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The most important reason for independence for Scotland now is that it is more likely to create a change of economic policy, increasing the size of the cake instead of fighting over the ever diminishing and rotting remains.
Governments of small countries are just as able to create slump as big ones, but have even greater ability to increase prosperity. Exchange rate policy and money supply, known as fiscal, policy suited to the region can be tailored to peoples' needs better in smaller countries than larger and especially diffuse countries. One outstanding example is of Greek portion of Cyprus robbed of its chief tourist resorts and mineral resources by Turkey .
I gather many Scots feel that much wealth created in Scotland lands up in England , and it looks that way to me. British pounds tend to come back to Britain because they cannot be used so freely to buy things, and crucially pay taxes, in France and Germany , and the government collects figures for the loss or gain. But no figures can realistically be gathered for Scottish pounds travelling south of the border, nor Stockport pounds travelling to London .
So was Darien a good example of a danger for a separate Scotland ? No! Like the plague that was afflicting the Aztecs, it was an opportunity to conquer Scotland at her weakest. A campaign that you describe had been going on for decades. But the plague was not Darien itself. England did not collapse because of the South Sea Bubble, nor the USA because of the fall of the
NASDAQ or Wall Street in 1929, and hardly any effect was felt of the crash of 1987, comparable to 1929 but tackled properly.
Starting with Darien , obviously the individuals that invested their money in the enterprise had no immediate need for the money themselves, but their countrymen did. In normal circumstances it would have been spent in Scotland and was worth what the output of Scotland produced. For exchange purposes within the country, to keep its economy going, paper printed by the Bank of Scotland would have done just as well. The experience of England was that as soon as the government accepted Bank paper in tax payments, it was regarded for most purposes as good as gold, and could be swapped for gold as easily as being swapped for bread.
Niall Ferguson in "Empire" describes the founding of the Bank of England
In 1694 as the rise of the British as a world power, and the decline of the Dutch. Certainly, according to the official history of John Clapham in 1945, it was founded in order to print money. It made Britain the workshop of the world in the 18th century, not the nineteenth after 1815, when Germany left Britain far behind. Christopher Whatley in BBC History, is either a deliberate liar, or even worse, repeating, "What ain't so" through ignorance.
I don't see in the Act of Union anything resembling the "free trade" of The Manchester manufacturers which came back to destroy manufacturing. Today It is a highly charged phrase that needs to be used with great care. People calling for Free Trade rarely call for free trade in the currency, as even Milton Friedman did at one time. The devil is in the detail. It was said that the Darien episode deprived Scotland of its money. What does that mean? Did the land no longer produce food, nor could she build ships? She needed to produce money for the purposes of exchange, as Adam Smith said. Her government was at fault, though whether this was from stupidity, treason or bullying from England I do not know. What I do know is that the Highland clearances, as well as the Irish Potato Famine and indeed Peterloo were caused by the Bank of England stopping or even reversing the printing of money, as Clapham tells. This was imposed by Parliament. Since "nationalisation", The Bank controls Parliament!
What happened to Scotland in 1707 sounds all too like the Balkans joining the EU today. Needless hardship!
Michael Moore
Peveril, The Ridge, Marple, Stockport SK6 7ER
The ratification of the Union was signed on the 16 th of January 1707 .
MEMBERS OF LAST SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT 1707
ALL VOTED "FOR" UNION OF SCOTTISH & ENGLISH PARLIAMENTS
EDINBURGH 1706-1707
LORDS:
Earl of Seafield, Marquis of Montrose, Duke of Argyle, Marquis of Tweeddale, Marquis of Lothian, Earl of Mar, Earl of Loudon, Earl of Crawford, Earl of Sutherland, Earl of Rothes, Earl of Mortoun, Earl of Eglinton, Earl of Roxburgh, Earl of Haddington, Earl of Galloway, Earl of Wemyss, Earl of Dalhousie, Earl of Leven, Earl of Northesk, Earl of Balcarras, Earl of Forfar, Earl of Kilmarnock, Earl of Kintore, Earl of Dunmore, Earl of Marchmont, Earl of Hynford, Earl of Cromarty, Earl of Stair, Earl of Roseberry, Earl of Glasgow, Earl of Hopetoun, Earl of Delorain, Earl of Hay, Viscount Duplin, Viscount Garnock, Lord Forbes, Lord Elphinstoune, Lord Ross, Lord Torphichen, Lord Fraser, Lord Banff, Lord Elibank, Lord Duffus, Lord Rollo.
