§ MR. ANSTRUTHER (St. Andrew's, &c.)I beg to ask the Lord Advocate whether his attention has been drawn to an article contributed to the Scotsman of the 15th May, regarding the confusion and uncertainty that exists as to the removal terms in Scotland; whether he can now give a reply to the Memorial presented to him on behalf of the East of Fife Agricultural Society; and whether he will recommend the Secretary for Scotland to introduce legislation to remedy the inconvenience complained of by the memorialists?
§ SIR H. MAXWELLThe attention of the Lord Advocate has been called to 967 the article mentioned by my hon. Friend and the Memorial of the East of Fife Agricultural Society. Unless by Statute the same days be made the Whitsunday term and Martinmas terms respectively for all purposes, all over Scotland, it seems certain that inconvenience will be felt in some quarters; and the successive changes which have hitherto been made in the law seem to have altered and not entirely removed the difficulty. Whether, however, such uniformity would be free from objection, and whether, assuming it to be desirable, the proper terms would be the 15th May and 11th November, or the 28th May and 28th November, are questions of social convenience upon which the opinion of the various classes interested ought to be further matured before Parliament could proceed with confidence to further legislation, having regard especially to the equivocal success of recent experiments. The Lord Advocate does not, therefore, think it unfortunate that the present engagements of Parliamentary time preclude the idea of legislation this Session, and he will be very happy if, in the interval, further material is placed before the Government by the Public Bodies or by individuals interested.