Mr. John Morley had to produce on Monday the returns
for the Irish savings-banks, which certainly showed that the working class in Ireland have just as little faith in Home-rule as the capitalists themselves. In 1892, the deposits in the two months between February 1st and April 1st, amounted to £190,947, and the withdrawals to £184,405. This year, during the same period, the deposits were 2183,905, and the withdrawals 2278,130. Mr. Morley added that the difference between the with- drawals and deposits of 1893 was only 2 per cent, on the total due to depositors. No doubt. But a difference of 2 per cent. in two months may well mean 15 per cent., or more than 15 per cent., in the year if the alarm should increase; and that would represent no slight amount of panic among the poorer classes of Ireland. Amongst the capitalists we know that the panic is profound. And Ireland is certainly not a country which can afford to frighten away a large proportion of the capital invested there, and to make even the depositors in the savings- banks diminish their safest investments by such an amount as this.