ALL VOTED "AGAINST" UNION
LORDS:
Duke of Hamilton, Duke of Athol, Marquis of Annandale, Earl of Errol, Earl of Marischal, Earl of Buchan, Earl of Glencairn, Earl of Wigton, Earl of Strathmore, Earl of Selkirk, Earl of Kincardine, Viscount Stermont, Viscount Kilsyth, Lord Semple, Lord Oliphant, Lord Balmarino, Lord Blantyre, Lord Barganey, Lord Belhaven, Lord Colvin, Lord Kinnaird.
ALL VOTED "FOR" UNION
BARONS:
Sir Robert Dickson of Inveresk, William Nisbet of Dirlton, John Cockburn jnr of Ormiston, Sir John Swinton of that ilk, Sir Alexander Campbell of Cesnock, Sir William Ker of Green Head, Archibald Douglas of Cavers, William Bennet of Grubbet, John Murray of Bowhill, John Pringle of Haining, William Morrison of Preston Grange, George Baillie of Jervis Wood, Sir John Johnston of Wester Hall, William Douglas of Dornock, William Stewart of Castle Stewart, John Stewart of Sorbie, Francis Montgomery of Giffan, John Montgomery of Wree, Sir Robert Pollock of that ilk, William Dalrymple of Glen Muir, John Hadden of Glen Agies, Mungo Graham of Gorthy, Sir Thomas Burnet of Leyes, William Seton jnr of Pitmeddon, Alexander Grant jnr of that ilk, Sir Kenneth MacKenzie, Angus MacLeod of Cathol, John Campbell of Mammore, Sir James Cambell of Auchinbreck, James Campbell jnr of Arkinglas, Sir William Anstruther of that ilk, James Halyburton of Pitcur, Alexander Abercrombie of Glasgow, William Maxwell of Cardross, James Dunbar jnr of Hemprigs, John Bruce of Kinross, Robert Stewart of Tillycoultry.
ALL VOTED "AGAINST" UNION
BARONS:
George Lockhart of Carnwath, John Brisbane of Bishopton, Sir James Foulis of Collington, William Cochrane of Kilmarnock, Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun, Sir Humphrey Colquhoun of Luss, Sir Robert Sinclair of Longformacus, Sir John Houston of that ilk, Sir Patrick Home of Renton, John Grahame of Killaney, Sir Gilbert Elliot of Minto, James Graham of Buchlyvie, William Baillie of Lamington, Thomas Sharp of Houston, John Sinclair jnr of Stevenson, Sir Patrick Murray of Auchtertyre, John Sharp of Hoddam, John Murray of Strowan, Alexander Ferguson of Isle, Sir David Ramsey of Balmain, Alexander Gordon of Pitlurg, James More of Stoniewood, John Forbes of Culloden, David Bethune of Balfour, Thomas Hope of Rankieller, Patrick Lyon of Auchterhouse, James Carnagie of Phinhaven, David Graham, Younger of Fintry, James Ogilvie of Boyne, Sir Henry Innes jnr of that ilk, Alexander Mackie of Dalgown, George MacKenzie of Inchcoulter, Alexander Douglas of Eagleshaw.
