§ * MR. J. G. WEIR (Ross and Cromarty)appealed to the Colonial Secretary to stay the advance of the Chartered Company into Central Africa. The system of land-grabbing now prevailing ought to cease. The extension of an Empire might be carried too far. He trusted that the Government would not adopt the recommendation of the noble Lord the Member for Greenwich, for the policy of force and fraud had been carried on too long. There were two matters to which he wished to call the attention of the Lord Advocate. In the first place, £5,000 had been set aside to procure a cruiser for Scottish waters, and he thought they ought to know what progress was being made with that boat. The vessel was to have been handed over to the Scottish Fishery Board on or before the 1st July. He supposed that the contract had not been signed yet, and that difficulties had arisen. He trusted that the amount to be expended would be increased if necessary. Another matter under the control of the right hon. Gentleman was the question of the 13 mile limit on the west coast of the Hebrides. Although on a former occasion he had been referred by the Lord Advocate to the Foreign Office, the Secretary for Scotland and the Lord Advocate had power to extend the 375 limit, and they had been given no satisfactory reply on the subject. What was it that blocked the way? It could not be the North Sea Convention. The Scottish Fishery Board could issue a bye-law extending the limit from three miles to 13 miles, and that would be of immense advantage to the fishermen on the coasts of the Western islands. The trawlers now came close in shore, and there was no protection for the line fishermen on the Atlantic side of the Hebrides from the depredations of trawlers. Before Parliament met again he hoped the right hon. Gentleman would use his influence with the Admiralty to try and get one or two cruisers for sea police duty round the coast. With regard to the construction of the Brennan torpedo, he thought they ought to know what amount of money was expended on each operation in the workshops, and he hoped that a good, sound system of carrying on the manufacture of torpedoes would be adopted.
§ THE LORD ADVOCATE (Mr. GRAHAM MURRAY,) Buteshiresaid that with regard to the question of a cruiser, it would have been disastrous to have gone into the matter without due consideration, and that was the only cause of delay. He assured the hon. Member that a vessel would be provided, and that that vessel would be of proper size, dimensions, and speed. As to the other point raised, the hon. Member, if he had studied the Act of Parliament, would have seen that the 13 mile limit could not be applied on the west coast of Scotland unless the consent of the signatories of the North Sea Powers was obtained. The Scotch Office had no power to make the bye-law the hon. Member desired. It had no common law power to make bye-laws, and its action was governed by the statute referred to.