§ MR. WEIR (Ross and Cromarty)I beg to ask the Secretary for Scotland if he will state whether the inquiry promised on the 13th of November last into the case of Alexander Young, a crofter settler, residing near Saltcoats, Assa, Canada, who complained that he and his family had received ill-treatment from the agent of the Imperial Colonisation Board has not yet been made; and, if so, will he state the result of the inquiry?
§ SIR G. TREVELYANThe case of Alexander Young has been inquired into. It appears that in August, 1892, he left his wife and family in Saltcoats to obtain work elsewhere. In November the colonisation agent saw him at Killarney, and was informed by him that he had no intention of returning to Saltcoats. In the meantime, his family was being supported by the generosity of their neighbours, and he was also assisted by the agent of the Board. The Inspector of Police brought their destitute condition to the knowledge of the agent, and Mrs. Young applied to him in writing for assistance to join her husband. As Young, like all the other crofter colonists, had received advances from the Colonisation Board, and had given the agent a lien on his chattels and stock, the latter took them over to enable Mrs. Young and her children to join her husband. Finally, he returned to Saltcoats last June.