FROM NORTH OF TWEED

Otago Witness, Issue 3594, 30 January 1923, Page 48

FROM NORTH OF TWEED

A LETTER TO SCOTTISH EXILES. By Robert S. Angus. EDINBURGH, December As an aftermath of the general election, I suppose, we are having a renewal of the discussion on Scottish Home Rule. The phrase, it may be suspected, is not used in the same sense -by all its advocates —say the Marquis of Graham who writes in its favour from Brodick Castle, and the West country Socialists who- think that if we had a Parliament of our own north of the Tweed it would be easier for them to accomplish their aims. A suspicion to the same effect evidently lurks in the mind of the marquis, for he argues that only true-born Scots should vote (or, presumably be eligible for election) for a Scottish Parliament, the object being, of course, to exclude the Irish and the alien elements, w h ic ( h are strongest where Labour has been most successful. This is all well enough for the Scot at home, but it would be rather hard on their fellow-countrymen who have gone south and would be logically liable to disfranchisement there. I find that while we have only four or five English-born members for Scotland, the number of Scots who have been elected by English constituencies is at least a score. They include Mr Ramsay Macdonald, leader of the Labour Party, Lord Erskine, the eldest son of the Earl of Mar and Kellie, Lord Bate’s brother, Lord Colum Crichton Stuart, typical Scots lairds like Mr Strang Steel, of Philiphaugh, and oir Arthur Steel-Maitland; business men in the person of Sir Alexander Richardson, editor of “Engineering,” Sir Allan Smith, and Mr George Balfour; Mr John Murray, a Fraserburgh man and Oxford don; Mr Bonar Law’s secretary, Mr J. C. C. Davidson (son of Sir Mackenzie Davidson, the famous radiologist, who spent most of his life in Aberdeen)—to say nothing of Mr Pringle and many others. On the whole, it seems as if we should lose by keeping ourselves strictly to ourselves. As I have said before, parochialism is not patriotism. LAND REFORM. The other day I had the pleasure, of introducing at the request of them both two of our youngest Scottish members--one a Unionist and the other a Labour man. Before they had been many minutes together they were engaged in a hot controversy on the land question which Mr Lloyd George's speech has again brought to the front. The Unionist, who is an advocate, was enthusiastic for the increase of small holdings, on the strength of a successful scheme in bis own constituency which happens to include some of the fjnest land in the country near two large towns. The Labour man, who hod been brought up on a small holding, and therefore knows the life from the inaide, was just as convinced that the future of farming, in this country at all events, lies with the large farm; that it is wicked to

set men down on the land, at any rate north of the Highland line, and that the money can be far more usefully spent in assisting men to emigrate to the dominions. Though on most matters my opinions are nearer those of the Unionist than the Labour man, I was with the latter on this. Under ideal conditions, near railways and large towns, there may be a good living on the land, but how can the small farmer in the north, with his stooks still in the fields in December, hope to compete in food production with the fertile lands and the fine climate across the Atlantic or in Australia? Sir William Mitchell-Cotts, the new Liberal member for the Western Isles, tells me that he is in communication with the A ustralian Government authorities on a scheme for the emigration of batches of eligible young men from his constituency. UNSEATED POLITICIANS. The Government has not yet found a way out of its difficulty about finding Parliamentary seats for the Lord Advocate (Mr William Watson) and the Scottish Under-Secretary (Mr James Kidd), and though the Prime Minister has refused the offers of English seats for them, he may yet be forced to that solution. To make matters worse, Colonel Sir John Gilmour, who has been looking after Scottish Unionist organisation, has been ordered several months’ rest in order to avert a serious breakdown in health. Mr F. C. Thomson, the genial and popular member for South Aberdeen, will act as his locum It has been suggested that Stir Samuel Chapman might make way for one of the Ministers who are out, but, entering Parliament only a week or two ago, he is not disposed to oblige, and if he were it is not certain that South Edinburgh would take a lawyer member suspected of being on his way to the bench. Sir Henry Craik has point blank refused to give up his University seat. I met the other day Sir Donald Mao Lean, whose defeat even his opponents deplore. He tells me that he is in no hurry to return to the Commons as he needs a rest, and he is so busy with his legal practice and party affairs that he sees no prospect of getting one. GLASGOW’S NEW BURGESSES. Though there were some propagandist protests in the course of the ceremony, Glasgow Town Council had public opinion behind it when it conferred the honorary freedom of the city on Lord Maclay and Mr George Barnes. The former belongs to a family v which for at least five generations has been connected with Glasgow, and his work as Shipping Controller, responsible during the war for trade of the value of 3000 millions a year, reflected credit on his native city as well as himself. Whereas Lord Maclay is one of our wealthiest publio men, Mr Barnes is probably our poorest, and not in the least ashamed of the fact. A Dundee man by birth, he was a working engineer till he became secretary of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers, and that poet he

resigned because the members rejected his advice—to their great loss, as it turned out. His 12 years of Parliamentary life were spent as member for the Blaokfriars and Gorbals divisions of Glasgow. He recalled that he is a graduate of that fifth university to which Sir James Barrie alludes in his rec torial address —the poor and proud homes of Scotland where is performed the daily miracle of spreading small means over large needs. He takes with him into his retirement the affectionate goodwill of all who knew him. A GREAT DAME. Lady Dunedin, who has just died after a long illness at Stenton, her Perthshire home, was for many years the recognised leader of Edinburgh society. She was one of the eight daughters of Admiral Sir William Edmonstone of Duntreath, Stirlingshire, and married Mr Graham Murray in 1874, the year he was called to the bar. Long before he became Lord President she was prominent in both the social and the benevolent life of the city, and when her husband was promoted to the House of Lords she still retained her connection with Edinburgh, where her heart lay. She was particularly active in her support of movements for the benefit of the soldiers and sailors. This gay, handsome woman, immersed as it seemed in fashionable gaieties, had a serious side to her character and was not content to do her kindnesses by deputy. It is recalled that both she and her husband were direct descendants from Princess Mary, the daughter of Robert 111. PROFESSOR BAYLEY BALFOUR. Edinburgh University men all over the world will read with regret of the death of Professor Sir Isaac Baydey Balfour, who, like his father before him, occupied the Chair of Botany for 34 years. Before his appointment to Edinburgh in 1888 he had taught the same subject in Glasgow and Oxford. As a medical man in his early days he was associated with Huxley and with Lister, but his most notable work was done as a teacher and as curator of the Royal Botanical Gardens, which he made not only interesting to the casual visitor but instructive to the student. He was no mere laboratory exponent of his subject. He had travelled all over the world, and given the results in valuable books, and there was hardly a nook or cranny of his native land that he did not know well. A St'OTTISH-WELSH LINK. Perthshire is keenly interested in the forthcoming wedding of Major David Davies, M.P., with Miss Tita Grapt-Fergus-son, of Baledmund. That small estate l>a3 been in the possession of the family for over a thousand years, and neighbouring large proprietors have oast envious eyes upon it in vain. Whether she is “a penniless lass” I do not know, and it matters little, for the bridegroom is one of the wealthiest men in the country —and one of the most generous —but she certainly has “a latng pedigree,” whereas he is the grandson of a working sawyer. He is a widower with two children. Miss GrantFergusson is a girl of great business capacity and conducted a war hospital with marked success.

IN PRAISE OF SCOTT. The Edinburgh Scott Club was fortunate in having Dr Hensley Henson, Bishop of Durham, as principal sneaker at its an nual dinner. His tribute to the novelist and still more to the poet was both discriminating ajtd generous, but he rightly dwelt also on the great service Scott did to the cause of Union, by making Scotland better known to the world at large, and by breaking down religious and political prejudices founded on ignorance. One can not help feeling that Sir Walter would have ben an enthusiastic supporter of the present movement to encourage the use and study of the Scots vernacular. Lord Aberdeen, who vies with the Lord Provost of Aberdeen as our champion raconteur, was speaking on the subject to the London Burns Club Circle the other evening, and told the story of how two worthies Were inspecting the site of a new local cemetery. “I would raither dee than be buried here,” exclaimed one. “Weel,” replied the other, “wi’ me it’s the other way about. I would rather be bu.ried here than anywhere else —if I’m spared.” SUNDAY MUSIC. There is evidently no limit to the capacity of the parsons for making themselves ridiculous on the Sabbatarian question. Some years ago the Presbytery of Glasgow took no exception to the Sunday band performances in public parks in the centre of the city, but now that it is proposed to give them in suburban parks the ministers are up in arms. They have remained silent while free musical performances have been given on Sunday evenings, in the Corporation halls, but now a small fee is suggested in order to meet the expense, they regard the matter as one ‘‘of far-reaching consequences,” arid are to confer with their brethren of the United Free Church about it. It is to be hoped that some one will point out to them that the difference between right and wrong is not a matter of place and price. One can understand the position of the strict Sabbatarian, but the Glasgow Presbytery has abandoned it and this hair-splitting is merely absurd. Surely anything that will take young people off the unlovely streets of Glasgow on a winter evening and give them an intelligent interest as well as exercise a refining influence should be weloomed by every decent citizen, and especially by ministers of religion.