. It is the legal circumstances of 
 property, and the indolent habits of the gentry and farmers, 
 which render Ireland so much a cattle country, because 
 pasture is best suited for short and uncertain tenures, and 
 requires less attention : yet Ireland is less of a cattle country 
 than she would be if the soil were better cultivated, and 
 the improvable wastes rendered arable ; and it is only by 
 becoming more of a cattle country that her supplies of good 
 corn can be largely increased. 
 
 
 

 16 
 
 The English agricultural markets invite, augmented sup¬ 
 plies of every kind—corn, cattle, and butter. At present, 
 700,000/. a-year is paid for foreign butter ; and if Ireland 
 were to supply this quantity, the additional cattle necessary 
 for the purpose would, it is computed, afford means of fer¬ 
 tilising annually thousands of acres of land. 
 
 The relative condition of England and Ireland presents an 
 anomaly in the economy of nations. England’s markets 
 for agricultural produce are insufficiently supplied, and her 
 marts for the sale of manufactures are frequently glutted 
 by production exceeding the demand. Ireland has natural 
 resources to render her capable of supplying the produce 
 which England wants—an extensive arable territory not half 
 cultivated, and millions of acres lying waste, which may be 
 rendered fertile lands, while labour exists to redundancy as 
 compared with the employment it obtains ; in consequence 
 of which the country abounds with misery, turbulence, and 
 crime. Let Ireland be enabled to send into England 
 that quantity of produce which must annually be imported, 
 and in return England will have a corresponding increase 
 in the demand for her manufactures. 
 
 The importance of reclaiming the waste lands of Ireland 
 has attracted the attention of several Administrations ; Par¬ 
 liamentary committees have sat—commissioners have been 
 appointed to obtain the necessary information: they all 
 concur in recommending the employment of the poor by 
 means of bringing into cultivation the unreclaimed but re- 
 claimable wastes of Ireland. 
 
 To remove any doubt that may exist, as to the perfect 
 practicability of reclaiming the bog and waste lands of Ire¬ 
 land, with a perfect security as to a return in money and 
 permanent amelioration, it is only necessary to refer to the 
 
 reports of the commissioners appointed in 1809 to inquire 
 . _ 1A - ■ 1 
 into and examine the nature and extent of the bogs in Ire- 
 
17 
 
 land, and the practicability of draining them. These re¬ 
 ports are full of valuable facts and information. Nothin^ 
 can be more decisive and satisfactory than the opinions of 
 the commissioners—able, skilful, and experienced men—in 
 favour of reclamation, founded as they are upon the minutest 
 examination and the reports of the different engineers. It 
 appears that, of the twenty millions of acres of land in Ire¬ 
 land, there are five millions of acres of waste lands. It 
 appears that the extent of bog-lands exceeds 2,830,000 
 acres, of which 1,576,000 are flat, bogs, convertible to 
 the general purposes of agriculture; and the remaining 
 1,255,000 are mountain bogs, convertible at a very small 
 expense to pasturage and feeding. Of the 1,576,000, 
 1,013,000 were specially reported on by the engineers. 
 The reports state the situation of the bogs to be highly 
 favourable, the surface of all being level free, and most of 
 them not less than 300 feet above the sea ; besides being 
 intersected by streams, the channels of which are calculated 
 to be outlets for the water taken off from the interior of the 
 bogs. Mr. Nimmo has calculated that 1 - 10th of the 
 mountain bogs may be irrigated and reclaimed, by a judi¬ 
 cious distribution of the mountain waters, at an expense not 
 exceeding 1/. per acre. With respect to the expense, and 
 probable return for the money expended upon the flat 
 bogs, there is some difference of opinion ; but the opinions 
 of all are favourable beyond what may be well imagined. 
 The difference of opinion refers only to the extent of advan¬ 
 tage and profit. In the fourth- report there is the following 
 passage, which may be considered the summary of the opi¬ 
 nions of the commissioners:— 
 
 “ Various as are the modes of improvement, and the estimate 
 proposed by our different engineers, we must consider that the 
 fair average of their opinions represent, that, by an expenditure of 
 from 1/. to 20 i: per acre, the reclamation would secure to the im¬ 
 prover a permanent rent of from 10 to 15 per cent, on the expen- 
 
 c 
 
 * 
 
18 
 
 diture. Some of them, on whose judgment we place great re¬ 
 liance, are even of opinion that the whole of the capital employed 
 would be returned by the produce of the first crops which effected 
 the improvement. Supposing, then, the capital employed to be 
 finally lost, still the rent obtained would abundantly compensate 
 for its application; but on the other supposition of the capital 
 itself being repaid, it would follow that the rent would finally be¬ 
 come the reward merely of the skill and labour of the improver. 
 
 “ Nor is it on mere theoretical speculation that these premises 
 are rested. Our engineers uniformly adduce the example of hun¬ 
 dreds of acres actually improved within their respective districts, 
 to justify their estimates. 
 
 “ It may, perhaps, then be inquired, why all these bogs have 
 not long since been improved? Or it may be asserted, that their 
 present desolation, in the midst of so much apparent inducement, 
 is in itself a sufficient proof that such premises must be practically 
 fallacious. 
 
 We are convinced, however, that this circumstance may be 
 otherwise accounted for, and that it is not to physical obstacles 
 that the present situation of these wastes is principally to be 
 ascribed. 
 
 The arable lands around the extremities of each bog belong, 
 pretty generally, to a great variety of proprietors ; the mearings 
 of whose estates, it is generally admitted, must be contained 
 within the area of the interior bog, but the precise situation of 
 which is seldom ascertained. The external boundary of the bog 
 forms a turf bank ; the interior is a quagmire, in its present state 
 inapplicable to any other purpose than the affording a very scanty 
 summer pasture to a few wandering cattle, who are turned in to 
 seek for it at the risk often of being lost. The cultivators who 
 occupy the contiguous farms have usually annexed, to the enjoy¬ 
 ment of the lands, a right of turning in their cattle on the part of 
 the bog adjoining to their respective farms ; and when these are 
 tempted by hunger to wander farther, reciprocal convenience 
 forbids it being considered as a trespass. These farmers have 
 usually terms of lives or years in their holdings, too short to tempt 
 them, even if possessed of capital and skill, to enter on the per¬ 
 manent improvement of the bog, while they are yet abundantly 
 sufficient to render such an operation impracticable for the land¬ 
 lord. The landlord has demised to the tenant a vague possession 
 
19 
 
 of what he considered of little or no value ; the shortness of the 
 tenure obliges the tenant to leave his holding in its unprofitable 
 state; but were the landlord to propose to improve it, the tenant 
 having a present right to prevent him, that right would become 
 valuable just in proportion to the intended exertions of the land¬ 
 lord, and would inevitably be set up by the tenant. 
 
 Mr. Edgeworth, in his Report, adduces a very practical in¬ 
 stance of the operation of these obstacles. He mentions, that he 
 should himself have made an attempt to improve bog, could he 
 have obtained in his neighbourhood a large tract of the bogs which 
 he had surveyed near the Inny, in district No. 7 ; but the uncer¬ 
 tainty of their respective properties, he says, deters the owners 
 of these bogs from entering into engagements for their improve¬ 
 ment. The reasonable dread of litigation prevents proprietors 
 from seeking, through their own exertions, those advantages which 
 they hope to derive from the adventurous spirit of others: it 
 cannot be expected that this obstacle to the improvement of the 
 Irish bogs can be removed by anything short of legislative inter¬ 
 position. It is within the knowledge of a member of this board, 
 that Mr. Edgeworth offered to one of those proprietors a rent 
 hitherto unheard of for bog land, proposing only a sixty years’ 
 lease for his own interest; and the proprietor professed himself 
 perfectly satisfied, on the single but impossible condition of Mr. 
 Edgeworth undertaking to indemnify him against all the law¬ 
 suits, which it was well foreseen would be the inevitable conse¬ 
 quence. 
 
 “ Having thus pointed out what we conceive distinctly to be 
 the main obstacle to the improvement of the bogs of Ireland, 
 namely, the uncertainty of the boundaries of estates when they 
 pass through extensive bogs, and the right usually vested in the 
 occupiers of the adjoining farms, we feel it to be rather the pro¬ 
 vince of the legislature than of our board to devise the provisions 
 which can alone remove this impediment. 
 
 “To facilitate the speeding of Commissions of Perambulation, 
 which might ascertain the boundaries of contiguous estates, 
 would probably be a measure of no difficult accomplishment; but 
 it requires more consideration to ascertain on what terms the land¬ 
 lord could be permitted to resume from his tenant a vested rights 
 however unprofitable its possession. 
 
 c .2 
 
20 
 
 “ Should these obstacles be removed, it would further become 
 necessary to enable the proprietors of estates under settlement to 
 make long leases of bog lands for the purpose of improvement: 
 the remainder man would be benefited and not injured by 
 such an interference: his property would ultimately receive 
 a prodigious increase of value, and during the term of 
 years it would at least produce to him a reasonable rent: in its 
 present state it produces almost nothing. The Irish legislature 
 has already in some degree recognized the principle we recom¬ 
 mend, for while it has carefully disabled bishops and ecclesiastical 
 persons from demising the estates of their benefices generally for 
 a longer term than twenty-one years, it has, by the statute of 12 
 Geo. I. cap. 12, specifically excepted bogs and extensive marshes, 
 and enabled them to demise such for terms of sixty years. 
 
 “ It is also obvious, that, in the event of future enterprises, 
 either by individuals or by associated companies, for the drainage 
 and improvement of large tracts of bog, it will be expedient that 
 the legislature should secure, by enactment, a free passage, under 
 proper regulations, through the adjacent estate, so far as may be 
 requisite for carrying on and completing the main lines of drain¬ 
 age and communication ; as otherwise the interested opposition 
 of a neighbouring proprietor might impede and render of no effect 
 the efforts of the improver. Each case, however, will require its 
 peculiar remedy, and we therefore can only advert thus generally 
 to the subject.” 
 
 There are besides vast quantities of land on the sides and 
 banks of rivers and lakes that might by proper drainage 
 and reclamation be brought into cultivation, to the reclama¬ 
 tion of which the same difficulties and obstacles occur, and 
 the same wants require to be supplied. Mr. Griffith, in his 
 evidence before the Committee of 1835, upon being asked 
 as to these points, states, in answer to the following ques¬ 
 tions— 
 
 2787. “ Are there not vast quantities of land at this moment 
 on sides and banks of rivers that might, by proper drainage and 
 reclamation, be brought into cultivation ?—There are; and I con¬ 
 ceive that there are no lands in Ireland which can be made avail- 
 
21 
 
 able at so cheap a rate as those level tracts which lie on the 
 banks of rivers. They are naturally of a very superior quality, 
 and in many cases they are totally lost from want of the removal 
 of impediments in the course of the river, such as the weirs or 
 dams connected with small corn-mills, which, in proportion to 
 their value, do more mischief than any other kind of works in 
 Ireland. Within the Iasi few years, large mills for the purpose of 
 grinding oats as well as wheat, have been erected in many places, 
 and the small corn-mills have thereby become of little import¬ 
 ance, and for the most part are in a dilapidated state; conse¬ 
 quently, their removal would not be felt’by the farmer. I know 
 instances where several hundred acres of valuable meadow land 
 are rendered almost a waste in consequence of a corn-mill weir, 
 which mill is not worth 20J. a year; eel weirs also present impe¬ 
 diments that should be removed. In the county of Kildare, where 
 Mr. More O’Ferrall attempted to introduce his Act, the banks of 
 the rivers Blackwater and the Boyne present a very large ex¬ 
 tent of valuable land, which is now flooded by impediments in 
 the courses of those rivers, and I believe partly from the obstruc¬ 
 tion occasioned by corn-mill weirs. 
 
 2788. “ How do you propose to get rid of these obstructions, 
 the mills and eel weirs?—I would have them valued by a jury. 
 Suppose a number of gentlemen in the country wish to improve 
 their lands by draining, whether it be bog or flat land on the 
 banks of rivers : if two-thirds of the proprietors, in point of extent 
 and value, agree to improve the lands by means of lowering the 
 course of the bed of a river, 1 would give the Board of Public 
 Works, if the proposed drainage was approved of by them, the 
 power of summoning a jury to ascertain the injury to be sustained 
 by individuals through the means of the proposed drainage, 
 whether it be for land cut through, or for mills, or eel weirs, 
 if any such required to be removed ; and also to ascertain the pro¬ 
 portion of the expense supposed to he paid by each proprietor of 
 the land to be improved. 
 
 2789. “ Does it frequently occur that a landed proprietor is 
 desirous of improving his property, but that he cannot do so with¬ 
 out the assistance of his neighbours ?—It very frequently occurs, 
 not only in respect of lands similar to those I have just men¬ 
 tioned, but also in bogs, where it frequently happens that a num¬ 
 ber of proprietors who would wish to improve, cannot do so unless 
 
by passing through the estate of another proprietor, who will not 
 join in the drainage ; where that is the case, I would also give 
 the Board of Public Works the power of making drains through 
 the bog of the person who objects, and charging the estate with a 
 portion of the expenditure ; provided two-thirds of the proprietors 
 of the bog, in point of extent and value, agree to improve the bog, 
 and apply to the commissioners for that purpose.” 
 
 If such be, then, the advantages likely to arise from the 
 reclamation of these lands, it may be asked, how does it 
 happen that capital, English capital, abundant as it is, has 
 not been applied to these purposes ? My answer is, the um 
 satisfactory state of the country. Individual capital could 
 not be expected to be applied in drawing forth the capabilities 
 of Ireland, vrith a large portion of its population in a state of 
 destitution, and no legal provision for that destitution. The 
 first, the essential step has been taken, without which no¬ 
 thing towards amelioration or improvement could be done. 
 Ireland has a poor law. The employment of her people at 
 remunerating wages is the next consideration. 
 
 In addition to the great facilities already mentioned for 
 the reclamation of these waste lands, I should state that, in 
 most cases, there is immediately at hand either limestone, or 
 coral, or sea-sand, or sea-weed, and scarcely in any instance 
 is the necessary manure two miles distant. It has been well 
 remarked, as a most extraordinary invitation of Providence, 
 that, in the middle of these bogs, and not unfrequently in the 
 granite country, seams of limestone are found—and yet such 
 opportunities have hitherto been neglected. The unassisted 
 efforts of the poor man, without drainage, carrying manure 
 frequently on his back, are wonderful; calling upon, as it 
 were, and pointing out to the landed proprietors to come 
 forward and follow his example. The effects of these in¬ 
 dustrious efforts are to be seen on the edges and banks of 
 bogs and mountains, and of rivers and lakes. 
 
 Mr. Griffiths was one of the engineers and commissioners 
 ©f 1809. The only alteration caused, in his opinion, in 
 
23 
 
 consequence of subsequent experience* and his experiment 
 at King Williamstown, is, that he thinks more clay neces¬ 
 sary than he thought originally. The account he gives of 
 these experiments is most interesting. After dividing the 
 bogs at King Williamstown into three classes, he says, the 
 costs of the reclamation of the flat bog No. 1. per statute 
 acre is 9/. 9s. 10 d., which includes drainage, claying, and 
 limeing; of subsequent manure, 2/. 15v. 6 d .; and of culti¬ 
 vation for four years, 13/. 7 s. :—in all, 25/. 12s. 4 d. When 
 the land is perfectly reclaimed, the actual return of the four 
 years’ produce is 24/. 3s. 5d., leaving 1/. 9s. Id., the portion 
 of the outlay not returned in the four years ; and for this 
 outlay the land is worth at least 10s. per acre, which was 
 before not worth 2s. In respect of the second class, there 
 is an actual profit left, after four years’ cultivation, of 
 1/. 1 7s. 7d. after the return of all the capital expended, and 
 the land is worth 12s. 6c/. per acre. And in respect of class 
 No. 3 (mountain bog), the expense he calculates to be 
 3/. 13s. to 41. 11s.; and, after this outlay, the land is worth 
 from 10s. to 12s. per acre. In the Appendix No. 6., I set 
 out fully this interesting account. 
 
 Mr. Featherstone states the expense of reclaiming the red 
 bog to be 13/. per acre, which, when reclaimed, he values at 
 1 1. per acre. The reclamation of the black bog, he says, 
 requires only 61. per acre, and that land he values at 21. 
 per acre ; and in some districts where meadow land is scarce 
 at 3/. per acre. The expense of reclaiming the mountain 
 bog he states to be very inconsiderable, as it consists merely 
 of draining. 
 
 The great expense of the reclamation consists in the clay¬ 
 ing and limeing, or other manuring: the cost of drainage is 
 comparatively trifling, never exceeding from 1/. to 21. per 
 acre. I wish to draw public attention to these facts, as clay¬ 
 ing, and manuring, and cultivation must be left to individual 
 care and interference. It is the drainage alone that requires 
 
legislative interference, so as to secure facilities and co- 
 operation. 
 
 The reclaimable wastes of Ireland, including bog lands, 
 marsh lands, and lands flooded or covered with water the 
 greater part, if not the whole year, amount to five millions 
 of acres, as already stated, which, if properly drained and 
 brought into cultivation, would yield at least a rental of three 
 or four millions. The rental of Ireland at this moment is ten 
 millions only, which, there can be no doubt, might be doubled, 
 if the lands were properly cultivated. It is stated by the Poor 
 Law Commissioners that the produce of Ireland is not more 
 than one-fourth of that of England. How is this ? The 
 soil of England is less fertile than that of Ireland, but is 
 assisted more abundantly with manure and a proper rotation 
 of crops; while the more fertile soil of Ireland is less cul¬ 
 tivated, because there are not facilities for transportation of 
 agricultural produce and manure; and no attention is paid 
 to the system of cropping : the fatal consequence of which is, 
 that her people are not employed—five millions of acres of 
 unreclaimed land not producing as many shillings in the 
 year, and upon which not a single human being is occupied. 
 What an increased demand for English manufactures would 
 such an increase to the rental of Ireland create ! Ireland is, 
 and must continue for years, an agricultural country. Mr. 
 Weale, in his evidence before the committee of 1830, states r 
 
 “ I can hardly conceive a limit to the new market for British 
 manufactures and for native labour by an improved system of 
 management and cultivation of landed property in Ireland. 
 There is such an immense mass of people in Ireland who are un¬ 
 clothed, unfed, and unhoused, that I doubt whether even the new 
 markets we have sought for in South America can be considered 
 half as valuable as that which lies at our door.” 
 
 It is unnecessary to state, that the home trade is always 
 more profitable than the foreign. Would it not be wise 
 to depend as little as possible upon foreign supplies; and 
 
that, as England is not able to grow produce sufficient for 
 her support, the deficiency should be obtained from Ireland, 
 as far as she is able to supply it ? If the Corn Laws are to 
 be abolished, and there should be a considerable depreciation 
 in rents,—(which is so much dreaded,)—the landed interest 
 in England must look for relief to an improved system of 
 agriculture (for England is behind many of her neighbours 
 in that science) and the remission of those taxes which press 
 heavily upon the agriculturist, and which may be done without 
 diminishing the revenue, by improving the Irish revenue,—• 
 the necessary consequence of the employment of the people, 
 who will require greater comforts, and purchase a greater 
 quantity of taxed articles. 
 
 The landed interest in Ireland must also look to an 
 improved system of agriculture (what a wide field to work 
 upon !) and a more extended cultivated soil. It may be 
 asked how could corn be grown as cheaply in Ireland as 
 on the continent, and the landlords continue to receive 
 a remunerating rent? The soil is more fertile, and the 
 climate superior to many countries on the continent, the 
 markets are nearer, and the cost of transport less; and 
 while more corn could be cultivated, more beef and mutton, 
 butter and pork, could be produced; and, by the augmenta¬ 
 tion of employment, the demand for English manufactures 
 would be increased, by the reactive influence of which, and 
 the increased consumption which would follow, the demand 
 for Irish produce would also be increased. 
 
 But should the Corn Laws not be repealed, in conse¬ 
 quence of the dread of the depreciation, or of dependence 
 on foreign supplies, surely it is the duty of the legis¬ 
 lature (by giving facilities) to cause the wastes in every 
 part of the kingdom, capable of profitable reclamation, 
 to be cultivated. The waste and bog lands of Ireland 
 yield the finest crops of potatoes, oats, and turnips, rape 
 and vetches, and become excellent pasture and meadow; 
 
and by cultivating these lands, the Irish landlords will 
 be induced, and can afford, to turn large and extensive tracts 
 of the finest land in the world into arable land, under a 
 proper system of agriculture, capable of growing corn equal 
 to that grown in England or any part of the continent. 
 Another advantage would also be derived : the sudden de- 
 mand for gold attendant upon the present system, when 
 importation to any extent becomes necessary, would be di¬ 
 minished. In either event, therefore, the waste and bog 
 lands of Ireland should be reclaimed. 
 
 I give in the Appendix, No. 2, a paper taken from among 
 the tables appended to the Second Report of the Irish Rail¬ 
 way Inquiry Commissioners, in which Mr. Stanley proves, 
 by contrasting the consumption of exciseable commodities in 
 Ireland and Scotland, (a contrast affording the very strong¬ 
 est test of capability,) that if the condition of the Irish 
 population were raised to an equality with that of the Scotch, 
 Ireland would be capable of paying, in excise alone, an 
 additional revenue of six millions annually, whereby the 
 minister would be enabled to abolish the malt-tax and other 
 taxes which press upon the agricultural interest. 
 
 In the present state of agriculture and taxation in this 
 country, a protecting fixed duty may, perhaps, be con¬ 
 sidered as a fair adjustment of this most important question; 
 but even in that case the Irish demand must always present 
 advantages to the manufacturer over the foreign market. I 
 therefore invite British manufacturers to turn their attention 
 westward, and direct their influence in support of measures 
 which would there give them a market to countervail much 
 of their losses by the rivalry which is spreading eastward,— 
 measures through which abundant supplies of food would 
 be provided in aid of British produce. The measures I 
 refer to are not of a political nature: their sole object is to 
 enable the abundant labour of Ireland to be applied to ter¬ 
 ritory requiring little more than labour to fertilize it: most 
 

 27 
 
 of them have been before the country since 1836, when I pre¬ 
 sented them to the House of Commons, in pursuance of re¬ 
 solutions adopted by the committee of 1835, and have been 
 adopted and recommended by the Poor Law Commissioners. 
 Their design, as indicated by the following titles, is merely 
 the removal of obstacles which now impede the development 
 of Ireland’s great natural resources — 
 
 1. A Bill to promote the Reclamation and Improvement of 
 
 uncultivated Land in Ireland, and to render navigable 
 Rivers and Lakes in Ireland. 
 
 2. A Bill for giving Powers of leasing and exchanging of 
 
 Lands in Ireland in certain cases. 
 
 3. A Bill for giving increased Powers of Leasing to the 
 
 Provost and Fellows of Trinity College, Dublin, and 
 defining the Terms upon which Persons now holding 
 Leases of the College Lands shall be entitled to renew 
 such Leases. 
 
 4. A Bill to enable Tenants for Life of Estates in Ireland to 
 
 make Improvements in their Estates, and to charge the 
 Inheritance with a portion of the Moneys expended in 
 such Improvements. 
 
 5. A Bill for facilitating the Conversion of Leases for Lives 
 
 renewable for ever into Estates in fee-simple. 
 
 6. A Bill for giving a summary Remedy for Partition, and 
 
 ascertaining the Boundaries of Lands in Ireland. 
 
 7. A Bill for the better and more convenient Employment 
 
 of Labourers in Ireland. 
 
 8. A Bill to enable the Bank of Ireland to lend Money 
 
 on Mortgage. 
 
 9. A Bill to amend the 1 & 2 Wm. IV. c. 33, and to give 
 
 greater powers to and increase the efficiency of the 
 Board of Works in Ireland. 
 
 Mr. Griffith, in his evidence, states, that if lands were 
 properly cultivated in Ireland, every 100 acres would oc¬ 
 cupy 10 agricultural labourers. But take it at one-half. 
 
• ■ h i m ni l 
 
 28 
 
 allowing for the introduction into Ireland of the machinery 
 used in England, and adopting, in fact, the number gene¬ 
 rally employed in England, viz. four to every 100 acres, and 
 you will, by reclaiming the waste lands of Ireland, afford em¬ 
 ployment—constant, continuous employment—for 100,000 
 labourers at least. The whole number of agricultural la- 
 bourers, not occupiers of land, and out of employment 
 during a portion of the year, does not exceed 224,000: so 
 that by means of this reclamation you will be to a very 
 great extent relieving the workhouses of the able-bodied 
 labourers; and these wastes are so distributed, that there 
 is no district where this advantage may not be realized. 
 
 First Measure. 
 
 The difficulties in the way of reclamation are— 
 
 1st. The want of co-operation. 
 
 2nd. The inability of tenants for life, and incapacitated 
 persons, to act. 
 
 3rd. The want of capital. 
 
 4th. The confusion of boundaries of estates. 
 
 5th. The want of confidence in undertakers. 
 
 6th. The want of power of entering upon adjacent lands. 
 7th. In case of leases, the want of mutual immediate ad¬ 
 vantages to be derived both by landlord and tenant. 
 
 The measure I propose is merely permissive. Compul¬ 
 sion in matters of this kind, except where actually neces- 
 sary, should not be adopted; and in this case, with the in¬ 
 ducements held out, and with the reactive influence of the 
 Poor Law, I do not think it necessary, at least for the pre¬ 
 sent. The landlords of Ireland never had before a Poor 
 Law, impelling them to action and improvement, and to look 
 
 1 ' 
 
 after their estates and waste lands. But if, after a few years, 
 these wastes are not reclaimed, then I think the legislature 
 would be justified in passing a compulsory law. The own¬ 
 ers of these lands cannot be allowed to say u We shall not 
 
29 
 
 improve these lands, neither shall we avail ourselves of the 
 legislative facilities that are afforded us; our lands shall lie 
 idle and unproductive.” Such a course would be a breach 
 of the social compact; and, as it would be materially detri¬ 
 mental to their own interests, we cannot suppose it will be 
 pursued. 
 
 By an Irish Statute of the 11 & 12 Geo. III., cap. 21, 
 power is given to bishops and tenants for life, under certain 
 restrictions, to lease for sixty-one year.s any portion of bog 
 lands not exceeding fifty acres. A previous Irish Statute, 
 5 Geo. II., cap. 9, enacted that “ where a drain shall be 
 necessary to carry off the water from such bog, moss, or 
 lough, the said commissioners, or the major part of them, 
 shall and may lay out and ascertain the same, and the length, 
 breadth, and depth of such drain; and likewise order and ap¬ 
 point what part or proportion thereof shall be made or done 
 by the said several proprietors, with regard to the benefit 
 that each of them may receive thereby—but it also pro¬ 
 vided fe that no one proprietor shall be liable to pay more 
 than one shilling and sixpence for each perch, containing 
 twenty-one feet in length, of such drain, or be compelled to 
 pay more than ten pounds in the whole towards making such 
 drain as aforesaid in anyone year.” This proviso rendered 
 the act nugatory. The statute was defective in other re¬ 
 spects ; and I have not been able to discover whether any 
 drainage was effected under it. 
 
 The Statutes of Geo. I. and Geo. II., and the 29 Geo. 
 Ill . were only applicable to bog or waste land, so far as they 
 were connected with navigation. 
 
 By the Statute of 1831, 1 & 2 Wm. IV., cap. 57, gene¬ 
 rally called Mr. More O’Ferrall’s Act, a power is given to 
 undertakers to contract for improving lands upon receiving 
 a profit, and this profit is in no case to exceed 15/. per cent, 
 on the outlay. The undertakers, upon receiving the assent 
 of two-third parts of the proprietors or lessees, are to apply 
 
 
30 
 
 to the Lord Lieutenant for a commission. The second part 
 of this Act relates to individual proprietors or lessees, who, 
 not exceeding six in number, upon receiving the assent of 
 two-thirds of the proprietors or lessees, are at liberty to ap¬ 
 ply for a commission. The third part empowers grand juries 
 to execute works of drainage to the amount of 200/. 
 
 It may be asked why so useful an Act has not been 
 brought into operation. I can only account for it in the 
 manner following:— 
 
 1st. As respects undertakers. The unwillingness of ca¬ 
 pitalists to advance money at all on any Irish undertaking; 
 l ! and, without having any local object in view, their unwil¬ 
 lingness to advance money on that which is necessarily only 
 a temporary employment of their capital, and the repay¬ 
 ment of which must necessarily be in parts and by degrees, 
 and the mode of repayment itself not being satisfactory, have 
 hitherto restrained capitalists from coming forward and tak¬ 
 ing advantage of the act. The mode of repayment is, that 
 if the landowners do not within a certain time pay the gross 
 sum assessed (and there is no provision to compel the land- 
 owners to pay), the undertakers are entitled to a redeem¬ 
 able annuity charged upon the lands drained and benefited, 
 which, unless afterwards brought into a cultivated state 
 (which does not necessarily follow 7 ), may not be a sufficient 
 security; besides, these annuities may be small and nu¬ 
 merous. The machinery of the act is considered complicated, 
 and there are no provisions for ascertaining boundaries, without 
 which it would not be safe to raise any annuity off* the lands. 
 
 2dly. As respects landowners. They have not con¬ 
 fidence in undertakers, and under the act they have no con¬ 
 trol over or in respect of the persons to be employed in the 
 works or the expenditure: the only check given to them is 
 the appointment of a valuer of the lands before and after 
 the works are effected. And they do not consider that suffi¬ 
 cient protection is given by the Act, that proper and skilful 
 
31 
 
 persons will be employed in the works ; and that the neces¬ 
 sary subscribed capital will be forthcoming, inasmuch as it 
 is said that the Lord Lieutenant has not the power, before 
 issuing the commission, to inquire and ascertain that the sub¬ 
 scribers are solvent and able to pay the amount of their 
 shares. I cannot, however, agree to such a construction of 
 the Act. But I admit there is not sufficient security pro¬ 
 vided for the maintenance and keeping up of the works. 
 
 The landowners themselves are not capitalists, and if they 
 were, they are not willing to take so heavy a charge upon 
 themselves as to become undertakers under the second part 
 of the act. 
 
 Moreover, the landlords will not come forward where the 
 lands are in lease, as no immediate benefit would be de¬ 
 rived by them ; and the Lessees are not anxious, as their 
 tenure in the lease may not be such as to induce them to 
 submit to a tax, the benefit of which might not be reaped 
 during their term. 
 
 This Act does not extend to bog-lands, and there is 
 no provision for the improvement of navigation. Mr. 
 O’Ferrall, to whom the country is much indebted for his 
 exertions on behalf of the reclamation of our wastes, when 
 examined before the Committee of 1835, in answer to the 
 following questions, says,— 
 
 3348. “ Would you see any objection to giving the Board of 
 Public Works the power vested by this Act in the undertakers?— 
 From what I have seen, I would be cautious in giving powers to 
 the Board of Works, unless very strictly defined. I think it 
 would be desirable that the Board of Works should be entrusted 
 with giving an opinion upon works which might be beneficially 
 undertaken; and that if the proprietors consented to carry them 
 into effect, that then the powers of the Act should be transferred 
 to the Board of Works, with the consent of the proprietors, but 
 not otherwise. 
 
 3355. “They are obliged to give a great deal of collateral se¬ 
 curity, which perhaps throws impediments in the way of their bor¬ 
 rowing. Now, supposing the landed proprietors were able to give 
 
the security of the lands themselves alone, do you not think that 
 a considerable facility would be afforded to the bringing the Act 
 into operation ?—I think the suggestion would be much preferable 
 to the clause in the Act. The bill was so opposed both in the House 
 of Commons and in the House of Lords, that I was obliged to 
 adopt many provisions which I disapproved of at the time, and 
 which experience has since convinced me are some of the greatest 
 impediments to the successful operation of the Act.” 
 
 One of the clauses alluded to by Mr. O’Ferrall is the 
 ninety-third, whereby it is enacted, 
 
 “ That nothing in this Act contained shall extend or be con¬ 
 strued to enable any company of undertakers or trustees consti¬ 
 tuted under this Act to take or appropriate any mill or mill site, 
 or in any manner to alter or divert any river, stream, or water¬ 
 course, so as to impede or diminish the supply of water to any 
 mill erected before the passing of this Act, without the consent 
 in writing, first had and obtained, of the owner or owners or occu¬ 
 piers of such mill or mill site. 5 ’ 
 
 The 94th clause was no doubt intended to cut down the 
 operation of the 93rd; but thereby great injustice may be 
 done to the owners of Irish property; and it is to be feared 
 that it affords ample materials for litigation. 
 
 It would, indeed, be most unjust in any way to interfere 
 injuriously with the necessary supply of water to any mill or 
 mill site without making due and ample compensation; but 
 on the other hand it is unjust to say that no operation 
 under this bill can be effected without purchasing at his own 
 price the consent of the owner of any mill near to which the 
 water to be regulated may run. It would not only render 
 every undertaking so expensive as to frustrate the object of 
 the act, but it opens a door to fraud of the greatest extent, 
 as there is no measure of compensation or purchase to be 
 adopted, the giving or withholding the consent being entirely 
 arbitrary. The middle course is the proper one to be fol¬ 
 lowed : to compensate the owners of mills for any the slight¬ 
 est injury to their property—that compensation to be settled 
 by arbitration, or, if necessary, by an appeal to the Board 
 
33 
 
 of Works, or to a jury. The best protection which can be 
 given to the owners of mill property is to secure the employ¬ 
 ment of able and skilful men to carry the works into effect. 
 The owners of mills do not repose any confidence in under¬ 
 takers, and they also consider that sufficient protection is 
 not given by the act that the necessary capital for the un¬ 
 dertaking will be forthcoming although fully subscribed. 
 Great jealousy is at the same time felt by landowners in 
 consequence of the power of assenting given to lessees, 
 even lessees for twenty-one years, and’tenants from year to 
 year ; whilst a heavy charge may be imposed by means of 
 such assent on the estates of the landowners; and there is 
 no provision for obtaining assents in the case of minors and 
 other incapacitated proprietors. 
 
 It is clear that this Act must be amended, if intended to 
 be carried into operation by capitalists or proprietors. 
 
 The legislature of England having in the reign of Eliza¬ 
 beth passed the great Poor Law, in the same session passed 
 an Act 43 Eliz. c. II., the title of which is “ An Act for the 
 recovering of many hundred thousand acres of marshes and 
 other grounds, subject commonly to surrounding, within the 
 Isle of Ely, and the counties of Cambridge, Huntingdon, 
 Northampton, Lincoln, Norfolk, Suffolk, Sussex, Essex, 
 Kent, and the County Palatine of Durham and the recital 
 contained in that Act is so applicable to the present case, 
 that I cannot refrain from transcribing it. 
 
 “ Whereas it is apparent to such as have travelled in the execu¬ 
 tion of Commissions of Sewers in the isle and counties aforesaid, 
 that the wastes, commons, marshes, and fenny grounds, there sub¬ 
 ject to surrounding, may be recovered by skilful and able under¬ 
 takers, whereby great and inestimable benefit would arise to her 
 Majesty, her heirs and successors, disburdening her Highness of 
 many chargeable banks and works of sewers within those sur¬ 
 rounded grounds, as the increase of many able subjects, by habi¬ 
 tations being there erected, and in like sort profitable unto many 
 
 D 
 
 
34 
 
 her Highnesses’ subjects, both bodies politick as corporate, who 
 have estate of inheritance and other interest within the same ; and 
 for that the draining and making dry and profitable of those sur¬ 
 rounded grounds is chiefly hindered, for that the greater part of 
 them are wastes and commons subject yearly to surrounding, 
 wherein divers have common by prescription, by reason of their 
 resiancy and inhabitancy, which kind of commons nor their in¬ 
 terest therein can by the common law be extinguished or granted 
 to bind others which should inhabit these afterwards, And in that 
 also it appeareth that the commoners, in respect of their poverty, 
 are unable to pay the great charges to such as should undertake 
 the recovery of the same,” &c. &c. 
 
 The title and recital of another act passed at that time 
 (43 Eliz. c. 13) show the then lawless state of England, for 
 which these measures were designed as remedies. The title is, 
 “An Act for the more peaceable Government of the Parts 
 of Cumberland, Northumberland, Westmorland, and the 
 Bishoprick of Duresme.” The recital is very important:— 
 
 “ Forasmuch as now of late years very many of her Majesty’s 
 subjects, dwelling and inhabiting within the counties of Cumber¬ 
 land, Northumberland, Westmorland, and the bishoprick of Du- 
 resme, have been taken, some forth of their own houses, and some 
 in travelling by the highway or otherwise, and carried out of the 
 same counties, or to some other places within some of the said 
 several counties, as prisoners, and kept barbarously and cruelly 
 until they have been redeemed by great ransoms; and where 
 now of late time there have been many incursions, raids, rob¬ 
 beries, and burning and spoiling of towns, villages, and 
 houses within the said counties ; that divers and sundry of her 
 Majesty’s loving subjects within the said counties, and the inha¬ 
 bitants of divers towns there, have been forced to pay a certain 
 rate of money, corn, cattle, or other consideration, commonly there 
 called by the name of black-mail, unto divers and sundry inhabit¬ 
 ing upon or near the borders, being men of name, and friended and 
 allied with divers in those parts who are commonly known to be 
 great robbers and spoil-takers within the said counties, to the end 
 thereby to be by them freed, protected, and kept in safety from 
 the danger of such as do usually rob and steal in those parts : by 
 
35 
 
 reason whereof many of the inhabitants thereabouts, being her 
 Majesty’s tenants or other good subjects, are much impoverished, 
 and theft and robbery much increased, and the maintainers 
 thereof greatly encouraged, and the service of those borders and 
 frontiers much weakened and decayed, and divers towns there¬ 
 abouts much dispeopled and laid waste, and her Majesty’s own 
 revenue greatly diminished : which heinous and outrageous mis¬ 
 demeanors there cannot so well by the ordinary officers of her 
 Majesty in those parts be speedily prevented or suppressed with¬ 
 out further provisions of law,” &c. &c. 
 
 It will be right to bear in mind, that the only process 
 proposed to be effected by the proposed bill is drainage; 
 and I have inserted in the Appendix, No. 3, from Mr. J. 
 Butler Bryan’s work, an account of the cost of drainages, 
 abridged from the Irish Bog Reports commenced in 1809. 
 
 Co-operation is the first, requisite; and for that purpose 
 it is proposed that proprietors of two-thirds of the lands to be 
 improved should apply to the Board of Works for a com¬ 
 mission. Such proprietors are described in the interpreta¬ 
 tion clause to be “ all bodies politic, corporate, and colle¬ 
 giate ; and also all bishops, parsons, and other ecclesiastical 
 persons, as to lands held by them in those respective cha¬ 
 racters, and any number of persons associated together as 
 a company or partnership.” “And also tenants in fee- 
 simple, tenants in tail, tenants for life, tenants in dower, 
 tenants by the courtesy, and tenants for years determinable 
 on a life or lives; and tenants for terms of years, whereof 
 not less than sixty years shall be unexpired; but not any 
 lessee, save a lessee for lives or years renewable for ever, 
 or for terms of years whereof less than sixty years shall be 
 unexpired.” 
 
 I propose giving the power to the proprietors to call the 
 act into operation, as a charge will be placed upon the 
 corpus of the estate. In like manner it is required that 
 two-thirds of the lessees having a life-interest, or an interest 
 
 d 2 
 
 
36 
 
 I 
 
 of ten years and upwards—the original tenure not being less 
 than twenty-one years—in extent of the lands to be im¬ 
 proved on each estate , should assent. Provision is made by 
 a short, simple, cheap, and expeditious proceeding before 
 the assistant barrister, for ascertaining that the assents have 
 been given. Power is given to trustees and incapacitated 
 persons to assent, with the approbation of the Court of 
 Chancery, to be obtained in a summary way. 
 
 Upon this application the Board of Works will appoint 
 a commissioner or commissioners (who should be skilful 
 engineers, of high character and respectability) for carrying 
 the proposed work into effect. Great advantage will be 
 derived from the interference of the Board of Works, a 
 competent and skilful tribunal, in no way interested in 
 any undertaking, and above the influence of the parties, 
 whereby the appointment of proper, fit, experienced and 
 skilful persons for carrying on the works is secured; and 
 during the progress of the undertaking the Board of Works 
 will have a controlling and directing power. In this manner 
 the confidence of parties will be established, and perfect 
 security given to them that the works will be properly carried 
 into effect, and with all possible saving of money. 
 
 The Board of Works is next to inquire into the feasibility 
 and expediency of the proposed works, and, if approving of 
 the works proposed, to have them executed. 
 
 A survey is then to be made, the commissioners making 
 use of such former survey as to them may seem proper, and 
 particularly the Ordnance survey. The actual value of the 
 lands proposed to be improved is then to be ascertained by 
 the commissioners. 
 
 In cases of limited extent, where it is desirable to dimi¬ 
 nish the expense as much as possible, a power is given to 
 the Board of Works to appoint a certain number of the pro¬ 
 prietors to act as commissioners and carry the works into 
 
37 
 
 effect, the Board continuing to have the same power of di¬ 
 rection and control as is given by the bill where engineers 
 are appointed to act as commissioners. 
 
 In many cases, in reference to low marsh, and flooded - 
 tracts extending along the sides of rivers and lakes, the 
 operation adopted for the drainage of lands, will, with addi¬ 
 tional works, have the effect of making the rivers or lakes 
 navigable; and as each navigation will be a general and 
 public benefit, and as additional works will be required, it is 
 only just that the public, who are to have that benefit, should 
 contribute something towards that expense, as is done at 
 this moment as to roads. Carriage by water is of as much 
 consequence to the public at large as carriage by land, and 
 advantage ought in every such case to be taken to combine 
 the improvement of the navigation with the drainage of the 
 lands. Power is therefore given to the commissioners to 
 determine the proportion which counties or parts of counties, 
 baronies or parts of baronies, as in the Shannon Bill, ought 
 to contribute with the proprietors, in respect of the improved 
 navigation, hut only of the navigation. 
 
 The schedules, and maps, and sections of the proposed 
 improvements, are then to be published, and due notice 
 given that the commissioners will hear all objections from 
 the parties interested, including, in cases of navigation, the 
 grand juries of counties to be taxed, and also including 
 owners of mills and mill-sites. On the day appointed, the 
 commissioners are to meet, and finally settle the proposed 
 plans, schedules, and sections. In case of difference, there 
 is an appeal given to the Board of Public Works to each 
 party interested. 
 
 All necessary powers are then given to the commissioners 
 to drain the lands and effect the proposed works, and, 
 where necessary, to enter and go upon the adjoining lands: 
 also to take such lands, and mill-sites, and weirs as may be 
 
38 
 
 necessary, subject to the provisions therein contained. Dure 
 notice to be given to all parties whose lands, or mills, or 
 weirs are to be taken, or whose lands or mills may in any 
 way be injured, and to all persons interested therein ; and if 
 any difference should arise between them and the com¬ 
 missioners as to the compensation to be given, the matter is 
 left to arbitrators, one named by the commissioners, and the 
 other by the parties whose lands or mills are to be taken, or 
 whose lands or mills may be injured, with an appeal to an 
 umpire to be named by the Board of Works. At the same 
 time provision is made for ascertaining the legality of all 
 obstructions. In cases where mill property to a consider¬ 
 able extent may be affected, the owners of the mills may, 
 with the consent of the Board of Works, appoint an engineer 
 to watch their interests,—the remuneration of such engineer 
 to form part of the expenses of the works. 
 
 The money required for the completion of works and the 
 necessary purchase of lands, and for compensation, to be sup¬ 
 plied by the Board of Works out of the money in their hands 
 for loans under the Public Works’ Act, and to be repaid by 
 easy instalments. 
 
 The commissioners are directed to account half-yearly, 
 and to fix meetings after due notice for that purpose ; and all 
 parties interested, including the grand juries, are to attend, 
 and in case of difference there is an appeal to the Board 
 of Works. 
 
 The commissioners are then directed to ascertain the 
 boundaries of the waste lands, where such boundaries are 
 confused, with an appeal to the next-going judge of assize. 
 
 When the works are completed, the commissioners are 
 to prepare a draft of their award. By the award the 
 whole expense attendant upon the improvements is to 
 be apportioned amongst and upon the lands improved, ac¬ 
 cording to the degree of benefit derived to, or conferred 
 
39 
 
 on each land, and the commissioners are to set forth the in¬ 
 stalments by which the money is to be repaid. In case of 
 any rivers or lakes being made navigable* the commissioners 
 are to specify the amount of contribution of the proprietors 
 in respect of such navigation* distinct and separate from the 
 expenses attendant upon the drainage. 
 
 The commissioners are to insert in the award all proper 
 and necessary directions for maintaining and keep- 
 ing ’up the works for the future* and they are to set 
 forth the amount of contribution to be paid in respect of 
 each land for such maintenance and keeping up; and 
 the commissioners are to set forth the amount of con¬ 
 tribution (if any) to be given by counties or parts of 
 counties* in respect of the improved navigation; and they 
 are to set forth the amount to be paid by the respective 
 estates, the boundaries of which have been ascertained* on 
 account of the expense incurred in ascertaining such boun¬ 
 daries. It then directs the draft of the award to be depo¬ 
 sited with the clerk of the peace; and all parties interested are 
 at liberty to appeal to the Board of Works* who will finally 
 settle the award* and* if necessary* depute one of the 
 body to proceed to the spot where the works have been ef¬ 
 fected. When settled* the award is to be deposited with the 
 clerk of the peace, and enrolled in the county court. 
 Before the award is finally settled* after the completion 
 of the works* and they have been in operation for some time* 
 in case it should be found that any lands or mills were 
 more injuriously affected than was supposed at the time the 
 compensation was fixed, the owners of such lands and mills 
 may ask for another arbitration, and will be entitled to the 
 same appeal to the Board of Works. 
 
 It is then declared that the apportioned contributions 
 for the lands improved shall be charged upon these lands 
 with priority over all incumbrances upon them* except 
 
40 
 
 that any incumbrances thereon previously to the date of the 
 award shall have priority to such contribution charges 
 to the extent of the value of the lands before the im¬ 
 provements were effected; and the appropriated contribu¬ 
 tions are also to be charged upon all other lands standing 
 settled with the lands improved., to the same uses, intents, 
 and purposes, under the same limitations, contained in the 
 same instrument, but subject to the specific incumbrances 
 affecting the same, prior to the date of the award. There can 
 be no objection to this, as the same persons are necessarily 
 entitled as well to the lands improved as to the other lands 
 comprised in the same settlement, which in fact constitute 
 but one estate, and if part be benefited the whole must de¬ 
 rive advantages ; and it is necessary to give this additional 
 security, as the lands reclaimed would not, without further 
 outlay (which possibly might never be applied), be adequate 
 security to the public, whose money is to be applied in the 
 reclamation. 
 
 The contributions are to be payable by instalments, 
 and in cases of non-payment of the instalments the 
 Commissioners of Public Works, who have advanced the 
 money, may obtain a receiver, or may sell or mortgage a 
 competent part. All tenants for life and other incapaci¬ 
 tated persons are given full powers to raise the money by 
 mortgage. 
 
 The money (if any) to be contributed by the counties or 
 parts of counties is to be levied also by easy instalments with 
 the county cess, and the expenses of fixing the boundaries 
 are to be paid by each estate whose boundaries have been 
 ascertained, in like manner and together with the amount of 
 contribution. If tenants for life, instead of borrowing the 
 money should advance it, they are entitled to an equivalent 
 charge upon the estate. 
 
 The bill then gives power to tenants for life, with the con- 
 
41 
 
 sent of the commissioners, to lease the waste lands so im¬ 
 proved, for a term not exceeding thirty-one years—the rent, 
 terms, and conditions to be fixed by the commissioners; 
 and if lands should be in lease, the commissioners are to 
 determine the increased rent to be paid, regard being had to 
 the interest of the lessees. 
 
 Power is given to the Board of Works to levy tolls in 
 cases of navigation for the purposes of repairs only; and 
 it is declared that the Board of Works may with the con¬ 
 sent of the Treasury, contribute by grants in respect of 
 navigation, in like manner as they are authorised to do by 
 the 1st and 2nd of his late Majesty, in respect of roads and 
 bridges; but this is entirely discretionary. 
 
 Provision is made for the maintenance of the works, the 
 surveyor of the county being directed to look after and in¬ 
 spect the same and report thereon to the Board of Works, 
 which is empowered to cause the necessary reparation to be 
 made out of the monies in their hands for loans, and to levy 
 the expense off the occupiers, in like manner as the county 
 cess is levied. The rate for maintaining the works, which must 
 be trifling, is made payable by the occupiers, as they derive 
 the advantage, and whose care it will be to preserve the 
 works. In this manner security is given that the works will 
 be maintained, and a general drainage will be established 
 and maintained all over the country. 
 
 The object of the bill has been already stated. The prin¬ 
 ciples upon which it is founded are—1st, To enable those 
 who are willing to improve to do so; and 2dly, to compel 
 those who will share in the benefits and advantages to con¬ 
 tribute their proportionate share of the expense attendant 
 upon such improvement. Without such enactments a single 
 proprietor may, by withholding his assent, prevent the im¬ 
 provement of several thousand acres of land; and, on the other 
 hand, a single proprietor may reap the greatest degree of 
 benefit without contributing a single farthing, unless he is 
 
=t.,** 
 
 made to contribute. Legislative interference is therefore 
 required. 
 
 There are persons who object to any sort of legislative in¬ 
 terference^ contending that everything should be left to 
 individual enterprise; but conclusions of this sort, drawn 
 from the highly civilized and advanced state of England, are 
 | altogether inapplicable to the present condition of Ireland. 
 In a country like England, where the way has been long 
 since prepared for the safe investment of capital, there may 
 not at this moment exist a necessity for legislative inter¬ 
 ference ; but, when that necessity existed in the reign of 
 Elizabeth, we have seen that the English legislature did not 
 fail to interfere, and whenever co-operation or the power to 
 take the land of others are required in England, they are 
 
 ( always secured by Parliament. And all the wastes of Eng¬ 
 land have been reclaimed through the assistance of Parlia¬ 
 ment. But why, it may be asked, do you require the 
 money to be in the first instance advanced out of public 
 funds? The answer is, the unwillingness of individuals, 
 in the present state of Ireland, to advance their capital; 
 the general distressed state of the landed interest in 
 that country; the expediency of hastening these improve¬ 
 ments as a necessary adjunct and auxiliary to the Poor Law 
 that is about to be brought into operation ; and, in the pre¬ 
 sent reduced state of the country, owing to the long neglect of 
 government, the first impulse must be given by the legisla¬ 
 ture. It is the profitable application of capital by way of 
 loan, for legitimate purposes, on undoubted security; and 
 while it promotes the present and permanent employment of 
 the poor, it causes a great increased demand for manufac¬ 
 tures, and a great increase of revenue. In support of my 
 proposition, I am happy to be able to appeal to the very able 
 authority of Mr. Merivale, who, in one of his interesting 
 lectures delivered at the University of Oxford on the Irish 
 Poor Law Bill, states,— 
 
43 
 
 “ But if the work in question be one which either by the di¬ 
 rect returns it yields, or by the additional facility afforded to com¬ 
 mercial and national transactions, is really calculated to augment 
 the wealth of the community, then the undertaking is, no doubt, a 
 positive benefit to the labouring classes, for the funds appropriated 
 to their maintenance will be permanently increased by it. When 
 government on a local loan undertakes a work of this description 
 it is investing capital productively, and, so far as that capital is not 
 withdrawn from other productive employments, with national ad¬ 
 vantage.” 
 
