The Home Rule Question From Our Own Correspondent Edinburgh, April 23.
The tragedy of Ireland, with its daily murder and nightly riot, is unfortunately prejudicing the demand for Scottish devolution—the phrase Home Rule is now more than suspect. Between Sinn Fein's ery for ''ourselves alone' and Scotland's request for _self-government in local affairs there is a wide world of difference. Roughly speaking, the report of the Speaker's Conference on de. volution meets all the demands what are called the "Scottish Home Rulers.' Indeed it may be said that all Scottish parties, from high Tory te broad Radical, support the main ideas of the Speaker's report, and only differ on unimportant details.
Our Scottish demand for Home Rule is grounded on the belief that contro] of our own domestic affairs would be conducted more economically than at present, and that a local "Council would be more sympathetic towards our particular local problems than any centralized Parliament. In the commercial field, for instance, Scotland is in transition stage. Our shipowning interests are rapidly diminishing; one-sixth of our total land area has recently changed hands; a suggestion has even been made that our railways systems should be merged in the great English lines. These are all matters of national prestige as well as of financial concern. Westminster, to our sorrowful experience, shows no barometric sensitiveness to Scottish opinions on such matters. Indeed it adopts position of contemptuous indifference. Sane devolution, therefore, on the lines again and again suggested by the Premier and now formulated in the Speaker's report, is a doment necessity. We desire it notin any antagonism to the Imperial connexion—the reverse is the case—or even ina spirit. of jealousy towards our English neigh hours, but simply as a reason ab and workable business proposition.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.