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THE CONGRESS OF WOMEN.

this homespun cloak from Sutherlandshire, this fine crochet work from Clones, this point-lace handkerchief from Youghall. Is it possible forsuch work as this to be pro­duced by machinery, however delicate? No; let us be thankful that the work of trained human fingers is still superior in many directions to the iron monsters devised by human brains, and that there are manufactures which can not be turned out by the dozen, and where every value consists in their not being so turned out. But then the question arises, Is it desirable to encourage or continue the existence of these home industries, which are produced at the expense of so much more labor than the machine goods, and which in comparison cannot be paid so well for the time and toil and outlay given, or should they be regarded even as these beautifully illuminated manuscripts of bygone days, things to be admired and treasured, but the production of which now would mean willful waste of life.

Now as far as the starting or maintenance of such home industries in a compara­tively young country like this simply from a commercial point of view would be a doubtful proceeding, as far as I can understand, and I speak under correction. It is very different in the old countries on the other side, and especially in agricultural districts where there is so much difficulty in getting the people to remain on the land. A few extra shillings there makes all the difference between want and comfort, and you can very easily mark the difference between districts where such industries exist and those in which they are not to be found. My experience is gathered from Scot­land and Ireland, but I imagine the same result is found in other countries. The spe­cial field where home industries are of peculiar use as a source of maintenance, is in the country there where women and children can employ their leisure time in carry­ing it on and where men can do so also through the winter. Then when a bad season comes the people have something else to fall back on besides the precarious and often scanty crops. It was in times of famine that most of the lace-making indus­tries had their origin, benevolent ladies setting themselves to teach the people some work whereby to gain a little money, and the quick Celtic fingers learning the art rapidly and successfully. And it was in a time of distress that a clergyman’s wife, Mrs. Webster, taught the women of Pitsligo in Aberdeenshire, how to make the only hand-made lace which is still produced in Scotland. Other ladies have perceived in the home-made stuffs and knitting made from their own wool possibilities for a wider market, and have instructed the people so to dye it and weave it as to make it attractive to the fashionable public. I knew a lady in Invernesshire, who for many, many years has made her own house a sort of center and depot for knitting and home-made stuffs. She instructed herself also in how to make home-made dyes from vegetables and mosses, like Mrs. Ernest Hart has done so successfully, and revived this knowledge among the people and sold their goods for them.

A large knitting industry in the Northwest of Ireland, though poorly paid, sup­ports in large measure hundreds and hundreds of families who have but little other resource than harvest work, which the men go to seek in Scotland. The people walk miles to get this work. This home-spun industry is also one that supports a whole district. It is an increasing industry, and we hope that our Irish Industries Associa­tion has been able to find a way of improving it with a large shirt and underclothing industry of the North of Ireland, the Shetland knitting of the Shetland Isles.

I have only mentioned these examples to show you why I and others are such enthusiastic supporters of home industries in our own country if only from a com­mercial point of view. If you could see these poor people clamoring for work, if you could see the earnestness with which they put themselves to it when they do get it, you could have a notion of the comfort and brightness that the sale of their goods in that Irish Village yonder has brought to many and many an Irish home, you would not wonder at our enthusiasm.

But there is another side to these industries besides the commercial one, and this is one which applies to all countries alike, and even if there were no money to be made out of them, I would be a strong upholder of them because of their educational and