Part of Orders of the Day — Reorganisation of Offices (Scotland) Bill. – in the House of Commons am ar 9 Gorffennaf 1928.
Yes, the Secretary of State and a Law Officer—one and a half. We have had a good deal about percentages this evening and we will not quarrel over that aspect of the question. When this question was being considered by the Standing Committee on Scottish Bills, I opposed the change very earnestly and to the best of my ability, and I am so far consistent that I intend to oppose it to the best of my ability this evening. I know quite well, from close contact with a number of men responsible for the administration of local affairs in Scotland, that they are entirely averse to the change that is to take place, and I think that the Secretary of State for Scotland is under an obligation to show that there has been some demand for it from Scotland. It is a shocking thing to ignore the public opinion of between 4,000,000 and 5,000,000 people, and put them under the heel, as this proposal will, of a Cabinet which consists almost entirely of Englishmen.
There can be no doubt, in my mind at any rate, that there is considerable alarm, which, perhaps, has not manifested itself in Scotland, but which does exist among those who are most closely in touch with the people of Scotland in regard to this proposed change. Having regard to the needs of Scotland, I was surprised to find that in the Gracious Speech from the Throne the question of rating and this particular Bill found a prominent place, because those who know the needs of Scotland know quite well that an entirely different set of questions should have been considered during this Session. As a matter of fact, I am very doubtful whether the proposed rearrangement of rating and valuation will touch the fringe of the problem which concerns the great majority of the people of Scotland, and it seems to me that the Bill which we are considering to-night is an entirely reactionary one and an entirely retrograde step. Take, for instance, the question that I put to the Secretary of State for Scotland in the Standing Committee. Agriculture ought to be the basic industry of every nation, because it is on the food produced that we live. We need food daily, and Scotland is only producing a small proportion of that which it requires. It is capable of producing far more without any additional expert advice. If we acted upon the scientific knowledge and expert advice already available, far more could be produced from the soil and waters of Scotland than is being produced at the present time. Why not act upon the knowledge that we have, rather than strive to obtain additional knowledge which may never he used, since the existing knowledge is not used at the present time?
The question which I put to the Secretary of State for Scotland in the Standing Committee, and to which he did not vouchsafe an answer on that occasion, but which I hope he will answer in this Debate, was as to what special scientific or agricultural knowledge this gentleman whom he proposes to appoint from the Civil Service as the head of this Department will possess which will give him some special qualification for this particular kind of work. If he has not such knowledge, there is no special virtue in appointing him. The great need of Scotland just now, so far as the majority of the industrial workers are concerned, is to be able to absorb the 140,000 people who are unemployed, the vast number who are only partly employed, and the people who are finding themselves destitute and even worse because of the conditions which prevail. Will the changes proposed in this Bill touch the fringe of any of these questions? I submit that they will not, and that an entirely different set of circumstances is required.
I want to come finally to a question upon which I said a few words in the Standing Committee on Scottish Bills—the question of the Prison Commissioners for Scotland. From the Annual Report of the Prison Commissioners for Scotland for the year 1927, I find that the number of persons admitted to prison had increased in 1926, partly due to the labour troubles in that year. The Report says that the total number of admissions in 1927 was 16,460, as against 17,690 in 1926, and 15,802 in 1925. Will the reorganisation of this Department have any effect in decreasing the number of people who are in prison in Scotland? On the contrary, I think it is highly probable that it will have the reverse effect, because the people who know the conditions and are in close contact with these people will have ceased to function so far as these matters are concerned. There is evidence in the present Report that the Scottish Office ought to be tackling the unemployment problem to a very much greater extent, because it has a bearing upon the number of people who find their way to prison. The Report says:
The Governors make inquiries through the Police and also of the parents of those concerned. Note has previously been made of the large proportion who have lost one or both parents in early life. This fact again entered into the reports for 1927. The part played by unemployment in relation to crime committed by young persons is also brought out in a striking manner by a return obtained from Polmont regarding previous employment of 50 inmates received in consecutive order. It is observed that almost all those sentenced to Polmont Institution were out of employment at the time they committed the crime. An analysis
of the figures shows that the average age at admission was 18 years two months.
Forty-three were idle at the time of committing the offence; four were employed selling newspapers; and only three were in other employment.
The further fact is mentioned in the Report that boys are dismissed from their employment on reaching the age of 18, when a higher rate of insurance becomes payable, and thus they are driven from pillar to post without employment, and associate with evil companions, until they find themselves in prison and get that worst of all starts early in life on the downward road which deprives them in some cases of any future prospects. I think I remember some lines which seem to apply to these people:
They're lost to love and honour,
They're lost to hope and truth;
They're dropping down the ladder rung by rung;
And the measure of their torture is the measure of their youth,
Alas! they knew the worst too young.
The Government are to some extent putting upon the shoulders of the Secretary of State for Scotland the responsibility for the degradation and the loss of the fine spirit and character of these boys when they grow up to manhood, because they have missed in early life that opportunity which ought to have been provided for them. It is an extremely shocking state of affairs, and all who wish well for their country should strive to ameliorate these conditions. There is another point which is constantly brought out in Scotland in particular. People who live there know well how at public meetings it is often declared what a very superior system of education prevails in Scotland as compared with England.