No. 5.  The Ireland Development Grant of L191,500 is interesting as an example of the haphazard methods of Anglo-Irish finance.  It is an annual sum voted for various development purposes, and was originally established (at the figure of L185,000) in 1903 as an equivalent for the capitation grants for school attendance in England, given under the Education Act of 1902 in lieu of school fees.  In allotting the Irish equivalent, Mr. Goschen’s proportion of 80, 11, 9 was for the first time condemned by all parties.  What the proportion ought to be was a matter of dispute, but it was fixed in this case on the basis of population.  Since the English grant has now risen to L2,500,000, the Irish proportion therefore is now, strictly speaking, inadequate.

Nos. 6, 7, and 8 are examples of charges debited by the Treasury against Ireland which are open to criticism as long as the Union lasts, and which meet with much complaint in Ireland.  Obviously, however, the first two at any rate are charges which an Ireland financially independent would have to bear.

No. 9.  The Land Commission vote of L414,500 is of course the direct result of an abnormally bad system, necessitating abnormal and costly remedial administration.  Ireland herself is not morally responsible for a penny of it, but if she is wise she will shoulder the cost as a corollary of responsible government.  Small administrative economies may be made, and the cost will disappear altogether with the completion of Land Purchase, say in fifteen years, but in the immediate future no reduction can be counted on with certainty.  The figure given includes the cost of the Land Commission proper, which deals with Judicial Rents and manages finance, as well as the cost of the Estates Commissioners who conduct the machinery of Land Purchase.  It also includes losses on the flotation of Land Stock at a discount, and the interest and sinking-fund on the Stock raised to pay the bonus to landlords.

No. 10.  The vote of L415,000 for the Department of Agriculture, whose origin and functions I described in Chapter IX., does not accurately show the actual cost of the Department, because it excludes the greater part of an Endowment Income of L166,000 a year, derived partly from the Irish Church Fund, partly from the Irish Local Taxation Account, and partly from the interest on a capital endowment of L200,000, as well as other small miscellaneous grants.  But it includes a sum of about L44,000 for some museums, colleges, gardens, etc., whose English counterparts are subsidized under different votes, as well as the sum of L144,000 for the Congested Districts Board.[131] Nor does this latter sum represent the full cost of the Congested Districts Board, which has also an Endowment Income from the Irish Church Fund of L41,250, a subsidy from the Ireland Development Grant, and a fluctuating income from various sources—­rents, etc.