THE DISTRESS IN IRELAND.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7079, 3 February 1891, Page 4

THE DISTRESS IN IRELAND.

The Earl of Zetland, Viceroy of Ireland, and Chief Secretary Balfour, sign a declaration which has been issued on the condition of the poor in the western part of Ireland. The declaration says :— "The poverty, which is chronic in some districts, ■will, if the people are not aided, reach a state of acute distreps during the winter and spring. There is neither a resident party nor a substantial middle claßs to give employment, nor are there proper organisations to aid those who are unable to aid themselves. Outdoor relief, except in caseaof emergency, cannot be legally administered except to persons holding over a quarter of an acre of land. Although no one acquainted with the history of the Irish Poor Law would regard relaxing this clause as other than a public calamity, its maintenance undoubtedly limits the capacity to deal with cases of exceptional distress. The provision thus created leaves part of: the social organism stricken with disease, from which, without extraneous help, it has no power to rally. In regard to the failure of the potato crop, the declaration says the small occupiers in the Weat seem at first sight all to live much in the same way. They axe lodged in small cabins, cultivate the same kind of soil, and are clothed with the same kind of dress. It would ba natural to conclude that in all places where the failure of the crop is the same, the distress is the same, but Buch is not the case. In no district does the bulk of the community live wholly upon potatoes. Every district kaseome means of livelihood independent of the cultivation of potatoes. The degree of failure of the potato crop in therefore in itself a misleading guide to the degree of distress existing among the people. Other elements in finding the position of the people are the amount of their savings, and their debts and credit with local tradesmen. Furthermore, in the organisation of any plan of gratuitous assistance, caution is necessary, in order that it shall not interfere with the system of railway relief works. Several thousands have already been distributed in the districts most in need. The conclusions we come to are that relief should bo confined first to families who are in serious want, and who, having no able-btdied person among them, cannot derive benefit from the public relief works ; second, to provide meals in schools for children attending them, and third, to supply clothing for children unable to procure it elsewhere."