HUMBLE INDICATORS.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume IV, Issue 191, 24 November 1876, Page 11

HUMBLE INDICATORS.

Were we to declare, at the commencement of our present article, that it was our intention to write a treatise on donkeys, we might be met with the flattering ejaculation — "ass in prcesenti " — which Father Pjrottt, in his learned but sparkling badinage, adapts from a well-known rule in prosody to hurl at the head of some unhappy wight who had managed to incur his contempt ; for, though the meek animals in question are gravely mentioned many times in Holy Scripture, and amongst secular writers obtain a Homeric reputation, it is common, nevertheless, to attach to them a certain degree of ridicule that, perhaps, is hardly deserved. We must however, let the consequences be what they may, adopt a designated number of the much maligned quadrupeds referred to as the subject of a few remarks, it is our purpose to make on a matter that cannot fail to be of interest to many of our readers, and which is neither more nor less than the present condition of Ireland.

In a copy of the ' London Spectator,' issued during the month of September last, a leader was devoted to the aspect of affairs in the Emerald Isle ; and, amongst other things brought forward to prove.the ameliorated state of the country, in the current year, as compared to that exhibited by it in 1841, a comparative table of live stock is given. It runs as follows : —

1841. 1876. Horses and mules ... 543,626 586,630 Asses 92,365 182,614 Cattle 1,863,116 4,113,693 Sheep 2,125,116 4,007,518 Swine ... 1,404,429 1,424,143 Poultry 8,500,000 13,582,782 Now, to us, the second of the above-named animals, although it may be the humblest in an utilitarian and intellectual point of view, by the increase of its numbers in the period allotted, is indicative rather than any of the others of a more widely spread prosperity amongst the population of Ireland ; and, for this reason. Horses, cattle, and sheep, and possibly mules, swine, and poultry, might only prove that the rearing of such stock was carried on upon a much larger scale than formerly, by the land owners of the kingdom in question ; for a selfish and cruel line of policy has induced the class referred to to banish their tenantry from their estates, so far as it was possible for them, in order to make a higher profit of the various holdings than they could otherwise have hoped for — a fact which, even to the eye of the passing stranger, is made evident by the ruined villages and homesteads to be encountered throughout the land. So that it would be necessary to gain some information as to the distribution of the increased live stock, or the amount of employment of labor occasioned by it before it could be judged from this as to the improved condition of the country. In the circumstance referred to, then, we mi^ht read alone that the graziers of the east and the sheep-farmers of the west had extended their pastures and runs far beyond the limits .by which, thirty-five years ago, they were bounded, and thus, instead of speaking to us of an increase of prosperity generally throughout the realm, this would only be suggestive of eviction and emigration, and altogether of an advance in the direction of that desideratum which certain of the presumed friends of Ireland hardly make a pretence of concealing their advocacy of ; namely, that the whole island should be turned into a sheep walk. And a fact that would seem to strengthen this view is, that the quantity of ground under tillage is infinitely diminished, and shows a disposition to become less year by year ; so that, on the whole, we should be inclined totally to doubt the assertion even of that fair and able journal, the ' Spectator,' were it not that, like Balaam, we are admonished by the most humble of all the beasts of burden. The donkey, as we all know, is not a denizen of the rich I man's stable ; there he is despised, and thence is he driven to be the servant of the poor. Yet not of the very poor either ; his presence within the surroundings of a cottage, shows that there is attached to the modest dwelling a certain degree of comfort ; probably some farming operations on a small scale are carried on by his owners, in which he is an useful auxiliary, or it may be he is employed in the furtherance of some humble dealing transactions. In any case, those who find it necessary to maintain him and can afford to do so, must not be regarded as amongst the poorest classes of the population, and, consequently, an increase in the number of donkeys proves beyond controversy an increase likewise in the welfare of the masses. An humble indication of a great truth, akin to that which would have pointed out the prosperity of France in days of yore, had every man within that realm then been able to boil a fowl in his pot. according to the famous wish of the benevolent Henjri IV., and which indication would not be certainly manifested by a growth in the number of beasts of oreater pretensions, Uio property most probably of the rich, and maintained upon the spoils of tenant farmers and laborer*.

Credence then may justly be given to the welcome intelligence that Ireland has progressed within the last fifteen years, notwithstanding the terrible ordeal of the famine and the continued misgovernment that has been her bane, for, let who will deny it, the fact remains that the English government, as at present constituted with respect to Irish affairs, has been and is a source of evil rather than of good to the country affected by it, But, again, we are told that the progress alluded to, although it is decided, yet in comparison with that made by England and Scotland within the same period, must be regarded as slow. A statement in nothing astonishing, whatever may be the food afforded by it to reflection, for the conditions have beeu wanting that wsre necessary to the progress of Ireland, and possessed of which, the advance made by her would in all probability have exceeded that of the kingdoms, compared with which she is now found to be a laggard. Those conditions are Home Rule. Deprived of this, the Emerald Isle must languish under

the conduct of s policy that, if it be not openly hostile, is far from jiroviding the fostering cue required for her welfare ; but with the increased vitality she would gain front the enjoyment of the privilege so iustly claimed and desired, there is no reason to doubt but that there might again be uttered of her with equal truth, the words in which Lord Claee described the progress made by her in the period immediately following the celebrated resolution of the volunteers, and which words were as follows — " There is not a nation in the habitable globe which has advanced in cultivation and commerce, in agriculture and manufactures, with the same rapidity in the same period."