§ MR. BRADLAUGH (Northampton)asked the Lord Advocate, Whether he is aware that between 11.30 and 12.30 on Whit Monday, three Glasgow barges discharged several hundred tons of filth 1179 in Loch Long, and that discharges are daily occurring; whether the Secretary for Scotland has recently received four Memorials from the Local Authority of Cove and Kilcreggan, from feuars, residents, and fishermen, inhabitants of the shores of Loch Long and Loch Goil, in relation to the constant and continuing pollution of the waters of the Lochs; whether he has received a communication from the Chief Magistrate of Cove and Kilcreggan suggesting that, pending the final decision of the Government, the "Clyde Trust" should be forthwith compelled to deposit these dredgings in deeper water and in a swifter running channel, from Wemyss Bay down towards the Garroch Head, for which service their dredgers are quite suited as to seaworthiness in ordinary weather; and, whether he can now state what course the Government intend to pursue in the matter?
§ THE LORD ADVOCATE (Mr. J. H. A. MACDONALD) (Edinburgh and St. Andrew's Universities)The facts are as stated. The Secretary for Scotland has received several Memorials and letters from parties interested in this matter, containing various suggestions about it. Of the six sources of pollution indicated by Mr. Fletcher, in his Report laid before the House, only one—namely, the deposit of alkali wash—is within the control of the Scotch Office, and that ceased altogether on the 27th of February. I will be obliged to the hon. Member if he will postpone the latter part of his Question.