SCOTLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 2057, 27 July 1893, Page 23

SCOTLAND.

(Fbom Our Own Correspondent.) Edinburgh, Juno 8. THE AUSTRALIAN HANK FAILURES.

People here seem to be recovering from the stunning effect of the rapid succession of failnres among the Australian banks, and as a first consequence of this the various reconstruction schemes are being much more closely seruti* nised. A committee has been formed to watch the interests-* of Scottish depositor's in the collapsed banks generally, so as to give guidance and cohesion to their action. It consists of several lawyers and other business men of acknowledged standing. In Glasgow the directors of the Chamber of Commerce held a special meeting on May 24 to consider the financial crisis in Australia, and the Home Affairs Committee of/ the chamber was appointed " as a committee of observation to report to the directors in the event of their seeing any way in which the chamber could usefully intervene." The chief speaker at the meeting was Mr Robert Balloch, who said the Home depositors had lent their money "because they believed that the people they were lending it to, being mainly their own fellow-countrymen, would nee it honestly, and that it would be held for them under laws like those of this country." He urged that if the banks wanted to do what was right, they must, whatever scheme of recon* structiontbey adopted, in the first place secure the basis upon which that money largely was lent— namely, the uncalled capital. Anything that would diminish their hold upon that could not be sound reconstruction. . Their first duty was to be honest, and no proposal Could be honest that did not make the uncalled capital available by calling it up or making it secure by other means. It could not but give them very great pain if there was any dealing with the depositors but in this high and upright manner, and he thought it should go forth to the colonists that they were expected to act in that manner. These remarks seemed to meet with the approval of the chamber. Talking with not a few depositors, I find similar views expressed, as well as a universal reprobation of the proposals — now generally abandoned — made to transform them in any degree whatever from creditors pure and simple into shareholders, of I any description— "preference" or anything else. Nothing has shaken the confidence of depositors here more than these proposals, and it is a thousand pities they were ever made. People are still dubious as to all the banks being able to carry on, even if they are reconstructed, but they acquiesce in the schemes for reconstruction as a sort of forlorn hope. No part of Scotland has been so hard hit by the bank failures as Edinburgh, in which there reside so many non-commercial people who simply live on their investments. The Scotsman says that " an eminent banking and financial authority in the city," speaking of the settlement at the term just past, estimates the amount of money which would then have been received by Edinburgh investors as depoßit, interest, and dividends on shares had the failures not occurred, at fully £350,000. This, be it remembered, is for a half year only. It is not surprising, therefore, that one hears of many people resolutely setting themselves to the task of reducing their expenditure. THE GENERAL ASSEMBLIES. These ecclesiastical courts opened their annual sessions on May 18. Regarding the assembly of the Established Church little need be said. The Lord High Commissioner this year was the Marquis of Breadalbane; and the Rev. Dr Marshall .Lang, of the Barony Church, Glasgow, was elected moderator. The proceedings of the assembly were mainly of a routine description. The only thing that awakened any life was the denunciation of Mr ! Gladstone's Suspensory Bill and of the Disestablishment campaign generally. In the Free Church the proceedings were of a much more stirring and interesting character, inasmuch as the church this year celebrated its jubilee. The Rev. Dr*Walter C. Smith, of the Free High Church, Edinburgh, was chosen moderator, and he discharged the duties in such a way as to gain for him golden opinions ■on all hands. It is doubtful, indeed, if the chair was ever better filled. Naturally a great deal of jubilation was expressed iv the speeches, but the most exciting scene occurred when the moderator read a letter of sympathy and congratulation he had received from Mr Gladstone. The audience rose to its feet, shouted and yelled, and waved handkerchiefs, hats, and stickß— though what all the hubbub was about an ordinary reader of Mr Gladstone's letter finds it hard to imagine. When deputies from the Irish Presbyterian Church ventured to express their fears with respect to the effect of Home Rule upon Protestantism in Ireland, they were subjected to noisy interruptions, and Principal Rainy had to beg a hearing for them. Deputies from many churches in all parts of the world were present, including Mr Coull, from Dunedin, who cxi pressed the good wishes of the Presbyterian Church of Otago and Southland, and made a I brief statement as to the extent of its operations. By common consent, the finest speech made was that of the Rev. Dr Alexander Maolaren, of Manchester, which was listened to with intense attention, and was enthusiastically i cheered. To accommodate the many who could not gain admission to the Assembly Hall, a special jubilee meeting was held in the U.P. Synod Hall, which holds 3000, and which was crowded. On the opening day the audience began to assemble four hours' before the commencement of the proceedings. In regard to finances, it was Btated that the total income of the Freß Church during the year was £645,837, which was an increase for the year of £21,730. The sustentation fund amounted to £176,246, a figure which has only once been exceeded in the history of the church — namely, in 1878. The amount of invested fund* held by the general trustees of the church on the 31st March was £948,214. The grand total raised by the Free Church during the 50 years of its existence was stated to be £23,342,809 7s, 7d. The total membership this year amounts to 341,349, being an increase for the year of 5126. In the Established Church the total contributions for the year amounted to £360,587— a decrease of £15,482, due to the falling off in legacies. The total number of communicants on the roll amounted to 604,984, being an inoreaße of 5453 during the year. Not all the enthusiasm of the jubilee could quell the grim determination of the " Highland host" to express their disapproval of the Declaratory Act adopted by the Free Assembly last year. A prolonged debate took place on the subject,, but it was a hollow affair, as everybody knew what tHe issue would be. It was enlivened by the irrepressible Major Macleod, of Dalkeith, whose oratory at times is irresistibly comic. He said, in concluding his speech :— "I condemn the act aß— as— as," and then, while the assembly breathlessly listened for a word adequate to express the fervour of the major's feelings, he added in a serious tone, that he was very nearly using a bad word. The assembly fairly roared, and even the moderator had to join in the universal merriment. The, motion before the house— in_ favour of appointing a committee to consider how the act

