THE DEVELOPMENT OF IRELAND'S INDUSTRIAL. RESOURCES.

Temuka Leader, Issue 365, 19 March 1881, Page 3

THE DEVELOPMENT OF IRELAND'S INDUSTRIAL. RESOURCES.

Mr. George Preston White, G. E., i of London, writes as follows :—The all- I absorbing topic oi land-tenure in Ireland i seems to have diverted attention from a i subject which would greatly aid the.j solution of this very difficult problem— i namely, the development of the vatt and i varied industrial resources- -t>i "■ the [ country. There is a very general • but j erroneou* impression that 'lreland's. almost sole. .resource is agriculture; Lord BeaconHfield attributed the. ills of the country to its being surrounded .by the melancholy ocean, but he omitted to mention, or. perhaps was unaware of the fact, that it was also surrounded by some of the finest natural harbours in the world, by .extensive fishing grounds, and inexhaustible supplies.'of sea-weed, coral, sand, and other valuable manures. Unfortunately, those fine harbours are. without railway cqainiunication, and in J tome cases.scarcely *ven .accessible by r road. Amongst the greatest wants of r Ireland are railways, roads, arterial drainage, the reclamation of the waste Wd*, and fishery, piars around the is little-prospect of the resources of the country being developed. Even ithe existing lines, of. .railway hay* required ■o'rae 800 Acts of Parliament, and,owing to their, being in the, hands of numerous «»ma,ll companies, are most expensively worked. What I venture to recommend, therefore, would be that the Irish railways should be .purchased by Government, aiid cheaply constructed extensions made through. ;distt:ct* urgently requiring .--.then*** It jwas-s-rv-* cently stated .hi: the.. Times. that-the-carriage of goods from to I Liverpool was only Its -per ton ; comI. pare this with the cost of carriage in the | united Kingdom, State railways have jdone much to develop the resources of | Belgium, France, India* tand other I countries. And',, -if ■., the. Government considered,,, it politic to %ire a * guarantee on about 150 millions sterling for railways and jvfprks. of irrigation ;in India, might it not be, prudent to do something in ; the.|amje way forilreland ? Uouutless millions have been spent on wars and armaments, which have done nothing towards developing the resources of the country. There is a' perfect plethora of capital seeking investment at this moment. The public for a time have got a surfeitjof Turkish bonds and other so-called securities ; it would be Itberoforftan opportune time to employ capital Wf reproductive, wopks; which iV * could bejsfcised by- Government at about ~ 3i per cent., and if the cxaaiple were once set, doubtless,private capital would follow such a S'°°4-i cample,i It would ' occupy too much space, to extracts from the valuable Government reports made from tomato time .on the railways the reclamajtion of ithe waste lands, the development of fisheries, and otheir kindred subjects which abound with the mtfft vajuabletauggestion*, and were wriit'en by Drumraondy, Arthur Young,,

' Nimmo Griffith, and other distinguished men—nam-'s that aiust carry w.ight, I whilst their conclusions and reasonings must, carry conviction. One. of the greatest w'.ntg j* phttip transit, and jndgiiig from tlievvonomicaland effective ■w.iy the |.ost office and telegraphs are worked bv the G'Vmraent, there is no reason why railway?/, sliould not be worked .equ«H* effective. Without roads is pUsrile to talk of developing- the agriculture, the reclamation of the waste lands, the fisheries, mines, and other latent resources 'of the country. To go into these matters *i'n detail would occupy too much space. I therefore venture to submit these Wrii'd and crude remarks, and conclude in the language of Arthur Young, " If fault is found- with the schemes 1 hive .offered, let more able minds propose better."