FROM NORTH OF TWEED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18349, 13 September 1921, Page 8

FROM NORTH OF TWEED

A LETTER TO SCOTTISH EXILES. Bt Robert S. Angus. EDINBURGH, July 28. Scotland is first in the field with the issue of the provisional result of the census taken last June. The result will disquiet those whoso ideal is a rapid increase of population, for in {he deeennium the gain has been only 2.5 per cent., the smallest in any 10 years for over a century, except in the period ended 1881, when emigration was at its height. The total population of the country is now 4,882,157. Of course, the war must have ‘had a serious influence on the figures, both directly and indirectly, through the loss of males at their most productive age. In spite of Goldsmith’s dictum, “111 fares the land where men decay,” it is doubtful whether any large increase in population in a country which has long ceased to be self-supporting in food supply is desirable, especially when there are within ilie Empire vast unfilled spaces whore life can be lived under more wholesome conditions than in our modern cities. LOCAL VARIATIONS.

For purposes of* local comparison the figures are vitiated on this occasion by the fact that tho counting was not, done, as usual, on the first Sunday in April—owing to the industrial crisis then impending,— but in the first week in June, by which time the summer migration had begun. This no doubt explains the 85 per cent, increase in the population of Bute, which has so much puzzled some of the commentators. It means that the Glasgow man who has a villa at Rothesay or Brodick had transferred his quarters “doon the watter" for tho season. The same element no doubt enters into the increases in Argyll, Dumbarton, and Renfrew, and is responsible for' the unexpectedly small increase in Glasgow itself—-only 2.5 per cent. But the most surprising feature is that Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Dundee have all declined, an indication that these cities have made no industrial progress during the 10 years. On the other hand, Clydebank is up "by 24- per cent., and Dunfermline by no less than 36 per cent. —due in the former case to shipbuilding development, and in the latter to the extension of the burgh boundaries and the establishment of the naval base at Bosyth. THE TOWNWARD DRIFT.

In all the purely agricultural counties the figures show that the townward, drift goes on. The development of coal mining In East Lothian and Fife is reflected in the figures for these counties, and* even Lanark, which was supposed to have passed the peak, is also up, duo no doubt to the development of steel-making and ancillary industries, while the towns in that county have also grown. But where the population depends cn the produce of the soil the figures arc depressing. Caithness and Sutherland are each down by over 11 per cent. It is thus evident that such gain of population as we have had is in the towns, and that cannot be regarded as a healthy state of matters. Tho policy of land eettle'ment' has had no appreciable effect, for though the result must bo small in any case, it has been most negligible owing to the incompetence of our ''Board of Agriculture. The order of our towns in point of size is now*: Glasgow (1,034,069), Edinburgh, Dundee. Aberdeen, Paisley, Greenock, Motherwell and _ Wish aw, Clydebank! Coatbridge, Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy, Hamilton, Kilmarnock, Ayr. Falkirk, and Perth. AN ABERDEENSHIRE FIRE.

Aberdeenshire in the course of the last week has had more excitement than it wanted. A picnic party on the Hill o’ Fare, at Edit, accidentally set fire to the heather! and everything; being as dry as tinder, the fire spread with sudh rapidity that the picnickers had to flee for tneir lives. By the following day some 40XXX) or 50,000 acres of moorland were on fire; The small farms in the district were threatened with destruction and the whole countryside had to turn out to defend their homes. As usual on such occasions bravery, and publicspirit were not lacking. The local landowners, Lord Cowdray, of Dunecht, Lady Cathcart,. of Cluny, Lord Shaw, of Craigmyle, Commander Innes, of Raemoir, and Sir Thomas Burnett, of Leys, sent all the men and equipment at their command, and Lord Glentannar, who had a similar fire on his estate a year or two ago, despatched his motor fire, engine all the way from Upper Deeside. In the end the lire was prevented from, reaching the valuable woodlands in thq neighbourhood, and apaii from the suffocating of a few cattle the damage done was comparatively* small. But the scenes as the small holders were driving their live stock and removing their house furniture reminded the spectators of the terror in Belgium-;when the Germans were coming jn 1914. By great good luck a drenching rain came .to,the assistance of the fire-fighters when it looked as if they would be beaten, and at the moment of writing the danger seems over. V GROUSE PROSPECTS.

