FROM NORTH OF TWEED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21054, 17 June 1930, Page 4

FROM NORTH OF TWEED

A LETTER TO OVERSEAS SCOTS,

Written for the Otago Daily Times,

By Robert S. Angus,

■ , EDINBURGH, April 17. bcottish hopes in regard to the Budget were so modest and fears so numerous that Mr Snowden’s scheme, cannot be. said to have caused either disappointment or alarm. The distillers may congratulate themselves that they have escaped the £3,000,000 imposed on the brewers, who are better able to bear it. The licenseholders did not think it worth while to send their usual deputation to London to plead for the reduction of duties fixed when hours were longer and business better; they had no hope that Mr Snowden would implement the promise given by his predecessor. The Chancellor assures us that three-fourths of the income taxpayers will be unaffected, except that a few of them will gain a slight advantage. One would hardly think so to judge by the number of complaints. The income taxpayers are a minority, and it has been declared that minorities must suffer, but I suspect that a good many of those who are not directly assessed will feel their share of the burden all the same. After all, £30,000,000 or £40,000,000 of additional revenue cannot be raised without hitting a good many people. Already theLeft vVing Socialists are up in arms against what they regard as the Chancellor’s undue moderation, but Mr Snowden knows how to deal with them, and I doubt if , they will get much isupport for their view that the country would be happier if taxation were still heavier. SIR JOHN FINDLAY.

By the death of Sir John Findlay, Bart,, of Aberdour, chief proprietor of the Scotsman, many good causes have lost one of their best friends. Unlike the more modem type of newspaper owner, lie did not obtrude his position, either in his own office or outside of it; he disliked seeing his name, in the papers and it would have appeared still less but for, the fact that it was associated with'public questions. That attitude was typical of the reticent shyness which was his chief characteristic. To .the casual acquaintance he seemed cold and even haughty, but those who knew him in the intimacy of his residence in Rothesay terrace—a veritable treasure-house—or at his country seat overlooking the Spey, soon appreciated his innate kindliness and modesty. He was a man of wide intellectual interests; literature, philosophy, fine arts, and science alike occupied his attention. From his father,' the donor of the, Scotish National Portrait Gallery .in Queen street, he inherited a love of art and much of his time as well as his money was devoted to its furtherance. He had also a hereditary aptitude as a collector, and from his Continental; travels he generally returned with a number of “finds,'-’ many of them acquired at a modest price. A catalogue of the offices he held and the duties he performed while remaining responsible for the management of a great newspaper would be too lengthy, and even then it would give an inadequate impression of his activities, and still less of his 'deeds of private benevolence. THE FUTURE OP THE SCOTSMAN.

His death lias naturally. given rise to speculations as. to the future of the Scotsman. But these will be found to have no justification. Sir John, who was a grandnephew of the founders of over a hundred years ago, had a just pride, in his ownership, shown, among other ways, by his refusal to exploit his position for personal ends, and that feeling, I believe, animates his family. His successor in the baronetcy is already a partner in the firm, and, like his youngest brother, has been trained to a journalistic career. They know their father’s horror of the idea that his paper should, become part of the syndicated press.’ Indeed, I believe that many tempting offers which would have had, that result have been • scornfully rejected during recent years. Lady Findlay, a woman of great character and ability, and herself active in public life, is ■ known to share the family pride in the paper. LORD DEWAR. Another Scotsman of a different type has passed away in the person of Lord Dewar. .He loved publicity as much as Sir John Findlay hated it, perhaps because it was part of his business to make his name well-known. To him, as much aa to ariy mgn, is due the worldwide popularity of Scots whisky. Ho went to London as a young -man to develop the export side of the family business while his eldest brother John (Lord Forteviot), who died a few months ago, remained in Perth to look after production. The distribution of duties worked with a success which is well known. " Tom Dewar ’’—for such he remained to ,hia friends in spite of his peerage—was" of the “hail fellow, well, met” type, at home in any company, whether at the London Guildhall, on the racecourse, or at' his country home in Sussex. In particular he was a great favourite as an afterdinner speaker, His social gifts may have tended to obscure in the minds of his friends his shrewd business qualities, but there was no obscurity in his own mind. THE HOUSING PROBLEM.

