FROM NORTH OF TWEED

Otago Witness, Issue 3555, 2 May 1922, Page 6

FROM NORTH OF TWEED

A LETTER TO SCOTTISH EXILES. By Robert S. Angus. EDINBURGH, March 3. \\ riting in the Royal wedding week, it is impossible to avoid that subject, though it was only a distant view we had of it from here. But we were able to see pictures of the London scenes the same evening, the films having been brought north by aeroplane, a fact which would have astonished our forefathers of a hundred years ago, who took 10 days or so in a rumbling >tage coach to make the journey between the two capitals. The fact may be commended to those who ask whether the age of miracles is dead Not wholly irrelevant to the same question is the circumstance that among the daily papers which gave excellent illustrations on the following day was the Scotsman, which evidently thought tiie ocea.-ion important enough to justify a break with its past, dependence on t ho written word. That journel, almost proverbial for its sobersided ness, has recently been undergoing a quiet transformation in its make-up, and though its contests are <>f the same excellent quality its shop-window display is more attractive. 1 had the curiosity in connection with Princess Mary’s marriage to turn to that journal’s account of the marriage of Princess Louise to the Marquis of Lome, in 1871, and found it marked by a racy frankness which would astonish its modern readers. 'Hie special correspondent of that day- the functions was at Windsor—complained of the “muddied*’ complexion of the bride and bridesmaids, and took comfort in the fact that at any rate they bad

not resorted to artificial aid to “repair the deficiencies of kindly nature.” The Prince of Wales was alluded to as “fat and prosperous”; the mother of the present Queen was described as “more beautiful and more bulky than ever.” and Principal Tulloch was congratulated on showing a pair of legs which “put lo shame even I the calves of Bishop Wilberforce, hitherto j the pride of the episcopal bench. ’ SCOTS AT WESTMINSTER. 'though there were few of us at West- ! minster w'e were represented by the moderators, of the churches, the Lord Pro. ■ vests of our cities, and other notables. At id was not. the Duke of Atlioll mainly icsponsible for the whole function in hi- | capacity as Lord Chamberlain?. Lord Proj vost Hutchison, who was resplendent in I his scarlet and silver uniform as Lord Liettj tenant, tells me that lie and his follow j Lord Provosts and their ladies had an j excellent view from their places in »the | north transept. Coming away- lie was much j amused when the city officer, inquiring for I the Lord Provost s carriage, received from i the policeman the reply: “Oh, yes, sir; j you mean Lord Provost of Scotland.” Happily Lord .Provost Paxton of Glasgow was ! out of earshot. j THE GEODES AXE IN SCOTLAND. South oT the Tweed the-- will no doubt | find in the nativity of tile members of j the Geddes Committee on Expenditure sn/li- ! cieut explanation of the fact that the axe | has lallen tenderly on the Scottish departI merits. it is suggested that we have too many judges—two and a-half times as many I as England in the High Court and nearly I 10 time* as many in the counties —but the committee plead that they have not enough knowledge of our judicial system to say whether the disparity is justified.

'they report that no reduction of staff in the Scottish office is possible—they might have commented on the fact that our Scottish Minister has only 40 per cent, of the salary of some of his colleagues who do less work —and that apart from some reduction in the tuberculosis grant there is no call for interference. THE LEGAL CHANGES. The appointment of the Lord Advocate, Mr T. B. Morison, to the judicial bench, which I think I mentioned last week, is now officially announced. He offered to stand aside in favour of the Scottish Secretary, but Mr Munro preferred to stick to politics, for the present, at •my rare. Mr Charles Murray now bennies Lord Advocate, and the Solicitort Generalship lies bet ween Mr \N illiam W atiii! (son of the late Lord Watson and Procurator of the Church of .Scotland). Mr A. 11. B. Constable, Dean of Faculty, Mr Gondie Bn. title man. and Mr H. P. Macmillan. But 1 doubt if any of them is keen for the place. It. is worth only £2OOO a year, and ill return the holder has to do an.amount of professional work which would bring in twice as much if done for private clients. Mr Morison, who came North on Wednesday, and will take his seat next week, tells mo he is exceedingly sorry to gave up Parliamentary work and would not have done so but for the state of his eyes which forbids him to face another contested election. THE INVERNESS VACANCY. A lively fight in the Inverne-ss-shire is now in progress. Mr Mackenzie Livingstone, who is to stand for the “Wee Frees,” is a London paper merchant, but has not forgotten his Gaelic, which is perhaps more than can be said of Sir Murdoch Macdonald. the Coalition candidate, who has been for many years in Egypt, latterly as

