Industry in Scotland

Abstract

IN the discussion in committee in the House of Commons on May 12 on the estimates for the Scottish Home Department, Mr. T. Johnston, Secretary of State for Scotland, gave a survey of industrial development in Scotland since 1918. He referred to the advisory committee on Scottish industry which has been set up, and expressed the hope that by its means the industrial aftermath in Scotland of 1914-18, due to concentration on heavy industries for export, will be avoided. In the course of the discussion, Sir John Graham Kerr put in a plea for the development of a variety of small light industries. The industrial belt of Scotland has grown in its present position because the sources of power are close at hand. Industry tends to drift to the more populous parts of the country-in Scotland to the south-and one way of stopping this drift is to carry power all over the country. The transport of power is of vital importance. In the form of coal and oil, subject to road or rail transport, power is only distributed with difficulty and at relatively high cost. The newer method of distribution of power through an electric grid might have a tremendous influence on Scotland and its industries, for, by these means, the site of industry is no longer tied to the source of power, and the feeding of small units becomes feasible.