Saving the Western Isles
SIR,—No one could have read Mr. Graham Dukes on the problems of the Western Isles in your issue of May 22nd without feelings of profound sympathy. Sometimes, in these cases, the cure is to be found near home, and in history. For myself I feel that only an act, fine and eccentric, born of an idea out of the blue, can save the islands of the Hebrides: something on the linos of Lord Lever- hulme's venture. I write to propose that the Kingdom of Ffife should assume responsibility for the welfare of the Island of Lewis. It did so once before—in the late sixteenth or in the seventeenth century. A Charter, surely, could be granted; a Corporation formed. There must be gentlemen in Fife who would welcome this outlet for their energies and would embark on the adventure in the spirit in which the suggestion is made. Here is an opportunity for Government to stand aside, to help by not interfering; here is a chance for the first
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