There is today an echo from Scotland of the controversy
provoked by the project which threatened to deface the beautiful view of Durham Cathedral by a gigantic power-station. My readers will remember that Bishop Williams' "half Church of God, half Castle 'gainst the Scot" was saved from this hydro-electric onslaught by a timely mobilisation of public opinion. The Scottish case is different. Here two noble Perthshire rivers are threatened, the Tummel and the Garry. If the project of the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board is sanctioned by Parliament (it lies on the Table of the House of Commons today with the imprimatur of the Secretary of State), not only will the region of Atholl lose much of its natural beauty, but it will gain little, if 'any, compensation in return. I am not one who would, at all times and in all circumstances, allow historic monuments or the beauties of nature to stand in the way of proved national needs. But, in view of the almost cynical admission of the promoters of the Edinburgh enquiry last May, that they had not even considered an alternative source of power, there is a prima facie case for pertinent parliamentary scrutiny of this case, which may well prove to be the locus classicus for others in future.
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