What is Wrong with Scottish Industry ?
By SIR ALEXANDER MACEWEN
THE Scottish and British .unemployment figures* show that the disparity in unemployment between Scotland and England has increased steadily since 1927. They also show that if the average rate of unemployment had been the same in Scotland as for the whole country, 85,435 more persons would have been in employment in
1933.
Figures of unemployment among insured persons do not tell-the whole tale. The total number of persons in receipt of poor relief in Scotland as at December 15th, • 1933, showed an increase of 21,958 over the same date in the previous year. If this figure is deducted from the 36;847 more persons in employment, the net improvement is reduced to some 14,000. Over 11 per cent. of the popu- lation of Glasgow are in receipt of poor relief. On a selected day in 1933 the number of persons receiving poor relief in Scotland was 849 per 10,000, as against 293 for London; and 528 for 47 selected County Boroughs in England and Wales: The fall in-Scotland's industrial wealth may also be gauged by the fact that in 1924-25 Scotland was contributing _9i per cent. of Imperial Expenditure ; in 1931-32 she was only contributing 5.62. The two returns were not made out on precisely the same basis, but the differences do not affect the con- clusion.
how is all this to be explained ? Partly, no doubt, by the circumstance that Scotland depends so largely on the heavy industries, shipbuilding, mining, iron and steel, but this does not explain why in the heavy industries themselves there was more unemployment in Scotland than in England.
Even more disturbing is the " drift South." Industries, both light and heavy, are leaving Scotland, not for want of work, but because they find it more convenient or more advantageous to do so. The most recent case is that of Stewarts and Lloyds, who have removed- part of their works from Mossend, near Glasgow, to Corby, in Lincolnshire—thus displacing about 2,000 men. This, however, is not an isolated instance. Chemical works, calico, printing, ready-made clothing and other indus- tries have disappeared or been transferred to England. Government policy has also been partly responsible, e.g., the closing of Rosyth Dockyard, and the transfer of naval repair works from the Clyde to Government 'Percentage of Unemployment among insured Persons—Great Britain and Northern Ireland : 1927, 9.7 ; 1930, 16.1 ; 1931, 21.3 ; 1932, 22.1 ; 1933, 19.9. Scotland : 1927, 10.6 ; 1930, 18.5 ; 1931, 26.6 ; 1932, 27.7 ; 1933, 26.1. Percentages of Uru mp:oymenS in principal industries in 1933—Great Britain and .Korthern Ireland : Coal Mining, 20.5 ; Engineering, 17.8 ;. Shipbuilding; 54.5 ; Building, 25.9. - Scotland : Coa1-Mining,-23.74, Engineering, 3e.0 ; Shipbuilding, 69.4 ; Building, 31.0. Dockyards. The Railway amalgamations dealt a serious blow to employment in Scotland. , Previously the locomotives and other vehicles for the Scottish railways were built in Scotland. So high was the reputation of Scottish engineers that many locomotives, were built for England and overseas. Today the railway workshops' have been closed or greatly reduced. A recent order for 50 locomotives received by the North British Locomotive Company is a tardy act of justice, seeing that not a single locomotive for Scottish railways was built in Scotland in 1933. .
It must be admitted that until recently no large-scale endeavour has been made to substitute new industries in place of those for which there is no longer the same market. The motor industry should have been well . within the capacity of Scottish engineering, but the attempts in that direction have not been successful, and today there is only one firm building commercial vehicles. on any scale. The economic depression has also hit agriculture and fishing with peculiar force. Wheat quotas and sugar beet subsidies have not helped the Scottish farmer whose main products are livestock, oats, and barley. Last year was probably the most disastrous in the annals of the herring-fishing trade.
What hope is there for the future ? Recently there has been an improvement in shipbuilding, and in the iron and steel, and jute trades. It is difficult to say whether this is likely to be permanent. A large proportion of the new orders for the Clyde are for naval ships, and from a disarmament point of view this is hardly to be desired. The Clyde has retained its pre-eminence in steamship construction, but this class of boats is now taking second place in world output to motor ships in the productiOn of which we do not lead. But the most optimistic •' view of the future course of trade does not appear to offer a solution of Scotland's troubles. How, for instance, are we going to remedy the disparity between the Scottish and English figures of unemployment ? The Scottish National Development Council, which is a non-political body, have proclaimed the necessity of reinspiring Scotsmen with a belief in their own country. It has been suggested that the Scottish characteristic of caution accounts for the failure to develop new industries. It would be truer to say that want of confidence and want of finance are at the root of the matter. Finance is centred in London. It is practically impossible to obtain money in Scotland for any new developments, not because there is no money, but because. there is no financial organization in Scotland. Even Scottish Local Authorities go to the London market for their loans. Scotland needs replanning, economically and socially. We are over-industrialized and over-crowded in the towns, and under-populated in the country. Scotland has less than 76,000 agricultural holdings against 206,000 in Denmark and 508,000 in Ireland—both smaller countries.
There is a tendency to consider Scottish economic problems largely.from the point of view of the industrial belt. We forget that there are 10,000,000 acres in the Highlands, more than half Scotland—with a population of under 400,000. Admittedly large tracts of this country are mountain and moor, but the fuller develop- ment of the Highlands and the possibility of establishing new induitries in various parts of rural Scotland has not received adequate consideration. A new attitude towards the countryside is urgently required.
The facts show that industry tends to collect round the centre of finance and government. There is an increasing body of opinion in Scotland which believes that the only solution of the problem is to establish a centre of. government and finance in Scotland. Those who do not go as far as that maintain that it is necessary to create organizations which will be able to provide finance for sound industrial undertakings and to investi- gate more closely the possibility of new developments. The latter task is now being undertaken to some extent by the Scottish National Development Council which has issued some excellent technical reports, but which suffers from want of adequate financial support and the power to make its recommendations effective. Scotland has an assured reputation in her traditional industries, she is rich in mineral resources, her farming standards are high, and her people are among the best educated in Europe. It will be a tragedy, not only for Scotland, but for the Empire, if steps are not taken before it is too late, to place Scottish industry, agriculture, and fishing on a sound economic footing.
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