Judging by its parliamentary reception the Scottish Slum Clearances Bill should be passed without much difficulty. The chief criticism ’of it was that it does not go far enough. Mr Adamson brought home the seriousness of the situation to the House of Commons by his reminder that 43 per cent, of our population is living more than two in a room, and that about a quarter of a million new houses are needed to bring us up to a standard of decency. The financial assistance offered by the State seems, on the face of it, insufficient to stimulate local authorities into the necessary activity. Most of the speakers rightly called attention to the fact that slums are not confined to the cities. Some of our country villages and even isolated houses stand as much in need of condemnation as any dwelling in a city tenement. The Scottish Secretary has much goodwill behind him and it will be a .misfortune, if he does hot exploit it. The tragic fact is that ill the circumstances which I have indicated the number of houses how under Construction has fallen-to half the total of last year. EDUCATION.

If our educational system does not ini* prove it will not be for lack of candid comments from those who are engaged in it. The usual batch of annual reports by ELM. inspectors shows that the men most closely in touch with the work are not blind to either its defects or its opportunities. One of them, rather against the current fashion, defends examinations as being at the worst a necessary evil. On the other hand, one of bis colleagues suggests that the large proportion of failures in the qualifying examination may be as much due to an Unfairly high standard as to any failure on the part of either the children or their teachers. He thinks that “top much weight is apt to be laid on examindble subjects like spelling arithmetic to the exclusion of such vital matters as interest, curiosity, and application.” Another inspector condemns the present curriculum as too scholastic. “ Let us face the fact,” he says, “ that a great proportion of children are never going to do much good on that line, and let us draft them to schools'where a curriculum of a largely practical nature makiug for increased efficiency and fitness for the ordinary life work of by far the greater number may be offered to them." This inspector is probably ahead of his time in his ideas, but I believe they are sound. Much of our rural depopulation is due to the fact that the education in the _ country schools is essentially urban in its outlook, and the clover boys and girls are taught only the things for which the towns are the only market place. SCONE’S GOOD FORTUNE. The village of Scone lias fallen ■ from its former greatness when it was the seat of kings, but an announcement this ’week indicates that in a worldly sense it will be well off for the future. Mr Robert Douglas, who made a fortune in the United States, has bequeathed 1,000,000 dollars for public, charitable, and educational work in his native village. As the money is invested in industrial securities, I suppose the income will be not less than £IO,OOO a year. How that amount of

money can be usefully spent in so small an area may well puzzle the organisation which has been set up to administer the trust. It is stipulated that £20.000 shall be devoted to the provision of a cottage hospital, but the sensible alternative lias been suggested that the money should be used for an extension of Perth Royal Infirmary, only four or five miles away. FORTH-CLYDE CANAL. Hitherto Glasgow has been suspicious of the scheme for a Forth and Clyde canal large enough to accommodate ocean-going steamers. Its ship owners and merchants, took the view that the result would be to take . much of their present business past their doors. _ On the other hand, such a canal would bring Glasgow within easier reach of Northern European ports. Glasgow has to recognise that it ha-> dropped from the second. dr third to the sixth place among British ports, and that with shipbuilding, coal, and the metal trades under a cloud some compensation is urgently needed; In any ease, inquiry CftD lla Bo harm, and the corporation, by ■ii votes to 22, decided to support the Government's intention to set one on foot.

) September BUTTER. 1927-28 1928-29 1929-30 .... 752 16 129 October .. .. .. 1,484 637 1,346 .November .. .. 5,081 2,483 2,930 December .. .. 6.056 3,245 4,292 January .. .... 5,940 4,011 4.057 February .. .. 4,114 2,573 3.005 March .. .. 1,944 1,427 2,227 April .. .. .... 1,191 1,077 891 May .. .. .... 608 461 412 Totals .. .... 27,170 16,930 19,289