DESTITUTION IN THE HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND.

Shannon News, 11 April 1924, Page 4

DESTITUTION IN THE HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND.

AN APPEAL. The Highland Association (An Cotnunn Gaidliealach) 114, West Campbell Street, Glasgow, ask us to publish the following appeal, issued by the Lord Mayor of London: Tlie population of the Hebrides, who have been suffering for some time a • distress unparalleled for severity. xn the memory of the present generation, arc now approaching the climax of their ordeal. It is generally recognised that the next two or three months-will be the most trying time of their cruel experience. Their supply of homp- produced foodstuffs "dll- be completely exhausted in many households, especially in Lewis, the Western Isles, and parts of the mainland, in the course of a few weeks, and they will be driven to depend in increasing degree upon the charitable funds which* are beirig raised for their relief. Their plight is already yery acute and. threatens to irecome desperate. Families are having to subsist to-day * almost entirely on here meal scones and tea or cocoa, and so economical have they to be in the use of that limited fare that children are obviously suffering from inadequate nourishment. Schoolmasters, out of sympathy with the pupils under their care, have been organising mid-day meals for school children from funds raised by public subscription. So dire - is the poverty that parents are at their wit’s end to provide sustenance fot •their little ones, and many pathetic stories are told of normally proud, selfreliant ;islcsmcn appealing in tears for succour, to keep away starvation from the domestic circle. Relief is being provided, but it is not at all commensurate jt-o the need and will be less so in another month unless the assistance - is increased in measure and speeded up in application. It is estimated that at - least £25,00(i will* be required for Lewis alone i]iclecmqsynaiy aid.&part from the relief afforded by-xlic promotion of road-making work by Government departments, in order to tide the Lewis community over the period of distress. Relief funds have been set on foot by both the Lord Lieutenants of Rossl shire and Inverness-shire and by the Lord Provosts of Edinburgh and Glasgow, and fairly .generous support is being given, in response to these appeals, but the need is-so great that some accentuation is called for of the gravity of the position, and the claim upon the country ’s benevolence of a community who have contributed in eminent degree ■ to the service' of the nation and who are suffering now through no fault of their own, but simply as the victims of harsh economic conditions. The poverty which is being experienced to-day is due to the depression in the fishing mI dustry, which is the staple resource of the Lewis islanders in earning money, .and to the signal failure of the crops on the island causpd by exceptionally bad weather. In a statement issued recently by the Meteorological * Office ip Edinburgh it was pointed out that the weather in the Hebrides last year was in certain respects the worst ever registered, rain falling five days out of six instead of a normal of four days, and the sunshine showing a great deficiency during the six months, May to October. The effect of the adverse weather on the crops is illustrated by a statement of the Board of Agriculture showing that in Lewis the yield per acre of oats* was only 11 bushels in 1923, compared with an average, yield in former years of over 20 bushels, and that the yield of potatoes was less than a ton per acre, whereas the average yield is four tons. In addition *to this shortage of produce the community are suffering from the lack of fuel, the wet weather having made it impossible to dry the fpeats which are commonly used. With reserves of peat running low, and with supplies of potatoes and meal almost exhausted, the islanders are confronted; with a period of great privation. Many are already overtaken by it, and their number will be multiplied enormously in another month or so. Unless their fellow-countrymen come to their, aid quickly and generously the Hebridean population seems destined to endure in many cases the extremest hardship. ■ , Contributions towards the Distress Fund are received and acknowledged at the Mansion House and will be forwarded to the recognised quarters for allocation.