In the poorer and more backward regions of the West it has been felt
that the above measures are not enough, and a special agency has been
constituted with very wide powers to help the Western farmer, and not
only the farmer, but the fisherman, the weaver, or anyone pursuing a
productive occupation there, to make the most of his resources and to
develop his industry in the best possible way. This Board commands a
statutory endowment of 231,000 pounds a year. A system of light railways
which now covers these remote districts has given new and valuable
facilities for the marketing of fish and every kind of produce.
The various Boards and other agencies by which these measures are
carried into execution are manned almost exclusively by Irishmen.