GENERAL

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 4, 24 January 1907, Page 27

GENERAL

Prisons Report

The General Prisons Board, in their report- for 19051906, state that, the number of prisoners committed for Ireland ia 1905 was 32,738, the daily average in custody being 2601, an increase of 31 over the previous year, but less than the average for the. previous ,ten years. It ds said that there is a slight increase in the number of persons committed for drunkenness. The number of juveniles committed is considerably less than in the last ten years. v Great regret is expressed that Magistrates should send children to prison for such' offences as .trespassing in pursuit of game, or stone-throwing in the street. More attention is being given 7 - to th&. separation of . prisoners of corrupt -habits from others, and, on the whole, the conduct of all prisoners has been 'satisfactory. ." " ~. .

Vital Statistics

The quarterly^ return of marriages, births, ami deaths in Ireland, for the quarter ended 30th September last, shows that the annual birth-rate was 23.2 per 1000, while the death-rate was 14.4 per .1000.- The -deathrate, in England was slightly larger, being 15.0 per 1000" \ but, on the other hand? the (crude) birth-rate in "that country was 27.2, or exactly four • per thousand higher than in Ireland. Yet the birth-rate. 4s 0.2 over the average rate for the corresponding quarter for the previous ten years. The comparison between England and Ireland shows the relative social condition' of the two countries ; .. and, while . the difference between ' the (crude) birth-rate of the two countries "is so marked,

the emigration from Ireland . duifLng the' quarter' was 8468 persons, while from England it was scarcely per-, •■■■'• j -

cepm^ie. - - .. Remuneration of National Teachers

Owing to the wretched salaries paid in Ireland co - National teachers, primary" education, which mean's sd much lor the. masses,' is undoubtedly at a low ebb. The very, best and, most accomplished schoolmasters,- after receiving a sound training at the expense of Irish tax- - payers, betake themselves to other lands in search of a decent livelihood.' The fact lias been pointed out fre- . quently, but so far the authorities have done little or - nothing to remedy the admitted injustice. At Galway, jMoiiagiian, and other centres, on November 24, the question was dealt with at meetings which were large' and - representative. The Bishop of Galway declared that. the salaries of teachers "for the .work they did was- utterly inadequate, and the retiring allowance entirely-in- ■ sufficient. Rev. P. Keown, Adm., who presided at ,a meeting of clergy and laity *m Monagban;, : .said ' the conditions under which primary education -was imparted in Ireland at present was well calculated to- det-er the better class teachers from entering the service at home, with the result that whilst primary education, was progressing in other countries, Ireland was losing many oi her best teachers. Those who remained at" home were in a state of unrest and dissatisfaction, and primary education was rapidly lapsing into a state of chaos. . •_ ' - Irish Harvestmen in England There was a casual reference (says the 'Manchester Guardian ') in our ' Miscellany ' to the Saturday night - visits of Irish harvestmen to neighboring towns. 'I ' wonder how many of your readers could guess straight off (writes ' R.) why these visits are paid with 'sucfi regularity. I have asked several of my friends- (toy way of test), and they all answer, " For a spree, of • course." That is not so. These Irish laborers are remarkably loyal during their summer exile in England to the observance of their Church, and it is because there are few Roman Catholic places of worship 1111 11" 1 in rural England that they make a weekly pilgrimage to t>he nearest town. If anyone would like to confirm this let him attend the Roman Catholic Church at Urmston any Saturday night and Sunday morning in the harvest months, and count the dozens of Irishmen who come tramping in from the farms- far confession and to hear Mass. And in the Midland counties, where the old-fashioned harvest home is still occasionally * held, the Irishmen prove their staunch obedience to religious , rules by refusing to eat meat if the feast is held on ■ a Friday. In the case of men with healthy -appetites, whose earnings are insufficient to provide meat for every day of the week, this -is no small act of selfdenial.' Election Expenses • . ..

That Ulster Unionism is mainly a matter of £ s d is (says the Belfast • Irish Weekly ' of December 8) patent to - every intelligent observer, but it is not often that we are favored wilh a Blue Book to demon-

stJrate the fact. Such a purpose is, however, served by the Parliamentary Return of Election Expenses, which was issued on Saturday. In. expenditure,- North Down won in a canter, Mr. Corbet t having spent £1058 and Mr. Adams £1121, the latter establishing something of a record Tiy paying 8s ,7£d-.for e\ery vote he got-. South Down, on the other hand, makes a record in

another direction, the successful

having the lowest relative expenditure in tlte Ulster contests, Lieutenant Smiley paying ,£853, or- 5s 2£d per vote, and Mr. MacVeagh £254, or- Is 3£d per vote.

The" South Tyrone figures -show- a still more striking dis-

parity, for Mr. W. T. Russell's expenses are returned • at £379, or 2s &d per vote, whilst Mr. Homer's totalled £1061, or 7s ll|d per, head. In West Belfast the . figures v^ere : Captain Smiley, £723, or 3s 6d a head; Mr. Carlisle," £570, o>v •£3 14s 6d a head; and Mr. Devlin, £424, or 2s o*d a head. The lowest absolute expenditure was in Newiry, , where Mr. Moosney, paid £121, or 3s OJd per vote.