FROM NORTH OF TWEED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22067, 25 September 1933, Page 16

FROM NORTH OF TWEED

LETTER TO OVERSEAS SCOTS Written for the Otago Daily Time* By Robert S. Angus. EDINBURGH Julv. 20. New hope has been stirred in the mining industry, particularly the shale section of it, by the Prime Minister's statement that a'guaranteed fiscal preference at fourpence a gallon is to.b'e given to home-produced petrol. Seldom has hope been more needed. I see from the-annual report of the chief inspector of mines that the number of men employed in the coalfields of'Scotland declined last year by about 6000. That may not seem an alarming figure as it meets the eye in the morning paper, but if these men could be assembled on parade, say, in the King's Park, they would bring home .to tire public how serious the shrinkage is. Not all of it is due to dullness of trade. The amount produced by coal-cutting machinery, in which Scotland has always been a pioneer, has again increased, and the process is likely to continue. On a long view it may be desirable to keep the number of men employed in disagreeable and arduous work below ground to a minimum, but the immediate effect on the men who are thrown out of work and the lads who cannot get' it is-painful. Depression is reflected in another direction—the budgets of the county councils. Those areas which are still purely agricultural have contrived to avoid an increase of expenditure, but shires which -are largely industrial, Lanarkshire an<i the Lothians, for instance, are having to raise their rates in order to meet the heed for public assistance of the unemployed. West Lothian this year will spend £BO,OOO, the equivalent of 4 S in the £. In the light of that figure, the £60,000 offered to Scotand for the assistance ■of distressed areas will not go far. Glasgow alone, it is estimated, will receive -twothirds of it on an application of the' distribution formula. HOLIDAY EXPENDITURE. I have written before about the seeming paradox that while all the available figures show us to be in the depth of depression the visible si<ms suggest the contrary. I am induced to mention the subject again by the spectacle which Glasgow has afforded during its annual Fair Week. Each of the railway companies has had to rim nearly 1000 additional trains, in spite of 'the competition'. of. facilities, public,and private, for travelline by road. : and.the officials report that travellers, in unusually large proportions were taking long, journeys. No town that I know throws' itself so thoroughly as Glasgow does into a holiday. Business, except that part of it which caters, for the holiday-makers, comes to a-complete standstill, and one .may go the whole length of the. Clyde without hearing the. sound of a hammer. It would be churlish to grudge the workers their annual break, but one can only wonder where they get the money and whether they-are spending it to the best' economic advantage, individual and collective. ' GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS. A definite step forward has been taken towards the provision of buildings .in Edinburgh to accommodate the Scottish Government departments. Mr OrmesbyGore, the First Commissioner of Works, announced in the House of Commons oh Monday that the Cabinet have agreed not to employ the Office of Works to provide the plans—the rock on which the previous scheme foundered —and that a private architect, will: be selected from a panel ; drawn up by a committee consisting pf the Scottish Secretary, the First Commissioner, a representative of the architectural profession, and another of the Scottish Fine Art Commission. This ar-rangement'-is regarded as a reasonable compromise between tho appointment of the official. architect and open competition. The latter method the Government will not' accept on any account. The best architects will not take part in a contest, ,and, besides, the result is often a design which looks attractive but proves to be completely unsuitable. The Government announcement has been made sooner than was expected, mainly because Ministers have grown tired of waiting for the Scottish Fine Art Commissioners to make up their minds. The selection of the Calton site is taken, for granted. That will excite a howl of protest in interested quarters, but- the Government has decided notto be involved in, or delayed by. another of the site squabbles for which Edinburgh is notorious.*. .. UNDER-SECRETARY'S RETIRE- , MENT. , - ■ That brings me, to mention that Sir John Lamb; , K.C.8., the Permanent Under-Secretary for Scotland, has decided to retire in the autumn, as he is entitled to do under the age i limit. During the quarter of a century he has been at the Scottish Office Sir John has served under 10 Secretaries,. and has come in contact with the leaders of municipal.and other public activities. All of them have bad reason to be grateful for his shrewd advice, his legal and administrative knowledge, and a real kindliness cloaked by a dry and taciturn' mariner. Sir John, who belongs' to Brechin, is looking torward to spending his retireihent at' Gallery, a small estate which he recently acquired near his native- city." ' . . EDINBURGH'S BETTING. ; V ;! ; My friend, Sir James Leishman, who is known for the downrightness of. his statements, declares that " there is more betting and gambling in Edinburgh than in any city of the same size in, the world. In spite of his authority as a member ot the recent Royal Commission on the betting laws, I should need further proot of the assertion before accepting it. an. Jamesaddsd that Edinburgh has become a headquarters of-betting as it is ot banking; our bookmakers, he says, . - have clients in every part of the wor d and some of their mails have to be delivered in vans which would make the post ot some big business men look foolish., x have never seen these vans myself, but as Sir James began his working Me as a postman he must be assumed : to know something about it. If he is right; it is at least a noteworthy proof of belief in the honesty of bookmakers. In this connection, consternation has been excited n the greyhound racing circles by the Lomt of Session decision this week that the "tote" is illegal on toacks That;inay be good law, but it is doubtfu seneej-the only result will be to give the bookmaker an undesirable monopoly. SURPLUS TEACHERS ; ' The recent closing of the university session brings again into prominence the serious situation caused by the superfluity of young men and women who have qualified themselves as teachers and cannot find appointments. Even a comparatively small county like Fife has 52 on its waiting list and 34 more in excess of tie number of prospective vacancies will be added immediately. The days have gone past when Scottisli teachers could nnd work elsewhere. England _ and the dominions have their own systems and no room for immigrants. Ihe *i|e Education Authority has taken the only course open to it-a further drastic reduction in the number of entrants to the training colleges. I notice that it Has also resolved to erect a new secondary school in Dunfermline at -a'cost not exceeding" £85,000. I am all in favour of making our educational establishments worthy of their purpose, but the figure seems grossly excessive, and how it can be reconciled with the appeals for economy I am unable to think.; PERTH CITIZENS.

