It is not our intention to oppose this Vote. I suppose the losses incurred by Sir Nugent Everard arose mainly through want of proper consideration being given to the scheme and also through want of sympathy by the Department in question. The tobacco industry is one which many people believe could be developed to a very high pitch. It could become a very important industry, and proof of that can be given, if necessary, in its history. The British Government, for their own purposes, at times encouraged the development of the industry, while at other times they took steps to stamp it out. As all the Deputies here may not understand or may never have taken any interest in the question of tobacco growing—I know there are a good many here who since the establishment of the Free State have heard this subject discussed—I think it would be useful for everyone to know a little of the ups and downs of the history of this industry and the position into which an alien Government has put it. It will convince them that because of that opposition there must be some real economic value in tobacco growing.
Tobacco-growing was introduced by Sir Walter Raleigh along with potatoes, and I understand he made his first trial in County Cork. His potatoes were successful, and his tobacco would also have been successful but for the fact that it seemed to interfere with the policy of the British Government. Charles II. was the first monarch in England who objected to the growing of tobacco here. He wanted to develop the industry in America, and later, when the American Colonies fell out with the British Government, the latter encouraged tobacco-growing in Ireland. It was grown here very successfully up to the year 1830. County Wexford had numerous factories, and up to that time there was every prospect that the industry was going to be successful, but the British Government immediately stamped it out. They appointed a Commission, and at that Commission it was proved by manufacturers in London that, if they allowed the leaf to be grown in Ireland, the Irish manufacturers would be able to compete with them and, eventually, would be able to capture the market. Consequently strict laws were passed and the growing of tobacco in Ireland was completely abolished.
In Co. Cavan a gentleman was prosecuted and fined £60 for growing a few plants in his garden. Schemes were started about 1898. The Government evidently repented. The schemes were started on a rather small scale, merely experimental. Some time afterwards, about the year 1914, another scheme was started. There was a grant of £75,000 for that. It was while this scheme was in operation that Sir Nugent Everard took up tobacco-growing. That project failed, owing to war conditions, I suppose. It was found more profitable to grow foodstuffs than to grow tobacco. The climax came when the Colonial preferential tariff was introduced into England. Countries like India, which had supplies on hand for three or four years, flooded the English market, with the result that the Irish suppliers were not able to compete. The tobacco was put into bond and remained there. When the Free State came into existence it got something like about one-third of the £75,000 grant. It was then that the rehandling scheme was introduced. Sir Nugent Everard and Lord Dunraven erected certain machines. These were bought in the United States of America, and were made to deal with a produce of about one thousand acres, but neither Sir Nugent Everard nor Lord Dunraven had that number of acres to deal with, and, therefore, the overhead charges would seem to be very much against the cost of production, and it did not seem to be economic. However, no smaller machines were made. Lord Dunraven was rather lucky, as he had his machine insured, and it was destroyed by fire, so that he was paid for it. Sir Nugent Everard was not so lucky, with the result we have now. The scheme might have been successful but for the difficulties that were put up, especially by the Revenue Department. That Department did not hold out any hopes, and did not give sympathetic consideration to the matter. The conditions they put up regarding the collection of revenue were rather complicated, and almost impossible for growers to comply with. A special committee was set up to inquire into those conditions, but unfortunately the terms of reference were rather narrow. The committee was only empowered to inquire into the question of revenue. It was unable to go into the question of the possibilities in the development of tobacco-growing, and it recommended that a commission should be set up to inquire into that question.
