EDINBURGH'S NEW AMBITION.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXiX, Issue 7730, 25 February 1909, Page 1

EDINBURGH'S NEW AMBITION.

Edinburgh Town Council had before it recently a question of first moment to the citizens. The prospects of the city's expansion on the lines of industrial and manufacturing activity have been long canvassed ; it is felt that with the splendid waterway of the Firth of i-'orth at hand, and the recent remarkable developments of the coal fields of ihe Lothians and Fife, the district is marked out as a site for increasing mercantile enterprise. The Town Clerk's able report, now made public, has focussed local interest on the question. It is well known that by the passing of the Patents Act foreign manufacturers of special goods are now " compelled to set up factories m this country; and there are good reasons why Edinburgh and its environs should profit by the importation of new industries.' The things wanted ar& land, labour, coal, and communications, if land can be procured at reasonable rates, if there is a good supply of labour assured, if railway and sshjpp 1)-^ facilities are at hand, an.l if the proximity of large coalfields piovkLs the material of cheap snoti/o force, ihc inducements for capital's;:! 1 indist-v to move towards Edin >'.ir<»]i and its vicinity are strong. It is njt proposed that the Scottish capital, whose ruhiral and architectural !'t\..uties are famous all the world -tvev, should I c invaded by the industrial i,!(lalism of hosts of brick buildings and sacking chimneys. The public c •nsc.o-iioe is suificiently awake, to denounce and expel any proposal that would impair oho natural grandeur of the Castle {.lock, the Grecian aspect of the Calton .Mill, or the fine rus m urbe character "of Arthur Seat. These and many other views give its character to "Scotia's darling seat" ; and ho would be a rash | man who would propose to impair by the -disfigurement of purely industrial buildings the natural and acquired beauties of the city. That, however, is not what is suggested. There are ', low-lying districts, such as Gorgie and Craigentmny, where manufactures might flourish on a much larger scale without detriment to the amenity of the city, and with distinct gain to its prosperity. There is land available for ( leu ing; and not a little of that la.nd' is m the hands of the Corporation itself, or of public bodies closely associated with the Corporation. The proposal to make these facts more widely known, to publish the inducements I which Edinburgh and the district offer I far manufacturing capital—convenient railways and harbours, cheap services m lighting and water, available land, and abundant labour supply—-was the purport of the recommendation submitted to the Council by the Lord Provost's Committee recently. The general sense of the community was reflected m the unanimity of the Council. There was no dissentient voice to the granting of the remit demanded. — Weekly Scotsman.