88 ON THE STATE OF IRELAND. [BOOK I. 



would be necessary that two-thirds of the present popula- 

 tion should be removed, before wages could rise to ten- 

 pence a day. 



In the barony of Dromahair, according to the witnesses, 

 a considerable number of persons have gone to the United 

 States or Canada ; but they have been in general persons 

 possessed of some substance. They would have remained, 

 but for the excessive rents which the poor peasantry pay 

 for the farms ; and they have preferred to emigrate, rather 

 than to lose, by remaining, the little which they possessed, 

 since the price of farms is so high that the landlord draws 

 in rent more than two-thirds of the produce of his land : 

 thus it is the poorest class which remains upon the land. 

 One witness chartered a vessel to convey emigrants to New 

 South Wales, and the applications from persons desirous 

 to go were innumerable. It would require fully one-third 

 of the able-bodied population to emigrate, that the price of 

 wages should rise to tenpence a day. 



Emigration has of late years been considerable in the ba- 

 rony of Mohill among all classes, and many persons of ca- 

 pital have gone, after the expiration of their leases ; this 

 has been caused by the landlords refusing to renew their 

 leases, except at an increased rent. One of these per- 

 sons carried with him 7000/. Among the emigrants were 

 many sons of small farmers, who drained the little stock 

 of the family to enable them to go ; but in most cases 

 they have remitted to their parents what they borrowed, 

 and have besides enabled their brothers and sisters to 

 follow them to the colonies ; for the eagerness of those 

 who have emigrated to have the other members of their 

 family follow them is inconceivable. 



For a long time past two or three ships have sailed an- 