ALL VOTE "FOR" THE UNION
BURGESSES:
Sir Patrick Johnstoun, John Serymhowe, Coll. Areskin, John Muir, James Scott, Patrick Bruce, Sir James Smollet, William Carmichael, Daniel MacLeod, John Ross, Sir David Dalrymple, Patrick Ogilvie, William Alvis, John Urquhart, James Spittle, Daniel Campbell, Robert Douglas, George Dalrymple, Sir John Areskin, Patrick Moncrieffe, George Munro, Sir Andrew Home, William Coltran, Sir Peter Halket, Sir Alexander Ogilvie, John Clerk, Sir Hugh Dalrymple, George Allardyce, Roderick MacKenzie, Sir James Stewart, Sir Robert Forbes, Alexander Maitland, Charles Campbell.
ALL VOTED "AGAINST" THE UNION
BURGESSES:
Robert Inglis, Alexander Duff, John Lyon, Alexander Robertson, Francis Mollison, George Spence, John Black, Walter Scott, Sir David Cunningham, Walter Stewart, Robert Kellie, William Johnston, Alexander Watson, John Hutchinson, John Caruthers, Hugh Montgomery, Walter Sutherland, George Home, Alexander Edgar, Douglas Stewart, Robert Frazer, James Oswald, Archibald Shiels, John Bayne, Robert Johnston, George Brodie, James Bethun.
Scottish People who received payment for their vote.
Earl of Marchmont: received £1,104. -17s-7d.
Earl of Cromarty: received £300.
Lord Preston Hall: received £200.
Lord Ormiston: received £200.
Duke of Montrose: received £200.
Duke of Athol: received £1000.
Earl of Balcarres: received £500.
Earl of Dunmoor: received £200.
Lord Anstruther: received £300.
Mr. Stewart of Castle Stewart: received £300.
Earl of Eglington: received £200.
Lord Fraser: received £100.
Lord Cesnock, now Polwarth: received £50.
Mr. John Campbell: received £200.
Earl of Forfar: received £100.
Sir Kenneth MacKenzie: received £100.
Earl of Glencairn: received £100.
Earl of Kintore: received £200.
Earl of Findlator: received £100.
Lord Forbes: received £50.
John Muir, Provost of Ayr: received £100.
Earl of Seafield, Lord Chancellor: £490.
Marquis of Tweeddale: received £1000.
Duke of Roxburgh: received £500.
Lord Elibank: received £50.
Lord Banff: received £11-2/-
Major Cunningham of Eckatt: received £100.
The Messenger who brought the Treaty of Union: received £60.
Sir William Sharp: received £300.
Patrick Coultrain, Provost of Wigton: received £25.
Mr. Alexander Wedderburn: received £75.
The Commissioner for Equipage & Daily Allowance: received £12,325.
Stated by THE EARL OF GLASGOW ,on oath, and by DAVID NAIRNE, Secretary Depute for Scotland . ( THE PRICE OF SCOTLAND 'S FREEDOM )
The official historian to Elizabeth the second, Professor Christopher Smout, said it was �perfectly feasible� for Scotland to go it alone and that it could prosper in the same way as eastern European republics have done since the break-up of the Soviet Union. He claimed voters south of the border would be happy to see the break-up of the United Kingdom .
He also criticised claims by John Reid, the home secretary, that Scotland 's national security would be compromised by independence, describing his argument as �a complete non-starter�.
Could Scotland survive as an independent nation?
Yes...
" Scotland would be much wealthier and better prepared than many other independent nations around the world
" Revenue from oil and other energy industries could be invested to provide a secure fund to support future generations
" Much of the political and civil infrastructure needed to administer the country is already in place, and the people are highly educated
No...
" Without subsidy from the rest of the UK , it is claimed by unionists that there would be a fiscal deficit of up to £11bn
" Nationalist promises to cut taxes while increasing spending on pensions and higher education would put the country in the red
" If the bonds that unite Britain were severed, all the countries of the union would suffer economically and culturally
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