It’s an ill drought that does] no good, and as the result of this year's experience the grouse Shooting promises to be exceptional. The absence of wet was favourable to hatching and to the survival of the chicks. The scarcity of water has scattered the birds in some districts into unusual haunts, but I daresay they will be discovered by tlhe 12th of next month. The letfing of moors—on which so many Highland lairds depend for a large, part of their income now-a-days has been .pretty good in spite of the dullness of trade. There seems V> be always’ a certain number ; of, people above the mark at'which financial stringency can touch , them. THE HIGHLAND SOCIETY SHOW. . Stirling has been the ’Mecca of the Scottish farmer and landowner and his wife this week, for there is being held the annual show of the Highland Agricultural Society. Stirling is not only in the centre of Scotland geographically, but it is better off for railway facilities tfijin most towns of its size. Accordingly the" 1 society expects to make a good surplus as a set-off to the shows in smaller places which do not pay their way. THE HABITS OF THE PARMER. For nearly a fortnight the Circuit Court has been sitting in Jedburgh trying two cases of culpable homicide, arising out of people being run down by motor cars. Of the merits of the particular cases I say nothing, for I know no more than has been reported in the papers. But the facts as recorded suggest some melancholy reflections on the habits of the modern farmer oh the Borders. It seems that he thinks nothing of motoring 50 or 60 miles to a sale; where ho may or may not want to buy something. He, makes a halt at several inns oil the way there, has something to drink with his lunch (provided by the farmer who is holding the sale), sets out for home in the evening, again calls at the inns, as well as on fanner friends in the district. It is little wonder that when he is going rapidly through his local town about 11 o’clock at night accidents happen. In this case death resulted, and the farmer has been sent to prison for 12 months, in addition to being fined £6OO. It used to be said that the farmer’s, horse could always find his way safely home when his master was not in a mood to , look after Ifim, but the motor car has-not yet been trained up, to that point; I should like to think that the case before tho court at Jedburgh is exceptional, but it is to be feared that there is more drinking in some districts than is consistent with the best farming. EDINBURGH’S LORD PROVOST. Having had two lawyers in succession as Lord Provosts, Edinburgh has on this occasion decided on a layman, Mr Thomas Hutchison, in preference to Treasurer Dcas, who also happens to be a lawyer. Mr Hutchison is a wine merchant in Leith, and both his grandfather and his wife’s were Provost of that burgh, now municipally extinct. It is a graceful and much-appre-ciated compliment that tho recently merged burgli should thus have been honored. Mr Hutchison is a man of great good sense, and during the 12 years he has been in municipal life has done much valuable work for the city, especially in connection with public health. OBITUARY.

Two Scots, well known in their respective professions, have passed away this week, Dr F. W. N. Haultain. who has probably assisted more Edinburgh citizens into the world than any man of his time, and tho Rev, Dr Menzies Ferguson, who has been for nearly 40 years the parish minister of Logie, in Stirlingshire. Dr Haultain was distinguished both as a teacher and a practitioner of surgery, was for many years senior physician to the maternity hospital, 'and the founder of the special hospital for women. He was besides a good sportsman. Football, cricket, and latterly golf, claimed his loyalty in succession, and he went through the world with a gaiety and a tenderness of heart that made him the friend of all who knew him. Dr Menzies Ferguson vVas a man of exceptional individuality, specially interested in the welfare cf farm servants and tinkers, a keen student, writer, and traveller, and the possessor of views on questions like temperance and foreign missions which used to make his colleagues in the General Assembly gasp. His rich fund of humour, and his seemingly inexhaustible supply of good stories made him a favourite wherever he went —Presbytery dinner, curling match, or meeting of the education authorities, of which he was chairman irr his county. Another death I have to record is that of Captain Anstruther, of the Black Watch, heir to Sir Ralph. Anstruther,. of