 Such legislative interference for affording permanent em¬ 
 ployment cannot possibly be considered as giving an artificial 
 direction to capital, or causing diversion of capital from 
 profitable application, but rather as removing impediments 
 to the natural flow of capital which would take place if 
 these impediments were removed; whilst, on the other hand, 
 by refusing this necessary effort to relieve Ireland from her 
 present condition, the legislature would be chargeable with 
 keeping capital out of its natural channel, and not only 
 prevent and obstruct this first operation—the drainage 
 of the land—but prevent the outlay that would neces¬ 
 sarily follow in the further cultivation of the land so 
 drained. Let the people be but convinced that these lands 
 are capable of cultivation,—let the country be tranquillized 
 by means of the employment afforded by this measure and the 
 provision against destitution afforded by the Poor Law, and 
 then individuals will be induced and encouraged to advance 
 their capital in the further cultivation of Irish wastes. Be¬ 
 sides, a general drainage of this description throughout the 
 whole country is a national concern, and not merely private 
 enterprize. The general face of the country will be altered, 
 the climate improved, the social state and condition of the 
 people raised, and some amends, at least, will be made for 
 the neglect of the legislature in not having before given 
 Ireland the benefit of land drainage and a poor law. It may 
 

 44 
 
 be said. Why ask for the advance by way of loan of public 
 money, on what may be considered a speculation? I deny 
 that the drainage of these lands is a speculation; and, after 
 the reports of the commissioners, after the care taken by the 
 intervention of the Board of Works, and the preliminary 
 report directed to be made to them by the commissioners to 
 be appointed under the bill, no one can reasonably consider 
 it such. But, is it more a speculation than the Eau Brink 
 Drainage, in England ? And I find that, from the year 
 1817 to the year 1826, large sums of money, amounting in 
 the whole to 250,000/., have been advanced on loan from 
 time to time on account of the Eau Brink Drainage, by the 
 Exchequer Bill Loan Commissioners in England. Is it more 
 a speculation than the Gloucester and Berkelej 7 Canal, for 
 which the sum of 160,000/. was advanced between 1818 
 and 1826, and of which the sum of 157,562/. lCh*. still 
 remains due ? It is only within these few days that I have 
 seen the Eau Brink Drainage Acts, and I am happy to say 
 that they are founded exactly on the same principles as I have 
 framed the Waste Land Bill. The drainage is effected by 
 means of money borrowed from the Exchequer Bill Loan 
 Commissioners, upon the security of taxes levied off the 
 lands within certain districts benefited by the drainage, and 
 according to the degree of benefit conferred; and improved 
 navigation is combined. If it be said, that the money to be 
 advanced should have priority over all incumbrances,—ad¬ 
 mitting the force of the argument, that, the estate being 
 benefited, the securities of the encumbrancers are increased ; 
 and allowing that the Eau Brink Drainage Act, M. O’Far- 
 rell’s Act, and other acts may be cited as precedents; yet, 
 as sufficient security may be given, as proposed by the bill, 
 without disturbing priorities, it appears to me more confor¬ 
 mable to the properly settled notions of inviolability of con¬ 
 tracts, not to give that priority ; but if the giving priority be 
 
45 
 
 considered an impediment in the way of passing the bill, I 
 do not, for the reasons assigned above, think it ought to be 
 objected to. 
 
 When the amended Poor Law Act was brought into ope¬ 
 ration in England, and during its progress hitherto, large 
 sums of money have been laid out in labour on the several 
 railway speculations. No one will doubt that great facili¬ 
 ties were thereby given to the introduction and application 
 of the amended law. A similar law is now about to be en- 
 forced in Ireland. The country is in expectation that 
 Government will adopt the recommendations of the Railway 
 Commissioners, and introduce a measure founded upon their 
 valuable; report but there is one quarter of Ireland excluded 
 from the benefit of such works for some time. The justice or 
 reasonableness of such exclusion I will not now stop to dis¬ 
 cuss : but, in coming to that conclusion, the commissioners 
 recommend other measures to be adopted for the employment 
 of the people; and this assistance, this necessary assistance, 
 may be derived from the drainage and reclamation of our 
 waste lands, which are not confined to one spot, but to be 
 found in every part of Ireland. No Poor Law Union can be 
 formed without comprising some waste land. 
 
 Are there any specific objections to this measure ? One 
 objection that I have heard made is, that two-thirds of the 
 proprietors are to bind the remaining one-third, and that a 
 charge is to be thrown upon the properties of the one-third, if 
 not against their will, at least without their assent. This objec¬ 
 tion only requires to be considered for a moment. In the first 
 place, no one will say that the opposition of the one-third, 
 or their non-assent, ought to stop the improvement of the 
 properties of the other two-thirds. This being allowed, the 
 next proposition is, ought the one-third to receive the benefit 
 without contribution? If no benefit be derived to the pro¬ 
 perties of the one-third, no charge will be made. Benefit 
 

 46 
 
 conferred is the essence and the foundation of the charge; 
 
 \ 
 
 I 
 
 and to ensure justice to be done, the one-third will have the 
 protection of the Board of Works—disinterested parties. It 
 is not a mere question between buyer and seller, or between 
 a company and an individual: it is a question relating to 
 persons possessing properties similarly situate, all deriving 
 the same benefit from the same operation of drainage, and 
 submitting to a public board—not chosen by either party— 
 to determine in what proportion the expenses attendant 
 upon the improvements whereby the benefit is derived 
 should be made up. It is the principle of the Enclosure 
 Acts in England, where three-fourths of the proprietors bind 
 the other one-fourth. By the 29th section of the Gene¬ 
 ral Enclosure Act, 41 Geo. III., cap. 109, power is given to 
 the commissioners in case of default of the proprietors, as 
 w r ell the one-fourth dissenting, or not assenting, as the three- 
 fourths who assent to contribute their proportion of the ex¬ 
 pense of the enclosure and of fencing the allotments, to make 
 the necessary fences, and to pay the cost thereof, and also 
 the share of the expenses of the enclosed lands, and to enter 
 upon and lease the same, and continue in receipt of the 
 rents until paid. 
 
 All owners and occupiers of lands comprised within the 
 Eau Brink Drainage Act, and the several other drainage 
 acts, in England, whether assenting parties or not, are taxed 
 and charged with the monies laid out upon the drainage. 
 It is the principle conceded by the legislature in passing 
 Mr. O’Ferrall’s act. I have taken two-thirds, following in 
 this respect that act, w T hich is also a legislative sanction to 
 that number; and conceiving, with the protection of the 
 Board of Works, the number to be sufficient. 
 
 By the statute of the 43d of Elizabeth, already re¬ 
 ferred to, the majority binds; and so it is by the 13th 
 Geo. III., cap. 81, intituled " An Act for the better cul- 
 
4 7 
 
 tivation, improvement, and regulation of the common 
 arable fields, wastes, and commons of pasture, in this 
 kingdom,” whereby, after declaring and enacting that the 
 lands shall be enclosed, fenced, cultivated, and improved 
 by the occupiers, in such manner as three-fourths of the oc- 
 cupiers, with the consent of the owners and the rector, shall 
 agree upon, it provides— 
 
 “ That all costs, charges, and expenses necessary for the carry¬ 
 ing any such plan of ordering, fencing, cultivating, or improv- 
 
 * 
 
 ing into execution, as shall be agreed upon in manner aforesaid, 
 and which shall, at any meeting to be held after six days’ notice 
 having been given in manner hereinbefore directed, by the major 
 part in number and value of the occupiers aforesaid then present 
 be deemed common expenses, and for the general benefit of the 
 said occupiers, shall be borne, paid, and defrayed, proportionably, 
 by all the occupiers of such open and common field lands, accord¬ 
 ing to the value of the lands and grounds each person or persons 
 shall have in such open and common field lands.’* 
 
 This principle is acknowledged by the Act passed in 
 the last session of Parliament, intituled u An Act for 
 draining and embanking certain lands in Lough Swilly 
 and Lough Foyle, in the counties of Donegal and 
 Londonderry,” whereby certain undertakers are em¬ 
 powered to drain, embank, and take in, for their own 
 benefit, certain w r aste lands covered by ,the sea, after 
 allotting parts thereof to certain companies and individuals, 
 with whom they have made arrangement; but, in respect 
 of all other persons having an interest, compelling 
 them to submit to such compensation as would be awarded 
 to them by the Commissioners named in the Act, or a jury. 
 This Act goes much further than is proposed by the Waste 
 Land Bill; and, after the passing of the Bill I have just 
 pointed to, and referring to the passing of Enclosure Acts 
 in England, there can be no doubt that in any particular 
 case, upon application to Parliament for a private bill. 
 
 
48 
 
 an act would be obtained, but at an enormous expense. a No 
 person of sane mind/’ says Mr. Rickman, in his evidence 
 before the Committee of 1830, “ would desire that the ma¬ 
 chinery of the English Enclosure Acts should be employed 
 throughout Ireland, because it would create interminable 
 delay, and an expense usually estimated at 51. per English 
 acre, amounting to fifteen millions sterling in law and simi¬ 
 lar expenses, before all the mountain land and bogs 
 could be reclaimed and divided in severalty, which is abso¬ 
 lutely necessary for attaining a high degree of cultivation.” 
 Ought parties to be driven to this enormous and useless ex¬ 
 pense, whilst a general bill applicable to all will better effect 
 the purpose ? Another objection taken is, that too large and 
 extensive powers are proposed to be given in respect of ad¬ 
 joining lands, and the lands and properties of others not in¬ 
 terested in the improvements; which is answered by the fact, 
 that no greater powers/are taken than are taken and given 
 in every Canal or Railway Act; than are contained in Mr. 
 O’Ferrall’s Act, which has received the sanction of the legis¬ 
 lature ; than are given by the Eau Brink Drainage Act, and 
 the General Drainage Act of England. But to moderate 
 the fear of those who entertain this objection, I beg leave to 
 refer to Section 3 of the English Drainage and Sewer Act, 
 23d Henry VIII. cap. 5, to the following effect:— 
 
 “ And further to reform, amend, prostrate, and overthrow all 
 such walls, streams, ponds, locks, fish-garths, hebbing-weirs, and 
 other impediments and annoyances aforesaid, as shall be found 
 by Inquisition, or by your surveying and discretions to be exces¬ 
 sive or hurtful.” 
 
 If any objection should be taken to the power given 
 to the Board of Works to determine the proportion which 
 the counties ought to bear, and also the power to the Board 
 of Works to maintain and keep up the drainage works, and 
 levy the necessary rate for that purpose, I beg leave to re- 
 
49 
 
 fer again to the same section, whereby Commissioners named 
 by the Crown are empowered to the following effect:— 
 
 “ And all those persons and every of them to tax, assess, charge, 
 distrain, and punish as well within the metes, limits, and bounds 
 of old time accustomed, or otherwise or elsewhere within our 
 realm of England, after the quantity of their lands, tenements, 
 and rents, by the number of acres and perches, after the rate of 
 every person’s portion, tenure, or profit, or after the quantity of 
 their common, or pasture, or profit of fishing, or other commodi¬ 
 ties there, by such ways and means, and in such manner and form, 
 as to you, or six of you, whereof the said A., B., and C. to be three, 
 shall seem most convenient to be ordained and done for redress 
 and reformation to be had in the premises.” 
 
 Proper and due care is taken for just compensation in each 
 case; and if the people of England have submitted to these 
 provisions, and they have been found to work well for the 
 general good, and not to operate injuriously to individuals, I 
 do not see why we are not to expect the same effects in Ire¬ 
 land. But should the determination of a jury be preferred 
 to that of arbitration, with an appeal to the Board of Works, 
 although I believe the system of arbitration has worked well 
 under the Shannon Bill, I should not myself object to the 
 intervention of a jury. 
 
 In 1828, Mr. Brownlow succeeded in carrying through 
 the House of Commons a bill for the reclaiming of waste 
 
 ■ 
 
 lands in Ireland, which was unaccountably lost in the House 
 of Lords; but now, with the stimulus of the Poor Law, the 
 promised support of Lord John Russell and Lord Morpeth, 
 and the expectation held out on both sides of the House 
 that the subject should receive all due consideration—at 
 the same time relying upon the manifest policy of the ope¬ 
 rations proposed—I cannot help entertaining the confident 
 hope that this measure will receive the assent of the legis¬ 
 lature. 
 
 A most ’ useful company has been lately formed, the 
 
 E 
 
 ■>£#9 
 
50 
 
 Earl of Devon chairman, for the reclamation of the waste 
 lands of Ireland. The Waste Land Bill will most mate¬ 
 rially assist their praiseworthy efforts, for they require the 
 assistance of this bill as much as individuals. They have 
 already commenced their operations, and have acquired three 
 large tracts of ground on lease. Their last report I have 
 set out in Appendix No. 4. 
 
 Second Measure. 
 
 The very limited leasing powers of tenants for life are 
 primary obstacles to the improvement of Irish husbandry; 
 and they also obstruct building improvements both on 
 farms and in towns. Many instances might be given of 
 houses being suffered to get into decay, and actually to 
 fall, because a landlord could not give a tenure sufficient 
 to induce an outlay by the tenants ; and the inferior descrip¬ 
 tion of houses in our Irish towns is commonly ascribable 
 to the same cause, the lessees building such houses as 
 will suit their short term. This cause also obstructs the 
 working of mines. Adopting as a principle, and taking as 
 a rule, that which is applied in every well-drawn settlement 
 or will, and at the same time bearing in mind the imperfect 
 manner in which settlements and wills have hitherto been 
 prepared in Ireland, I have ventured to propose that the 
 powers of leasing contained in the bill which I have pre¬ 
 pared should be incident to every estate for life. Many 
 eminent lawyers concur in this opinion ; and these powers are 
 recommended by the late Mr. Humphreys in his book “Ob¬ 
 servations on the Actual State of the English Laws of Real 
 Property also by Mr. Tyrrell in his “ Suggestions sent to 
 the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the Law of 
 
 Real Property,” where he states,—- 
 
 * 
 
 “The usual powers of leasing at rack-rent and granting re¬ 
 pairing leases without taking any fine, and of enfranchisement 
 
51 
 
 and partition, might be given to every tenant for life, and to 
 trustees named in the settlement, or, where there are no such 
 trustees, to a public officer, during the minority of the person en 
 titled in possession ; and the usual powers of granting building 
 or mining leases, sale and exchange, might also be given to a 
 tenant for life, with the consent of such trustee or officer.” 
 
 There is no good reason why all the attendant incidents 
 to estates should not be as much and accurately defined as 
 the estate itself. They are so defined in the Code Napoleon, 
 as well as in every new code lately published on the conti¬ 
 nent ; and such powers were given by the statute of the 32 
 Henry VIII. in England, to tenants in tail. At that time 
 the usual limitations of settlement were tenancies in tail;— 
 estates for life were not then introduced ;—and the legisla¬ 
 ture, with the object, no doubt, of promoting the cultivation 
 of the land and the employment of the people, gave as inci¬ 
 dents to every tenancy in tail the power of leasing for 
 twenty-one years, thereby removing the necessity of barring 
 the estate tail. The corresponding act in Ireland is the 10 
 Car. L, cap. 6. 
 
 By the Act of the 5 Geo. IV., cap. 87, intituled “An Act 
 to authorise the proprietors of entailed estates in Scotland 
 to grant provisions to the wives and children of such pro¬ 
 prietors,” powers of jointuring and of charging with por¬ 
 tions for children are given as incidents to every heir in tail 
 in possession of the entailed estate. The legislative authorities 
 to which I have already referred relieves the proposition 
 altogether from the charge of innovation, and reduces it 
 merely to an extension of, and improvement upon, existing 
 institutions. We have the authority of Lord Redesdale that 
 such powers are as much for the benefit of the remainder 
 man as of the tenant for life ; and on that ground he enforced 
 against a remainder man a mere agreement of the tenant 
 for life having such a power to grant a lease, and made the 
 following observations:— 
 
 “ In the case of powers to make leases at the best rent that can 
 
 E 2 
 
52 
 
 be obtained, it is evident that the author of the power looks to 
 the benefit of the estate, and that the power is given both for the 
 benefit of the tenant for life and of all persons claiming after him, 
 for where the tenant for life can give no permanent interest, and 
 his tenant is liable every day to be turned out of possession by the 
 accident of his death, it is hard to procure substantial tenants ; 
 and therefore it is beneficial to all parties that the tenant for life 
 should have a power to grant such leases. It is evident that the 
 occupying tenant can afford to give a better rent under such cir¬ 
 cumstances than if he were only to have a precarious tenure ; we 
 see from the lettings for three years in this court and under cus¬ 
 todians in the exchequer, how disadvantageous short and preca¬ 
 rious lettings are.” 
 
 By the Act of the 10 Geo. III. c. 51, relating to Scot¬ 
 land, the leasing powers thereby given are preceded 
 by the following recital :—“ And whereas many tallies of 
 estates in Scotland do contain clauses binding the heirs of 
 entail from granting tickets or leases for a longer endurance 
 than their own lives, for a small number of years only, whereby 
 the cultivation of land in that part of this kingdom is greatly 
 obstructed, and much mischief arises to the people.” This 
 is exactly the case of mere tenants for life in Ireland, who 
 can only grant leases for their own lives. 
 
 My proposition is in effect merely to supply omissions^ 
 whereas the powers given by the Scotch Act go directly 
 against the clauses in the deed of entail. 
 
 By this measure I propose that every tenant for life in 
 possession should have the power of leasing for any term not 
 exceeding thirty-one years; to take effect in possession; the 
 best yearly rent to be reserved without taking any premium 
 or fine; the lessee not to be made dispunishable for waste; 
 a condition of re-entry on non-payment of rent or breach of 
 covenant to be contained in the leases; as also a covenant 
 from the lessee for payment of the rent and proper cultiva¬ 
 tion, and against assigning or subletting without the consent 
 of the landlord ; a counterpart of the lease to be executed. 
 
 I also propose powers of leasing, under like conditions, for 
 
53 
 
 ninety-nine years to encourage building, and for sixty years to 
 promote the repairing of old buildings, such lease to take ef¬ 
 fect in possession, the best rent to be reserved; no premium 
 fine to be taken; not more than ten acres of the same estate 
 to be leased upon any building or repairing lease to any per¬ 
 son or persons, or in trust; and such leases are to contain a 
 condition making the lease void if the buildings to be erected 
 and which are to be specified in the leases be not erected 
 within ten years; and such lease to be void if the same shall 
 not contain a covenant for payment of the rent and the keep¬ 
 ing the buildings in repair, and also a condition for re-entry 
 on non-payment of the rent or breach of any of the cove¬ 
 nants, and a counterpart of the lease is to be executed. 
 
 I again propose that tenants for life in possession shall have 
 power to lease mines of coal, freestone, lead, clay and iron¬ 
 stone, and other metals, minerals, or other substances found 
 in or upon the lands for any term not exceeding sixty years, 
 to take effect in possession with all usual powers and provi¬ 
 sions necessary for the working of the mines, and enabling 
 the lessees to manufacture and carry away the metals, mi¬ 
 nerals, and other substances, the best rent tolls and royalties 
 to be reserved; no premium or fine to be taken, and a con¬ 
 dition to be inserted in the lease of re-entry in case of non¬ 
 payment of the rent, tolls, or royalties, or breach of the co¬ 
 venants, and a counterpart of such lease is directed to be 
 executed. 
 
 By the 10 Geo. I. (Irish) a power is given to bishops and 
 other ecclesiastical corporations, and to tenants for life, with 
 immediate remainder to his or her heirs and every other son 
 in tail male, and also to tenants in dower and by the courtesy 
 with the consent of the reversioner, to lease mines for thirty- 
 one years, subject to certain restrictions therein mentioned; 
 and whilst this Act is a legislative authority for granting in¬ 
 cidents to estates for life, it is clear that the powers conferred 
 
54 
 
 are not sufficient, as not extending to all cases ol tenancies 
 for life, and the power is too limited. 
 
 In order that the next clause of the bill may be under¬ 
 stood, it will be necessary that I should shortly explain 
 the nature of the estate which a mortgagor and mort¬ 
 gagee have respectively in the land. The mortgagee has 
 the legal estate, but only for the purpose of securing to 
 himself the money advanced, for the mortgagor may at 
 any time pay him off, giving him reasonable notice, unless 
 there be some particular stipulation contained in the mort¬ 
 gage deed, and in case of refusal he may file a bill in a court 
 of equity and compel a redemption. The mortgagee may 
 enter into possession, but generally does not except in case of 
 considerable default of payment of the interest. The mort¬ 
 gagor in possession is at law a mere tenant at will, but in 
 equity and point of fact is the real owner subject to the 
 mortgage debt, but any leases executed by him would not 
 be valid against the mortgagee. The assent of the mortgagee 
 is therefore necessary. Now this assent may be and is 
 sometimes withheld capriciously; the mortgagee being sa¬ 
 tisfied of his security cares but little for the increase or im¬ 
 provement of the estate. The consequence is that persons 
 willing to lay out, money in the improvement of land or in 
 the establishment of a manufactory are deterred from so 
 doing by not having a valid lease made to them; instances 
 might be given where, in consequence of a mortgagor not 
 being able to give a perfectly valid security, the country has 
 lost the benefit of the establishment of a large manufactory. 
 The employment of the people is thus obstructed and no be¬ 
 nefit derived to the mortgagee. This should not be permit¬ 
 ted, protection being capable of being afforded to the mort¬ 
 gagee, and this is effected in the proposed measure by 
 directing the mortgagor to give notice to the mortgagee of 
 the lease which he is about to grant, and all its terms and 
 
55 
 
 conditions; and if the mortgagee does not assent to or join 
 in the lease, the mortgagor is at liberty, after the expiration 
 of three months, to have the matter referred, by means of a 
 petition, to a Master in Chancery in a summary way, who 
 is to settle the lease, and the terms, and conditions, and rent. 
 Provision is made for the expenses attendant upon this 
 proceeding. 
 
 There is a direction in the bill that these powers of leas¬ 
 ing should not extend to any manor or mansion house, or 
 any glebe houses, or any offices or grounds belonging to a 
 glebe or mansion house. 
 
 If it should be asked what protection there is given against 
 fraud,—the answer is—the same protection that is given in 
 cases of similar powers contained in settlements and wills, 
 and greater or better protection cannot be afforded, which 
 is, that the lease, which is made at the peril of the lessee, 
 will be void if it contravenes any of the terms contained in 
 the powers. 
 
 It is almost unnecessary to state that the object of these 
 provisions is to give the tenant such a tenure in the land as 
 will induce him to improve and properly cultivate it. 
 
 I was very much struck by the evidence of Mr. Hevey, 
 before the Poor Law Commissioners, a farmer of 700 acres, 
 who states, During the scarce seasons I took a number of 
 labourers into my employment, and reclaimed, draining 
 about twenty acres of land ; however, when it was discovered 
 by the landlord, he took it from me and set it to another.” 
 I trust that many instances of this sort are not to be 
 found, but it is clear that without security of tenure the te¬ 
 nant will only think of getting as much out of the land as 
 he can at the least possible expense to himself. No argu¬ 
 ment can be drawn to the contrary from the system much 
 followed in England of not granting leases, as in such cases 
 all repairs are at the expense of the landlords, and great care 
 
56 
 
 is taken by them of the husbandry and mode of cultivation 
 pursued. 
 
 The Scotch Act, already referred to, 10 Geo. III., con¬ 
 tains a wholesome provision which I have incorporated in 
 this bill; a power of exchange, which is preceded by this 
 recital;— 
 
 “ And whereas it may frequently happen that the inclosing of 
 lands in Scotland may be retarded or prevented, or at least ren¬ 
 dered inconvenient, by heirs of entail not having it in their power 
 to exchange small parcels of the lands of their entailed estates for 
 other lands convenient for the entailed estates, and more condu¬ 
 cive to the improvement of the country in general; for remedy 
 whereof, be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, that it shall and 
 may be lawful for proprietors of entailed estates to exchange or 
 make exchanges of land with all and every person or persons for 
 the conveniency and advantage of the said estates and for the 
 improvement of the country where such estates are situated by 
 inclosing or otherways.” 
 
 Accordingly, by the proposed bill, power is given to every 
 tenant for life in possession to exchange lands, with the ap¬ 
 probation of the Court of Chancery, to be obtained on peti¬ 
 tion in a summary way. 
 
 The bill does not enable any lessee to charge or affect the 
 interest of his landlord; but nevertheless any lessee, tenant 
 for life, may exercise all the powers of the act, so far as re¬ 
 spects his leasehold interest, except the power of exchange. 
 The necessity of the restriction is evident, to prevent the 
 confusion of boundaries of estates after the determination of 
 the leases. Such are the provisions of the Leases and Ex¬ 
 changes’ Bill. The principle of the latter part of the bill, 
 relating to exchanges, is completely borne out by the General 
 Inclosure Act in England, 41 Geo. III., cap. 41, sec. 15, as 
 thereby full power is given to the commissioners to exchange 
 lands. I understand it is objected that the bill is confined 
 to Ireland, and that, if it be good or necessary for Ireland, 
 
57 
 
 it must be equally so for England. That it would be 
 equally good for England I have no doubt of; and if ail 
 amendment, extending its provisions to England should be 
 moved, I will cordially support it. I do not think it equally 
 urgent, as care has been taken in England to provide for 
 those powers in settlements and wills; and, if required, 
 parties in England can afford the expense of a private act of 
 parliament much better than they can in Ireland. 
 
 Third Measure. 
 
 The evils of suffering property to be put into mortmain 
 were very early felt both in England and Ireland, and ac¬ 
 cordingly statutes were passed against mortmain; and where 
 mortmain is allowed, it is upon the tacit condition im¬ 
 posed upon every owner of property, that he uses it not to 
 the detriment of the state; and it does not at all follow 
 that, because such estates cannot be alienated, they are not 
 to be cultivated and improved. 
 
 The legislature, in the reign of Elizabeth, in England, 
 and in the reign of Charles I., in Ireland, interfered to pre¬ 
 vent archbishops and bishops, and deans and chapters, and 
 other ecclesiastical dignitaries, parsons, vicars, and the mas¬ 
 ters or governors or fellows of colleges, from disposing of 
 the inheritance of the lands belonging to them in their cor¬ 
 porate capacities, or from making leases for a longer term 
 than twenty-one years, except in cities and towns, where 
 they were allowed to lease for forty years, and subject to 
 certain conditions ; one of which was, as contained in the 
 statute of Charles I., cap. 3, sec. 2 — et There shall be re¬ 
 served and contained, due and payable unto the said les¬ 
 sors and their successors, during the said term of twenty- 
 one years, so much yearly rent or profits, or more, at the 
 peril of the lessees, who shall take the same as the moiety 
 of the true value of the said lands or other hereditaments 
 
58 
 
 (communibus annis) at or before the time of the making 
 such leases shall amount unto.” This is altered by the 35 
 Geo. III., whereby it is enacted, “ That the rent reserved 
 shall be that for which the lands were let for twenty years 
 before the granting of the lease.’ 
 
 The manner in which the college lands are leased, is by 
 reserving one moiety of the value fixed at a certain period,— 
 I believe that 1810 was the last period at which the rents 
 were fixed,—and this covers the rent for which the lands 
 were let twenty years before; and this being so, the lease is 
 good, and the other moiety is received by means of fine, 
 and is one of the principal sources of revenue of the provost 
 and senior fellows; and the lease is renewed every year, or 
 every two or three years, the fine being increased according 
 to the length of time the renewal is postponed. There is no 
 obligation on the part of the provost and fellows to renew, 
 and they may demand such terms as they think proper. 
 
 It is unnecessary to state, that under these circumstances 
 the tenant will not effect any substantial or lasting improve¬ 
 ments upon the land; the uncertainty of the tenure will 
 deter him; besides, the improvements to be made by him 
 may induce the provost and fellows to demand higher 
 terms. As a preventive, therefore, to all improvement 
 no better system could be desired ; and hence it is that 
 these lands are in such a deplorable state, as described by 
 Mr. Griffith in his evidence before the Committee of 1835. 
 
 •The same may be said of the bishops’ lands. But in re¬ 
 spect of these the legislature has interfered, and, by the 
 Church Temporalities’ Act, passed in 1833, has given to 
 each tenant the right to demand, upon payment of the value 
 of the perpetuity, a conveyance of the fee-simple, or a lease 
 of 999 years. 
 
 One of the recommendations of the House of Commons’ 
 committee of 1835 was, (e Enlarged powers of leasing to be 
 
59 
 
 given to the Board of Trinity College and the Board of 
 Commissioners of the Schools founded in Ireland by Eras¬ 
 mus Smithand,, following up this recommendation, I 
 obtained leave from the House to introduce a bill to effect 
 the object. 
 
 Through my valued and respected friend, the late Provost, 
 Dr. Lloyd, I communicated with the board, w 7 ho were very 
 averse to any thing like the legislation contained in the 
 Church Temporalities’ Act; and finding that to be the case, 
 and it being considered by some that there was a distinction 
 between the property of bishops and that of the college, and 
 the extent of the power to be given having been left open by 
 the committee, I thought of a middle course, and proposed 
 in my bill that an extended power of leasing should be 
 given to the provost and fellows for forty-one years, subject 
 to certain conditions; every present tenant to be entitled to 
 this extended term, to commence from the surrender of the 
 existing leases, also to renewals from time to time, and the 
 consideration for the renewal to be the sum of 6,?. in the 
 pound on the rent reserved in the surrendered lease; and 
 for every entire year of the term granted by the surrendered 
 lease which should be expired at the time of the surrender, 
 one-sixth part of the amount of which consideration to be 
 paid at once and in a gross sum to the provost and senior 
 fellows on the granting of the renewed leases, and the other 
 five-sixth parts to be commuted into a yearly rent, payable 
 during the renewed lease, and to be reserved as an addi¬ 
 tional rent to the rent reserved by the surrendered lease, 
 and to be paid as the original rent. This sum of 6s-. in the 
 pound on all future renewals to be calculated on the original 
 rent only, and the additional rent to be excluded from such 
 calculation; and for the better calculating the consideration 
 for the renewal, the additional rent was to be reserved sepa¬ 
 rate and distinct from the original rent. 
 
60 
 
 At present the renewal fine for one year expired is 56*. 6 cl. 
 on every pound of the reserved or half rent, for two yeais 
 it is 12,y., for three years 186*.; and the portion of the fine 
 which is the present value of the half rent increases in 
 amount with the shortness of the time at which, if not com¬ 
 muted, that half rent would become payable. 
 
 It is the interest of the tenant to renew, to increase his 
 term; and it is the interest of the board to renew, to ensure 
 the fine. But to ascertain the intervals at which it will be 
 most prudent to renew under the present system, the tenant 
 has to set off the charge for stamps and law agency against 
 what he would save in fine by annual renewals; and I be¬ 
 lieve the general practice is to renew every two years, and 
 accordingly that the annual amount of fines to be divided 
 amongst the eight members of the board is 66*. for every 
 pound of the reserved rent. 
 
 The advantages of the plan are,—lstly, An increased term 
 from twenty-one to forty-one years. 2dly, The tenant may, 
 with perfect safety, suspend his renewals for ten years, as no 
 board of eight men advanced in years would ever think of 
 running their lives against an unexpired term of thirty-one 
 years, or of forfeiting their portions of the renewal fines : so 
 that not only the time is extended, but the chance of renewal 
 much increased. 3dly, The tenant would be freed from the 
 constantly renewing charges for stamps, law agents, &c. 
 
 Mr. Griffith describes the extent of the College lands in 
 the county of Kerry to be one-eighth of the county, and 
 the College has also large and very extensive tracts of land in 
 the counties of Galway and Mayo, chiefly waste but reclaim- 
 able land. It cannot be for the interest or advantage of the 
 College that these lands should remain in their present state, 
 whereby a positive injury is inflicted upon the public. 
 
 Upon the passing of these measures there would be two 
 courses open to the board to pursue. First, by means of 
 
61 
 
 the Waste Land Bill, and by an outlay in fencing and erect¬ 
 ing proper habitations, in addition to the drainage and im¬ 
 provement under that bill to improve their estates, and by 
 arrangements with their tenants to obtain increased rents, 
 giving the College a fair per centage for the money laid out. 
 Or, secondly, under the extended power of leasing pro¬ 
 posed to be given, to grant to their tenants such an interest 
 as would induce them to make the improvements, the 
 College stipulating and binding their .tenants by covenant 
 to do so. 
 
 If it be thought advisable that the absolute right to renew 
 should not be given to the tenant, let the extended power be 
 given to the board, leaving it entirely optional in them to 
 exercise the power or not. I would not object to this, as I 
 am convinced the Provost and Fellows would consider it 
 their duty, as it would be their interest, to adopt one or 
 othercof these plans. 
 
 The right of Parliament to interpose, and the expediency 
 of its so doing, I submit cannot be doubted. If it be ob¬ 
 jected that you are interfering with the rights of the college, 
 my answer is that Parliament has already interfered and as¬ 
 serted its right to do so. It is the peculiar right of Parlia¬ 
 ment to interfere in cases of corporate property, corporations 
 being the very creatures of the state and society, and allowed 
 to exist solely for the benefit of the community. 
 
 It is intended that the provisions of this bill should be 
 extended to the trustees of the schools of Erasmus Smith 
 and of Sir Patrick Dunne’s charity. According to the evi¬ 
 dence of Mr. Griffith, the same necessity does not exist in those 
 cases, at least in the same degree, but it is evident the cases, are 
 similar, and that for the improvement of these estates (which 
 are very large, and in several parts of the country), and to 
 put them on a level with the estates of individuals, the trustees 
 
62 
 
 should have recourse to one or other of the systems I have 
 already referred to. 
 
 Fourth Measure. 
 
 A tenant for life, having only a limited ownership, will not 
 apply his money towards the amelioration of the land, as 
 he has no certainty of deriving the benefit to be realized by 
 such outlay. The remainder man who is to succeed, and 
 will derive the great advantage from such outlay, may be 
 a stranger to him; and even if he should be his own son, 
 the tenant for life may have a family of younger children, and 
 will therefore be unwilling to apply his money (required for 
 younger children) in the improvement of the estate for the 
 benefit of his eldest son. 
 
 A large portion of the landed property in Ireland is in 
 strict settlement. To satisfy the desire of owners of pro¬ 
 perty to preserve the estates in their families as long as pos¬ 
 sible, and to keep up the possessions of the aristocracy, limi¬ 
 tations of property are allowed by law, rendering the fee 
 simple of the property inalienable for a period of a life or 
 lives in being and twenty-one years afterwards; and until 
 the passing of the Act generally called “ The Thellusson 
 Act,” property might have been accumulated for the same 
 period, but this is now confined to twenty-one years abso- 
 
 During the period of twenty-one years, that is, during the 
 infancy of the tenant in tail or in fee, or during the life of a 
 tenant for life, who may live to the age of seventy or eighty 
 years,—if the tenant for life and tenant in tail or in fee do 
 not agree to improve the estate, the lands may remain waste 
 and unprofitable to society. Now it does not follow that be¬ 
 cause society allows property to be inalienable for a certain 
 time such property should remain unproductive and useless 
 
63 
 
 during that time, sufficient protection being taken that the 
 remainder man be not defrauded. In an abstract point of 
 view, and in reference to society at large, it may be asked 
 why one estate should be allowed to be unprofitable, and 
 the adjoining estate, not comprising better or more fer¬ 
 tile land, should be in a most cultivated and flourishing 1 con- 
 dition? It is not a satisfactory answer to be told that the 
 one belongs to a tenant for life and the other to a tenant in 
 fee. The object of keeping the estate in the family will be 
 equally attained although power be given to the tenant for 
 life to improve, and charge a portion of the outlay upon the 
 inheritance, and the remainder man himself will be much 
 benefited by coming into possession of lands in a cultivated 
 and flourishing condition, instead of succeeding to an unpro¬ 
 fitable waste. Let us suppose a tract of one thousand acres 
 of reclaimable land ; and we have it ascertained that the cost 
 of reclamation per acre is from 6/. to 13/., and that the land 
 when reclaimed will be worth 10s., 12s. 6 d., 1/., 2/., an 
 acre, even as high as 3/. an acre ; we have it also ascertained 
 that the expense of the reclamation of the mountain bog or 
 waste varies from 1/. 10s. to 3/. 10s., or 4/. 10s.; let, then, 
 an average expense be taken of 71. or 8/.; and let us sup¬ 
 pose the reclamation to be made by the tenant for life, and 
 the inheritance to be charged with three-fourths of the ex¬ 
 pense attending upon the draining, inclosing, and fencing, 
 which is the inconsiderable part of the cost as we have seen, 
 but which when perfected will induce the tenant for life, for 
 his own sake, to proceed with the reclamation, as he will be 
 repaid by the cultivation of the crops: the remainder man 
 would thus succeed to the possession of an estate worth 
 500/., 750/., 1000/., or 1200/. a-year, charged with per¬ 
 haps 3000/. at the utmost. Can it then be doubted that 
 it is more beneficial to him to succeed to an estate so charged 
 
64 
 
 ' in a good state of cultivation, than to succeed to it as mere 
 waste, unprofitable land ? 
 
 But see the great benefit to society during the life of the 
 tenant for life, say forty years : this land is made productive, 
 the national stock is increased, and fifty or sixty agricultural 
 labourers are supported on these lands. Without necessity 
 therefore it should not be allowed, during the life of the 
 tenant for life, or even during the minority of a tenant in tail 
 or in fee, that the lands should remain waste and unprofit¬ 
 able. There can be no such necessity if safe and proper 
 guards be taken that no fraud be committed upon the re¬ 
 mainder man. 
 
 The Act of the 10 Geo. III. cap. 51, passed in 1770, 
 already referred to, contains this recital,— 
 
 tC Whereas it may be highly beneficial to the public if propri¬ 
 etors of entailed estates were encouraged to lay out money in en¬ 
 closing, planting, or draining, or in erecting farm-houses and 
 offices, or outbuildings for the same upon their entailed lands and 
 heritages; and whereas such proprietors may be induced and en¬ 
 couraged so to do, if they, their executors and assigns, were 
 secured in recovering a reasonable satisfaction for the money 
 expended in making such improvements, from the succeeding 
 heirs of entail: Be it therefore enacted, by the authority afore¬ 
 said, that every proprietor of an entailed estate who lays out 
 money in inclosing, planting, or draining, or in erecting farm¬ 
 houses and offices, or outbuildings for the same, for the improve¬ 
 ment of his lands and heritages, shall be a creditor to the suc¬ 
 ceeding heirs of entail for three-fourth parts of the money laid out 
 in making the said improvements.” 
 
 From the passing of this Act, and the abolition of the he¬ 
 ritable jurisdiction, may be dated much of the prosperity of 
 Scotland. The expenditure is confined by that Act to four 
 years’ value, and the charge is not to exceed three-fourths of 
 the money expended. Due notice is directed to be given 
 to the next heir in tail, and the expenditure is to be annually 
 
65 
 
 accounted for before the sheriff’s court, a local court in that 
 country. If such a law has worked beneficially in Scotland, 
 why may we not expect the same success in Ireland ? 
 
 Mr. Loch, M.P. for Wick, thus describes the result of this 
 law, in his evidence before the Committee of 1835 :— 
 
 “The Act alluded to is better known in Scotland by the name 
 of the Chief Baron Montgomery’s Act: it is a very useful statute : 
 it has been, with all its defects, very useful in Scotland, and has 
 enabled many heirs of entail to execute improvements which might 
 otherwise never have been made. It has been acted upon in a 
 variety of cases. I have taken advantage of it to the full extent 
 of its powers, in my own case, where I am a trustee under a mar¬ 
 riage settlement, whereby a considerable estate in Scotland is 
 vested in me, and in which instance it would have been impossible 
 to have executed considerable improvements, namely, in repairing 
 the mansion-house, and in building farm-houses and other neces¬ 
 sary buildings connected with the improvements of the farms, in 
 enclosing, planting, draining, and so on, unless such a power had 
 existed ; the proprietor of the estate having succeeded to it under 
 the strictest limits of a Scotch entail, and he was so circumstanced 
 that it would have been impossible to execute the necessary im¬ 
 provements without such a power ; and if such a power had not 
 been acted upon, great injustice would have been done to the 
 younger children, by applying the surplus profits of the estate to 
 the improvement of that which, by the entail, must have all gone 
 to the eldest child. But advantage was taken of the Act alluded 
 to, and all the improvements have been charged upon the estate; 
 and that amount of expenditure so charged has been settled upon 
 the younger children. That is by no means a solitary instance, 
 for in many other cases which might be named the same course 
 has been pursued.” 
 
 There is this advantage in favour of extending the law to 
 Ireland: the burden may be got rid of upon the succession 
 of the remainder man on his attaining the age of twenty-one 
 years. In considering this case, it should not be forgotten 
 that the settlement of estates is a creature and indulgence 
 of society, and that society should receive as little injury as 
 
 F 
 
66 
 
 possible from such indulgence ; and, therefore, the Com¬ 
 mittee of 1835 recommended— 
 
 “Tenants for life to have power to charge the inheritance 
 with an outlay to the amount of three years’ value, under the di¬ 
 rections of the Board of Works, for the drainage, embankment, 
 or other permanent improvement, save buildings. The Board, in 
 the first instance, to make a report, in which the feasibility of the 
 improvement, when projected, shall be certified. This report to 
 be laid before a Master in Chancery, with an application from the 
 party to the court and the master, to make due investigation, and 
 if he approve of the project as being of such utility to the estate 
 that the inheritance should bear the charge authorized to be placed 
 on it, then to certify the same to the court, and the certificate to 
 be enrolled for the purpose of title, and the tenants for life to have 
 power to sell or mortgage, to the amount of such outlay, any part 
 of the estate which, or any portion of which is to be improved. 
 Tenants for life paying any portion of the outlay with their own 
 monies, or out of the rents and profits, to be entitled to a charge 
 of that amount in the inheritance, but to be bound to keep down 
 the interest of such charge.” 
 
 The principle of this measure is recognised in respect of 
 glebes, in Ireland, and in all the Enclosure Acts in England, 
 whereby the tenant for life has the power, with the appro¬ 
 bation of the Enclosure Commissioners to mortgage the 
 allotments with the necessary sum for defraying the ex¬ 
 pense of the enclosure and the fences of the allotment. 
 
 This principle is also recognised by the Irish Act of the 
 9th Geo. II., for the increase of plantations. That Act 
 gives to the representatives of the tenant for life one moiety 
 of the value of the timber, within one year after his decease. 
 And by the 5th Geo. III. (Irish) still greater encourage¬ 
 ment is given to tenants, to plant on the lands leased to them. 
 
 By the proposed bill, the improvements, in respect of 
 which the tenant for life in Ireland is to have the power of 
 charging, are draining, enclosing, fencing, and planting. I 
 do not extend it to the building of farm-houses, as in the 
 
67 
 
 Scotch Act; although I think such a power might be safely 
 given ; and certainly, as it must necessarily have the effect 
 of improving the habitations of the people, it would be a 
 most desirable object; but, yielding to the opinion of Mr. 
 Griffith and others, who think that, as buildings are perishable 
 in their nature, they ought not to be made a charge upon the 
 inheritance, and according to the recommendation of the 
 committee, I have omitted this power in the bill. I have also 
 omitted the power contained in the Scotch Act, to tenants for 
 life to lay out two years’ rent in building a mansion-house; 
 but if, in the progress of the bill, it is thought more expedient 
 to insert these two provisions, as to farm-houses and man¬ 
 sion-houses, they ought not to be objected to. 
 
 The tenant for life, wishing to take advantage of the act, 
 is to apply by petition in a summary way to the Court of 
 Chancery for leave to make the improvements, setting forth 
 the nature of the improvements to be made, and the esti¬ 
 mated cost thereof. A reference is to be made to the 
 master, who is to call for all necessary maps, and plans, and 
 specifications, and is to cause the same to be laid before the 
 Commissioners of Public Works, who are to report thereon 
 to the master, who, upon consideration, is to report to the 
 court as to the fitness and expediency of the proposed im¬ 
 provements and the cost thereof. The commissioners are at 
 liberty to employ a surveyor. The tenant for life being, 
 in the first instance, at all the expense. A copy of every 
 petition is to be served upon every individual interested in 
 the estate down to the person who has the first estate of in¬ 
 heritance, and therefore representing the inheritance. In 
 case of unsoundness of mind or minorities, the petition is to 
 be served on such party as the court shall direct, and each 
 party served is at liberty to attend before the master and 
 the Board of Works on all occasions. Having obtained the 
 sanction of the court, the tenant for life may proceed with 
 the improvements which, when made, he is again to petition 
 
 f 2 
 
68 
 
 the court. Inquiry is then to be made into the expendi¬ 
 ture, and, upon proof being made that the improvements 
 have been properly made, and the money expended to the 
 satisfaction of the Board of Works and the court, the tenant 
 for life is to have power to charge the inheritance of the 
 lands improved, and all lands standing settled to the same 
 uses, under the same limitations contained in the same in¬ 
 strument, with three-fourth parts of the money expended, 
 the money to be so charged in no case to exceed three years’ 
 rent or clear yearly value of the estate, of which the lands 
 to be improved form a part, to be ascertained by the 
 master by reference to the rent paid or clear yearly value for 
 the nine years previously, and the master is to endorse the 
 same on the deed of mortgage. If the tenant for life is obliged 
 to borrow the money he has power to mortgage for the three- 
 fourths of the amount sanctioned by the Board of Works, 
 and he is at liberty to apply to the Board of Works for a 
 loan out of the money at their disposal. The bill extends 
 to all tenants for life, whether legal, or equitable, or en¬ 
 titled for any term of years determinable on a life, and 
 including all corporations, aggregate or sole, all bishops, 
 parsons, and other ecclesiastical persons: but the bill does 
 not enable any lessee to charge or in anywise to affect the 
 interests of his landlord ; but every lessee being tenant for 
 life in possession, may exercise all the powers of the act so 
 as to bind his remainder-man in respect of the leasehold 
 interest, but the leasehold interest only. 
 
 Fifth Measure. 
 
 In the leases and exchange bill I have confined the 
 power of leasing to terms for years. The tenant, being 
 aware of the extent of his tenure, will confine or extend 
 his expenditure accordingly; but a lessee for a life, not being 
 able to define with certainty the extent of his term, will be 
 unwilling to lay out any money upon the land, not being 
 
 
69 
 
 satisfied that he will have an opportunity of deriving 1 any 
 benefit. To prevent the inconvenience of the land not being 
 cultivated, the law gives to the executor or administrator 
 of the lessee for life emblements. The same uncertainty, 
 although not in the same degree, applies to a lease for 
 two or three lives; and any expenditure must be either 
 insured against, or the tenant must become his own in¬ 
 surer and speculate on the duration of the lives. Add to 
 this the difficulty of ascertaining, in m'any cases, whether 
 the cestuique vies are living or dead, they may leave the 
 country and not be heard of for years. This is an incon¬ 
 venience felt by the landlord also, and litigation has fre¬ 
 quently been the consequence. A greater degree of security 
 is acquired by means of the covenant for perpetual renewal 
 in leases for lives. But let us consider for a moment the 
 nature of this tenure. It is a lease for three lives, with a 
 right to have another life substituted on the dropping of 
 each life, upon the payment of a certain sum. If the land¬ 
 lord should refuse to renew, the remedy is by a suit in 
 equity, so that the tenure is a lease for three lives with a 
 power to institute a suit in equity to enforce the right under 
 the covenant to renew. Upon the death of the last life the 
 estate of the tenant is gone, and then, or upon the dropping 
 of a previous life, he has to discover the lessor to demand the 
 renewal, and, if refused to bring his suit; and it may so hap¬ 
 pen that the lessor is out of the jurisdiction of the court: I 
 admit, however, a remedy is provided in case of a lessor 
 being out of the jurisdiction in clear cases, but this remedy 
 is attended with some expense. Should the lessor be within 
 the jurisdiction, and refuse to renew, a heavy and expensive 
 suit is the consequence. 
 
 The payment of the fine not being a regular payment,— 
 although in many cases the fine is not heavy,—the tenant is 
 not prepared; he neglects to renew; by that neglect he may 
 forfeit his right, or, if he does not, he has to account for the 
 
70 
 
 fine and interest, and septennial fines, as they are called. 
 This was too much the case in Ireland, relying upon the 
 relief given in courts of equity on the ground of giving the 
 lessor compensation (the fine being a money payment) by 
 means of interest and septennial fines. The system was 
 considered the common equity of the country; and litiga¬ 
 tion to a great degree was the consequence, until some 
 doubt was thrown upon it by the House of Lords in Eng¬ 
 land, when the Tenantry Act was passed, wherein the equity 
 to relief giving compensation was acknowledged, but giv¬ 
 ing the lessor the right to demand the payment of the 
 fines, and to require the tenant to prepare and execute 
 fresh leases; and which, if not done within a reasonable 
 time, the right to be relieved was forfeited. It was impos¬ 
 sible for the legislature to define the exact time, which 
 in some cases, if defined, might be too large, and in other 
 cases too small. It was therefore left open to deter¬ 
 mine what was a reasonable time in each case, according 
 to the circumstances; but this again gives rise to great 
 litigation; and the cases reported in Ridgway’s Parlia¬ 
 mentary Cases, in the Reports of Schoales and Lefroy, 
 and Dow and Bligh’s Reports, bear ample testimony 
 to the abundant litigation between landlord and tenant. 
 Considerable complication arises respecting this tenure; 
 for the lessee for lives renewable for ever leases himself 
 for lives renewable for ever, covenanting to renew to his 
 tenant when he renews himself. And again, this second 
 lessee for lives also leases for lives renewable for ever with a 
 similar covenant; and this is often repeated four or five 
 times in respect of the same property, and is what is 
 called the toties quoties covenant. Now, it is evident that 
 all these derivative lessees are at the mercy of the first 
 lessee: for, if he commits a fraud upon the landlord 
 by concealing the death of the cestuique vies , and 
 thereby endeavours to get rid of the tenure or otherwise, or 
 
71 
 
 if he neglects, after demand made, to renew within a rea¬ 
 sonable time, he forfeits his right of renewal, and, with the 
 loss of that first interest, all the other derivative interests 
 are gone. And again, if this property be put into settlement 
 by the first lessee, he being tenant for life of the lease¬ 
 hold interest, he may, by his fraud or neglect, forfeit the 
 rights of all other persons claiming under the settlement. 
 Lord Redesdale, in Jackson v. Saunders, one of the liti¬ 
 gated cases, describes another inconvenience of this tenure in 
 the following clear and convincing manner:— 
 
 “ When it is considered that these leases are often granted by 
 persons who have themselves renewable interests, and that the 
 means which such persons have to pay their rent and fines arise 
 from the rent and fines payable by their tenants, who may them¬ 
 selves underlet to others, and such underletting repeated four or 
 five times; if the person who has the reservation on the last un¬ 
 derletting (and who is to renew with his immediate landlord, and 
 he with another, and so on) is to encounter a considerable delay 
 after a demand of this description, I do not know what security 
 the intervening persons have for their property; for if the person 
 last holding withholds payment from his immediate landlord, all 
 the intermediate tenures may be put in great hazard. 5 ’ 
 
 The lessor is often on the watch for some breach of cove¬ 
 nant to get rid of the lease, and with it the covenant to 
 renew. Herein also arises frequent and annoying litiga¬ 
 tion. Such are the inconveniences attendant upon this te¬ 
 nure, so far as respects the lessee. Let us now consider how 
 the lessor is affected. That such a tenure should ever be 
 adopted by landlords, can only be accounted for by the con¬ 
 fiscations of the landed properties of Ireland. Lord Clare, 
 in his celebrated speech upon the Union, says-— 
 
 “ It is a very curious and important speculation to look back 
 to the forfeitures of Ireland incurred in the last century. The 
 superficial contents of the island are calculated at 11,042,682 
 acres. Let us now examine the state of the forfeitures. 
 
 f 
 

 72 
 
 In the reign of James I. the whole of the 
 province of Ulster was confiscated, containing 
 Set out by the Court of Claims at the Resto¬ 
 ration ...... 
 
 Forfeitures of 1688 . 
 
 ACRES. 
 
 2,836,837 
 
 7,800,000 
 
 1,060,790 
 
 Total . 11,697,629 
 
 So that the whole of your island has been confiscated, with the 
 exception of the estates of five or six old families of English blood, 
 some of whom had been attainted in the reign of Henry VIII., 
 but recovered their possessions before Tyrone’s rebellion, and 
 had the good fortune to escape the pillage of the English Re¬ 
 public inflicted by Cromwell; and no inconsiderable portion of 
 the island has been confiscated twice, or perhaps thrice, in the 
 course of a century.” 
 
 The persons who acquired rights under these confisca- 
 J tions being unwilling to reside in Ireland, and wishing to 
 retain the reversion in their properties,—the remedies for 
 recovering fee-farm rents not being as complete as for the 
 recovery of rents attendant upon the reversion,—thought of 
 this tenure; and this, I believe, is the origin in Ireland of 
 leases for lives renewable for ever. It has been said that 
 these lands were originally copyhold lands, and were con¬ 
 verted into freehold tenure in this manner; but whatever 
 the origin may be, it is, I believe, true that one-seventh, at 
 least, of the whole kingdom is subject to this tenure. It is 
 clear, also, that a landlord letting property in this way, in 
 effect abandons all interest in it, and has no inducement to 
 take a part in its improvement ; and we have seen the rea¬ 
 son why the tenant cannot take or have the same induce¬ 
 ment as if he was absolute owner in fee: that he has not 
 the same power over the property, has been decided by that 
 very able judge, the present Master of the Rolls in Ireland, 
 in the case of Hunt v. Brown, who makes the following 
 correct observations, which, coming from him, who is so 
 
73 
 
 well acquainted with this tenure, are most important. He 
 states— 
 
 “ Every day’s experience shows how very uncertain the du¬ 
 ration of an interest under such a tenure is; forfeitures of the 
 right to enforce a renewal daily occur, through the neglect of 
 tenants or the dexterous management of landlords. Covenants, 
 treated in some cases for more than a century as entitling tenants 
 to renewals for ever, have been constructed by courts of justice 
 as not conferring any such right. Any person who is much 
 engaged in the investigation of titles under leases for lives renew¬ 
 able for ever, will find, in almost every abstract of such titles, a 
 statement of the result of one or more suits in equity for en¬ 
 forcing the right: the usual statement is, the right to a renewal 
 having been questioned, it became necessary to file a bill for a 
 renewal.” 
 
