THE IRISH PRESS ON THE IRISH FAMINE.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2170, 20 February 1880, Page 2

THE IRISH PRESS ON THE IRISH FAMINE.

|Belfast Wecldy News, Dec. 27. J

The distress in Ireland is not so groat as alarmists wmuld make the world believe. Always at this season of the year there is more or less suffering among a large portion of the community, and there is no doubt it is increased and intensified at present in some localities; but there is good reason to hope that private benevolent efforts such as that initiated by her Grace the Duchess of Marlborough, which is at ouce deserving of gratitude and commendation, iu connection with local efforts like those being made in Belfast, Dublin, and other cities and towns, will meet the extra demand without resorting to extraordinary measures, or employing the dangerous experiment of extending the system of out-door relief. The Poor Law wisely

provides a workhouse test, and so long as there is accomodation in the workhouses prudence and caution are necessary in administering relief out of doors' Now, it appears that the ordinary resources of the Poor Law are still more than adequate to the claims upon them. There is provision in the Irish workhouses for 150,000 inmates; and according to the returns for the week ending on the 18th inst., the aggregate number in these institutions was little more than 50,000 ; while the number in receipt of out-door relief-was less. At the corresponding period of last year the number receiving relief inside and outside the workhouse was 90,000 ; so that ,up to the present, there are no grounds for the cry of famine. At the beginning of this year the returns showed that pauperism in Ireland : was considerably less than in either England or Scotland. glad to be able to call attention to these facts, and it is hoped this comparison may always hold good in relat ion to our country. Judging by the perpetual wail fi’om Connaught, foreigners must think that our social system was about to collapse ; but stubborn facts put the matter in its true light. From the gracious Lady who sits on the Throne to the humblest of her subjects there is a desire in England to mitigate distress in Ireland, and England would do more for us if the demagogues would let the people alone.