IRELAND’S RESOURCES

Evening Star, Issue 21819, 7 September 1934, Page 5

IRELAND’S RESOURCES

SHORT-SIGHTED LAND POLICY One of the flankers of present politics is the tendency to take short views. From this neither side is exempt. It is, indeed, implicit in the system of government through universal franchise. Policy has to be watered down to suit mass intelligence, and some clear and tangible benefit lias to be dangled before the electorate (writes tile Dublin correspondent of the London ‘ Daily Times ’). Sometimes the consequences are not felt until it is too late to avert disaster ; at other times, as in Australia recently, the people awake in time and save themselves by heroic sacrifice; at other times clear and abundant warning is given, and those who disregard the signal are sinning against the light. The last is, perhaps fortunately, our position to-day with regard to an important item of a policy, that of closer land settlement, Ireland is generally believed to he a country limited in natural resources, ft has not yet discovered mineral wealth of any value, its forests are poor and neglected, a large part of the country is covered by mountain, hog, and water. In the west the people eke out a living by labour out of small pockets of soil among barren rocks. The conditions depicted in ‘ The Man of Aran,’ despite certain dramatic licence, give a general indication of the spirit of toil in the lives of many of our people. Sea and inland fisheries are Undoubtedly an asset. The latter, however, are threatened with nationalisation, and the former, for some unaccountable reason, and despite State aid, attract foreign rather'than home enterprise. There is, however, one great, and. almost unique, natural resource which probably owing to familiarity, we are inclined to overlook, that is, our magnificent pasture. Aided, by the moist climate, there is land.in Limerick, Meath,. Westmeath, and a small part of Kildare as good as can be found for meat production in any part of the world. This land can produce prime meat better than any stall feeding, the best of it. fattening two bullocks to the acre. It needs no care beyond judicious stocking and chain harrowing each spring to distribute the accumulated manure. It is a resource in its way as valuable as the mines of Kimberley, the salmon rivers of British Columbia, the guano beds of Peru, the nitrate of Chile, or any other bountiful gifts of nature. Land, moreover, if cared for, need never lose its fertility. _ This is the priceless asset that is being caught up and destroyed in the maelstrom of party politics. TYPES OF OCCUPIERS. There are, roughly, four types of occupiers of our fattening lands. There are the large, owners, many of whose titles date back to the days of the Cromwell and Stuart settlement, and whose very names testify to their origin. They are generally referred to in the Dail and on the hustings as the ranchers, whose chief occupation is the opening and shutting of gates. They are pictured as living in idle luxury, employing a man and a dog for several hundred acres. Then there is the “ rancher ” migrant, the man whose land in the west has been taken for the relief of congestion among adjoining occupiers, and who has been given a tract in the midlands in exchange. This man follows the traditional practice of using the land for grazing. 1 ' . Then there comes the smallholder migrant, who has been transported with his family, his flocks and herds, and given a ready-made holding -with a new house and possibly a loan of capital. Lastly, there is the local grantee, . the former herd or labourer or small shopkeeper, who, by agitation and political pressure, has secured some twenty to thirty acres of divided land. It is this last group that is the most numerous and the cause of most concern. The usual method of. subdivision is for the Land Commission to make an accommodation road in order to give access to the divided land. This road is little more than a lane, very roughly metalled, because stones are scarce, and so narrow that two vehicles cannot pass one another. The road is bordered, and the land is divided by soft sod' narrow banks, ■ which _ one sportsman described as “ the devil to jump.’’ In due course, unless sods are added, these fences sink, and wire generally takes their place. It- is so on much of the old divided land. The important question is the care and condition of the land itself. The political reformer draws the picture of a bright populous countryside of neat cottages with bright gardens, of “rich leas of wheat, rye, barley, vetches, oats, and peas,” alternating with well-stocked permanent pasture. He pictures, in short, the mixed farm supporting an idyllic self-contained family life. What actually does exist is sadly different. Most of the occupiers live at some distance from the land in the houses they formerly occupied as employees. A few of these are sound and solid; many are wretched and thatched dwellings, and give a feeling of squalor and poverty. The land, itself, however, is the real test, and here it needs no expert to see the deterioration. The percentage of tillage is very small, occasionally a little oats and potatoes, and, encouraged by the subsidy, a little wheat. For the most part, the land is either in riieadow or only sparsely stocked by low-grade cattle. It is well known that land reverts to the quality of the stock it carries. Boor cows and “ hank ” calves, will soon debase land. Compared with old adjoining pasture, from which it was taken a few years ago, the deterioration is obvious to the most inexperteye. The land is dry and colourless.; it is growing daisies and inferior herbs. If has clearlv lost heart, and will take rears of proper treatment to recover. Priceless wealth is thus being destroyed, and land slums every whit as bad as house slums are being made. ANOMALOUS POSITION. , It must not, however, bo concluded that the whole policy of land settlement is a failure and should be arrested. Certain land is suitable for tillage and closer settlement. It is land that must be tilled to preserve its fertility. These rich, strong, fattening lands possess their own inherent fertility, and under any conditions are unsuitable for tillage, or, at any rate for cereals. In a wet year straw crop's will never stand up, and this is abundantly proved by past experience. Irish land assessments date from Griffith’s Valuation in the year 1852, when wheat was a valuable crop and land was valued accordingly. Meath land was never wheat land, and this

ia further borne out by its low sale, able value. The present position with regard to the tillage of these lands is anomalous. Those who cannot afford to buy stock and might benefit by tillage have no capital to enable them to do so. Those who have capital and could afford to till know bet. ter and confine themselves to grazing. A book might be written on the subject. Meantime, the long view leaves no doubt that a ghastly mistake is being made. The people of England and this country will not cease to eat meat, and markets will not be for ever upset and closed. It would be wise to have expert inquiry into what has already been done, and, meantime, put a. stay on the ravages of political expediency.