FROM NORTH OF TWEED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19349, 9 December 1924, Page 4

FROM NORTH OF TWEED

A LETTER TO SCOTS OVERSEAS.

Written for the Otago Daily Times. By Robert S. Angus. EDINBURGH, October 23. When one finds that more than half of his newspaper is devoted to the general election contest it is difficult to avoid the subject, especially as other topics seem at the same time to haye disappeared. I have beer, studying with some care the forecasts of the journalistic exports who have come from the South to tell us what is to happen, but their predictions are so obviously coloured by their hopes that the advantage they enjoy from their more detached position is lost. What is certain is that three or four old members have been returned unopposed—Mr lan Macpherson (Inverness), Sir Archibald Sinclair (Caithness), and Sir Robert Hamilton (Orkney and Shetland). The mention of their constituencies is sufficient to suggest the reason of their walkover. The other parties found themselves without candidates, and oven if they had boon in a mood to fight they could not have covered the ground in the time allowed before polling day. All three are Liberals of a moderate typo, and the Unionists concluded that there was not much point in opposing them. The three University members, who had also been looking forward to another unopposed return, found a rival in the field at the last moment, the Rev. J. M. Munro, a Larbert United Free Church minister nominated by the Socialists. He is not in the least liKoly to disturb any of the sitting members. FEWER MINISTERS

Time was when Scotland was responsible for a large proportion of the British Cabinet. We had Bryce in Aberdeen. "C. 8.” in Stirling Burgs, Asquith in East Fife, Birreil in West Fife, Morley in Montrose, Haldane in East Lothian, Sinclair in Forfarshire, Trevelyan in Glasgow, end Churchill in Dundee. Now with the exception of the Scottish Secretary in West SI 6 ’ ®’ r Horne in. Hillhead, Mr Wheatley in Shettleston, and Mr Asquith, moved to Paisley, we have no candidates of Ministerial rank. The result is that Scotland occupies a smaller place in the speech-making battle than it used to dd. 1 fear that tho contrast between tho two sots of names I have mentioned is indicative of a general fall in tho quality of our representation. The fact is that with the House of Commons sitting for about nine months in tho year no resident Scot can afford the time if ho has any business of his own to occupy his attention, and Scotland is no longer a safe haven for Liberal leaders in search of a seat. SOCIALIST CLAIMS.

I notice that the Labour Party headquarters in London is giving it out that the party expects to win 10 seats in Scotland. Their local representatives will be well pleased if they hold their own. They are in some jeopardy of losing Mr Tom Dickson- in Lanark, Mr Niohol in East Renfrew, Mr Climio in Kilmarnock, Mr Muir in Maryhill, Mr Martin in Dumbartonshire, Mr Andrew Young (whom I should be sorry to see defeated) in Partick, Mr Westwood in South Midlothian, Mr Robert Spence in East Lothian, Mr Morel in Dundee, and Mr M Neill Weir in Clackmannan. They will not Ibse all of these, but (here will be sufficient casualties among them to off-set probable victories such as the recovery of Stirling and Falkirk from Sir George M’Crac, which seems tho best chance thov have got.

LIBERALS IX THE DUMPS. A year ago the Liberals did on the whole ns well as they expected, though they had disagreeable surprises, notably in Elgin and Kincardineshire. The former they are now leaving to a Socialist candidate, and the latter they are trying with a new man They may lose Mr James Falconer in the three-cornered fight in Forfarshire, and the defeat of Dr Chappie In Dumfriesshire .will rid them of .their greatest boro. Elsewhere Ido not see much prospect of change, and if there are surprises they will not be a!l on one side. To an onlooker it seems as if the Liberals had got much tho worse of the negotiations for the and-Soeiallst pact, which Mr Asquith advises them to observe. They cannot hide from themselves the fact that their recruits ore being cut off at the source by the activities of the Socialists. But enough of Xiolitfcs. ~ JOHN BUCHAN. BIOGRAPHER.

