T~e Social' Crediter, Saturday, February 15, 194{'

,tHE· SOCIAL CREDiliERFOR POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC REAL1SM

Vol. 5. No. 23. 6d. Weekly.Registered at G.P.O. as a NewspaperPostage (home and abroad) Id, SATURDAY, FEBRtJARY 15, 1941.

SIR ERNEST' ,BENN ON BUR~UCRACY

There can be little doubt that themost prolific cause of complaint amongthe public at the present time arisesfrom the -action and inaction of Bureau-cracy. Map.y who complain againstBureaucracy may not be able to expressa reasoned case against it, but they doknow it is wrong. Bureaucracy is there-fore in a different position from, forinstance, that of the money systema few years ago, because the majorityof the public was willing to blameanything but the money system for theirtroubles. The question which naturallyarises is: Why does Bureaucracy con-tinue if practically everyone is againstit? It is in his failure to answer thatquestion that Sir Ernest Benn falls downin his otherwise exceptionally ableindictment of Bureaucracy. in a- pamphletjust published, The Political Method.*

In this pamphlet Sir Ernest Beonsays: "Democracy is rapidly deteriorat-ing into Bureaucracy with a very thincovering of political veneer. Parliament,created to voice the opinions [sic ] ofthe people, is' in danger of becomingan office for the legalisation of bureau-cratic ambitions." Democracy, he says,is that "The people through the ballotbox demand something and the Govern-ment (if necessary through its executive)proceeds to supply that demand." But,"The position now is that the bureau-cracy, always seeking and, from the.bureaucratic point of view, quite pro-perly seeking for new fields to whichro apply the uniform bureaucraticmethod, uses the . politician, now theadvertising agent of the bureaucracy,to put its suggestions over to the people.Thus democracy becomes bureaucracy.". Before we discuss Sir Ernest Benn'sshortcomings let us sample some of his

*Post"War Questions No.· I.-The political'Method by Sir .Ernest ]:_P. Benn, publishedby The lridividualist -Bookshop Ltd.; 15-4Fleet Street, London, E.C. 4. Price 6d.

By John Mitchell

blows against the bureaucrats. One ofthe shrewdest of these is directed againstthe device called "Priorities;' concerningwhich he says: "There is, in fact, noend to the possibilities of complicationwhen once the new science of PriorityIs invoked. . As against the simple,natural way of 'first come' first Served,'Priority has all the arguments. Inprivate affairs arguments give way topractice, convenience, and expediency,but in public affairs arguments mustrule· supreme. Thus ·everything and·everybody stand back until it is decidedthat some small part or section can goforward, the result being considerable.delay to the project, whatever it is,.considered as a whole.

"At the Ministry of Munitions in1915 my duty was to persuade manu-facturers to employ men and womentrairied by the County Councils tooperate lathes, milling machines andather simple forms of machine tool.I started as a business man, and in amonth or so placed some thousand ofthese' 'trainees/ who proceeded at onceto help the flow of munitions of whichthe Army was in such dire need. Ihad never heard of Priority (the worddoes not exist in business), but I wasresponsible for a few million rounds ofammunition. For my pains I wassummoned before' my superiors' andinformed that no manufacturer was tobe supplied with my trainees until thePriority Department had certified thatthere was no other manufacturer whoserequirements, coming into a highercategory; had not first been satisfied.In the result my papers started circulat-ing round Whitehall Gardens and goingfrom one floor to another of the HotelMetropole until the training schemewas given up in despair ..

"Since those days Priority hasdeveloped. .The new Ministry ofBuilding in its very first announcement

speaks of Major Priorities and MinorPriorities, which will for years hold upall building while avenues are beingexplored and no stone is left unturned.

"The competitive, profiteering,capitalistic, free trade system has nodoubt, its drawbacks, but it does deliverthe goods. Priority in its infancylengthened the Kaiser's war, and it istoo early to say by what length of timethe Hitler war will be extended by theMajor and Minor Priorities that arehindering its progress as I write."

He then advises us to consider howthe Bureaucracy has grown: fat on milk.Parliament becomes talkative because awretched Socialist informs the Housethat six separate independent milkmenare sometimes to be found serving milkin the same street (the Socialist wouldn'tmind, of course, if all six men wereemployed by the Co-operative Stores).The bureaucrat has: his opportunity andsteps in, and "It is interesting to reflectthat by 1940 if all the officials associatedwith the marketing of milk from theCentral Milk Marketing Board down tothe humblest milk officer in the smallestcouncil office, were put t.o push milkcarts, there would be traffic congestionin most of .our streets."

