and it is a sad sight to
see our beautiful Shannon, where all her Majesty's fleet could safely
ride on the estuary of its waters, without almost a ship of
merchandise on its surface on account of the general decay of our
trade and commerce." The address further shows that "we enjoy a
combination of natural advantages in the shape of a secure, sheltered
anchorage, together with railway and telegraph in immediate proximity
to the harbour and the pier, and postal service twice daily, both
inwards and outwards, and a first-class quality of pure water laid on
to the pier. The facility for landing or embarking troops, or for
discharging or loading goods or stores is as near perfection as
possible, and having a range of depth of water of twenty-five feet at
low-water spring tide, the harbour can accommodate ships of deep
draught at any state of the tide." These advantages, mostly owing to
British rule, with others, such as the "unique combination of mountain
and river scenery," were not enumerated as subjects for thankfulness,
but rather by way of reproach, the effect of the whole address being a
veiled indictment of British rule. No doubt Lord Houghton's first
impulse would be to exclaim, "Then why on earth don't you use your
advantages? With good quays, piers, storehouses, and a broad deep
river, opening on the Atlantic, why don't you do some business?" But
he promised to do his best to send them a guard-ship, in order that
the crew might spend some money in the district. The Galway folks
asked him to do something for them. My previous letters have shown the
incapacity of the Galwegians to do anything for themselves, and how,
being left to their own devices--having, in fact, a full enjoyment of
local Home Rule--their incompetence has saddled the city with a debt
of fifty thousand pounds for which they have practically nothing to
show, except an additional debt of one thousand pounds decreed against
them for knocking the bottom out of a coaling vessel during their
"improving" operations, which sum they never expect to pay, as the
harbour tolls are collected by the Board of Works, which thus
endeavours to indemnify itself for having lent them the "improvement"
funds. The Killybegs folks showed the poor Viceroy their bay and told
him what wonderful things they could do if they only had a pier, or a
quay, or something. The Achil folks formerly said the same thing. Two
piers were built but no man ever goes near them. The Mulranney