 It has been decided by a committee of the House of Com¬ 
 mons that such a lease does not give a qualification under 
 the statute of Anne. The accuracy of such a decision, when 
 one of the cestuique vies may be the person entitled to the 
 property in possession, may well be doubted. The diffi¬ 
 culty of discovering the deaths of the cestuique vies is often 
 attended with considerable inconvenience, and perhaps with 
 great loss to the lessor; and in cases of mere neglect, where 
 the tenant enforces a renewal on being made to pay the fine 
 with interest and septennial fines, it is absurd to say that 
 thereby compensation is given to the landlord. The land¬ 
 lord stipulates that on the dropping of each life a fine is to 
 be paid and a new lease executed; but a court of equity 
 decrees, that in cases of mere neglect, at almost any distance 
 of time, a renewal will be enforced, making the tenant pay 
 his fine with interest and septennial fines; as if a sum of 
 money, although increased by interest, received by a land¬ 
 lord at one period, is equivalent to his receiving a similar or 
 a less sum at an antecedent period—the use which the 
 lessor might make of the money is entirely forgotten. 
 
mmv&m*- 
 
 74 
 
 Mere simple interest is clearly not an equivalent, even 
 coupled with septennial fines; and it may so happen that 
 his receiving the fine at the dropping of the life might 
 have saved him from bankruptcy and ruin, whereas his 
 receipt of the larger sum in twenty years afterwards, when 
 in affluence again, may not be of the slightest consequence 
 to him. There is another party also that suffers by this 
 tenure, and that is the public; for instead of landlords 
 occupying and improving their own estates, in immediate 
 connexion with their tenants, and encouraging and assisting 
 them in improvements, and instead of tenants having a cer¬ 
 tain fixed term in the property, by which they could safely 
 measure their expenditure in the way of improvement, the 
 landlord neither has, nor can have, an interest in improving 
 the property, and the sub-tenants will not improve when 
 they have no certainty that the property so improved 
 by their means will descend to their posterity. This 
 tenure being founded on absenteeism, also takes away 
 all inducements from landlords to reside in Ireland; and 
 there is no reason why they should, for they have no 
 land to manage or improve. Without imputing to ab¬ 
 senteeism all the evils which some people are apt to 
 attribute to it, on the other hand it cannot be denied that 
 the owner of an estate, by residing on his property, has 
 more frequent opportunities of attending to the wants of his 
 people than when residing at a distance ; and improvement 
 must be forced on a resident landlord, if he possesses the 
 least intellect or humanity. Indeed it may be said that 
 there are two sets of nonresidents—those who look after 
 their property, and those that do not. Unfortunately for 
 Ireland, many of her non-resident landlords are of the latter 
 description, and this tenure necessarily increases the num¬ 
 ber. A non-resident proprietor may be a better landlord 
 than a resident, but it does not necessarily follow that he is. 
 
75 
 
 but rather the contrary is to be inferred; and it is there¬ 
 fore incumbent upon him,, in the first place, to employ 
 a person on whom he may rely as to the management 
 of his estate, always bearing in mind that mere receipt 
 of rent is not management: he should employ] an agent 
 who will act kindly, leniently, and honestly towards his 
 tenants; who will look after the cultivation of his estate, 
 and prevent the land from being improperly used; who will 
 encourage and assist the tenants in making improvements. 
 
 A good landlord is sometimes held to be a man who in¬ 
 dulges his tenants, by allowing them to run in arrear, 
 and does not look to his estate. A little reflection will 
 show that such a man is not a good landlord, but the 
 reverse : he neglects his estate, he increases not the com¬ 
 fort of his tenants, and he encourages them in idleness and 
 sloth; and this continues till they are overpowered with ar¬ 
 rears, all the while continuing within the power and the 
 grasp of the landlord, who may pounce upon them and dis¬ 
 train, on any day they may displease him. Such a system 
 is ruinous to landlord and tenant. A good and faithful 
 agent is not enough: the landlord should himself visit the 
 property as often as he can, and watch, encourage, and as¬ 
 sist the operations of the occupiers of small farms : he should 
 ascertain what general improvements ought to be made in 
 draining, irrigating, and cultivation. He should settle his 
 accounts with his agent at least every year; and closely 
 attend to the mode of letting, and the mode of settle¬ 
 ment practised. A duty is cast upon the owner of 
 every estate, that by his management of that estate the 
 public and the state do not suffer; and this duty is inde¬ 
 pendent of the moral and religious obligation thrown upon 
 the landlord to secure, in as much as he can, the comfort 
 and happiness of his tenants. 
 
 I trust I have shown that this" tenure should be altered; 
 
76 
 
 and it may be altered without injury to any individual. A 
 bill should be passed, enabling all tenants for life and other 
 incapacitated persons to sell to the lessee the reversion in 
 these properties, with the approbation of the Commissioners 
 of the Board of Works, or commissioners to be appointed 
 for that purpose, and upon notice to the remainder-man, and 
 to receive either an equivalent in land, to be settled to the 
 same uses as the reversion, or a gross sum of money, to be 
 laid out under the approbation of the Court of Chancery, to 
 be obtained in a summary w r ay, in the purchase of other 
 lands, to be settled to the same uses as the reversion sold. 
 In like manner all tenants for life and other incapacitated 
 persons interested in the leasehold should be enabled, with 
 the same approbation and consent, and upon the same notice, 
 to buy the reversion, and either to give an equivalent in land 
 or a gross sum of money; and for that purpose to raise the 
 gross sum upon the land which shall remain disencumbered 
 of the term. 
 
 In respect of the derivative leases to which I have already 
 referred, in which the toties quoties covenant, as it is called, 
 is contained, I would confer the same powers. 
 
 For five years this conversion should be voluntary, but 
 after five years it should be compulsory upon all owners of 
 the reversions and all lessees for lives renewable for ever, 
 upon the same principle as the tithe commutation in Eng¬ 
 land,—the Board of Works or commissioners appointed 
 for the purpose to determine the terms. 
 
 In this manner the landlord would, instead of the rever¬ 
 sion, have an estate in possession, over which, and in the ma¬ 
 nagement of which he would have control, or with the 
 occupiers of which he would be in immediate connexion, 
 and who would thereby be induced to attend to the improve¬ 
 ment and proper cultivation of the property; and the lessee 
 would be absolute owner and have the absolute control over 
 
77 
 
 that part of the property which would remain with him. 
 The advantages to the landlord and the lessee would be ne¬ 
 cessarily great: the advantages to the public would be still 
 greater, for instead of non-improving lessors and lessees, as 
 under the present tenure, both lessors and lessees would have 
 an interest to improve and to attend to their properties. 
 
 A bill similar in principle as to copyholds in England 
 was last session introduced by the Attorney-General for Eng¬ 
 land. It was read a second time, and referred to a select 
 
 ■* 
 
 committee. That committee was composed of most of the 
 real property lawyers in the House, and many lords of 
 manors, and amongst them Sir Robert Peel and Mr. Shaw 
 Lefevre. They agreed to a report in which are contained 
 recommendations as to the enfranchisement of copyholds 
 very similar to those I have suggested as to the leaseholds 
 for lives renewable for ever. In the bill introduced there 
 was an option of giving and receiving an equivalent in land, 
 or a gross sum of money, or an annual rent. This provision 
 as to annual rent I have not inserted in the bill I have pro¬ 
 posed, because although litigation and complexity of the 
 titles would be got rid of, and also the uncertainty of tenure 
 on behalf of the tenant, yet the landlord would continue to 
 be a mere receiver of rent without having any interest or 
 control in or over the management of the property. My 
 friend, Mr. James Stewart, the member for Honiton, has 
 prepared a bill carrying into effect the recommendations of 
 the committee, which I trust will receive the sanction of the 
 legislature, and which will serve as a precedent and a guide 
 for the conversion of this tenure in Ireland into fee simple. 
 
 Sixth Measure. 
 
 There is no greater obstacle to the improvement and 
 cultivation of land, and consequently to the employment of 
 the people, than the holding of property in undivided 
 shares, whether as parceners, joint tenants, or tenants 
 
78 
 
 in common ; and the same observation applies to the case 
 of confusion in and non-ascertainment of boundaries. Every 
 facility should therefore be given to parties holding undi¬ 
 vided shares to have a partition made, so that the share of 
 each may be held in severalty and in like manner as to the 
 determination and fixing of boundaries. In cases of par¬ 
 tition the old remedy was by writ at common law, but 
 which being very defective, recourse has within late years 
 been had to the Court of Chancery, which by means of its 
 power over parties and of directing the necessary convey¬ 
 ances to be made, gives an effectual relief, but, I regret to 
 say, by a very tedious and most expensive mode of proceed¬ 
 ing. A bill is filed, answers are put in, the cause regularly 
 set down for hearing, a decree obtained, and by that decree 
 the relief which might have been given at once is granted, 
 viz. a commission directed to certain individuals to divide 
 the land in severalty. During this tedious process parties 
 may die, others may marry, or become bankrupts or insol¬ 
 vents, in all which cases it is necessary to file bills of re¬ 
 vision or supplement, all which is attended with further 
 delay and expense. I know a case at this moment depend¬ 
 ing in the courts in Dublin, where the bill for a petition was 
 filed in 1822, and no decree has as yet been obtained. A 
 great portion of this delay is of course attributable to the 
 parties themselves : many deaths and other alterations in the 
 condition of the parties have occurred, upon each of which 
 occasions ample opportunities were given for delay and ex¬ 
 pense, until at length the parties are disgusted with the 
 whole proceeding. 
 
 A power of partition is contained in every well-drawn set¬ 
 tlement or will in England, and is generally given to trustees 
 with the consent of the tenant for life. If all the parties in¬ 
 terested were invested with such power, or were absolutely 
 entitled, there would of course be no necessity for applying 
 to the court at all. Unfortunately these powers have not 
 
79 
 
 been thought of in Ireland, hence the necessity of inter¬ 
 ference ; and my proposition is, that every person entitled to 
 an undivided share, whether for an estate for life or any 
 greater estate, should be at liberty to apply to the Court of 
 Chancery, by petition in a summary way, for a partition, 
 and that the court should thereupon at once, or, after a re¬ 
 ference to the master, give all necessary directions for a par¬ 
 tition, and direct all necessary conveyances to be executed. 
 
 Provision is then made by the bill for the application of 
 
 ■* 
 
 money to be received, by way of equality of partition, in the 
 purchase of other lands under the direction of the court, to 
 be settled to the same uses, and power is given to the tenant 
 for life, with the approbation of the court, to raise money for 
 equality of partition. Provision is then made for due notice 
 of the proceedings being given to all parties interested. 
 
 By the sixteenth section of the 41st Geo. III. cap. 109, the 
 General Enclosure Act, it is enacted—■ 
 
 ‘ 4 That it shall be lawful for any such Commissioner or Commis¬ 
 sioners, and he or they is, and are hereby authorised and empow¬ 
 ered (upon the request in writing of such joint tenants, or co¬ 
 partners, or tenants, in common, or any or either of them, or of 
 the husbands, guardians, trustees, committees, or attorneys, of 
 such as are under coverture, minors, lunatics, or under any other 
 incapacity, as aforesaid, or absent beyond seas, to make partition 
 and division of the messuages, cottages, tenements, lands, and 
 allotment or allotments, to such of the said owners or proprietors 
 who shall be entitled to the same as joint tenants, co-partners, or 
 tenants in common, and to allot the same accordingly to such 
 owners and proprietors in severalty. And from and immediately 
 after the said allotments shall be so made and declared, the same 
 shall be holden and enjoyed by the person or persons to whom 
 the same shall be allotted in severalty, in such and the same man¬ 
 ner, and subject to such and the same uses as the undivided 
 parts or shares of such estates would have been held, in case 
 such partition and division had not been made.” 
 
 Objections have been made to these powers of leasing and 
 exchange, and also of partition, on the ground of their hav- 
 
80 
 
 ing a retrospective effect; but this objection would equally 
 apply to the Scotch Act of the 10th Geo. III. cap. 51, and 
 the Act relating to Scotland of the 5th Geo. IV. cap. 87, as 
 well as to the General Enclosure Act; and this objection 
 can have little effect, when it is considered that the granting- 
 of these powers is to supply what must be considered 
 omissions in settlements and wills, and that no injury can 
 arise to any one, nor is the interest of any third party 
 sacrificed. 
 
 Now, with respect to disputed boundaries, of which I re¬ 
 gret to say there are many cases in Ireland, the Railway 
 Commissioners, in their report, state— 
 
 “ Another subject of angry contention before the same tribunals 
 (courts of petty sessions) is furnished by ill-defined boundaries, 
 neglected fences, and consequent trespass, between the neigh¬ 
 bouring tenants of the small divisions of land above described. 
 More time and money are commonly wasted in such contests 
 than would suffice to repair all the damage which forms the 
 ground of quarrel; and animosities are engendered, which often 
 lead to feuds of a lasting duration and the most deadly conse¬ 
 quences.” 
 
 Besides, it will become essentially necessary to have these 
 boundaries settled according to the progress made in culti¬ 
 vation. The present remedy is by ejectment, and which, 
 after useless delay, and going through the unnecessary forms 
 of filing a declaration, putting in a plea, filing, replication, 
 joining issue, and sending the record down to the assizes ; 
 and after delivering of heavy briefs with suitable fees, and 
 the expense attendant upon the bringing of witnesses to the 
 assize towns, generally ends in the appointment of one or 
 more persons as arbitrators to settle the bounds, or the jury 
 proceed to a view. 
 
 I do not see any good reason why all that part which is 
 played in the court above should not be abolished, and that a 
 petition in a short form, and in a summary way, should 
 not be presented to one of the going judges of assize, pray- 
 
81 
 
 ing that the boundaries in dispute may be settled ; and, ac¬ 
 cordingly, this provision is contained in the proposed bill; 
 and the judge is thereupon directed to appoint a person as 
 a referee, to ascertain the identity of the lands, and the 
 boundaries thereof mentioned in the petition. The duties of 
 the referee are then defined. He is to inquire whether any 
 doubts exist as to the boundaries, and if there are any, he is 
 to cause all maps and surveys in the possession of the par¬ 
 ties to be produced, and he is to cause the attendance of all 
 necessary witnesses ; he is then to make his award, and also 
 to cause a map or plan to be made, according to the boun¬ 
 daries ascertained by him. He is directed to give notice of 
 his intention to proceed in the inquiries, in order that all 
 parties interested may attend ; and he is also to give notice 
 of his award, and of the place where it is lodged, in order 
 that all parties may have access thereto. An appeal is then 
 given to any party dissatisfied to the next-going judge of 
 assize, who may, if he thinks proper, summon a jury; and 
 the decision of the judge or verdict of the jury will be con¬ 
 clusive. And the award so finally settled is to be depo¬ 
 sited with the clerk of the peace. The advantages of this 
 measure are, the great saving of time and expense to the 
 parties, which, by the present method of ejectment, are 
 incurred without any object whatever; and this is a most fit 
 opportunity for such a measure to be passed as the surveys 
 made by the officers employed in the Ordnance Survey will 
 be of course used, and advantage taken of them, by the re¬ 
 ferees, and all deference paid to them, prepared, as they 
 have been, with all due care and attention, by experi¬ 
 enced and skilful men. When the multitude of disputed 
 cases of boundaries in Ireland are considered, and the disas¬ 
 trous quarrelling and fighting which are consequential, (for 
 the tenant takes in general a livelier interest in the bounda¬ 
 ries than the landlord,) no doubt can exist of the necessity of 
 
 G 
 
82 
 
 a measure whereby these boundaries may, in a summary 
 way, and at a cheap rate, be ascertained and finally settled. 
 The Ordnance Survey only finds for the purposes of taxation, 
 but not as to title or enjoyment. 
 
 Can any objection be taken to the proposed measure ? 
 The summary proceedings before the judge, and getting rid 
 of the proceedings in Dublin, cannot, I conceive, be found 
 fault with. If, then, the appointment of the referee be ob¬ 
 jected to, I appeal to the Scotch Act, already referred to, 
 whereby the sheriff in Scotland, respecting exchanges, 
 is authorized to appoint persons to ascertain the value of the 
 estates proposed to be exchanged. I appeal to the present 
 system of proceeding under commissions of partition, di¬ 
 rected by the Court of Chancery. I appeal to the autho¬ 
 rity given to the commissioners, under the General Enclosure 
 Act, of ascertaining boundaries; and to the bill brought in 
 last session by her Majesty’s Attorney-General for England, 
 intituled “ A bill to authorise the identifying or ascertaining 
 of the boundaries of manors and lands, where such bounda¬ 
 ries are confused or unknown.” If it should be thought 
 proper that more than one referee should be appointed, with 
 an umpire, I should not object; but as the referee, as pro¬ 
 posed by the bill, will be appointed by the judge, and not 
 by any of the parties, I think the appointment of a single 
 referee preferable. 
 
 Seventh Measure. 
 
 A very large sum is levied annually in Ireland, by grand 
 juries, to repair public roads, and the work is performed by 
 contract. These contracts are generally given to occupiers 
 of small farms, who prefer getting money in this way, from 
 the county, to the proper cultivation of their land, and who 
 employ their sons and relations, also holders of small farms, 
 to assist in this occupation, which requires their time at the 
 

 83 
 
 very season of the year when agricultural labour is most 
 required. It may be doubted, for other reasons, whether 
 the system of getting these works performed by contract has 
 answered; and certainly it has not fulfilled the expectation 
 of the people. The contractor^ must give security ; and to 
 obtain that security from his landlord or rich neighbouring 
 landlord, he must give an equivalent, which is the employ¬ 
 ment of the tenants of his sureties, whether fit or not; and 
 thus the country is altogether deprived of the benefit of com¬ 
 petition, for those only who can procure security receive the 
 contract. It is, however, an improvement upon the old job¬ 
 bing system of landlords, who sought the presentment or 
 authority for the work, and employed their own poor tenants, 
 who executed the work very imperfectly. There is now, in 
 addition to the contract, the check of supervision by the 
 county surveyor; but, without any reflection upon the dili¬ 
 gence of the county surveyor, I believe it will be conceded 
 that the maintenance of roads might be provided for in a 
 way more advantageous to the community. 
 
 At present the large sum of 400,000/. is levied off* the 
 people by individuals who derive their power independently 
 of the body of tax-payers—individuals nominated by the 
 nominee of the crown, selected annually from among them¬ 
 selves, and who constitutes the grand juries without any 
 inquiry as to qualification, either according to some settled 
 system of rotation conducive to their local interests, or 
 through party views, or the influences of family ties or 
 social friendship. It is not, however, to be inferred that 
 there are not many most honourable, conscientious, and 
 able men on grand juries. I assail but the principle of the 
 system, in which there is nothing to prevent abuse of power 
 and neglect of the public interests. The grand juries are 
 not the representatives of the people ; and the first object of 
 my measure is to transfer the management of fiscal affairs 
 
 
 o 2 
 
 

 84 
 
 from these bodies to others, constituted by the free votes 
 of the rate-payers apportioned according to the property of 
 each. I propose that these bodies shall be constituted 
 annually, and assemble weekly. I denominate them, in my 
 Bill, “ Board of Supervisors,” for levying and applying rates 
 for maintaining public roads. At first I proposed that the 
 Board of Public Works should divide the counties into dis¬ 
 tricts; but now, looking to the local arrangements in pro¬ 
 gress under the Poor-law, and to the necessity of having the 
 same local divisions for all local purposes of a public nature, 
 I propose to adopt the Poor Law unions ; but if another 
 district division should be preferred, in order to prevent the 
 possible danger of the Board of Guardians being constituted 
 the Board of Supervisors, I should not object. I also propose 
 to use the same valuations for rating as shall be used by the 
 Poor Law Guardians, and consequently to extend the rates 
 to the same hereditaments as are to be rated for the poor; 
 and I wish to adopt the same rule in determining the num¬ 
 ber of members of which each board should consist as the 
 Poor Law Commissioners may establish in their unions ; 
 but using their electoral divisions only for the elections, there 
 being no end to attain by limiting the rating to these divi¬ 
 sions for the maintenance of roads, as there is in rating for 
 paupers and the checking of pauperism. It is further pro¬ 
 posed to give to the Board of Public Works for Ireland 
 similar powers and authorities of control and direction 
 
 y 
 
 over the district boards as the Commissioners of Poor Law 
 have over the Boards of Guardians. This is necessary for 
 the sake of uniformity of system throughout the country, 
 for the sake of insuring economy, and as a preventive 
 against jobbing, and at the same time insuring to the 
 public the certainty of the roads being properly main¬ 
 tained. 
 
 The bill then provides that the maintenance of the pre- 
 
85 
 
 sent roads within each district, and the making of such new 
 roads as shall be determined upon for each district, or the 
 portion passing through the district, shall be made under the 
 supervision and inspection of the district board. The bill then 
 specifies the powers for levying the rates, to be thenceforth 
 applotted on the new districts instead of baronies. The 
 barony divisions are too irregular to become districts for any 
 local purposes: in some counties they appear on the maps 
 like the toys called Chinese puzzles, and in every county 
 they are very unequal in extent. 
 
 The county surveyors are to make all necessary sur¬ 
 veys and estimates for the improvement and alteration of 
 existing roads, and for the formation of new roads when 
 required; and it will be also their duty to report to the 
 boards the state of the roads, pointing out the repairs or 
 improvements which appear to be necessary. 
 
 When works are to be executed, subject to plans and speci¬ 
 fications approved by the Board of Public Works, a time 
 is to be fixed for the execution of the work; and overseers 
 are to be employed to inspect materials and the progress of 
 the work, making weekly returns to the Board of Supervisors. 
 
 The Board of Supervisors may borrow money from indi¬ 
 viduals or from the Board of Works. The requisite powers 
 for auditing accounts and general management are also 
 contained in the bill. 
 
 In England the parishes, and not the counties, contribute 
 ' to the support of the highways, whilst the counties contri¬ 
 bute to the support and repairs of bridges. Let me not be 
 misunderstood that, in referring to the example of England 
 in this respect, I approve of her present faulty system, 
 which will be unsatisfactory until based on the representa¬ 
 tive principle. The surveyor, however, who has the care 
 of the roads in England, under the control of the justices 
 of the peace, is elected by the parishes at vestry. A skil¬ 
 ful person may be appointed by the justices as a district 
 

 > 
 
 surveyor for several parishes, but he does not interfere 
 with the levying of the rate in each parish. The import¬ 
 ance of having an elective board has been so strongly felt 
 in England, that, in the last act relating to highways, 
 which was passed in 5 & 6 Wm. IV., cap 50, intituled 
 <f An Act to consolidate and amend the Laws relating to 
 Highways in that part of Great Britain called England,” 
 it is enacted— 
 
 “ That in any parish where the population, by the then last 
 census, taken from the returns made to parliament, exceeds the 
 number of five thousand, if it shall be determined by a majority of 
 two-thirds of the votes of the vestrymen present at such meeting as 
 aforesaid, to form a board for the superintendence of the highways 
 of the said parish, and for the purpose of carrying the provisions 
 of this act into effect, it shall be lawful for the said vestry to nomi¬ 
 nate and elect any number of persons, not exceeding twenty nor 
 less than five, being respectively householders, and residing in and 
 assessed to the rate for the relief of the poor of the said parish, and 
 also liable to be rated to the repair of the highways, in the said 
 parish, under and by virtue of this act, to serve the office of sur¬ 
 veyors of the highways for the year ensuing ; and such persons so 
 to be nominated and elected as such surveyors, or any three of 
 them, shall and are hereby authorised to act as a board, and to 
 be called ‘ The Board for Repair of the Highways in the parish of 
 
 .’ (as the case may be), and to carry into effect the 
 
 powers, authorities, and directions in this act contained.” 
 
 Here, then, the representative principle is acknowledged. 
 
 The case of Belgium is still more directly in point. In 
 that happy and flourishing country there are communal 
 assemblies elected by the people, as well as provincial assem¬ 
 blies also elected by the people ; the communal assemblies 
 acting under the control of the Minister of Public Works, 
 the Governor of the Province, and in concert with the Pro¬ 
 vincial assemblies. To the communal assemblies are in¬ 
 trusted the formation and maintenance of local roads. 
 
 An Irishman travelling through Belgium cannot refrain 
 horn asking himself, why is it that Ireland is wretched 
 
87 
 
 whilst Belgium is flourishing ? If he inquires and considers, 
 he will find that the government in Belgium for the time 
 being, whether it be William of Nassau or Leopold the 
 First, takes under its immediate protection and care the agri¬ 
 culture of the country and the interests of the labouring peo¬ 
 ple, and for that purpose there is a Minister of Public Works, 
 whose duty is solely and entirely to ameliorate the condition 
 of the people and to assist them in the making of roads and 
 water communications, in every other local improvement, and 
 in the attainment of every useful public object. He will 
 find moreover that the landlords, whether absentees or resi¬ 
 dents, are equally attentive to the interests of their tenants ; 
 and that by means of this united agency an admirable sys¬ 
 tem of agriculture exists, sustaining a happy, honest, and 
 industrious people. 
 
 When in Belgium in the autumn of 1837, I was happy 
 to find that the district boards proposed by the bill which I 
 introduced in the session of 1837 resembled the communal 
 assemblies there. But I cannot satisfy my mind that it 
 would be right to stop here in the reform of the grand jury 
 fiscal system of Ireland, and not follow the advice of the 
 Commissioners of Poor Inquiry, and have also superior fiscal 
 assemblies, with more extended districts, and the utmost 
 powers necessary for general fiscal purposes. I have not 
 introduced a bill for the purpose, merely because I think 
 such a measure ought to be introduced by government— 
 however, principally because the evidence of the House of 
 Commons’ Committee of 1835 went more directly to the 
 establishment of district boards; and I am now only endea¬ 
 vouring to carry into effect the recommendations of the com¬ 
 mittee in the first place, and, next, such of the recommenda¬ 
 tions of the witnesses as in my opinion may be usefully 
 adopted. 
 
 In Belgium there is in each commune—that is, a district 
 varying in population from 1000 to 80,000 inhabitants—a 
 
 * 
 
 
88 
 
 council elected by the people, a burgomaster, and two aider- 
 men (or sheriffs), nominated by the king out of the council. 
 The council consists of seven members, should the popula¬ 
 tion not exceed 1000, of nine members if the population 
 should exceed 1000 and not exceed 3000; but when it 
 amounts to 3000 the number of the council is eleven; and 
 so it augments with the population, to the number of thirty- 
 one members. The electors are those who contribute to the 
 direct taxes, and reside in the commune from the 1st of 
 January previously to the election, such contributions 
 varying according to the population. The council dis¬ 
 solves every three years, but the members are re-eligible, 
 and the election is held on each 10th of October. To these 
 assemblies are intrusted the management and regulation of 
 the properties belonging to the commune; all gifts that may 
 be made to the commune; all the local taxes and tolls; all 
 the fairs and market tolls ; all the roads that pass through 
 the commune; and all the canals and navigable rivers : in 
 fine, the management of all the public affairs of the com 
 mune. 
 
 The provincial assemblies are elected by the same consti¬ 
 tuencies as elect the members of the legislature;—the mem¬ 
 bers elected for each province vary from 37 to 64, and each 
 councillor is paid five francs daily, besides his travelling 
 expenses. The councillors assemble in the capital of the 
 province, having the governor as president, and sitting in 
 open assembly, for thirteen days in every month of July. 
 There is always sitting a permanent deputation, consisting 
 of six members chosen out of the council, with whom the 
 communal assemblies are in constant communication; and 
 there may be an extraordinary council called by the King. 
 The council presents to the King the names of the candi¬ 
 dates to be councillors of the court of assize, and for the 
 election of President and Vice-President of the Tribunal de 
 Premiere Instance. The council also names all the provin- 
 
cial officers, and in each year examines and audits the ac¬ 
 counts of the province, and prepares the budget of ways and 
 means for the succeeding year; but all must receive the 
 approbation of the King ; and the accounts of each year are 
 deposited in the archives of both the Houses of Parlia¬ 
 ment. 
 
 The provincial expenses are those of the Courts of Assize 
 and of the Tribunal de Premiere Instance, of the Tribunal 
 Commerce, of the Justices of the Peace, and of the Police; 
 also the maintenance of court-houses and their establishments 
 within the province ; of the police and the civil and mili¬ 
 tary prisons of the province; of the several engineers 
 employed on account of the province; of the drainages of 
 the province; the repayment to the communes of the ex¬ 
 pense of passing paupers from one place to another; and 
 also the expenses of making out the lists of juries and elec¬ 
 tors. They further include the maintenance of the cathe¬ 
 dral churches, of diocesan schools, of foundlings, and of the 
 several buildings belonging to the province, with a portion 
 of the communal charges for the primary and model schools. 
 
 I have inserted in Appendix, No. 5, Abstracts of the Re¬ 
 ports of the Provincial Assemblies for the Provinces of Ant¬ 
 werp, Luxembourgh, and Namur, for the year 1837- These 
 show in detail the great and important services rendered to 
 the public by the assemblies, and prove that Belgium en¬ 
 joys a happy system of local government controlled and 
 directed by the executive. These Reports, and the several 
 other Reports - of the Provinces of the kingdom, I owe 
 to Sir Hamilton Seymour, our minister at Brussels, for 
 whose kindness in procuring information I am much in¬ 
 debted ; and I also beg thus publicly to express my thanks 
 to Monsieur Nothomb, the Minister of Public Works, for 
 his polite attention. 
 
 Belgium, generally, is as populous as the most populous 
 
90 
 
 % 
 
 n 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 parts of Ireland; and yet in Belgium emigration is never 
 called for as a relief. The Belgians look to the cultivation 
 of their own soil, converting sandy plains into magnificent 
 fields of corn, clover, turnips, rape, flax, beans, pease, all di¬ 
 vided and fenced by timber of great value and beauty. I 
 allude particularly to the Pays de Waes, between Ghent and 
 the Scheldt, at one time a sandy plain; and I confess, in going 
 through this country, and passing through the rich villages of 
 St. Nicholas and Beverin, I could not refrain from exclaiming 
 how unjust the government and the landlords of Ireland have 
 been to her unfortunate but well-deserving people. 
 
 Yes, the example of Belgium is important. Let us at¬ 
 tempt the experiment of assimilation. The Belgians are 
 Catholics as well as the Irish: Belgium is as Catholic as 
 Ireland: the Catholic priests in Belgium are as influential 
 as in Ireland; in both countries equally respected and re¬ 
 vered—zealous, learned, laborious, devoted pastors of their 
 flocks. Belgium has also a Protestant population, a small 
 minority, for which a church establishment is provided; 
 there concord exists; no absurd divisions in society disturb 
 the public peace. 
 
 This measure is chiefly founded upon the suggestions of 
 Mr. Griffith in his evidence before the Committee of 1835, 
 and this interesting evidence I have set forth in Appendix 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 I should mention that a bill for the administration of 
 certain civil offices of a local nature by county boards in 
 
 Ireland w-as introduced by Sir Richard Musgrave, prepared 
 with great care and skill. It was well received by a large 
 portion of the Irish members, but it did not meet with the 
 support of Government, it being thought advisable that all 
 such propositions should stand over until after the passing of 
 the Poor Law Bill. England and Scotland have obtained 
 corporate reform for their towns; Ireland is about to obtain 
 
91 
 
 the same. If the towns of the United Kingdom are to have 
 councillors elected by the rate-payers for the management 
 of their local affairs, upon what principle can a different 
 system be supported as to counties ? They are altogether 
 more populous—there is a greater expenditure of money— 
 there is as much mismanagement as in the corporations. 
 No political objection can arise, as these Boards merely re¬ 
 late to fiscal matters; and care is taken that property which 
 bears the taxation should be properly represented; and no 
 objection can be made by those who supported, or did not 
 oppose, the constitution of the Boards of Guardians. They 
 are both founded on the same just principles, that of giving 
 control to the persons who contribute to the funds to be 
 managed. 
 
 Eighth Measure. 
 
 In 1823 the Bank of England determined upon lending 
 to a certain extent money on mortgage at 4 1. per cent. Lord 
 Grenville, in the first instance, doubted the power of the 
 Bank to lend on mortgage, but his scruples were overcome 
 by a very able argument of Mr. Freshfield, the Member for 
 Penryn. The effect upon the landed interest and society in 
 general was instantaneous and most salutary, and the effect 
 was so general throughout the country, and so efficacious, 
 that the Bank was not called upon to advance the sum origi¬ 
 nally contemplated by them, individuals and public bodies 
 coming forward and offering to lend money on the same and 
 even lower terms. Mr. Huskisson, who at first was a very 
 unwulling convert to the proceeding, soon afterwards admitted 
 that there never was a measure that succeeded better or 
 conferred greater benefits upon the public. But the effect 
 of this measure will be best described by giving Mr. Fresh- 
 field’s letter to Col. Conolly 
 
92 
 
 “ Upper Wimpole-street , 9th April, 1838. 
 
 “ Dear Sir, 
 
 “ If the information you have requested can be made useful to 
 Ireland, it will afford me the greatest satisfaction. 
 
 “Prior to, and in the year 1823, the utmost inconvenience was 
 experienced by the landed interest in England, from the difficulty, 
 amounting almost to an impossibility, of obtaining the advance 
 of large sums on mortgage, however ample might be the secu¬ 
 rity ; and many persons in possession of large unincumbered 
 estates, held in fee simple, were compelled to submit to raise money 
 by way of annuity, or sometimes lenders would consent to ad¬ 
 vance half on mortgage, provided the other half was received as 
 the purchase money for an equivalent annuity. A minor, but yet 
 serious inconvenience, was experienced by landed proprietors, 
 who had been compelled to accept twenty or thirty loans on 
 mortgage in small sums, some of which were called in by the 
 lenders annually ; and the borrower was compelled to obtain 
 other loans for their discharge, in which he found no difficulty, but 
 was subject to a serious annual charge for law expenses upon 
 such transactions. 
 
 “ In this state of things the Directors of the Bank of England 
 were pressed to consider the subject upon public grounds, and in 
 the result they determined, about October in that year (1823), to 
 advance money on mortgage to an extent contemplated, without 
 being positively fixed, and with an understanding that the sums 
 should be large, and not such as were usually invested by trustees 
 of marriage, settlements, and frugal persons, who accumulated 
 the excess of their income. The regulations of the Bank were 
 also framed to afford the accommodation to borrowers in a man¬ 
 ner the least expensive and the most advantageous. 
 
 “ Applications were made to the Bank for loans to a very con¬ 
 siderable extent, and great expedition was used in completing 
 the securities ; but so entirely were the anticipations of the benefit 
 of the measure realized, that the Bank did not advance to the 
 extent originally contemplated ; but the example being esta¬ 
 blished, and the pressure of the demand for loans removed, other 
 capitalists became competitors, and mortgages taken by the Bank 
 at four per cent, interest were paid off by those capitalists, by 
 
93 
 
 means of their advances, at a lower rate of interest. The object 
 of the Bank was accomplished „ they never sought the measure 
 as a profitable mode of investment, and they were well satisfied to 
 find the landowner relieved, and to believe that the pressure 
 would not return at any early period ; and they therefore made 
 no alterations in their rate of interest, nor did they make any 
 new advances, except under very special circumstances. 
 
 “The benefit experienced in England from the measures be¬ 
 fore mentioned led to frequent inquiries by Irish landholders, to 
 know whether similar advances would be made upon Irish se¬ 
 curity, in some instances to pay off incumbrances bearing a high 
 rate of interest, and in others to promote improvements upon 
 the property. The subject was considered, and the directors 
 were advised that, looking to the date of the act under which 
 they derived their power, it was at least doubtful whether they 
 could make advances on mortgage in Ireland ; and the directors 
 also considered that the existence of a national bank in Ireland 
 relieved them from any such duty of interference as they had felt 
 obligatory upon them in England. 
 
 Various circumstances brought to my knowledge the immense 
 importance of introducing capital into Ireland, and to the utmost 
 of my power I promoted that object, but I am sorry to say, with 
 very limited success : the principal difficulties were—1st, the ha¬ 
 bit of making a distinction between English and Irish security, 
 so much to the disadvantage of the latter as almost to amount to 
 an exclusion; and 2nd, the unsettled, or politically agitated state 
 of Ireland. 
 
 Upon the latter point I stated the result of my own experience 
 in the discussion of the Irish Municipal Reform Bill, which you 
 will find deposited in the Mirror of Parliament, 14th June, 1836, 
 No. 27, p. 1898 : to that statement I beg to add copies of two 
 letters written by me in 1834, upon the same subject. 
 
 The result, in my mind, is, that Ireland suffers from the want 
 of a measure such as the Bank of England adopted in 1823 ; and if 
 an example equally liberal were made, the effect would be equally 
 successful, and numerous capitalists would be ready to invest largely 
 from the moment it was found that Irish security obtained its due 
 weight and consideration in the opinion of monied men. And I 
 ought to add, that some consideration peculiar to the position of 
 
94 
 
 \ 
 
 the Bank of England rendered a degree of caution necessary in 
 their advances, not applicable to other public bodies : in other 
 words, that what the Bank did without inconvenience to the in¬ 
 stitution may be safely and advantageously followed by other 
 banks less restrained by public duties and considerations. 
 
 “ I remain, dear Sir, 
 
 “ Very truly yours, 
 
 (Signed) “ J. W. Freshfield.” 
 
 Col. Conolly , M. P, 
 fyc. &c. fyc. 
 
 The first reflection that occurs upon reading this excellent 
 letter is, how did it happen that, when this advantage was 
 given to the landed proprietors in England, a similar mea¬ 
 sure was not thought of for Ireland ? But after the favourable 
 result in England was obtained, it is most extraordinary that 
 Ireland was then overlooked. If the Bank of England, or 
 the Bank of Ireland, had not the power of advancing money 
 on mortgage in Ireland, surely that power might be given 
 by an Act of Parliament. Can a single distinction, ever so 
 slight, be taken between the two cases ? That the power 
 should be given to the Bank of Ireland may be considered 
 by some as more convenient than to the Bank of England, as 
 the issues of the Bank of England may be considered as more 
 directly influencing the exchanges. The charter of the Bank 
 of Ireland has expired, and is only renewed for a year. An 
 opportunity, therefore, occurs of conferring the power on 
 the Bank of Ireland. The exchanges have been, until very 
 lately, in our favour, and are not now much, if at all, against 
 us; and there is a large accumulation of gold in the coffers 
 of the Bank of England. The legal rate of interest in 
 Ireland is 61. per cent,., and is generally paid on all old 
 loans, and even many new loans; and the lowest rate is 51. 
 per cent., whilst the highest rate in England is 4 1. There 
 have been mortgages effected at 3/. lCb. in England. Why 
 should there be this disparity ? I believe it will not be de- 
 
95 
 
 med that the interest on Irish mortgages is as regularly paid, 
 as on English securities; and Ireland possesses the great 
 advantages of a registry. The reduction of interest from 
 6/. or 51. per cent, to 41. would enable Irish proprietors to 
 make improvements on their estates, employ the people, and 
 avert much of the burden which, without an extension of 
 employment, must be imposed by the poor-rates. 
 
 Other and signal advantages would also arise. In most 
 instances the land-proprietors are indebted, in sums not 
 large, to several individuals by judgment (the general me¬ 
 thod of borrowing money in Ireland) : the money borrowed 
 on mortgage of the Bank would be applied in payment 
 of these sums, and which, when received, would be applied 
 to commercial or agricultural purposes, still further in¬ 
 creasing the means of employment; and, from the inability 
 of the landlords to pay their creditors, much capital is now 
 withheld from use. It would also have, to a considerable 
 extent, the good effect of putting an end to that destructive 
 system of borrowing by judgment, constant harassing of te¬ 
 nants by means of several elegits issued against the same 
 lands. That useful act, introduced by the present Master 
 of the Rolls, of granting receivers in cases of custodiams, 
 has had a considerable effect in bringing about this desirable 
 object; and the provisions of the Imprisonment for Debt 
 Bill, passed last session, when extended to Ireland, will, I 
 trust, also operate beneficially in this respect. 
 
 The measure I now propose must, of course, proceed 
 from Government; and if it be objected to as an undue in¬ 
 terference with the money-market, my answer is, that the 
 same objection was made in 1823 to the loans of the Bank of 
 England, which had no injurious effect on the money-market. 
 But how can it be an interference with the money-market? 
 It is rather opening a new mart for capital. There is a large 
 amount of Irish capital at this moment in the funds; there 
 
is a redundancy of money in England, the Three per Cents, 
 bearing a price of 92/. and upwards, and Exchequer Bills 
 a premium of 68,?. and 70<y. Only let confidence be in¬ 
 spired, by the lending on mortgage by the Bank, and indi¬ 
 vidual capitalists in England and Ireland will come for¬ 
 ward, and be anxious to obtain those mortgages, as was the 
 case in England. 
 
 Ninth Measure. 
 
 I have frequently referred to the Board bf Public Works 
 in Ireland, as an essential and important part of the machi¬ 
 nery to be used for securing employment to the people. 
 This board was formed in the year 1831, under the Act 
 1 & 2 Will. IV., cap. 33, a most important measure, intro¬ 
 duced and carried through Parliament by the present 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer, and for which Ireland is 
 much indebted to him. It has been attended with signal 
 success; but its duties have been since largely augmented; 
 and to render it capable of carrying out the measures now 
 proposed for Irish improvement, its organization should be 
 more comprehensive: it should be in Ireland what the 
 Minister of Public Works is in Belgium. 
 
 On the formation of this board a sum of 500,000/. was 
 placed at its disposal, to be lent for public works and other 
 useful objects, and to individuals for the drainage and 
 i ther improvement of lands. These loans have been of the 
 greatest service to the country; an actual profit of interest, 
 to the amount of 2016/. lOs. 2d., has been realized; and it 
 appears, by the evidence of Sir J. F. Burgoyne before the 
 committee of 1835, that not a single loss has been sustained. 
 Of the 500,000/., however, a sum of 46,000/. has been ad¬ 
 vanced, under the authority of a subsequent act, to the Irish 
 Ecclesiastical Commissioners, which ought to be repaid. 
 One of the recommendations of the committee of 1835 was, 
 that another 500,000/. should be placed at the disposal of 
 
97 
 
 j 
 
 the board for similar loans to those contemplated by the 
 1 & 2 Will. IV., but only a sum of 100,000/. has been sup¬ 
 plied; and of these two sums of 500,000/. and 100,000/., 
 and the Exchequer Bills reissuable, only 93,022/., with the 
 prospect of an annual receipt of about 40,000/. in respect of 
 the loans already made, constitute the present loan-fund 
 under the control and management of the board. It is evi¬ 
 dent that this is not a sufficient sum to answer all the appli¬ 
 cations to be made, particularly if those^ measures which I 
 have suggested should be carried into effect. I do therefore 
 trust that this fund will be largely augmented and at least, 
 to the sum recommended by the committee of 1835; and 1 
 have the less difficulty in asking for this further advance op 
 profitable security, when I find that nearly five millions 
 have been advanced in England for similar purposes since 
 the year 1817. 
 
 Some recommendations of the committee of 1835 have 
 been carried into effect by the Act 6 & 7 Will. IV., cap. 
 108, the chief object of which was, giving to the Treasury 
 the power of enlarging the time of payment of principal and 
 interest, and also to reduce the interest at the discretion of 
 the Treasury, but not to a rate less than 10,?. per cent, per 
 annum above Exchequer Bill interest. The rate of interest 
 fixed by the Act of the 1 & 2 Will. IV. is 4/. per cent, for 
 advances to grand juries, companies, and commissioners and 
 trustees for public works, and 5/. per cent, on advances to 
 individuals. It is clear that in no case ought the rate to be 
 more than 10«y. above Exchequer Bill interest; and the 
 more particularly as the interest in England is already re¬ 
 duced to 41. per cent., and in some cases even less. The 
 repayment by grand juries is fixed at twelve instalments. 
 The time of repayment in respect of public works in the 
 hands of commissioners or trustees is twenty-five years, that 
 is, 41. per cent, on the principal: so that there is an annual 
 
 H 
 
98 
 
 payment of 8/. per cent, required. This is too strict, and 
 therefore many useful works are excluded, and whi^h would 
 be let in if the annual payment was reduced to 6 1. per cent., 
 that is, 3 1. 10s. for interest, and 21. 10s. for repayment of 
 principal. Of what consequence is it whether the prin¬ 
 cipal be repaid to the state in twenty-five or thirty years? 
 The cases detailed in the evidence before the committee of 
 1835, of the canal proposed between the town of Roscom¬ 
 mon and the Shannon, and the junction of the sea with Lough 
 Corrib at Galway (a distance of half a mile only), are 
 directly in point, and show what useful works are excluded. 
 I admit, however, that public works capable of yielding 81. 
 per cent, should be preferred; but, by the Act, the Commis¬ 
 sioners have no discretion. Again, in respect of loans to in¬ 
 dividuals, the repayment of principal must take place within 
 three years from the completion of the work, or seven years 
 from the actual advance. Now this might be made much 
 lighter, by extending the period to seven years from the 
 completion of the work, or ten years from its commence¬ 
 ment : for, until the work is actually completed, the means 
 of repayment will not be afforded to the individuals out of 
 this particular property. 
 
 Not more than a few loans have been made to indivi¬ 
 duals, owing to the expense and trouble of investigating the 
 title, and of making the proper searches; yet there is 
 great difficulty in diminishing these expenses : the encum¬ 
 bered state of the property frequently prevents a sufficient 
 security being given, which is much to be lamented, not 
 only on account of the great benefit arising to the public 
 and individuals on account of these improvements, and the' 
 necessary expenditure that would follow by the consequent 
 cultivation of the lands, but also because these improvements 
 must always be better and more judiciously effected under 
 the superintendence and care of the Board of Works, who 
 
99 
 
 not only require a proper engineer to be employed, but 
 from time to time, and before they make any payments of 
 money, send down their own engineer. It is therefore to 
 be hoped that mortgagees and encumbrancers will see their 
 own interest in giving priority to loans made by the Board 
 of Works for the improvement of the property, at least 
 over a portion of the lands, as thereby their security is 
 increased, at the same time that the estate is improved. 
 Then the Board of Works might be ’authorized to lend 
 money on estates although encumbered, if satisfied of the- 
 value and sufficiency of the security eventually ; if de¬ 
 fault was made in payment of the instalments or inte¬ 
 rests, facilities might be given to them of appointing 
 a receiver in a summary way, for the purpose of applying 
 the surplus rents in liquidation of their demand. At the 
 same time I admit that, regard being had to the public, and 
 to those who are or would be willing and able to pay, too 
 much caution cannot be taken by the Board and Treasury. 
 
 On the principle of the Scotch system, and which works so 
 well in Scotland, 50,000/. was pla ced at the disposal of the 
 Board of Works by the Act of 1 & 2 Will. IV., cap. 33, 
 to be applied as moiety grants for the making of .roads and 
 bridges, and the making of small harbours on the sea-coast. 
 The whole of the 50,000/. has been so applied, and never 
 was money better applied. The revenue has thereby been 
 increased to a great extent, not only directly but indirectly, 
 by the suppression of illicit distillation, and social happiness 
 has been acquired and imparted. After considerable im¬ 
 portunity, and in pursuance of the recommendation of the 
 Committee of 1835, another sum of 50,000/. was, by the Act 
 of 1 Victoria, placed at the disposal of the Board for the 
 same purposes. Of this, 13,350/. only remains ; but I am 
 happy to say that another 50,000Z. was, by an act of the 
 last session, also given to th# Board for the same purposes; '■ 
 
 h 2 
 
 ( 
 
I 
 
 100 
 
 and this may also be applied under the Act of 6 & 7 Will. 
 IV., in moiety grants for the erection of small harbours 
 and quays on rivers and lakes. 
 
 Looking at it as a mere profitable outlay, by giving to 
 the state an increased revenue, the object is eminently 
 attained; but it must also be considered in another 
 and still more important point of view—the amelio¬ 
 ration of the condition of the people. It is, in fact, a 
 erious duty imposed upon parliament to provide for 
 the internal communication of the country ; and it has 
 been admitted by Sir Robert Peel, that, for the construction 
 of roads and bridges, and for opening communications which 
 would not otherwise be made, grants to the extent of one 
 moiety may safely be made. We cannot expect lands to 
 be cultivated when there are no means of transporting the 
 produce or carrying manure. It is an absurdity to talk of 
 the reclamation or cultivation of lands, if we do not afford 
 the means of carriage and transportation of the produce. 
 Every facility, therefore, should be given to the transporta- 
 tion of agricultural produce ;—these, at the same time, would 
 serve as inlets for English manufactures ;—and, where ne¬ 
 cessary, roads and bridges should be made and maintained, 
 and inland navigation improved and facilitated. Happily, 
 by the very means we take to increase the agriculture of the 
 country, and thereby afford permanent employment for the 
 people, we are at the same time affording temporary em¬ 
 ployment ; such employment being not only most salutary, 
 by improving the condition of the people, but legitimate also, 
 by leading to continuous demand for labour. When com¬ 
 pelled by severe distress some years since, and assisted by 
 English charity, roads were made in Ireland, in the west 
 and southern districts, and what is the consequence ? Land, 
 that never yielded crops before, now yields the finest 
 oats imported in the London market; places which yielded 
 
 - .-aw* 
 
101 
 
 no revenue, now yield a considerable one. The witnesses 
 before the committees declare that the whole amount of 
 these grants has been long since returned to Government 
 by means of the increased revenue. The grants, amount¬ 
 ing to 87,000/. under the two acts, have caused an ex- 
 penditure of 174,000/. in those parts of the country where 
 employment was most required, and the whole is expended 
 in labour. 
 
 It is the opinion of Sir J. F. Burgoyne that the entire 
 expense of roads in the wild parts of tfie country should be | 
 borne by government, and his reasons are good and solid; 
 but I fear we should not be able to procure the assent of the 
 government to that extent. I am satisfied with the present 
 system of one moiety being granted; and I should even go 
 farther, and, to induce a larger expenditure, I should pro¬ 
 pose that, for the making of new roads in the wild and un¬ 
 cultivated parts of the country, one-third should be given by 
 government, one-third by the county, and one-third by the 
 proprietors through whose properties the roads run, and who 
 may derive great benefit from it; and I should give to all 
 tenants for life, and other incapacitated persons, the power of 
 raising the one-third as contained in the act of 1 & 2 Wm. IV., 
 and give priority to that charge, as in the same act. A dis¬ 
 cretion should, however, be placed in the Board of Works 
 and Treasury, not to require the one-third from the pro¬ 
 prietors in those cases where property might not be bene¬ 
 fited to any great degree. 
 
 By the act of the 1st Victoria, power is given to 
 three justices of the peace to call a meeting of the ma¬ 
 gistrates and the associated cess-payers to apply to the 
 Lord Lieutenant for the construction of a public work, 
 and upon the terms provided in the act, of the repay¬ 
 ment of one moiety of the expense; and the Lord Lieu¬ 
 tenant, if he think proper, is empowered to refer the 
 matter to the Board of Works to inquire into the same ; and 
 
102 
 
 if approved of by the board, they are, having obtained the 
 sanction of the Treasury, to carry the works into effect, one 
 moiety of the expense to be met by a moiety grant, and 
 the other moiety to be repaid to the commissioners by 
 grand jury presentment. At present all operations under 
 this beneficial Act are suspended. This power I would give 
 to the district boards, so far as respects roads and bridges, 
 upon application to the Board of Works at once; and where 
 the board might consider a road useful, and think proper to 
 give one-half or one-third, I would make it compulsory on 
 the grand juries, or fiscal or district board, and the proprie¬ 
 tors to subscribe the other half, or two-thirds. 
 
 The Commissioners of Public Works make the following 
 impressive observations in their last annual report:— 
 
 “ Having alluded to the proposed introduction of a Poor Law 
 in Ireland, we beg to submit, that whatever may be the particular 
 nature of the provisions adopted, a prodigious change in the 
 whole social system of the country must be the consequence, the 
 entire effects of which it is difficult to calculate. 
 
 “ We apprehend, however, that nothing could tend so effec¬ 
 tively to aid its quiet introduction, to give time to proceed gradu¬ 
 ally, and to amend the defects that, in the first instance, must 
 reasonably be expected in so great a measure, as the organization 
 of extensive operations demanding ordinary labour, previous to 
 the law coming into force, in order that it should find the work¬ 
 ing classes fully occupied by such proceedings, the demands 
 of the provisions made for the poor would be on the smallest 
 scale for some time, and would continue so until the new system 
 would be under tolerable regulation. 
 
