STANDS SCOTLAND WHERE IT DID?

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23205, 26 November 1938, Page 1 (Supplement)

STANDS SCOTLAND WHERE IT DID?

"A Suburb of London"

By KOTARE

TANDS Scotland where it did 1 ?" was the first eager inquiry of the exiled Macduff when a messenger from over the border sought him at the English court. That same question ought to be far more often on the lips of expatriated Scots who still with pride count themselves amid all new loyalties the faithful children of Caledonia stern and wild. For that matter one of the biggest tragedies of the whole position as it has developed to-day is that this vital question is so seldom raised even by the Scots who have not established themselves furth of Scotland.. A considerable element* of our New Zealand population hails from the North and, more perhaps than most of our people, tries to carry over into the new land, and make effective in the new environment, its traditional national character and attitudes. But the interest in Scotland tends to evaporate in a smug complacency and mutual admiration, or in sentimental idealisations that bear no relation to things as they are in Scotland to-day and do nothing to bring into focus the actual problem created by post-war conditions in the Homeland. It was many years ago that Henry George boldly informed an audience of Scotsmen that unless they took a thocht and mended their ways it would be necessary to consider whether it would not be more honest to remove the lion rampant from the Scottish standard and replace it by a sheep. Hard words these, that aroused bitter indignation. But much harder words have been said in this year of-', grace by loyal Scots intent on stirring their country out of its acquiescent apathy. A Vital Issue

There are so raany urgent problems to-day in international politics that it might with reason bo maintained that small local grievances should be kept in the background till some way is found through the jungle of the more important issues that crowd upon us. But the forces that are operating to complicate Scotland's problem are working with full vigour" all the time. It will be increasingly difficult .to find a solution, and the reawakening of a national spirit is actually a contribution to the solving oflthe wider problems. The more every part of the British Commonwealth can contribute in spiritual force to the resources of the whole, the more effective will be the impact of the united effort on the difficulties that beset us all. In the last issue it will not be this inspired policy or that which will -prevail, but the nation that can best mobilise all its resources of manhood and vision, and drive and character. That Scotland has a very valuable contribution to make no one that knows anything of her. history would deny. But equally it is certain that as thjngs are that contribution cannot be effectively made.

The movement for the restoration of Scotland is much more than a demand for Home Rule, though that is necessarily included in the policy of rehabilitation. The excesses of fantastic but very vocal nationalists have tended to remove the urgent issues from the field of practical politics. The crank has a poor hearing' in Scotland, and far too much of the initial work has been left in the hands of emotionalists who 'have exercised their undoubted talents, in foolish belittling of the past and ridicule of elements of Scottish life built into thevery fibre of the people. Mere furious denunciation of the Scottish Church, for example, will defeat at the outset any attempt to arouse the national will of Scotland to, take in hand its own regeneration. Negations Not Enough The Church has been to Scotland what Parliament has been to England, the arena in which men were trained in democratic institutions, in many/a dark day the one point at which the Scottish spirit could express itself. To ignore that, as many of the nationalists do, is to attempt the reconstruction without the most essential factorj the one that still can most readily set a standard in the field for the rallying of true Scottish sentiment. • ' . The.effort to discredit Calvanism as the villain of the piece is a wilful misunderstanding oi: the deepest values in Scottish life. Its very sternness, its passion for liberty, the stress it laid on the value of the individual, chimed with the deepest things in the Scottish character. But the campaign being carried out to-day by the Neills and Macdonalds and Thomsons and Lockharts and MacEwans has a positive side of irresistible logic and. power. Scotland has suffered desperately by the dominance of England. It is almost the only important part of the British Dominions that is denied the right of self-government. The British Parliament has already in English and Imperial affairs far more business than it can cope with satisfactorily. It has been estimated that the actual time devoted to Scottish business by the British Parliament averages seven hours per annum. Influence of London The result of this centralisation in London has been the neglect of the Scottish matters-that are vital for the maintenance of a healthy prosperous national life North of the Twetfd. Agriculture and fishing, the two most important industries from the Scottish point of view, have been either neglected or dealt with from an English official angle that has ignored the personal element so fundamental in these branches of 'national activity. True ». there has been of recent years an effort to hand over the regulation' of these key industries, with education, a vital matter to Scotland, to Scottish Boards of Control. But the pull of London as tho final [uithority is too strong. ' Bruce Lockhart is perhaps overstating the -case when he affirms that Scotland has become the fag-end of the depressed areas of England. "It has been proved over and over again," writes A. G. Macclonnell, "that Scotland's prosperity is on the down-grade in comparison with England's, and that the Union so far from being an advantage is a definite disadvantage. It can be proved in a dozen ways from official statistics. Unless we have lessening of the ties with London we will never have a chance of saving so much of Scottish life that is worth saving." "Scotland is now a suburb of London," says A S Neill.

So self-government is simply a stage in the revival of the Scottish national spirit. The ultimate aim is the development on a national basis not only of the economic resources, but of the life and character of the people of Scotland. The Scottish national consciousness insists that Scotland's destiny ia not to be completely anglicised, bub that she too should develop before jit is too late, her own literature, her music, drama and art, and economically,,; .J| politically and spiritually she should vindicate her right to bo 8 nation.