FROM NORTH OF TWEED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19261, 27 August 1924, Page 10

FROM NORTH OF TWEED

A LETTER TO SCOTS OYERSEAS. Written for the Otago Daily Times By Robert SL Angus. EDINBURGH, July 11. Since the Prime Minister is so much in the. public eye this week I may as well begin by recording the fact that when the proposal to make him an honorary citizen of Edinburgh came before the Town Council for confirmation, only one member objected, and in so halfhearted a manner that the decision may now r bo regarded as unanimous. In these circumstances, it is hoped that Mr MacDonald will discard the hesitation he had about accepting the distinction so long as it involved serious controversy. Dundee, on the other hand, came to a decision to the same effect without delay or dissent, and it looks as tf the Prime Minister will have to spend no small part of his summer holiday in making speeches of thanks for illuminated vellum scrolls enclosed in silver boxes. A friend who saw him just before he left for Paris tells me he is looking as if he would be all the better for a few weeks at Lossimoutli. CONFEREN CE SE A SON. The season when conferences from all parts of the world, ami interests in a wide variety of topics find their way to Edinburgh has begun again. We have made a start with the Tramways and Light Railways Association. No so long ago we should have blushed to admit such a body to our midst, for, with some justice our cable-cars were held up to the world as an example of what to avoid in street traction. Now we fan welcome tlvo delegates with unqualified pride, for the conversion of our tramway system to electric power has just been completed, and the experts testify that the work has been admirably done. The Scottish Cattle Breeders’ Association has oeen meeting this week to exchange ideas on the best way of still further increasing the prominence of our pedigree stock. In the near future we arc looking forward to a visit from the editors of the Canadian weekly newspapers, the names of whose journals suggest that the towns in which they are published were founded by our fellow-countrymen. Later we are to have a large number of delegates who have come to the International Advertising Congress, including a large number of representatives from across the Atlantic. Both these bodies are coming by way of the Wembley Exhibition. EDINBURGH ACADEMY CENTENARY. In these days it is perhaps difficult to realise the great leap forward that was made in education when it occurred to the fertile mind of Lord Cockburn to propose the establishment of a new school in Edinburgh. Then we had no publicly managed schools, except the Royal High School, which had become overcrowded and was inconveniently situated as the city was developing northwards and westwards. Within three weeks a sum of £9OOO had been guaranteed, and the scheme went forward. Among the most enthusiastic supporters was Sir Walter Scott, although ho was a Royal High School boy himself, and ho was largely influential in the appointment of the first rector, John Williams (afterwards Archdeacon of Cardigan), a Balliol friend of John Gibson Lockhart, his son-in-law, and according to' the enthusiastic Sir Walter, “the boat schoolmaster in Europe." He laid the foundation of the school well and truly, and its history has been one of unbroken progress. Its aim is, while holding high the classical tradition, to combine the best features of the English public school with its devotion to games and self-discipline, and the best features of the Scottish day school system. It is probably no accident that most of the rectors have been Englishmen, or that the staff, though mostly of Scottish birth, is as a rule composed of men with an Oxford or Cambridge training. For West End of Edinburgh parents the Academy has become the recognised school for all boys who do not go south to one of the famous English establishments, EDINBURGH JURIDICAL SOCIETY. It is sad to record that after a history of over 150 years the Edinburgh Juridical Society has had to be wound up. It was formed in 1773 in order that young members of and candidates for the Faculty of Advocates and the Society of Writers to the Signet might meet weekly to study legal problems and sharpen each other s wits by debates. In its free and easyearly days the Society used to meet in High street coffee-houses and even dancing halls, confident that its high character would exempt it from unworthy suspicions. Its jubilee dinner was attended by Sir Walter Scott, Francis Jeffrey, and Lord Cockburn, and the chief speaker at the centenary celebration was .Lord President Inglis. Like so many other societies, it had its activities totally suspended by the war. An effort to resuscitate it has failed, in view of the many other means now avialable for study, and the members have decided to hand over their valuable collection of books and documents to the Advocates’ Library,' where it will continue to be available for students. A YOUNG LL.D. I met the other day Sir Frederick Whyte, President of the Legislative Assembly of India, who is at present home on leave. After spending some time with his widowed mother who now lives in London, he has come north to meet l.is Edinburgh friends. He looks as youthful and vigorous as ever, in spite of "his four years in India, and it was almost a shock to read that, Edinburgh University, of which he was a student, proposes to confer upon him the degree of LL.D.—a well deserved distinction, but one usually associated with older men. Sir Frederick tells me that he finds his work in India intensely interesting, and that if the Assembfy has a fault, it is that of being almost too decorous. He feels no little pleasure in having assisted to start On legislative institutions in India on sound lines. Though he does not say so, I suspect Sir Frederick looks forward to resuming a pari in British politics. He returns to India at the end of this month to complete his live years’ term as President. SCHOOL POPULATION DECLINES. It is a little startling to read that the number of our school children under 14 years of age is the lowest for 20 years. This, of course, is the inevitable result of the war having diminished the annual crop of babies, and the reduction is certain to continue for the next five years or sn. On the other hand, the number of children in attendance over 14 is slowly but steadily increasing. Equally satisfactory is the fact that the proportion of attendance to numbers on the roll is the highest on record —almost tO per cent., a remarkable figure when one reflects on the difficulties of climate and distance in the outlying places. The authorities admit that the record was due largely to the mildness of last winter and the absence of serious epidemics, but it must be accounted for partly by the fact that school is no longer a place of dreary terror to the pupils. THE HEIR OF THE; DOUGLASSES. Having attended the marriage of the parents, I was disagreeably reminded of the flight of time when I read this week that Lord Douglass, the heir of the Earl of Home (pronounced “Hume") had attained his majority. The young man, who was educated at Eton, seems likely to follow the example of his father in preferring the quiet life of a Scottish laird to participation in affairs of State. Perhaps the family is due a period of quiescence, for in the old days the Douglasses took a larger share in public life than was good for the tranquillity of the country, as every reader of Scottish history knows. For five or six centuries, there was hardly a time when one of the Douglasses, “Red" or “Black,’’ was not a potent figure for good or evil in the national life. There is some talk of trying to induce Lord Douglass to stand for Parliament, but the times are not propitious. LORD HIGH COMMISSIONER HONOURED. Mr James Brown has now, as ho hopes, completed his engagements arising out of

