SIR,—While I unfortunately missed ' Sir Compton Mackenzie's article on
the Scottish Conspiracy Trial; the subsequent letters of Sir William Hamilton Fyfe and Mr. James Shaw, are not unworthy of closer inspection.
Sir William can find some excuse for suffragettes using violence because they had no votes; but if there is one thing worse than having no vote, it is having a worthless vote. May I remind Sir William that Scotland has not returned a Conservative majority this century. (I am not a Socialist, but that is not important.) How then can Scotland enforce her expressed wish on any subject if there is no machinery to make this possible ? Must we, too, go through the " Troubles " ?
Mr. Shaw's is a brave letter. Not only does he tell the Edinburgh jury they were wrong; he, like the proverbial bull, crashes into the china-shop of Anglo-Scottish economics, emerges with a dubious conclusion, and pro- ceeds, doubtless using some telepathic process, to state that Scotland does not want home rule —a statement no less foolish than the one which Mr. Shaw derided: I hesitate to treat such a weighty matter lightly, but I wonder if Cullen agrees with Mr. Shaw's statement that 300 is not a large crowd, even for Edinburgh ? As a last criticism, before considering other aspects of the matter, I wonder where Mr. Shaw got the idea that Scotland plays a predominant part in the administration of the United Kingdom ? Averse as I am to American slang, who, Mr. Shaw, is kidding who ?
In making this plea for sanity, I am torn between the desire to see a better Scotland, which 1 believe can only result from home rule, and the dread of the pangi which heralded the birth of Eire, whose grievances were mild in comparison. Is there a good reason why a plebiscite should not be held on the subject, with the promise of any necessary action ? Refusal to adopt this course simply deepens the suspicion that all is not above board in our partnership.
Aware as they are of the danger, the moguls of Westminster, sheltering under a tarnished halo of pseudo-democracy, must share the blame for any violence caus0 by hot-headed partisans.—Yours faithfully,
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