could be rescinded— was rejected by 415 votes 120, in favour of a motion by Dr Rainy for passing from the overtures, In some parts of the Highlands, even before the assembly met, meetings of malcontents were held, at which secessions from the Free Church were threatened unless the Declaratory Act were repealed. Since the decision of the assembly just referred to these threats have increased in number. On Sunday last, however, the Highland leader, Rev. M. Macaskill, of Dingwall, pronounced himself strongly opposed to secession. He said the Declaratory Act was a dead letter to him, and he and others would refuse to allow such legislation to influence their conduct. He did not wonder at people threatening to leave the church on account of it ; but in his opinion they could at this time do no worse service to the cause of truth in Scotland and in the Highlands than to secede from the Free Church. It remains to be seen if. this declaration will arrest the movement. " THE DUNDEE ANTARCTIC WHALEHS. The Balrona, one of the four Dundee whalers which left nine months ago on a trial whaling voyage to the Antarctic seas, returned to port last week. Her captain reports haviDg been unsuccessful in finding the black whale. The fleet, however, obtained great quantities of seals; The Bal»na got 6000 of the latter, filling her oil tinks to overflowing, while the skins filled every spare corner of the vessel. The seals killed were of four kinds— the white Antarctic seal, the sea leopard, the ground Beal, and the fish seal, the last -being rare. Specimens of the skins have been sent to London, in order that their commercial value may be ascertained. Captain Fairweather, of the Bslcena, expresses it as his belief that the expedition will prove to ba a failure financially. Two Edinburgh gentlemen— Dr W. S. Bruce and Mr W. G. Burn Murdoch — were on board the Balsena, and took systematic observations with instruments supplied to them by the Royal Geographical and Royal Meteorological Societies. They remark on the Antarctic ice being quite different from the Arctic ice, and on the entire absence of vegetation in the southern region, whereas in the northern polar regions many flowering plants are found in summer. Mr Burn Murdoch is writing an account of the voyage, to be illustrated by a large number of drawings and paintings executed by him in the Southern Seas. It will be published by Messrs Longmans and Co. The seals seem to have been very tame, manifesting great ignorance of man. Great numbers of firmer whales were seen. A Norwegian barque, with auxiliary screw, was also trying her fortune in this new field. The other three vessels of the Dundee fleet have not yet put in an appearance in any British port, though daily expected. * ■ A BIG CO-OPERATIVE CONCERN. The Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society held its quarterly meeting in Glasgow last week, when a good account was given of its progress. The total net sales for the quarter amounted to £740,997, being an increase of £26,683 as compared with the corresponding period of last year. The profits amounted to £25,834. Various new buildings are being erected for the society, and extensions are being made to those already in existence, including the boot factory in Glasgow. Out of the year's profits £2280 was set apart to provide for the boring of an artesian well at Shieldhall, where the society has several factories, all of which were reported to be doing well. Edinburgh also has one very large and thriving co-operative society. IMPROVEMENTS AT BERWICK. A public meeting was held the other day to resolve to petition the Town Council to take steps to widen the old bridge across Ihe river to Tweedmouth. It waß built as far back as 1634, at a cost of £80,000, and occupied over 24 years in construction. It still enjoys an annual grant of £100, given it by Charles II for its upkeep. It was stated that to make the bridge safe an outlay of £3000 would be necessary, and the motion referred to was unanimously adopted. Berwick's other great need is a better railway station to accommodate its important traffic. A deputation from the Town Council waited on the directors of the North British Railway Company in Edinburgh to press the matter on their notice. They were shown the plans already-prepared for a new station, but were informed that operations were delayed in consequence of the great outlay required, and the present unsatisfactory state of trade in the country generally. BAD HOUSING AND ITS RESULTS. The commission appointed by the Established Assembly to inquire into the religious condition of the people has isßued its second report. Among other things it Btates that the commission had an interview with Mr Duncan, the secretary of the Ploughmen's Unionr who denounced in emphatic terms the condition of the'bothies in Forfarshire, declaring that they were unfit for , human habitations. He said that at present the bothy is a place "where the ploughman is ostracised from society. He is not allowed into his employer's house. It is, in nearly, every case, instant dismissal for a man ;to he seen there. Hence what follows—nighthawking, illegitimacy." The commissioners also describe '{the long, narrow, dark slums"' and cellars in which many live in Edinburgh, and " the gloomy tenements" which are the homes of so many more in this city, and say that these things have made them feel "that to vast multitude s the conditions of life are unutterably depressing, and' antagonistic to all moral tone and religious aspiration." They bear testimony to -the enormouß amount of money and effort expended in Edinburgh to make things better, but say the charity is too haphazard. The c Torts made are often not wise, and there is a want of union and system, and consequently much overlapping. 'As showing that even in country towns things call for radical improvement, I may quote a statement made in the Established Assembly by Mr Hunter, parish minister of Holytown. He declared that m hia parißh he had people living in houses which he would not put a pig in. They had clay floorg and no sanitation. Such were the miners' rows of their mining centres— places that were a crying scandal. And yet Scotland is a civilised country. _