The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1884-11-29
THE SKYE CRO4TEIss.
Causes Of the Little Rebellion In the Isls
OF skye.

OF Skyes
The little rebellion now existing In
the Isle of Skye, says the New York
Commercial advertiser, has not been
very clearly defined. ~ to its causes. in
the accounts received by cable; but 1t
is not in the least difficult to understand
and account for any conceivable dis
content among the poor crofters OF that
island.
The island is IN the main unfit for ag-
riculture. The lower lying tracts arc
susceptible of cultivation in potatoes
and a few other products. but the eli.
mate is unfavorable, the soil poor. and
the results of labor very uncertain.
The land system. not only in Skye but
in other islands of the group, is about
the worst one conceivable. The great
err part of Skye belongs to one great
proprietor. and the curse Of great es-
tates. intended for the support OF .
double or triple set of dependents upon
the soil, is felt throughout the He
brides. In many cases the land is held
of the great proprietor by tacksmen. 9
sort of middlemen between owner and
cultivator, men who hold the land by
lease and sublet it at higher rates to
others, levying second rent OF their
own, which would be well-nigh unen-
durable burden to agricultural industry
even in the best conditions, while the
conditions in the Hebrides are the
worst.
The crofters are simply small renters
men who hold little fields or gardens
upon the most uncertain Of tenures-
that of tenants at will-at high rents.
They live by fishing and kelp hunting.
and by serving summer tourists; and
their lives are one long battle with alb
solute restitution. with the odds terri
bly, against them.
That there should be discomfort
among people so situated-"specislly
when the population is SO excessive as
it is in these islands-is quite a matter
of course, and the desperation OF such
discomfort is equally to be presumed.
Men who, at best, are allowed only the
barest possibility of subsistence, and
who are exposed to the loss even OF that
small chance, by ordinary circum-
stances, or by the arbitrary will of those
who Cypress them, are not apt to be
particular rs to legal forms in their eff
forts to preserve themselves and their
children alive.
In the present case the crofte-s are
behaving surprisingly well. The an
nouncement having been made to them
that force of 200 marines is to be
sent over from the mainland to-day to
reduce them to order, they have re-
solved to assemble at the boat landing
$500 strong, not to attack the marines
or TO commit any act of violence, but
to escort the troops to zig, and there
to question them as to the object of
their coming. If the answer is not sat
isfactory-and there is hardly chance
that it will be so-it is the purpose of
the crofters to escort the marines back
to the troop-ship and to warn them
away.
Of course Great Britain can reduce
these poor wretches to subsection. She
can compel them to sit still and starve
amid their fogs, and to take the food
out of the mouths of their children in
order that it may 60 to the tacksmen
anu une STedl lduulOIu III pay iHoho Va
rents that the unfruitful ground cannot
be made TO yield if those who labor
upon it are to eat But it would be a
much wiser and more humane thing
for great Christian nation to take
measures for improving the condition
of these oppressed and hungry people,
and freeing them from burdens too
grievous to be borne. The existing
system of land tenure in the Hebrides
is iniuuitous and irrational as applied
to region where it is scarcely possible
for any man to DIG living out of the
soil even in the most favorable circum-
stances, and where the population is
excessive by reason OF the false system
maintained there. The large estates
have been created in many eases by the
simple process of removing the people
from the land. Such estates involve
the withdrawal of much land from
productive uses and the grievous OPP
preston of the laboring poor, There is
occasion there for the exercise OF wise
and humane craftsmanship, and it
would be better to send over commits
sion to study the condition of the peo-
pie than to send a troop-ship with
armed men for the people, further OPP