Like It Here Scotland Yet The Destruction of .Glasgow Triple-Talk

South of Scotland Person from Putney • ROY THOMSON • HUGH MAcDIARMID ip DAVID MURRAY • NORMAN MAcCAIG • IAIN HAMILTON • R. H. WEST WATER

Like It Here

By ROY THOMSON ISM a fourth-generation Canadian. my forebears having emigrated from Wester Kirk in Dum- frieSshire in 1760. I was born and lived all my life in Canada until I came to Scotland five years ago.

When I purchased the Scotsman in 1953 I had already acquired a group of newspapers in Canada and in Florida. As I added newspapers to this g,roup I had previously reorganised their business affairs, modernised their plant and buildings and, most important, directed, or, where necessary, injected management. Then I carefully supervised its progress and integrated it into our group operation.

Not in many lifetimes would one be given the oPportunity to buy the national newspaper of a great country like the Scotsman. When this oppor- tunity arose it was obvious to me that here was Where 1 could best spend the rest of my life. The Proprietor of this great newspaper must personally direct its affairs and I had no hesitation in deciding that I should give up my.Canadian residence and come to live in Edinburgh.

1 confess that when I first became actively associated with the Scotsman operations I was considerably frustrated. Many of the Scottish Ways of life and the methods of doing business differed greatly from those with which I had become familiar over my lifetime. The most obvious fact to me was the very considerable reluctance to change. All my life I was used to continuous effort to find new, better, less expen- sive or more efficient ways of doing things. Here, it seemed to me, change was resisted, 'at least to seme extent, just because it was different. The ScotArnan organisation was steeped in tradition. There was a deep rellictance to change anything, tlespite the fact that it was obvious many of the business practices had been carried on for de- eades and were patently outmoded under present- ay conditions. In this respect the Scotsman organisation differed from other progressive Scot- tish concerns whose methods and business inanagement compare most favourably with those of the most progressive organisations of the World.

Since coming to Scotland, I have had an excel- lent opportunity to observe the course of life here and the Scottish people, and I have had a good ')Pportunity to draw comparisons in many respects between Scottish and Canadian life. It is a fact that Canada is a great country to live in. It is the

country of *the future. It has a high standard of living and even very poor people enjoy a full and complete life. Amenities are available to most Canadians that are, in this country, restricted to those with earnings above the average. My obser- vation is that it is not difficult to be successful in Canada.

However, I have found life most interesting and satisfactory in Scotland. Probably the outstanding thing that makes life interesting anywhere is the people one associates with. In this respect Scots men and women are supreme. Canada is a young and growing country. New developments mfre taking place on every side. The people, generally speaking, are primarily concerned with the build- ing up of this vast country and, consequently, have less time for social amenities. This is not the case in Scotland. Canadians are a sociable people in- deed, but they just do not seem to have the time to spend outside business activities as do the Scottish people. Then, of course, there does not exist in Canada the history and tradition which is everywhere in this country. That is something that makes life in Scotland very much worth while.

1 am frequently asked, 'Are Scots businessmen more conservative than Canadians, less willing to throw over old techniques and methods, less flexible in their approach to problems?' I think I would have to say 'Yes' to all these questions. I think a more conservative and less flexible ap- proach to business is the inevitable development of decades, even centuries, of doing business in a country where no dynamic developments are taking place. Where vast new natural resources are being developed and great new enterprises opening up all the time, it is inevitable and necessary that changes must take place quickly and on a very wide basis. Completely new large-scale develop- ments almost overnight force a complete change of direction on many sections of Canadian business. One becomes used to change and there is nothing surprising about it. In Scotland these developments do not happen, and it is not sur- prising that change is neither welcome nor desired. I think it is most necessary that Scottish business: men must realise the fact that the world is chang- ing very rapidly and where they have not already done so they must adapt themselves to modern methods and techniques. They must become com- pletely open-minded in connection with new ideas. 1 make haste, however, to say that my belief that Scottish businessmen are, teneralty speaking, not as quick to seize new opportunities as I would like has been completely belied by the tremendous success of the completely new method of adver- tising on television. The speed and extent to which they have availed themselves of this new medium have greatly astonished me.

Are Scots as careful with their money as their reputation indicates? No, I do not think so. My observation is that the ordinary Scotsman is as free with his money in relationship to the amount he has available as a Canadian or American. I do think, and I respect him most highly for it, that the ordinary Scot has a good sense of value and when he spends he wants his money's worth. In that respect he is no different from any intelligent person anywhere.

It is said that it is difficult to get to know'Scots. I have not found this to be the case. They are, it is true, more reserved than Canadians, but if that is a fault perhaps it is not a bad one. I know that I have made many very good friends here in a reasonably short space of time. I can certainly add that it has been my experience that Scots improve on acquaintance:They wear well, and I consider this high praise indeed.

I think that life in Scotland is not as easy as in many other places. The climate is certainly difficult. It all adds up to the fact that Scotsmen are workers and have a high level of intelligence. As a nation they have developed a character wholly admirable. It is character, industry and thrift that have sent Scotsmen through all the ages tc the far corners of the world. If one were to take out of Canada today all the Scotsmen and those with Scottish forebears, it would leave just a shell.

I am very proud indeed to be the proprietor of the Scot wan. There is nothing in 'the world

that could mean as much to me as this. I am proud

of the way the Scotsman is developing under the direction of my able colleagues. It is my earnest desire that the Scotsman should present Scotland

to its own people and to the world. I am entirely -convinced that the Scottish people desire serious news, intelligent discussion of public affairs and

mature consideration of world issues in greater degree than probably anywhere else in the world. I believe there is more room and a greater future for a serious newspaper such as the Scotsman in Scotland than would be the case anywhere else. I am completely convinced of the bright future which exists for newspapers all over the world. I think lam conclusively demonstrating this con- fidence by the fact that I am acquiring more news- papers all the time. Just the other day we bought another newspaper in Virginia, and our last Canadian newspaper purchase took place in December. I do not believe anything can take the place of the newspaper in the home. There are other methods of getting the news. They all make a definite contribution, but no new method in the dissemination of news has ever affected the circula- tion of newspapers.

I am, of course, also associated with Indepen- dent Television in Scotland. The success of ITV in Britain has been astounding—I am sure no one could have anticipated the extent of its success, and in such a short time. The impact of Scottish Television on Scottish life has been tremendous. I am very proud of the development of STV and its wide degree of acceptance in Scotland. The fact that this already great enterprise has devel- oped from nothing in a few months is surely a tribute to the intelligence and adaptability of so many fine young men and women, mostly Scots, to whom, just a few short months ago, television was only a name. The way they have taken hold of our ideas, and, largely without experience, developed them into the present very efficient operation, is a source of great pride to me indeed.

Scotland is a great -country. Its people possess a character and spirit which, in my opinion, do not exist anywhere else in the world. It is a good place in which to live and do business. I know I will never regret that it is now the home of my choice.