Part of the expense of the Department itself must be regarded as abnormal, in view of the extraordinarily backward economic condition of the country when it was founded.  Nor, valuable as the Department’s work is, can it be safely assumed that the cost is not extravagant.  As long as any Department relies on an Imperial vote there can be no certainty that the expenditure will be economical.  The whole cost of the Congested Districts Board is abnormal.  Its very existence is evidence of the failure of external government in Ireland, and, as I urged in Chapter IX., the whole question of the treatment of the congested districts needs thorough investigation at the hands of a responsible Irish Government.

B. REDUCTIONS IN EXPENDITURE.

1910-11. 1891-92.

L             L
1.  Relief of Distress                         5,000       183,675
2.  Pauper Lunatics Grant                                  111,655
3.  Teachers’ Pensions Grant                                90,000
4.  Railways (Ireland) Grant                  61,000       341,934
5.  Local Government Board                    92,500       132,748
6.  Chief Secretary’s Offices                 27,500        39,681
7.  Registrar-General’s Office                13,000        29,926
8.  Justice and Police                     2,090,500     2,129,849
---------     ---------
2,289,500     3,059,468

Most of these reductions are deceptive.  No. 1 is the saving of an abnormal grant, Nos. 2 and 5 signify mere transfers to Grants in Aid of Local Taxation, No. 7 a transfer of duties to the Department of Agriculture.

The table shows a total reduction of L769,968, while Table A shows a total increase of L6,130,000.  Together they account for an increase since 1891-92 of L5,360,032.

Here is a similar table, confined to Justice and Police: 

C. EXPENDITURE ON JUSTICE AND POLICE.

1910-11. 1891-92. 
L L
1.  Judicial Salaries ... ... ... 102,000 110,244 2.  Dublin Metropolitan Police ... 93,500 91,998 3.  Royal Irish Constabulary ... ... 1,371,000 1,362,348 4.  Judicial Pensions, etc. ... ... 15,000 18,656 5.  Law Charges ... ... ... ... 65,500 71,977 6.  Superior Courts Offices ... ... 110,500 116,851 7.  County Courts Offices ... ... 109,000 112,895 8.  Prisons, etc. ... ... ... ... 112,000 134,429 9.  Reformatories, etc. ... ... ... 112,000 110,451

2,090,500 2,129,849

To Nos. 1, 2, and 3 I have already referred.  The whole charge of two millions, though it shows a slight decrease in twenty years, is grossly out of proportion to the resources of Ireland.  Under heads 6 and 7 are included a number of posts which are notoriously little more than sinecures.