 “ It is manifest that this object cannot be effected without ex¬ 
 tensive support from the legislature and active operations directed 
 by the Government. If, therefore, such a law is to be passed 
 during this session, and this view be approved and sanctioned, 
 there is no time to be lost in providing for the necessary public 
 works.” 
 
 The necessity of enlarging the powers and increasing the 
 efficiency of the Board of Public Work is, I submit, ap- 
 
103 
 
 parent and manifest; and it is suggested that Government 
 should introduce a bill for that purpose, and place at its 
 disposal large and sufficent funds. The districts of Galway, 
 Mayo, Clare, Donegal, Limerick, and Cork stand in the 
 greatest need of lines of roads for unfolding the resources of 
 fhese counties. The evidence of Sir John Burgoyne is so 
 important and decisive, that I have given extracts from it in 
 Appendix, No. 7. The improvement of the Shannon will, 
 I trust, be provided for during the session, and will give to 
 Ireland a continuous river navigation of ’two hundred miles. 
 The rivers Suck, Boyne, Suir, Blackwater, Brusna, and se¬ 
 veral others, and the lakes Erne, Neagh, and Corrib may 
 all be rendered perfectly navigable, but which are now in a 
 state disgraceful alike to the government and the proprietors 
 of their banks. 
 
 Public Aid withdrawn. 
 
 I must here complain that while Ireland stands so much 
 in necessity, and offers so many means of profitably applying 
 public money in public improvements, she has been deprived 
 of a grant for fishery piers made annually under the act 5 Geo 
 IV., cap. 64 (3,000/. Irish), while Scotland still receives, un¬ 
 der the same act, 3,000/. a year (British) for these purposes. 
 On the 5th April, 1830, the Irish fisheries establishment 
 and fishery fund were abolished. Until the present hour 
 he Scottish fisheries establishment is maintained out of the 
 public revenue at a cost of about ten thousand a-year, and 
 the 3,000/. is also paid annually out of the revenue for 
 Scottish harbours and the repairs of poor fishermens boats. 
 I refer in proof to the report of the Irish Fisheries Inquiry 
 Commissioners of 1836; and I give in Appendix, No. 8^ 
 the recommendations of that Report, on which a bill was 
 introduced in 1838, and which, in an amended state, it is 
 hoped, will be again brought before Parliament. 
 

 104 
 
 I have now stated my case for the employment of the 
 labouring people of Ireland. In it I have assumed nothing, 
 but have relied upon the reports of the several parliamentary 
 committees, of several commissioners and engineers, and 
 the impartial evidence of able men ; and, if I have 
 not referred specifically on each matter to these autho¬ 
 rities, it was through fear of being tedious. I may, how- 
 $ ever, in particular, appeal to the recommendations of the 
 
 ( committee of 1819, of which our venerable countryman. Sir 
 John Newport, was chairman. Can I have higher support ? 
 I am therefore entitled, on behalf of Ireland, to call upon the 
 Government and the legislature to give these suggestions a 
 fair and attentive consideration, and not to refuse these 
 necessary adjuncts to the Poor Law. Employment will not 
 only be afforded, and, by the tranquillity and confidence 
 which will be inspired, way made for the flow of capital, but 
 also, by the objects upon which this employment will be 
 bestowed, new sources of industry will be opened ; and then, 
 in the words of the committee of 1830, You will be 
 creating an active demand for labour and industry even after 
 the termination of the works.” By bringing the wastes 
 into cultivation, we can diminish the pressure on land, 
 and thus break up the densely-populated Cottier Settle¬ 
 ments : we can abate those fatal contentions among the 
 peasantry occasioned by competition; the present severe 
 competition will cease; savage murders (such a disgrace 
 to our unhappy country) will no longer be heard of, 
 (almost every one of which may be traced to dispossession 
 of tenants); and the landlord will acquire the absolute domi¬ 
 nion over his property, which, in some districts, it cannot be 
 said he has at present. In several places population is so 
 dense that there is a scarcity of cultivated land; but, at the 
 distance of a mile, there are thousands of acres capable of 
 reclamation and cultivation. 
 
105 
 
 By reclamation and introducing a system of cultivation, 
 and the consequent employment of the people, the bit of land 
 to the poor man will not be his only resource: at present, 
 without a provision against destitution or employment, he 
 must have it or he will perish. Consider the situation 
 of a labouring man without employment ejected from his 
 cabin and thrown with wife and children upon the road-side ! 
 Give that man employment, locate him on the waste land, and 
 all this misery will be saved. Besides, without continuous 
 employment, coupled with the Poor Law, you cannot hope 
 to have in Ireland labourers distinct from occupiers, as in 
 England; and this is one of the desirable objects to be ob¬ 
 tained. 
 
 The people ask and supplicate for employment. This 
 is not an unreasonable, but a natural demand. They 
 travel hundreds of miles in search of employment. There 
 does not exist a people on earth so eager for it, or more 
 anxious to fulfil their engagements and pay their rents. 
 Surely such materials ought not to be thrown away. 
 
 The labouring man is not compensated in Ireland for his 
 labour: 6 d. or 8<i. a-day is not a sufficient remuneration, 
 nor sufficient for the support of himself and family. You 
 cannot expect a man, subsisting, together with his family, on 
 3«y. or 4s. a-week, to work as he ought if properly remune¬ 
 rated and fed. Let the lands be properly cultivated—the pro¬ 
 duce will be increased, the demand for labour increased, the 
 rate of wages increased, the condition of the labouring 
 man raised, his comforts enlarged, and he will be enabled to 
 retain a portion of the produce for his own consump¬ 
 tion. Let us not permit him to be content with the lumper 
 potato. 
 
 v No one can doubt but that Ireland has progressed, notwith¬ 
 standing the neglect of the legislature and the neglect of her 
 landlords ; but the condition of the poor man remains the 
 
106 
 
 same, if not deteriorated: his having recourse to the lowest 
 
 description of potato shows this too truly. 
 
 By raising the condition of the labouring class you will 
 
 raise the condition of every class above them; and you will 
 
 greatly increase the local trade, and give more and better cus- 
 
 I tomers to the shopkeepers and tradesmen in towns: for, after 
 
 all, it is by the multitude the tradesman supports himself, 
 
 n * 
 
 and you are thereby creating a better market for the con¬ 
 sumption of the produce. 
 
 I have already endeavoured to show that the supply of 
 Irish labour in Great Britain is essential to its wants ; but 
 should it be found redundant, the only way in which it can be 
 stopped is by affording employment at home. Let employ¬ 
 ment be afforded to the poor in Ireland, and the most timid 
 
 1 need not fear their interference with the English market of 
 
 % 
 
 labour. 
 
 It is a mistake to say that rents are higher in Ireland than 
 * in England, except it be in reference to what is extracted 
 from the soil: the Irish acre is one-third larger than the 
 English, and the soil is generally more fertile, but the course 
 of husbandry is so bad, that not more than one-fourth is ob¬ 
 tained of what ought to be acquired from the soil; and wages 
 
 - 
 
 are so low, that nothing is left to the poor man but the po¬ 
 tato. Let the land be cultivated as it ought—let the people 
 be thereby employed—the landlord will not receive less rent, 
 but the farmer will receive more produce, and the labourer 
 more wages. The landlord, instead of a nominal rental, will 
 have a substantial one ; and, instead of a starving, he will have 
 a thriving tenantry. 61. or 8/. per acre is given, but not upon 
 lettings between landlord aud tenant, but for what is called 
 
 | 
 
 con acre, that is, for the hire of an acre of ground for one 
 I year, manured, ready for the potato to be planted, or for 
 j liberty given to burn and pare the acre of land to supply the 
 place of manure, and the land is afterwards left to nature. In 
 

 107 
 
 some parts this is so destructive, that the land does not reco¬ 
 ver for twenty years. Can any system (I will not call it 
 management) of treating the land be so mischievous ? 
 And why are these extraordinary rents given for destroying 
 the land ? For want of a sufficient quantity of cultivated 
 land, and for want of the means of transporting the manure 
 given by Providence. It is in evidence before some of the 
 Parliamentary Committees, that the peasantry frequently 
 carry sea-weed and sand upon their backs for miles. 
 
 The happy result of these measures will, I confidently 
 hope, be a better administration and execution of the 
 law—the suppression of illicit distillation—an increased 
 revenue—a reduction of the military and police—an in¬ 
 creased demand for English manufactures—the raising 
 the condition of the labouring man, the amelioration of 
 the habits of the people, their physical, moral, and social 
 improvement, the tranquillity and peace of the country. I 
 ask not for bounties, or any peculiar privileges ; I ask for no 
 grant, except contribution for the making of roads or water 
 communication, matters of public concern and convenience. 
 I ask for no expensive or complicated machinery—no undue 
 interference with private property. 
 
 These measures, as I have already said, are applicable to 
 every part of Ireland; and they partake not of the disadvan¬ 
 tages sometimes attendant upon a public work, of calling to¬ 
 gether, at one particular spot, from every part of the country, 
 numbers of labourers, who, after the work is completed, are 
 again unoccupied. 
 
 We are at present suffering from dearth, which extends 
 to all Europe; and we feel this the more in consequence of 
 the neglect of our territory. The real evil is, that our 
 home production is in the best years narrowed to home sup¬ 
 ply—and, to what is still worse, a little more than a year’s 
 supply. For this, the best remedy is to be found in 
 
108 
 
 such an extension of our husbandry as will enable us, if possi¬ 
 ble, to include agricultural produce in the general exports 
 every year ; and there is nothing to prevent the augmentation 
 which we cannot remove. In reference to the United King¬ 
 dom, we have territory, labour, capital, and just as much 
 time to enlarge our operations as is available to other coun¬ 
 tries. 
 
 One of the inducements held out to the people of Ireland, 
 | at the time of the Union, was, that English capital would 
 t flow into Ireland. Has that been the case ? What step 
 has been taken to induce capitalists to send their money 
 into Ireland, until the granting of emancipation in 1829, 
 and the passing of the Poor Law in 1838? Without these 
 two measures it might be said that nothing effectual could 
 be done for the raising the condition of the Irish peasant. 
 Both these measures are now happily carried. 
 
 The alteration in the law as to forty-shilling freeholds 
 and sub-letting has produced great misery. The law al- 
 lowed the creation of forty-shilling freeholds. The poli- 
 tical ambition of the landlords created them without stint or 
 limit. The mistaken notion of the landlords, of increasing 
 ^ their income by such means, induced them also to do so. 
 Without a Poor Law, and means devised for employment, 
 their disfranchisement was unwise and oppressive. Again, 
 by the decisions of the courts of law, (most unwarrantable 
 decisions, I admit,) all covenants against sub-letting were set 
 at nought. A bill was passed to prevent this great evil in 
 Ireland, and restore the ancient and correct law. It was a 
 necessary measure ; but the effect of these two Acts was to 
 throw thousands of people from their habitations on the road¬ 
 side. Listen to the description given by Dr. Doyle of these 
 unfortunate creatures:— 
 
 “ It would be impossible for language to convey an idea of the 
 state of distress to which the ejected tenantry have been reduced, 
 
109 
 
 or of the disease, misery, and even vice, which they have propa¬ 
 gated in the towns wherein they have settled; so that not only 
 they who have been ejected have been rendered miserable, but 
 they have carried with them and propagated that misery. They 
 have increased the stock of labour—they have rendered the habi¬ 
 tations of those who received them more crowded—they have 
 given occasion to the dissemination of disease—they have been 
 obliged to resort to theft and all manner of vice and iniquity 
 to procure subsistence; but, what is perhaps the most painful of 
 all, a vast number of them have perished of want.” 
 
 Ejectments from political causes have to some extent 
 taken place, and have produced great misery. 
 
 The consolidation of farms has also produced great mi¬ 
 sery. The inhabitants of entire villages have been ejected, 
 to the great detriment of the neighbouring lands. But let 
 me not be misunderstood, or considered an advocate for 
 small holdings. What I think is, that the consolidation sys¬ 
 tem is carried too far in England, and the farms in England 
 are too large; whilst in Ireland the holdings are too small. 
 But such a system having been adopted and permitted, and 
 in some instances encouraged, it cannot he got rid of at once; 
 and happily we have the means of turning it to good ac¬ 
 count, by following the system and example of Belgium, 
 by the improvement of our agriculture and the reclamation 
 of our lands. 
 
 Mr. Nicholls, in his Third Report, says— 
 
 “ It is not necessary to enter into a consideration of the com¬ 
 parative merits of small and large farms, it being notorious that 
 farms of very small extent abound in all parts of Ireland, in some 
 districts, indeed, almost to the exclusion of any other; and that 
 any attempt at a rapid consolidation of these small holdings 
 would inevitably produce misery and suffering for which no ade¬ 
 quate remedy has ever yet been devised. Extensive changes of 
 this nature cannot be successfully undertaken without special 
 reference to the moral and social condition of the people; and 
 the obstructions which arise from fixed habits and old social ar- 
 
 
WtWSSVtc 
 
 110 
 
 rangements generally render great organic changes impossible, 
 excepting in the lapse of years. But an improved manage¬ 
 ment of the small farms in Ireland would afford the means of in¬ 
 creasing the domestic comfort and elevating the social condition of 
 the cottier tenantry, and would facilitate the progress of whatever 
 other changes may be regarded as likely to promote their general 
 well-being, because it will be accompanied by an improvement in 
 the habits of the whole class. This would, in fact, be beginning 
 at the lowest point of the scale. Improved management in the 
 small farms would bring increase of capital and improved habits 
 among the cottier tenants. With the increase of capital will 
 come the desire to extend their holdings; and thus will arise a 
 tendency to consolidate occupancies for the employment of in¬ 
 creased capital, which the vast extent of now waste but reclaim- 
 able land in Ireland will greatly facilitate. An increase of agri¬ 
 cultural capital will speedily act upon all the other sources of 
 industry, and thus the demands of the home-market for agricul¬ 
 tural produce will be augmented, while for all that is produced 
 above that demand the markets of England will be open. To 
 begin with the improvement of the small cultivators seems, there¬ 
 fore, to be necessarily the first step towards ameliorating the con¬ 
 dition of the Irish people ; and the example of Belgium is impor¬ 
 tant, as showing what may be done in this respect by adopting 
 an improved system of cultivation ” 
 
 I may also appeal to Piedmont, where the farms 
 are small and the people thriving; and I do so with 
 the more confidence, as Piedmont is also a Catholic 
 country. I must here, once more, call attention to the account 
 of the small farm near Dublin, managed by Mr. Kelly, 
 and to the magnificent project of Count Lodi, in Piedmont, 
 as detailed in the Appendix to my last Address. But it is 
 I not necessary to travel out of Ireland. Look at the county 
 | of Down : in no part of Ireland are the holdings smaller, 
 1 and yet no part is more thriving. Land fetches upwards 
 of thirty years’ purchase in Down, whilst in Mayo and 
 | Galway—except some favoured spots near towns—-the rate 
 of purchase does not, exceed twenty years. 
 
Ill 
 
 It should not be forgotten that a surplus Irish revenue was 
 contemplated by the Act of Union for the improvement of 
 Ireland. But enough has already been said to induce the 
 Government and the Legislature to interfere on behalf of 
 the labouring class in Ireland. Let example be taken from 
 France and Belgium : let the speeches of the kings of both 
 these countries, at the opening of their respective parliaments 
 last year, be read: a large portion of each was dedicated to 
 recommendations as to agriculture, the improvement of the 
 soil, and public works on a large scale. The Grand Sultan 
 has, at his own expense, undertaken a great national work. 
 The Grand Duke of Tuscany is making great efforts 
 in the Maremme. To this day the Dutch continue to lay out 
 millions on public works ; but I ask for no such expenditure. 
 Except for the making of roads and water communica¬ 
 tion, I ask for no pecuniary grant; and even in those cases 
 I only ask for a contribution on behalf of the public, whose 
 roads and communications they are. This is not a party 
 question: it will be treated, I hope, as the Poor Law ques¬ 
 tion has been—free from political and party animosities. 
 From the evidence of the Knight of Kerry before the com¬ 
 mittee of 1835, and the interesting account which he gave, 
 it would appear as if the Duke of Wellington contemplated, 
 at the time of passing the Emancipation Bill, some mea¬ 
 sures for the purpose of affording employment in Ireland. 
 Judging from the ready manner Sir Robert Peel granted 
 the committee of 1835, and the assistance I received from 
 him and Sir Thomas Freemantle, the Secretary of the Trea¬ 
 sury—judging also from the active part Lord Stanley, as 
 Secretary for Ireland, took with the Chancellor of the Ex¬ 
 chequer in passing the Public Works Act in 1831, and his 
 attention to the bills I have introduced, I expect the mea¬ 
 sures I have suggested will be favourably received by all 
 parties. Fully relying on the good intentions of Lord 
 
112 
 
 Melbourne, Lord John Russell, Lord Morpeth, and the 
 other members of the Cabinet, I trust to obtain for these 
 projects their earnest attention, which they are ever ready to 
 devote to measures for improving the condition of Ireland; 
 and finding it impracticable, in the present state of Parlia¬ 
 ment, for an individual member to pass measures of this 
 description, although recommended by a committee of the 
 House, I now place them in their hands. In so doing, after 
 the efforts I have already made, I trust I may be considered 
 as having fulfilled the duty which devolved on me as Chair¬ 
 man of the Committee of 1835. 
 
APPENDIX, No. 1. 
 
 Outline of a Plan for defraying the Expenses of Employing 
 the Destitute Poor of the Country Parts of Ireland, without 
 increasing the present Assessment on Land. 
 
 It would certainly be very desirable that the whole of the money 
 granted for repairing baronial roads should be expended in the 
 employment of the destitute poor, and this can be effected by 
 intrusting the expenditure of the money for each barony to local 
 committees, according to the following system :— 
 
 It is to be observed that the poor population of Ireland, even 
 in the comparatively manufacturing districts of the province of 
 Ulster, may be classed under the head of agricultural labourers, 
 and such are very rarely left destitute and without employment, 
 excepting in the months of January, February, and part of March 
 in the spring, and part of June and the whole of July in the 
 summer season. At those periods there is little employment for 
 agricultural labourers, and I am of opinion that in those particular 
 months, and in those only, it is necessary to provide employment. 
 
 It appears that an ample field for the general occupation of the 
 poor, when most required, will be found in the repairs of the 
 roads at present kept up by grand jury presentments. This 
 species of employment affords a greater variety of labour than 
 other; and individuals of both sexes, from the youngest to the 
 oldest, can have suitable tasks allotted to them. Women and 
 even cripples can break stones for roads, and, when accustomed 
 to it, can earn good wages, at the usual prices paid for breaking. 
 
 The sum to be expended in any particular barony having been 
 ascertained, and the particular works to be executed specified in 
 detail by a county surveyor or baronial overseer, the barony should 
 be divided into several districts, according to its extent and pecu- 
 
 i 
 

 114 
 
 liar circumstances ; the principal town or village (being as nearly 
 as possible in the centre of each district) to be the meeting place 
 of the district committee, who shall have power to appoint sub¬ 
 committees to act under its direction. 
 
 The Protestant and Roman Catholic clergymen, and (in the 
 province of Ulster) the Presbyterian clergymen, and the church¬ 
 wardens of the several parishes within the district to be members 
 of the district committee: the other members to consist of the 
 landed proprietors, their agents, and principal farmers and shop¬ 
 keepers of the towns and villages, to be elected by the rate-payers 
 to a certain amount. The district committee to consist of at least 
 seven, and not more than eleven members; three to form a 
 quorum ; and the sub-committees to consist of not less than three 
 nor more than seven members; three to form a quorum. 
 
 Weekly returns, containing the names of persons employed, 
 showing the nature of the work performed and the sums paid to 
 each individual, to be made out by the overseer of the sub-com¬ 
 mittee, and having been examined and certified by the sub-com¬ 
 mittee, to be forwarded to the clerk of the district committee. 
 All repairs and new works should be specified and laid out by 
 the baronial overseer, who is frequently to examine the works 
 during the progress, and to make monthly reports, accompanied 
 by a valuation of the quantity of work done in each district, and 
 stating the manner in which each particular part has been exe¬ 
 cuted ; this report, when compared with the expenditure shown 
 by the weekly returns, will afford a complete check on the sub¬ 
 committees and their overseers. 
 
 It appears from a table made by me, and presented to the 
 Tithe Committee of the House of Commons in the year 1832, that 
 the amount annually levied in Ireland for making and repairing 
 roads, is about £360,000 ; that the extent of Ireland is 20,400,000 
 British statute acres, which is, on an average, equal to 4 id. 
 nearly per acre. 
 
 Let us suppose that in the four months above mentioned, viz., 
 January, February, half of March, half June and all July, there 
 would be (exclusive of Sundays and wet days) 94 working days. 
 
115 
 
 If we divide £360,000, the amount of the presentments, by 94, 
 we have as a product nearly the sum of £3,830 to be expended 
 per day, which sum, at 8 d., the usual wages paid to farming 
 labourers in Ireland, would give nearly 115,000 as the number 
 of pauper individuals who might be daily employed in repairing 
 the roads for four months in the year. The population of Ireland, 
 according to census of 1831, deducting therefrom the cities of 
 Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Kilkenny, Drogheda, Lon¬ 
 donderry, and town of Belfast, amounts to 7,225,340, which would 
 give about 1,445,000 men capable of labour, calculating one 
 labourer for every five individuals, out of which it appears 115,000, 
 or a little more than one-twelfth part of the whole population of 
 Ireland capable of labour, could be employed during the period 
 above mentioned, without increasing the present assessment on 
 land; and throughout a great portion of Ireland, I am of opinion 
 that the pauper population does not exceed one-twelfth part of its 
 inhabitants. 
 
 Fitzwilliam Place , Dublin , 
 Wth March , 1833. 
 
 Richard Griffith. 
 
 
116 
 
 APPENDIX, No. 2. 
 
 Gross Receipts of Excise Duties in England, Scotland, 
 and Ireland, in Six Years preceding 1835. 
 
 Years. 
 
 England and 
 Wales. 
 
 Scotland. 
 
 Ireland. 
 
 1829 
 
 1830 
 1831* 
 
 18324 
 
 1833 
 
 1834+ 
 
 £. 
 
 18,243,929 
 
 17,420.714 
 
 14,323,298 
 
 14,370,008 
 
 14,287,488 
 
 12,303,650 
 
 £. 
 
 2,770,110 
 
 2,960,306 
 
 2,576,965 
 
 2,280,728 
 
 2,419,234 
 
 2,477,734 
 
 £. 
 
 2,016,242 
 
 1,973,856 
 
 2,193,079 
 
 2,198,759 
 
 1,951,314 
 
 1,975,331 
 
 * The excise revenue of 1831 is under the produce of 1830; as in 1830 
 the beer and cider duties of England and Scotland, and the leather tax of 
 the United Kingdom, were repealed. 
 
 f The revenue of 1832 exhibits an increase over 1831, except in Scotland, 
 notwithstanding the repeal in 1831 of the tax on printed cottons of England 
 and Scotland, and the repeal of the candle duty in 1832. 
 
 1 The revenue of 1834 is under that of 1833. in consequence of the transfer 
 of the tea duties from the excise department to the customs, and also of the 
 repeal of the duty, till then payable, on starch, in England and Scotland. 
 
 Deductions from the preceding Table, in reference to the Com¬ 
 mercial circumstances of Ireland as contrasted with England 
 and Scotland. 
 
 The population of England and Wales in 1831, the period of 
 the last census, having been 13,889,675, and there having been 
 there, in 1835, 79,181 dealers in tea, which is now consumed by 
 all classes in the United Kingdom capable of purchasing it,— 
 Ireland, to be on a parity of condition with England in this re¬ 
 spect, should have had, in 1835, 47,000 dealers in tea instead of 
 12,203, her population in 1831 having been 7,734,365. 
 
 The population of Scotland having been in 1831 only 2,365,930, 
 a little more than one-sixth of the population in England, while 
 the dealers in tea licensed there in 1835 amounted to 13,596, 
 
117 
 
 a little more than one-sixth of the number in England and 
 Wales,—it follows, that Scotland in this respect maintains a 
 parity of condition with England; and that the trade in tea is 
 a fair test of the circumstances of the population in the United 
 Kingdom. 
 
 It might happen that the 12,203 dealers in Ireland sell more 
 tea than the 13,596 in Scotland, and that the consumption still 
 bears a just proportion to the population in each country. This 
 cannot be positively determined by items in the public accounts, 
 it being impossible to show at present in what portion of the 
 United Kingdom the teas are consumed after the customs duties 
 have been paid. However, the number of dealers is a strong 
 indication of the extent of a trade ; and to support it in this case 
 there are the preceding amounts of excise revenue collected in 
 Ireland and in Scotland. The excise taxes of the two countries 
 are now precisely similar, except that soap and bricks are taxed 
 in Scotland but not in Ireland. The soap duty of Scotland pro¬ 
 duced in 1834 £92,248, and the brick duty £8,100—in all, 
 £100,348 ; which, deducted from the whole revenue, leaves 
 £2,377,386 collected on articles also taxed in Ireland with pre¬ 
 cisely similar rates, while the Irish revenue from these articles 
 amounted to only £1,975,331 ; whereas were trade and the 
 consumption in proportion to the population, and the country on 
 'equality of condition with Scotland, the Irish revenue would have 
 been nearly £8,000,000, 
 
 Scotland certainly derived some revenue from paper and glass 
 consumed out of it, and sent away after payment of the duties; 
 but the whole produce of the Scottish excise on these articles 
 was in 1834 considerably under £200,000. The heavy excise 
 duties paid in the United Kingdom are levied where the articles 
 are going into trade and use. 
 
 Thus Ireland’s disparity of condition, as compared with Scot- 
 \ land, is such that her excise is £6,000,000 a-year under the 
 | amount she would be capable of paying if her population were 
 tin equal circumstances with the Scottish population. 
 
 (Signed) W. Stanley. 
 
 1st June, 1837. 
 
118 
 
 APPENDIX, No. 3. 
 
 
 
 I Districts. 
 
 Counties. 
 
 Extent in 
 English 
 
 Acres. 
 
 Eastern part of Bog of Allen 
 
 Kildare. 
 
 36,430 
 
 Western part of Bog of Allen, called 
 
 King and Queen’s County . 
 
 41,075 
 
 District of the Barrow. 
 
 
 District of the Boyne. 
 
 Meath aud Westmeath. 
 
 42,370 
 
 District of the Brusna ..... 
 
 King’s County .... 
 
 44,594 
 
 District of the Shannon. 
 
 Westmeath, Longford, and 
 
 34,500 
 
 District of the Inny and Lough Ree 
 
 King’s County. 
 
 Longford and Westmeath . 
 
 34,569 
 
 District of Lough Gara. 
 
 Roscommon, Sligo, Mayo . 
 
 83,689 
 
 District between Roscrea and Killynaule 
 
 Tipperary, Kilkenny, and 
 Queen’s County. 
 
 Queen’s County .... 
 
 36,025 
 
 District westward of Maryborough . 
 
 14,754 
 
 District of western extremity of the 
 
 Clare ....... 
 
 22,340 
 
 county of Clare. 
 
 
 
 District of Banks of the Barrow 
 
 Kildare and King’s County 
 
 7,459 
 
 District of Lough Corrib .... 
 
 Galway and Mayo . 
 
 83,724 
 
 Three districts. 
 
 Mayo and Sligo .... 
 
 161,962 
 
 District surrounding Lough Neagh and 
 
 Antrim, Down, Tyrone, Ar- 
 
 64,855 
 
 extending to the River Bann. 
 
 District of Iveragh ...... 
 
 magh, and Londonderry. 
 Kerry. 
 
 43,567 
 
 District of Kenmare River .... 
 
 Kerry. 
 
 14,605 
 
 District of Laune and Lower Maine 
 
 Kerry....... 
 
 17,990 
 
 District of Upper Maine. 
 
 Kerry....... 
 
 8,566 
 
 District of Slieve Langhar .... 
 
 Kerry and Cork .... 
 
 32,902 
 
 District of River Cashen. 
 
 Kerry (northern part of) 
 
 31,514 
 
 District of Lough Ree. 
 
 Longford, Leitrim, and Ros- 
 
 26,630 
 
 District of southern extremity of River 
 
 common. 
 
 Galway and Roscommon . 
 
 76,848 
 
 Suck. 
 
 
 District of northern extremity of River 
 
 Galway and Roscommon . 
 
 52,390 
 
 Suck. 
 
 
 3 Mountain bogs and bogs less than 500 
 
 Kerry, Sligo, Galway, and 
 
 1,013,358 
 
 1,816,642 
 
 acres not included in the reports . 
 
 Wicklow, &c. 
 
 2,830,000 
 
.119 
 
 APPENDIX, No. 3. 
 
 
 Elevation 
 above the sea 
 at low water. 
 
 A 
 
 P4 
 
 OJ 
 
 Q 
 
 -4-3 
 
 Average 
 
 Depth. 
 
 Rivers and Lakes into which it is 
 
 Cost of Drainage. 
 
 Greatest 
 
 Height. 
 
 Least 
 
 Height. 
 
 Cfi 
 
 a* 
 
 & 
 
 a> 
 
 o 
 
 proposed to drain the bogs. 
 
 £. s. cl. 
 
 Feet. 
 
 Feet. 
 
 Ft. 
 
 Feet. 
 
 
 77,017 19 8 
 
 312 
 
 228 
 
 41 
 
 22 to 25 
 
 Feagile and other streams that fall 
 into the Barrow. 
 
 66,978 8 8 
 
 329 
 
 203 
 
 41 
 
 22 to 25 
 
 Ditto. 
 
 75,065 6 7 
 
 350 
 
 232 
 
 40 
 
 22 to 25 
 
 Streams which discharge into the 
 Boyne. 
 
 87,233 13 8 
 
 324 
 
 125 
 
 45 
 
 22 to 25 
 
 Ditto iuto the Brusna. 
 
 63,435 7 li 
 
 288 
 
 128 
 
 44 
 
 30 
 
 Blackwater, Brusna, and Shannon. 
 
 17,284 10 0 
 
 268 
 
 191 
 
 47 
 
 30 to 35 
 
 Camlin and Inny. 
 
 99,350 7 9 
 
 415 
 
 204 
 
 45 
 
 20 to 30 
 
 Streams which discharge into Lough 
 - Gara. 
 
 58,647 17 1 
 
 488 
 
 340 
 
 33 
 
 16 to 20 
 
 Streams which discharge the Nore 
 and Suir. 
 
 17,215 2 0 
 
 418 
 
 282 
 
 35 
 
 18 to 20 
 
 Streams which discharge into the 
 Nore and Barrow. 
 
 31,728 12 6 
 
 139 
 
 64 
 
 35 
 
 15 to 20 
 
 Dunbeg, &c. 
 
 19,824 3 0 
 
 257 
 
 227 
 
 36 
 
 20 
 
 Barrow. 
 
 117,982 0 0 
 
 326 
 
 46 
 
 45 
 
 15 to 20 
 
 Streams which discharge into Lough 
 Corrib. 
 
 184,928 10 2 
 
 488 
 
 54 
 
 42 
 
 8 to 16 
 
 Lough Mask, Lough Conn, and 
 Clew Bay. 
 
 51,884 0 0 
 
 200 
 
 93 
 
 » • 
 
 • 4* 
 
 Blackwater, Bann, and Lough 
 Neagh. 
 
 18,208 11 11 
 
 250 
 
 75 
 
 25 
 
 5 to 12 
 
 Cashen, &c. 
 
 13,488 8 10 
 
 300 
 
 200 
 
 20 
 
 20 
 
 Blackwater, &c. 
 
 19,855 7 9 
 
 160 
 
 25 
 
 20 
 
 6 
 
 Lakes of Killarney. 
 
 7,014 17 9 
 
 200 
 
 38 
 
 22 
 
 10 to 15 
 
 Gheestan and Laune. 
 
 19,405 8 10 
 
 700 
 
 250 
 
 32 
 
 6 to 12 
 
 Blackwater, Coolraa, &c. 
 
 29,937 19 4 
 
 110 
 
 35 
 
 32 
 
 12 to 20 
 
 Cashen. 
 
 13,315 0 0 
 
 229 
 
 144 
 
 43 
 
 20 to 30 
 
 Shannon. 
 
 98,318 12 10 
 
 284 
 
 126 
 
 30 
 
 20 to 25 
 
 Loughs Corrib, Mask, Gara, and 
 River Suck. 
 
 59,708 2 0 
 
 1,277,828 7 5£ 
 
 i 1 
 
 300 
 
 150 
 
 20 
 
 15 
 
 Suck. 
 
 r 
 
 \ 
 
120 
 
 APPENDIX, No. 4. 
 
 IRISH WASTE-LAND IMPROVEMENT SOCIETY. 
 
 Report of the Directors read at the Half-yearly General Meeting 
 of Proprietors, on Thursday, 6th September, 1838, 
 
 Colonel Robinson in the Chair. 
 
 The directors of the Irish Waste-Land Improvement Society, in 
 laying before the shareholders their periodical Report, have the 
 pleasure to announce that the progress made, and the information 
 obtained during the past half-year have been alike satisfactory. 
 
 In pursuance of the intentions stated at the last meeting, the 
 directors have taken a lease of an estate in Sligo, containing 
 about 5,700 statute acres, on the possession of which they entered 
 at Lady-day; and they have since been actively engaged in 
 carrying on there the works of draining and fencing. A part of 
 the estate is already divided into farms, and the roads, which had 
 been before laid out, are undergoing a thorough repair. The 
 very favourable reports previously received by the directors of the 
 superior quality of this land have been most fully and satisfactorily 
 confirmed by one of their own body, who has recently visited the 
 estate; by an experienced agricultural agent, who was sent over 
 in the spring of the year to inspect this and other estates of the 
 society; by Mr. Cooper, the surveyor, who is frequently on the 
 spot; and by Mr. William Jamieson, the resident steward, who 
 states the pasture on the high ground to be the best he has ever 
 seen at such an elevation, and particularly well sheltered. The 
 directors have taken steps to avail themselves of this advantage 
 during the progress of reclamation, so that the land may yield a 
 return even from the present season. Mr. Jamieson, under whose 
 
care the estate has been placed, is an able agriculturist, and pos¬ 
 sesses, in addition to a thorough knowledge of the Scotch system 
 of fanning, the advantage of considerable experience in Ireland ; 
 and the directors having thus commenced operations in this quarter 
 under very favourable auspices, anticipate a result proportionably 
 successful. 
 
 On the estate in Galway the course of reclamation is also rapidly 
 advancing; much pr ogress has been made in the main drains and 
 boundary fences ; a lime-kiln has been built, and a large quantity 
 of lime made; a steward’s lodge has been commenced, and 
 several acres of land brought into a state of preparation for a 
 crop of rape. This estate is placed under the care of Mr. George 
 Comerford, a steward of whose ability the directors have received 
 strong testimonials. 
 
 The outlay of money on the estate in Limerick is to be made by 
 the proprietor himself, subject to the approval of the directors. 
 The documents necessary for carrying this arrangement into 
 effect have been prepared, and will be acted upon forthwith. 
 
 The directors have recently received an offer of 6000 acres of 
 land in the county of Kerry, and another of about the same 
 quantity in Mayo, both of which are now under consideration; 
 and they will extend their inquiries to other estates on the western 
 side of Ireland, in order that their operations may be as much as 
 possible concentrated. 
 
 It must be evident, that in an undertaking like the present very 
 much depends on the existence of a good feeling between the in¬ 
 habitants of the country and the agents employed by the Society. 
 The directors have every reason to be satisfied in this particular: 
 all accounts concur in showing, that the agents hitherto appointed 
 are exceedingly well received, and that they experience the cordial 
 co-operation of those around them. This fact, and the eagerness 
 manifested to become tenants of the Society, sufficiently evince 
 the popularity of the measure in Ireland, and justify the expecta¬ 
 tion that it will prove a national as well as an individual benefit. 
 
 With these pleasing prospects before them, the directors have 
 only to regret that the funds placed at their disposal are not more 
 
122 
 
 adequate to an extensive scale of operations. After giving the 
 utmost indulgence in regard to the call made on the 25th January 
 last, the directors have felt bound, as an act of justice to those 
 proprietors who have evinced their confidence by responding to it, 
 to declare forfeited (subject to confirmation by a general meeting, 
 of which due notice will be given) all shares on which payment 
 had not been made by the 30th ulto. A resolution to this effect 
 was accordingly passed on the 2d instant, and the number of 
 shares so declared forfeited amounts to 4,521. Far, however, 
 from allowing this circumstance to discourage them, with respect 
 to the ultimate success of the undertaking, the directors rather 
 deem it a motive for increased activity, energy, and perseverance 
 in its prosecution. And it will at once be apparent to those pro- 
 prietors who have paid the call, that the capital which they have 
 subscribed will become a bond Jide one, applicable to the real 
 objects of the Society, inasmuch as the amount of the deposit on 
 the shares forfeited will be more than adequate to defray all the 
 preliminary expenses incurred in the formation of the Society. 
 
 Fully satisfied as the directors are of the profitable nature of 
 the measure, they are anxious that the result should be shown, 
 even though on a limited scale, and feel convinced that, so soon 
 as this is done, they shall receive from their shareholders and the 
 public at large, such increased support as will enable them 
 eventually to carry out the objects of the Society to an extent 
 commensurate with their importance. 
 
 The directors now beg to submit the annexed Abstract of 
 Receipts and Expenditure for the half-year ending the 30th June 
 last, showing a balance in hand of £4,400. 105. 8 d. The number 
 of shares disposed of is 7,081, and the amount paid on the call up 
 to the 30th ulto., £2,560. 
 
 Bv order of the Court of Directors, 
 
 «* * 
 
 JOHN WILKINSON, Secretary . 
 
 8 th August^ 1838. 
 
123 
 
 ABSTRACT OF RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURE 
 
 For the Half-year ending 30 th June , 1838. 
 
 Receipts . 
 
 £. s. d. 
 
 Balance from last account, 31st December, 1837 . 464 3 11 
 
 For £2,400 Exchequer Bills, and Interest, s\)ld at 
 
 55s. premium.. 2,511 10 2 
 
 For first call of £l per share on 2,224 shares, paid 
 
 to date.. 2,224 0 0 
 
 Payments. 
 
 On account of works on the estates in 
 
 Ireland.. 
 
 Salary and expenses of agent on journey 
 
 to the estates. 
 
 Travelling expenses of directors on visit¬ 
 ing the estates in 1837 and 1838 . . 
 
 Law charges for leases. 
 
 Allowance to directors, for half-year, as 
 per vote of last general meeting . . 
 
 Salaries. 
 
 Rent. 
 
 Bill for the seal of the Society, and press 
 
 for same. 
 
 Advertisements and printing . . . . 
 Sundries per petty cash. 
 
 £5,199 14 
 
 ef • S. d. 
 
 315 13 0 
 
 38 11 9 
 
 36 11 0 
 
 80 3 10 
 
 105 0 0 
 
 69 10 0 
 
 95 5 0 
 
 15 15 0 
 
 6 13 6 
 
 36 0 4 
 
 - 799 3 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 Balance in hand 30th June, 1838 . . £4,400 10 8 
 
124 
 
 APPENDIX, No. 5. 
 
 PROVINCE OF ANTWERP. 
 
 Extracts from the Speech addressed to the Provincial Council 
 of Antwerp, by the Governor of the Province, on opening the 
 Session of 1837. 
 
 On Roads and Itiland Navigations. 
 
 Means of communication by land and water, are among the 
 most powerful elements of public prosperity, and the most im¬ 
 perious public wants. 
 
 The council did not hesitate to appropriate in the budget of the 
 present year 700,000 francs, for the completion of the roads 
 which are to unite Aershot and Herenthal, with Mechlin and 
 Leirre; and for the making one of our rivers navigable, which 
 seems only to need some intelligent efforts of art, to carry ac¬ 
 tivity and fertility into a country now inert and sterile 
 
 The loan of 500,000 francs, destined to cover a part of the 
 expense, has not been touched, because the ordinary resources of 
 the budget have provided for the first outlay. 
 
 The consideration of two roads has been especially recom¬ 
 mended; that of Wolvertham towards Tamise, and that of 
 Mechlin towards Ghiel, Several of the communes interested, 
 have offered to assist by subsidies proportionable to their means. 
 
 The deputation has attended to the recommendations that 
 have been made to it, relative to the measures to be taken for 
 the improvement of the navigation of the Rupel, and the erection 
 ofa bridge over the same river, opposite the important commune 
 of Boom. 
 
125 
 
 Consulted on the part of government, upon a general system 
 of small navigation and irrigation, to be executed in the Cam- 
 pine, the council has decided in favour of the utility of such a 
 project, laying down as a principle that the works should be exe¬ 
 cuted by the government. 
 
 Such appears to us to be the urgency of efficacious arrange¬ 
 ments for the police, and maintenance of parish roads, that if a 
 law were to be still longer delayed it would perhaps be wise to 
 order a provisional regulation in a branch so important to the 
 administrative service, for which the existing'regulations appear 
 to be insufficient. 
 
 In addition to the two projects of roads to which you directed 
 our attention, the deputation has thought of several others ; the 
 budget of expenses and wants will give you the details. The 
 utility and possibility of the execution of these projects have been 
 acknowledged in principle, but still require more deep considera¬ 
 tion. It belongs to you, gentlemen, to determine the order in 
 which the interest of the province, and distributive justice, de¬ 
 mand them to be executed. You will not only show regard to 
 the offers of concurrence made by the localities interested, and 
 already possessed of local communications ; but also to the wants 
 of those, who, more destitute and poor, are waiting only for these 
 elements of social life to raise themselves to the condition of the 
 first; and in their turn contribute to the general welfare. 
 
 On Schools and Churches. 
 
 If we consider the communications as the principal arteries 
 through which circulate the life of population; if they merit the 
 first rank in our solicitude, we must not, however, restrict to 
 them the intervention and cares of the administration. * * * 
 A great number of communes are in want of schools, or require 
 better than they have. In many others, the buildings dedicated 
 to religious purposes are no longer fit for the extended popula¬ 
 tion ; and we propose to you, gentlemen, an augmentation of 
 funds destined for their enlargement. 
 
126 
 
 On Agriculture. 
 
 With the view of giving to agriculture more direct and effica¬ 
 cious encouragement, we also propose to you to enlarge the 
 sum voted last year, reserving to ourselves, with your instruc¬ 
 tions, to determine the best employment of it. 
 
 On Legislative Interference and Aid, for effecting Territorial and 
 
 Social Improvements. 
 
 In our times the power of private associations is often cited ; 
 but what then is the public administration ? What are you, 
 gentlemen, but a powerful association, united, not for views of 
 private interest, but with the desire, the will, the mission, of 
 ameliorating incessantly, the moral interests and situation of 
 350,000 citizens whom you represent. 
 
PROVINCE OF ANTWERP. 
 
 Extracts from the Report of the permanent Deputation of the 
 Provincial Council. 1st July, 1837. 
 
 Sittings of the Council . 
 
 The sittings of the provincial council of 1836, opened the 6th 
 of October, and closed the 26th. In this interval of 20 days, 
 there were in all ten public sittings. 
 
 Provincial Electors. 
 
 The number of provincial electors is now 4748, divided in the 
 following manner :—■ 
 
 Canton of Antwerp,—City . . . 1120 
 
 Other portions 205 
 
 Canton 
 
 of Brecht . 
 
 » • ® 
 
 - 1325 
 
 . . 157 
 
 5 J 
 
 Contich 
 
 • • • 
 
 . . 381 
 
 •> > 
 
 Erckeven 
 
 * « • 
 
 . . 192 
 
 ? 5 
 
 Santhoven 
 
 • • 9 
 
 . . 134 
 
 5 * 
 
 Wilryk 
 
 9 • * 
 
 . . 124 
 
 5 5 
 
 Duffel 
 
 9*9 
 
 . . 120 
 
 5 > 
 
 Heystopdenberg 
 
 . . 203 
 
 5 ) 
 
 Lierre 
 
 • 99 
 
 . . 253 
 
 5 5 
 
 Mechlin . 
 
 • • • 
 
 . . 606 
 
 9 J 
 
 Puers 
 
 9*9 
 
 . . 237 
 
 5 i 
 
 Arendouck 
 
 C • • 
 
 . . 70 
 
 i J 
 
 Herenthals 
 
 * * • 
 
 . . 209 
 
 
 Carried forward 
 
 . . 4011 
 
128 
 
 Brought forward 
 
 . . . 4011 
 
 Canton of Hoogstraten. 
 
 . . . 121 
 
 ,, Moll 
 
 . . . 238 
 
 ,, Turnhout 
 
 ... 197 
 
 , , Westerloo 
 
 . . . 181 
 
 
 4748 
 
 Communal Administration. 
 
 It was daring the session of 1830 that the installation of the 
 new communal administration took place. Most of the old mem¬ 
 bers having again been honoured with the suffrages of their fellow* 
 citizens, the government in some measure associated itself with 
 the wishes of the electors, by retaining at the head of the ad¬ 
 ministration almost all the burgomasters and aldermen re-elected. 
 In the communes, where these would not or could not be con¬ 
 tinued in their functions, its choice was in general fixed upon the 
 councillors that had obtained the greatest number of votes, and 
 if any deviations were made from this rule, it was when the 
 duties and interests of the commune rendered them indispensable. 
 
 The same line of policy has been followed in the choice of 
 secretaries. 
 
 ***** 
 
 The collectors have been continued in their employments. 
 Two or three have been dismissed by the local authorities, and 
 the deputation ratified these acts of severity, that the example 
 might retain the other functionaries in their duty. 
 
 Creation of Communes. 
 
 The provincial administration has received many demands for 
 
 the creation of new communes. 
 
 ***** 
 
 It may so happen that they take their source less from the real 
 wants of the inhabitants, than from ambitious views and personal 
 interests. The mass of petitioners are often violent for changes, 
 of which, if more enlightened, they would dread the conse- 
 
129 
 
 quences. It. is not that two localities constituted into one com¬ 
 mune, may not have an interest in separating; but too often 
 they only consider their association under the unfavourable view, 
 without recollecting the advantages presented by the other side. 
 United, they are better able to bear the charges,by sharing them; 
 left to themselves they remain powerless, when they might, by 
 associating their efforts and by directing them to the same end, 
 work most usefully towards their common welfare. 
 
 The Communal Law has pointed out no rule relative to the 
 
 ■% 
 
 disuniting of communes; but foreseeing the neglected state in 
 which the administration of the communes might leave the ham¬ 
 lets which belong to it, has left to the deputation to determine, 
 according to the population, the number of councillors to be 
 elected in each section. 
 
 Provincial Income and Expenditure. 
 
 The provincial budget for the year 1836 was definitively 
 settled by a Royal Decree of the 31st March, 1836, to a receipt 
 of 262,553 francs, and the expenses were authorized to the same 
 amount. 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 A Royal Decree of the 8th August, 1836, augmented the sum 
 by tO,000 francs, to be raised from the funds of the high roads. 
 
 A similar levy of 7,766 francs, equally applicable to unfore¬ 
 seen expenses, has been authorized by a Royal Decree of the 7th 
 January, 1837. 
 
 ***** 
 
 In the last session, the council examined and approved condi¬ 
 tionally of the accounts of the year 1835. Those of the year 
 1836, comprising the final account of 1834, the supplementary 
 account of 1835, and the primitive account of 1836, will be sub¬ 
 mitted to the council with the necessary vouchers. 
 
 z' f 
 
 Income and, Expenditure of Communes. 
 
 The budgets for towns and communes for 1833 have been 
 examined, and definitively decreed by the deputation. 
 
 K 
 
130 
 
 The revenues of the four towns present a total of 2,394,518 
 francs. 
 
 The expenses of all kinds have amounted to 2,324,610 francs. 
 
 Among these expenses the subsidies granted to the charitable 
 establishments, amount to 407,815 francs; and those for works 
 of public convenience to 307,083 francs. 
 
 The interest of the constituted debt, and of loans raised since 
 1829, have absorbed 214,814 francs. 
 
 There have been appropriated towards the extinction of these 
 debts, 156,210 francs. 
 
 The revenues have sufficed to cover all these expenses. The 
 town of Antwerp only has been obliged to have recourse to a 
 temporary loan of 175,000 francs, to supply the balance of its 
 budget. 
 
 The revenues of the rural communes of the provinces have 
 amounted to 961,053 francs, and the expenses to 802,510 francs. 
 
 The surplus is, for the most part, intended to be applied either 
 in liquidation of the debts, or to works of public convenience. 
 
 The produce of the communal rates, properly so called, has 
 amounted to 426,127 francs. This sum divided by 232,203, the 
 number of the population in the rural communes, gives for each 
 person 1 * 83 franc. 
 
 The accounts delivered by the communal collectors for the 
 year 1835, have been definitively settled, with the exception of 
 those of Mechlin and Turnhout. A considerable deficit having- 
 been proved to the charge of one of the communal collectors, he 
 has been displaced. The proper measures have been taken to 
 estate his sureties account, and for the appropriation of his own 
 make towards supplying this deficiency. 
 
 Railways. 
 
 In mentioning to you last October the advancement and the pro¬ 
 gressive march of the works of the railway, an enterprise which 
 so deeply interests the province, and particularly the town of 
 Antwerp, and its trade, we stated that the principal works in 
 the line of Bruges to Liege were undertaken. Now, from the 
 information we have received, we have the satisfaction of an- 
 
131 
 
 nouncing that a great part of the line will he opened for cir¬ 
 culation for the feasts of September next. 
 
 We shall derive additional benefit from the law recently passed, 
 by which a new branch upon Lisle and Tournay, by Courtray, is 
 added to the rail-road formed under the Decree of the 1st of May, 
 1834, and which will shortly put Antwerp in direct communication, 
 by Hainault and the two Flanders, with the French Flanders. 
 This adjunction attains above all a new degree of importance by 
 its continuation towards Paris, a project which, unfortunately, the 
 Chamber of Deputies in France has just adjourned ; but of which 
 the evident and incontestable utility for the two nations renders, 
 it is to be hoped, in a short time the adoption inevitable, whether 
 the French Government cedes the formation of the road to a 
 particular company, or, whether, guided and enlightened by the 
 results of a system so happily followed up in Belgium, it de¬ 
 cides to place itself at the head of the powerful enterprise. 
 
 The hope of the finishing the road towards the Rhine is not 
 less certain. The difficulties which had arisen in the choice of 
 plans in the environs of Aix-Ia-Chapelle, having been smoothed 
 by the happy union of the two companies of Aix and of Cologne. 
 The coincidence of opinions with our neighbours will be a fresh 
 stimulus to animate the definitive considerations of the sections 
 of Liege towards the frontiers of Prussia. 
 
 When we recal for a moment the epoch still so recent of the 
 discussion of the law of the 1st of May, 1834, when every thing 
 was doubt, when the facts unknown amongst us were contested 
 by the generality, when the advantages, now so incontestable, for 
 the public and for the treasury, of the result of this beautiful 
 working of the railway by the state and for its benefit, were con¬ 
 sidered very dubious, and then, if we consider scarce three years 
 after that discussion, the four principal towns in Belgium should 
 be united by the railroads, and should form, as may be said, one 
 vast city; it appears that the country may with good right 
 congratulate itself upon such a result. 
 
 If some partial local complaints have arisen upon the apparent 
 slowness of the march of the enterprise, it is, that the ardent 
 
 k 2 
 
132 
 
 desire at present that all should be in immediate possession of 
 this means of conveyance, so rapid and economical, has occa¬ 
 sioned a forgetfulness of the immense works, the multitude of 
 operations, which must be effected before it can be put in full 
 play; it is thus the anxious impatience to enjoy it, changes the 
 wish into complaints, and makes it to be forgotten, that nowhere, 
 at no other period perhaps, could be cited such great works 
 executed in such a short space of time, with such productive 
 results to the state. The station of Borgerhout, where the works 
 of the railroad are for the present suspended, appears to answer 
 perfectly to the wants of the service in what concerns travellers, 
 by the means of the cut contrived in the fortifications, and the 
 projected enlargement of the bridge over the moat of the town. 
 By its position close to the Place de Meir, and the converging of 
 the principal streets to the gate of Borgerhout, it equally facilitates 
 the access to the different quarters of the town. 
 
