The valuations.
The valuations of rateable property in the several unions had, as was to be expected, varied more or less with the changes which took place from time to time in the circumstances of the country. In 1845 they appear to have amounted to 13,404,403l., and to 13,187,421l. in 1847; but in 1851 the entire valuation of Ireland for the purposes of the poor-rate was only 11,500,000l., so great had been the change caused by the severe ordeal through which the country had passed. Although the principle on which the valuation of property in the several unions was originally founded, namely, what it would let for, was undoubtedly correct, there were counteracting influences at work, and the valuations made under it were rarely altogether satisfactory. Some persons denounced them as being too high, some as being too low, and others as being unequal or partial.
Commissioner of valuations.
In order to remedy these asserted defects, and place the valuations on what was expected to be a better footing, the 15th and 16th Vict. cap. 63 was passed in 1852, ‘to amend the Laws relating to the Valuation of Rateable Property in Ireland.’ The Act declares it to be expedient to make one uniform valuation of lands and tenements, which may be used for all public and local assessments and other rating. The lord-lieutenant is empowered to appoint a commissioner of valuation “who shall make or cause to be made a valuation of the tenements and hereditaments within every barony, parish, or other division when directed so to do.” But further legislation was still necessary, and in the following year the 16th and 17th Vict. cap. 7, was passed to amend the above, and directing the clerks of unions to prepare lists of tenements proposed for revision by the collectors, and to transmit the same to the commissioner of valuation, together with the opinion of the guardians whether a revision is necessary, and the name of a person whom the guardians recommend as fit to revise the same. The combined provisions of these Acts are no doubt calculated to effect improvement in the valuations; but the principle of fair letting value as originally prescribed, must still be adhered to in whatever changes are made.
1852.
Amount of expenditure and numbers relieved.
The expenditure for relief of the poor during the year ending on the 29th September 1852, was 883,267l., being 258,380l. less than in the preceding year,[[200]] and fully realizing the expectations then held out. The number relieved in the workhouses at the above date was 111,515 and the total number so relieved during the year was 504,864. The number then receiving out-door relief was 2,528, and the total number who received out-door relief during the year was 14,911. A further reduction was likewise still expected. “But the reduction must not, it is said, be expected to go so far as it would have gone if 32 new unions had not been formed, inasmuch as a certain amount of establishment charges must be incurred to maintain the new workhouses, and the necessary staff of officers, in whatever degree the pauperism of the districts in which they are built may hereafter be found diminished.”
1853.
Amount of expenditure, and numbers relieved.
The expected further reduction was again confirmed, the expenditure on relief of the poor during the year ending on the 29th September 1853, being 785,718l., or nearly 100,000l. less than in the previous year. The number relieved in the 163 workhouses was 79,600, and the total number so relieved during the year was 396,436. The number receiving out-door relief was 2,245, and the total number who received out-door relief during the year was 13,232—and now also, important as the reductions which have latterly taken place assuredly are, we are again told that still further reductions may be looked for.[[201]]
A tabular statement[[202]] has been given of the annual expenditure and the numbers relieved, down to the end of 1846, after which time the date of the returns was altered to correspond with the half-yearly audits in April and September. The following is a continuation of the statement before given, but also including the number of persons who were relieved out of the work-house in the successive years under the provisions of the Extension Act—
| The year ending Sept. 29. | No. of unions in operation. | Expenditures during the year. | No. in the workhouses on the 29th Sept. | Total no. relieved in the workhouses during the year. | No. receiving out-relief on 29th Sept. | Total no. who received out-relief during the year |
| 1847 | 130 | £ 803,684 | 86,376 | 417,139 | — | — |
| 1848 | 131 | 1,732,597 | 124,003 | 610,463 | 207,683 | 1,433,042 |
| 1849 | 2,177,651 | 141,030 | 932,284 | 135,019 | 1,210,482 | |
| 1850 | 163 | 1,430,108 | 155,173 | 805,702 | 2,938 | 368,565 |
| 1851 | 1,141,647 | 140,031 | 707,443 | 3,160 | 47,914 | |
| 1852 | 883,267 | 111,515 | 504,864 | 2,528 | 14,911 | |
| 1853 | 785,718 | 79,600[[203]] | 396,436 | 2,245[[203]] | 13,232 |