§ MR. WEIRI beg to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in view of the fact that in and around Ullapool a large number of families are absolutely without seed oats and potatoes, and are unable to find employment at or near their homes, and have no means to go elsewhere in search of work, he will place at the disposal of the Scottish Office sufficient money to provide employment for these persons on public works, or re-consider his decision with regard to granting a subsidy for the construction of the Garve and Ullapool Railway, or make other provision to open up communication with this populous and inaccessible district?
§ SIR W. HARCOURTI will ask the hon. Member to address these questions to my right hon. Friend the Secretary for Scotland.
§ SIR G. TREVELYANI am prepared to answer this at once; £400 has recently been sanctioned for road making in the district of Loch Broom, in which Ullapool is situated. The Board of Supervision send in fortnightly Reports of the state of destitution in the Western Highlands and Islands, and none of them contain any allusion to distress at Ullapool. Under these circumstances, the Government does not consider it necessary to take any further measures. In any case, the question of whether or not a great subsidy should be given for the construction of a railway would have to be considered apart from the question of finding work to meet temporary distress.