 As to the entrance to the railroad in Antwerp, and to the 
 interior station for the direct embarkment and disembarkment of 
 merchandise, as also the branch conducting to the free entrepot, 
 the Government has not yet come to a definitive resolution. The 
 just appreciation of the railroad, more felt each day by the result 
 of its workings, which surpasses all that was anticipated, has 
 occasioned the abandonment successively of the different projects 
 presented for this station, an object of the highest importance to 
 the future commerce of Antwerp, and for the railroad itself. Not 
 one of the situations hitherto proposed have answered completely 
 to the exigencies of the extraordinary movement, which will take 
 place when Antwerp, properly speaking, will be the general depot 
 of the principal towns of Belgium, and the necessary centre of 
 the most active commercial relations between France, Germany, 
 England, and Holland. Already with its present commerce the 
 insufficiency of the quays is often felt; it is well known that the 
 handsome basin now existing has been formed more for the 
 accommodation of a military marine, and for the harbouring of 
 men-of- war,than to suffice to the wants of the maritime commerce. 
 
 Penetrated with the great importance of the establishment 
 
 i 
 
133 
 
 of this station, and always guided by the intelligence full of 
 foresight, which from the beginning has presided over their 
 undertakings, the engineer directors of the railroad are at this 
 moment finishing, in concert with the military engineers, the con¬ 
 sideration of a definitive project, which may bring the waggons 
 into the free entrep6t, and to the very banks of the Scheldt; to 
 make useful the north quay (now deserted), and to form in the 
 Kattendyk, and in the moat of the circumference of the place, the 
 docks, that are wanting still to this Belgian Liverpool. This 
 project, principally directed towards the interest of commerce, 
 and always augmenting the means of military defence, offers in 
 addition the advantage of rendering healthy all the part of the 
 town which surrounds the basins, by raising und draining all the 
 ground which borders this quarter. The works of the branch 
 road to Lierre, that was projected to be directed towards Duffel, 
 are suspended, first, by the demands of the proprietors for the 
 cession of lands, and also by the complaints of the inhabitants of 
 Contich,—complaints which have fixed the particular attention of 
 the deputation, and which have for their object to obtain the exe 
 cution of the plan by Linth, proposed in 1833. The possibility of 
 joining, without much expense, Boom and the surrounding com¬ 
 munes to the railway by Contich, must give great weight to the 
 demand of the last-mentioned commune, reduced at present to 
 almost complete isolation, and much diminishes the regret that is 
 felt at the delay occasioned in the execution of the works of this 
 branch road, so interesting for the town of Lierre, and a great 
 part of the Campine. The latest opinions lean towards the 
 direction upon Linth, and the decision to be made cannot be 
 much longer retarded. 
 
 The transport of merchandise which had been delayed, as it 
 appears, by the necessity of learning the general opinion on a 
 question so complicated and important, has at length commenced 
 for the goods and parcels usually sent by Diligence. Everything 
 leads to the hope that the results of this new arrangement will be 
 like that for the transport of travellers, as economical for the 
 public as productive for the treasury. 
 
184 
 
 The Government, though only establishing small rates upon 
 travellers and precious merchandise, usually sent by Diligence , 
 will not of course lose sight) that the advantages certain to be 
 gained on these special parts of the workings, would, in the 
 spirit of the law of the 1st of May, as much facilitate and favour 
 the carriage and the exportation of heavy merchandise. 
 
 We think it will not be uninteresting to insert in this place a 
 table of the number of travellers on the sections from Mechlin 
 to^ Brussels and to Antwerp in 1835 and 1836; we copy this 
 document from the Report presented to the Legislative Houses 
 of the 1st of last March. 
 
 Number of Travellers. 
 
 First Period. —Section of Mechlin to Brussels. 
 
 Months. 
 
 Brussels. 
 
 Mechlin. 
 
 Total. 
 
 
 1835. 
 
 May. 
 
 June. 
 
 July .... 
 August . 
 September . 
 October . 
 November . 
 December . 
 
 1836. 
 January. 
 February 
 
 March . 
 
 April 
 
 17,210 
 
 26,794 
 
 39,841 
 
 36,964 
 
 36,922 
 
 26.146 
 
 16,764 
 
 14,701 
 
 14,767 
 
 15,887 
 
 17,692 
 
 24,105 
 
 16,077 
 
 25,649 
 
 37,961 
 
 35,417 
 
 35,600 
 
 24,683 
 
 16,423 
 
 14,287 
 
 13,942 
 
 14,972 
 
 17,015 
 
 23,391 
 
 33,287 
 
 52,443 
 
 77,802 
 
 72,381 
 
 72,522 
 
 50,829 
 
 33,187 
 
 28,988 
 
 28,709 
 
 30,759 
 
 34,707 
 
 47,496 
 
 i 563,210 travellers 
 ' for a year. 
 
 Second Period. —Sections from Mechlin to Brussels and to 
 
 Antwerp. 
 
 Months. 
 
 Brussels. 
 
 Mechlin. 
 
 Antwerp. 
 
 Total. 
 
 
 1836. 
 
 May . 
 
 June . 
 
 July . 
 
 August . 
 September 
 October . 
 November 
 December 
 
 43,749 
 
 42,425 
 
 46,427 
 
 48,619 
 
 43,967 
 
 35,608 
 
 20,084 
 
 21,307 
 
 25,561 
 
 23,753 
 
 30,395 
 
 31,590 
 
 28,455 
 
 26,180 
 
 20,994 
 
 13,760 
 
 32,169 
 
 32,351 
 
 36,015 
 
 39,545 
 
 30,674 
 
 28,652 
 
 15,028 
 
 12,237 
 
 101,479 
 
 98,529 
 
 112,837 
 
 119,754 
 
 103,096 
 
 90,440 
 
 56,106 
 
 47,304 
 
 729,545 passen- 
 y gers for eight 
 months. 
 
135 
 
 During the first period (May 1835 to May 1836, 12 months) 
 the section from Mechlin to Brussels alone has brought 
 359,394*15 francs; it has been gone over in all or in part by 
 563,210 travellers. 
 
 During the second period, the amount of the receipt in francs 
 has been nearly equal to the number of travellers (734,736 
 francs); so that it may be supposed that each traveller, without 
 attending to the distance gone over, paid a franc. 
 
 Struck with the rise of the price for the transport of paving 
 stones for the construction of the roads in the Campine, not less 
 than with the difficulties that the military engineers oppose to the 
 construction of several of those roads, with the idea of what they 
 consider the security of the country, we have asked ourselves how 
 far the railroads on the American system would be, under this 
 double consideration, more advantageous than the ordinary roads. 
 We have obtained the assurance that the roads of this kind, 
 capable of immediate dislocation, would present, without doubt, 
 fewer inconveniences than others, to the eyes of the military 
 engineer, and as to the means of execution, we subjoin a note 
 which has been communicated to us by an engineer, in whose 
 experience we think we cau place full reliance. 
 
 “ The experience of the marshes of Cheshire, now in cultiva¬ 
 tion, by means of railways made of the rails not used for 
 the road from Manchester to Liverpool, gives the certainty that 
 the railroads executed in the Campine, according to the manner 
 adopted in certain parts of the United Provinces, that is, con¬ 
 structed upon sleepers and lengths of log-wood, covered over by 
 a simple flat band in iron of four kilograms (about 8 lbs.) by the 
 usual measure, would furnish, not only in every desirable direc¬ 
 tion easy communication, but besides it would soon extend to¬ 
 wards each hamlet, and almost to each farm; and even, as at 
 Chatmoss, in the midst of the fields diffuse cultivation.” 
 
 After a detail carefully revised, we may assert that the expense 
 of the establishment for this species of railroad in the Campine, 
 would not cost 12,000 francs by kilometre (each 100 yards), 
 always being capable of bearing waggons as heavily laden as 
 
136 
 
 those that may run on the high-roads. It is easy immediately to 
 foresee the immense advantages that the Campine might expect 
 from such an economical method of communication, if we com¬ 
 pare the price of 12,000 francs by kilometre (each 100 yards) to 
 the expense of the ordinary ways hitherto in use. 
 
 This price, so small in comparison--with that of the common 
 highways, has nothing, however, to astonish, if we consider the 
 weak action of the ground, which scarcely requires embankment, 
 and the sandy nature of the soil, the abundance and low price of 
 wood, the principal object of expense in this species of con¬ 
 struction. 
 
 These communications by horses only, the most convenint 
 method for the actual state of industry in the country, would 
 nevertheless enable passengers to travel at the rate of from two 
 and a half to three leagues an hour.* 
 
 Roads of the First and Second Class. 
 
 The roads of the first and second class have been maintained 
 during the year 1836, in very good travelling condition. Their 
 maintenance has cost 47,350 francs. 
 
 The produce of the turnpikes, established upon the roads 
 during the same period, has amounted to 140,745 francs, and 
 has left to the state a surplus of 93,395 francs. 
 
 The bridge over the Schyn, near Deurne, put in tempo¬ 
 rary repair in 1814, has been replaced by one more solid and 
 larger. Until the making the little Nethe navigable, so as to 
 allow the transport of the paving stones destined for the road 
 from Turnhout to Diest, the works to be executed upon the 
 part of this road comprised between Turnhout and Ghiel, will 
 be limited to what is essential for the preservation of the embank¬ 
 ments, the draining of the bed, or the construction of aqueducts 
 in some places where they have been found necessary. 
 
 * In England on the Darlington road, the carriages are drawn by 
 horses. Each carriage intended for thirty persons, with their luggage, 
 
 drawn by a single horse, and travels at the rate of from eight to ten miles an 
 hour. 
 
137 
 
 The plantation of the same road has been undertaken for the 
 sum of 4,200 francs. It will be accomplished in the course of 
 next November. As yet nothing has been decided upon the 
 definitive plan of the road between Ghiel and Diest. The War 
 Department has made known, the 12th of last April, that it 
 would not oppose the construction, provided it was superintended 
 by Zammel. 
 
 The deputation requested of the Minister of Public Works that 
 
 the head engineer should be directed to take into consideration 
 
 * 
 
 this work, in order that the deputation should, if possible, be oc¬ 
 cupied again in the course of this year with making purchases of 
 ground and embankments. 
 
 The continuation of the road from Antwerp to Putta, upon a 
 length of 4,500 yards, is demanded most anxiously by the com¬ 
 munes interested, and will facilitate exceedingly the relations 
 with Slabroeck, Santuliet, and Beirendrecht. We have endea¬ 
 voured to find the means of obtaining this result without being 
 obliged to touch the resources destined for the opening of com¬ 
 munications upon other points of the province. We hope to 
 succeed. 
 
 Provincial Roads. 
 
 I 
 
 The provincial roads are in a satisfactory state. A sum of 
 22,645 francs has been expended in keeping them up, and the 
 works which belong to them. 
 
 The produce of turnpikes, which has amounted to 27,475 
 francs, has afforded a surplus of 4,829 francs. 
 
 The trees decayed, or which have been mischievously destroyed, 
 have been replaced. The first section of the road from Leirre to 
 Herenthals has been planted, as also the second section of the 
 road from Lierre to Aerchot. The success of the plantations 
 depending partly on the attention given to the training of the 
 trees when they have attained a certain growth, the deputation 
 has judged it proper to confide this charge to persons more clever 
 than those hitherto employed. 
 
138 
 
 Loans for Roads. 
 
 Consulted by the deputation on the part that could be even¬ 
 tually allotted to the province in the loan of 6,000,000 francs, 
 voted to complete and improve the system of roads throughout 
 the kingdom, the Minister of Public Works has answered, that 
 it depended on the extent of the communications to be opened in 
 this province, and of the sacrifices which the communes may be 
 willing to make. 
 
 The head engineer has been requested by the deputation to 
 point out the new roads best to be undertaken, and to supply an 
 estimate of their cost. 
 
 Total length of roads to be formed, 82,878 yards. 
 
 Estimate of the outlay, 1,596,910 francs. 
 
 ***** 
 
 The commune of Brecht has demanded that, instead of con¬ 
 structing a road from Hoogstraeten to Oostenalle, it should be 
 directed on Brecht and Brasschaet. This direction being nearly 
 of double length to the other, would occasion an expense of at 
 least 400,000 francs. 
 
 The decision to be taken in this regard depending much 
 upon the sacrifices the communes will make, they have been 
 requested to make known their intentions. 
 
 As the opening of so many roads cannot take place simulta¬ 
 neously, the council will class them according to their urgency 
 and utility. 
 
 Canals and Rivers. 
 
 The making the little Nethe navigable unto the Bridge of 
 Casterle, resolved by the council in its last session, has been par¬ 
 ticularly an object of solicitude to the deputation, which has en¬ 
 deavoured to procure all the intelligence most likely to put an 
 end to the doubts that might still exist upon the success of this 
 work. 
 
 The project of the engineer Kiimmer, has been submitted to 
 the examination of a commission. ***** 
 
139 
 
 This Commission has unanimously agreed that the realization oi 
 
 the project would be eminently useful. * * * 
 
 * * * * * 
 
 Thanks to the intervention, as active as it was obliging, of one 
 of the members of the council, the purchases of land, which often 
 occasion difficulties so prejudicial to the prompt execution of 
 works, have been effected in a few days upon the whole line, from 
 Lierre to Gobbendonk. 
 
 The contractor has commenced his operations, and is pursuing 
 them actively. 
 
 No decision has yet been made by the Government upon the 
 project presented by the Inspector-General of Bridges and High¬ 
 ways, for the establishment of a general system of short naviga¬ 
 tion and irrigation in Anversoise and Limbourgioze Campine. 
 
 Meanwhile a company, represented by M. Le Coq, of Tournay, 
 have solicited from Government a grant for the tilling of the 
 heaths of the two provinces, and for the execution of necessary 
 ways of communication for that object. 
 
 An inquiry has been instituted by the Department of Public 
 Works upon this project, which has been founded upon that of 
 the Inspector’s'General. 
 
 In the sitting of the 18th of October, 1836, the provincial 
 council showed a desire that measures should be taken to accele¬ 
 rate the works so long projected to improve the navigation of the 
 Rupel, and to facilitate the communication between Boom and 
 Willebroeck. These projects being to be found in the archives of 
 the Department of Public Works, the deputation has begged the 
 Minister to communicate them. Among the papers relative to 
 the first project, there is a report made on the 19th of February 
 last, by the Inspector of Bridges and Highways, which particu¬ 
 larly occupied the attention of the deputation. 
 
 * * * * * 
 
 The deputation sharing the opinion of the author of the Report, 
 has resolved to take steps with the Minister of Public Works, 
 
140 
 
 that a commission should be instituted as promptly as possible, 
 and that there should be added to it a delegate from the province 
 of Boom. 
 
 Parish Roads. 
 
 In the course of the month of April, the Commissioners of the 
 Roads have, in concert with the local authorities, inspected the 
 cross roads. The extracts of their Reports, pointing out the 
 works to be executed, and the measures to be taken for the pre¬ 
 vention of the trespasses committed in some of the localities, 
 have been transmitted to the administrations interested. 
 
 In many of the communes the works are already executed or 
 going on actively. We flatter ourselves the next Report of 
 the Commissioners will contain, in this respect, satisfactory 
 evidence. 
 
 A new project of law upon the parish roads has been commu¬ 
 nicated by the Minister of the Interior to the deputation, who 
 has judged proper to have it printed, and transmitted to the Com¬ 
 missioners and to the communal authorities, in order to col¬ 
 lect the observations their experience will suggest to them on a 
 subject of such importance. Each of the councillors have also 
 received a copy for the same intention. 
 
 The presentation of the project to the Chambers being so near, 
 has determined the deputation to adjourn the digestion of a pro¬ 
 ject of regulation till such time as a law, which we hope will not 
 long be delayed, will have fixed the general principles upon this 
 interesting matter. 
 
 It often happens in the rural communes, and the case has 
 been even lately pointed out to us, that individuals usurp com¬ 
 munal lands for building upon, and that the local authorities shut 
 their eyes upon these usurpations, which ought to be severely 
 kept down. We think that the communal councils would do well 
 to make decrees forbidding all constructions not legally authorized 
 upon the communal lands, under small police penalties, to which 
 they might make liable not only those that construct, but even 
 their workmen. 
 
141 
 
 Communal Works. 
 
 In the last Report was given the account of the situation of com¬ 
 munal works, the expenses of which appear in the budgets of the 
 years 1835 and 1836. These works are at present finishing, and 
 other constructions not less important have been projected for 
 1837, the account of which is here given :—- 
 
 Antwerp. 
 
 Francs. 
 
 A quay before the depot. 192,000 
 
 A store for military goods ...... 105,000 
 
 A fish market .. 80,000 
 
 A post at the Bridge de la Vigne .... 18,000 
 New gates to the sluices of the Basin . . . 12,000 
 
 Two landing-places at the Quay Van Dyk . . 24,000 
 
 Candelabres to light the public places . . . 12,200 
 
 Restoration of the Great Tower.15,000 
 
 Francs 458,200 
 
 Mechlin. 
 
 Opening of a new street to communicate with the 
 
 ceptral section of the railroads . ... 50,000 
 
 Construction of two pavilions at the entrance of the 
 
 Municipal College.14,850 
 
 Reparations of the Great Tower.2,000 
 
 Francs 66,850 
 
 Lierre. 
 
 Enlargement of a street.6,700 
 
 Construction of a new quay.3,000 
 
 A sewer. ... 3,000 
 
 Enlargement of the hospital (part belonging to 
 
 the town) ..8,000 
 
 Francs 20,700 
 
14*2 
 
 Turnhout. 
 
 Francs. 
 
 Improvement of the barracks . . . Francs 6,790 
 
 Arrondissement of Antwerp. 
 
 Exterior reparations of the church of St. Leonard 
 
 sous Brecht. 1,800 
 
 Re-construction of the parsonage of Hove . . 5,650 
 
 Also of the Tower of Embleheim .... 2,500 
 
 Reparation of the parsonage of Beirendrecht . 800 
 
 Also of the school of Massenhoven . 1,500 
 
 Francs 12,250 
 
 Arrondissement of Mechlin. 
 
 Enlargement of the church of Nylen, estimated 8,500 
 Reparations of the parsonage of Iteqhem . . 850 
 
 Also of the parsonage of Blaesveld . . . 1,200 
 
 Francs 10,550 
 
 Arrondissement of Turnhout. 
 
 Construction of a school at Oden, and of a house 
 
 for the master at Gorheyden.9,290 
 
 A school-house at Westerloo.4,000 
 
 Another at Poppel. 3,500 
 
 Enlargement of the church of Voortkappel . . 7,000 
 
 Reparations and alterations in the interior distri¬ 
 bution of the communal house of Herenthals . 2,000 
 
 Extraordinary reparations of the roof of the church 
 
 of Herenthals. 2,700 
 
 Francs 28,490 
 
 Total . . . 603,830 francs. 
 
 Independent of these works already undertaken, and which 
 
143 
 
 it is expected will be finished in the course of the year 1837, the 
 architect of the province has been asked for projects for the 
 enlargement or re-construction of the schools of Cappelleri, Sta- 
 broick, Ordesen, Westmalle, Bevel, Poederle, and Westmeer- 
 beck; the re-construction of the parsonages of Hingene and 
 Sanvliet; the putting into complete repair of that of Norder- 
 wyck ; the construction of a communal house at Duffel and Niel; 
 the enlargement of the churches of Linth, Calmpthout, Wavre, 
 Notre Dame, and Brasschael. 
 
 PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 
 
 § 1 .—Ordinary or Secondary Instruction. 
 
 The nine establishments destined in the province for secondary 
 instruction, are frequented by 83 pupils more than on the 1st May, 
 1836. 
 
 At present the Athenseum of 
 
 Antwerp.117 pupils (all out-door). 
 
 
 5 » 
 
 J J 
 
 J 9 
 
 (35 boarders), 
 (out-door). 
 
 9 9 
 
 9 9 
 
 The Municipal College of Mechlin 130 
 The Municipal College of Lierre 42 
 The Communal College of Ghiel 62 
 The Communal College of He- 
 renthals.36 
 
 Report . . . 387 
 
 The first section of the Archiepis- 
 
 copal College of Mechlin . . 315 pupils (all boarders). 
 
 The establishment of Brul, an¬ 
 nexed to the preceding . 69 , , ,, 
 
 The private institution of M. P. 
 
 J. De Nef, at Turnhout . . 118 ,, (4 boarders). 
 
 The Archiepiscopal College of 
 
 Hoogstraten.61 ,, (59 boarders). 
 
 950 
 
144 
 
 The necessity of filling; up the deficiencies in our secondary 
 education are in our days much felt. The living languages, the 
 sciences, the arts, are no longer sacrificed to the dead languages; 
 history, the elements of mathematics, and the natural sciences, no 
 longer remain unknown to our youth; and each year diminishes 
 the evil attributed to the ordinary or secondary instruction which 
 may be said to have been only suitable to one portion of those who 
 received it, and to remain unknown to the great mass of the popu¬ 
 lation. The colleges of the province furnish the proofs. The plan 
 conceived to enlarge the sphere of tuition of the Athenaeum of 
 Antwerp, above all deserves praise. Along with the classes of the 
 dead languages, already courses dedicated to the commercial and 
 industrial sciences have been added. This plan comprehends, 
 amongst others, chemistry and mechanics applicable to the arts, 
 political economy, the principles of commercial law, statistics, and 
 the history of commerce : it is subordinate to a progressive deve¬ 
 lopment. It would be rendering an eminent service to hasten the 
 opening of the course of commercial law. There is under this 
 head a blank, which has been felt for some time. Where can 
 it be better filled than at Antwerp ? Where will the utility 
 of such lessons be better appreciated ? Confided to a person of 
 merit, and accessible to all who devote themselves to commerce, 
 it would accomplish the public expectation, and do honour to the 
 town. 
 
 § 2 .—Primary Instruction. 
 
 Thanks to the assistance of the superior administration, the local 
 authorities of benevolent establishments, as likewise those of cha¬ 
 ritable individuals who devote themselves wiih the most laudable 
 disinterestedness to the instruction of youth, the Primary Instruc¬ 
 tion is, at present, accessible to all classes of society. On the 
 1st of last February the number of primary schools was 347, 
 divided as follows 
 
145 
 
 
 Communal 
 
 Schools. 
 
 Mixed. 
 
 Private. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Town of Antwerp .... 
 
 2 
 
 5 
 
 62 
 
 70 
 
 ,, Mechlin .... 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 35 
 
 38 
 
 ,, Lierre. 
 
 • • 
 
 2 
 
 10 
 
 12 
 
 ,, Turnhout.... 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 9 
 
 Arrondissement of Antwerp . 
 
 52 
 
 8 
 
 23 
 
 85 
 
 ,, Mechlin . 
 
 18 
 
 21 
 
 16 
 
 35 
 
 ,, Turnhout. 
 
 55 
 
 7 
 
 16 
 
 78 
 
 Total .... 
 
 136 
 
 45 
 
 166 
 
 347 
 
 In 1835 this number was 346; but if the sum total of the 
 
 schools has remained the same, that of the pupils that frequent 
 them has increased 976. 
 
 The last Report mentioned a number of 33,149 pupils of both 
 sexes in the primary schools. These are the tables of the popu¬ 
 lation of these schools on the 1st February, 1837 :— 
 
 
 Communal Schools. 
 
 Mixed Schools. 
 
 Private Schools. 
 
 General 
 
 Total. 
 
 GO 
 
 >> 
 
 o 
 
 PQ 
 
 CO 
 
 3 
 
 eS 
 
 o 
 
 H 
 
 • 
 
 CO 
 
 >*> 
 
 0 
 
 FQ 
 
 03 
 
 • r-J 
 
 O 
 
 r c3 
 
 -«-> 
 
 O 
 
 H 
 
 GO 
 
 O 
 
 cq 
 
 CO 
 
 • r—i 
 
 0 
 
 a 
 
 4-s 
 
 O 
 
 EH 
 
 Town of Antwerp. 
 
 ,, Mechlin .... 
 
 ,, Lierre .... 
 
 ,, Turnhout 
 Arrondissement of Antwerp 
 ,, Mechlin 
 
 ,, Turnhout 
 
 Total. 
 
 910 
 
 270 
 
 292 
 
 4,166 
 
 1,198 
 
 3,492 
 
 300 
 
 125 
 
 149 
 
 3,099 
 
 756 
 
 2,713 
 
 1,210 
 
 397 
 
 441 
 
 7,265 
 
 1,954 
 
 6,205 
 
 280 
 
 128 
 
 306 
 
 170 
 
 629 
 
 2,008 
 
 482 
 
 29 
 
 *40 
 
 586 
 
 1,450 
 
 383 
 
 309 
 
 128 
 
 346 
 
 170 
 
 1,215 
 
 3,458 
 
 865 
 
 1,950 
 
 1,245 
 
 298 
 
 843 
 
 441 
 
 591 
 
 1,705 
 
 907 
 
 318 
 
 144 
 
 654 
 
 456 
 
 615 
 
 3,655 
 
 2,152 
 
 616 
 
 144 
 
 1,494 
 
 897 
 
 1,206 
 
 5,174 
 
 2,675 
 
 962 
 
 755 
 
 9,974 
 
 6,309 
 
 8,276 
 
 10,328 
 
 7,142 
 
 17,470 
 
 4,003 
 
 2,488 
 
 6,491 
 
 5,368 
 
 4J96 
 
 10,164 
 
 34,125 
 
 The private benevolent associations for diffusing instruction, 
 religious and moral, count also a great many pupils not included 
 in this statement. The Sunday schools of Antwerp instruct as 
 many as 3,070 boys and girls: in the hospitals of the same town 
 instruction is given to 385 pupils (168 boys and 217 girls), in 
 those of Mechlin to 158 (44 boys and 114 girls). At Hoog- 
 straten to 99 girls. That makes, again, a total of 3,700 pupils, 
 not including the population of the school prisoners at St. Ber¬ 
 nard, which is at least 100 ; so that it maybe asserted, as a fact, 
 that in the province 38,000 individuals partake of the primary 
 instruction. 
 
 As constitutional society is interested that its members should 
 
 L 
 
146 
 
 receive the necessary degree of instruction to serve as a safeguard 
 to liberty and general order ; so each commune equally feels that 
 the rising generation should receive a good moral education, 
 which will prevent their becoming a burthen upon public charity. 
 
 In its session of last year the provincial council voted a sum 
 of 2,000 francs in favour of primary tutors. Several demands of 
 subsidies have been addressed to the deputation ; but in order to 
 proceed with full knowledge of the case to the subdivision, the 
 deputation has resolved not to occupy itself with it till later, when 
 a Royal Decree shall have regulated the salaries and the subsidies 
 granted from the royal treasury for the present year in favour of 
 the primary instruction. Upon the sum of 255,000 francs car¬ 
 ried to the credit of the budget of the Department of the Inte¬ 
 rior, the allocation in favour of the province of Antwerp is only 
 15,668 francs. However, the Minister of the Interior has made 
 known that several demands of subsidies have appeared to him 
 to be deserving of consideration, and that they shall be attended 
 to hereafter. 
 
 A Royal Decree of the 6th October, 1836, grants a sum of 900 
 francs, under the title of succours, to five old schoolmasters and to 
 an old schoolmistress, and to the widow of a schoolmaster. 
 
 Upon the credit of the sum of 5,500 francs, carried to the pro¬ 
 vincial budget of 1835, for the construction and enlargement of 
 places dedicated to primary instruction, the former deputation 
 disposed, in the course of 1836, of— 
 
 100 francs in favour of the Commune of Norderwyck. 
 
 500 
 
 700 
 
 Willebroeck. 
 
 Oppuers. 
 
 » 
 
 The present deputation has applied out of the sum carried for 
 the same object to the budget of 1836 a sum of 500 francs for the 
 making up a subsidy of 1,000 francs, which had been granted to 
 the commune of Willebroeck. A similar sum of 5,500 francs 
 appears in the budget of 1837; but it has not yet been touched. 
 
 The buildings and places serving for schools in the communes 
 are, in general, in a good state. There are exceptions in the 
 schools of Aertselaer, of Beirendrecht, of Bouchout, of Brecht, of 
 
147 
 
 Cappellen, of Pulderbosch, of Westmalle, and of Wilsyk, in the 
 arrondissement of Antwerp ; of Bevel, of Blaervelt, and of Heyn- 
 donck, in that of Mechlin ; of Aerendonck, of Olmen, of Porderlt*, 
 of Poppel, of Ramsel under Herselt, of Wechelderzande, and of 
 Westmeerbeeck, in the arrondissement of Turnhout. They are 
 in immediate want of repair, or perhaps ought to be entirely 
 rebuilt. In many of these communes the local authorities are 
 occupied with endeavouring to provide for the means of meeting 
 such a very necessary expense, and, if it can be done, the deputa¬ 
 tion will show itself disposed to second it. 
 
 Primary Schools on Government Model. 
 
 Two of these schools exist in the province; both have made 
 great progress, due to the zeal of the administrative commis¬ 
 sioners and to the exertions of the masters. 
 
 The primary school of Antwerp, which in 1835 only counted 80 
 pupils, and was attended in 1836 by 152, at present has 203, 
 divided into three classes, that is, 94 in the first, 77 in the 
 second, and 32 in the lower class. The want of space renders 
 it impossible to admit a greater number of pupils, and at this 
 moment some children are obliged to wait till vacancies permit 
 their being admitted in their turn. 
 
 Lessons of vocal music have been added lately to the other 
 branches of instruction, extended beyond the arts that principally 
 constituted primary instruction, because between this and the 
 colleges there is evidently an immense distance. In society this 
 space is not empty ; it is filled by a number of families, who, from 
 their interests, their labours, and their social situations, are not 
 called upon to give their children a secondary instruction, and 
 who, notwithstanding, have the desire to make them acquire 
 superior knowledge to that which the primary schools can gene¬ 
 rally give. It is partly to satisfy the wants of this numerous and 
 useful class of citizens, that it appeared proper to place in the 
 instruction of the primary schools the foundations of knowledge, 
 which later private exercises might develope. 
 
 The payments of the scholars form the resources of the school 
 
 l 2 
 
148 
 
 of Antwerp, besides a subsidy of 1,800 francs, granted to it by 
 Government. 
 
 There was, in 1836, at the primary school of Mechlin, 110 
 pupils ; the 1st of last February this number was 128, and on the 
 1st of May following 147, in the different classes. The instruction 
 includes reading, writing, arithmetic, geometry, the French 
 language, Flemish and German, geography, notions of ancient 
 and national history, lineal drawing, declamation, and singing. 
 This institution enjoys a subsidy of 2,332 francs from the public 
 treasury. With the view of improving it still more, the adminis¬ 
 trative commission has lately submitted, by the assistance of the 
 provincial authority, some propositions to the Department of the 
 Interior, for the examination of a third under-master, partly paid 
 by the Government. These views of improvement cannot be 
 effected this year, as the Minister has made known that the budget 
 of primary instruction will not permit him, at present, to augment 
 the subsidy attached to this school. 
 
 The elementary instruction interests, in such a high degree, the 
 futurity of Belgium, that whatever can tend to preserve and 
 develope it, merits peculiar solicitude. In the first rank of insti¬ 
 tutions, which would be useful to it, we must place the Normal 
 primary schools, which in other countries have rendered the 
 greatest services in procuring to a great number of communes 
 masters who are sufficiently informed and familiarised to the best 
 methods. The organization of such schools does not appear to 
 present difficulties, and if the interval should be long before the 
 discussion of the law of primary instruction shall be brought 
 before the Houses, perhaps it would be necessary to request the 
 attention of the provincial council to this object. 
 
 School of Navigation .. 
 
 This school, organized, like that of Ostend, by the Royal Decree 
 of 17th October, 1835, has not hitherto been able to receive the 
 developments of which it appears to be susceptible. Such an 
 institution is of too much importance to the country, and especially 
 to the port of Antwerp, not to call for great attention. 
 
149 
 
 As to the choice of the professor, it has been questioned whether 
 the instruction should be merely theoretical—if that which is given 
 at the French schools of hydrography should be adopted, or 
 whether it was preferable to choose for a professor an old seaman, 
 a good captain for long voyages, teaching, at the same time, both 
 the theory and practice of navigation. The repugnance that 
 seamen by profession appear to have to abstract studies, leads 
 the council of administration to prefer this last choice ; but in order 
 to assure to the pupils who show a talent for the study of mathe¬ 
 matics the means of completing their instruction, it has asked 
 and obtained of Government the authority of sending to the 
 Athenaeum, at the expense of the school, such of the pupils so 
 situated. This method appeared to be so much the more satis¬ 
 factory for the wants of instruction, as the Athenaeum possesses 
 some professors of great mathematical talent. 
 
 However, whether the hours for the lessons did not suit the 
 pupils, or whether their daily employments did not permit their 
 attendance, out of the 51 pupils whose names were on the register 
 for admission to the school of navigation, only five have presented 
 themselves to follow the courses of the Athenaeum, and only two 
 have been able to continue down to the present time. Of the 51 
 scholars, 11 have been erased from the register of control, so that 
 the present number of pupils frequenting the lessons, either regu¬ 
 larly or during the stay of their vessels at Antwerp, is 40, of which 
 35 are seamen by profession. It occurs from the necessity which 
 these are under of frequently being absent, that the courses are 
 only attended by 16 pupils. 
 
 Foundations and Exhibitions . 
 
 The accounts of these institutions, of which the number amounts 
 to 63, continue to be kept exactly and regularly. All the accounts 
 of the year 1836 have been approved and definitively settled by 
 the deputation, with the exception of those of two of the founda¬ 
 tions, of which the administration, having delayed producing 
 their accounts, have been requested to conform, in future, with the 
 obligation, which is given them in the sixth article of the Royal 
 
150 
 
 Decree of the 2d December, 1823, to submit the accounts of this 
 kind for the approbation of the deputation in the course of the 
 first three months, which follows the expiration of the year. 
 
 The financial situation of the most part of the foundations for 
 exhibitions improve perceptibly every year. This result must be 
 attributable as much to the measures the deputation have judged 
 proper to prescribe as to some liquidations of debt which they 
 have been able at different times to make by savings and the sur¬ 
 plus of the accounts. 
 
 THE FINE ARTS. 
 
 The Royal Academy of the Fine Arts at Antwerp. 
 
 The Report concerning the situation of the province of last 
 year has disclosed the flourishing state of this academy, and the 
 eminent services it has rendered to the fine arts. It has uot 
 ceased to follow the same course, and the pupils crowd with the 
 same eagerness to attend. It is the destiny of this institution to 
 continue for Antwerp one of its most glorious titles, and for the 
 country a fruitful nursery of distinguished artists. 
 
 The professor of engraving, and the pupils of his school are 
 occupied upon two important works—the engravings of the draw¬ 
 ings of the tower of the cathedral, done upon a large scale, with 
 so much talent and precision by Serrure, the architect ; and the 
 engravings of the most remarkable monuments of Antwerp, and 
 of the province, which will be re-produced by artists, members of 
 the Royal Society of the Sciences, Letters, and Arts, and published 
 by the care of this society. The first part is finished ; and they 
 are occupied with the second part, in order to publish them 
 simultaneously. 
 
 Academy of Drawing at "Mechlin. 
 
 It has at present 380 pupils. The lessons have been aug¬ 
 mented by a course of perspective, given once a-week by the 
 professor of drawing, from nature, and with a lesson of propor- 
 
151 
 
 tions for the pupils that are destined for the antique classes. 
 There is every other year an examination which took place this 
 year. The result corresponded with the expectation, and proved 
 the progress of the pupils, which compensates to the town for the 
 sacrifices made for its academy. 
 
 The School of Drawing at Lierre. 
 
 It is frequented by 210 pupils ; for want of space no more can 
 be admitted. The inhabitants of all classes profit by this useful 
 institution, enriched lately with a class of modelling, and is also 
 to have a course of drawings from antique figures. Therefore 
 the administration solicits from the deputation the continuation 
 for 1837 of the subsidy of 300 francs, granted last year. 
 
 School of Drawing at Turnhout. 
 
 The school of drawing at Turnhout, frequented by 114 pupils, 
 is divided into four classes, where they teach perspective, archi¬ 
 tecture, regular architecture, the orders of architecture, and 
 figures. 
 
 The deputation will immediately apply itself to the annual 
 subsidy which it has bestowed on this school, and application will 
 be made to Government to obtain in its favour an allocation upon 
 the public treasury, in order, at the same time, to enable the 
 council of administration to give to the instruction all the de¬ 
 sirable improvements. 
 
 New Schools to he formed. 
 
 Some of the great communes have expressed a desire to have 
 among them a gratuitous school, where would be taught the 
 principles of drawing, of figures, of architecture, and of orna¬ 
 ment. The deputation will examine if it will not be proper to 
 require that young artists who receive subsidies from Government 
 and the province, should give instructions in those establishments 
 of the art which they profess. The superintendent of the roads 
 of the province could also be enjoined to overlook and direct the 
 elementary instruction in the art of building. These communes 
 
152 
 
 have already the buildings necessary, and they only want a small 
 assistance to procure the furniture. 
 
 Encouragements for the Fine Arts. 
 
 Upon the allocation carried to the provincial budget of 1837, 
 for the encouragement of the fine arts, the deputation has granted 
 to the Royal Society a sum of 1,000 francs, to assist it in the 
 expenses of the examination and exhibition of the month of 
 August next. The same society has just obtained from Govern¬ 
 ment another subsidy of 3,000 francs. 
 
 The deputation has subscribed out of the provincial funds for 
 three copies of the work which Mr. Serrure, the architect, intends 
 to publish concerning the tower of the cathedral of Antwerp. 
 It has, besides, endeavoured to give encouragement to young 
 artists not much favoured by fortune, by subsidies of from 100 
 to 200 francs; it is required for each claimant to finish before 
 the end of 1837 a work of his own choice, and which will 
 remain his property. The musical artists are alone exempted 
 from this condition. 
 
 Independently of these subsidies, the deputation has placed at 
 the disposal of the Academy of the Fine Arts at Antwerp, a sum 
 of 600 francs, to be distributed amongst the pupils found to be 
 the most distinguished during the examination. 
 
 The Society of Sciences, Letters, and Fine Arts, who will have 
 the glory of erecting a statue of Rubens, have asked for a sub¬ 
 sidy upon the provincial funds, the produce of the subscription it 
 has opened not being sufficient to cover the expense of the 
 monument. 
 
 The deputation has considered that the province could not 
 remain indifferent to such a patriotic work, and enlightened by 
 fresh intelligence, it proposes in the budget of 1838, which will 
 soon be submitted to you, a first allocation of 2,500 francs, which 
 may be renewed next year. 
 
 Tower of Mechlin . 
 
 The attention of the public has been recently awakened upon 
 
153 
 
 the important project, which would do the greatest honour to 
 regenerated Belgium—the completion of the Tower of Mechlin. 
 Finished according to the original plan, this tower, of a con¬ 
 struction at once original and elegant, would be one of the finest 
 monuments of gothic architecture in Europe. 
 
 Amongst the acts which reflected the most honour on the 
 sovereign of a neighbouring country, where the Protestant re¬ 
 ligion is that of the state, was the completion of a cathedral, 
 celebrated among the grandeurs of catholicity. Shall Belgium, 
 where religion and the arts have been retained in all their purity, 
 and continue always with the same brilliancy, shall she alone be 
 incapable of following this example ? From the Report of the 
 provincial architect sent by the deputation to the spot, the Tower 
 of Mechlin is now 350 feet h : gh; it wants to complete it about 
 270 feet. 
 
 For many years past, the tower annually has works going on 
 at the summit, and it does not appear that each foot of the 
 height of the renewed part has cost more than 3,000 francs. 
 Calculating upon this statement, and taking into consideration 
 that the circumference diminishes as it gets higher, the architect 
 is of opinion that a million francs would be sufficient to finish the 
 monument. 
 
 Opinions may vary upon the amount of the expense; but 
 were it double, the means of execution should not be despaired 
 of, if, as we believe, we might reckon upon the assistance of the 
 Government, of the town of Mechlin, of the clergy, and upon 
 the gifts of individuals. 
 
 RELIGIOUS WORSHIP. 
 
 Salaries and Subsidies. 
 
 From the last statement sent to the Department of the Interior, 
 the annual salaries paid out of the funds of the treasury to the 
 
154 
 
 members of the Catholic clergy of the province amounts to the 
 sum of 300,197 * 50 francs. 
 
 
 
 
 Francs. 
 
 Salary to the archbishop 
 
 • « • • 
 
 e 
 
 21,000 
 
 Subscriptions, travelling expenses and secre- 
 
 
 tary’s office .... 
 
 • • - * 
 
 • 
 
 4,600 
 
 3 Vicars general 
 
 at 3,600 fr. each 
 
 10,800 
 
 11 Canons. 
 
 at 2,400 
 
 > J 
 
 26,400 
 
 10 Curates of the first class 
 
 at 2,047-50 
 
 J j 
 
 20,475 
 
 11 Curates of the second class at 1,365 
 
 J > 
 
 15,015 
 
 122 Clergy (Desservants) . 
 
 at 787*50 
 
 J » 
 
 96,075 
 
 48 Chaplains .... 
 
 at 500 
 
 » J 
 
 24,000 
 
 156 Vicars. 
 
 at 600 
 
 > J 
 
 78,000 
 
 10 Assistant Priests 
 
 at 210 
 
 > ) 
 
 2,100 
 
 Supplement to the salaries 
 
 • • • 
 
 4 
 
 1,732*50 
 
 The annual subsidies allotted 
 
 to the other 
 
 religious amount 
 
 to 5,400 francs for the Protestant worship, and 2,000 for the 
 Anglican worship. 
 
 Churches. 
 
 In many communes the size of the churches are no longer cal¬ 
 culated for the population; and the resources of these com¬ 
 munes, joined to the church revenues, not being equal to meet 
 the expenses that would be necessary for the enlargement of 
 these edifices, the deputation has thought it necessary to in¬ 
 crease the sums destined for this branch of expenditure, and for 
 this purpose it has proposed a sum of 20,000 francs in the 
 budget of 1838. 
 
 Legacies and Donations. 
 
 From the article 76, sec. 3, of the communal law, the ques¬ 
 tions concerning the acceptation of legacies or donations to the 
 communes, or to establishments which belong to them, are sub¬ 
 ject to the approbation of the king, when the value exceeds 
 3,000 francs; whilst for the acceptation of gifts, or legacies of 
 inferior nature, the authority of the deputation of the provincial 
 council is sufficient. 
 
155 
 
 Capital. Interest 
 
 Francs. Francs. 
 
 The number of legacies and dona¬ 
 tions given to the revenues of 
 churches in the province, and 
 of which the king has authorized 
 the acceptation, has amounted 
 in 1836 to nine: these liberali¬ 
 ties consist of property, rents or 
 funded property; the value of 
 
 six of them is estimated at . . 19,0'00*54 816'45 
 
 Those of the others, which consist 
 of landed property more or less 
 considerable are unknown. 
 
 The authorities granted by the 
 deputation are 18 in number. 
 
 The endowments which are the 
 object of them consist also of 
 such property, rents or funded, 
 of which the value is estimated 
 
 at . 25,332*19 927*39 
 
 Total francs . . 44,332*73 1,743*84 
 
 In general these legacies and'donations are burthened with 
 charges more or less heavy, consistihg of religious services, but 
 these charges are far from absorbing the annual revenues which 
 the legatees of church property may derive from the liberalities 
 bestowed on them. 
 
 Commerce. 
 
 During the year 1836 a great impulse was given to all 
 commercial operations. The prices of almost all the foreign 
 commodities had risen very high, but the means of those who 
 consumed them were not equal to such an exaggerated height. 
 The result was an almost sudden fall from 30 to 40 per cent. 
 
156 
 
 Another event prepared incalculable losses to commerce. North 
 America has been the theatre of an unprecedented catas¬ 
 trophe of failures which have given a fatal blow to commerce. 
 A prompt payment might restore the equilibrium, but would 
 not be less costly for Europe, so much interested in the prosperity 
 of America. 
 
 However, the European Continent has comparatively suf¬ 
 fered less than America, and therefore it is that Antwerp, 
 working* with its own capital, has been able to preserve 
 intact its commercial honour, and to meet the considerable 
 Josses that the inordinate speculations of other maritime coun¬ 
 tries have caused it to suffer; it has furnished on this occasion 
 a new proof of solidity and integrity. In the midst of all these 
 disasters it has always had an abundance of cash. No failure of 
 any importance has been announced, and a greater regularity 
 has reduced the number of actions at law. 
 
 1,096 vessels have entered the port of Antwerp in 1835, amount¬ 
 ing to 147,307 tons burthen; in 1836,1,159 vessels, amounting 
 to 170,885 tons burthen: difference in addition 63 vessels, and 
 23,578 tons. The produce of the custom duties have amounted, 
 
 
 Francs. 
 
 In 1834 
 
 to 2,940,406-21 
 
 1835 
 
 ,, 2,679,4^3-31 
 
 1836 
 
 ,, 3,053,164-39 
 
 The principal merchandise imported has consisted of woods for 
 dyeing, coffee, cottons, dried hides, iron, grains, oil, potash, salt, 
 sugar, tobacco, and wine. 
 
 The exportation of the produce of Belgium by the port of 
 Antwerp has been considerable ; at the same time it must be ad¬ 
 mitted that all which formerly passed, without payment of duties 
 of exportation, out of the Belgian provinces, towards the Dutch 
 provinces, appear at present in the statistics of exportation. 
 The exported merchandise consists principally of arms, nails, 
 chicory, bark of trees, cloths, linens, flax, refined sugar, tissues, 
 nets, laces, grains and flour. 
 
157 
 
 A new object of commerce, Jlour, appears among our exports. 
 The harvest in the United States having been insufficient, we 
 have directed some convoys to different countries in America, 
 who have been hitherto accustomed to provide these commodities 
 exclusively from North American ports. 
 
 If our flour has been advantageously disposed of in America, 
 this outlet is not permanently acquired. To preserve it we must 
 consider how far it will be useful to submit, in the same manner 
 as is done in the United States, to its being examined in the 
 Belgian ports, in order that it may obtain the degree of confi¬ 
 dence and value which its superior qualities lead us to expect. 
 The provisional admission of our flag to the United States, 
 upon the same footing as that of our neighbours, has caused 
 these exports, and which have procured for it very high freights. 
 It is very much to be desired that a regular treaty shall soon 
 cement our commercial relations with that country, establishing 
 definitively the principle of perfect reciprocity. 
 
 The transport towards the Rhine, notwithstanding the new 
 law yielded to the wants of commerce, is still but trifling. The 
 expenses of transportation from Antwerp towards Cologne remains 
 too high. The railroad only can make us contend with Holland. 
 It is a powerful motive for Government to push on the execution 
 with all possible speed. 
 
 It would be very satisfactory to commerce to see Belgian 
 envoys at Berlin, for the special purpose of forming commercial 
 relations with Prussia. 
 
 The exclusive measures with which the Belgian flag was met 
 momentarily in England have been suspended! It is earnestly 
 to be desired that a definitive arrangement between that country 
 and ours, destined to have such intimate and multiplied con¬ 
 nexions, should be entered into, which at the same time that it 
 would strengthen our political ties, would produce reciprocal 
 advantages. We shall say the same concerning France, with 
 which Belgium is at present, in what concerns its commercial 
 and maritime relations, in a state of partial hostility, which, if 
 continued, can only be prejudicial to both countries. 
 
158 
 
 One great question, that of sugars, is now pending before the 
 Houses. We flatter ourselves it will be settled in a manner con¬ 
 formable both to the wishes and interests of our industry and 
 our maritime commerce. The Chamber of Commerce, consulted 
 upon the different modifications proposed to the law concerning 
 sugars, by the agent of some of the representatives, has consi¬ 
 dered them to be inadmissible and ruinous. 
 
 Agriculture. 
 
 We have taken the following accounts from a Report which the 
 Agricultural Commission has made to us. The results of the 
 last crops have been in every respect satisfactory. The cerealas 
 have been as fine in 1836 as the preceding year, and even pro¬ 
 duced more, with the exception of the oats deteriorated by the 
 continued and abundant autumnal rains; those that ripened 
 later were of very indifferent quality. 
 
 The fever ole s y that exclusive produce of our polders, have suf¬ 
 fered considerably from the almost perpetual damp of the atmo¬ 
 sphere. Beans have not ripened sufficiently, and their preserva¬ 
 tion has been difficult. Potatoes have yielded a fine abundant 
 crop. The produce of fax has generally been satisfactory ; the 
 cultivation of it is evidently much increased in this province. 
 The market of Mechlin becomes important by the great quantity 
 of thread-linens which are on sale. 
 
 As the flax which is gathered in annually very much exceeds 
 the wants of the manufactories, this product is exported into 
 England very advantageously, and increases our trade. 
 
 Some plantations of tobacco have been attempted, but gene¬ 
 rally the soil does not appear fit for it. The winds and rains 
 have much injured this plant. 
 
 The old madders have yielded a quarter less this year than 
 usual, but the quality has been very good. The young plants 
 put in the ground have taken well, a promise for next autumn of 
 an advantageous crop. It is not the same with such as have 
 been put in this year; the severe season having been pro¬ 
 longed, the. madders have shot out late, and the approach 
 
159 
 
 of the hot weather gives a fear that the buds may be nipped; 
 however, it would be premature to give a decided opinion on the 
 subject. 
 
 Owing to the high price of madder in the trade, the cultivation 
 of this precious production decreases gradually. Some persons 
 employ the roots introduced from Zealand in preference. The 
 submersion of one part of our polders has taken away some land 
 that was generally set apart for their cultivation. 
 
 Chicory had increased considerably for some years, and had 
 partially replaced madder. The high duties with which it is 
 taxed at present on its entering England must necessarily dimi¬ 
 nish the cultivation of this root. However, perhaps, this ex¬ 
 portation is not yet to be given up. Finally, we learn, that the 
 attempts to sow chicory in some grounds which appeared to promise 
 success have failed, and that lately the use of this production 
 has become very general amongst the lower classes, so much as 
 to be almost a necessary article of life. 
 
 The cultivation of beetroot is still very insignificant in this 
 province, notwithstanding the attempts that have been made. This 
 root is only used here for fattening cattle, and the Commission of 
 Agriculture doubt, that, without extraordinary circumstances, it 
 will ever obtain with us any other destination. It is also of opi¬ 
 nion, that agriculture is not much interested in the question of 
 the manufacture of indigenous sugar. 
 
 The crops of rape have been inferior to that of a common 
 year, but the grains were large and very oily. Those of this 
 present year have a favourable appearance. 
 
 The summer fodders have been very abundant. 
 
 The hay has yielded a very abundant crop, but the haymaking 
 season has not been generally favourable; from which arises the 
 variety that appears in the quality and price of hay. The after 
 grass has been but inferior; the backward season having been 
 cold and damp, the large cattle turned out to pasture at that 
 time of the year have fattened with difficulty. 
 
 The foreign grains and seeds which the Government sent to 
 the Commission, who distributed them, have allowed of several 
 
160 
 
 new products being introduced, if not in the large scale of cul¬ 
 tivation in the more private. Some have taken well to the cli¬ 
 mate immediately, and will preserve their peculiar good qua¬ 
 lities. 
 
 Others seem neither to suit the soil or climate. During the 
 last few days the appearance of the next crop is becoming ex¬ 
 ceedingly favourable, and the fears that were occasioned by the 
 extraordinary duration of the severe season, and the influence it 
 had upon vegetation, are quite dissipated. 
 
 The healthy state of the horses and cattle was last year very 
 satisfactory, and continues the same. 
 
 The glanders, as it does every year, has taken off some 
 horses, but without taking an epidemical character; 27 horses 
 were killed by order of the competent authorities ; they were 
 valued at 11,000 francs ; the indemnification allotted to the 
 owners was 1,849’98 francs. Five cows only were killed ; the 
 value was estimated at 844 francs, and the owners obtained an 
 indemnification of 178’50 francs. 
 
 The pleuropneumonia , which must not be confounded, not¬ 
 withstanding its analogy, with the peripneunomia , which seems 
 still to exercise its ravages in Flanders, has only appeared at rare 
 intervals. It had no other cause than the bad state in which the 
 cattle were kept. The Agricultural Commission has neglected no 
 
 pains in order to extirpate this very disastrous disease * 
 
 ***** 
 
 A project of regulation for the improvement of the breed of 
 black cattle has been recently sent to us by the Agricultural Com¬ 
 mission. This project appeared to us to deserve a full examina¬ 
 tion, and our intention is to call round us the intelligence of the 
 local authorities, and to consult each of the Provincial Council in¬ 
 dividually, in order to be able to present to the Council in its 
 session of 1838 a well-considered statement. 
 
 The Commission assures us that the re-establishment of the 
 tax upon horses and large cattle is generally called for by the 
 agriculturists and the farmers themselves; this measure would 
 enable the province to encourage more efficaciously than it lias 
 
161 
 
 hitherto done, several branches of agricultural and rural economy, 
 which deserve every attention, and in the first rank we class 
 the improvement of the breed of horses and cattle. 
 
