§ Sir JOHN DEWARasked the Lord Advocate if he has received a letter from the Idrigill crofters in Skye in reply to the communication from the Secretary for Scotland to them, in which they offer to prove to the satisfaction of any impartial tribunal that the whole of the farm of Scuddaburgh was promised to them by the manager for the proprietors, the Congested Districts Board; that the crofters' arrangements were made accordingly, and that the decision of the Congested Districts Board to give them only part of the land has had and will have serious consequences for them; whether, 1619W under the circumstances, he will induce the Congested Districts Board to alter the decision at which they arrived to reserve the best part of the farm for a separate holding; and whether, as the majority of the Crofters Commission are also members of the Congested Districts Board, who are the owners of the farm of Scuddaburgh, he will consider the advisability of an impartial arbiter being employed?
§ Mr. UREThe Secretary for Scotland has received from the Idrigill crofters various letters containing among other allegations, assertions of the kind referred to by the hon. Baronet in the first part of his question, for which I cannot admit that there is any foundation in fact. I must remind my hon. Friend that these crofters have not confined themselves to allegations, but have entered on an unlawful course of action, which has forced the Congested Districts Board to take legal proceedings against them. Under the circumstances, I cannot undertake to suggest to the Congested Districts Board that they should alter their decision.