ABSTRACT
The economic policies pursued by James Loch and his predecessors in Sutherland generated an unpredicted degree of turbulence in the local economy. They were implemented in an atmosphere of compulsion and consequent disruption. Indeed, most of the literature concerned with the Sutherland policies has been preoccupied with the social injustices, to the total neglect of the more positive and constructive aspects. Yet the policy was purposely designed to accommodate the rising population in a more secure economic situation. In a sense, it was a regional development plan, in which the clearances were seen as imperative for the rehabilitation of the economy. It was an attempt to revolutionize the economy by way of planned diversification.