The Minister for Finance at that time seemed to have great hopes for the industry. He spoke of planting its roots firmly, and in that I believe he was perfectly right. It has a future, and is a very important branch of agriculture. It is an industry which, according to the statistics of the Department of Agriculture, gives the greatest number of hours of employment. Tobacco-growing per acre gives 748 hours' employment; potatoes, the next highest, 309 hours, and sugar-beet about 270 hours. The tobacco crop is a quick-growing one. By September it can be cleared off the land and preparations for another crop can be made. It is a crop which affords profitable employment to the sons and daughters of the small farmers. If wheat is sown after the tobacco crop it gives a very excellent yield. It is a cash crop, and the farmer by September or October should be able to have his money out of it. That puts him in the position of being able to get a proper price for his produce. Tobacco is grown in the Colonies to a very large extent. The market in England takes something like 299,000,000 lbs., and in Ireland we take something like 7,000,000 or 8,000,000 lbs. of tobacco. Tobacco-growing is successful in the Colonies and in Denmark. In South America it is a most successful crop, but they work under conditions quite different to what we do here, as in most cases the home market is free from duty. That would seem an impossible proposition to the Revenue Department in this country, but I do not believe the growing of tobacco could be completely successful except under those conditions. I understand that in Denmark only one-third of the revenue is charged. The whole question, I suppose, cannot be decided except the Government sets up another committee to inquire not so much into the question of duty as to the possibilities of developing the industry, which has never been placed on anything like a commercial or businesslike basis. It was purely and simply experimental, and for that reason it was impossible to get a uniform type of tobacco grown.
And from the moment that the growers had gained sufficient experience to grow the crop successfully the scheme fell through, so that we have never had, perhaps, reasonable proof given as to whether the crop could be grown or not. I can safely say that the men who have grown it up to the present have quite successfully grown it. I have myself within the last month seen a leaf that is very suitable as a covering leaf for cigars. It is very fine, without any stalk, and is as good as I have seen grown in the Bahia, the famous place of John Player and Sons. I am not an expert but, to my mind, it is quite as good, and just as high in quality, so that I believe there is no reason why the industry could not be developed here, and there is no reason why the leaf could not be grown. It has been tried here in different classes of land. It is not a case that the County Meath might be suitable and others not suitable. That is not the case, because it has been grown all over Ireland and grown very successfully.
The yield per acre, in 1921, on the average, was something like 900 lbs. It gives a very good return. It was certainly successful in that year. However, from that year it gradually fell. In 1923 they turned out 721 lbs. to the acre. In 1924 it fell to 411 lbs. to the acre, but there were other reasons for that. The growers, I suppose, had lost confidence and they did not give the crop the attention it required and, I suppose, climatic conditions were not favourable. But in all agricultural countries, and in the agricultural industry in general, I do not think it can be said that the conditions are favourable all the time throughout the year. There is no agricultural country in the world which has not difficulties to surmount, and most agricultural countries surmount the difficulties through proper scientific examination of the different questions with which they are confronted. Of course, the weather is one thing that can only be got over to a certain extent.
There are certain classes of seeds and crops which will survive against either great drought or too much rain, and if they are adopted, and proper methods of selection are followed, these difficulties can be partially got over. The tobacco-growing industry could be profitably run if the revenue did not interfere with it so much. People would be in a position to meet a couple of bad years when they had one or two good years as well. After all, the agricultural industry in general will have one or two good years with a couple of middling, and one or two bad years. You cannot expect every year to be a good year and the same thing arises with the question of tobacco-growing. It gives an average price of about £130 per acre. The fattening of cattle, and the raising of store cattle, in any particular year, would not give more. The highest amount would be about £3 per acre, with labour expenditure of, say, 12/- or 14/-, so that tobacco-growing would be much more profitable.
The point I have in my mind in speaking on this question of tobacco-growing is that I believe, after all the time that has been spent on it and the installations that have been made, it would be a great loss to allow the industry to die out without making some further effort, or making some inquiry, so as to be in a position to know whether it was possible to maintain the industry, or whether it was better to let it go by the board. That is simply my object in making these few remarks. Like other people, I believe that the industry has a future, provided it gets the sympathetic consideration of a Government. Now that we have a national Government I suppose it is not out of place to ask at least sympathetic consideration for this industry.
