The complete Irish Census Returns just published are, on the
whole, extremely satisfactory. They show that, while the population has decreased, the resources and means of sub- sistence have increased,—exactly what is required in a country so poor, and relatively so populous, as Ireland. The rateable value has risen from £13,812,000 in 1881, to 214,034,000 in 1891. Though the area of land under crops has decreased, that under grass has increased, and in every form of live stock, from asses to goats, and pigs to poultry, the numbers have risen considerably. The figures as to poultry show that Ireland is becoming a great fowl-raising country. The hens have increased by nearly a million and a half in the ten years. The statistics as to pauperism are also satisfactory. We shall, of course, hear a great many complaints as to decrease in popu- lation, from 5,174,836 to 4,704,750; but, taken in conjunction with the figures just given, and with the increase in the Savings Banks, it is a very hopeful sign. Another ten years of the Union, and Ireland will cease to be a pauper country.
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