CHAPTER XXL 

 EARNINGS OF IRISH PEASANTS. 



So much has been said and written of the poverty 

 of the peasantry in the " distressful country," that 

 peculiar interest should attach to this chapter. 

 We are indebted for the actual details of the 

 earnings of the agricultural labourer in Ireland to 

 Government returns ; and it will be important to 

 show how these have been obtained. The Board of 

 Trade report says : 



" It has already been explained that in a number of the 

 poorer districts in Ireland agricultural labourers as a class 

 scarcely exist, and that, in many parts, owing to the small 

 size of the farms, which are mainly worked by the farmer 

 and his family, the number of agricultural labourers regu- 

 larly attached to the staff of a farm is comparatively small. 

 Consequently, the difficulty of obtaining information, which 

 could be described as representative, as to the annual earnings 

 of farm labourers in these districts is great. But in many 

 other parts of Ireland where the farms are larger, although a 

 considerable number of agricultural labourers are employed, 

 the task of securing accurate information as to their earnings 

 is by no means an easy one, on account of the absence 

 of labour books. Figures can, indeed, be obtained from 

 many owners of estates who farm on their own account ; 

 but the wages paid by employers of this type are frequently 

 somewhat higher than those paid by neighbouring farmers, 

 and, in addition, more allowances in kind are often given. 

 The method by which information has been obtained has 

 already been fully explained, and for the reasons stated 

 it has not been found possible in many cases to give the 

 annual earnings for a county based entirely on figures 

 actually taken from books, and consequently some esti- 

 mates have had to be made, particularly as to the amount 

 of allowances in kind given. But since representative 

 employers in different parts of each county have given full 



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