"When my bill came,—for one's bill at an inn, like death, is sure to come,—I asked the waiter what effect the evictions in the neighbourhood had had on the town.
"'They have ruined it,' he replied; 'the poor used to support the rich; now that the poor are gone the rich shopkeepers are all failing. Our town is full of empty shops, and, after all, the landlord himself is now being ruined!'"—P. 147.
Cheap labour and cheap land are always companions. In Jamaica and
India, land, as we have seen, is almost valueless. How it is in
Ireland may be seen by the following passage:—
"Adjoining is a similar property of about 10,000 acres, purchased, I
was informed, by Captain Houston, a short time ago, at the rate of
2-1/2d. an acre."—P. 153.
In a paper recently read before the statistical section of the British Association, it is shown that the estates recently purchased in Ireland by English capital embraced 403,065 acres, and that the purchase money had been £1,095,000, or about £2 15s. ($13.20) per acre, being little more than is paid for farms with very moderate improvements in the new States of the Mississippi Valley.
Why land is cheap and labour badly rewarded may easily be seen on a perusal of the following passages:—
"'Chickuns are about 5d. a couple, dooks 10d. A couple of young gaise
10d; when auld, not less than 1s. or 14d.'
"'And turkeys?' I asked.
"'I can't say; we haven't many of thim in the counthry, and I don't want to tell yere Arn'r a lie. Fish, little or nothing. A large turbot, of 30 lbs. weight, for 3s. Lobsters, a dozen for 4d. Soles, 2d. or 3d. a piece. T'other day I bought a turbot, of 15 lbs. weight, for a gentleman, and I paid 18d. for ut.'"—P. 178.
"'What do you pay for your tea and sugar here?' I inquired.