BRITISH COLUMBIA (LOAN) BILL (No. 432.) (Hansard, 23 June 1892)

§ (4.18.) DR. CLARK (Caithness)

This is a Bill to enable the Government to make a loan to British Columbia. The Colonial Government wishes to develop its fisheries, which are chiefly in the hands of natives and Chinamen, and to get white men out there in order that the fisheries may be carried on in a more scientific manner than hitherto. It is proposed to use the unfortunate crofters for the purpose. Certain statements have been made by the Government, and especially by the First Lord of the Treasury on the Second Reading of the Bill, which I have been unable to refer to before. We have been told that no crofter holdings have been taken in order to make the great deer forests, which form about three millions of acres; but if the First Lord of the Treasury will only read the evidence which was given before the Royal Commission, he will find that something very different is the case. The Rev. Angus McRae, minister of the Free Church of Scotland, Glen Urquhart, Inverness-shire, gave the following evidence before the Commission:— I beg to submit to the Royal Commission that there has been a decrease of the population of this parish during the last 'census decade' of 342 in a population of 2,438, which I ascribe principally to our large deer forests. The late laird of Glenmoriston, who was one of the kindest and most humane proprietors in the North, erred latterly in adopting the system of turning farms into deer forests; but it is to be hoped that the young heir will reverse this system as soon as he gets full possession of the estate. The deer forest of Balmacaan, in Glen Urquhart, is about twenty miles in length, and is rented for £3,000 per annum; to this forest a great deal of good land has been added, even within the last sixteen years, besides the large tracts that were added to it at different periods formerly. About the year 1867 the whole township 1845 of Balmacaan where there were over twenty families who were living pretty comfortably, had to be turned out in a body, as the place was to be added directly to the forest. The witness goes on to give details, and then says— Of course, there was a small forest above the ordinary pasture, from time immemorial, but recently there has been added to it the grazing of about ten thousand sheep. The Rev. James Bain, the Rev. Roderick Morison, ministers of the Established Church in Duthill, Inverness-shire, and Kintail, Ross-shire, also gave evidence of the effects of the deer forest system in the country, and the evidence generally shows that the right hon. Gentleman has made assertions which are the reverse of the truth in regard to the matter. So far as even the Island of Lewis is concerned, the evidence given before the Commission shows that the people there thirty years ago were much more comfortable than they are at the present time: and I would ask the House to listen to the statement made by the Rev. Malcolm McRitchie, minister of the Free Church at Knock. Stornoway. He said— Having been born in Lewis in the year 1803, and since intimately acquainted with every part of it, allow me to submit the following statement bearing upon the condition of the island as a whole, as contrasted with what existed within my own memory; and also a more particular statement as to the condition of things in the quoad sacra Parish of Knock, in which I have laboured for many years as a minister of the Gospel, and at a former period as teacher. My recollections of Lewis go back for seventy years, and I well remember the comfortable circumstances of the large population that then inhabited my native Parish of Uig. The population of the parish then would be about three thousand, as against the present population of 3,489: but how different the comfort and the circumstances of the population of sixty years ago! All the people were then in a state of comparative comfort, having arable land, and hill pasture for sheep and cattle, whereas now poverty and want largely predominate. Increase of population cannot here be the cause of the immense difference in the condition of the people. The present population of 3,489 is only some 448 more than fifty years ago, when the parish had a population of 3,041, and when the circumstances of the people were much more comfortable, and this is so in the face of the large increase in the value of the fishing industry since 1831, affording a source of income to the people many times larger now than it was then. Why, then, the unfavourable condition of the people as contrasted with their condition then? Simply 1846 because the large reaches of pasture ground then in their possession have been taken from the people since, and are formed into sheep walks and deer forests without any abatement of rents formerly charged, yea, with increase in many cases. After giving facts which are very important, he goes on to say— Close upon 23,000 of the crofter population in Lewis pay only about £8,200 of the £20,000 rental yielded by the island, while the other £12,000 are paid by a few large farmers and sportsmen. The soil in possession of the large farmers is by far the best in Lewis, and yields, considering its quality, a far lower rent than the portion in possession of the crofters. The best of the land was taken for the purpose of forming those large farms, and the crofters were driven from them and huddled together on inferior ground. Another minister of the Established Church, the Rev. Angus Maciver, of Stornoway, says of the crofters— Fifty or forty years ago they were quite comfortable and able to live well, but now they find it very difficult to make, a bare living. The population has increased enormously for the last forty years, and instead of the proprietors seeing to the comfort of these people by giving them more lands, they have just been deprived of them in proportion to the increase, and these made into sheep farms and deer forests. The result now is a congestion of population in the various districts where they reside: and unless a very decided change takes place soon, a chronic state of destitution will be the consequence. This evidence, it will be seen, is entirely opposite to the statement of the right hon. Gentleman. Then, again, the Report of the Royal Commission gives details with reference to four parishes as typical of the whole. The parishes chosen for the purpose are those of Farr in Sutherland, Uig in Lewis. Duirmish in Skye, and South Uist in the Long Island.

§ DR. CLARK

The hon. Member has referred to the costermongers in his constituency; he should listen to the grievances which I have no doubt they would like to ventilate. I am engaged in bringing forward statements to show the mistakes which have been made 1847 and the fallacies of the arguments which have been urged in support of this proposal. The Royal Commission state in their Report that, taking the four typical parishes I have referred to, it appears that out of 3,266 families 309 depend upon the cultivation of the soil; that 825 families, comprising more than one-fourth of the population, are without land, and without regular access to local wages; and that thirty occupiers, or less than one per cent. of the whole community, are in the occupation of nearly two-thirds of the land. Now, this is a state of things that cannot go on. I contend that the Government are simply making the parishes into a pauper warren, and seriously affecting the moral standard of the people. The amount of this loan is a mere drop in the bucket. The only way to provide a remedy is to break up the large grazing and sporting tracts of land, and to restore the people to it. There is as good land in Caithness as anywhere, except in America, and the crofters can live upon it if allowed to do so. But they are paying higher rents than they are here. The right hon. Gentleman has an estate, but like a wise man he is selling it before this deer business bursts. In the eastern portion of the Highlands there is plenty of room, and the people are not satisfied, and ought not to be satisfied, until they have a chance of living comfortably in their own country. In Caithness the arable farms are so large that the railway will take you five or six miles through one immense farm, all arable and all cultivated. But take the cultivated land of Caithness, the best half is in the occupation of twenty-five persons; the remaining and worse half being left to 25,000 occupiers. Retribution, however, is taking place. The men who have improved the estates and made large farms are now ruined, and the bulk of their estates are in the hands of Trustees; while the £10 and £20 men are living comfortably, owning the land and getting a decent return from it. The men who have made improvements are not receiving from them three per cent. I will not oppose the Bill further, because I believe it may be useful to a section other than the crofters—the men who are fishermen only. These are the men who are 1848 wanted for the development of the Columbian fisheries, and I shall watch the experiment with interest, as you are endeavouring to relieve fishing congestion. I trust that both Governments will see that any company which is formed makes proper preparations in order that these people may not be exposed to hardships on their arrival.