 Already in the last Report the deputation has signified to you 
 the small number of authorized veterinary surgeons. Few pro¬ 
 vinces are so badly off in this respect as ours, and the pupils 
 that belong to it at the veterinary school are few in number. It 
 therefore becomes urgent to encourage the veterinary study, by 
 endeavouring, by means of large subsidies, to prevail upon the 
 young men of our province to frequent the state schools. 
 
 The Market Prices. 
 
 The four towns of the province address every fortnight to 
 the provincial administration a statement of the lowest prices of 
 grains and other provisions sold at their markets. These state¬ 
 ments serve for the basis of that which they transmit monthly to 
 the Minister of the Interior. 
 
 The following comparative tables are the copies of these state¬ 
 ments for the years 1835 and 1836. 
 
 Articles of 
 Consumption. 
 
 Measures 
 
 or 
 
 Weights. 
 
 Total 
 of the 
 Quantity 
 sold, 
 1835. 
 
 Prices 
 for the 
 Year 
 1835. 
 
 Total - 
 of the 
 Quantity 
 sold, 
 1836. 
 
 Prices 
 for the 
 Year 
 1836. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Francs. 
 
 
 
 Wheat . 
 
 
 Hectolitre 
 
 31,888 
 
 15*46 
 
 30,754 
 
 16*94 
 
 Rye .... 
 
 
 y y 
 
 30,596 
 
 8*59 
 
 32,720 
 
 9*72 
 
 Buckwheat. 
 
 
 y y 
 
 16,152 
 
 9*93 
 
 15,605 
 
 10*31 
 
 Oats.... 
 
 
 y y 
 
 18,550 
 
 6*90 
 
 18,177 
 
 6*69 
 
 Potatoes 
 
 
 y y 
 
 
 3*87 
 
 
 3*95 
 
 Hay 
 
 
 100 Kilos, 
 
 i 
 
 O -H 
 
 6*96 
 
 -*-> 1 
 o -j3 
 
 5*84 
 
 Straw . 
 
 
 5 5 
 
 c a 
 
 _ ct 
 
 4*22 
 
 & d 
 
 3*42 
 
 Large grain of rape 
 
 Hectolitre 
 
 o 
 
 T3 5- 
 
 29*47 
 
 o 
 
 30*66 
 
 Linseed . 
 
 
 > > 
 
 “ a>'d 
 
 25*20 
 
 
 22*66 
 
 Turnip . 
 
 
 y y 
 
 
 34*32 
 
 2= A -z 
 ^ O 
 
 39*39 
 
 Oil of rapeseed. 
 
 
 
 rt „ 
 
 -u > “> 
 
 96*83 
 
 p3 M 
 
 ~ > » 
 
 97*49 
 
 Flax oil. 
 
 
 ) ^ 
 
 D 
 
 89*25 
 
 
 95*28 
 
 Turnip oil . 
 
 
 y y 
 
 H 
 
 89*02 
 
 H 
 
 96*39 
 
 M 
 
162 
 
 Benevolent Institutions . 
 
 The situation of the hospitals in regard to the population, and 
 their expenses during 1835, has sustained, comparatively to the 
 years 1834 and 1835, little change; the tables which follow show 
 their situation. 
 
 Table showing the Average Population of the Hospitals, and 
 
 the Amount of the Expenses attached to these Establishments, 
 during the year 1836 :— 
 
 Towns 
 
 or 
 
 Communes. 
 
 N umber of 
 
 Hospitals 
 
 existing. 
 
 Average 
 
 Population. 
 
 Amount 
 
 of 
 
 Expenses. 
 
 Obseivations. 
 
 Antwerp 
 
 31 
 
 2,610 
 
 Francs. 
 
 455,257-49 
 
 
 Mechlin. 
 
 7 
 
 625 
 
 153,775-52 
 
 
 Lierre . 
 
 8 
 
 151 
 
 43,626-70 
 
 
 Turnhout . 
 
 4 
 
 112 
 
 28,029*66 
 
 
 Total 
 
 50 
 
 3,498 
 
 680,689-37 
 
 • 
 
 Commune rural,! 
 arrond. of > 
 
 4 
 
 51 
 
 11,390-17 
 
 
 Turnhout. .J 
 
 
 
 . \ 
 
 It is to be noticed that at Antwerp the number of individuals 
 assisted by the Mendicity Society, and the amount of the sue 
 cours, granted in 1836, have sustained, comparatively with 1835, 
 a sensible diminution. In the other towns of the province the 
 situation of the Mendicity Society, under either one or other 
 Report, present little variation. 
 
 In the rural communes the number of individuals who have 
 had recourse to public charity during 1836 surpass that of the 
 persons who were assisted in 1835; it is not the same under the 
 Report of the succours granted, as the amount of those last, for 
 1836, has even been less than that of the distributions made in 
 1835. 
 
163 
 
 Statement showing the Number of Individuals relieved, and the 
 Amount of the Succours distributed by the Mendicity Society, 
 during the year 1836 :— 
 
 Towns 
 
 and 
 
 Communes. 
 
 Number of 
 Individuals 
 relieved. 
 
 Amount of 
 Succours dis¬ 
 tributed. 
 
 Observations. 
 
 Antwerp .... 
 Mechlin .... 
 Lierre .... 
 Turnhout . . . 
 
 15,538 
 
 4,585 
 
 1,048 
 
 1,767 
 
 Francs. 
 165,920*29 
 82,014*65 
 41,641 *M 
 17,983*00 
 
 
 Total 
 
 22,936 
 
 307,559*08 
 
 
 Arrond. of Antwerp . 
 
 ,, Mechlin . 
 
 ,, Turnhout. 
 
 4,193 
 
 4,117 
 
 3,845 
 
 91,582*17 
 
 53,917*42 
 
 63,615*50 
 
 
 Total . 
 
 12,155 
 
 209,115*09 
 
 
 The number of legacies and donations which have been given 
 to the hospitals and mendicity societies in 1836 amount to 15. 
 
 They consist of landed property, revenues, and capital. 
 
 » 
 
 In Capital. In Interest. 
 Francs. Francs. 
 
 The acceptance of three of these legacies 
 have been authorized by the King, 
 
 the value is estimated at .... 10,451*70 470*32 
 
 For the others the authority of accep¬ 
 tation was granted by the deputation. 
 
 They are valued altogether at. . . 15,859*31 710*5,5 
 
 Total. 26,311*01 1,180*87 
 
 Amongst the legacies and donations of 
 the last class there are seven which 
 have been made purely gratuitously. 
 
 The value amounts to. 9,269*36 427*09 
 
 The others are burthened with charges more or less heavy, but 
 
 m 2 
 
164 
 
 which in no case reach the amount of the produce of the do¬ 
 nation. 
 
 In comparing the result with those of 1834 and 1835 we find 
 the proof that the sources of liberality for the benevolent estab¬ 
 lishments of this province have been more fruitful in 1836 than 
 in the two preceding years. In reality, the value of goods and 
 of capital which were left to them in the year 1836, reach very 
 nearly to the amount of the legacies and donations made in their 
 favour during the two foregoing years together. 
 
 The budgets of the Mendicity Society, for the year 1837, were 
 made up at the same time with those of the communes. 
 
 The accounts of the same establishments, for 1835, are at 
 present regulated by the deputation of the provincial council. The 
 table that follows shows the result. 
 
 • 
 
 Receipts. 
 
 Expenses. 
 
 Surplus. 
 
 Arrondissement of Antwerp . 
 
 ,, Mechlin 
 
 ,, Turnhout . 
 
 Total . 
 
 Francs. 
 153.525-09 
 105'205-14 
 135,862-81 
 
 Francs. 
 
 113,513-92 
 
 84,305-95 
 
 111,904-24 
 
 Francs. 
 
 40,011-17 
 
 20,899-19 
 
 23,958-57 
 
 394,593-04 
 
 309,724-11 
 
 84,868-93 
 
 If we compare this table with that published last year, for the 
 year 1834, we find a difference at least as considerable in the 
 receipts as in the expenses. 
 
 It proceeds from this, that, in 1833 and 1834, many quit-rents 
 in arrear to the charitable establishments were paid by the 
 debtors. 
 
 Foundlings and Deserted Children. 
 
 The expense of the maintenance of foundlings during the year 
 1836 has, at Antwerp, exceeded the provision of the budget. 
 
 The accounts of that year has been made up with a deficit of 
 2,689 ’71 francs. 
 
 On the contrary, at Mechlin, the account left a surplus of 
 649 ’ 73 francs. 
 
165 
 
 The budgets established for the year 1837 have been made up 
 as follows :— 
 
 Francs. 
 
 That of Antwerp, for a number of 551 children, at . 29,012*47 
 
 That of Mechlin, for a number of 107 children, at . 5,070 
 
 The average of this expense costs Antwerp ... 52*65 
 
 n for Mechlin . . 47*38 
 
 The admissions which have taken place during three years at 
 the Foundling Hospital at Antwerp sensibly affect the expenses, 
 as they exceed the departures. The cause is attributed to the 
 continuation of the Turn, and the facilities which it offers, not only 
 to the communes of this province, but to those of eastern Flan¬ 
 ders, of depositing infants which, without this circumstance, the 
 law used to put to their charge. 
 
 At Mechlin the result is quite the reverse. It is considered 
 that by the 1st of next January, the number of foundlings will 
 not be more than about 60, and the expense will be reduced 
 nearly 1,500 francs. 
 
 The maintenance of deserted children being by the law of the 
 31st July, 1834, placed to the charge of the communes, the 
 accounts and budgets relating to them have been definitely settled 
 by the local administrations. At Antwerp, in 1836, 
 
 The receipts have amounted to . 
 The expenses to. 
 
 Surplus francs 
 
 Francs. 
 
 19,343*80 
 
 18,151*94 
 
 1,191*86 
 
 The budget of 1837, calculated for the number of 423 children, 
 amounts to 19,350*83 francs. 
 
 At Mechlin the expenses during the same year 1836 amounted 
 to 7,719*42 francs, and have exceeded the receipts by 168*90 
 francs. 
 
 The budget for 1837, calculated for 130 children, amounts to 
 8,490 francs, including the deficit of the preceding year. 
 
166 
 
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167 
 
 Provincial Depot of Hoogstraten. 
 
 This establishment is placed under the superintendence of a 
 council of inspection, presided over by a member of the depu¬ 
 tation. 
 
 The number of individuals in this depot amounted, on the 1st of 
 January 1836, to 265 persons of both sexes, of whom 108 were 
 capable, and 157 disabled. In this number of 265 were included 
 35 children under 15 years. - During the year 1836, 60 able 
 individuals have been received, and 87 invalid ; in all 147 con¬ 
 fined, of which 99 upon their request, 23 by judgment, 25 
 transferred. 
 
 The number of those set at liberty during the same year 
 was 64 individuals of both sexes. Each one on going out was 
 possessed of a pittance resulting from their labour during their 
 confinement, and which might be to many of them the means of 
 procuring work on their return to their places of settlement or domi¬ 
 cile. The person confined, whose reserved sum exceeds 40 francs, 
 only receives, upon leaving, a sufficient sum to enable him to reach 
 his parish. There the surplus is remitted to him through the 
 local authority, to whom it is sent by the direction of the depot 
 through the medium of the provincial government. By means of 
 this arrangement, which is for the interest of the liberated person, 
 especially if he is the father of a family, the local authority can 
 attend to the manner in which he employs it, for the benefit of 
 his family, and exercise over him a benevolent patronage. 
 
 The number of persons in the depot was, on the 24th Decem¬ 
 ber 1836, 330, for the most part aged or infirm; as by the exist¬ 
 ing regulations the beggars that are capable of working at agri¬ 
 cultural labour are sent in preference to the colony of Merxplas, 
 where the price of daily maintenance for the communes is much 
 less. 
 
 The mortality has been, in 1836, greater than in the preceding 
 year ; it is a twentieth. In 1835 it was only a thirtieth. 
 
 This difference of one year with another, which cannot be attri¬ 
 buted to any malignant disease, appears to have no other cause 
 than age and infirmity. 
 
168 
 
 The expenses of the depot of Hoogstraten, for the year 1836, 
 have been calculated upon a presumed population of 300 indi¬ 
 viduals. The price of the daily maintenance to be paid by the 
 commune has been, like the preceding year, fixed at 32 centimes. 
 
 The depot of Hoogstraten subsists entirely on its own resources, 
 and has not received in 1836 any subsidies from the province. 
 
 According to the accounts of the year 1836, the expenses have 
 amounted to the sum of 57,386*38 francs, that is— 
 
 Francs. 
 
 Extraordinary expenses .... 5,985'80 
 
 Ordinary expenses. 51,400*58 
 
 57,386*38 
 
 Those confined have been occupied with cultivating the ground 
 and making linen, of which the greater part is employed for the 
 wants of the depdt. 
 
 Agriculture, the principal object of industry in the establish¬ 
 ment, continues to thrive; it has produced, in 1836, upwards of 
 13,000 francs. This result is chiefly owing to a larger quantity of 
 manure, obtained by placing a platoon of cavalry in the interior 
 of the depot. 
 
 The situation of the finances is very satisfactory ; it has 
 allowed, in 1836, of improving the building, as well as the depen¬ 
 dencies. In 1837 other works will beexecuted, particularly to the 
 buildings which serve for infirmaries, dormitories, barracks, &c. 
 
 By the terms of the law of the 13th August, 1835, the com¬ 
 munes, where those that were confined had their domiciles, are 
 directed to support the expense of their maintenance, the state 
 having only the charge of those whose parishes ate unknown. It 
 is a heavy weight upon the rural communes. The deputation 
 has endeavoured to lighten the burthen as much as possible, by 
 receiving the petitions to put those confined at liberty, when it 
 thought it might be done without detriment to society. The 
 communes, with the idea of its costing them less to maintain their 
 own disabled beggars themselves than to pay their expenses at 
 
169 
 
 the depdt, appear, in general, not in a hurry to send them, and 
 sometimes have them sent back as soon as they are sent there. 
 It is also, we fear, not to be expected that many of the communal 
 administrations will show much zeal for the extirpation of men¬ 
 dicity ; it is an evil, however, for which a remedy should be 
 found. The deputation intend to make this interesting part of 
 the provincial administration the subject of deep examination. 
 
 Agricultural Colonies of Wortel and of Merxplas. 
 
 The administration of these colonies, independent of the pro¬ 
 vincial authority, is confided to a permanent commission of the 
 Benevolent Society , who founded them. They are still in the same 
 situation nearly as the last year. The number of persons in the 
 depot of Merxplas Ryckevorsel, was, on the 31st of December 
 1835, 250; on the 31st of December *1836, it was 244. The 
 expense of maintenance amounted to 74*08 francs, by head and 
 yearly, which comes to near 20J centimes a-day. 
 
 On the 31st December 1835, the establishment of Wortel 
 contained 270 inhabitants, and on the 31st December 1836 there 
 were 269. 
 
 As to its property, it augments in value each year by the 
 product of fir trees and by the improvement of the corn fields, 
 to which the manure, furnished by a squadron of cavalry stationed 
 at Merxplas, most efficaciously contributes. 
 
 The best order continues to reign in the colonies ; instruction, 
 given by a good tutor, seems to make good progress. 
 
 It is the same of the religious instruction confided to two almo¬ 
 ners, partly provided for by the Benevolent Society and by the 
 Government. 
 
 Not being able, for want of means, to extend the tilling of the 
 heaths, the Administrative Commission has been satisfied with only 
 cultivating the space of ground that the society has succeeded in 
 clearing. It has, besides, to provide for the repairing of several 
 buildings, of which the preservation is very expensive. 
 
 The expenses have also been considerably augmented this 
 year by the losses sustained by the hurricanes ot the 29th No- 
 
170 
 
 vember, 1836, and of the 23d February, 1837, and which have 
 been estimated at 12,000 francs. 
 
 House of Correction of St. Bernard. 
 
 The number of inmates of this establishment, on the 31st of 
 December, 1836, consisted of 948. The average population, 
 during all the year, was 888, of which 809 confined were adults, 
 and 79 children. 
 
 The deaths amounted to 40, which establishes a mortality of 4^ 
 upon the average population. The rations of bread for those con¬ 
 fined have been increased a fifth of a kilogramme, several gover¬ 
 nors and physicians of the prisoners having declared the ration of 
 half kilogramme not sufficient for many men. 
 
 As to the order of discipline, the House of Correction of St. 
 Bernard leaves nothing to be desired. The discipline to which 
 the prisoners are subject has been rendered more severe, and the 
 indulgences which had been, perhaps, too much granted to the 
 confined, have been, in great measure, put an end to. In this 
 manner has been, generally, interdicted the use of spirituous 
 liquors, and the quantity of beer restricted to a pint, which the 
 prisoners may procure for themselves at the beer shops belonging 
 to the establishment. 
 
 The relapsed criminals receive no payment for their work, 
 unless they have performed the weekly task fixed upon each, 
 according to their strength and expertness. 
 
 The cells of punishment, as they are constructed, admit of oral 
 communication between those that are confined and only separated 
 by a partition of planks; therefore the infliction of this punish¬ 
 ment produced little, if any, effect, especially upon hardened crimi¬ 
 nals, who take a kind of glory in triumphing over their punish¬ 
 ments. The Administrative Commission has felt the necessity of 
 employing more effectual means of separation, and it has found 
 them in establishing more isolated cells, where all communication 
 is impossible. Some days of detention in these places are suffi¬ 
 cient to reduce the most unmanageable spirits, and those who 
 
171 
 
 have refused all kind of labour, at the end of a short time entreat 
 to be occupied, in order to distract them from the dreadful state 
 they undergo. It is much to be wished that all the cells could be 
 constructed in this manner; it would allow of great reductions in 
 the applications and the duration of punishment. 
 
 The projected separation between the relapsed and those who 
 are expiating for the first time has been tried, and has already pro¬ 
 duced good results. The more austere discipline of the second 
 class, make the first dread to be sent; and the others, to procure 
 themselves some relief to their punishment, and to be compre¬ 
 hended on the propositions of pardon, where the prisoners of the 
 first class only appear, endeavour by their conduct to merit this 
 promotion. If those motives are insufficient to produce a radical 
 reform, at least they produce an improvement in making those 
 confined contract orderly habits of work and of conduct, which 
 must always lead to their liberation. 
 
 The quarter for the children, which allows of most hope, is the 
 subject of the particular solicitude of the Commission. Notwith¬ 
 standing its recent establishment, it has already received from 
 many of them the reward of its exertions. Upon 24 of the young 
 liberated, who, from the proofs of repentance they had shown, it 
 had considered itself justified in recommending to the burgo¬ 
 masters of their respective communes, 13 have been exemplary 
 in their conduct, and 6 have given satisfaction, 3 have been 
 tolerable or doubtful; 5 only have behaved ill, and are or will 
 shortly be confined in prison. And again, the great part of the 
 relapses of these last may be attributed to the bad conduct of the 
 parents, or to the want of work and superintendence, in conse¬ 
 quence of the neglect of the local authorities. The Commission 
 
 ■ 
 
 had occasion to perceive, from their own observation, that in 
 exciting a strict superintendence upon the youths who were 
 liberated, in giving them from time to time some friendly 
 counsels, and above all in having constant care to provide them 
 with work, it was rare that those that had shown a repentance 
 should fall back into vice. 
 
17*2 
 
 The prejudice which rejects for ever the man who has com¬ 
 mitted a fault, but has expiated it, is very much against the 
 reform of the guilty, as it raises between them and society a 
 barrier that they cannot break through, and the mistrust, the 
 almost universal reprobation they inspire, is but too often the 
 cause of fresh delinquency. It belongs to Government to en¬ 
 lighten public opinion on this subject. If it succeeds, if the 
 criminal at his leaving prison, instead of the feelings ot repulsion, 
 which he has hitherto met with, finds forgiveness and protection, 
 if they give him facilities for procuring a supply for his wants by 
 his labour, we may safely predict that the number of relapsed 
 prisoners, always on the increase, will very soon diminish. 
 
 Sanitary Service. 
 
 Conformably to the article 25 of the Royal Decree of the 31st 
 May, 1818, the list of persons allowed to exercise the different 
 branches of medicine, are annually appointed at the beginning of 
 the year by the deputation. 
 
 The examination of the lists for the years 1836 and 1837 has 
 given the following result:— 
 
 Year 1836. 
 
 
 Doctors in 
 Medicine. 
 
 Surgeons. 
 
 Accoucheurs. 
 
 I Army 
 
 j Surgeons. 
 
 . 
 
 Apothecaries. 
 
 ! Druggists. 
 
 Women 
 
 Midwives. 
 
 Dentists. 
 
 In the towns 
 
 55 
 
 27 
 
 10 
 
 5 
 
 73 
 
 12 
 
 11 
 
 3 
 
 Communes Rural . 
 
 84 
 
 45 
 
 28 
 
 10 
 
 23 
 
 — 
 
 11 
 
 — 
 
 Year 1837. 
 
 In the towns 
 
 55 
 
 31 
 
 11 
 
 6 
 
 70 
 
 10 
 
 11 
 
 4 
 
 Communes Rural . 
 
 88 
 
 42 
 
 30 
 
 17 
 
 24 
 
 — 
 
 10 
 
 -• 
 
 The execution of the laws upon the practice of the medical art 
 is properly superintended by the medical commission of the 
 province. 
 
173 
 
 This Commission complains of the sufferance of some of the 
 local authorities, who permit empirics to traverse the communes, 
 and abuse with impunity the credulity of the people. It appears 
 that in some localities, women practise, without being authorized, 
 as midwives. 
 
 The sanitary state of the province has been in general very 
 satisfactory during the year 1836. No contagious malady has 
 appeared, nor any case of Asiatic cholera. 
 
 An intermittent fever has raged with much intensity at Antwerp, 
 principally along the Scheld and the Ramparts. The develope- 
 ment of this epidemic is also attributed by the Commission to the 
 marshy exhalations of the fosses of the town, of which the waters 
 want a communication with the Scheld, in order to be renewed, 
 particularly during the heat of summer. 
 
 The small-pox has not made more ravage in the year 1836 
 than in the preceding years; but the number of vaccinations, 
 which in 1835 had amounted to 6,668, has decreased in 1836 to 
 5,412, of which 4,609 have been performed gratuitously, and 803 
 paid for. However, it may be that this diminution is only appa¬ 
 rent, as the vaccinators often neglecting to inform the local 
 authorities of their operations, the numbers which these transmit 
 are not always strictly exact. 
 
 On the other hand it cannot be dissembled, that in many of 
 the rural communes the benefit of vaccination is not properly 
 appreciated. The Medical Commission not having yet sent to 
 us the amount of the vaccinations performed by the cantonal 
 vaccinators during 1836, the premiums to be allowed to these 
 last have not yet been distributed. 
 
 By the terms of the 9th article of the Royal Decree of the 18th 
 April, 1818, there is granted every year a golden medal to the 
 physicians and surgeons, who propagate vaccination with the most 
 zeal and disinterestedness. By the Royal Decree, dated the 15th 
 October, 1836, this medal has been given :—for the year 1834, to 
 Messieurs— ****** 
 
 The sanitary measures prescribed in regard to the arrivals 
 which come from places reputed suspected are strictly observed. 
 
174 
 
 The project of a tariff table for collecting the expenses of visit- 
 ing vessels sent to the Minister of the Interior during the course 
 of 1 836, has not yet been adopted. We suppose that the depart¬ 
 ment proposes to present to the Houses a project of law to that 
 effect, which interests commerce so much. 
 
 If the second visit, which the vessels already submitted to 
 quarantine at Flushing are subject to, on the approach to Ant¬ 
 werp, be considered indispensable, commerce will see with satis¬ 
 faction the establishment, on the borders of the Scheld, of a laza¬ 
 retto, proper to receive the cargoes which are to be fumigated 
 or purified. These operations are gone through in the river by 
 means of lighters, which excite with great reason the complaints 
 of the merchants, who have to endure on this head considerable 
 expense, amounting sometimes from 3 to 3^ per cent. 
 
 Inundation by the Water of the Polders of Lillo. 
 
 The inundation of the Polder of Lillo took place in the month of 
 May, 1831. It is confined to the south by the dykes of Ordam 
 and Ellenhoven; to the east by that of Stabroech; and at the 
 north by those of Beeriudrecht and Santoliet. 
 
 Their great circumvallation, which has not less than four 
 leagues of developement, forms what is termed the embankment 
 of Lillo. The last Report explains by what concurrence of cir¬ 
 cumstances the lowering of the inundation did not take place in 
 the years 1831 and 1832. The second expedition of the French 
 into Belgium made the evacuation of the forts by the enemy upon 
 the Scheld to be considered near at hand ; but this hope was not 
 realized, and entirely vanished when the statu quo was main¬ 
 tained by the Convention of the 21st May, 1833. From this 
 moment the Government contemplated the construction of a 
 semicircular dyke of 1,500 yards from Fort Lillo. But the exe¬ 
 cution of the works was subordinate to the authority of the 
 governor of this fort, and the administration of the bridges and 
 roads attempted in vain to open some communication with him. 
 
It then became necessary to have recourse to the intervention of 
 two friendly powers, who succeeded in overcoming the diffi¬ 
 culties. Commissioners were named. They were Mr. Teichmann 
 for Belgium, and Colonel Wanderwych for Holland. They met 
 the first time at Putte, the 13th June, 1836. 
 
 The Belgian Commissioner demanded the establishment of the 
 dyke which had been projected three years before. On the 5th 
 of August the Dutch Commissioner, in the name of his Govern¬ 
 ment, authorized the execution of this project, but under several 
 conditions. The forts La Croix and Frederick-Henry were to 
 be destroyed so as never to be re-constructed again, unless above 
 their present position. The re-establishment of the first was not 
 to take place unless at a distance of 250 yards. Besides, no 
 fortification was to be established round Lillo at a less distance 
 than that existing between Fort Lillo and La Croix, augmented 
 by 250 yards. The Belgian Government having at first opposed 
 the destruction of the Fort La Croix, the negotiation continued; 
 and the 19th January the Commissioners signed at Merxem a 
 Convention for the construction of a bar dyke of 2,500 yards 
 from Fort Lillo. This dyke only allowed the draining of about 
 two-thirds of the Polder; whilst the first project was to have 
 restored to cultivation the most part of the inundated lands, and 
 recover the hamlet of Konigsweg and a great many farms. 
 
 The Government, in laying before the Houses the state of 
 things, left the option between the three following determinations : 
 
 First. To construct the inner dyke at 2,300 yards from the 
 fort, according to the conditions determined by the Convention of 
 19th January, 1837. 
 
 Second. To construct the inner dyke at 1,500 yards from the 
 fort, according to the conditions proposed in the note of the 
 Dutch Commissioner of the 5th August, 1836. 
 
 To remain in the statu quo , by enabling the Government to 
 keep up and strengthen properly the actual embankment, and by 
 granting sufficient aid to the inhabitants expelled and the pro¬ 
 prietors dispossessed by the inundation. 
 
The first hypothesis appeared to have the chance of being 
 adopted ; and the deputation, which was against it, determined 
 to make representations on this subject to the Minister of Public 
 Works, when the terrible tide of the 24th of last February un¬ 
 settled all by bringing fresh disasters. 
 
 The dyke of Stabroech, too weak to resist the impetuosity of 
 the waters, gave way, and the territory of the commune of this 
 name was in most parts flooded. The inhabitants had scarcely 
 the time to save what was most valuable, and took refuge in the 
 upper stories of their houses. Happily no one perished. 
 
 The weakness of the embankment of Lillo was therefore 
 clearly demonstrated; and it was not possible to be deceived as 
 to the imminent dangers attending the neighbouring Polders. 
 The dyke of Ordam had been nearly carried off; and had that 
 happened, the waters, not finding any more obstacle to restrain 
 them, would have covered all the intermediate space between 
 the Polder of Lillo and the town of Antwerp. On the other 
 hand, the reinforcing eventually the dykes of circumvallation did 
 not present the same security as before the 24th February. This 
 work would be much more considerable than was first imagined, 
 and would cost as much, and perhaps more, than an inner dyke. 
 Besides, it would be only a means of stopping the progress of the 
 inundation, without causing it to cease entirely. 
 
 In this dilemma the deputation thought it might point out to 
 Government the inconvenience of the state of things, and endea¬ 
 vour to find a remedy. Besides, it had received complaints from 
 most of the communes menaced with dangers, and its duty pre¬ 
 scribed it to intercede in their behalf. It first wished to gain 
 every intelligence from the local authorities, and consult the 
 dykgraefs and the proprietors; and when it thought itself suffi¬ 
 ciently enlightened, it proposed to the Minister of the Public 
 Works, in a detailed Report,'—first, to hasten the adoption of a 
 law intended to render justice to the victims of the havoc result¬ 
 ing from the political events ; second, to pay particular atten¬ 
 tion to the situation of those sufferers by the inundation 
 
177 
 
 of the Polders, that the Convention of the 2d May had con¬ 
 demned to suffer for the benefit of the whole country; third, 
 to construct immediately an inner dyke in the Polders of Lillo, 
 at the distance of from 1,500 to 1,700 yards from the fort; fourth, 
 to strengthen in the promptest manner, and the most secure, the 
 embankment of circumvallation, in the case that the inner dyke 
 should not be constructed; fifth, in all suppositions, to have pro¬ 
 perly repaired, even this year, those parts of the embankment of 
 which the dimensions are quite insufficient and the construction 
 defective. 
 
 The 25th April the two Commissioners, who had resumed 
 their conference, concluded a new Convention, by which Holland 
 acquiesced in the construction of a dyke of 1,500 yards from the 
 fort, upon certain heavy conditions for Belgium, but which the 
 Dutch Government insisted upon as an equivalent to the conces¬ 
 sions made on its part. 
 
 The Legislature, after a memorable discussion, ratified im¬ 
 plicitly this Convention, by voting the funds required by Govern¬ 
 ment to insure the execution. 
 
 Already before the ministry had made a call to contractors 
 who would undertake the works, three candidates offered them¬ 
 selves for the construction of an inner dyke, either at 1,700 yards 
 of the fort, or at 2,500 yards. In the first hypothesis they re¬ 
 quired as follows:— 
 
 The first, 
 
 The second . 
 The third 
 
 Francs. 
 
 2,857,142*73 
 
 2,338,000-00 
 
 1,820,000-00 
 
 None of these undertook to finish the works before 1838. Be¬ 
 sides, the engineers made known that from the calculations of which 
 the extraordinary tide of the 24th February had been the basis, 
 the dyke to be constructed should have a yard or more in height 
 than those proposed by the candidates. We do not know how 
 far this circumstance prevented the immediate adjudication of the 
 works. However, the deputation, in thanking the Minister for 
 
 N 
 
178 
 
 his solicitude, expressed to him the hope that they would take 
 advantage of the fine season to begin the works, and that the 
 Government would use every effort to obtain the completion of 
 the dyke in the course of the current year. It proposed to allow, 
 in case of need, a premium to the person who should accomplish 
 the task. But it soon heard that not only there was no hope of 
 the completion of the works in the course of the year, but that 
 the candidates, though raising their pretensions as to the price 
 of the works at present, required three years for the completion 
 of the dyke. In the midst of these exigences the Government 
 announced the intention of having the works executed by an ad¬ 
 ministration. The deputation applauded this resolution; and 
 always impressed with the necessity of securing, without delay, 
 the inhabitants of the Polders against the dangers to which they 
 would be exposed by the return of the equinoctial tides, it required 
 that the Government should not shrink from making great sacri¬ 
 fices to obtain a result so impatiently looked for,—and this is at 
 present the state of things. It would have been more agreeable 
 to us to have been able to announce to the inhabitants of the 
 Polders the end of their sufferings and anxieties. If we are once 
 more compelled to intercede for them, at least we feel the con¬ 
 sciousness that we have neglected nothing to terminate a situa¬ 
 tion which none can more deeply deplore than we do. 
 
 Population. 
 
 The population of the province of Antwerp amounted on the 
 1st of January, 1836, to 356,893 inhabitants. 
 
 It increased in the course of last year by 3,287. 
 
 Consequently it amounted on the 1st January, 1837, to 360,180. 
 
179 
 
 Births and Deaths. 
 
 The Report of Births and Deaths, in the course of the past 
 year, presents the following 1 results :— 
 
 Births. 
 
 Deaths. 
 
 Number of 
 Births 
 exceeding 
 Deaths. 
 
 Males. 
 
 Females. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Males. 
 
 Females. 
 
 Total. 
 
 6,086 
 
 5,715 
 
 11,801 
 
 4,386 
 
 4,096 
 
 8,482 
 
 2,619 
 
 In the 11,801 children are comprised 871 children not born in 
 marriage, that is, 404 males, and 407 females, or about one in 
 13 nearly. This proportion varies according to the localities. 
 
 In the town of Antwerp the proportion of illegitimate children 
 
 are of.1 out of 8 
 
 At Mechlin. . 1 „ 10 
 
 Lierre . . 1 „ 7 
 
 Turnhout .1 „ 13 
 
 In the rural communes it gives the following result 
 Arrondissement of Antwerp 1 out of 24 
 
 Mechlin 1 „ 18 
 
 Turnhout 1 „ 16 
 
 Marriages. 
 
 The number of marriages contracted in this province have 
 amounted to 2,778. Nearly equal to the number presented by the 
 Tables of 1834, it is inferior to that of 1835, by 270. 
 
 Registry. 
 
 The Report of the Commissioners of the Arrondissement 
 prove that the general registers are in general kept with regu¬ 
 larity in the rural communes, as well as in the towns. The 
 inspection exercised by the functionaries, and the instructions of 
 the King’s Attorney-General, have contributed to improve this 
 very important branch of the public service. The Court of Ap¬ 
 peal at Liege has proposed to the Government to write the 
 
 n 2 
 
ISO 
 
 general registers of each commune of the kingdom by series of 
 10 years, which would correspond to the series of the Decennial 
 Tables, by forming in each of these series so united a volume 
 bound at the expense of the commune. This measure would be 
 very useful for the preservation of those documents, and would 
 facilitate the searches. The expense they would occasion might 
 be defrayed by the state, in what concerns the registers deposited 
 in the registry of the tribunals, and by the communes in what 
 concerns the collections, of which they are themselves the depo¬ 
 sitories. 
 
 General Elections. 
 
 In conformity with the Article 7 of the law of the 3d of March 
 1831, the annual revision of the electoral lists took place first on 
 the 13th of April, 1837, in the communes of the province. 
 
 We have reason to think that in general the most desirable 
 regularity presides at, this operation. In effect, we have received 
 in all but six complaints. One individual complained of having 
 been wrongly inscribed ; we had him effaced. Another protested 
 against his omission, and we have replaced him in the number of 
 electors, because, in the striking him out, the local authorities 
 of the place of his abode had not fulfilled in his regard the 
 formalities prescribed by the law of the 25th June, 1834. As to 
 the four other complaints, all united the requisite qualifications to 
 become electors, but as they had not applied to the communal 
 council, or had not done so till after the expiration of the delay 
 fixed for this purpose, the deputation, which only decides in cases 
 of appeal, and upon the decision taken in the first place by the 
 local administration, found itself unable to grant their requests. 
 
 The total number of electors amounts to 4,612, divided as 
 follows :— 
 
 Arrondissement of Antwerp. 
 
 Town of Antwerp . . . 1,117 
 Rural communes . . . 1,132 
 
 Total . . 2,240 
 
181 
 
 Arro7idissement of Mechlin. 
 
 Town of Mechlin . 
 
 484 
 
 Town of Lierre 
 
 210 
 
 Rural communes . 
 
 702 
 
 Total 
 
 . 1,306 
 
 Arrondissement of Turnhout. 
 
 Town of Turnhout . 
 
 163 
 
 Rural communes 
 
 804 
 
 Total 
 
 967 
 
 Total for the province 4,612. 
 
 The lists of members eligible for the senate, as we have de¬ 
 creed for the year 1837, comprises 43 persons paying the taxes to 
 the amount of 2,116'41 francs (1000 florins), to which have been 
 added to complete it, conformably to the Article 42 of the electoral 
 law, 14 individuals paying less than 1000 florins. 
 
 Jurors. 
 
 By the words of the Article 4 of the decree of the National 
 Congress, dated 19th July, 1831, the deputation is bound to draw 
 up, whenever it is requisite, the list of the persons proper to be 
 jurors. It has contented itself hitherto to make but one exami¬ 
 nation a-year, by rectifying every three months after the changes 
 pointed out by the local administrations. It has been frequently 
 recommended to these administrations to give to their work all 
 the attention due to its importance; but as each day some 
 persons inscribed on the list die, change their abode, or in some 
 other manner lose their eligibility for the functions of jurors, it is 
 impossible to present to the court of assize a perfectly exact 
 account. 
 
 For in admitting the exactitude of the materials furnished by 
 each commune, a certain time is necessary to unite and separate 
 them, it results that at the time of drawing for jurors, the list 
 generally retains the names of some that have ceased to belong 
 to it. 
 
182 
 
 From the last examination, the list of jurors comprised 2,451 
 names, of which 
 
 1000 belonged to the town of Antwerp. 
 
 219 „ ,, Mechlin. 
 
 61 „ ,, Lierre. 
 
 47 „ „ Turnhout. 
 
 470 to the rural communes of the arrondissement of Antwerp. 
 304 „ „ „ Mechlin. 
 
 341 „ ,, ,, Turnhout. 
 
 
 
183 
 
 PROVINCE OF LUXEMBOURG. 
 
 Extracts from the Report on the State of the Administration 
 
 of the Province in 1836. 
 
 Reorganization of the Provincial Council. 
 
 The revolution of 1830, which was a social revolution, had 
 overturned all existing institutions. All were to here-established. 
 After an interregnum of nearly six years the provincial organiza¬ 
 tion was decreed by the law of the 30th of April, 1836. The 
 people called to elect their provincial representatives chose well ; 
 and the provincial council, proceeding from the direct election, 
 at length assembled on the 6th of last October. 
 
 A session of 15 days was closed by an act of patriotism which 
 will be long remembered by the Luxembourgeois,—the protesta¬ 
 tion against the dismemberment of the province; the council 
 separated, with the well grounded hope of seeing successively and 
 soon realized the ameliorations most earnestly desired. 
 
 The permanent deputation was left empowered to secure the 
 execution of the resolutions of the council. 
 
 Population. 
 
 The population of the province on the 1st of January, 1837, 
 was ...... 323,219 souls 
 
 not including the town of Luxembourg. 
 
 1st January, 1836, it was . . 320,478 
 
 The increase during 1836 was of * 2,741 
 
184 
 
 Daring the years 1833, 1834, and 1835, the average increase 
 had been 4,109 souls. 
 
 A very exact census has been made this year of the population 
 of Echternach and of Marche. 
 
 But here must be remarked the tendency which all the com¬ 
 mune authorities have not to give the whole truth when statistic 
 information useful to the administration is required. They often 
 fear that measures contrary to the interests of their constituents 
 may be the result. It is a mistake. 
 
 Many individuals, attracted by the higher rate of wages in 
 France, and in the other provinces, go there in the spring and 
 return in the autumn, bringing back savings, which add to the 
 comforts of their families during the winter season. There is 
 therefore a fluctuating population, of which it is difficult to give 
 the exact number. 
 
 The population of the province of Luxembourg is thus di¬ 
 vided :— 
 
 Males. 
 
 Married 
 
 • • • 
 
 52,718 
 
 Widowers 
 
 • • • 
 
 6,251 
 
 Unmarried 
 
 » 4 * 
 
 Females. 
 
 101,068 
 
 160,037 
 
 Married 
 
 • • • 
 
 52,773 
 
 Widows 
 
 • • • 
 
 11,979 
 
 Unmarried 
 
 • • • 
 
 Births in 1836. 
 
 99,330 
 
 163,182 
 
 Males 
 
 * * • 
 
 5,998 
 
 Females . 
 
 • • • 
 
 Deaths in 1836. 
 
 5,725 
 
 11,723 
 
 Males 
 
 • • • 
 
 3,827 
 
 Females . 
 
 • • • 
 
 3,604 
 
 7,43T 
 
185 
 
 That which above all the rest proves the growing prosperity of 
 the country, is the constantly increasing number of the buildings. 
 
 Houses. Families. 
 
 1st January 1837 . . 56,523 59,864 
 
 ,, 1831 . . 53,019 56,315 
 
 Increase . . 3,504 3,549 
 
 The Electoral Population of the Province in 1836 
 
 consisted of 
 
 Arrondissements. 
 
 Electors of 
 the Houses. 
 
 Electors of 
 the Provinces. 
 
 Electors of 
 Communes. 
 
 Arton. 
 
 849 
 
 860 
 
 1,926 
 
 Bastogne .... 
 
 551 
 
 577 
 
 1,587 
 
 Diekirch .... 
 
 655 
 
 666 
 
 1,543 
 
 Grevenmarker. 
 
 516 
 
 539 
 
 1,414 
 
 Luxembourg . 
 
 977 
 
 1,018 
 
 2,195 
 
 Marche .... 
 
 331 
 
 422 
 
 1,513 
 
 Neufchateau . 
 
 450 
 
 560 
 
 1,971 
 
 Virton .... 
 
 510 
 
 515 
 
 1,859 
 
 Total 
 
 4,839 
 
 5,157 
 
 14,008 
 
 Parish Roads . 
 
 In the report presented in the session of 1836 have been made 
 known the new measures adopted to secure the repairing the 
 parish roads, and to give new vigour to the works. 
 
 The reports of the provincial overseers certified by the honorary 
 inspectors, show that in 1836 there have been made in the parish 
 roads, 
 
 New roads. 175,000 
 
 Old roads repaired and maintained 210,000 current metres 
 
 Total . . 385,000 
 
 It has been seen with great satisfaction that the purchase of 
 exemption by those taxed, who would not themselves perform 
 their tasks, have arisen to an amount beyond all expectation; 
 
186 
 
 they have produced 56,000 francs, making more than a tenth 
 part of the amount of the communal funds ; this sum has 
 chiefly been paid by strangers living in the communes. It is 
 to be wished that this mode of purchase may be generally- 
 adopted. 
 
 But it is to be regretted that in several cantons the repairs 
 have been ill-directed, incomplete, and curtailed. The faults 
 arise from the ill-will of some of the managers of the communes, 
 the ignorance of the directors, and the negligence of the over¬ 
 seers. The works have not been preceded by plans and level¬ 
 lings, without which they are impracticable. All the works have 
 not the perfection desirable, and to form good roads it is to be 
 wished that the paving work should be executed by contract. 
 
 The parish roads are too important, and have too much influ¬ 
 ence on agriculture, and even on commerce and industry, not to 
 call attention to new improvements. 
 
 To give a greater impetus to the works, the prosecutions 
 against those who delay or resist should be pursued with more 
 vigour. To this there are many obstacles. The functionaries 
 intrusted with the public business about the justices of the peace, 
 have not always the will, the activity, nor even the intelligence 
 necessary to direct a cause in a proper manner, and with celerity. 
 The administration does not withdraw its action till after judg¬ 
 ment has been given. But, generally, the judgments are neither 
 given nor executed. The judgments should be ordered to be 
 despatched as soon as they are pronounced, and forwarded to the 
 commissioner of the arrondissement, who would send them to the 
 communal collectors, empowered to recover the amount. 
 
 Disputes frequently arise between the overseers and the di¬ 
 rectors of the parish roads, on the nature of their respective em¬ 
 ployments. It is desirable that the functions of these agents 
 should be exactly defined, and that the deputation should have 
 the means to distribute prizes to those most distinguished. 
 
 The honorary inspectors would render further service if their 
 functions were not limited to merely overseeing, but had some 
 means of coercion. 
 
187 
 
 It is proposed as a most excellent institution, especially for 
 the most important communes, that the overseers should be re¬ 
 placed by cantonniers, who should be employed all the year, have 
 the management of the lesser roads, and prevent encroachments. 
 
 These too frequent encroachments earnestly call for a general 
 plan of the extent and width of all the roads of the commune. 
 
 In fine, a revisal is wished of all the laws relating to the appro¬ 
 priation of land necessary for the roads, and the diminution of the 
 forms and expenses necessary for the purchase of such land by 
 the communes, for making their roads. 
 
 Some of these improvements can only be introduced by a law, 
 others maybe made the subject of a provincial regulation. The 
 early discussion of a general law relating to the parish roads is 
 announced; it is necessary to wait till it is adopted, the means of 
 executing it may then become the subject of provincial arrange¬ 
 ments. The regulations of 1824 must necessarily be revised. 
 
 Communal Buildings . 
 
 The communes continue to watch over the preservation of their 
 buildings and edifices, and supply themselves with such as are 
 wanting. The sum of 115,949 francs was expended for this 
 purpose in 1836; 11 school-houses built or repaired, 12 par¬ 
 sonages, 10 churches, 10 bridges, and other works, are included 
 under this amount: the buildings completed, and not those in 
 progress, are the most numerous. 
 
 The communes provide for these expenses by extraordinary 
 sales of wood, and by disposing of the communal lands. 
 
 Government and the province have granted to 10 communes 
 subsidies, which united amount to 6,223 francs. 
 
 The situation of provincial architect of the first class is still 
 vacant. It is proposed in next December to elect one by ballot, 
 and it may be hoped that a candidate will be presented capable 
 of filling this important situation. 
 
 Communal Woods. 
 
 The care of the communal woods leaves no cause for com- 
 
188 
 
 plaints. The Forest Administration, to whom this care is confided, 
 and whose agents generally join long experience to great know¬ 
 ledge, only seek in their operations the real advantages and in¬ 
 terests of the communes. They likewise proceed actively in the 
 business submitted to them. 
 
 The wooded property belonging to the communes, which the 
 activity of forges renders so valuable, augment in extent and im¬ 
 portance by the replanting of glades, or openings made by the 
 felling of timber, and other useful improvements. 
 
 The numerous complaints from every part of the province, of 
 the late vegetation and want of fodder, decided the deputa¬ 
 tion to authorize feeding in the communal woods, until the 25th 
 of May, 1837. Upon fresh petitions, this] permission has been 
 extended to July 1st, but only in copses of above seven years’ 
 standing. The inhabitants have likewise been authorized to 
 gather in copses above three years’ standing until the 25th of the 
 same month all grasses necessary for feeding their cattle. 
 
 Thirty-three extraordinary cuttings, sold in 1836, have brought 
 87,561 francs 28 cents, which have been employed in building and 
 repairing communal edifices, and other works of public utility. 
 Of these fellings, seven, extending altogether to 76 hectares, 
 22 ares, 60 cents, have been granted by anticipation, but upon 
 condition of restoring them by savings on the extent of ordinary 
 fellings; 18 consisted of full grown and decaying trees; eight, 
 altogether extending to 75 hectares 75 ares, have been taken 
 from woods which the communes had saved to serve on extraor¬ 
 dinary emergencies. 
 
 The ordinary fellings produced 314*174 francs. 
 
 The total amount of all the various charges upon the communal 
 woods is 94,302 francs 97 cents. 
 
 The principal part of the fellings are given in kind to the in¬ 
 habitants. 
 
 The division of firewood often occasions a waste, which has 
 awakened the attention of the Administration. The order of the 
 15th of September, 1835, which directs that from 1836 particular 
 accounts shall be given of the produce of firewood, is intended to 
 
189 
 
 put an end to the abuses justly complained of, and a strict atten¬ 
 tion will be paid to the exact execution of this measure 
 
 The summing up of the accounts of 1836 will show how far 
 the advantages proposed are realized. 
 
 Communal Taxes. 
 
 Some communes provide for their annual expenses by their 
 woods, and other and various resources; but most are obliged to 
 impose taxes. 
 
 In 1836 they consisted. 
 
 Frs. Cts. 
 
 1. Of taxes on the entrance of the articles of 
 consumption into the communes, on which 
 
 there are imposed. 8,664 55 
 
 2. On assessments established on the presumed 
 property of the inhabitants; namely,— 
 
 Ordinary.70, SOS’97 
 
 Arrears ..... 1,527*28 
 Extraordinary . . . 4,700* 5 
 
 - 76,533 10 
 
 Total . 85,197 65 
 
 228 communes are authorized by royal authority to impose 
 permanent taxes. Only 158 avail themselves of this power, so 
 that on these authorized assessments, amounting to 179,242 frs. 
 42 cts., but 70,305 frs. 97 cts. have been gathered, which leaves 
 108,936 frs. 45 cts. 
 
 This difference proceeds from the taxes being established every 
 year only to meet its wants; they must have diminished in propor¬ 
 tion to the product arising from the sale of wood, or letting of 
 the communal properties. These lettings become more and 
 more frequent, and augment proportionably the resources of the 
 commune. 
 
 According to the budgets of 1837, the assessments among 
 168 communes will not exceed 78,457 frs. 61 cts., including 
 the town of Arlon, which has obtained permission to replace its 
 
190 
 
 Droit d’Octroi by a permanent tax of 9,200 francs. It is ex¬ 
 pected that these impositions will be still further diminished by 
 the actual profits from sales and lettings. 
 
 Primary Instruction. 
 
 On this subject great improvement may with much pleasure 
 be noticed, particularly in the arrondissement of Luxembourg, 
 where the communal administrations exert the most praise¬ 
 worthy efforts, where good masters are sought and suitably pro¬ 
 vided for, and where almost all the schools in the chief towns 
 are permanent. In the other arrondissements almost everywhere 
 are to be met with large and convenient hired houses, perfectly 
 adapted for school-houses, with an apartment for the master. 
 But the progress of primary instruction has been hitherto of 
 little amount. The fault proceeds from the negligence of 
 parents, the short duration of the school hours, the bad methods 
 of teaching, and the precarious situation of the masters. Their 
 emoluments are composed, 1st, of the payments made by those 
 able to pay; 2dly, of the communal allowance; 3dly, of the 
 Government and provincial subsidies. 
 
 An instructor of 20 or 25 pupils during five months of the 
 year receiving about 50 or 60 centimes a month for each pupil, 
 may generally be obtained. 
 
 As to the communal allowance, it must be observed that few 
 bestow any; and that if some remunerate fairly, most give very 
 little. To be sure there are the Government and provincial sub¬ 
 sidies, but the instructors being numerous few can be assisted to 
 any great degree. 
 
 Those granted by Government in 1836, amounted to 19,576 
 francs, given to 103 instructors. 
 
 The sum of 10,000 francs, voted in the provincial budget of 
 1837, has been given to 87 instructors. 
 
 The number of poor children gratuitously taught in 1836, by mas¬ 
 ters who receive assistance fixed by the deputation, is about 3,050. 
 
 The expenses allowed in the commune budgets of 1836, for 
 primary instructors, have been for 
 
191 
 
 Francs. 
 
 Towns.10,530 
 
 Arrondissements. . . 42,334 
 
 Total . . 52,864 
 
 The sums arising from foundations in favour of primary in¬ 
 struction, or granted by benevolent societies, are as follows: 
 
 Francs. 
 
 Towns.3,229 
 
 Arrondissements* . . ,2,956 
 
 Total . . 6,185 
 
 The primary schools, 865 in number, are divided into corn- 
 
 munal schools, mixed, and private 
 
 schools. The 
 
 pupils are 
 
 divided in this manner : 
 
 
 
 
 Communal schools . 
 
 Males. 
 
 12,871 
 
 Females. 
 
 10,761 
 
 Total. 
 
 23,632 
 
 Mixed ,, . 
 
 4,891 
 
 3,552 
 
 8,443 
 
 Private ,, . 
 
 7,350 
 
 5,834 
 
 13,184 
 
 
 25,112 
 
 20,i47 
 
 45,259 
 
 The pupils being about 
 
 45,000, 30,000 at the 
 
 utmost are 
 
 able to pay a trifling remuneration. Allowing an average of 60 
 centimes by the month for each pupil, it will produce 18,000 
 francs. The average duration of each school is six months, the 
 total amount then would be 108,000 francs. 
 
 Adding the government, provincial, and communal grants, 
 and the foundations, the total amount will be 196,626 francs. 
 
 The schools being about 865, an average of about 205 francs 
 forms the emolument of each instructor. 
 
 It can now be understood how precarious the situation of 
 primary instructor is in the province of Luxembourg ; and this 
 is caused by the unlimited competition which allows the first 
 comer to open a school. 
 
 The causes of the evil being known, it does not seem difficult 
 to find a remedy. The good masters, who gave up an unprofit- 
 
192 
 
 able career, will reappear as soon as they are certain of finding 
 the means of living respectably. To procure this advantage 
 not only must the present subsidies be preserved and even 
 augmented, but also the payments made by those able to pay 
 should be secured to them. Superior merit, and a better method 
 of teaching, will not always obtain this from parents, who un¬ 
 fortunately look to cheapness even when seeking to enlighten the 
 minds of their children. 
 
