The Sun.
London, England, 1842-06-02 00:00:00

and the Noble Lard the Member for London. He trusted
therefore, that he stood acquitted before the House and
the country of having had recourse to any unjustifiable
proceeding.
Mr. DARBY explained. He had never meant to cast
any imputation on the Hon. and Learned Gentleman,
who had quite misapprehended the purpo of his
observation.

After a few words from Sir JOHN WALSH, strangers
were ordered to withdraw, and the House divided—
For referring the case to the Committee 44
Against it

Majority
WITNESSES INDEMNITY BILL.

-28

The second reading of the Bill was deferred till Friday.
The other Orders of the Day were disposed of, and
the House adjourned at a Quarter to Two o'clock.

WANT OF ROADS IN THE HIGH-
LANDS.

The following documents point out conduct on the
part of the Parliamentary Commissioners for making
roads in the Highlands of Scotland, which requires
the immediate attention of the Lord Advocate and the
Home Secretary. An Act was passed in 1805 di-
recting roads to be made in certain districts, and Com-
missioners were appointed for carrying the works into
effect. Whether, owing to the more powerful interest
of the landlords in the favoured district, or the par-
tiality of the Commissioners, the money has been ex-
pended on a few of the lines, while one district, con-
taining a population of 9,679 individuals, and com-
prehending more than one-third of the extensive
county of Ross, has been totally neglected. This is
not only unjust towards the landlords, but it is the
cause of great suffering to the inhabitants. Crime is
thereby encouraged, industry is checked, and the
poor people, having no means of communication with
the sea or the neighbouring country, are, in had sea-
sons, reduced to absolute starvation. In addition to this
the ends ofjustice are defeated, as the county town is
distant some fifty miles, and owing to the want of roads,
and the enormous expense of prosecutions, not one
criminal in ten is brought to trial. In fact, during
seasons of scarcity, the districts of Lochbroom and
Gairloch are in a more lawless condition than even
the county of Tipperary. This is not a mere ques-
tion of pounds, shillings, and pence—it concerns the
morals, the industry, and the peace of the community,
and a humane Government must, therefore, be anxious
to abate the evil. A correspondent, in adverting to
the small sum required for forming the roads makes
this significant remark : " The 6,0001. given to the
Scotch parsons to build them a splendid house in Edin-
burgh, or Temple of Discord for the General Assem-
bly to wrangle in, would have been nearly sufficient
for that purpose, now that the price of labour is fallen,
and would surely have been as well bestowed in giving
justice to the nine thousand inhabitants of Lochbroom
and Gairloch as for the convenience of the Scotch
clergy "

The letter of Mr. Jardine, the Sheriff of

the county, ought to have some weight with the Go •
vernment. " 1•t is scarcely possible," says he, " when
any crime is committed in that district, to reach the
delinquents." This is a disgrace to a civilized com-
munity. But the statements require no comment ;
and we, therefore, lay them before the public, with
the hope that immediate steps will be taken to do
justice to the landed proprietors as well as the dis-
tressed population :
STATE OF THE DISTRICT OF LOCHBROOM
AND GAIRLOCH.

The district of Lochbroom and Gairloch, on the west
coast of Ross-shire, comprehends in extent inure than
one-third of the county, with a population, by the late
census, of 9,G79 individuals, nearly all engaged in the
fisheries.

