Besides the various other complaints forwarded to Dublin of the way in
which tickets were issued by the Committees, one officer writes that he
finds they had become a "saleable commodity" in the hands of the
labourers. A man, he says, obtains a ticket, disposes of it for what he
can get, and goes back for another, feeling sure that amongst the
numberless applicants he would not be recognized as having been given
one before. This practice, which was not and could not be carried on to
any great extent, was but another proof that the works were insufficient
to meet the demand for employment. Instead of the issue of tickets by
Committees it was ruled by the Board, that the inspecting officer should
furnish to the check clerk, for the engineer, a list of the men to be
employed on any particular work.[154]
As before remarked, an undercurrent of feeling pervaded the minds of
officials that there was not at all so much real distress in Ireland as
the people pretended, and that there was a great deal more food in the
country than there was said to be. This was sometimes openly asserted,
but more frequently hinted at and insinuated in communications to the
Board of Works and the Treasury.
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