(1) _Size of the problem_.
The first assertion, that much nearer L200,000,000 than L100,000,000
must be borrowed in order to complete purchase, is based on two
assumptions explicitly stated in the Return presented to Parliament (Cd.
4412 of 1908) as follows: "It will be observed that the purchase money
of the agricultural land not yet brought before the Commissioners for
sale under the Land Purchase Acts has been estimated _on the assumption
that it will be all sold_ and that _it will be sold on an average at the
price for which lands had been sold up to 30th April last, under the
Irish Land Act_ (1903)." The assumptions on which the Government
proceeded are not, therefore, in doubt, but the validity of those
assumptions, on which the whole case of the Government depends, is
refuted by the ascertained facts of Irish agriculture. The census shows
that the number of agricultural holdings in Ireland is about 490,000,
including nearly 19 million acres. The whole area of Ireland includes
some 21 million acres, apportioned to 3-1/2 million acres under crops, 6
million acres of waste, and 11-1/2 million acres under grass.
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