[11] The Commissioners of Irish Fisheries, in one of their reports, observe:--"Notwithstanding the diminished population, the fish captured round the coast is so inadequate to the wants of the population that fully 150,000L. worth of ling, cod, and herring are annually imported from Norway, Newfoundland, and Scotland, the vessels bearing these cargoes, as they approach the shores of Ireland, frequently sailing through large shoals of fish of the same description as they are freighted with!"[12] The following examination of Mr. J. Ennis, chairman of the Midland and Great Western Railway, took place before the "Royal Commission on Railways," as long ago as the year 1846:-Chairman--"Is the fish traffic of any importance to your railway?"Mr. Ennis--"of course it is, and we give it all the facilities that we can.... But the Galway fisheries, where one would expect to find plenty of fish, are totally neglected."Sir Rowland Hill--"What is the reason of that?"Mr. Ennis-- "I will endeavour to explain. I had occasion a few nights ago to speak to a gentleman in the House of Commons with regard to an application to the Fishery Board for 2000L. to restore the pier at Buffin, in Clew Bay, and I said, 'Will you join me in the application? I am told it is a place that swarms with fish, and if we had a pier there the fishermen will have some security, and they will go out.' The only answer I received was, 'They will not go out; they pay no attention whatever to the fisheries; they allow the fish to come and go without making any effort to catch them....'"Mr. Ayrton-- "Do you think that if English fishermen went to the west coast of Ireland they would be able to get on in harmony with the native fishermen?"Mr. Ennis-- "We know the fact to be, that some years ago, a company was established for the purpose of trawling in Galway Bay, and what was the consequence? The Irish fishermen, who inhabit a region in the neighbourhood of Galway, called Claddagh, turned out against them, and would not allow them to trawl, and the Englishmen very properly went away with their lives."Sir Rowland Hill-- "Then they will neither fish themselves nor allow any one else to fish!"Mr. Ennis-- "It seems to be so." --Minutes of Evidence, 175-6.
[13] The Derry Journal.
[14] Report of Inspectors of Irish Fisheries for 1882.
[15] The Report of the Inspectors of Irish Fisheries on the Sea and Inland Fisheries of Ireland for 1882, gives a large amount of information as to the fish which swarm round the Irish coast.
Mr. Brady reports on the abundance of herring and other fish all round the coast. Shoals of herrings "remained off nearly the entire coast of Ireland from August till December." "Large shoals of pilchards" were observed on the south and south-west coasts. Off Dingle, it is remarked, "the supply of all kinds of fish is practically inexhaustible.""Immense shoals of herrings off Liscannor and Loop Head;" "the mackerel is always on this coast, and can be captured at any time of the year, weather permitting." At Belmullet, "the shoals of fish off the coast, particularly herring and mackerel, are sometimes enormous." The fishermen, though poor, are all very orderly and well conducted. They only want energy and industry.
[16] The Harleian Miscellany, iii. 378-91.
[17] The Harleian Miscellany, iii. 392.
[18] See The Huguenots in England and Ireland. A Board of Traders, for the encouragement and promotion of the hemp and flax manufacture in Ireland, was appointed by an Act of Parliament at the beginning of last century (6th October, 1711), and the year after the appointment of the Board the following notice was placed on the records of the institution: --"Louis Crommelin and the Huguenot colony have been greatly instrumental in improving and propagating the flaxen manufacture in the north of this Kingdom, and the perfection to which the same is brought in that part of the country has been greatly owing to the skill and industry of the said Crommelin." In a history of the linen trade, published at Belfast, it is said that "the dignity which that enterprising man imparted to labour, and the halo which his example cast around physical exertion, had the best effect in raising the tone of popular feeling, as well among the patricians as among the peasants of the north of Ireland. This love of industry did much to break down the national prejudice in favour of idleness, and cast doubts on the social orthodoxy of the idea then so popular with the squirearchy, that those alone who were able to live without employment had any rightful claim to the distinctive title of gentleman.... A patrician by birth and a merchant by profession, Crommelin proved, by his own life, his example, and his enterprise, that an energetic manufacturer may, at the same time, take a high place in the conventional world."[19] Benn's History of Belfast, p. 78.
[20] From the Irish Manufacturers' Almanack for 1883 I learn that nearly one-third of the spindles used in Europe in the linen trade, and more than one-fourth of the power-looms, belong to Ireland, that "the Irish linen and associated trades at present give employment to 176,303 persons; and it is estimated that the capital sunk in spinning and weaving factories, and the business incidental thereto, is about 100,000,000L., and of that sum 37,000,000L. is credited to Belfast alone."[21] The importation of coal in 1883 amounted to over 700,000tons.
[22] We are indebted to the obliging kindness of the Right Hon.
Mr. Fawcett, Postmaster-General for this return. The total number of depositors in the Post Office Savings banks in the Parliamentary borough of Belfast is 10,827 and the amount of their deposits, including the interest standing to their credit, on the 31st December, 1882, was 158,064L. 0s. 1d.
An important item in the savings of Belfast, not included in the above returns, consists in the amounts of deposits made with the various Limited Companies, as well as with the thriving Building Societies in the town and neighbourhood.
