§ DR. CLARK (Caithness)asked the Lord Advocate, Whether Mr. Auldjo Jamieson, Crown Agent for Scotland, is a member of the firm of Todds, Murray, and Jamieson, who act as estate agents; whether the said firm are agents for the Ardencaple Estate, Argyllshire, where a deforcement took place in connection with the eviction of a farmer named M'Dougal, and for which Samuel M'Dougal has been tried and imprisoned; and, whether the Government will require that so important and responsible an official as the Crown Agent shall act as the servant of the Crown alone, and not as an estate agent in cases that may come before him in his public capacity?
§ THE LORD ADVOCATE (Mr. J. H. A. MACDONALD) (Edinburgh and St. Andrew's Universities)I answer the two first paragraphs of the hon. Member's Question in the affirmative As regards the third paragraph, I have to say that the Crown Agent, in matters of prosecution for crime, is solely an administrative official, and cases in no way come before him in that capacity. They are dealt with by the Lord Advocate and his deputies, without consultation with the Crown Agent of any kind; and 838 it would be quite out of his province for him to interfere in any way with the proceedings, and he never does so. It is not intended to make any alteration on the existing practice.