The influx of able-bodied Irish men and women con- tinues.
From 1926 to 193o the recorded net inward balance from the Irish Free State was 69,000 ; from 1931 to 1935, 5o,000. The actual figures are probably higher ; for 1936 it was probably nearer thirty than twenty thousand, and the stream is not slackening. The immigrants are readily absorbed in every part of England, the girls as domestic servants and in factories, the men as farm and general labourers, sometimes in areas where the unemployed are present in large numbers. The western coast of Ireland has suffered most from the drain on her reserves, and those areas which have lost most are those which have recently rejected Mr. de Valera and his Constitution. The gain on balance is ours, for we have not paid for their keep in their early years and there is clearly a demand for their services. They work, and work hard, and their savings help Ireland. The Army and Navy gain too, for the number now enlisting in England who give Ireland as their place of birth is little less than in 1914, so hard is it even for Irish statesmen to break away from tradition and to ignore the facts of geography and of life. * * * *
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