198 REPORT — 1876. 



Scotland it was only 4280 ; and London, with a population equal to Scotland, had 

 only thirty. Nearly one in three of these areas in Scotland had fewer than 1000 

 inh'ahitants, and every tenth parish fewer than 500. That caused a great inequcality 

 of rating between neighbovuing parishes, and a multitude of petty administrations 

 with limited views and increased expenses, and continual interparochial conflicts. 

 As an instance of that, he mentioned that in the Barony parish of Glasgow alone 

 there were commonly between 2000 and 3000 undetermined cases of settlement. 

 Again, the law of settlement was adAerse to freedom of liberty, and the effect of it 

 was that a man whose settlement was in a small parish was practicahy limited to 

 the inhabitants of that parish to find customers for his labour. It operated by 

 creating a fictitious interest, in every land- or house-owner, farmer, and ratepayer 

 feeling it their duty to prevent a man' being in their parish long enough to obtain a 

 settlement there. The field for a labouruig man was therefore physically limited to 

 narrow bounds roimd the place where he lived, and any arrangement which artifi- 

 cially increased his difficidty in obtaining a house in another district, where he covdd 

 have steadier work and better wages, was a source of oppression to him. The law 

 of settlement in narrow areas had led to the pulling down of houses and restriction 

 of the accommodation of labourers in county parishes in Scotland, and one result 

 of that was that nearly one third of the whole people of Scotland lived in houses of 

 one room. That was' a fact which required to be enforced on the Legislature, in 

 order that -wider bounds of settlement might be adopted, as had been done elcA en 

 years ago in England. 



0)1 tJie part in the Operation of Cajntal due to Fixed or Limited Amounts 

 invested in Trade. By Hyde Clarke, F.S.S. 



The author stated that it was popularly considered that capital in its excess or in 

 its deficiency was uniform in its influence in all branches of commerce ; and he 

 called attention to branches of trades wherein the amount of capital indicated could 

 not practicaUy be increased. A ready-money tradesman, as a baker, might be 

 quoted as an examjile ; and the total of such operations was large. Li England, 

 France, and Germany there were a number of persons engaged in such trades, the 

 savings of which in times of prosperity went to form a fund for the larger opera- 

 tion,? of commerce, and the distiu'bance of which aggravated the severity of a period 

 of pressure. 



On recent attempts at Patent Ler/islation. By St. John V. Day, C.E. ^r. 



The author holds that the Lord Chancellor's Bill of 187G is entirely contrary to 

 what is wanted for the maintenance of an eflicient Patent Law ; he points out the 

 insufiiciency of the numbers of examiners for which the Bill provides. Examina- 

 tion can be and ought to be effectually carried out. 



The paper contains statistics for the requirements and practice advocated, 

 shows on what grounds it is desirable to maintain the existing practice of granting 

 provisional protection upon the filing of a provisional specification ; the practice of 

 preparing abridgements is unnecessarj^, and series no practical end, as in all cases 

 it is essential to refer to the complete specifications themselves. 



The author also discusses the clause of the Bill dealing with what the examiners 

 are to report upon, compidsory licenses, &c. 



On (he Importance of extending the British Gold Standard., with subordinate 

 Silver Coins, to India as a remedy for the inconvenience in India of a rapid 

 Depreciation of Silver. By W. N'eilson Hancock, LL.D. 



It was obvious to those who had read the report of the Committee on the Depre- 

 ciation of Silver that the British currency occupied an exceptionally satisfactory 

 position for meeting the great fluctuation in value which silver was undergoing. 

 In India, under the government of the East- India Company, the primitive arrange- 



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