.To the 'friends of Mr John Buchan (who has gone to (he United States to tell them nil about their Civil War) it Is a neverending mystery how he finds time for all the work he does. Not only is he an native partner In Messrs Nelson, the publishers, and a director of Iteuter’s agency, either of which would be a full-time job for anybody else, but it seems ns if hardly a month goes ,>nst without a book from his pen He has just produced an admirable anthology of Scottish verse and a biography of the late Lord Minto, in whom, as a fellow-Borderer, he had a keen Interest. Until his appointment as GovernorGeneral of Canada, Lord Minto was regarded as a commonplace country laird, keen about soldiering, hunting, and racing, but in no way outstanding. His work in the dominion and afterwards his career as Indian Viceroy showed how ho had been undervalued by his neighbours. He was full of shrewd commonsense, and as his letters lo Uord Mpr’.ey prove he could state his opinions tersely and hold them tenaciously. Mr Buchan has made excellent use of his material. His friends are now indulging the hope that his 10 days aboard ship during his American visit will mean lor them another thriller like “The Power House,” which I believe he wrote in a week while on a battleship in the Mediterranean. ME, HECTOR MACPHERSON. The Liberal Party in Scotland lost one of its doughtiest journalistic champions when Mr Hector Macpherson retired some 10 years ago from the editorship of the Edinburgh Evening News. He had a trenchant pen, and, reversing Dr Johnson’s method, took care to see that the Tory dogs did not have the best of any argument m which ho engaged. Ho dabbled in philosophy, and some of his readers who bought the paper principally to see the result of the match between “Hearts” and

“Hibs” or of the latest race, wore a bit puzzled by his disquisitions on Hegel, Schleiennncher, and other gentlemen of whom they had not previously heard. The professional philosophers used to scoff at Mr Macpherson as a mere amateur in that field, and how far they were right I am not qualified to judge. But Ido know that he wrote exceedingly readable books on Carlyle and Adam Smith. Mr Maopherson’s snowy white hair and animated stuttering talk will long be missed by his wide circle of friends. His son, who inherits his name, is a United Free Church minister, who, when still a boy. had made a reputation for himself as a writer on astronomy.

MRS KEIR. HARDIE. After man}' years of illhealth Mrs Keir Hardie has died in her cottage at Cumnock. Sho was a good deal younger than the husband, whom she has survived for about 10 years, and took no part in his public activities, which were uncongenial to a retiring disposition. Stic wotfld probably have been happier if he had never loft the Ayrshire mine in whicli ho was working when they married. NATTONAD SAVINGS. It is a remarkable fact that since the system of national saving certificates was established the sum invested has been almost equal to the amount of the pre-war national debt of 600 millions. About athird of the certificates have been cashed under the pressure of hard times, but the sales still keep up an average of nearly 600,000 a week. At the same time, the deposits in the savings bank have increased by about 40 per cent. Iheso facts, which were mentioned this week at the annual conference of the Savings Association, were hailed by Mr William Graham, the Socialist Secretary to the 'Treasury, as a guarantee that whatever political changes may lie ahead the danger of confiscation in this country is remote. The. small investor is a great element of stability. BACON-CURING FACTORY. “The gintlemun that pays the rint” has been much neglected in Scotland, but, thanks to the missionary efforts of an association formed for the purpose, seems in n fair way towards receiving the attention ho deserved. This week the Duke of Montrose opened a. bacon-curing factory which has been built at Stirling in the belief that if sniall holders and farmers are provided with a handy and steady

market thpy will provide the raw material. Lord Linlithgow’s committee brought out the remarkable fact that this country impotrs bacon to the value of nearly £1,000,000 a wed;, and that a largo proportion of it might Lo grown in this country. In these days when Scottish fanners see their grain crops still rolling in the fields they may be more disposed to turn their energies to a side lino which they can carrv on without seriously interfering with their other activities.

PEDIGREE CATTLE PRICES!? What the energy and initiative of a few men can do is well illustrated by the present position of Scotland *n the breeding of pedigree cattle. The annual sale in connection with ihe fnmous_ Collynie herd of Shorthorns took place this week, when 21 calves realised about £5300, an average of over £250 each. This was nearly £7O a head less than last year, but the progress made can be measured by the fact that in the eighties, when the late Mr Duthie held his first sales the average never reached £SO. On this occasion the highest price paid for a single animal was 1150 guineas, given by the Prince of Wales, whose purchase is believed to have been for his Canadian ranch. Some amusement was caused when it became known that the next highest bidder was tho manager of the King’s farm at Windsor. At the adjoining farm of Uppermill Messrs Dump got 3300 guineas for an 11 months old animal. As farms Collynie and Uppermill are comparatively email affairs, but tho initiative of their occupiers has made them probably the most lucrative in tho world.

CURLING STONES FOR CANADA. Mr T. Howard Stewart, an enthusiastic devotee of "the roaring game” in Montreal, has just obtained delivery of 160 pairs of Scottish-mode curling-stones for presentation to his follow-players. He is at present in Edinburgh as a member of a Canadian rink which has come to Scotland to initiate the stones on their native ice, albeit of tho artificial kind. I am told that in Montreal the players have hitherto used irons owing to the lack of suitable granite, and Mr Stewart’s effort, which has meant the largest individual order ever given, is meant to inaugurate the use of the real article. The party return to-morrow, and hope to take the stones with them. They were made a Johnstone,' in Ayrshire, by Mr J. Y. Keanie, who is pre-eminent in the craft.