hia tenure of the Lord "High Commissionship. It took the form of a complimentary luncheon at which he was entertained by )iis fellow-members of the Presbytery of Ayr, and his health’ was proposed by Sir Charles Fcrjpisson, who was his opponent for the Parliamentary , representation for South Ayrshire at last election. Mr Prow'ii admitted that he Had been moved —at limes to tears—hy the kindness shown bin, by all ranks, and hy the obvious .‘which • his appointment had qiven to Ms fellow miners. Mr Brown iJL- me that the accounts for his fortnight’s reign at.Holyrood are not yet made up, but that he expects they will almost balance, ff there is any deficit, i am confident the leaders of the Church of Scotland will see that it does not come out of Mr Brown's scantily filled pocket. XIfW AGRICULTURAL PRINCIPAL.

I suppose the Edinburgh and East of Scotland Agricultural College must bo almost the only one of its kind which has contrived to get through the first 20 years of its existence without a Principal. That defect has now been made good by the appointment of Mr Edward Shearer, B.Sc.. it native of Orkney, who graduated at Edinburgh with honours in Economic Science and Agriculture. Since then, ho has held important posts in agricultural organisation, and education in India and Egypt, and .to judge from his record ho is pre-eminently qualified to tighten up the machinery of the Edinburgh College. SIR HARRY LAUDER ON HOLIDAY.

Sir Harry Lander, of whom his countrymen have heard little of late, is having a quiet holiday in the Forfar district, and is enjoying a large amount of free fishing, thanks to the hospitality of the local lairds. Sir Harry is no stranger in the neighbourhood, for he spent his boyhood in Arbroath, as any Forfarshire man can tell who hears him on the stage.