§ 16. Mr. JOHNSTONasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether his attention has been drawn to the projected eviction from his small holding of Mr. William E. Grierson, of Terregles, for arrears of rent and building annuity; whether he has been informed that this man is an ex-soldier twice severely wounded during the War, is without pension, and has sunk all his savings in his holding; that he is of good character and habits, and that his difficulties have largely accrued from flooding due to defective drainage, and to the effects of officially condemned buildings; that his agent has offered an instalment of £32 to a debt of £44, and that the Scottish Board of Agriculture has refused the offer; and whether he will make a special investigation into the facts of this case before eviction is proceeded with?
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for SCOTLAND (Sir John Gilmour)I am aware of the circumstances of this case which were fully reported to me before a decision to evict was reached. I do not accept the suggestion that Mr. Grierson's difficulties were due to the causes indicated in the third part of the question. The, fact is that the holding has been badly neglected, and that notwithstanding cancellation of debt to the extent of £38, the holder's debt at the time of his eviction amounted to £54. The position now is that proceedings have been taken to remove the holder and his relatives who have returned into unlawful occupation of the buildings. I see no reason to stay these proceedings.
§ Mr. JOHNSTONIs the right hon. Gentleman not aware that the local sanitary authority officially condemned these buildings?
§ Sir J. GILMOURI have gone fully into the circumstances of the case, and I can see no reason for altering the decision.
§ Mr. JOHNSTONBut is not that a statement of fact—that the local sanitary authority officially condemned these buildings?
§ Sir J. GILMOURI am not aware of whether they condemned them or not, but 1700 that matter has no bearing on the question of the cultivation of the holding, and the work which the man was supposed to do.
§ Mr. HARDIEHas the cultivation of this holding been compared with the cultivation of adjacent holdings?
§ Sir J. GILMOURIt is easy to know when a holding has not been properly cultivated.
§ 22. Mr. MACLEANasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many of the applicants for small holdings, whose applications are still outstanding, placed their applications previous to 31st December, 1925?
§ Sir J. GILMOURAt 31st December, 1925, the Board of Agriculture for Scotland's list contained 6,772 outstanding applications for small holdings, exclusive of applications for enlargements, and in the two years ended 31st December, 1927, 890 additional applications were received. By the latter date settlements and withdrawals had reduced the total outstanding to 4,924. It is not possible without a scrutiny of individual applications to say precisely how many of this total were lodged prior to 31st December, 1925.
§ Mr. MACLEANDoes not the right hon. Gentleman consider it worth while going into this matter to find out how many individuals have been waiting for many years to have applications for small holdings considered and granted by the Scottish Board of Health?
§ Sir J. GILMOURI do not think the cost and time required to make that inquiry would be justified.
§ Mr. MACLEANI shall put down another question asking how many claims were held up prior to 1925.
§ Sir J. GILMOURI understand the outstanding claims on 31st December, 1925, were 3,283.