Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 13.djvu/255

 GOVERNMENT.] IRELAND 239 total number of deaths ; and Table LIV. shows the number suffer ing from the various kinds of serious bodily or mental infirmities in 1851, 1861, and 1871. The total number of deaths in the decade ending in 1881 was 969,110. The mortality of Ireland is considerably under that of Great Britain, and at the time of the census of 1871 a larger percentage of the population were over sixty years of age. The rate of mortality is no doubt affected by emigration, but its smallness in Ireland is perhaps due to the large proportion of the rural popula tion. At various periods the mortality has been largely increased by famine, and it is also influenced by the insufficient diet and clothing of many of the inhabitants. Government. The executive government is vested in a lord- lieutenant, assisted by a privy council, and by a chief secretary, who is a member of the House of Commons and frequently also a member of the cabinet. In the absence of the lord-lieutenant hig functions are discharged by lord-justices, those generally appointed being the lord-chancellor and the commander of the forces. Each county is in charge of a lieutenant, a number of unpaid deputy- lieutenants and magistrates, and one or more resident paid magistrates, all appointed by the crown. The counties of cities and towns and the boroughs are governed by their own magi strates. The judicial establishment consists of the high court of chancery, the courts of Queen s bench, common pleas, and exchequer, the landed estates court, and the probate and matri monial court, which since 1877 constitute the high court of justice ; the court of appeal ; the high court of admiralty, which is to be abolished after the death of the present judge ; and the court of bankruptcy and insolvency. The decisions of the court of appeal are subject to an appeal to the House of Lords. Assize courts are held in each county by two judges, for which purpose the country is divided into six circuits. Ireland is represented in the imperial parliament by 28 temporal peers elected for life and 103 commoners, the counties being represented by 64 members, the small boroughs by 25, Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Belfast, and Galway by 2 each, and the university of Dublin by 2. In 1850 the franchise in county elections was extended to occupiers of any tenement assessed for poor rates at a net annual value of 12 and upwards, and also to owners of certain estates of the rated net annual value of 5. In 1868 the franchise in boroughs was extended to occupiers rated at and above 4, and a lodger franchise was also introduced, grant ing votes to occupiers of lodgings of a clear yearly value, if let Unfurnished, of 10 and upwards. In Ireland there are four military districts, the headquarters of these being Dublin, Cork, Curragh, and Belfast respectively, and eight military subdistricts, Avith depots at Downpatrick, Omagh, Armagh, Naas, Bin-, Galway, Clonmel, and Tralee. The Irish militia consists of 12 regiments of artillery, 21 regiments of infantry, and 14 rifle corps, numbering when embodied over 31,000 men and officers. The parish constables of Ireland were in 1814 superseded in pro claimed districts by a peace preservation force, and in 1822 an Act was passed authorizing the formation of a constabulary force of 5000 men, under an inspector-general for each province. In 1836 the entire force was amalgamated under one inspector-general. In all, it numbers between 10,000 and 12,000 men. In addition to the usual duties of policemen, the police are entrusted with the collec tion of statistics, the preservation of fish and game, and a variety of services connected with the local government. The average annual expense is a little over 1,000,000. In addition to this force there is the Dublin metropolitan police, consisting of about 1100 officers and men, who are maintained at an annual cost of over 130,000, the expense borne by the Consolidated Fund being over 80,000. Prime. Table LV. gives the number of persons in Ireland sent for trial by jury, and the numbers convicted and acquitted, for every fifth year from 1845 to 1875, and also for 1878 and 1880. These figures show a very rapid decrease of crime between 1850 and 1855, and a gradual and considerable decrease since that period, partly but not altogether attributable to the decrease in the number of the population. The large number of committals in 1850 and previous years was chiefly owing to the distress then prevailing in the country. A very noticeable feature of- the statistics is the large proportion of acquittals. In regard to the more serious crimes, the proportion of offences against the person as compared with that in England is veiy large, and of offences against property and against the currency ,very small, the latter fact being doubtless owing to the small proportion of the town population. The proportion for all Ireland of indictable offences not disposed of summarily was 15 in 10,000 of the population in 1879, while in Dublin it was 110 in 10,000. Table LVI. gives the number of offences in Ireland for 1879 according to three classes, and the corresponding numbers for 1878 in England and Scotland for an equal population. Of the minor offences in Ireland over 99,000 were cases of drunkenness, considerably more than double the number of cases in England or Scotland, which were pretty nearly equal. Table LVII. gives the number of agrarian offences from 1870. Poor Law Authorities. -The legislation connected with making provision for the poor of Ireland dates from 1771, when an Act was passed by the Irish parliament under which 11 houses of industry were erected, 8 in Minister, and 3 in Leinster. The amount of expenditure sanctioned by the Act was 14,400 a year, and probably it always came short of this by at least 10,000. Addi tional powers were conferred on county authorities in 1806 and 1818, but according to the select report of the House of Commons in 1830 no addition had been made to the houses of industry up to that period. An Act was, however, passed in 1838, which contained TABLE LII. Annual Average of Deaths from the eight principal Zymotic Diseases and from all causes. Smallpox. Measles. Scarlet Fever. Diphtheria. Hooping- Cough. Fever. Diarrhoea. Cholera. Total. All causes. Percentage of eight Zymotics. Annual average for 1870-79 ... Number for 1880 719 369 1,104 979 2,362 2,350 328 289 1,738 2,199 3,OCO 2,986 1,798 2,518 76 60 11,125 11,750 95,430 102,955 117 11-4 TABLE LIII. Total Deaths, with Numbers and Proportions from Zymotic Diseases, in decades ending 1841, 1851, 1861, and 1871. Decade ending 1841. Decade ending 1851. Decade ending 18C1. Decade ending 1871. Total Deaths. Zymotic Diseases. Total Deaths. Zymotic Diseases. Total Deaths. Zymotic Diseases. Total Deaths. Zymotic Diseases. Number. Per Cent. Number. Per Cent. Number. Per Cent. Number. Per Cent, 1,181,374 381,249 32-1 1,361,051 553,801 407 819,768 189,660 231 767,909 140,289 18-2 TABLE LIV. Sufferers from various Infirmities, 1851-71. Deaf Lunatic Lame Sick in Sick in Inmates Ordi- and Blind. and and Work Hos- !_, of nary Dumb. Idiotic. Decrepit. houses. pitals. Asylums Sick. I 1801 5,180 - r ,7S7 9,980 4,375 42,474 4,545 1,072 2,271 48,291 [ 1861 5,653 6,879 14,098 4,120 16,761 2,993 461 2,087 46,141 1871 5,554 6,347 16,505 2,931 16,203 3,625 85 3,129 39,754 TABLE LV. Prisoners sent for Trial ly Jury, 1845-1379. For Trial Convicted Acquitted 16,696 ]31,326 7,101 J17,108 9,595 14,218 9,012 5, ?20 2,979 2,661 2,407 | 1,996 4.956 3,048 1,908 4,248 ; 4,183 4,716 2,484 [ 2.293 2,383 1,764 j 1,890 2,333 TABLE LVI. Offences in Ireland for 1879, with Equivalent Numbers for Great Britain for 1878. More Serious Offences. Less Serious Offences. Minor Offences Ire land. England Scotland Ireland. England Scotland Ireland. England Scotland 3,842 4,767 6,487 55,398 45,657 119,742 203,199 107,354 84,598 TABLE LVII. Agrarian Offences in Ireland, 1870-80. Years. Number. Years. Number. Years. Number. 1870 1329 1874 212 1878 280 1871 368 1875 136 1879 810 1872 258 1876 201 1880 2578 1873 253 1877 236