Perth has decided to confer its honorary freedom on Mr John.Buchan and Mr F. Norie-Miller. The former, who almost approaches Homer in the number ot places with,which he can claim connection was born in Perth while his father was a Free Church minister there, but though he will not be tactless enough to say so when the ceremony takes place his spiritual birth place is the Border country. Mr Norie-Miller is a Perth man bv adoption. He has lived there all his working life, and for 40 years he was manager—he is now chairman—of the General Accident Assurance Corporation, whose world-wide activities are_ mainly the result of his skill and enterprise. WALTER SCOTT LETTERS. Another, volume, the fourth, has been issued of the complete edition of bir Walter Scott's Letters, under the editorship of Professor Grierson. It contains 315 letters, of which 265 have never been published before. I am sorry to. learn that the enterprise is not meeting, with the commercial success it deserves, but 1 believe that financial provision has "been made which will ensure its being carried to completion. The melancholy conclusion is irresistible—that the younger generation is not interested in Scott.

A NOTED SCULPTOR. Mr William Birnie Rhind, R.S;A., who died this week at the age of 80, was our best-known sculptor. Specimens .of his work are to be found all over the Empire, including the Parliament Buildings at Winnipeg, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, and the Glasgow Art Galleries, as well as statues at Melbourne and 'Adelaide. At home his most outstanding works are the equestrian statue in Princes street in memory of the Scots Greys who fell in the South African War and the Black Watch memorial on the Mound. Mr Rhind retired from practice some years ago, but continued- to take an active interest in the affairs- of the Royal Scottish Academy, of which he had been a. member for nearly 30 years, and in social circles lie was always a welcome figure. GLENALMOND SUCCESS. For 'the second time the team from Trinity College, Glenalmond, won the Ashburton Shield, the public .schools, trophy at the Bisley rifle meeting. For a remote school with about 200' pupils, the performance is remarkable. Perhaps the.fact that the competition took place in wind and rain helped the winners, who, accustomed to the weather-vagaries of a Highland glen, may have been less disconcerted than their rivals. The /heroes of the day.were Sergeant A. W.'Easton and Corporal J.-.E.- 0. Anderson, who began firing in the knowledge that they had to score 59 between them to win. They did it;with the utmost coolness, and with some margin to spare. The school's success has recalled the fact that it has no fewer than.: five former pupils in the House of Commons—Sir John Gilmour, the Home. Secretary, Mr Noel Skelton, the Scottish, Under-secretary, Sir Nairne Sandeman, Mr J. G. Burnett, and Mr J. 0. Mac Andrew. I doubt if/Eton or Harrow has a larger proportion. .