HC Deb 27 February 1890 vol 341 cc1333-5
MR. FRASER-MACKINTOSH (Inverness-shire)

I beg to ask the Lord Advocate whether his attention has been called to the effect of the decisions in the matter of rents in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, pronounced by the Crofter Commissioners, upon the electorate for the School Boards; whether he is aware that the mumbers entitled to vote according to Clause 12, Sub-section 2, of the Education Act of 1872 has greatly diminished; and that in one case, namely, the parish of Lochs, with a population of upwards of 6,000, the electorate for the current year has fallen down to 33 persons; and whether the Government will introduce a measure to assimilate the School Board with the Parliamentary franchise?

DR. MACDONALD (Ross and Cromarty)

I have also to ask the Lord Advocate whether he is aware that in Barvas parish, in Lewis, owing to the rents being reduced below £4, only two crofters now have votes, whereas 67 had votes formerly for School Board elections; whether he is aware that the said elections are now in the hands of 13 other voters, who are mainly large farmers and estate officials and servants; whether only five crofters have votes in the parish of Lochs, with a population of 6,000 persons, 19–20ths of whom were crofters; whether a similar state of matters exists all over Levis and the Highlands generally; and what: steps the Government propose to take to put such elections on a popular basis, instead of being, as now, in the hands of a few well-to-do people?

MR. J. P. B. ROBERTSON

I propose to reply to this question and that of the hon. Member for Ross and Cromarty in the same answer. While the result of the reductions of rent in the Lewis has been to diminish to a large extent the number of persons entered on the valuation roll as owners or occupiers of the annual value of £1, and therefore qualified under the Act of 1872 as School Board electors, the reduction in the number has not, according to my information, been so great as is indicated in the questions of the hon. Gentlemen. The numbers in several school districts are as follows:—

1888 1890
Barvas 172 98
Lochs 133 70
Uig 178 145
Stornoway 901 991

The existing constituencies contain a considerable representation of the crofting element, as there are numerous crofts still above £4 rental. It is only in a small number of parishes that the number of electors has been reduced in anything like this proportion, and the circumstances do not seem to justify a disturbance of the statutory qualification which is general over Scotland.