 It is not certainly wished to put any obstacle to the compe¬ 
 tition of free-schools, but nothing prevents the founding of large 
 communal schools, by granting them certain privileges which 
 would ensure their being attended. 
 
 For example, Why not institute a yearly examination for 
 the pupils of the communal schools of each canton, and bestow 
 prizes at the expense of the province ? Why might not the suc¬ 
 cessful candidates contend among themselves for provincial 
 prizes, some of which might consist in paying their apprentice¬ 
 ship abroad to some useful trade or profession, to be improved 
 or established at Luxembourg ? Might not the best results be 
 expected from such encouragement, which, while exciting emu¬ 
 lation in the schools, must revive primary instruction, and extend 
 its benefits even to the lowest classes of society? 
 
 The province no longer possesses normal schools to form good 
 instructors. It is necessary to wait the organization of the Pro¬ 
 vincial Athenaeum to annex to it an institution of such unques¬ 
 tionable utility. 
 
 In the mean time, as good masters become yearly more scarce, 
 might not a provisional measure be adopted ? 
 
 The province has still some instructors of acknowledged in¬ 
 formation and experience; by providing for them a suitable 
 recompense, to be paid by the province, might they not be em¬ 
 ployed to teach those who wished to devote themselves to pri¬ 
 mary instruction the rudiments of this difficult career ? it would 
 be a trial in the absence of normal schools, the organization of 
 which seems to be postponed for some time. 
 
 The Communal Administrations generally put up for ballot the 
 
193 
 
 situation of primary instructors, but are the members who com¬ 
 pose the Administrations sufficiently informed to appreciate 
 others? It is impossible not to acknowledge the utility of dis¬ 
 trict commissions, composed of the best informed burgomasters 
 and ecclesiastics, before whom the examination should be held. 
 These examinations ought always to be obligatory when a sub¬ 
 sidy from Government or the province is attendant upon the 
 situation of instructor. 
 
 Many children after leaving school, often for want of practice, 
 lose that which they acquired with so ’much difficulty. To 
 remedy this evil it is desirable that Sunday-schools should be 
 instituted for the advantage of adults. It would be voluntary 
 repetitions of that which they had been taught, and the care of 
 these schools might be given to instructors paid by Government, 
 the province, or the commune. 
 
 The advantages of primary instruction are so unquestionable 
 that it is irksome to return to the subject. It shall only be said, 
 that the necessity for its revival in Luxembourg is felt by all. 
 Agreeing on the end, the means to attain it may be disputed. 
 For this purpose the law, the discussion of which is promised in 
 the extraordinary session of the chambers in 1837, might serve 
 as a guide to employ the reserved funds deposited in the savings’ 
 bank, and which now amount to 48,000 francs. 
 
 Secondary Instruction. 
 
 Only the colleges of Bastogne, Bouillon, Diekirch, Echter- 
 nach, and Virton, continue to exist. 
 
 The college of Bastogne is a small seminary of the bishopric 
 of Namur. It is impossible to decide on the help it receives 
 without reckoning the pensions paid by the pupils. 
 
 The following subsidies are granted by Government 
 
 o the college of Bouillon . 
 
 Francs. 
 
 . 2,000 
 
 3 3 
 
 Diekirch . 
 
 . 3,000 
 
 3 3 
 
 Echternach . 
 
 . 1,000 
 
 3 3 
 
 Virton 
 
 . 2,000 
 
 
 Total 
 
 . 8,000 
 
 o 
 
194 
 
 These colleges obtain besides subsidies from the communes in 
 which they are established. 
 
 The number of pupils who receive instruction in these esta¬ 
 blishments is as follows : — 
 
 
 Boarders. 
 
 Day Scholars. 
 
 College of Bastogne . 
 
 . 109 
 
 35 
 
 ,, Bouillon 
 
 27 
 
 38 
 
 ,, Diekirch 
 
 7 
 
 56 
 
 ,, Yirton .... 
 
 18 
 
 60 
 
 Total 
 
 . 161 
 
 189 
 
 college of Echternach having 
 
 only been established 
 
 1836, the information concerning it cannot be given until the 
 report of 1838. 
 
 The ancient languages, some modern languages, arithmetic, 
 the elements of algebra and geometry, calligraphy, drawing, 
 some elements of physics and natural history are generally 
 taught. 
 
 From the preceding details may easily be perceived the very 
 deficient state of secondary instruction in the province. In 
 whatever light the question is seen, the want of an organized 
 provincial athenaeum is always evident. 
 
 School Foundations. ^ 
 
 Among the foundations which exist in Luxembourg, those 
 called exhibitions are the most numerous and important. They 
 are divided between primary, ordinary, and superior instruction. 
 
 The want of records anterior to 1830, renders it impossible 
 to make known the situation of the first named foundations. 
 Materials are now seeking, but many difficulties delay the execu¬ 
 tion of this measure, which must proceed but slowly. 
 
 The presentation to most of the exhibitions of secondary in¬ 
 struction has devolved upon the administrators of the town of 
 Luxembourg. They are now given almost exclusively to the 
 young men of this town, whilst all the province ought to partici¬ 
 pate, and the young bursers are almost exclusively sent to the 
 
195 
 
 Athenaeum of Luxembourg*, whilst the other establishments of 
 education ought equally to profit by this advantage. 
 
 Public Charity. 
 
 The number of paupers maintained in the poor-houses, benevo¬ 
 lent institutions, and various hospitals, amounted to 47 in 1836. 
 
 The sums expended by the communes for their support, amount 
 to 5,175 francs. 
 
 A Royal Decree of the 14th of March, 1837, suppressed the 
 poor-house at Namur, which is to be converted into a peniten¬ 
 tiary for women. The paupers of Luxembourg will in future be 
 transferred to Mons. This is an additional charge upon the 
 communes, in proportion to the increased charge of a longer 
 journey. In compensation, the communes have been permitted 
 to recall their paupers, on condition of maintaining them in their 
 own domiciles. 
 
 Judging by the small number of condemnations passed by the 
 criminal tribunals, comparatively with the preceding years, it 
 would seem that the number of beggars goes on diminishing, but 
 in some places, at least, it is probable that this arises from their 
 not being tried; fewer also willingly enter the poor-houses. 
 Moreover, the province may be considered happily circum¬ 
 stanced; its labouring population continues to find employment. 
 The working of roads is proceeding ; in different parts of 
 Luxembourg, agricultural wages have increased nearly a third. 
 
 Other hands are occupied with the labours connected with foun- 
 
 % 
 
 dries, by the extracting of ore, and working of minerals, the 
 clearing of woods, and making of charcoal, and by the carriage of 
 raw material to the manufactories. 
 
 Hospitals and Benevolent Societies. 
 
 The renewal of charitable administrations for 1836 has taken 
 place everywhere according to the instructions, and communal 
 law, so that the establishments are completely and legally settled. 
 
 The measures taken to oblige the hospitals and benevolent 
 societies to submit their accounts to the approbation of the supe¬ 
 rior authority having only commenced in 1835, it may be 
 
 o 2 
 
196 
 
 imagined that the state of this finance, as it appeared in last 
 year’s report, was very imperfect; that even which is now given, 
 though it shows a great increase of produce, is not yet perfect. 
 
 According to the budgets of 1836, the ordinary revenues of 
 charitable establishments would only amount to 30,688'34 francs. 
 
 The regulations of the finance for 1837 
 
 raises them to.. .37,756*05 
 
 Increase . . . 7,067*71 
 
 It is believed that many benevolent societies still exist, which 
 continue to act as before, without being subject to any control ; 
 and in order to discover the unknown receipts, the archives are 
 under examination, but as they are not of recent date, it will be 
 difficult to obtain information upon every point. 
 
 The administrators of the benevolent societies scarcely make 
 themselves known, pretending that they have neither receipts nor 
 expenses for the benefit of the poor. This indifference must be 
 resisted, as the chief object of the institution of the benevolent 
 societies is a zealous and constant anxiety for the poor, some of 
 whom exist everywhere; if there are no revenues particularly 
 appropriated for the relief of the poor the benevolent society 
 is called upon to seek them from the charity of those inhabitants 
 who are in easy circumstances, or to ask them from the Com¬ 
 munal Administrations. The inhabitants of the country are 
 accustomed individually to fulfil such acts of charity as their 
 circumstances will permit; but these individual donations would 
 if united afford relief to a much greater extent, and their distri¬ 
 bution might be performed for the public benefit. This ought to 
 be the principal occupation of the benevolent societies ; and their 
 institution is a measure of great utility, directed by the com¬ 
 munal law. 
 
 Foundlings. 
 
 The number of illegitimate children in 1836 was 339, the 
 succours voted for them by the commune amounted to 2,422 
 francs. 
 
197 
 
 The arrondissements of Bastogne and Virton have not allowed 
 anything. 
 
 Government has allowed an aid of 250 francs, which was 
 bestowed on five deserted children, whose parents are unknown. 
 An equal sum was appropriated to the same object by the provin¬ 
 cial budget. 
 
 Marriages. 
 
 The number of marriages contracted in 1836 
 Between maids and bachelors 
 Between bachelors and widows . 
 
 Between widowers and maids 
 Between widowers and widows . 
 
 2,066 
 
 75 
 
 274 
 
 52 
 
 Total . . .2,467 
 
 At the same time that the number of illegitimate children de¬ 
 creases that of marriages increases in a remarkable proportion. 
 
 Deaf \ Dumb , Blind , and Insane. 
 
 The province placed in the provincial budget of 1837, an 
 allowance of 1,200 francs for succours for the deaf and dumb, 
 blind and insane. This sum has not hitherto been employed, for 
 the following reasons : it was wished to give the principal part 
 of these succours to the deaf, and dumb, and blind. Besides, it 
 was necessary to select those of an age to profit by being main¬ 
 tained in an establishment where they might learn a business, 
 which would procure them the means of existence. Information 
 has, therefore, been gained upon the subject of these unfortunate 
 beings of both classes under 12 years of age; the following are 
 their numbers:— 
 
 Blind.6 
 
 Deaf and dumb.18 
 
 24 
 
 It has been signified to their parents that the province was 
 disposed to defray part of the expense of their maintenance in a 
 hospital during several years, and it was asked whether they would 
 
198 
 
 consent to part with them, and contribute jointly with the com¬ 
 mune to maintain them. All the answers have been in the 
 negative. Besides that often the communes were too poor to 
 afford the least help, the parents refused to part with their chil¬ 
 dren. This is no doubt a mistaken kindness, opposed to their 
 true interest, as they must always continue a burden to their 
 families. 
 
 Succours for the Poor. 
 
 The whole of the various succours for the relief of the poor 
 given by the communes in 1836, amounted to— 
 
 Francs. 
 
 For doctors for the poor. 1,580*28 
 
 For assistance to the infirm poor . . . 1,593*95 
 
 3,174*23 
 
 The expense of vaccination has in the same 
 
 year amounted to. 8,982'50 
 
 By a decree of the 17th of January, 1837, the deputation has 
 organized the allowance of three half-pence per league to every 
 pauper provided with a passport, an expense now placed to the 
 account of the province. The following towns are appointed as 
 their stations -Greveumacher, Arlon, Bastogne, Marche, Neuf- 
 chateau, Wellin, Bouillon, Virton, Itarre, Vielsalin and Diekirch. 
 A sum of 132 francs was thus distributed during 1836. 
 
 Succours to Lying-in Women. 
 
 Since 1834, five subsidies of 30 francs each have been granted 
 lo pupils of midwives to learn midwifery, in establishments for 
 that purpose. We have tried to learn the effects of this measure 
 for the years 1834, 1835, and 1836. 
 
 It is desirable that a school of midwifery should be established 
 in the province. The pupils would not then be subject to long 
 journeys, and the aids granted them would already serve to 
 defray part of the cost of such a useful establishment, as might 
 be formed for assisting indigent lying-in women. 
 
199 
 
 The aids which the communes granted in 1836, amounted to 
 2,637 frs. 87cts. We state with regret that the arrondissements 
 of Bastogne and Marche have given nothing towards these 
 succours. 
 
 The Replacement of Capital. 
 
 The average of replaced capital by the communes and public 
 establishments, during the years preceding 1836, is 24,000 francs. 
 It is nevertheless to be remarked that the sum has always been 
 increasing from year to year. In 1836* the capital replaced 
 amounted to 53,362 *48 francs. 
 
 It seems to be understood that the intervention of the ad¬ 
 ministration is not a simple formality, and that its care is an 
 additional guarantee to perpetuate and consolidate the existence 
 of this important operation; much having been lost for want of 
 this intervention. 
 
 Communal Finance. 
 
 The accounts for 1835, and the budgets for 1837, of the 307 
 communes, or 633 sections of communes, having separate revenues, 
 have been definitively decreed according to the 141st Art. of the 
 communal law. 
 
 The accounts for 1835, show in receipts agreeing with the 
 annexed extracts a total of 2,362,779*91 francs. 
 
 Francs. Francs. 
 
 The returns admitted for re¬ 
 venues recoverable, but not 
 as yet received, and such as 
 are in litigation, amount to 165,940*36 
 
 The irrecoverable amount to 11,067*00 
 
 - 177,007*36 
 
 The actual receipt is therefore .... 2,185,772*55 
 The expenses have been fixed at . . . 1,073,759*46 
 
200 
 
 The available residue at the closing of the Francs. 
 
 accounts of 1835 is therefore . . . 1,112,013*09 
 
 The receipts to be made good from the re¬ 
 venues of 1836 are valued by those 
 
 budgets at. 996,805*05 
 
 The receipts for 1837, not including the re¬ 
 mainder from the preceding years, are 
 valued at. 1,620,686*39 
 
 Total . . .3,729,504*53 
 
 The expenses authorized by the budgets 
 
 amount to, for 1836 .. 1,228,426*71 
 
 „ 1837 . 1,786,179*48 
 
 The unemployed credits of the budgets of 
 
 1835, the expenses of that year not liqui¬ 
 dated, and the special trusts opened in 
 
 1836, brought into the budgets of 1837, 
 
 amount to. 197,726*94 
 
 The expenses which may arise during the 
 years 1836 and 1837 upon the budgets of 
 those years amount to. 3,212,333*13 
 
 Carried from the receipts. 3,729,504*53 
 
 From this results a balance to be disposed of 
 
 in the budget of 1837 of .... 517,171*40 
 
 By the terms of the 139th article of the communal law the 
 accounts of 1836 were closed on the first Monday in May by the 
 communes placed under the management of the arrondissement 
 commissioners, and- will be closed on the first Monday in 
 August by the other communes. 
 
 Provincial Revenues. 
 
 The revenues of Luxembourg, compared with those of the 
 other provinces, are inconsiderable, but they exactly suffice for 
 
201 
 
 ordinary wants; they are divided into ordinary and extraordinary 
 revenues. 
 
 The extraordinary revenues are the surplus of the Francs, 
 receipts above the expenses of the preceding 1 years. 
 
 And the additional centimes granted for the con¬ 
 struction of roads: they amount for 1837 to . . 22,000 
 
 The ordinary receipts are divided into different classes. 
 
 1. The additional centimes of the taxes collected for 
 
 the state, amounting to.119,906 
 
 2. The provincial revenues which are raised from the 
 
 product of the toll upon the Moselle, the letting 
 out of the stud of Walferdange and its dependences, 
 also of some parts of the abbey of St. Hubert, 
 amounting altogether to about.15,000 
 
 3. Indemnity for the quartering of the gendarmerie, 
 
 to be paid by the war department ..... 4,600 
 
 4. Horse duties. 600 
 
 5. The product of the dog tax for half the province. 8,000 
 
 Provincial Expenses. 
 
 The extraordinary expenses are those relating to the estab¬ 
 lishment of towing roads and provincial roads. 
 
 The ordinary expenses are either obligatory or optional. 
 
 The obligatory expenses are all those specified by the 69th 
 article of the provincial law. Among these expenses may be 
 named that of the lodgings for the gendarmerie; this is one of 
 the most important expenses placed annually to the account of 
 the province. It includes, 1st. The rent and keeping up the 
 furniture necessary for the men forming the brigades. 2d. The 
 rent of the buildings so occupied, when these buildings are not 
 provincial property. 
 
 General Police. 
 
 In many places the measures for the suppression of mendicity 
 appear to be disused. Mendicants are seen wandering over 
 some communes without exciting the attention of the gendar¬ 
 merie and communal administrations. Happily, as we before 
 
202 
 
 observed, favourable circumstances are tending to diminish the 
 distress of the people ; the advanced labour of agriculture, and 
 that which has been commenced in trade occupy many hands. 
 
 Crimes and offences are rare, and those who commit them, 
 especially between Weiswampach and France, are foreigners, 
 principally Prussians, who, taking advantage of the vicinity of 
 the two countries, pass the frontier to execute their misdeeds, 
 and then take refuge in Prussia to avoid pursuit. The environs 
 of Hossingen are the principal refuge of these criminals; they 
 there find many isolated huts, occupied by strangers, which serve 
 for momentary refuge. The observation of these huts is difficult, 
 owing to their distance from the villages where the authorities 
 are stationed. 
 
 It is proved, to our regret, that the measures for public salu¬ 
 brity and health are generally neglected. Sewers, filth, and 
 dunghills often infest the neighbourhood of houses and corrupt 
 the waters. Also the regulations for the burying of animals 
 have not always been obeyed. The weakness and indifference 
 which the communal administrations have shown in the service 
 of the general and municipal police must be pointed out in order 
 that they may be amended. The regulations concerning pass¬ 
 ports are not sufficiently enforced; vagabonds are overlooked; 
 the streets and roads are encumbered with materials, dunghills, 
 carriages, and agricultural instruments, which interrupt the 
 communication. The observation of public-houses has been 
 neglected, and from this, injury to the health and morals of the 
 inhabitants has resulted. 
 
 The burgomasters do not generally understand the importance 
 and extent of the functions the law confers on them as officers of 
 judicatory police; it is necessary that they should give to them 
 more attention. 
 
 It is known that in observing the regulations of general and 
 municipal police many private interests must be crossed, and 
 popularity in some measure compromised. But the general 
 interest and public order require imperatively the execution of 
 these regulations, and there is reason to hope that the local au- 
 
203 
 
 thorities will not be wanting- in this essential part of their 
 duties. 
 
 Weights and Measures. 
 
 The retail of merchandize and provisions is also a subject of 
 
 observation confided to the care of the communal administrations. 
 
 The verification of weights and measures has annually taken 
 
 place, and since the law has suppressed the duties on stamps, 
 
 there is reason to hope that no retailer tries to withdraw himself 
 
 from the effects .of a measure which has ceased to be fiscal. 
 
 % 
 
 It appears that there exists an abuse in the lime trade which 
 heavily injures the interests of the consumers. The lime traders 
 continue to use the former measures, and obstinately refuse to 
 employ the legal ones. The buyers residing almost always far 
 from where the lime is produced, are not able to superintend the 
 measurement. Hence arises that it is sold by the metric 
 measure, and delivered by the ancient measure, which makes 
 great difference and causes much loss. It has often been attempted 
 to force the lime traders to the employment of the legal measures ; 
 but the expedients used have always been eluded. It is, never¬ 
 theless, of the utmost importance that this abuse should stop, 
 since it interests in the most sensible manner the progress of 
 agriculture in the Ardennes. 
 
 Accidents and Events. 
 
 Fires have multiplied lately. Few of these disasters can be 
 attributed to malevolence ; many, on the contrary, to negligence 
 and neglect of the regulations. 
 
 There have been some instances of violent death,—some from 
 want, others from excess in drinking; some may be traced to the 
 sudden fall of walls during their demolition, or of earth and stones 
 in the quarries. It is believed that if the local police had inter¬ 
 fered to watch over the demolition of the walls and the working 
 of the quarries, these last accidents would not have occurred. 
 Some events have given rise to acts of courage, humanity, and 
 self-devotion. Those that performed them have been rewarded 
 by being presented with a gold, silver, or bronze medal, or a sum 
 
204 
 
 more or less considerable, and their names have been proclaimed 
 in the administrative memorial. Between 1830 and the 1st of 
 January, 1837, 30 of these rewards have been given. 
 
 Accidents have given rise to demands for succour. 
 
 The amount of losses suffered and succours granted, in 1836, 
 is as follows :— 
 
 
 Losses suffered. 
 
 Succours granted. 
 
 
 Francs. 
 
 Francs. 
 
 Loss of cattle . 
 
 . 12,026 
 
 990 
 
 „ by fire 
 
 . 72,627 
 
 3,546 
 
 „ by storms, hail, &c. 
 
 . 3,828 
 
 258 
 
 
 88,481 
 
 4,794 
 
 Number of wolves killed and amount of rewards granted under 
 this head:— 
 
 In 1835. 
 
 For 5*2 wolves and 4 wolf cubs . . . 865 francs. 
 
 In 1836. 
 
 For 35 wolves and 4 wolf cubs . . . 602 francs. 
 
 Rural Police. 
 
 It is generally admitted that the rural police of this province 
 is in an imperfect state. The most striking of its defects are the 
 following:— 
 
 Most of the bailiffs perform their functions ill, and are very 
 ignorant; the smallness of their salaries makes them seek employ¬ 
 ment more lucrative than their office, to which they devote too 
 short intervals. The local authorities do not prescribe sufficiently 
 their duties, and do not require a sufficiently exact account of 
 their conduct. More stability is to be wished in this service ; the 
 continual changes to which it is exposed are disadvantageous. 
 The numerous changes yearly made arise from dismissal being 
 the only means of repressing the negligence of the bailiffs. 
 
 Their office should be their only employment, that they may 
 consecrate to that all their time and attention; this would be 
 
205 
 
 obtained by giving larger salaries. If the bailiffs were well paid, 
 more might be required from them in subjecting them to severer 
 discipline. Their number might be diminished, having one good, 
 instead of two or three indifferent, bailiffs, not to say bad, and 
 give to one the salaries of the two or three, this would then be 
 sufficient to support existence. Dismissal should not be pro¬ 
 nounced except for serious offences ; for small faults the adminis¬ 
 trative penalties should suffice. In a word, a new and complete 
 organization of the rural police is, generally, required. This 
 organization may be made the subject of provincial regulation by 
 the terms of the fifth section of the 131st article of the criminal law. 
 
 Public Health. 
 
 The list of persons authorized to practise medicine is published 
 every February. The list is numerous ; but good doctors are 
 rare in the country. Offences against the laws and regulations 
 on this subject diminish, because they are quickly repressed. 
 
 The law relating to the higher instruction has singularly 
 restrained the privileges of provincial medical commissions, which 
 at present can only proceed to the reception of apothecaries, 
 herbalists, and midwives. Nevertheless, these commissions still 
 preserve the superintendence of the healing art. For many years 
 a visitation of the apothecaries, principally the country ones, has 
 been called for; but the scantiness of the subsidy granted by the 
 state will not permit the expense of travelling for such a visit, since 
 it hardly suffices for the ordinary wants. The commission has 
 often called for the increase of this subsidy ; these demands have 
 been seconded, but, as yet, have remained unanswered. 
 
 With the exception of a scarlet fever, considered as contagious, 
 which raged for some time in the commune of Nives, no epi¬ 
 demic has been declared in the province during 1836. 
 
 Vaccination increases more and more. Great praise has been 
 merited by the zeal and activity of several vaccinators. How¬ 
 ever, their efforts are not always seconded by the communal 
 administrations, which still show repugnance to favour the opera¬ 
 tion, particularly when parents (and there are some; object to the 
 
206 
 
 vaccination of their children. Small-pox has broken out in some 
 communes, but without doing much harm. It is said that many 
 vaccinated persons have been attacked ; but whenever a physician 
 has been called in, it appeared to be only the varicelle , an erup¬ 
 tion not much to be feared. 
 
 It is remarked that royal decrees, giving gold medals to persons 
 distinguished for the propagation of vaccination, never comprise 
 Luxembourg. This omission is explained by the circumstance 
 that the royal decree of August the 18th, 1818, requires a certain 
 number of vaccinations, performed gratuitously, which is not often 
 found in a province where vaccination is performed by vaccina¬ 
 tors annually appointed by the deputation, and who receive for 
 every vaccination which succeeds one franc, charged to the com¬ 
 munal treasury. Nevertheless, in 1836, M. Malvoux, of Ner- 
 beumont, a young physician, having performed, gratuitously, more 
 than 100 vaccinations, has been proposed for the gold medal, and, 
 according to all appearances, will be included in the approaching 
 distribution of the home department. 
 
 Public Worship. 
 
 The salaries of the rectors and desservants, paid by the state, 
 amounted, in 1836, to the following sums:— 
 
 Francs. 
 
 To rectors and desservants . . 371,282*41 
 
 To chaplains. 31,358'29 
 
 To curates ...... 7,910*20 
 
 Total 
 
 430,550*90 
 
 The subsidies granted to the communes, during the same year, 
 
 have amounted to 29,668*40 francs. 
 
 * * 
 
 The law of the 9th of January, 1837, has improved the situa- 
 tion of curates and chaplains, by granting them a salary of 500 
 francs, to be paid by the treasury. In execution of this law a 
 royal decree of the 28th of March, 1837, determines what are the 
 vicariates and chaplaincies entitled to the benefit of the law of 
 January 9th ; their number is 77 vicariates and 148 chaplaincies. 
 
207 
 
 There appeared to be some omissions which gave rise to well- 
 founded complaints on the part of the bishop of the diocese, 
 since a royal decree of the 20th of last May has carried the 
 number of chaplaincies to 155, and of vicariates to 127. 
 
 Communal subsidies ought not to be given to churches, unless 
 their revenues be insufficient. This principle is incontestable; 
 and to enable the communal administrations to prove it by evi¬ 
 dence, the decree of the 30th of December, 1809, commands the 
 annual deposit of the accounts of the church in the communal 
 archives. This deposit has in many placns been omitted ; it 
 belongs to the ecclesiastical superiors to enforce the execution of 
 so useful a law. 
 
 The Jewish community of Arlon has solicited from government 
 a subsidy for supporting the expense of its worship. This request 
 was warmly supported, and by a dispatch of August the 4th, 1836, 
 the home secretary gave notice that he intended proposing to the 
 King its favourable reception ; but since the month of September 
 nothing more has passed in the ministerial offices on this subject. 
 
 Prisons. 
 
 The promised improvements have been executed. The prison 
 of Arlon is so far advanced that all classes of prisoners may be 
 removed to it. The completion of some indispensable buildings 
 will not be delayed. The minister of justice has asked for the 
 plans and estimates necessary for the establishment of the second 
 wing, intended for the accommodation of the prisoners. The 
 places of reception or municipal prison, which exist in everyplace 
 where a brigade of gendarmerie is stationed, have attracted the 
 attention of the administration, which has caused some improve¬ 
 ments acknowledged useful to be effected. It is proposed to intro¬ 
 duce in the transfer of prisoners improvements long called for. 
 This transfer henceforward will be performed by carriages pre¬ 
 pared for the purpose. It is to be wished that the time for 
 executing this project may not be long deferred. 
 
 Public Taxes. 
 
 The product of the different sources of public revenue in Lux¬ 
 embourg, during 1836, is as follows:— 
 
208 
 
 Francs. 
 
 Administration of assessed taxes . , 2,300,532*83 
 
 Registry office. 1,855,789*44 
 
 Post-offices.. 87,094*64 
 
 Total . . . 4,243,416*91 
 
 No opposition, no delay, has been made in the collection of 
 taxes of any kind. 
 
 The state of taxation is not what might be wished. Of this we 
 must give an account. 
 
 The original lists are the basis of individual contribution to the 
 land-tax in the communes, the lands of which are not registered. 
 This useful work, which fixes the value of the incomes of the 
 landowners, serves to establish their assessment. This work, to 
 insure justice, must be exact and kept up to the present time; 
 but the imperfection of the ancient lists, which are dated the 
 9th year of the republic, hardly leaves any means of discovering 
 the present state of things, or establishing the proportionate 
 contribution required for the land-tax. 
 
 In most of the communes the necessary alterations are becom¬ 
 ing impossible, by reason of the absence of the documents 
 necessary for knowing the tax to be imposed upon every parcel 
 of landed property. Those documents still possessed by some 
 do not point out the situation of the places that are named, so 
 that it is equally impossible to be sure from the list, of the ex¬ 
 istence of any parcel for the land-tax. The changes taking place 
 in landed property are so neglected, that upon many lists of those 
 taxed, are found names of persons dead some years, whose pos¬ 
 sessions have been sold to their successors. Such division and 
 change has arisen in property, that there is no escape from the 
 labyrinth. 
 
 This is a serious case, and ought to attract the attention of 
 government. There is no other remedy than a complete land- 
 register. Such a work exists at Luxembourg, but besides the 
 difficulty of fixing the moment when it should be presented to the 
 communes, what would be its present use ? This work has now 
 existed some years, and during that time many changes have taken 
 
209 
 
 place, many parcels of land have been divided or united; it would, 
 therefore, require to be recommenced. Would it not, then, be 
 preferable to begin a new work, embracing the whole province, 
 without taking notice of that existing at Luxembourg? What¬ 
 ever may be the determination of government, it is time to begin, 
 for the disorder is great, and can only increase to the injury of 
 individuals and public prosperity. 
 
 AGRICULTURE. . 
 
 Various Crops. 
 
 The hardy corns yielded in 1836 an ordinary crop of good quality, 
 but the straw was short and thin ; the other crops suffered either 
 from the draught or violent rains that followed. The March 
 grains have hardly given a third of the ordinary crop. The hay 
 crop was not abundant, and there was scarcely any other grass. 
 The artificial fodder generally failed. Potatoes succeeded better. 
 The price of corn was kept up in 1836 ; it has been rising since 
 1837. That of fodder is excessive. 
 
 The following table shows the prices for 1836, and first five 
 months of 1 837 :— 
 
 Months. 
 
 Wheat. 
 
 Meslin. 
 
 Rye. 
 
 Oats. 
 
 Barley. 
 
 Potatoes. 
 
 1836 
 
 January 
 
 11-62 
 
 8-40 
 
 7-65 
 
 3-70 
 
 7-50 
 
 2-15 
 
 February . 
 
 11-67 
 
 9-55 
 
 7-56 
 
 3-80 
 
 7-39 
 
 2-23 
 
 March . 
 
 11-80 
 
 9-20 
 
 7-75 
 
 3-83 
 
 7-43 
 
 2-37 
 
 April . 
 
 12-31 
 
 10-18 
 
 7-91 
 
 3-92 
 
 8-01 
 
 2-30 
 
 May 
 
 13-48 
 
 11-54 
 
 10-54 
 
 4-34 
 
 8-49 
 
 1-84 
 
 June 
 
 13-12 
 
 11-28 
 
 10-48 
 
 4-13 
 
 8-98 
 
 9-23 
 
 July 
 
 12-46 
 
 11-29 
 
 9-37 
 
 3-94 
 
 8-11 
 
 1-76 
 
 August 
 
 13-38 
 
 11-16 
 
 9-44 
 
 3-80 
 
 8-95 
 
 1-99 
 
 September. 
 
 13-37 
 
 11-60 
 
 9-08 
 
 3-86 
 
 5-23 
 
 1-68 
 
 October 
 
 13-93 
 
 12-04 
 
 8-82 
 
 3-95 
 
 7-76 
 
 2-23 
 
 November. 
 
 13-98 
 
 12-16 
 
 8-67 
 
 3-87 
 
 8-23 
 
 2-83 
 
 December . 
 
 13-93 
 
 12-41 
 
 8-75 
 
 4-03 
 
 8-63 
 
 2-28 
 
 Average . 
 
 12-94 
 
 10-94 
 
 8-85 
 
 3-93 
 
 7-89 
 
 2-24 
 
 1837 
 
 January 
 
 14-15 
 
 12-89 
 
 8-87 
 
 4-11 
 
 8 45 
 
 2-35 
 
 February . 
 
 14-26 
 
 13-01 
 
 9-08 
 
 4-23 
 
 9-08 
 
 2-24 
 
 March . 
 
 14-21 
 
 13-18 
 
 10-02 
 
 4-20 
 
 8-69 
 
 2*54 
 
 Apiil . . 
 
 15-75 
 
 13-98 
 
 12-00 
 
 5-77 
 
 9-40 
 
 2-55 
 
 May 
 
 16-82 
 
 15-41 
 
 13-03 
 
 6-70 
 
 8-68 
 
 3-31 
 
 p 
 
210 
 
 Improvements. 
 
 Agriculture improves slowly; however, there is an inclination 
 not to permit fallow land. Meadows and artificial pastures are 
 multiplying, particularly clover. 
 
 Proper cultivation has frequently proved the resources of the soil 
 in the Ardennes ; but hands are not alone wanted, manure is also 
 necessary. The cattle do not give sufficient; it must be imported. 
 
 The use of lime forces the heaths to yield to the ploughshare; 
 fields formerly barren have yielded abundant harvests; rich arti¬ 
 ficial meadows have replaced soils from which product was 
 expected only after periods of 20, 25, or 30 years. Unhappily 
 this can only be seen in some parts, because the cultivators cannot 
 everywhere procure lime. 
 
 The trade, in this manure, so powerful and active, extends every 
 year; it might be further encouraged by rendering its transport 
 easier and cheaper by multiplying the means of communication. 
 
 Many agriculturists would find that buying limestone and 
 burning it on their own ground with their own fuel, would save 
 much; but the exemption of limestone from toll ought still to be 
 granted. This exemption is just. An exemption in favour 
 of the limestone destined for agriculture is required. Some 
 formalities might be insisted upon, and, to prevent fraud, the 
 limestone might be reduced to very small compass. The uncer¬ 
 tainty of the manner in which the rights of pasture and waste 
 lands should be exercised causes general complaints. This is a 
 fertile source of usurpations, complaints, injustice, and resentment. 
 For want of a precise law upon this subject, a provincial regu¬ 
 lation, fixing with precision the limits of the right of pasture and 
 waste lands, would be beneficial to our peasantry. 
 
 Distilleries. 
 
 The distilleries increase yearly, and improve the state of agri¬ 
 culture with which they are closely connected. The arrondisse- 
 ments of Diekirch and Grevenmacher, bring to this trade 
 much fruit brandy. The cherry plantations extend every year. 
 The brewhouses do not follow this progressive movement. 
 
The use of beer is not much diffused, owing to the excessive duties 
 upon its manufacture. 
 
 Woods and Hedges. 
 
 Wood has been sold at a price it had not reached for some time. 
 The prices are still high, though they have since fallen, which must 
 be attributed to a double cause,—the large and anticipated stores 
 laid in by the masters of forges, and the dead season of the iron 
 trade taking place at the same time. 
 
 One of the principal of the revenues of the Ardennes is from 
 the product of oak bark. This article continues to decrease in 
 value, owing to the prolonged difficulties of the tanners. 
 
 Cattle. 
 
 The law of December 31st, 1835, had more effect upon the 
 sale of cattle in Luxembourg than was expected. Much cattle of 
 all kinds has been taken by the merchants of Namur, chiefly 
 from the arrondissements of Verlon and Grevenmacher. 
 
 Horses have found an easy and advantageous market ; great 
 numbers have been purchased for Rhenish Germany. 
 
 The export of cattle to France has not increased. 
 
 The price of sheep was kept up during 1836, that of horned 
 cattle has diminished. 
 
 In general, cattle suffered much during the first months of 
 1837, from the scarcity of fodder in 1836, and from the unfore¬ 
 seen prolongation of the winter. They were, therefore, sold at 
 a low price. 
 
 The fairs in Luxembourg have been established chiefly for the 
 sale of cattle. No new one has been appointed in 1836. Two 
 great annual fairs are desired, one at Bastogne, the other at 
 Mersh for the wool trade. 
 
 The examination of the law of the 22nd of July, 1822, upon 
 salt must finish these observations upon agriculture. This law 
 includes a special clause in favour of agriculture, but most of 
 our agriculturists are not able to avail themselves of it, although 
 the want of salt obtained duty free is often felt. The evil is this, 
 that the minimum granted by law duty free for cultivation is of 
 
212 
 
 500 kilogrammes, a quantity too large to be purchased by the 
 Ardenne agriculturists, and even this right is denied them, when 
 they do not possess a specified number of cattle. The agri¬ 
 culturists cannot, therefore, take advantage of the law, which is 
 the more distressing, as often, when, as in 1836, the straw is 
 blighted, still for want of other fodder it is necessary to give 
 it to the cattle. 
 
 It is to be wished that Government would propose to the 
 chambers to fix the smallest quantity required by law at 100 
 kilogrammes, and reduce at the same time the number of cattle 
 necessary for being admitted to enjoy the exemption. To prevent 
 fraud it might be commanded, that quantities of salt destined for 
 agriculture should be mixed with a portion of some other 
 substance which, without hurting the cattle, would unfit the 
 salt for domestic uses, and even for the salt-house. The 
 salt thus mixed might be deposited with merchants, desirous 
 of credit, where the agriculturists might go to supply them¬ 
 selves. 
 
 Trade. 
 
 Too short a time has elapsed since the publication of the com¬ 
 mercial and industrial report of the situation of Luxembourg: 
 to return to details upon a subject which nevertheless still 
 retains its importance. 
 
 Commerce is generally reduced to home consumption ; there is 
 very little foreign business which arises from want of communi¬ 
 cation and a defective system of customs. To procure the one, 
 and correct the other, is the double end which must be obtained. 
 The interchange trade, the most important of the province, is 
 fettered by the limited number of offices for export and import; 
 some intermediate offices are much called for. 
 
 However there are some improvements which we shall enu¬ 
 merate with pleasure. 
 
 The working of the slate quarries has been much advanced. 
 Their product is sold advantageously in the interior. The export 
 continues to cost little. New quarries have been opened during 
 1837. 
 
213 
 
 The export of coal continues to extend, and the Luxembourg 
 forges have not been further inconvenienced either by the price 
 of fuel, or the difficulty of laying in stores. 
 
 The tanners, above all those in the east of the province, 
 continue to see their manufactures excluded the German 
 markets, and are reduced to a state of depression which must 
 end fatally. 
 
 The cloth trade is reviving a little. The cloth manufactory at 
 Schleifmuhl is in the wav of advancement, and is destined to 
 become of much importance. The workmen of Larochette are 
 employed in the manufacture of blankets. The drapers of Wiltz, 
 Eseh-sur-la-Sure, and Vianden, are in a deplorable condition. 
 The Delft manufactures are at present in full activity, and can 
 hardly keep pace with their orders. New ways of communication 
 which will render its exportation easier and cheaper must increase 
 this prosperity. 
 
 A new branch of the clay manufacture has been introduced 
 into the province, since last year, the fabrication of stone-jars. 
 It owes its birth to the discovery near Laroche of clay proper for 
 this manufacture. Foundries continue to employ many hands, 
 and to find good markets in the interior. New mines have been 
 discovered, and the administration has received many petitions 
 for the permission to open iron mines. 
 
 The prosperity of the paper-mills continues. They find in 
 the interior an advantageous and certain market. This trade 
 will go on extending. The foundries of Rochers belonging to 
 M. Lamort have been changed into a paper-mill. This ma¬ 
 nufactory will commence in the course of the year to be in 
 active operation, and become of still more importance than 
 that of Senningen. 
 
 A new branch of commerce has also been introduced into 
 Grevenmacher, the manufacture of tobacco-pipes. Its produce 
 sells well. 
 
 M. Davreux’s establishment at Bouillon continues. His bob¬ 
 bin-nets sell well both in France and Belgium. 
 
 The debate upon the project of a law proposing some modifi- 
 
214 
 
 cations of the tarif of Belgic customs, has raised several ques¬ 
 tions important for the future commerce and trade of Luxem¬ 
 bourg. The first debate which has taken place on this subject 
 gives hopes they will be determined favourably for the province. 
 
 The free importation of Prussian coals is a measure calculated 
 to favour some branches of trade and the agriculture of the 
 province. The Luxembourg manufacturers cannot sustain the 
 competition, because, the expenses of the manufacture being 
 higher, their produce cannot be offered at the same price as their 
 rivals. The want of cheap firing prevents several of our cheap 
 manufactures being developed; we have, therefore, seen with 
 regret the adjournment of M. de Puydt’s motion. 
 
 The impulse which the different branches of provincial trade 
 will receive from the approaching creation of a Luxembourg 
 trading company must be pointed out. 
 
 The provincial banks, which have only been established a few 
 years, appear to produce the best results by lowering the interest 
 of money. But as these banks only lend upon real property 
 securities, it is desirable that a bank should be established in the 
 province which would assist the labourers and manufacturers by 
 lending money upon notes. 
 
 The trade and manufactures of Luxembourg are not repre¬ 
 sented by any constituted body. The formation of a commission 
 of trade and commerce intended to supply the place of a com¬ 
 mercial chamber is petitioned for. 
 
 Roads. 
 
 According to the wishes expressed in the session of 1836, the 
 following is the general system of the communications of Lux¬ 
 embourg, proposed by the deputation for the sanction of the 
 Council. 
 
 Roads of the First Class. 
 
 1. From Brussels to Treves by Namur, Bastogne, Ettelbruck, 
 Larochette, the road from Ostend to Treves (in Weker), Gre- 
 venmacher, and Wasserbillig. 
 
 2. From Ostend to Treves, by Dinant, Neufchateau, Lux¬ 
 embourg, and Grevenmacher. 
 
215 
 
 3. From Liege to Metz, by Aywaille, Bastogne, Arlon, and 
 Longwy. 
 
 4. From Malmedy to Sedan, by Stavelot, Arbref'ontaine, 
 Laroche, St, Hubert, Recogne and Bouillon, with a branch to 
 the road from Stavelot to Carignan, beyond Straimont. 
 
 Roads of the Second Class. 
 
 1. From Luxembourg towards Sarrelouis by Remich. 
 
 2. From Luxembourg towards Longwy by Aubange. 
 
 3. From the road of the first class from Bruxelles to Treves 
 (to Heiderscheid) towards Longuyon, by .the corner of the wood 
 des pendus Habuy-la-neuve and Yirton. 
 
 4. From Stavelot to Thionville and Metz, by Vielsatlm 
 Diekirch, Ettelbruck, and Luxembourg, with a branch from 
 Diekirch to the road from Bruxelles to Treves by Stegan. 
 
 5. From Stavelot to Carignan, by Deiffield, Bastogne, Neuf- 
 chateau, and Florenville, with a branch towards Wiltz. 
 
 6. From Marche to Bitbourg, by Hotton, Houffalize, Clervaux, 
 and Vianden. 
 
 7. From Liege to Sedan by Terwagne, Marche, Tellin, 
 Transine, Paliseul, and Bouillon. 
 
 8. From Dinant to Sedan, by Beauraing and Bouillon. 
 
 9. From Arlon to Sedan, by Etalle and Florenville, with a 
 branch towards Bouillon. 
 
 10. From Bastogne to Rochefort, by Sibret and St. Hubert. 
 
 Provincial Roads. 
 
 1. From Luxembourg to the French frontier, by Esch-sur- 
 l’Alzette. 
 
 2. From Virton to Echternach, by Arlon and Mersch, with a 
 branch from Soeul to the road from Luxembourg to Diekirch. 
 
 3. From Hotton to Barvaux. 
 
 4. From Neufchateau to Virton, by Brenvanne, Bellefontaine 
 and La Croix Rouge. 
 
 5. From Ehneu in the commune of Wormeldange to iEtrange. 
 
 6. From Schengen to Grevenmacher, by Remerschen, Klein- 
 macher, Remich, and the Moselle towing road. 
 
216 
 
 7. From Virton to the Moselle by Aubange, Bascharage, 
 Bettembourg and Frisange. 
 
 8. From Eich to the road from Bruxelles to Treves, towards 
 Zittig. 
 
 9. From Neufehateau to Martelange, by Leglise and the 
 forest of Aulier. 
 
 This system has been preceded by an examination in which 
 all the communes have been heard, and includes all the wishes 
 which have been expressed, and appears to supply all the wants, 
 as well of commerce and manufacture, as of agriculture. The 
 deputation hopes that it will deserve the approbation of the 
 Council. It seems that the share of Luxembourg in the great 
 communications of the kingdom should not be confined to paved 
 roads. The province may hope for a rail-road. The law of the 
 26th of May, 1837, establishes the principle, but with a reser¬ 
 vation. A Royal decree of the 26th of May ordains the ex¬ 
 amination, and another decree of the 16th bf June, names M. 
 Vasquain, inspector of the bridges and roads, to examine and 
 direct the works, when the plan shall be adopted by law. It is 
 hoped that no obstacle will stop the measures taken bv Govern¬ 
 ment, and that their execution will not be delayed. 
 
 Roads and Bridges. 
 
 The administrative board of the provincial roads and bridges 
 has been lately re-organized. It consists of about 20 persons. 
 The principal engineer, the inferior engineers, and the conduc¬ 
 tors of the second and third class. It is, therefore, hoped, that 
 the well merited complaints which have arisen, upon the inter¬ 
 minable delays which the examination of the draughts of plans 
 for the most useful roads have experienced will not be repeated. 
 
 Among the improvements which have taken place in existing 
 roads, the straightening of the coast at Neupont, and the plant¬ 
 ing of the road from Ostend to Aylon must be mentioned. 
 
 Post Offices, Pod Houses , Coach and Waggon Offices. 
 
 The employment of the rural posts commenced at the end of 
 
217 
 
 1836. Never has any organisation given rise to such well- 
 founded complaints; it was arranged by chance and without 
 attending to the previous divisions of correspondence. The pro¬ 
 vincial administration was not admitted to give its opinion upon 
 what was most proper. Improvements have been since intro¬ 
 duced but they are not sufficient, and correspondence still suffers 
 prejudicial delays. Our connexions with Germany still continue 
 fettered by the defects in the posting arrangements with Prussia. 
 We communicate with that kingdom only through the office of 
 Henri-Chapelle, (Province of Liege.) The royal decree which 
 establishes post-houses upon the road from Aylon to Dinant 
 has also not been executed. Proposals have been made for the 
 nomination of postmasters, but nothing further has taken place, 
 the causes of this delay are unknown. 
 
 Public coaches now go the road from Aylon to Dinant by 
 Neufchateau. This improvement is advantageous to all that part 
 of the provinces of Namur and Luxembourg. 
 
 Inland Navigation. 
 
 The Sure is subject to extraordinary swelling, during which 
 by the rapidity of its course it carries the banks away and causes 
 considerable falls. To stop these ravages it would be necessary 
 to execute expensive works which the neighbouring communes 
 alone would not be able to pay. The province has granted a 
 subsidy to the village of Ingeldorf, but other places have reason 
 to demand the same succours, among others Bettendof. The 
 Sure encroaches every year upon the lands near the bridge of 
 Blees ; and even threatens to form a new channel through the 
 village ; the repairs of the banks have become urgent, for the 
 devastation increases yearly, which must entail more expenses. 
 The product of the Moselle navigation, in 1836, amounted to 
 12,182*54 francs. The expenses have been of 913*66 Irancs ? 
 so that the province has put into the treasury 11,268*88 from 
 this source. 
 
PROVINCE OF NAMUR. 
 
 Extracts from the Report to the Provincial Council for the 
 
 Session of July, 1837. 
 
 Post-Office Irregularities. 
 
 Much improvement is required in the management of the 
 provincial posts. It frequently happens that the Government 
 correspondence is inconvenienced so much that it has already 
 been necessary to send Commissioners to the communes, to 
 obtain pressing information, while the packet containing it had 
 been for some days in the letter-box. The Commissioners of the 
 Arrondissement complain of this incessantly, and several of the 
 communes have pointed out the irregularity of the service. The 
 Government correspondence was more active and convenient with 
 the former post-carriers. 
 
 Survey of the Province. 
 
 The council having ordered our college to have a map of the 
 province drawn upon the scale of 1 to 50,000, and provide 500 
 copies, a correspondence has taken place with M. Vandermaden, 
 head of the geographical establishment of Brussels; and it appears 
 that the expense of preparing this map, showing all the parish 
 and private roads, the course of the waters from the least im¬ 
 portant to navigable rivers, and all the particulars calculated to give 
 an exact idea of the peculiarities of the soil, the form and structure 
 of the country, &c. would amount to 10,750 francs, which would 
 bring the price of each copy to 21 fr. 50 c.; we have thought this 
 expense too considerable to be paid entirely by the province, and 
 
219 
 
 have called upon the administrations of the communes to know 
 those who will consent to subscribe for a copy; this subject will 
 be submitted to the deliberations of the council. 
 
 Population. 
 
 A general census of the population was taken at the beginning 
 of the year. The result on the 1st of January, 1837, was, that 
 the population amounted to 227,074 inhabitants. During the 
 year 1836, the number of births was 7,554; of deaths 4,268; 
 of marriages 1,696; therefore the deaths have been exceeded by 
 the births 3,286. 
 
 Communal Finance. 
 
 Many of the communes continue to be obliged to have recourse 
 to personal assessments to meet their expenses ; hitherto we have 
 only allowed eight of such assessments, amounting together 
 to 1,878 fr. 61c.; but it is certain that before the end of the 
 year a great number of these assessments will be submitted to 
 us; as we have provisionally allowed in the communal budgets 
 projected assessments for a sum of 15,864 fr. 34 c. 
 
 The towns of Namur, Dinant, and Philippeville, the communes 
 of Gembloux and Mariembourg provide in a great measure for 
 their expenses by taxes imposed at the entrance of the town or 
 commune upon different articles of consumption; these taxes in 
 1836, after deducting the expenses of collecting, produced 
 
 
 Francs. 
 
 Cents. 
 
 In the town of Namur. 
 
 185,701 
 
 76 
 
 „ Dinant. 
 
 24,642 
 
 69 
 
 ,, Philippeville 
 
 6,659 
 
 41 
 
 In the commune of Gembloux . 
 
 5,773 
 
 — 
 
 „ Mariembourg . 
 
 1,734 
 
 34 
 
 Four communes have obtained permission 
 
 to make purchases 
 
 That of Ohey of nearly 40 hectares of wood-land for 32,110 francs ; 
 that of Mismes of a field for 700 francs; that of Graide of a 
 school-house for 3,700 francs ; and that of Walcourt, for land for 
 the purpose of enlarging the school, for 130 francs. 
 
 Thirty-five communes have been authorized to dispose of 163 
 
220 
 
 small parcels of land for the improvement of their revenues, 
 or to pay the expenses of building parsonages and schools. 
 The purchase money of these alienations has amounted lo 
 18,397 fr. 51c. 
 
 Four communes have received permission to make advan¬ 
 tageous exchanges of property for the foundation of churches, 
 parsonages, and widening of roads. 
 
 The commune of Ohey has been allowed to clear a wood con¬ 
 taining 6 hectares, 29 ares, and 30 centrares; it has been proved 
 that this land when cultivated would become more productive 
 than if it remained wood-land. 
 
 Ten communes have received for the repurchase monies of 
 annuities (capitaux de rents) 5,334 francs. Five communes 
 have placed, either with individuals or in the savings’-bank, 
 capital amounting to 10,155 francs. 
 
 Lastly. Three communes have redeemed annuities they owed 
 to the united amount of 6,610 fr. 30 c. 
 
 Having remarked in our examination of the communal ac¬ 
 counts of charitable institutions and church revenues, that the 
 sums produced by the repurchase of annuities (capitaux de rents) 
 or saving often remained unproductive in the hands of the re¬ 
 ceivers ; our college has decreed that every sum so remaining 
 amounting to 1000 francs, should be placed in the savings’-bank 
 at 4 per cent, interest, until it could be more usefully employed 
 by the establishment to which it belongs. 
 
 Hospitals. 
 
 The state of the finance of the hospitals continues to be satis¬ 
 factory. 
 
 Annuities have been repurchased belonging to the hospitals of 
 Namur, amounting to 41,276 fr. 46 c., and to that of Dinant to 
 790 fr. 83 c. 
 
 The executive commission of the hospitals of Namur has 
 been empowered to place with individuals, at 4 per cent, interest, 
 the sum of 50,500 francs. 
 
 The same commission has been authorized to sell for the purpose 
 
221 
 
 of increasing their income, five small parcels of wood-land pro¬ 
 perty, the total consisting of 9 hectares, 5 ares, for the sum of 
 12,005 fr. 36 c. But instead of availing themselves of this per¬ 
 mission, the commission has put up these parcels to auction. 
 This measure proved advantageous to the establishment; the 
 cutting of the under-wood and trees produced 6,532 francs, 
 and the land produced 13,263 fr. 33 c., making a total of 
 19,795 fr. 33 c. 
 
 Foundlings. 
 
 The number of foundlings on the 31st December, 1836, was 
 608. 
 
 Francs. Cents. 
 
 The province contributed for the expenses 
 
 of this establishment in 1836 . . . 27,527 40 
 
 The town of Namur. 27,754 26 
 
 But the Government has granted out of 200,000 francs, 
 placed to the credit of the budget of the Department de la Justice, 
 a subsidy of 26,000 francs, which has been equally divided be¬ 
 tween the town and province of Namur. 
 
