§ CAPTAIN DONELAN (Cork Co., E.)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether his attenton has been directed to the numbers of emigrants leaving Ireland almost daily for America; and whether, in view of the consequent depopulation of the country and of the fact that farmers each year experience greater difficulties in working their farms owing to the scarcity of labour, with a view to provide a remedy, he will consider the desirability of enlarging the provisions dealing with the labourers in the Irish Land Bill.
(Answered by Mr. Wyndham.) There has been a decrease, small but still gratifying, in the number of emigrants from Ireland during the first three months of 1903 as compared with the corresponding period of 1901 and 1902. In the first quarter of 1901 the figures were 4,974; in 1902, 4,395; and during the past three months, 4,153. The second inquiry can more properly be dealt with in Committee on the Land Bill.