In the meantime the extirpation of “a Scottish accent” in the Scottish schools continues almost unabated, although, as Lady Margaret Sackville says, and as the cultural poverty of post-Union Scotland amply attests, “language imposed mechanically upon a people withoutunderstanding of their peculiar ways of thought can only be stultifying; and it is an impertinence to substitute a pert, half-baked, and complacent education for the very ancient culture which the Vernacular represents. Let education rather work hand in hand with this culture and humbly learn from it to its own great gain.” But the general attitude to England, and Scotland’s relation to it, is far deeper, and for the most part other than mere “protective mimicry.” Apart from the claim to which I have referred there is a widespread reluctance to think about the matter—to discuss it in any way. No probable, perhaps no possible, development of Scots Nationalism could lead to a complete disjunction of the two countries; or preclude their remaining parts of the British Empire. Opponents of Scottish Home Rule, of course, generally argue that such a measure would be a piece of retrogressive parochialism at variance with the part we are called upon to play as citizens of a great Empire. Especially is this argument being used against the newer forms which that demand is taking. The reason for this is that they representthat growth or rebirth of national sentiment in Scotland in recent years, which has brought with it the increasing realization that any measure of devolution which does not carry with it full financial autonomy is not worth having. Besides, the powers granted to the Irish Free State render it impossible, as derogatory to its historical status as a nation, that Scotland should accept any less. The latest Draft Bill meets these considerations, and is thus a far more advanced measure than any of its eleven predecessors. A typical comment runs as follows: “The Old ‘Home Rulers,’ while they aimed at autonomy for the management of the strictly domestic business of Scotland, jealously safeguarded Scotland’s position in the United Kingdom and the Empire. Nothing was more repugnant to them than the idea that the country should cease to have its full representation in the Imperial Parliament. In the new Bill that ceases, and Scotland in nearly everything but a joint interest in the armed forces becomes detached and isolated; and provision appears to be made for the severance at some future time of even this link.... It is a reversal ofthe whole process of constitutional progress which governs British history.” This is the generally accepted view. But—apart from the fact that Great Britain occupies an altogether disproportionately important place in the Empire which the growth of the other elements must drastically correct in time—it is, nevertheless, completely at variance with the history and present prospects of our constitutional evolution. So far from being a reversal of the process of constitutional progress which governs British history, it is a fresh and salutary manifestation of it, and constitutional experts are increasingly realizing and proclaiming that it is only by a general extension and speeding-up of this process that the Empire can be maintained and prevented from sharing the fate of all the other great centralized Empires of the past. “Empire,” as a matter of fact, is now a misnomer; the term ought rather to be the “British Association of Free Peoples.” Upon the development of the utmost freedom of each and the inter-relations with each other of the various elements in this great diversity-in-unity the future of the “Empire” depends.
This point of view is admirably expressed by Viscount Dunedin, who says: “The secret of the tie that unites the Empire—the rock on which it is built—is the autonomy of local law. And not merely local law, but autonomy of local law making—in other words—legislation.” And he pointed out that the Privy Council had been more solicitous of the principle of legislative autonomy than the Dominions themselves. The Scottish Home Rule demand is, therefore, strictly in accord with the very life-spirit of the Empire, and it is the attempt to assimilate Scottish law and legislation to English and to secure uniformity, instead of permitting the free development of inherent diversity in accordance with distinctive national genius that is anti-Imperial.
The opponents of the new Draft Bill cannot have it both ways. The same type of people have objected to all the previous bills on the ground that these would only result in transforming Scotland into a “glorified County Council.” It is the realization of the truth of this that has prompted the greater demand embodied in the present Bill. Withoutthe power of the purse a Scottish Parliament would, indeed, have been a mere glorified County Council, and such a measure would have completed, instead of reversing, the shameful provincialization of our country.
The Empire not only stands in no danger from Scotland coming into line with the other component parts of it, but it will give Scotland for the first time an effective say and share in Imperial affairs. Scotland has contributed far too much to the upbuilding of the Empire to want to withdraw from it. It is, indeed, the very opposite motive that is at work. It is the recognition of how grossly anomalous it is that Scotland, which has contributed so preponderantly to Imperial development, should be relegated to so inferior and ineffective a place in it, and have no voice in determining and disposing its future. Scotland has been placed at an intolerable disadvantage in this connection compared with almost every other part of the Empire, and the newer developments of autonomy in the Dominions are relegating Scotland to a more and more subordinate rôle, entirely out of keeping with its due as one of thegreat founder nations of the Empire. The new Bill is designed to rectify matters and accord to Scotland its due place in the economy of the Empire. Under it, Scotland will re-acquire a real part in relation to Imperial and world-affairs. At present it has no effective part in either. The constitution of the House of Commons is such that the Scottish vote is subject to the perpetual veto of the English majority, although English political psychology is profoundly different from Scottish and the economic conditions and requirements of Scotland profoundly different from those of England. Scotland, to-day, has no effective representation anywhere—on the Imperial Conference, on the League of Nations, on Inter-Parliamentary Delegations and on any of the other great international bodies which are playing rôles of cumulative importance in world-affairs: but, given a distinctive place again, there is every reason to hope that this old historical nation, which once occupied so notable a place in Europe, and which has been one of the main sources of our Imperial power, may again play a part proportionate to itspast and in keeping with its particular genius.
What is commonly forgotten, too, in matters of this kind, is that Scotland itself is part of the Empire. A concern with Scottish domestic welfare is just as much an Imperial consideration as preoccupation with the affairs of any other part of the Empire. The welfare of the Empire depends upon the welfare of each of its component parts. Scotsmen may help the Empire best by keeping the heart of it—the source of much that is best in it—sound at home. Surely it cannot be contended that Imperial policy demands the dereliction of Scotland? Will it not serve the Empire best in the future, as it has done in the past, if Scotland can once again become the home of a vigorous and multiplying people from which the Colonies overseas can continue to draw robust settlers? The idea that Scottish Home Rule is at variance with Imperial tendencies and requirements is, in fact, an erroneous and short-sighted one, while the contrary opinion is supported by the recollection of the great part Scotland has played in Imperial affairs in the past—and cannot, assuredly, continue to play if itspopulation is to be decimated, its industries ruined, and its countryside depopulated and thrown out of cultivation. Yet the latter is the effect of the neglect of Scottish affairs which is the settled—and natural—policy of the overwhelmingly English House of Commons. It represents a greater menace to the Empire than any Separatist movement can ever become because it strikes at the very heart of Imperial strength. The present policy of encouraging emigration in regard to Scotland is nothing more or less than a killing by our overseas dominions of the goose which has hitherto laid many of the best clutches of their golden eggs.
Let me add here that Scotland is not only the most neglected country in Europe to-day, but the most highly taxed. A vehicular and passenger bridge across the Forth is refused to Scotland by Englishmen, but Scots must contribute towards the £7,000,000 or £8,000,000 granted for a bridge across the Thames. Scotland’s housing is a disgrace to Western civilization, although Scots builders are such efficient workmen that they are welcomed in England andoverseas. Scotland has the highest death-rate, the highest sickness-rate, and the highest infant mortality rate in the British Isles, although naturally it is no less healthy than England, Ireland or Wales. Scotland contains 2,000,000 acres of land which are certified as suitable for cultivation and small holdings, although during the last ten years her agricultural population decreased by 15,000. There are fewer small holdings in Scotland now than in 1911, when the Small Landholders Act was passed by the London Parliament. Like facts can be adduced in regard to every other aspect of Scottish affairs. They are the inevitable counterparts of her cultural declinature. Verily “Without the Vision the people perish.”