The present Congested Districts Board, so often referred to in the text, is constituted under the following clauses of the Irish Land Act of 1909:—
45.—(1.) From and after the appointed day, the Congested Districts Board shall consist of the following members:—
(a.) The Chief Secretary, the Under Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant, and the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland, who shall be ex officio members:
(b.) Nine members appointed by His Majesty (in this Act referred to as appointed members):
(c.) Two paid members appointed by His Majesty (in this Act referred to as permanent members).
(2.) An appointed member shall hold office for five years, and shall be eligible for re-appointment. On a casual vacancy occurring by reason of the death, resignation, or incapacity of an appointed member or otherwise, the person appointed by His Majesty to fill the vacancy shall continue in office until the member in whose place he was appointed would have retired, and shall then retire.
46.—(1.) For the purposes of the Congested Districts Board (Ireland) Acts, as amended by this Act, each of the following administrative counties, that is to say, the counties of Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Roscommon, Mayo, Galway, and Kerry, shall be a congested districts county, the six rural districts of Ballyvaghan, Ennistymon, Kilrush, Scariff, Tulla, and Killadysert, in the county of Clare, shall together form one congested districts county, and the four rural districts of Bantry, Castletown, Schull, and Skibbereen, in the county of Cork, shall together form one congested districts county.
(2.) No electoral division shall, after the passing of this Act, be or form part of a congested districts county, unless it is included in a congested districts county constituted under this section.
The Act follows closely on the lines of the Report of the 1908 Commission, and places a third of Ireland under the Board.
(1.) RECOMMENDATION IN REGARD TO IRELAND OF THE ROYAL COMMISSION ON CANALS AND INLAND NAVIGATION
(1.) That such waterways in Ireland as, on a review of all the facts, your Majesty's Government may deem of importance to the cause of cheap inland transport, should come under State control; and
(2.) That a Controlling Authority should be constituted for the purpose of taking over those inland waterways which are already under the control of the State, of Local Authorities, or of a public trust, and of acquiring such other waterways as are determined to be of importance either to the drainage of the country, or to the cause of cheap inland transport.
(2.) IN REGARD TO IRISH RAILWAYS
The principal recommendation of the Majority Report of the Viceregal Commission on Irish Railways (1910) runs as follows:—
(1.) That an Irish Authority be instituted to acquire the Irish Railways and work them as a single system.
(2.) That this Authority be a Railway Board of twenty Directors, four nominated and sixteen elected.
(3.) That the general terms of purchase be those prescribed by the Regulation of Railways Act of 1844 (7 and 8 Vic. cap. 85. sec. 2), with supplementary provisions as to redemption of guarantees, and purchase of non-dividend paying or non-profit earning lines.
(4.) That the financial medium be a Railway Stock; and that such stock be charged upon (1) the Consolidated Fund; (2) the net revenues of the unified Railway system; (3) an annual grant from the Imperial Exchequer; and (4) a general rate, to be struck by the Irish Railway Authority if and when required.
(1.) HOME RULE PARLIAMENTS IN THE BRITISH EMPIRE
| Canada | 10 |
| Australia | 7 |
| South Africa | 5 |
| Newfoundland | 1 |
| New Zealand | 5 |
| Total | 24 |
Besides these Autonomous Parliaments—
(1.) India has also now seven "Legislative Councils," partly elective.
(2.) The Isle of Man has "House of Keys," with almost complete legislative power.
(3.) The Channel Islands have their own semi-independent governing Assemblies.
(4.) The Crown Colonies have Assemblies possessing a considerable local representative element.
Typographical errors corrected in text: