FROM NORTH OF TWEED

Otago Witness, Issue 3764, 4 May 1926, Page 73

FROM NORTH OF TWEED

A LETTER TO OVERSEAS SCOTS.

Written for the Otago Daily Times.

By

ROBERT S. ANGUS.

EDINBURGH. March 11. has developed the lion-like qualities proverbially to be exDccted of it. Both the Northern and the Southern Highlands have had short but violent snow-storms, accompanied by piercingly cold winds. The severity of the weather is indicated by the fact that in the north the deer deserted the hills in search of food and warmth. Happily, there were intervals of sunshine, and in the arable areas the snow did not lie long, so that the spring ploughing will not be greatly delayed. The storm is more serious for flockmasters, as the lambing season has begun, and they are anxiously hoping for more genial conditions. As yet. little loss has been reported. THE HOUSING CONTROVERSY. Partly as the result of the House of Commons debate, and still more owing to negotiations conducted by the Scottish Office with the representatives of the employers and the workmen, some approach has been made to agreement on the conditions which are to apply to the erection of Weir houses under the Government scheme. Both sides seem to have moved a little, and Sir John Gilmour tells me he is hopeful of a complete settlement, I see that a young Welsh peer has been suggesting in the House of Lords that Scotland shoulj be ashamed “to go cap in hand to the Treas ury” for assistance with its housing problem. But, as the Duke of Sutherland, who now speaks for the Scottish Office in the House of Lords, pointed out, we have had, so far, proportionately less than half the State assistance given to England. The reason is not to our credit, for it means that we have been less energetic in qualifying for our share. In one place, however— Long before it is due to go out, March at Rosyth, as the result of the dockyard changes—there is a surplus of houses. About 400 are now vacant. If the railway company would provide a decent service, there is no reason why these dwellings should not be taken by Edinburgh citizens. OUR SECRETARY OF STATE. A little prematurely Sir John Gilmour was entertained at a public dinner in Edinburgh this week in celebration of his being about to become the first Secretary of State Scotland has had for nearly two him- * dred years. The necessary Parliamentary Bill has still to he passed, but I gather that it will not be opposed, as it entails no call upon public funds. Sir John Gilmour, however, is worthy of any compliment his fellow-countrymen can pay him. He fulfilled a round of public engagements during his week-end visit, and hurried back again to London to join his fellow Fifer? in their annual dinner. He and r.is colleague. Captain Walter Elliot, lake i w* matched pair in Scottish admimsc.atiin, which has seldom been more pffiri»nt than it is now. AN EMIGRATION GIFT. Sir Robert Horne, who has just returned from a well-earned holiday with his sister in Egypt, had the pleasure of announcing to his Glasgow constituents this week the receipt of a gift of £30,000 from Mr Leybourne Davidson for the assistance of schemes of emigration to the dominions The gift was inspired by a speech Sir Robert made last autumn, emphasising the importance of overseas settlement. Mr Davidson is one of the many Scotsmen who have assisted in the development of rubber-growing. He was one of the pioneers who took the rubber plant from Kew to Ceylon and the Malay Peninsula, and he has not been without his reward. Incidentally his advice and example have enabled manv of the dwellers in the North east of Scotland to make comfortable fortunes bv judicious investment. Sir Robert is now in consultation with the Colonial Office as to th© best way of laying out Mr Davidson’9 benefaction. CHURCH UNION. Meetings of the General Assembly Commissions have given occasion for reference to the church union movement. The leaders evidently realise that they have to overcome a good deal of lethargy and a certain amount of opposition, but apart from wider considerations, they feel themselves impelled to go forward by the great and growing shortage of candidates for the ministry. The time is fast approaching when they will not have enough men to fill the present number of pulpits. Flow far that is due to economic reasons and how far to the inability of the modern youth to accept the rigid formulae of the Church, it is not easy to snv; probablv both factors operate. Sir Henry Keith mentioned at one of the meetings that the village where he spent his holiday ir the north of Scotland last year has no fewer than six churches and as many ministers for a population of about 300,—an exceptional illustration of the present scandal. Dr Archibald Fleming, the minister of St. Columba’s. London, has been expressing the impatience of the Scottish Presbyterians in England at the slow progress of the union movement. Incidentally ho calls attention to the fact that the Scottish Eniseopal Chprch is the oulv branch of the Anglican communion which has never admitted a Presbyterian minister to take part in its services. THE FORTH FERRY. At last the London and North-Eastern Railway has decided to modernise the Hawes Pier at South Queensferry, familjar to readers of Scott and Stevenson. It is'to spend £20,000 in lengthening the pier by 240 feet, and if that is accompanied, rs presumably it will be, by putting on modern ferry steamers capable of carrying a substantial number of motor cars at a reasonrhle price, the case for the proposed Forth road bridge will be greatly weakened. ACROSS THE GRAMPIANS. Another transport scheme which is making good headway is the reconstruction of the main road across the Grampians from Blair Atholl to Inverness, a distance' of about 70 miles, one of the loneliest and most picturesque stretches of road in the island. The scheme, which will cost £600,000 and employ at least a thousand men till the late autumn, is expected to be completed in time foe next year’s traffic.

