HOME RULE FOR SCOTLAND.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIII, Issue 26, 28 December 1932, Page 2

HOME RULE FOR SCOTLAND.

DIVIDED SUPPORTERS. Renewed interest in the movement for Scottish self-government Ills beeu aroused by the recent action of the Duke of Montrose and his supporters, who have set on foot a movement the main object of which is the passage of a Bill to secure a measure of Home Rule for Scotland. Several associations pledged to secure autonomy for Scotland in one form or another already exist, but the most important of these, apart from the influential body lea by the Duke of Montrose, is the National Party of Scotland, formed four yours ago and led by Mr Cunninghame Graham, which has now many thousands of members anti adherents.

The divergence in the views of these bodies is very considerable (writes a correspondent of the London Times). The National Party of Scotland envisages Scotland as “a free member of the British Commonwealth of Nations,” with a separate Parliament, suggests co-operative control of foreign policy by the English and Scottish Parliaments, the co-ordination of the defence forces of the two countries .“as far as possible,” and believes that these should be under “joint executive control.” For the purpose of administering these and other matters of joint interest, the party suggests the establishment of a representative British Council upon a basis to be agreed between the Parliaments of England and Scotland. VIEW OF THE “MODERATES.”

The “Moderates,” as the Duke of Montrose’s group have come to be known, urge that the Government be asked to introduce and pass a SelfGovernment Bill for Scotland whose main provisions would embrace the establishment of a Parliament which would be the final legislative authority on purely Scottish affairs, and whose powers should concern matters not expressly reserved to the Imperial Parliament, such as succession to the Crown, peace and war, defence forces, and foreign affairs, but which should include the control of finance nnd taxation. It is suggested that a statutory commission he set up to determine how best to deal with Customs and Excise without involving tariff barriers. Certain Unionist bodies, such as the Cathcart Unionist Association, have issued a Home rule manifesto on moderate lines.