Director of Public Works. Before he went abroad he was an engineer on the Highland Railway and designed many of its bridges. TIIE RAILWAY MEETINGS. Talking of railways, reminds me that tlje companies held their half-yearly meetings during the last few- days. All the chairmen spoke in a subdued key about prospects, but they hope that the recent award as to hours and the automatic fall in wages with the cost of living will help net revenue. I fully expected trouble at the North British meeting in view of the quarrel between that company and the Ministry of Transport, which has docked huge sums from the company’s claims m respect of the post-war period. But the shareholders, in spite of the fact that many of them have received no dividends, seemed quite satisfied with the policy of the directors. and confident that the money will be forthcoming in due course. ST EE LAV <) R K S V A LU ATI 0 N. A tragic illustration of the decline in industry—bound to be accentuated if the threatened lock-out in the engineering and ship-building trades takes place - is afforded by a Court of Session decision in regard to the valuation of the Lanarkshire steelworks. The court has sanctioned a reduction to rather less than half, a serious matter for the other ratepayers in the county, but no more than justice to an industry which is almost at a standstill. STILL WE SAVE. It, is difficult to reconcile the undoubted dullness of trade with the amounts, which are still being invested in savings certieates. The sales during January of "this year were rather more than double what they were in the same month last year. Glasgow, the town most heavily hit by the industrial depression, actually saved at the

late of nearly three millions a year, Aberdeen multiplied its contribution by three, and Ayr by four. There can be no doubt t.iat tiie saving habit is spreading. A WOMAN PIONEER. Long before I knew her I was attracted to Miss S. E. S. Mair by her quaint assortment of initials. She is an active and intelligent old lady who has done great things to make her sex conscious of both its rights and duties. So long ago as 1865 she founded the Edinburgh Women’s Debating Society which belatedly celebrated its jubilee last week and presented her with- nn illuminated address. Miss Mair, who is an LL.D., of the University, told how in these lar-off days the doors of, the University were closed to women, and they had or organise lectures of tlieir own. delivered by Professor Masson and others. One of their first topics of debate was “Should Women be Strong-minded?” which question Mrs Carmichael Slopes, still alive, well, -and busy as an historical writer, answered by__ asking “Should They Be V eak-minded?” Another early topic was: Is there any turpitude in dyeing the hair and painting the face?” Unfortunately. Miss Mair did net tell us what the answer was. Miss Mair, being well off, might have been content to spend a life of luxurious ease, but she preferred to live laborious days on behalf of her sex, and she has the satisfaction of seeing the attainment of most of the objects with she started life. SIR JOHN STRUTHERS. A movement, is on foot to do honour to Sir John Struthers, who recently retired from the secretaryship of the Scottish Board of Education. It is being heartily taken up by the education authorities and by .the®teachers, for though Sir John was their autocratic ruler for many years in the name of “My Lords,” and often had to do things that were unpopular, it is recognised now that his policy was generally wise and progressive. OUR RUGBY PROSPECTS. Not for many years has the international tournament in Rugby football been more interesting than now. Our narrow victory Over Ireland at Inverleith last Saturday and England’s failure to do more than draw with France at Twickenham —and they were lucky to do as much —has placed us at the head of the list in points, and brightened the prospects for our men when they go south three weeks lienee. I am told that our men are confident they can administer England her first defeat at Twickenham, and even an English expert with whom I went home the other night is inclined to admit they are right. Consequently I begin to have hopes of collecting the half-crown which is the extent of my commitments on the game. I was sorry to see that young Macpherson was off colour on Saturday, and there is some doubt whether he will be selected for Twickenham, which is rather hard, seeing that he was called on to play out of his usual place. He is a nephew of Mr lan Macpherson, the Pensions Minister, and not yet 18. The fact that he is at Oriel College, Oxford holding scholarships to the value of nearly £3OO a year is a proof that he has brains in his head as well as in his feet. But for his youth and lightness, he c/ould have been in the Oxford team this year, but his captain, a member of the same college, did not care to risk so young and light a player against the hefty forwards of Cambridge. But with any luck, Macpherson should be a tower of strength to Scottish Rugby for the next ten years.