FROM NORTH OF TWEED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21431, 4 September 1931, Page 12

FROM NORTH OF TWEED

A LETTER TO OVERSEAS SCOTS

Written for the Otago Daily Times By Robert S. Angus.

EDINBURGH, July 9,

This week Edinburgh has been literally a royal city. The King and Queen came into residence at the Palace of Holyrood house last Saturday, and they are remaining until Monday. This is their first visit since his Majesty’s serious illness,' and it is hoped that it may mark a resumption of the arrangement that they should make an annual stay in their Scottish capital. It is obvious that that programme will have less attraction for them if they are expected to spend the whole of the time in a round of laborious public ceremonials, and that has been avoided on this occasion. They are giving a large garden party this afternoon at Holyrood, attended by several thousand guests, and to-morrow' they go to Glasgow to open the new Shieldhall dock. Otherwise they are having a leisurely time—to St. Giles’s Cathedral and the National War Memorial at the. Castle on Sunday,. and to the Royal Scottish (Academy another' day, but generally they are avoiding public appearances of a formal kind. The Queen likes nothing better than pottering about the antique shops in the High street and Queen street, or spending, an afternoon in the gardens of the country houses within reach—Hopetoun, Dalmeny, or Elphinstone, where the chatelaine is the sister of. the Duchess of York. Whenever thley have gone their Majesties have been received with a boisterous enthusiasm that has been almost em? barrassing. Their stay at Holyrood coincided' with' the thirty-eighth anniversary. of their marriage, and the congratulations of the Town Council elicited a warm expression of pleasure that the day should have been spent among their “loyal and affectionate people of Scotland.”' ■■ • ; 5

COAL CRISIS DANGER.

As if we had not already industrial ■troubles we are- now threatened with a crisis in coal mining as the result of the Bill which passed through Parliament this week. For some months our men have been working—illegally it is true, but ; contentedly—under the “ spreadover ’’, system, which is particularly economical in our highly-mechan-ised Scottish mines. The men did only 88 hours per fortnight as compared with the 90 hours worked under the 7£ hours per day which are now to be obligatory, and they earned •higher wages than were current in any of the English coalfields. But the Miners’ Federation, for some unknown reason, disliked the. spreadover, and by withholding its consent rendered its operation illegal. Instead of abolishing, that power, of embargo the Government confirmed lit by, a Bill which was so drafted that no amendment permitting the spreadover could he moved by the House of Commons. This disregard of Scottish interests was all the more remarkable seeing that the measure was hacked - by a, Scottish Prime Minister, a Scottish Foreign Minister, a Scottish president of the Board of Trade,, and a Mines Minister who sits for a Scottish mining constituency. The leader of the Scottish miners, Mr Doonan, has hitherto been a vigorous champion of the spreadover, but he seems to Have been overborne, by the federation. His atitucle'was due to the knowledge that the alternative meant' a reduction of wages by about ninepence per shift, and that- that proposal, which the owners have now announced, will probably mean a stoppage. That is a development which must cause the gravest misgiving. Much of the export trade which we lost in 1926 has never been recovered, apd the inevitable- effect of. another stoppage will be that what remains of the trade will be captured by Northumberland and Durham, or, worse still, by Poland and Germany. SHETTLESTON’S MEMBER.

In another respect ' Scotland has figured unpleasantly in the House of Commons. Mr ; M'Govern, who succeeded Mr John Wheatley as Socialist member for Shettleston, got himself suspended for defying the Chair, and, refusing to leave the Chamber, had to he removed by force. His grievance was the : imprisonment of two itinerant preachers who insisted on addressing meetings on Glasgow Green without the permit which - the Parks Committee issues in order to ensure the preservation of order. Their first contravention was punished' by' a fine : which they were given 10 days to pay. , During that time they repeated. their offence, and were sent to prison without an option. Last Sunday Mr M'Govern deliberately com-. . mitted the same offence, arid it may he assumed that' he too will be brought ■ before the police court. He is announcing in advance that he will refuse to pay and will go to prison. But there are signs that his public career is drawing to an end. The Labour Party has decided that in view of irregularities in connection with his original selection as candidate lie should not be invited to come forward at next election. I should add that the agitation against the commonsense requirement of the Parks Committee is led by a Communist organisation which is evidently more intent on promoting anarchy than on preserving the freedom of speech, which is in no danger. A ROYAL FREEMAN. When the Earl of Athlone came to Edinburgh this week to receive the degree of LL.D. from the university, the corporation took occasion to make him an honorary freeman of the city in recognition of his services as GovernorGeneral of. South Africa. It must have been a peculiar satisfaction to the Queen to see her brother thus honoured during her stay in the city. The Earl, in acknowledging the distinction, naturally spoke of the part which Scotsmen have played in the development of South Africa and the respect in which men like Andrew Murray, Fraser, and M'Gregor were held by The Dutch-speak-ing part of the community. He mentioned that in his travels in South Africa he met many Scotsmen among the farmers,, and almost invariably found them doing well. They were longsighted and hard-headed, the very type needed as colonists, and, though like farmers everywhere, they complained of their difficulties, they showed a remarks able ability to surmount them. The Earl and Princess Alice were specially delighted to meet the large contingent of South African Dutch students—mostly lawyers and doctors—whose presence has been a prominent feature of Edinburgh University for many years. It was perhaps a former one of them whom the Earl mentioned—a Van Der Merwe who, as a member of the Scottish Transvaal regiment, was proud to wear the Atholl tartan. HONOUR IN HIS OWN COUNTRY. No political opponent will grudge Mr Tom Johnston, the Lord Privy Seal, the honour which was bestowed upon him last Saturday when the burgh of Kirkintilloch, in which he served his apprenticeship to public life, presented him with its honorary freedom. Mr Johnston’s political progress has been as remarkable as it has been well-deserved. While at the Scottish Office as Under-secretary he gave Mr Adamson much needed support, and now he is mainly responsible for the Government’s unemployment policy. I suspect that since he donned official harness ..Mr Johnston has shed or modified a good many of the theories which seemed so easy and attractive when he was vehemently urging them in the columns of Forward, the remarkable Socialist weekly which he founded in

Glasgow, but he has lost nothing of his shrewdness or his energy and his abilities have earned him the respect of his political opponents. His speech in acknowledging the freedom was an appropriate defence of what he called “ parish-pump patriotism" when it expresses itself in zeal for the welfare of the district in which a man’s lot is cast. THE “WET REVIEW.” In 1881 Queen Victoria reviewed in King’s Park, Edinburgh, a great muster representing the whole volunteer force in Scotland. Even' in my time stories survived of the muddle which attended the transport of the troops and still more of the torrential fain during the ceremony. Men: who had travelled all night in over-crowded trains had to return home in. soaked clothes under similar conditions, and many died as the result ’of their experience. Some one has- had the idea of suggesting that the veterans should celebrate the ’ jubilee by a parade. Already some 260 of them have written expressing their warm approval of the scheme, and it is proposed that on the' 29th of August they should muster at the -east end of George street, near St. Andrew square, march along Princes street, and hold a social gathering in the evening. As few of the men can be under 70 ‘ and some of them must be over 80 the.procession will be a rather shaky one, but I anticipate the evening will be a great occasion for recalling the experiences of a memorable ’ day. Two daughters of the late Sir Robert Cranston, for many years an enthusiastic, volunteer, have written offering cheques towards the expenses, and I daresay many others will be* ready to follow their example should it be necessary.,. , v