, the Select Committee appointed to consider the provisions of a
similar measure to be applied to Wales, reported that in practice the
Scottish Act had proved a success, which they attributed largely to the
supervision of the Provisional Orders conducted by the Scottish Office.

There would seem, then, every reason to believe that a measure framed
upon the lines of the Scottish Act, to apply to Ireland, would be
equally successful.

The remarkable increase in the prosperity of Ireland, which has occurred
during the last twenty years, demonstrates the necessity for providing
every means of encouraging the further development of the country.

All the available statistics amply confirm and corroborate the evidence
of this prosperity, which is known to every man with the smallest direct
acquaintance of Ireland in recent years. The figures of savings, bank
deposits, external trade, all alike show the exceptional advances in
prosperity now enjoyed by Ireland.

The progress of Ireland under the Union thus indicated, was inaugurated
by Mr. Balfour, the best Chief Secretary Ireland ever had; to this day
his name is always mentioned with respect and gratitude by the people of
Ireland, especially by the residents in the South and West, where his
policy produced splendid and lasting results. Insufficient credit has
been given to the work of agricultural and commercial development
steadily pursued by Mr. Gerald Balfour; the results upon which we
rejoice to-day are mainly due to the policy adopted by Mr. Balfour and
his brother. This policy, coupled with the restitution of sales under
the Land Act of 1903, is the one which Unionists intend resolutely to
pursue.

The figures on the next page show that the increase of population in
some important centres in the south and west is very small, and that in
other centres there is a decrease. Ireland being mainly an agricultural
country, the population tends to decrease owing to emigration, although
of late years, owing to the rise in prosperity, the tendency is rather
to remain stationary. At the same time, the increase of the population
in the provincial towns is not commensurate with the increase of
material wealth in the country.

With regard, for instance, to the increase in the number of tourists
visiting Ireland, both private persons and local bodies desire to extend
existing inducements and to improve the means of transit and to raise
the standard of accommodation. It is clear