Daniel Desmond Sheehan

“ In Ireland they had hoped, as far as they could hope for anything great from a British Ministry, that the present Bill, if not offering a complete solution, would at least do something seriously in the direction of grappling with the great social problem which existed in Ireland. But it was disappointing, it was almost worthless, and it was another scandal of Irish misgovernment and of British neglect of Irish necessities. In Ireland they had no great manufactures to keep the Irish people in the country and to give them employment. ”

“ Farmers everywhere were complaining of the scarcity of labour and of the fact that they could not carry out their agricultural operations or get full value out of their land owing to this scarcity. But few farmers had constant employment for labouring hands, and when labourers could now get to America for a few pounds it was not in human nature that they would remain in Ireland on the chance of earning a precarious livelihood for five or six months of the year. ”

“ That was a phase of the Irish question which must be seriously considered in the near future if the native labouring population was not to dwindle to vanishing point. The land which was now given over to the rearing of bullocks to feed the British beefeaters must be restored to the industry of the people, and it was in than only would be found the final solution of the agrarian problem in Ireland. ”

“ Gentleman the Chief Secretary replied— A fisherman to be eligible for a cottage must come within the definition of the term 'agricultural labourer' prescribed by Section 4 of the Labourers Act, 1886, as amended by Section 93 of the Irish Land Act of 1903. It is not proposed to extend the definition so as to entitle fishermen, as such, to the benefits of the Labourers Acts. He strongly made the claim that fishermen should by reason of their avocation have the right to apply for a cottage. ”

“ It would be interesting to know how many were forced to emigrate in these twenty years owing to the scarcity or insufficiency of housing accommodation. And if they took the pathetic and the human side of the picture, they could compare in their minds the hundreds of thousands who, in all these years, had been compelled to five in hovels not fit to house the brute beast of the field ”

“ During the discussion on the Vote for the Board of Agriculture, the previous evening, mention was made of the fact that while it was hoped for it that it would have had the effect of arresting the tide of emigration, it had not done so ”