§ DR. CLARK(for Dr. E. MACDONALD) (Ross and Cromarty)asked the Lord Advocate, If he will be kind enough to make inquiries as to the alleged refusal of the Road Trustees of Western Ardnamurchan to in any way publish a statement of their accounts; whether the said Trustees pay over to the proprietor a certain sum of money annually to be expended on the roads; whether the said proprietor refuses to give a statement as to how this sum of money is spent; and, whether complaints have reached him that the ratepayers are, in consequence of this state of matters, and the bad and dangerous condition of the roads, largely refusing to pay rates; and, if the facts be as suggested, what steps can he, or will he, take to have these alleged grievances remedied?
§ THE LORD ADVOCATE (Mr. J. P. B. ROBERTSON) (Bute)I am informed that the Ardnamurchan Road Trustees 828 publish their accounts annually; but that this year, owing to an unavoidable adjournment of the general meeting, it was not possible to send them for publication so soon as usual. Proprietors receive an annual allocation for the maintenance of roads on their estates, and each proprietor has to satisfy the Trustees as to the expenditure of this sum. The only ratepayers in the Ardnamurchan district who have refused payment of rates are the tenants on the Ardnamurchan estate. I am informed that the proprietor of this estate has never refused to give the District Trustees detailed accounts of his expenditure; and that the estates accounts show that for 10 years up to Whitsunday, 1887, he has spent £170 more than the allocation. The Argyleshire roads are regulated under a private Act; and by section 35 of that Act any person who feels aggrieved by any proceeding of the District Trustees may appeal to the Trustees for the county. This is the only course I can suggest if any grievance exists. I have no authority to interfere.