Note 28 — WHAT IS THE ACTUAL CONDITION OF IRELAND?

I have unfortunately been unable to obtain any statistics of the cross-channel trade. I find it stated in Thom's Directory that the trade of Belfast alone was valued in the year 1866 at £24,332,000—viz., £12,417,000 imports and £11,915,000 exports. The year 1866 was a bad year: so it may be assumed that these figures represent a low average. I find no means of estimating the import and export trade of Cork and Dublin.

I may mention here that one cause of interruption in the composition of this paper was an unsuccessful search for complete trade statistics.