Money, Weights and Measures are the same as in Great Britain.
The Bank of Ireland has a royal charter and lends money to the government. It manages, free of charge, all the public debt of Ireland. There are nine joint-stock banks with 693 branches in Ireland, all of which have adopted limited liability. On 31 Dec. 1915 the deposits in these banks amounted to $334,015,000.. There are two kinds of savings banks in Ireland, one being the trustee savings bank, which has been in existence since the first years of the 19th century, and the other, the postal savings bank, instituted in 1861. In the former the deposits (at 31 Dec. 1915) amounted to $12,450,000; in the latter, $58,905,000. At the same time the amount of government stocks on which dividends are payable at the Bank of Ireland was $234,680,000, an increase of $24,470,000 in the year. The only clearing house in Ireland is in Dublin. See GREAT BRITAIN -- BANKING.
Finances.-- In the financial year 1913-14 the total revenue contributed by Ireland amounted to $55,672,500 and the local expendi ture to $61,785,000, showing a deficit of $6,112,500. In 1916-17, owing to increased wat taxation, the total revenue rose to $118,832,500, while the loCal expenditure was $63,430,000, leaving a surplus of $55,402,500 available for imperial expenditure. The Civil Service Esti mates for 1918-19 provided for the following expenditure on Irish administration: Salaries, $2,.972,535; law courts, land commission, police, prisons, reformatories, etc., $14,481,330; educa tion, universities, National Gallery, science and art, $12,777,660. Under the Old Age Pension Acts 1908-11, there were 198,938 pensioners in Ireland, or 59,506 more than in Scotland and Wales put together. The amount paid on old age pensions in Ireland is approximately $12,500,000 per annum.
The Poor Law, which regulates the system of public charities, is about the same for Ireland as for England and Scotland. It provides for relieving the needy in their own homes or for placing them in charitable insti tutions. The law is administered by the local government board through boards of guardians elected for the purpose. The number of indoor poor who received assistance for the year end ing March 1916 was 32,095, and of outdoor paupers 36,658, representing one in every 63 of the estimated population of the country, as com pared with one in 43, 11 years earlier. The total expenditure on poor relief for the year amounted to $6,789,190. In January 1915 the total number of adult able-bodied poor (indoor relief) was 3,437; all others in the same class were 29,757; those in receipt of outdoor relief numbered 38,072; in asylums, 1,653; total. 72,919. A large amount of aid is dispensed through private means; but a strong effort is being made to remove the causes, which are about the same in all countries and which usually result in poverty. Efforts art being made to improve the
methods of work and to foster habits of economy, Emigration.- In 1851 the government be gan to collect emigration statistics for Ireland, and the total number of emigrants who left Ireland from that year to the end of 1916 was 4,316,602, almost equally divided between males and females. The years of greatest emigration were 1851-54, 1863-65 and 1883, the total for each of these years being over 100,000. The 'following are the figures from 1900 to 1916: 1900, 45,288; 1901, 39,613; 1902, 40,190; 1903, 39,789; 1904, 36,902; 1905, 30,676; 1906, 35,344; 1907, 39,0E32; 1908, 23,295; 1909, 28,676; 1910, 32,457; 1911, 30,573; 1912, 29,344; 1913, 30,967; 1914, 20,314; 1915, 1916, 7,302. Of the last-mentioned year, 1,515 were from Leinster, 1,056 from Munster, 2,733 from Ulster and 1,998 from Connaught. The largest proportion went to the United States, 485 to Canada, 100 to Australia, 27 to New Zealand and 19 to South Africa.
Government.- Ireland, by the Act of Union, became an integral part of the United Kingdom and shares in its legislation by means of 28 rep resentative peers in the House of Lords and 103 representatives in the House of Commons. The representative peers are elected for life by the whole body of Irish peers. The Lord-Lieu tenant, who represents the sovereign, holds his court in the castle of Dublin. He is appointed by the Crown, receives $100,000 per annum and holds office during the continuance of the gov ernment under which he is appointed. Although the Lord-Lieutenant is the official head of the executive government, the Secretary of State for Ireland, who usually sits in the Cabinet, virtually controls all Irish administration, while the Inland Revenue, Customs and Excise, and the Post Office are controlled from their re spective headquarters in London. The Treasury Remembrancer's Office in Ireland, the Irish Board of Public Works and the Irish Valuation Office are under the Imperial Treasury, which also controls the Irish Commission under the National Insurance Act. The Board of Trade has branches in Ireland to deal with the mer cantile marine, the Royal Naval Reserve and the employment exchanges. Since 1898 great changes have been made in the manner of ad ministering the local government. Previous to that date the chief authority in the county was the grand jury, and all local affairs pertaining to the government and local laws were attended to by the grand juries and presentment sessions. The act of 1898 provides for a council, elected by the people, for a term of three years, women being equally eligible with men. The government of the boroughs, rural and urban districts, is also vested in an elective council. The unincorporated boroughs are governed by commissioners.