§ MR. WEIR (Ross and Cromarty)I beg to ask the Lord Advocate whether his attention has been called to a paragraph on page 30 of the Education Report for the Northern Division of Scotland for 1898, to the effect that the development of the evening continuation school system is retarded through the managers of schools in certain districts being unwilling to place new burdens on the rates; and in view of the fact that in most of the crofting counties the majority of the ratepayers have no voice in the election of school managers, will he state what steps he proposes to take so that the growth of evening continuation schools may not be impeded.
§ MR. A. GRAHAM MURRAYThe terms of the grants offered by the Evening Continuation School Code are very liberal, but it must rest with the local authorities to say whether they are prepared to make themselves responsible for such local expenditure as may be necessary to earn those grants. I am not pre- 597 pared to admit the assumption in the second paragraph of the question so far as it concerns those rated for school expenses; bat in any case the conditions of Evening School Grants must be considered apart from the question of the School Board franchise.