 Poor Houses. 
 
 A royal decree of the 14th of March, 1837, places at the dis¬ 
 posal of the Department de la Justice the poor-house buildings, 
 that they may there organize a penitentiary for women condemned 
 to imprisonment and hard labour. This decree enacts at the same 
 time that incurable beggars being found at the poor-house, should 
 be returned to the commune to which they belong, to be confided 
 to the care of the managers of the hospitals; and the others should 
 be transferred to the poor-house at Mons. 
 
 With regard to the insane confined in the poor-house of Namur, 
 they will be maintained in their present situation under the guar¬ 
 dianship of the managers of the penitentiary, until they can be 
 placed elsewhere. 
 
 The council acknowledge that by this measure Government 
 has decided the right of possessing the buildings, which was 
 debated during the last session ; but Government in declaring 
 
222 
 
 that these buildings belong to the State, has taken upon itself to 
 reimburse 51,418 fr. 4 c., advanced by the treasury of St. Giles’s 
 Hospital, to defray the first establishment of the poor-house; 
 and our college has requested that this arrangement should apply 
 to the other establishments which have made similar pecuniary 
 advances. 
 
 The number in the poor-house was on the 31st of December, 
 1836, 370 individuals; 206 males, and 161 females among these, 
 besides the superannuated and crippled there were insane 20 
 males and 19 females. 
 
 The subsidy granted by the provincial budget is employed to 
 assist those communes which are unable to support their own 
 paupers. The removal of the paupers to the Mons Poor-house 
 has induced several of the communes to recall their poor; but it 
 is to be feared that these will be forced to beggary, or to go to 
 the new poor-house for want of the means of support, as the 
 authorities of the communes, when they have obtained their 
 dismissal, do not try to provide them employment. 
 
 Benevolent Societies. 
 
 The benevolent society at Dinant has received a grant of 
 1000 francs from Government, to be employed in behalf of the 
 most distressed families of the town. 
 
 Only two bequests have been made to these societies, which 
 they have been authorized to receive. 
 
 To the society of Temploux a bequest of one hectare, worth 
 3000 francs, on condition of celebrating an anniversary mass for 
 M. Le Baron de Ponty. 
 
 To the society at Horenne by M. de Sour, formerly a monk, a 
 bequest of a house and garden, valued at 5000 francs, on con¬ 
 dition that its annual product should be applied to the instruction 
 of indigent children. 
 
 Twenty-one of these societies have been empowered to receive 
 for the repurchase of annuies (capitaux de rents) 19,948 francs 
 21 cents. 
 
 The power of placing sums at interest or in the savings’-bank 
 
 
223 
 
 has been granted to 13 of these societies for a sum of 18,087 
 francs. 
 
 Two societies have been authorized, one, that of Souline, to 
 sell by public auction a house and garden, consisting of two 
 acres, value 1,550 francs, to purchase an annuity ; the other, that 
 of Leuze, to exchange an estate for a school-house. 
 
 Monts de Pi'ete. 
 
 The result of their proceedings for 1837 is as follows:—- 
 42,462 pledges have been placed or renewed for the sum of 
 178,004 francs; 41,295 pledges have been redeemed for the sum 
 of 173,211 fr. 50 c. ; 841 pledges have been sold for 2,674 fr. 50c. 
 at Namur. At Dinant, 5,590 pledges have been placed or 
 renewed for 45,406 fr. 40 c.; 5,834 pledges have been redeemed 
 for 43,315 fr. 90 c.; 191 pledges have been sold for 1,701 fr. 30 c. 
 
 Public Worship. 
 
 The necessities of public worship are far from diminishing, the 
 resources of the communes do not increase, whilst from their age 
 the churches and parsonages want continual repairs, and even 
 rebuilding. The subsidy of 10,000 francs allotted to the pro¬ 
 vincial budget of this year, joined to the sum that remained from 
 1836, is exhausted, and there remain many claims as well founded 
 as those upon which we have been able to decide. 
 
 We are, therefore, obliged to ask from the council a supply, on 
 credit for this year, and an equal addition for the service of next. 
 All the papers concerning claims of this kind will be submitted 
 to the council, and it will without difficulty admit that the addi¬ 
 tional credit is necessary. 
 
 We have already given to 19 communes subsidies of 11,450 
 francs. Government has granted to the same communes supplies 
 of 11,900 francs. 
 
 We have promised to six other communes supplies equal to 
 3,200 francs, upon condition that Government will give an equal 
 sum. This forms the total of the disposable funds. The subsi- 
 
224 
 
 dies granted by the Treasury have exceeded by 450 francs those 
 granted by the province. Government has given this sum to the 
 commune of St. Germain to purchase a bell. We did not con¬ 
 sider ourselves empowered to cause the province to assist in this 
 purchase, the funds having been exclusively appointed for the 
 repairs of churches and parsonages. 
 
 By means of the sum of 21,600 francs, the product of the 
 supplies granted by Government and the province, the church 
 of Timers will be rebuilt, and enlarged; the churches of 
 Bouvigne, Graux, liavelange, Heure, Marchovelette, Meux, 
 and Notre Dame at Namur will be repaired ; the parsonages of 
 Ernage, Heure, Mohiville and Pessoux, will also be repaired. 
 The communes of Florence, Floreifoux, Lignon, and Miecret 
 will purchase a parsonage, which they require; and those of 
 Moneeaux and St. Aubin will entirely rebuild the parsonages they 
 now possess. 
 
 All the communes have proved that they possess the funds 
 necessary, either from loans or savings, to answer the remainder 
 of these expenses. 
 
 The sum of 9,300 francs has been judged necessary to com¬ 
 plete the repairs of the Episcopal Seminary. Government has 
 answered for half of this sum, the remainder must be supplied by 
 the provinces of Namur and Luxembourg. But a contest has 
 arisen between our college and the permanent deputation of 
 Luxembourg concerning the subdivision of this half. Hitherto 
 the expenses belonging to the repairs of the cathedral, seminary, 
 and episcopal palace, have always been supported by the two pro¬ 
 vinces at the rate of two-fifths for that of Namur, and three- 
 fifths for that of Luxe mbourg; taking for basis the population 
 of each province, except that Namur, as possessing the Metropo¬ 
 litan town, has paid one-fifth more; conformably to the 111th 
 article of the decree of December, 1809, the deputation of Lux¬ 
 embourg now refuses to follow this rule of division. This subject 
 will be submitted to the council. 
 
 Legacies and donations have been made to 11 churches, the 
 cathedral, and episcopal seminary, to the amount of 30,406 fr. 85c. 
 
225 
 
 Twenty-eight churches have been authorized to receive for 
 the repurchase of annuities the sum of 25,602 fr. 30c. 
 
 Fourteen churches have obtained permission to place with 
 individuals, or in the savings’ bank, capital amounting together 
 to 16,111 fr. 60 c. 
 
 Public Instruction. 
 
 The state of public instruction, generally, is satisfactory. 
 
 Government has again granted to the eity of Namur 20,500 
 francs, as it did last year, for the support of its Athenaeum. The 
 remainder of the expenses must be supplied by the town. A 
 subsidy of 2,000 francs has, likewise, been granted by the Treasury 
 to the town of Dinant for its college. 
 
 The amount of the salaries granted by Government to the 
 provincial instructors is the same as last year, that is 28,642 fr. for 
 116 instructors. The subsidies granted for the building, repair¬ 
 ing, and furnishing of school-rooms and houses, has amounted to 
 8,729 fr. 26 c., divided amongst 16 communes. The subsidies 
 have been given in this proportion—3,855 francs by the province 
 and 4,874 fr. 26 c. by Government. Several applications for sub¬ 
 sidies of this nature are now under consideration. 
 
 Only four salaries, amounting to 360 francs, have been granted 
 from the provincial funds to the instructors of the communes of 
 Lovette St. Denis, Lovette St. Pierre, Lisogn and Thou, which 
 are the only communes which have petitioned for this favour, 
 and whose finances seem to require it. 
 
 According to the decision of the council, the deputation has 
 applied to the department of the interior to obtain the re-esta¬ 
 blishment of the subsidy formerly granted by the Treasury in 
 favour of the instructors of the primary schools, who came during 
 stated times to attend the lessons of the Normal School at 
 Namur. No decision on this subject has, hitherto, been trans¬ 
 mitted to us. 
 
 The sum appointed in the provincial budget of this year for 
 the encouragement of the fine arts has been divided as follows :— 
 
 Q 
 
226 
 
 Francs. 
 
 Namur, for the Academy of Painting .... 
 
 Dinant, for the Harmonic Society ..... 
 
 To the Society of St. Cecilia at Namur .... 
 
 To the Philharmonic Society at Couvin. 
 
 To the Drawing Academy, belonging to the Athe- 
 neeum at Namur ......... 
 
 To the Harmonic Society of Anderme .... 
 
 1,000 
 
 200 
 
 400 
 
 80 
 
 150 
 
 90 
 
 Total . . . 1,920 
 
 Remains to be disposed of. 80 
 
 Public Health. 
 
 The malady which appeared in the commune of Soye is almost 
 subdued; the localities appear to have been rendered sufficiently 
 healthful by means of the measures pointed out by the medical 
 board of the province recommended by our college, and which 
 the communal councils are directed to execute. Government 
 has granted 800 francs to assist the indigent sick; this sum is 
 distributed by the local administrations and the benevolent 
 societies. 
 
 One thousand francs, part of the subsidy of the provincial 
 council have been employed to remunerate the physicians for their 
 attendance on the indigent sick, and to pay for medicines. 
 
 The number vaccinated in 1836, is nearly equal to the number 
 of vaccinated children in 1835. All the information which is to 
 be given by the communes on this subject not having reached us, 
 it is impossible to state the etfact number. 
 
 The small-pox has attacked some individuals, but has been 
 fatal to few, and very few have been disfigured. 
 
 The five premiums of 100 francs granted by the provincial 
 budget to the doctors and surgeons, who have performed the 
 greatest number of vaccinations gratuitously, have been given for 
 1836, to MM. Eugene Thirion, M.D., at Namur, and Hen 
 rionnet, surgeon at Gembloux, for the arrondissement of Namur ; 
 
Charles Francis Bodson, M.D., at Dinant, and Augustus Sovet, 
 M.D., at Beauraing, for the arrondissement of Dinant; and Wil¬ 
 liam Joseph Delacharlerie for the arrondissement of Philippeville. 
 
 Seven medals have been granted by Royal Decree of the 15th 
 October, 1836, to the same number of medical men who most 
 assisted the propagation of vaccination during 1833, and by a 
 decree of the same date, five medals have been granted for 1834. 
 
 Police. 
 
 No violence requiring suppression has been noticed in any of 
 the communes since the last session of the council. Order and 
 tranquillity exist in all. 
 
 Night patrols have been appointed for the winter season. 
 
 The service of the gendarmerie continues regular. According 
 to the decision of the council the province has purchased of the 
 Benevolent Society of Dinant, for 16,000 francs, buildings for 
 barracks for the gendarmerie brigade stationed at that town. 
 As soon as the plans and estimates of the repairs and additions 
 to be made to the buildings shall have reached us, these works 
 will be contracted for. According to an agreement made by the 
 former deputation, the province has also purchased the buildings 
 used as barracks by the Beuraat gendarmerie for 6,000 francs. 
 
 The barrack for the brigade stationed at Assesse is not suitable. 
 Proposals will be made to the council for the purchase of land 
 upon which to build one at the expense of the province. 
 
 Francs. 
 
 The hire and maintenance of 18 
 barracks of gendarmerie in 1836, 
 
 amounted to. 10,660*13 
 
 The expense of the furniture . . 3,922*44 
 
 - 14,582*57 
 
 Government has given . . . . 3,266*07 
 
 The province.11,316*50 
 
 - 14,582*57 
 
 The prisons of Namur and Dinant as well as their furniture, 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 
 
 are in good repair. The necessary repairs and improvements 
 have been made. 
 
 The number of individuals who entered the prison of Namur 
 in 1836, amounted to 780, namely. 
 
 Men . . . 343 
 
 Women ... 89 
 
 Soldiers . . . 348 
 
 -- 780 
 
 The number of days of maintenance have been 21,036. The 
 expenses of maintenance have amounted to 6,669 fr. 58 c., which 
 allows 32 c. per diem to each person. 
 
 The number of individuals who entered the prison of Dinant 
 has amounted to 140, namely, 
 
 Men . . . 127 
 
 Women ... 13 
 
 — 140 
 
 The number of days of maintenance has been 4,299. The 
 expense of maintenance has amounted to 3,159 fr. 64 c. which 
 allows 73 c. per diem to each individual. 
 
 In 1836, 559 game licences have been granted. Vigilant 
 attention has been paid to poaching; some offences have been 
 proved. 
 
 Battues have been authorized in those communes where 
 wolves and boars most frequently have appeared. 
 
 Out of 200 francs allotted by the provincial budget for the 
 destruction of wolves, only 54 francs have been bestowed. 
 
 According to the decision of the council, the Deputation has 
 expressed to Government a desire that a tribunal de premier 
 instance should be erected at Philippeville, at the same time 
 showing the reasons which prove the necessity of this establish¬ 
 ment. 
 
 It has also addressed itself to Government to obtain a legis¬ 
 lative enactment to dispense the members of the provincial 
 council from the duties of jurymen during its session. 
 
229 
 
 Public Taxes and Grants. 
 
 The collection of taxes continues to take place regularly and 
 easily. 
 
 The contingent assigned to the province in 1837, has been in 
 principal 911,085 francs, which have been increased with the 
 additional centimes to 1,191,514 fr. 26 c. 
 
 The subdivision among the communes of this province takes 
 for basis the proportion of the land tax; no complaints have 
 arisen from this division. 
 
 The taxable incomes amount to 9,809,611 fr. 34 c. 
 
 From the 1st of October, 1836, until now, eighteen complaints 
 upon the subject of the land tax for 1836, have been made ; seven¬ 
 teen have been admitted, and one rejected. In 1837, thirteen 
 have been admitted, two rejected, and four are now under ex¬ 
 amination. 
 
 Francs. 
 
 The losses occasioned by hurricanes, hail, &c. from 
 the 1st of October, 1836, to the 31st of December, 
 
 have amounted to.17,094 
 
 The losses by fires. 66,970 
 
 Total .... 84,064 
 
 Succours have been allotted for the last quarter of 1836 : 
 
 Francs. 
 
 For losses by hurricanes . .... 1,882 
 
 For losses by fires.3,147 
 
 From 1837 until now the losses : 
 
 From hurricanes, hail, &c,.3,435 
 
 From fires.16,120 
 
 Total . . . 19,555 
 
 The amount of the returns for the poll-tax of 1837, deduction 
 being for losses down to the 1st of June, is 315,494 frs. 23 c. 
 
 The product of the patent duty, the sum allowed for losses 
 being deducted, is 114,242 frs. 65 c. ' 
 
230 
 
 The returns of the dog-tax hitherto made, for 1837, amount 
 to 144,95 frs. 91 c. 
 
 The fixed and proportionate duties on mines amounted, in 
 1837, to 5,170 fr. 88 c. 
 
 Francs. 
 
 The Custom-house duties have yielded during 
 
 the last half year of 1836 . 45,264*27 
 
 During the first quarter of 1837 . . . . 36,376*60 
 
 The excise gave during the last half of 1836 . 361,224*53 
 
 During the first quarter of 1837 .... 205,904*94 
 
 Public Roads. 
 
 Although the roads are generally in good condition, some of 
 the contractors have neglected to fulfil completely the obligation 
 of their contracts. 
 
 Actions have been brought against them, and they have paid 
 the penalties stipulated in their contracts. 
 
 Roads of the first Class. 
 
 The expense of maintaining the road of the first class, No. 3, 
 section from Namur towards Brussels, is 7,500 francs, and the 
 lease expires on the 1st of May, 1838. The tolls of the turnpikes 
 on this section for 1837-1838 amount to 29,830 francs. The 
 lease for the maintaining of the section of this road from Namur 
 towards Dinant, and from Dinant to the boundaries of France, 
 expired on the 1st of last January; these sections have again 
 been proposed for contract for the term from the 1st of June of 
 the present year to the 1st of May, 1838. 
 
 The section from Dinant to Givet has been contracted for 
 2,750 francs. But the proposals made for the section from 
 Namur to Dinant having amounted to 24,000 francs, one quarter 
 above the estimate of the plan, it has been thought proper not to 
 contract, but to submit them to the minister. The amount of 
 tolls from the turnpikes on these two sections is 26,136 francs 
 for 1837-1838. 
 
 The 730 metres of fencing, which, in 1836, were to be placed 
 on the cross road of Profondeville have been erected. 
 
231 
 
 The expenses of maintaining the roads of the 1st class, No. 
 11, from Ostend towards Luxembourg are the same as in 1836. 
 The tolls in 1837-1838 amount to 16,860 francs. 
 
 Roads of the Second Class, 
 
 The expense of maintaining the roads of the second class is 
 also the same as in 1836. 
 
 The amount of tolls arising from the last contract in 1837- 
 1838, is on the road No. 1, from Louvain towards Marche, 
 53,770 francs. 
 
 On the road No. 3, from Dinant towards Liege, by Ciney, 
 5,380 francs. 
 
 On the road No 4, from Charleroy towards Rocroy, 22,030 
 francs. 
 
 On the road No. 5, from Couvin towards Chimay, 530 francs. 
 
 On the road No. 6, from Namur towards Hui, 17,440 francs. 
 
 There are no turnpikes in this province upon the road No. 7, 
 from Fleurus to Docq. Here it is important to observe, that the 
 roads of the second class, No. 3, from Dinant to Liege, by Ciney ; 
 No. 4, from Charleroy towards Rocroy; and No. 5, from Couvin 
 towards Chimay, are ranked with the provincial roads; and 
 that the product of these roads belongs to the province charged 
 with their maintenance. 
 
 Government having decreed the formation of a road from 
 Namur towards Hannut, has determined to take the line through 
 the place called “ Les Grandes Malades,” in the environs of 
 Namur. The works were proposed for contract on the 1st of 
 last April, and contracted for in two lots. The first lot, compre¬ 
 hending the section from Namur to Gelbress^e, a length of 8,076 
 metres, 30 centimetres, has been contracted for 89,000 francs. 
 The second lot, comprehending the section from Gelbressee to 
 Hannut, 21,093 metres 90 centimetres, has been contracted for 
 265,000 francs. The price of the lands taken for this purpose 
 is not included in these sums. The works are progressing rapidly. 
 
 Government have accepted the offer made by the province 
 to cede the provincial road from Falmignoul to Beauraing, on 
 
condition that it should undertake at its own expense to lengthen 
 this road as far as Bouillon ; the works are proposed for contract. 
 
 The section from Tilleut d’Oret to the meeting with the road 
 projected from Recogne to Bouillon, a length of 31,830 metres, 
 30 centimetres, has been contracted for the sum of 313,500 
 francs. The section from Beauraing to Tilleut d’Oret, a length 
 of 2,733 metres, 20 centimetres, has been contracted for the sum 
 of 24,800 francs. The price for the land taken is not included 
 in this sum. The works must now be proceeding. 
 
 The maintenance of that part of this road from Falmignoul to 
 Beauraing is the same as in 1836. The prodnce of the turnpikes 
 only amounts to 1,180 francs in 1837-1838. 
 
 The Deputation has attended to the answer given by the council 
 to the proposal concerning lengthening the road from Couvin to 
 Chimay, made by the council of Hainaut, between the boundaries 
 of the province of Namur and the town of Chimay. Not only 
 has it applied to Government upon this subject, but also to the 
 governor of 4 the province of Hainaut, upon a demand made by 
 him for information concerning a plan which would unite the 
 road from Thuillies with that from Charleroy to Philippeville. 
 No answer has hitherto reached us. 
 
 The Deputation has likewise attended to the wishes of the 
 council in taking steps to obtain from Government, that the road 
 from Bouillon to Marche should pass through Rochefont. 
 
 Provincial Roads. 
 
 The roads from Andenne to Ciney produce from the three 
 turnpikes placed there, a revenue of 12,970 francs for 1837- 
 1838. 
 
 The annual expense of this road, the lease of which will ex¬ 
 pire on April the 1st, 1841, is 5,050 francs. 
 
 The expense of maintaining the first section of the road, 
 from Bouillon towards Fraire, is the same as in 1836 ; the toll 
 established there in 1837, is valued at 3,000 francs. 
 
 The second section of this road, from Bioux to La Chapelle- 
 de-Fraire la Crotense, is nearly finished. The works on the 
 
233 
 
 third section have been contracted for 150,000 francs, being a 
 length of 12,749 metres, 10 centimetres, not including the price 
 of land taken for this purpose. 
 
 The council having directed that proposals for several new 
 roads should be presented to it, our college has employed the 
 head engineer of bridges and roads to digest these plans. The 
 plan of opening a road from Namur to Chatelet, after having 
 gone through the formalities prescribed by law, has been sub¬ 
 mitted to the minister of public works, to receive the royal assent; 
 to this a request has been added for the entering into a contract for 
 the formation of the first section of this road, from the environs 
 of Namur to Floreffe, but it appears from the correspondence 
 between this minister and our college, and which will be sub¬ 
 mitted to the council, that this great functionary does not think 
 himself able to grant the request in its present shape. 
 
 He considers that if the province wishes to establish roads 
 with right of toll, it is a concession which must be made the 
 subject of public contract. The council will have to deliberate 
 upon this difficulty, which must delay the projects of constructing 
 provincial roads The project of a road from Ciney to Roche¬ 
 fort has also undergone the formalities prescribed by the royal 
 decree above named, it waits the report of the head engineer. 
 
 The plan of a road from Fosse to Philippeville, through 
 Florenne, is at this moment going through the examination pre¬ 
 scribed by the said decree. 
 
 According to the direction of the council, we have entered into 
 correspondence with our colleagues of Leige, Brabant, and 
 Hainaut, and also with the minister, upon the subject of re¬ 
 establishing the Roman road ; as we foresaw, he has answered 
 us that this subject must be submitted to the provincial councils, 
 which will be done next session. 
 
 Petitions for Grants of Roads. 
 
 A petition to construct a road from the Wainageto the Mazy, 
 by means of tolls to be established, has been drawn up by M. 
 Tarte, civil engineer at Monstier. The commission of inquiry 
 
234 
 
 employed to gain information upon this subject, will meet at 
 Namur the 1st of next July. 
 
 Parish Roads. 
 
 We have communicated to Government the wish of the council 
 for a law regarding the lesser roads ; a projected law to this 
 effect has been submitted by the ministry to our examination. 
 We have sent it back with our observations, but it has not yet 
 been presented to the chambers. 
 
 Railroads. 
 
 By a Royal Decree, dated the 12th of last April, MM. 
 Depuydt and Company have been permitted to construct a rail¬ 
 road between the Sombre and the Meuse, with three branches 
 towards Morialm^, Florenne, and Couvin ; the first grant of this 
 road, given by a decree of the 13th of June, 1836, has been 
 annulled. 
 
 Two other plans from the Sombre to Orey, and from Florenne 
 to the Meuse, have been formed by the Sieur Iplingard. The 
 necessary examinations having taken place, all the papers, with 
 the opinion of the commission of inquiry, were transmitted to the 
 minister of public works the 12th of last January. No decision 
 has been communicated to our college. By a law of the 26th 
 of last May the rail-road intended to connect the town of Namur 
 and the provinces of Limbourg and Luxembourg, has been al¬ 
 lowed on the system established by the law of May 1st, 1834; 
 and to fulfil the intention of the legislature a Royal Decree of 
 the 16th of June, entrusts M. Yasquin, inspector of the bridges 
 and roads, with the examination of the plan. 
 
 Inland Navigations. 
 
 The tolls of the Meuse produced in 1837, 29,500 francs, that 
 is 2,500 francs less than in 1836. 
 
 The different works to be executed upon this river during the 
 year, wait the reports and plans of the chief engineer, also the 
 shore establishment of Namur and Dinant. 
 
The propositions of Messrs Cockerill and Co. to establish a 
 steam-boat upon the Meuse, an exemption from tolls and a sub¬ 
 sidy from the provincial funds being 1 granted, will be placed 
 before the council. This company having eventually to take upon 
 itself the works for deepening the river, we have thought it better 
 to suspend digging the projected channel at the place called La 
 Basse Enhaive , near Namur, this project has likewise kept back 
 the return of the complete plan by the engineer of the improve¬ 
 ment in the navigation of this river. 
 
 Our college has likewise transmitted to Government the wish 
 of the council for a great reduction of the navigation tolls upon 
 the craft on the Sombre, but no decision has reached us. 
 
 Trade. 
 
 To forward the execution of the directions of the council, our 
 college has petitioned Government to consider the means of ob¬ 
 taining either a commercial treaty with France, based upon a fair 
 reciprocity, or the increase of the duty upon copper. It has also 
 petitioned that the plan of a law, presenting an uniform measure, 
 by returning to the decimal system for the sale of charcoal, should 
 be enacted as soon as possible. Government has consulted the 
 chamber of commerce upon the last subject, but hitherto nothing 
 has been decided. 
 
 The number of licensed iron-mines augments every year, 
 there is no proprietor who does not now seek to work this branch 
 of industry, one of the most flourishing of the province. In 1S36, 
 127 licences for extracting ore were taken out by individuals 
 for a space of 3,378 hectares. In 1837, until the 1st of June, 
 66 mining licences were granted for a space of 5,306 hectares; 
 19 other petitions for licences have been sent to be corrected. 
 
 The communal administrations have not suffered this oppor¬ 
 tunity to pass for improving the revenues of the communes. 
 In 1836, 18 communes were authorized to extract ore upon their 
 lands ; in 1837, 12 have received the same permission. 
 
 Generally this permission has been granted only upon con- 
 
236 
 
 dition of putting the ore up to public auction; but for special 
 reasons the contracts made with individuals have sometimes 
 been approved of. Many requests of this kind are now under 
 examination. 
 
 Eleven petitions have been received for the formation of mining 
 companies; four of coal, lead, and brass; two of lead, copper, 
 and coal; one of turf; four of brass ore, alum, manganese, sul¬ 
 phur, and pyrites; one of coal, iron, lead, calamine, and pyrites, 
 two of iron; and there has been a petition for an extension of 
 a coal mine company. 
 
 Our college, according to the wish of the council, has pe¬ 
 titioned Government to pass a law, enacting that the pro¬ 
 prietor of the soil should also possess the mines under it; but 
 that the working can only be conducted according to the rules of 
 inspection to be established. There is reason to suppose that 
 the approaching session of the chambers will not pass without a 
 plan for a law upon this subject being presented. 
 
APPENDIX No. 6. 
 
 System of Reclaiming Bog and Moory Mountain Pasture, as 
 practised on the Crown Lands of Pobble O’Keeffe, County 
 of Cork, by Richard Griffith, C. E., 1835. 
 
 The bog and moor lands of this district may be divided into 
 three classes, viz. :— 
 
 1st. Flow moss or bog, varying from five to twenty feet in 
 depth ; the surface is composed of bog moss (sphag¬ 
 num) in vegetation, and a few tufts of heath; the 
 subsoil is gravelly clay. 
 
 2dly. Close-grained mountain bog, surface covered with 
 coarse grass, and some moss (sphagnum) in vegeta¬ 
 tion ; the depth of bog varies from two to ten feet. 
 
 3dly. Shallow mountain bog or moss; depth of bog from 
 six inches to three feet; subsoil, clay or clayey gravel; 
 the surface frequently uneven and tufty; the vegeta¬ 
 tion consists of coarse grass, heath, and rushes. The 
 system followed in reclaiming these several varieties 
 of bog will differ in the detail according to circum¬ 
 stances ; but the following may be taken as the 
 average process : — 
 
 1st. Flow moss. This is by much the most expensive, and, in 
 proportion to the outlay, the least remunerative subject for recla¬ 
 mation, and in mountain districts, where the second and third 
 classes are most abundant, its reclamation should not be attempted, 
 unless under very peculiar circumstances ; but its surface may be 
 drained, with a view to the improvement of the quality of the turf 
 or peat for fuel; and if young cattle are allowed to run on it in 
 summer, the surface will soon be found to yield a crop of coarse 
 grass, mixed with heath. 
 
23 * 
 
 For the reasons stated in my report on the Crown land improve¬ 
 ments of Pobble O’Keeffe, and printed by order of the House of 
 Commons, the 26th March, 1834, the reclamation of about 20 
 acres, English statute measure, of the worst variety of flow bog, 
 varying from six to fourteen feet in depth, has been attempted; 
 and, in proportion to the progress made, the success has been fully 
 as great as could have been anticipated. 
 
 The bog was, in the first instance, surrounded by a drain to 
 cut off the water from the adjoining hills, and also from that part 
 which it was not intended to reclaim. Drains were then cut 
 through the bog, both lengthways and across, so as to divide it 
 into squares, each containing four statute acres. Owing to the 
 extreme wetness and pulpiness of the bog, these drains could not 
 be opened at once, but required considerable caution and attention 
 in the progress; an opening four feet wide and three feet deep 
 would nearly close up in 24 hours; consequently the commence¬ 
 ment was made by a narrow and shallow drain, which was 
 gradually widened and deepened, and upwards of a year had 
 elapsed before the principal drains, in a considerable portion of 
 the bog , were in a sufficiently forward state to admit of the com¬ 
 mencement of the small drains, intended to dry the surface. 
 
 The large drains, when completed, were six feet broad at top, 
 two feet at bottom, and four feet deep. 
 
 The second class, or surface drains, were next cut parallel to 
 each other, at the distance of eight yards. The upper part of 
 each of these drains consisted of an excavation two feet broad and 
 two feet deep, in taking out the stuff care being taken to cut the 
 sods with a broad spade or draining tool, so as not to break them ; 
 the sods were laid on the surface of the bog, to consolidate. Sub¬ 
 sequently when the sides of the drains became more compact, by 
 exposure to the air, a second drain, four inches broad and twelve 
 inches deep, was cut in the centre of the bottom of the two feet 
 drain; thus leaving a shoulder on either side ten inches in 
 breadth. Afterwards, where the sides of the lower drains had 
 consolidated, and exhibited no tendency to collapse, the surface 
 
239 
 
 sods, cut in the first instance, were placed with their upper surface 
 downwards on top of the four-inch drains, and were supported, 
 in that position, by the trenches or shoulders on either side; the 
 remainder of the bog soil excavated from the drain was then thrown 
 on top of the sods, till the excavation was filled up, and thus a 
 covered drain or sewer was formed at the depth of three feet below 
 the surface of the bog. 
 
 To facilitate the discharge of the water from the under drains, 
 one open drain was cut through the centre of each of the four-acre 
 fields, to receive the water and discharge it into the principal or 
 surrounding drains. 
 
 Six months after the completion of the drains, the surface of 
 the bog was dug up and left in a rough state, exposed to the air 
 during the winter, and in the following spring it was chopped or 
 cut by the spade into small pieces, so as to render it as fine as 
 possible; the surface was then covered with clay to the depth of 
 nearly four inches , the clay was drawn for a distance of about 
 600 yards by means of a moveable wrought-iron rail-road,* and 
 
 * The moveable railroad is formed of wrought-iron bars, usually about 
 twelve feet long, two inches broad, and half an inch thick. These bars are 
 supported on planks made from young Scotch fir or larch trees. They are 
 prepared by sawing off the outside slabs on two opposite sides, and then run¬ 
 ning a cut through the centre. The planks thus formed are four inches 
 broad at top, six inches at bottom, and half an inch thick, the length being 
 usually twelve feet. 
 
 On each of these planks an iron bar is fixed on edge by means of two cast- 
 iron chairs or stands spiked to its upper side at the distance of one foot six 
 inches from either extremity ; one end of the bar being fixed into one chair, 
 and the other, passing through the second chair, projects three feet beyond 
 it, when a second plank and rail is placed in continuation of the length be 
 yond the first; the projecting end of the first bar is fixed info the first chair 
 of the second plank, and by this means the joining of the rail is always 
 placed one foot six inches beyond the termination of the planks, and thus a 
 firm joint is obtained. 
 
 In laying down this moveable railroad, two parallel lines of planks, with 
 rails attached, are laid on the bog, and the proper distance between each is 
 preserved by the insertion of a half-inch square wrought-iron bar crooked or 
 bent at both extremities, into staples attached by spikes to the under surface 
 of each plank. 
 
 For the further strength and security of the joining of the planks, thimbles 
 
240 
 
 afterwards the surface was covered with lime, in the proportion of 
 37 barrels, each containing 42 gallons to an acre. 
 
 On the surface thus prepared potatoes were planted, and a 
 moderately good crop was produced. 
 
 Following the cropping of one portion of the bog, the tillable 
 surface of which, owing to building and plantations, from four 
 acres has been reduced to 2a. 3r. 13p. The second year a portion 
 containing 2a. Or. 34p. was again planted with potatoes, and the 
 remainder, containing 2r. 19p., with turnips ; the potatoe land 
 being manured with 20 barrels of lime to the acre in compost 
 mixed with clay, and the turnip land partly with lime, partly with 
 peat ashes, and partly with stable dung. Owing to the unusual 
 coldness and wetness of the season, the potatoe crop was inferior 
 to what was anticipated ; but the turnips were excellent. At 
 present the potatoe land has been laid down and sown with oats, 
 York meadow-grass and white clover, and at this moment, in the 
 beginning of July, the appearance of the crop is very favourable, 
 and it is probable will be as productive as can be expected from 
 reclaimed bog, which usually yields abundance of straw , but a 
 small weight of corn as compared to sound upland. A crop of 
 mangel wurzel has been sown on the turnip land of last year; it 
 also looks well; but this portion of the bog, together with other 
 reclaimed fields now under crops of potatoes and turnips, has been 
 dunged from the cowhouse and stable ; in the former four cows 
 were stall-fed, during the last winter, on the turnips and aportion 
 of the very small potatoes. 
 
 In calculating the amount of the expenditure, in all depart¬ 
 ments of reclamation and cultivation, from the commencement to 
 the present time, the outlay and return per acre is as follows :— 
 
 made of sheet iron, of a triangular form, are attached to one end of each 
 plank, and the end of the next having been cut into the same shape, is in¬ 
 serted into the sheet-iron thimble. The cost of a moveable railroad of the 
 above description is 3s. 3d. per yard, including both sides; and when laid 
 level, a man can with ease push on a waggon containing 18 cwt. 
 
241 
 
 Flow Bog, No. 1. 
 Reclamation. 
 
 Fencing 1 with double ditches, per acre . 
 
 Draining-*. 
 
 Digging up and chopping the surface, &c. . 
 Covering with clay, by means of a moveable rail¬ 
 road, to the depth of nearly four inches . 
 
 Total cost of reclamation 
 
 Manure. 
 
 Lime, 37 barrels, each 42 gallons, at l«s. 6d. per 
 barrel. 
 
 Cultivation. 
 
 First year, cost of seed potatoes, planting and 
 
 digging per acre.. 
 
 Second year, ditto .. 
 
 Additional lime, 20 barrels. 
 
 Third year, seed oats, tilling, sowing, reaping, 
 
 and threshing. 
 
 Hay seed and clover,. 
 
 Fourth year, mow and sow hay. 
 
 £. 
 
 •?. 
 
 d. 
 
 0 
 
 12 
 
 0 
 
 1 
 
 17 
 
 0 
 
 1 
 
 10 
 
 0 
 
 5 
 
 10 
 
 10 
 
 £9 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 2 15 6 
 
 4 12 4 
 
 4 2 4 
 
 1 10 0 
 
 1 18 6 
 0 16 0 
 0 8 0 
 
 £25 12 6 
 
 Produce of Return. 
 
 First year, value of potatoe crop, 816 stone, at 
 
 2^d. per stone.8 9 2 
 
 Second yearf.. 856 
 
 Carried forward . . . . £16 14 8 
 
 * The usual cost of draining is about £1. 4s. per acre; but in very wet 
 spongy bogs, the extra labour of opening the drains four and five times adds 
 considerably to the cost. 
 
 f The second crop of potatoes is usually much better than the first; but 
 owing to the wetness of the season of the year 1834, in the west of Ireland, 
 the produce of potatoes in the mountains was much below an average crop. 
 
 R 
 
242 
 
 £. s. d. 
 
 Brought forward . . . . 16 14 8 
 
 du« s. d. 
 
 Third year, expected produce of oat 
 
 crop, 105 stone, at 9 d. per stone .389 
 
 Value of straw.10 0 
 
 -4 8 9 
 
 Fourth year, expected value of hay crop, two 
 tons York meadow-grass and clover hay, each 
 £l. 10^. per ton.3 0 0 
 
 Total produce of one acre for four years 24 3 5 
 
 Total expenditure.25 12 6 
 
 Portion of outlay not returned at the end of four 
 years, at which time the reclaimed bog laid 
 down in pasture would be worth about 10.9. 
 per acre.. .£191 
 
 Of the Second Class of Bog. 
 
 This variety is naturally very superior to the first; its texture is 
 close and compact, and when burnt it yields a considerable portion 
 of red or yellowish red ashes, while the residuum from burnt flow 
 bog consists of a very small quantity of white ashes of no agricul¬ 
 tural value. In reclaiming compact bog, a coat of two inches and 
 a half of clay will be sufficient, while flow bog requires at least a 
 depth of four inches. 
 
 The general system pursued in reclaiming compact bog is 
 similar to that adopted for flow bog, but the draining is not so 
 expensive, and the digging and chopping the surface is more 
 easily effected. 
 
 Expense of Reclaiming an Average Statute Acre of 
 
 compact Bog. 
 
 £. s. d. 
 
 Fencing in six acre fields, with double ditches, 
 top sown with furze seed. 
 
 0 12 0 
 
243 
 
 4 . s . d. 
 
 Brought forward .... 0 12 0 
 
 Draining .120 
 
 Levelling and digging surface.18 0 
 
 Covering surface with clayey gravel two inches 
 in depth, the clay being raised from the sur¬ 
 rounding fences, and from the bottom of the 
 
 drains. . . 290 
 
 Making compact heaps with alternate layers of 
 surface sods and lime, including turning and 
 spreading, &c.. . .0 12 0 
 
 Total cost of reclaiming and fencing per acre £6 3 0 
 
 Manure. 
 
 37 barrels of lime, at Is. 6d. per barrel . 2 15 6 
 
 Amount of expenditure for four years, cultivation 
 
 same as flow bog, or class No. 1. ... 13 7 2 
 
 4 
 
 Total expenditure on reclamation and 
 
 four years’ cultivation .... £22 5 8 
 
 The produce of each crop raised on reclaimed 
 compact bog will be superior, both in quantity 
 and quality, to that raised from flow bog ; but 
 supposing the return of each crop to be the 
 same as that from flow bog, as given above, 
 the amount of the return on four years’ crops, 
 two of potatoes, one of oats, one of hay, will 
 be. 24 3 5 
 
 There will therefore be a profit of, per acre, in 
 four years’ cultivation, at which time the land 
 laid down in grass will be worth about 12s. 6d. 
 
 r £1 17 9 
 
 r 2 
 
 per acre 
 
244 
 
 Of the Third Class of Bog. 
 
 This class is described as compact bog, of variable depth, and 
 which in its natural state yields coarse mountain pasture for 
 cattle during the summer months. The least expensive and most 
 profitable mode of treating this variety of bog will be to improve 
 the quality of the herbage, and render it capable of producing 
 good meadow and pasture. 
 
 This can be effected by fencing, draining, and liming the 
 surface, at the following rate, per statute acre : — 
 
 £. s. d. 
 
 Cost of fencing in six acre fields . . . . 0 12 0 
 
 Draining, as in the flow bog, but with less, 
 
 owing to the solidity of the bog .... 140 
 
 Covering the surface with lime, 37 barrels to the 
 
 acre, at the rate of Is. 6d. per barrel. . . 2 15 6 
 
 Total cost of reclaiming an acre of coarse 
 mountain pasture, so as to render it 
 worth 10s. per acre for meadow and 
 pasture. £4116 
 
 The foregoing details have been extracted from the accounts of 
 the actual expenditure of the different departments of reclamation 
 and cultivation, at the Crown farm of Pobble O’Keeffe ; but it is 
 to be observed that the works are conducted with great system and 
 regularity and with strict attention to economy, and unless 
 similar methods be taken in other places, the same results will 
 not be obtained ; but it is likewise to be observed that the cost of 
 lime at the Crown lands is considerable, and it is only in the 
 summer months it can be obtained at so cheap a rate as Is. 6d. 
 per barrel. In favourable situations it may be obtained at Is. per 
 barrel, and even less. Were this the case, the third class of bog 
 could be fenced, drained, and manured, at the rate of £3. 13s. 
 instead of £4. lls. 6d. per statute acre. 
 
 (Signed) 
 
 King William's Town , Pobble O'Keeffe, 
 
 July 7, 1835. 
 
 Ri chard Griffith. 
 
245 
 
 APPENDIX No. 7. 
 
 Extracts from the Evidence of Colonel John F. Burgoyne. 
 
 * 
 
 You have been asked with reference to different works in dif¬ 
 ferent parts of Ireland ; do you mean to select those as public 
 works on which the public money could be most advantageously 
 laid out in Ireland or not; particular individual cases have been 
 drawn to your attention, do you mean to select those as cases 
 out of all other cases in Ireland in which the public money could 
 be most advantageously laid out?—Certainly not. I think the 
 roads through uncultivated districts of most importance. 
 
 What is the next in importance?—The next is for great leading 
 lines of navigation like the Shannon, or any great object that 
 would open the resources generally of the country, and are not 
 within the capability of private individuals or of the public bodies 
 of the country. 
 
 What is the next?—The general line of canals. 
 
 In that answer have you the erection of harbours on the sea- 
 coast in your contemplation?—I think the small fishing-piers 
 have been of great advantage. Those small harbours erected by 
 Mr. Nimmo were exceedingly beneficial to the lower class of 
 people, and in that respect they are deserving of great encou¬ 
 ragement. 
 
 The general lines of road across the country affording a facility 
 of communication by branch roads by private individuals, would, 
 in your judgment, be a most beneficial application of the public 
 money?—I think so ; and I think the building of small harbours 
 is another. I listened with great attention to the detail which 
 Mr. Loch gave of the benefits derived to the Highlands of Scot- 
 
246 
 
 land from the roads carried on in that country; and I could not 
 help reflecting that every advantage which he stated had accrued 
 to that country would be experienced in a much greater degree 
 in Ireland. In the first place, looking at the general lines of 
 
 communication throughout the country, the roads in Scotland 
 
 * 
 
 only led to remote and distant places of little consequence. In 
 Ireland they usually form an improved means of communication 
 between one great town and another. Another circumstance 
 peculiar to Ireland which makes them particularly beneficial, is, 
 that the uncultivated districts are capable of great fertility, more 
 so than in almost any other country, and it only requires the 
 application of the ingredients which may be found in the neigh¬ 
 bourhood in all directions to render them very productive: those 
 ingredients are lime, limestone, gravel, sea-weed, marl, and coral 
 sand ; and they are all so dispersed over the country, that any 
 person inclined to think that Providence was interested in such 
 details, would say it was a most beautiful specimen of its work¬ 
 ings. The operation of those roads is to introduce those mate¬ 
 rials,'and at the same time to afford an outlet for the produce. 
 There is another peculiar advantage in Ireland in the construction 
 of the roads, that whereas the existence of these uncultivated 
 wastes in Scotland and in other countries may be considered 
 only as a negative loss of so much land ; in Ireland they are a 
 source of positive evil, affording points of refuge for all the dis¬ 
 turbers of the peace in the country, and of the persons who either 
 from misery or excitement are inclined to do mischief. By the 
 formation of these roads a resource is given them for the exercise 
 of useful industry, of which I must say they seem very ready to 
 avail themselves. I think on all these considerations the forma- 
 tion of roads through uncultivated districts in Ireland would be 
 more beneficial than in any other country in the world. 
 
 What are the principal lines of communication which you think 
 it would be most desirable to make, with reference to the unfold¬ 
 ing the resources of the country ?—1 cannot specify the particular 
 lines, but the districts generally of Galway, Mayo, and Clare, and 
 I believe parts of Donegal; Mayo in particular. 
 
247 
 
 H ave you taken into consideration the districts adjoining 1 the 
 counties of Kerry, Limerick, and Cork ?—All these counties also 
 are very susceptible of improvement in that way. 
 
 What sum of money do you conceive it would require to con¬ 
 struct those general lines of communication?—I cannot say 
 precisely what sum; but you might expend from £5,000 to 
 £100,000, and the more you expended the more beneficial it 
 would be. 
 
 Do you mean to state that £100,000 is the maximum you 
 think necessary in constructing those general lines of communi¬ 
 cation ?—1 will not say that; I think you might lay out a great 
 deal more with great advantage to the country 
 
 In what way would the public be benefited ?—By a very great 
 increase of revenue from the additional prosperity of the country ; 
 a point that seems to be sometimes doubted; but I think it 
 would be clear to any person’s mind by putting the converse of 
 the case.-—Imagine a country in a tolerable state of prosperity, 
 well-peopled, and to be all of a sudden thrown into a state of 
 rapid decline, the people driven to poverty, and the country laid 
 waste ; anybody would consider that to be a very great loss to 
 the revenue and to the country, and probably they would not 
 hesitate to make very large grants to stop such mischief; conse¬ 
 quently the benefit derived from the improvements admits of the 
 same argument of gain to the revenue and to the country. 
 
 Where would you apply the government money?—In open- 
 ing very extensive uncultivated districts. I would provide one 
 main thoroughfare of communication at the expense of Govern¬ 
 ment; and for opening less extensive districts I would give the 
 moiety grants as at present; for those occasions they work very 
 well. 
 
 Do you include great tracts of bog in your improvable dis¬ 
 tricts?—Yes, bogs and mountain land. 
 
 Would it not be right to compel the landlord to contribute?— 
 I think not in the cases of those very extensive districts I referred 
 to; they have no sufficient interest in it; the great benefit 
 derived from opening those lines of roads would be to the lower 
 
248 
 
 classes for many years, and it would be only a distant prospective 
 advantage that the landlord would have in them. 
 
 Would not the people themselves be willing to contribute?— 
 The people who would derive the principal benefit have no means 
 of doing so,—the poor people. 
 
 There is their labour?—You cannot have people’s gratuitous 
 labour who have, nothing else to live on, 
 
249 
 
 APPENDIX No. 8. 
 
 lstly, That in order to remove many vexatious doubts on the 
 laws as they at present exist, every Act in anyway relating - to the 
 sea fisheries of Ireland be totally repealed, and that all provisions 
 deemed necessary be embodied in one statute. 
 
 2ndly, That the chief superintendence and control of all matters 
 connected with the fisheries be vested in some public department, 
 which shall make an annual Report of its proceedings, to belaid 
 before Parliament. 
 
 3dly, That the jurisdiction of the local magistracy in maritime 
 counties be extended to offences committed by fishermen at sea; 
 and that it be made the duty of the coast-guard as a marine 
 police, to aid the magistracy and the superintending authority, so 
 as without much increased expense, to enforce the law, and carry 
 into effect such regulations as the latter body may from time to 
 time adopt. 
 
 4thly, That agreeably to the enactments of the 48th Geo. III. 
 cap. 110, sec. 8, of the 55th Geo. III. cap. 94, and of the 59th 
 Geo. III. cap. 109, sec. 51, a Government vessel be furnished at 
 the requisition of the superintending body, at such times and 
 places as may be deemed necessary for the protection and assist¬ 
 ance of the fisheries ; and that a competent authority for the pre¬ 
 servation of the peace accompany such vessels. 
 
 5thly, That the superintending body be empowered to institute, 
 or, on requisition after public notice, from persons interested in 
 the fisheries of any particular district, to adopt and confirm any 
 local regulations which they shall consider as decidedly salutary, 
 either for the due conduct of the fishermen, for the preservation 
 of the peace, or for the protection of the fisheries. 
 
 6thly, That such further pecuniary aid be given for the con¬ 
 struction and maintenance of any piers, harbours, and other 
 
 s 
 
250 
 
 public accommodations as may be deemed requisite to the service 
 of the fisheries ; that provision be made for the repair and main¬ 
 tenance of all those which have been provided entirely or partly 
 at the public expense, and may be thought worthy of being pre¬ 
 served ; that they shall be declared public property; and that 
 power be given to frame and enforce such rules and regulations 
 as may seem desirable, in order to render them as generally useful 
 and available as possible. 
 
 7thly, That the balance which shall remain to the credit of the 
 Irish fisheries, after defraying the charges to which it is now 
 liable, be applied under the authority of the Lords of the Trea¬ 
 sury, in the completion and repairs of such of the existing fishery 
 piers, as may be considered deserving of attention, and in pro¬ 
 moting improvements generally in the fisheries. 
 
 Sthly, That section 85 of the 1st and 2d Wm. IV. cap. 33, be 
 so modified, that the funds placed by that Act at the disposal of 
 the Board of Works, be rendered not only available to the con¬ 
 struction of any pier, shelter-harbour, boat-slip, or capstan, but to 
 the providing of moorings and small harbour lights for the 
 fisheries, to the extent of one moiety of the expense; the other 
 moiety to be raised by voluntary contribution of proprietors, 
 fishermen, curers, or others, or by public assessment; that the 
 existing condition, which requires security to the Crown for future 
 repairs, be removed; and that it shall be competent to the Board, 
 at discretion, to admit as a substitute for money contribution, an 
 equivalent value in materials, or in work applied conformably to 
 a previously approved plan. 
 
 9thly, That it shall be competent to cess-payers, rated at above 
 annually, in any county, barony, half-barony, or 
 townland, to assess the locality in such sum as may be necessary 
 for making up a moiety of the expense of the works specified in 
 the preceding proposition, or of any portion thereof; the assess¬ 
 ment to be distributed over a number of years, proportionately 
 to the amount. 
 
 lOthly, That power be given to establish moderate tolls, to 
 defray the necessary expenses of maintenance of each pier or 
 
harbour erected for fishery purposes, either in whole, or in part 
 with public money; and if the amounts arising from such tolls 
 shall exceed the sums required for the permanent repair of the 
 works, that such excess be allowed to accumulate to the credit of 
 the work, as a provision for those sudden and extraordinary 
 casualties to which such works are liable, and for the further im¬ 
 provement of the harbour. 
 
 llthly, That it be competent to the Board of Works, at dis¬ 
 cretion, to make short lines of communication between such 
 piers, fishing-harbours, or stations, (as have wholly, or in part, 
 been erected, or shall be erected by pifblic funds), and the nearest 
 high roads ; a moiety of the amount so expended to be levied on 
 the barony by annual instalments, or provided by voluntary con¬ 
 tribution. 
 
 12thly, That in cases where loan funds, under the management 
 of local associations, shall be established, to assist fishermen in 
 procuring, repairing, or fitting out boats intended for the prose¬ 
 cution of the fisheries, a moiety of these funds shall be supplied 
 out of the public money, (to be sufficiently secured in the repay¬ 
 ment by the associators requiring that aid), that the same legal 
 privileges and indulgences be extended to such associations as 
 are given to charitable societies, under the “Charitable Loan 
 Acts; ’* and that the proceedings and accounts of these asso¬ 
 ciations shall be at all times subject to the scrutiny of the con¬ 
 trolling body, under whose management the general interests of 
 the fisheries may be placed. 
 
 13thly, That such local loan funds be encouraged in each of 
 the maritime counties to assist fishermen. 
 
 14thly, That loans, not exceeding a moiety of the expense, be 
 made by the Board of Works, on the most favourable terms, to 
 parties desirous of erecting curing-houses, fishery-yards, salt- 
 stores, or fishermen’s houses, under proper security for their 
 accomplishment, according to plans previously approved ; pro¬ 
 vided the expense in any case shall not be less than £200. 
 
 15thly, That tenants in tail and bodies corporate be em¬ 
 powered, notwithstanding settlements or incumbrances, to make 
 
252 
 
 leases in perpetuity, at the full improved value, of any portions 
 of land required for fishery purposes, adjacent to the shores of 
 Ireland ; such leases to be valid, provided a sum equal to five 
 years’ rent be expended in good and substantial buildings on the 
 land, within seven vears. 
 
 16thly, That the section of the statute of Charles the First, 
 securing to the public a right to the use of the strands and wastes 
 off the shores of Ireland for fishery purposes, and conferring a 
 complete freedom of fishing on all British subjects, be clearly 
 established by a further enactment.—See 10th Charles I., cap. 
 24, Irish Statutes. 
 
 17thly, That a practical education in the manufacture of nets, 
 and in other fishery avocations, be adopted in the national schools 
 of the maritime districts of Ireland. 
 
 London: Printed by W. Clowes and Sons, Stamford Street. 
 
DATE DUE 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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