Papers, vol. xl.), especially McBride's
Memorandum for British Columbia. Numerous other grounds for special
treatment were alleged--_e.g.,_ abnormal cost of civil government, due
to vast extent of Province.

[107] Final Report, p. 24 (Census figures of 1891).

[108] Final Report, p. 122.

[109] Final Report, p. 50.

[110] Ibid., pp. 48, 49.

[111] Ibid., pp. 51-54.

[112] They were at issue here with Mr. Childers, who, in his Draft
Report, proposed halving the rates on Irish railways and further
endowing the Congested Districts Board. But Mr. Childers, though a Home
Ruler, felt himself bound by the Terms of Reference not to suggest a
Home Rule solution.

[113] Lord Welby (Final Report, p. 54) compared his proposal for Ireland
with the system in the Isle of Man, where the proceeds of a tariff
distinct from that of Great Britain were devoted in the first instance
to the payment of a fixed Imperial contribution and the surplus to local
needs. But in the Isle of Man the whole point was that the tariff was a
local tariff, chosen by Manxmen to suit themselves, while the
administration was under Manx control.

[114] Letter to the _Belfast Telegraph_, October 7, 1911.

CHAPTER XII

THE PRESENT FINANCIAL SITUATION

I.

ANGLO-IRISH FINANCE TO-DAY.

The finances of Ireland since the Union, when reviewed by the Royal
Commission in 1894-1896, exhibited five principal features:

1. A declining population.

2. An estimated true taxable capacity falling as compared with that of
Great Britain, and standing in 1893-94 at a maximum of 1 to 19.

3. A revenue stationary for thirty-four years, and showing in 1893-94 a
ratio of 1 to 12 with that of Great Britain.

4. A growing local expenditure (though stationary for the last four
years).

5. A dwindling net contribution to Imperial services (though stationary
for the last four years).

If we review the subsequent seventeen years, we find:

1. A population still declining, though at a slower rate.

2. An estimated true taxable capacity still falling as compared with
that of Great Britain, and now standing at a maximum of 1 to 24.[115]
That is, Ireland ought strictly to be paying no more than
one-twenty-fifth of the United Kingdom revenue.

3. A revenue rising, but very slowly and inelastically as compared with
that of Great Britain, and now showing a ratio of 1 to 15; so that the
"over-taxation" of Ireland, as reckoned on the Royal Commission's
princi