The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1890-11-30
Special to THEfsUNDAY CALL


+ \ average tourists impressions
IN from passing giimpses of croft
! .ers' communities, -crofters'
CA homes and the cr0ftefs them
selves, believe enc who passes some time
among them cannot turn from them to his
own world of brightness and progress with
out genuine sense Of sadness for their
permanent, hopeless condition. 1t is I'M
Guestionably true that the "CTofters' Act"
of 1856 was a just and benei ent measure.
Fair rents" have been almost universally
fixed; arrears impossible of liquidation
have been either wholly Cancelled or largely
reduced; and personal freedom as a man,
subject and voter has been established.
The Crofters' Commission has already
righted countless wrongs to which the
crofter had been subjected for nearly
century and half; and it may be tluthfully
said that all has been done for this High
land, grounding that ever can be done
under tie present land system of Great
Britain. Individual owners are so few,
such vast tracts, especially in the north and
west OF OF Scotland, have been permanently
transformed into game preserves, such
Insignificant and inadequate holdings are in
the crUiteTS osseSslon under the new order
Of things, and communities of these people
are so few, and those so measer in numbers.
that betterment to these Hlghlauders as a
class seems impossible.
AS stated in previous article, the process
of thinning them out Of, or their actual ex-.
tlTpatlon from, Tremendous areas had been
so thorough 10y the owners OF Highland es-
tales, that few crofteTs were lett 10 receive
bench Is. II he teDacity with which, despite
all sacrifice and terror, these few clung to
their mountain homes, is wonderful tribute
LOVE OF UoMF-T AND
which, in hardy race like the Highland
croftcrs, could have been turned 10 Infinitely
better account by Scotland, and even Scot
fish landlords, than could the rentals from
sportsHlen tenants. This sentiment is so
strong and deep one To-day among Scottish
people Of all sections that here is a notice.
able. growing and stubborn demand for
Land division" land REFORM" and even in
some quarters. Tor naturalization OF
the lana." Many intelligent crofuers seem
confident that some form of legislation
will 5 me time give them adequately large
holdings. An idea is certainly gaining
ground that at least sportsmen will 20 out
and sheep-i aiSing return. Sentiment is not
wholly responsible for this. The first ex-
pertinent by the great highland land -hold-
ers, after the barbarous clearances OF the
highlanders, was in sheep-raising. This
was successful, and, in consequence, the
cleaTanceS were largely condoued by most
important class in Scotland; men who assist
L III.
were the L0wland farmers. Countless thou
sands OF Highland sheep, reared in the north,
were annually driven through the Gram
plan passes, and before reaching the
shambles wi1tered by Lowland farmers,
who thus secured profitable disposal of
immense quantities of produce. Since the
Brush spertsmen got possession of the.
northern and western glens, Highland
sheep Lave become practically extinct.
Therefore what the Highland estate owners
have gained by game the Lowland farmers
have immeasurably more than lost. The
latter have no pity for the crofter on his
own account. but they know in direct,
hard-headed way that he and his collie dog
are the best shepherds in the world. SO
these and some other pressing economic
forces are gradually bl ndiug the "crofter
question " and the land question" in Scot
land, and providing an &c nomic question
which may at least reach that form OF legiS-.
lation which will break down the now in
visible yet lndexible walls of these great
highland estates, and cause the repeOpling
OF their grand mountain sides and gIens.
But that can hardly come to the grave, sad
eyes OF the crotter who now lives. And it is
this man whose condition. environment and.
home-life L have set out TO describe.
:: Whether he lives in the same cabin Where
his forefathers lived before him. or is one
who has been removed from the old
home to some new and worthless patch Of
ground for the larger liberty Of deer, he is
never the possessor, as tenant, of more than
thirty acres of land, while nine-tenths of
the entire class do not occupy more than
i've. In some instances he has. an "outrun"
or common grazing" with Others, where
from twenty to. thirty sheep and two or
three COWS may be gfazed, and when this is
so, he is considered very well off.
To-FISD HIM IN THIS CONDITION =.
Is the -ra1eSt exception; and ordinarily his
miserable patch of soil, of from say two to
SIX acres, scarcely affords him the barest
means OF livelihood. For this tiny croft he
pays an average rental Of e6 under the new
falr rent system, and under the old track
rent" regime he tired to pay, but never
paid from e10 to GI5 and EGO. With the
certain uncertainties of Highland climate in
mind, no one can for a moment believe it
possible for a cfOfter to pay even the re-
dneed rent and sustain himself and family
from the results OF his labor upon the soil
alone. believe:it would be a truthful asser-
ton that the croft in no single instance ever
sustained the crofter. 1t will not sustain
him under the flair rent" system of to-day.
The landlord now gets nearly the utmost
limit of what the. soil itself can produce.
The salvation of the crofter can only be at
tanned by providing him with larger crofts,
so that the .laber>of himself aud family may
be concentrated where most profitable re-
suits can obtain :; or rentals for the beggarly
patch he l5fo!ced to-exist upon must be re-
duced to almost nominal sum. a prosper
Gus peasantry'is impossible where the eRer-
gles OF the family are dissipated in a half
dozen different vacations to simply pay rent
that thatch may be kept over the heads of
the void and very young of the family.
Briefly, that is thecondltIon of the crofter
and 1t is.all that is, or ever has been, the
matter with him.. To merely exist he has
been forced into becoming fisher. kelp-gath-
erer, poaeher; anything to live His wife
becomes; fisher, gutter" or dresser of her.
rings at the seaside, musselgatherer, or does
tOrfuAUs Ia h0r nncsihia IN add nr
shilling TO. the store for meeting the inexora-
Bile demand OF the rent. The daughters are
forced from home into service, and their al
tered condition and needs deprive them of
both their love of the Highland home and the
power to bestow more than pittance upon
Its keeping. The sons become gilies to
.Hlghland sp0rtsmens with a few weeks of
demoralnIng luxury and ten months of
ldltness ana unrest; or better. though still
bad, are crowded to the towns to further im-
poverish labor there; OF perhaps in the end,
best, reach Canada or the States, where for
years the little saved beyond a bare living
finds its way back 10 the crofter father and
eventually to the landlord for rent. AS a
rule the Oldest son marries and remains at
home. He seldom has the inclination or the
means to "hive off and set up housekeep-
Ing on another croft and besides it Is the in
flexible policyof Highland landlords to re-
strict, rather than increase croft holdings.
This leads to subdivision of the already
Stead ofone. repeat an intensified struggle
Tor existence,
INCREASING THE EVIL,
And giving warrant for the ever-recurring
landlord cry Of "congested crofter dis |
tricts," while millions Of acres of land. idle
save for its use TO sportsmtn, are sweeping
away into almost impenetrable wildernesses
around them.
In all the crofter settlements, established
at the different occasions of "clearances." |
there is little OF interest save the unvarying |
des0latlOn OF environment and everyday |
life. This class of crufters are the most
smleless, yoiceless people that live. FIRING
ing the entire northeastern, northern and |
northwestern coasts of Scotland may be
found hamlets Of this class. There is not
the sound OF mirth, the tone of content or
the lock of hope TO be heard or seen in
one. The land is barren, the sea-coast is
grewsome and dreary, the habitations are
wretched, fishing is precarious and the
entire life of these people is ceaseless.
sunless effort to live. 1t is only in the