Irish Industries And Wages

There was a recent strike on the Waterford and Limerick railway, at Limerick, where tho engineers and fitters were receiving thirty-three shillings, or $8.05, per week, and machinists were getting sixteen shillings, or $3.90, per week. They wanted thirty-six shillings and twenty-four shillings respectively, or $8.78 and 5.86, the same that men ara getting in other parts of Ireland. The directora decided that they could not arïord to pay the advance, and probably they cannot. How anyrailroad can live in a country as sparsely populated as Ireland is, when engineers work for $8.05 per week and machinists for $3.90, probably no American can find out without going there to see, for we are not going to have Free-trade in this country. Before the union Ireland had a parliament of its own which arranged a tariS to suit Ireland; it did not suit England, and we all know that like everything ïnterfering with England it was a very bad parliament, but under its laws they Bailed ships to thte country in competition with the English, and having much more capital than our traders were very troublesome to them under the federation of the states before the adoption of the constitution. Now, though that country builds ships and its saifors contribute to the crews of nearly all vessels, it is not noted for its largo ownership of vessels. Then Ireland possessed about one-thirdof the population of the United Kingdom; now it has one-seventh only of the population and one-twentieth of the wealth, though at both "periods the population has been and is aborat 5,000,000, and fifty years ago it was over 8,000,000. After the union the English parliament adjusted the Irish tariff to suit English interests. There was no sudden shock about this adjustment. Like the Democratie statesmen, who have learned from thein, they did not propose to scatter want and famine on the land at once; that would have attracted attention; there was a moderate reduction of the so called prohibitory laws. It lasted through twenty-one years, but it was certain; it was intended to destroy confidence, and it did it. No mili was rebuilt; no machinery was replaced; the industries of Ircland were inoribund Uafore five years had passed.