The total charge of the foregoing institutions as stated in the tables appended to the Report, is as follows:—
| Infirmaries Dispensaries Fever hospitals | } | £109,054 |
| Lunatic asylums | 26,247 | |
| Houses of industry | 32,967 | |
| Foundling hospitals | 36,628 | |
| £204,896 |
Of this sum upwards of 50,000l. appears to have been furnished by parliamentary grants, the remainder being derived from grand-jury presentments, voluntary contributions, and other local sources.
The commissioners think that some provision ought to be made for poor persons discharged from hospitals in a state of convalescence, and also for persons suffering from chronic and incurable disease, neither being proper objects of ordinary hospital treatment. They are likewise of opinion that a public provision should be made for the deaf dumb and blind poor, such persons being, they consider, peculiarly deserving of assistance.
The impatience of the public was not likely to be satisfied by the appearance of this second Report, which contained no recommendations, and added nothing to what was previously known of the condition of the Irish poor. For a series of years inquiry after inquiry had been instituted by commissions and committees into that condition, with a view to devise means for its amelioration; but without leading to any satisfactory result. And now, after two years and a half had been spent in prosecuting like inquiries, and this moreover by men specially selected for the task, and standing deservedly high in public estimation for talent and acquirements, people began to fear that the result would be again the same, and that time labour and money would have been expended in vain. It was known, or at least generally surmised, that differences of opinion existed among the commissioners, as to the nature of the recommendations which should be made by them conjointly; some being in favour of the imposition of a general rate for the relief of the poor, and others advocating a system of voluntary contributions for that purpose. The latter pointed to Scotland as an example to be followed, and the former to England. Under these circumstances it is not surprising that the question should occupy a good deal of public attention, and that those who possessed, or were supposed to possess information on the subject, should be induced or invited to express their opinions with regard to it. Pamphlets were written, and speeches made, contrasting the advantages and disadvantages inherent in the compulsory and the voluntary systems of relief, as well generally, as with reference to the case of Ireland; and the entire subject became a matter of very general discussion, of which the proceedings under the amended Poor Law in England naturally formed a part, and thus gave additional interest to the question.
‘Suggestions’ by the author, January 21, 1836.
The author being at that time a member of the English Poor Law Commission, the subject was necessarily much pressed upon his notice; and having reason to believe that a statement of his views in reference to it would be acceptable, he prepared for the consideration of government, a series of suggestions founded upon a general view of social requirements, and upon his experience of the working of the English Poor Law. He did not pretend to any personal knowledge of the state of Ireland, but considered that the information furnished by the evidence appended to the commissioners’ first Report, showed that destitution and wretchedness prevailed to such an extent among the poorer classes in that country, that legislative interference could no longer be delayed without compromising the general security; and contrasting the state of the English poor with what existed in Ireland, he attempted to point out a remedy, or at least a palliative for the evils which prevailed there. This he was induced to do without waiting for the final report of the inquiry commissioners, as the mode of comparison pursued by him was different from the course which they would adopt, and likewise because the commissioners indicated their intention of taking the general circumstances of the country into consideration, whilst he proposed to limit his suggestions to one object, with a view to a single and specific remedy.
These ‘Suggestions’ were framed in considerable detail, and recommended the application of the amended system of English Poor Law to Ireland, with certain modifications, calculated to guard against the evils which had sprung from the old law in England, and at the same time be sufficient for the relief of a large portion of the destitute classes who stood most in need of it. The ‘Suggestions’ were presented to Lord John Russell in January, about the same time as the commissioners’ second Report; and on perusing them now, after so long an interval, and with all the experience since acquired, the author finds little to alter in what he then ventured to suggest.
1836.
The commissioners’ third report.
The long-expected final Report was at length received, embodying all the recommendations for ameliorating the condition of the Irish poor, which after nearly three years of inquiry and deliberation, the commissioners felt themselves warranted in submitting to government. It commenced by stating, that the evidence annexed to the former Reports proves the existence of deep distress in all parts of Ireland. There is not, it is said, the division of labour which exists in Great Britain. The labouring class look to agriculture alone for support, whence the supply of agricultural labour greatly exceeds the demand for it; and small earnings, and widespread misery, are the consequence. Tables are given of the population of Great Britain and Ireland respectively, of the classes and occupations in each, the quantity of cultivated and uncultivated land, the proportions of agricultural produce, and the wages of agricultural labourers—from which, the commissioners say it appears—“that in Great Britain the agricultural families constitute little more than a fourth, while in Ireland they constitute about two-thirds of the whole population; that there were in Great Britain in 1831,—1,055,982 agricultural labourers, in Ireland 1,131,715,—although the cultivated land of Great Britain amounts to about 34,250,000 acres, and that of Ireland only to about 14,600,000.” So that there are in Ireland about five agricultural labourers for every two that there are for the same quantity of land in Great Britain. It further appears that the agricultural produce of Great Britain is more than four times that of Ireland; that agricultural wages vary from 6d. to 1s. a day; that the average of the country is about 8½d.; and that the earnings of the labourers come on an average of the whole class, to from 2s. to 2s. 6d. a week, or thereabouts, for the year round.