* 



304 ON THE STATE OF IRELAND. [fiOOK III. 



SECTION XXXIII, 



WE recommend that the respective Boards of Guardians, 

 and also all charitable associations which may be aided by 

 the Commissioners, shall be required to conform to all 

 such regulations as the Commissioners shall from time to 

 time make for their guidance, and to account annually be- 

 fore them, or as they shall appoint. 



SECTION XXXIV. 



MEASURES FOR PREVENTING THE INORDINATE USE OF 

 ARDENT SPIRITS. 



THERE are general matters connected with the objects of 

 our Commission, to which we now beg leave to advert. 



Among the many causes of Irish misery which have been 

 brought under our notice, one of the most prolific, assu- 

 redly the most pernicious, and, we fear, the most difficult 

 to be reached by any direct legislation, is the inordinate 

 use of ardent spirits its baneful effects are felt by every 

 class. So far back as the year 1760, petitions were pre- 

 sented to the Irish House of Commons from the manufac- 

 turers of the liberties in the city of Dublin, sheermen and 

 dyers, workers in silk, in linen, woollen, &c., complaining 

 of cheap spirits, and of the increased number of dram- 

 shops, and attributing the decay of trade to the then greatly 

 increased use of them " making artisans idle and disso- 

 lute ;" " inducing men not to work half their time ;" to 



