252 ON THE STATE OF IRELAND. [BOOK 111. 



SECTION VII. 



IN order to enable the Board of Works to execute the 

 additional duties which we have proposed should be im- 

 posed upon it, we feel it necessary to recommend that the 

 fund placed at its disposal shall be considerably increased. 

 This may be done without any risk or loss, and with a 

 certainty of very great advantage to the public. The in- 

 terest payable upon loans made by the Board is so much 

 higher than upon the Exchequer Bills which it is autho- 

 rized to issue, that the surplus is more than sufficient to 

 pay all expenses of management ; and every outlay of 

 money that has taken place in the making of roads, facili- 

 tating intercourse, and opening remote districts in Ireland, 

 has not only tended to great local advantages, but, by im- 

 proving the condition of the people, to a very great increase 

 of the public revenue. 



REMARKS. 



According to the price of agricultural produce, 

 especially since the peace, no speculation in land 

 has yielded an interest of five per cent, during the 

 first ten years, and landowners who have ventured 

 to borrow at this rate have all been ruined. The 

 success of the Scotch landowners is wholly attri- 



