DONALD M'QUEEN, Crofter, Middle Quarter (about 60)—examined.
12529. The Chairman.—You are appointed to speak for Maliglate?
— Yes.
12530. Have you a paper to present to us ?
—There is no separate paper for Maliglate.
12531. Then you will make a verbal statement?
—It is all in the paper.
12532. Mr Cameron.—Do the complaints in the paper which has been read refer equally to the district with which you are connected ?
—The same complaint.
12533. How many crofters are in Maliglate ?
—Twelve full crofts.
12534. Any half crofts ?
—Yes, four crofts are divided, making sixteen families in all of crofters.
12535. Any cottars?
—Five.
12536. Do you know when the crofts were subdivided?
—I cannot remember the number of years; it is a long while ago.
12537. When did the crofters go there ?
— A long time ago also.
12538. What are the people of Maliglate wishing for?
—They wish for a great deal. Rent is high, and we have to buy largely, and we are burdened down with it all.
12539. Do you wish to leave Maliglate and go elsewhere ?
—I do not hear them express that wish. What I heard them say was just what has been expressed in the paper already—that they are hemmed in for want of land, and that the land they have is exhausted by continuous cropping.
12540. What is the summing of each croft?
—Two horses, five cows with their followers, and twelve sheep, is the summing of a full croft in Maliglate.
12541. What rent ?
—£7.
12542. Do you think that is too high a rent for that stock ?
—Yes, much too high—the proceeds being nothing but the outcome of the stock, which is in poor condition.
12543. Mr Fraser-Mackintosh.—Do we understand you to concur in the paper and with what your co-delegate has expressed
—Yes, and I would concur with even more than is in the paper
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