258 THE CONGESTED DISTRICTS BOARD FOR IRELAND. 



THE CONGESTED DISTRICTS BOARD FOR 



IRELAND. 



The Congested Districts Board was called into existence in the year 1891 

 to ameliorate the conditions of life of the inhabitants of certain of the 

 poorest districts of the western coast of Ireland. The 36th section of the 

 Purchase of Land (Ireland) Act, 1891, declared that where more than 20 per 

 cent, of the population of any county in Ireland live in Electoral Divisions 

 of which the total rateable value, when divided by the number of the popu- 

 lation, gives a sum of less than thirty shillings for each individual, such 

 Electoral Divisions shall be deemed to form a separate county, known as a 

 Congested Districts County. The districts which accordingly have been 

 declared congested embrace part of each county in Connaught, and part of 

 Clare, Cork, Kerry, and Donegal, with an area of over three and a half 

 million acres, and a population of over half a million ; the poor law valuation 

 of these districts amounts to about ;^i per individual. It will be observed 

 from these figures that the population is congested not as regards its 

 density, that is, the number of persons per square mile, but rather as regards 

 the insufficiency of the land for their support ; the great want is not more 

 land, but rather more good land. 



The Board consists of seven permanent and three temporary members, 

 of whom two are ex-officio members, one being the Chief Secretary for 

 Ireland for the time being, and in his absence the Under Secretary, and the 

 other a Land Commissioner, who is nominated to especially represent agri- 

 culture and forestry. 



The annual income of the Board from all sources has hitherto been a 

 little less than ^^55,000, consisting of ,-^41,250, interest on the "Church 

 Surplus Grant," about ;£^7,ooo a year derived from repayments of loans, 

 £1,000 interest from Stock, etc., and ;£'5,6oo voted by Parliament in aid of 

 the cost of the staff. From the ist October, 1899, however, a new Parlia- 

 mentary Grant of i^2 5,000 was substituted for the former one, so that 

 the annual income of the Board is now nearly ;^75,ooo. The Irish Repro- 

 ductive Loan Fund, amounting to about ;^66,ooo in securities, cash, and out- 

 standing loans, and about ;^ 18,000 belonging to the Sea and Coast fisheries 

 Fund were also placed at the disposal of the Board. 



The Board was empowered to direct its efforts first, as regards agri- 

 culture, towards increasing the size of small holdings (chiefly by means of 

 the amalgamation of small holdings and migration to available land), im- 

 proving live stock and methods of cultivation ; and in the second place 

 towards aiding and developing, by indirect as well as by direct means, all 

 suitable industries, such as fishing, weaving, spinning, etc. 



In order to understand why the Board worked upon certain lines, and to 

 appreciate the efforts that have been made to bring about a progressive and 

 lasting improvement in these districts, it is necessary to examine what was 

 the actual state of affairs with which the Board found itself confronted ten 

 years ago. 



