On the same evening Mr. Davitt made what is now
a "common form" attack on the Government in regard to the poverty of the West of Ireland, and produced the equally " common form " proposal for a remedy in the shape of migration from the congested districts to the grazing lands of Mayo. Mr. Gerald Balfour, who made an excellent speech in reply, had no difficulty not only in showing that migration was an impossible remedy, but also that the real object of Mr. Davitt and Mr. O'Brien was not so much to benefit the unfortunate peasants of the West of Ireland as " to stir up an agitation like that which devastated and disgraced Ireland some years ago." Mr. Gerald Balfour showed also what excellent work is being done in the West of Ireland by the Congested Districts Board. He added that the Treasury had agreed to increase the grant made to the Congested Districts Board. Henceforth they would be enabled to spend nearly £40,000 a year in improving the estates bought by the Board before they were resold to the peasants.
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