SIR,—It was not my intention to begin a controversy on
the merits and demerits of this Bill. Your correspondent of April 9th, writing from Perth, has apparently misunderstood my purpose. Rightly or wrongly, forty-seven Scottish Members of Parliament supported the Bill, as against eleven. This majority was overturned by the votes of English and Welsh Members. It is therefore clear that democratic government does not exist in Scotland, unless the existence of the Scottish nation is denied, and even the most rabid opponents of political nationalism do not affirm that Scotland has merely the status of an English county.
Something must be said, however, about the claims made by your correspondent for the Association for the Preservation of Rural Scotland, and the part it played in the rejection of the Bill. These claims are best answered by Sir Archibald Sinclair, who, in his letter of resignation from the Association on account of its attitude to the Bill, says that the brochure, published by the Association on the exploitation of water-power, contains statements known " to be in flagrant opposition to the facts," and concludes by saying, " it augurs ill for the influence of the Association on public opinion if its policy is so much at variance with that of the electors of Scotland, as expressed by the votes of their representatives in Parliament." Your correspondent's insinuation that Scottish opinion is better represented by Inverness Town Council and the Association for the Preserva- tion of Rural Scotland than by the fifty-eight Members of Parliament, is manifestly absurd.—I am, yours, &c.,
The Manse, Mid Calder, Mid Lothian. P. G. D. CLARK.
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