Mr. M'CANN [McCann?]:...Since the
Financial Relations Report was issued
there emigrated from Ireland, chiefly to
the United States, to settle
permanently abroad, just 275,000
people, young men and young women,
at the age of about twenty-two years.
It cost about œ9 a year to feed and
clothe an Irish workhouse pauper.
This rate would work out at about
œ200 capital sunk in each emigrant
up to twenty-two years of age,
making allowance for the value of
some work which these young emigrants
may do before they leave Ireland,
and also some little money that
they may send home to their people
afterwards. I think it will be
found that the net money loss in
capital to Ireland, and indeed to
the empire, sunk and lost in each
emigrant, will be at least œ100 each;
275,000 of these emigrants have left
during the past seven years, 40,000
a year seems to about the normal
average of this class of emigration
during the past decade. During these
seven years, since the Financial
Relations Report was issued, the loss
in capital in Ireland was at œ100 each
for 275,000 people - just œ27,500,000.
Putting 4 per cent. interest on this
capital the loss comes to over
œ1,000,000 annually, which I consider
I am entitled to add to the œ2,000,000
a year increased taxation in these
seven years, making the drain
œ3,000,000 a year in addition to the
unjust taxation of two and a half
millions, as found by the Financial
Relations Commissioners in the year
1894.
