27 FEBRUARY 1864, Page 2

There is a pleasant state of affairs existing in Ross-shire.

Theis' has hitherto been no police there, there is a good deal of poverty in winter, the sheriffs look upon sheep-stealing as London magis- trates do upon maiming, viz., as an amusement practised by cer- tain classes, and not very blameable, and the crime has increased till it seriously affects the value of farms. The breeders lose fre- quently in a year more than their rent, one man losing 568 sheep worth 30s. a piece in two years. The proprietors are so moved that they have at last introduced the new police; but the Scotsman points out that this is -insufficient, and calls on the sheriffs to do their duty, and the landowners to evict all crofters found guilty of stealing. If ever much of England falls into the hands of little proprietors they will carry very different laws about agricultural theft than at present exist. The farmers bear them now because they have a margin; but the loss from incessant larceny must be a very appreciable addition to rent, and it is scarcely ever punished. Who is to prove that John Nokes took those heaps of firewood out of a hedge, or that Jane Stokes could not have carried, let alone collected, the heaps of corn called " gleanings?"