The cost of Irish Primary Education—£1,632,000, as I pointed out in Chapter IX.—is at once too high and too low; too high in the sense that much of it is wasted owing to the lack of popular control, too low in the sense that it is a scandal to spend nearly as much on police as on the education of children, and £800,000 more on Old Age Pensions than on the education of children. If part or even the whole of the additional expense eventually necessary is raised by rates, so much the better. Accurate comparison is difficult with the English and Scottish expenditure on elementary education, because the greater part of the cost in those countries is borne by private endowments and local rates, whereas in Ireland no local rate is raised for elementary education, there are no endowments, and private subscriptions are very small.[128] It is certain, however, that far greater sums, in proportion to population, are spent in England and Scotland than in Ireland. This is little to be wondered at if we consider the painful history of education in Ireland; but we cannot recall the past, and, as I urged in Chapter IX., one of the first duties of a free Ireland will be to improve the education of the children.
The Irish vote for Universities and Colleges, £166,000, has been swelled by the recent establishment of the National University. No item in the whole list represents money better spent.
With regard to other Irish services, I shall make use, with Professor Oldham's consent, of some interesting tables compiled by him, showing the principal variations in Irish expenditure since the year 1891-92.[129]
They include certain expenses which I have already alluded to, and others which I shall have to remark upon further, besides giving a general view of the growth in the cost of Irish government. Neither of lists A or B is exhaustive:
A. INCREASES OF EXPENDITURE.
| 1910-11. | 1891-92. | |
| £ | £ | |
| 1. Old Age Pensions | 2,408,000 | — |
| 2. Primary Education | 1,632,000 | 843,755 |
| 3. Universities and Colleges | 166,000 | 26,000 |
| 4. Payments to Local Taxation Account | 1,477,500 | 399,260 |
| 5. Ireland Development Grant | 191,500 | — |
| 6. Post Office | 1,404,500 | 749,046 |
| 7. Cost of collecting Irish Revenue | 298,000 | 223,362 |
| 8. Surveys of the United Kingdom | 81,000 | 47,603 |
| 9. Land Commission | 414,500 | 91,826 |
| 10. Department of Agriculture | 415,000 | 44,630 |
| 11. Other items (five[130]) | 240,500 | 172,918 |
| 8,728,500 | 2,598,400 |
Nos. 1 to 4 I have already dealt with, but it is interesting to note the contrasting figures of 1893-94.
No. 5. The Ireland Development Grant of £191,500 is interesting as an example of the haphazard methods of Anglo-Irish finance. It is an annual sum voted for various development purposes, and was originally established (at the figure of £185,000) in 1903 as an equivalent for the capitation grants for school attendance in England, given under the Education Act of 1902 in lieu of school fees. In allotting the Irish equivalent, Mr. Goschen's proportion of 80, 11, 9 was for the first time condemned by all parties. What the proportion ought to be was a matter of dispute, but it was fixed in this case on the basis of population. Since the English grant has now risen to £2,500,000, the Irish proportion therefore is now, strictly speaking, inadequate.
Nos. 6, 7, and 8 are examples of charges debited by the Treasury against Ireland which are open to criticism as long as the Union lasts, and which meet with much complaint in Ireland. Obviously, however, the first two at any rate are charges which an Ireland financially independent would have to bear.
No. 9. The Land Commission vote of £414,500 is of course the direct result of an abnormally bad system, necessitating abnormal and costly remedial administration. Ireland herself is not morally responsible for a penny of it, but if she is wise she will shoulder the cost as a corollary of responsible government. Small administrative economies may be made, and the cost will disappear altogether with the completion of Land Purchase, say in fifteen years, but in the immediate future no reduction can be counted on with certainty. The figure given includes the cost of the Land Commission proper, which deals with Judicial Rents and manages finance, as well as the cost of the Estates Commissioners who conduct the machinery of Land Purchase. It also includes losses on the flotation of Land Stock at a discount, and the interest and sinking-fund on the Stock raised to pay the bonus to landlords.