There is not a single passable road in the whole of this
extensive and populous district,. nor a road of communi-
cation from it to the other parts of the county passable
by even a small cart.
The consequence of this is, the people are in a state of
poverty, often almost. of starvation ; half civilised and
lawless ; and committing outrages unknown in other
parts of Scotland, and which the constituted authorities
have hitherto been unable, from the rugged and imper-
vious state of the district, to punish or prevent.
1. They are poor, because they have no access to mar-
kets, a circumstance which would soon reduce any dis-
trict, either in England or Scotland, to poverty : they
cannot sell to each other articles which all possess, and
have no means of carrying them elsewhere. Should
their potatoe crop fail, and their families be starving,
they have no way of bringing provisions to them.
When their corn-crops are damaged by a wet harvest,
which often occurs in that wet climate, they are obliged
to sow their damaged seed, which occasions another defi-
cient crop, there being no road by which they could pro-
cure sound seed. When their cattle are dying, in a severe
winter from want of provender, they cannot, if they had
the money in their hand, bring hay from the more culti-
vated parts of the county for their relief. Is it any
wonder, then, that these unfortunate people should often
be in a state of distress requiring public aid ? and the
public have often given them generous relief.
2. They are in a half civilized state, from want of in-
tercourse with the more advanced parts of the country.
They are, in point of civilization and the arts of life, at
least a full century behind the inhabitants in the eastern
extremity of the county, intersected as it is with roads,
and occupied by farmers who vie with those of the
Lothians. In the district of Lochbroom and Gairloch,
with its nine thousand inhabitants, there is scarcely
a dozen carts. On it, while improvements are so
rapidly advancing elsewhere, with railroads, &c., a cen-
tury has made no difference. The people are still in the
same condition as their ancestors, without industry, or
an impulse to industry.
3. And they are lawless, as a necessary consequence
of their uncivilized state, and of their distance from the
courts of law. They think the law cannot reach them,
and they therefore take the law into their own hands,
and commit outrages, such as incendiarism, firing shots
through windows, houghing cattle and sheep, cutting
the throats of horses, and other barbarous acts,
not one of which has .. hitherto been followed
by. punishment, because the officers of justice
say that they cannot, in that wild impenetrable country,
get hold of the delinquents. Such is the state of justice
there. Even a small debt, too, cannot be recovered
without the parties and the witnesses going to Dingwall,
a distance of from forty to seventy or eighty miles from
the mass of the population, without roads or bridges,
and at the loss of a week of time, which is often more
than the debt is worth.
Now, her Majesty's Ministers may no doubt say, "if
the people are poor from want of access to markets, let
them starve, we are not bound to relieve their poverty,
or to support them." Granted ; but it is humbly con-
ceived that a population of 9,679 individuals have some
claim on the Government of the country to protection to
property and access to justice. If the roads, which were
directed by Act of Parliament to be made in that quar-
ter had been executed, as the Act directs, both evils
would have been removed ; .but this, by a gross breach
faith, on the part of the Parliamentary Commissioners,
• was not done. All, then, the people ask is, that these
unexecuted roads be yet proceeded with, which may be
now done at a much less expense than was formerly
estimated. On this point, at least, they have a
claim on the honour and good faith of the Govern-
ment, since they paid for the other roads in the county,
on the express words of the Act, that their own roads
should likewise be made, as will be seen by the Memo-
rial to the Parliamentary Commissioners. At Loch-
carron, where a Parliamentary road has been made, the
inhabitants carry their fish and other articles to Ding-
wall. and bring seed-corn, hay, and provisions, for their
families in return. Last year more than 100 carts have
been seen on that road in one day, carrying herrings to
Dingwall, Easter Ross, and Inverness, while not one
could go from Lochbroom and Gairloch. Were the
roads which the Parliamentary Commissioners left un-
executed only made, the 9,679 inhabitants of the Loch-
broom and Gairloch district would become useful, indus-
trious members of the community ; distress would be re-
moved, and the law be respected ; and as it is essentially
a fishing population, there would not be a better nursery
for hardy seamen, accustomed from their infancy to a
most boisterous ocean, in her Majesty's dominions. It
is, therefore, hoped that the Ministry will take the state
of this neglected, ill-used district into their consideration,
and see at least justice done to them, and they ask no
more,

John Jardine, Esq., Sheriff Depute of the County
of Ross, to M. Mackenzie, Esq.

My Dear Sir,—l am happy to find that you are re-
newing your attempt to get the aid of Government in
executing the roads from Dingwall to Ullapool and
Poolewe, which were left unexecuted by the Parlia-
mentary Commissioners ; and I sincerely hope you may
succeed in your endeavours, and thus open up an impor-
tant portion of the county of Ross, which, at present, is
almost entirely inaccessible. As matters stand at pre-
sent, it is scarcely possible, when any crime is committed
in that district, to reach the delinquents, and the want
of a road puts it out of the power of the Sheriff to hold
Circuit Courts in that district, while the distance from
Dingwall is such as in a great measure to preclude the
inhabitants from access to a court of justice, and induces
them to take the law into their own hands.

I am sure you will do a most essential service to the
county if you can succeed in this object, for which you
have my earnest wishes. Ever, dear Sir, yours,
(Signed) JOHN JARDINE.
Edinburgh, 11th April, 1842.