The road is being straightened anu“widened, and several expensive deviations will have to be made, with bridges across the intervening valleys. ACADEMY CENTENARY. For the centenary exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy, which is to open about a month hence, the King has agreed to lend two pictures from Buckingham Pilace, Sir David Wilkie's “Blind Man’s Buff” and “The Penny Wedding,” both i>f them, through reproductions, familiar ir* many a humble Scottish homo. Arrangements have been made for the exhibition of characteristic examples of Raeburn and of the other distinguished members of the Academy in bygone days. It is expected that the contemporary members will make a special effort to show that, as compared with the past, the glory has not departed from Scottish art. A FRIEND OF R. L. S. Mr S. S. M'Clure, founder and editor of the wel-known magazine which bears his name, visited Edinburgh this week, and the R. L. Stevenson Club took occasion to entertain him at an informal luncheon party. One of the facts disclosed was new to me, that our Professor Henry Drummond advanced three thousand dollars to young M'Clure to finance the small cycling magazine which was the beginning of his literary enterprises. Mr M'Clure made his hosts a fascinating speech on his associations with “R. L. 5.,” and particularly the transaction which enabled the novelist to make his trip to the South Seas, where he spent the rest of his life. Mr M'Clure protested that he was not responsible lor what many of the novelist’s admirers egard as an unfortunate exile. All he did was to assist him towards the fulfilment of a long-cherished ambition. A POOR LAW ADMINISTRATOR. By the death of Mr J. R. Motion, who was for over fifty years the leader of poor law administration in the West, Scotland has lost one of her most efficient and devoted public servants. As Inspector to the Barony and afterwards to the Glasgow Parish Council, he had to deal with problems of great magnitude and variety, and he applied to them a hard-headed shrewdness which gained him recognition as one of the greatest authorities on the subject. His dislike of the tendency of modern conditions to undermine self-help and selfrespect was frank and outspoken, and though no man had a more tender heart for cases of real and undeserved hardship, he was a sturdy opponent of thinly veiled mendicancy. Personally, he was a genial and kindly man, a great favourite with his fellow-members of the Glasgow Golf Club, whose captain he was ahout thirty ypars ago. When he retired through failing health, he was the recipient of many tributes to his public service. THE FOOTBALL FIELD. For the Association Football Cup, Celtic, Rangers, and St. Mirren (by unexpectedly beating the Airdrieonians) have qualified for the semi-final round, and the last place ! ies between Aberdeen and Partick Thistle, who plaved- a drawn game on the latter’s ground. In the Rugby world, twelve of the Scottish fifteen to go to Twickenham have been chosen, and no explanation i 9 given or can be surmised for Jeaving three places vacant. There is some doubt whether Waddell, the Glasgow Academical half-back who was hurt in the Irish match, will be fit to play. His absence will be a serious handicap. Lacking his assistance, it was onlv by a last-minute spurt on Saturday that his club contrived to maintain its unbeaten record