What happened when someone hadthe bright idea of evacuating childrenoverseas: "There wits a movement,which Hitler prevented, to send childrenoverseas .to escape his bombs. When bymeans of.' the submarine he made thatplan t06' risky, it was discovered thatthe staff, which had been gatheredtogether in a 'few weeks, numbered morethan , the - children who had beenevacuated, and' as is the practice inthese modem days, SQ' that no hardshipwould fall upon the staff, arrangeinentswere made for their absorption by otherdepartments, arrangements which ignored

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the interests of all the staffs of all the cracy this p~phlet, is a. use¥., p~:ce t,:.~~ ,sO'!..ll~"substitM.~§".al!4 u!l!s~W.~lsl~:p~y,et~"''Y_b.~~'i:~()~f-O.e;'''I!~~,bilrr~~'' ~;}~'i:w~;~~t III a .~~~!~mot:~ ~l'v~d,;\J$,loe'i, ~i~~ce ~(f,coifeij; th~ ~atlts~"~,,".jl3ure.at1ttacY:~ou1d. get a~very;lhin ;.;.th~n, mos~~~p~ople ~llgqp~mpt~y, SIr;f.~ mllJ!si,Y!i&advIse~c~ tp:'~of'ack~to~nn'e'~g,it Wasn'h: bolste~i:l. bf~ t~e' l~hr .4E~es~. B~F IS .pnIY~fell1fig;~e~ ~~~1t#~QFh.~;;sY,~t~W:is a'ie~~!to~ry i~~t~!e

,';,and,-;{Sl/f;:Eri1est.:~Benn·:'hits<,a' ,rlail':';vefy"':',they already know.;,t-'What purpose-as IS 'no' support or 'place for reaction "Illhard on the head when he says: served by doing that if, as is the case, this ,~,country . to-d~y. lo.. ,refer to the" ... To-dayxwe-jadopt.r; ~o$er pllUi:; t~~\are ~onlyto ,be told]~~::re~eat t~'t~~, - 'system to wIµc~ Sir.Ernest Benn w?uldParliament does-not ,say~tMtOsomethifig' ·posltIon. ,they.·Astarte~' 'f~om'~ (Private "'have us. re~?rn as one of "unr~straIlledshall ,Il:o.U-?e,~2.11e~and it.9.9:p.e, lX!uaJlk~ '.':-~~t_e!pnse . as )t ..\V~S ~,ll_YICtOrIan.days) ~'~f.t:Qdu~tlo~;",,,·,as ~.on~ . ,~possessI,ng .. theshallbe ,Ampo,sed. It says .in. effect,' that ! ~nd_,stay there? ; Th~ pamphlet tells us:. . blessings". otc,ompetItIOn, and ~.respect-l1~th~rig"i shall be done except .~)'j)~_~~:,_"~:,_,:,'~If,we .are pr~ared to set :free' all : :,~ir~~'~,o~oµJ~VI' agajp~tJb,~. restraintmrss~:<)Ii,'~a:'comp1efeTy--diIfeient con- the individual genius existing in our of trade IS downright ~Is~epresentatlon.cepnon .... : .... The law, as ~cJ.erstood midst, to accept the policy of un- Bureaucracy and Socl~lism are t~eby .the Vlct.onans, was designed to' restrained production, to recognise. the spawn of the MonopolI~rs. of credit,purush the evildoer and ~o leave !~e. ~est blessings of competition, to respect the The ort~o~ox money syste~ IS a syst<:mof us free to get ~long WIth.t!te civilising common law against the restraint of of restriction of .P!oductlo.n, .restramtwork of producing amenities for all. trade, and to suffer the inconveniences of trade and of VICIOUSartificial com-~he modern law is of a wholly diff~~nt and inequalities inherent. in nature's way, petition ~hic~ is ~e. direct cause of!cin~... It holds back !orty .million we could of course multiply indefinitely war. ~t IS the brea~lll~ of ~he Monopolyindividuals, among whom IS· to be found the comforts and amenities available of credit and the distribution of owner-all the energy requi:ed for the provision for everybody." ship of the whole of this credit to theof all our. needs, m order to pr.event Sir Ernest Benn seems to think people which is required, and which canthe oper~tIon of a. few undes~ra~le that Socialism and Bureaucracy grew be done even in war time. If Socialismpe~sons plck~d out by the Socialists in a vacuum, whereas, of course, they an.d Bureaucracy are to. be banished~nd. ~dupPlo,~e to represent the average could not have gained the ground they this can only be .achieved by them IVI ua. h unl h . f ul . . t bli hm f bl d . .. . . ave, ess t ere were serious a ts III es a IS ent 0 a sta e· or er givmg

Merely as an indictment of Bureau- the system for which they are supposed freedom of initiative to the individual.

PARLIAMENTWar Damage Bill: Distribution of Industrial Population: Local Authorities (Finance):German Refugees: Co-operation of Banks: Jamaica (Constitution).

WAR' DAMAGE BILL(65 columns)

January 29.The Chairman: Most of the Com-

mittee realise that' when there are anumber of Amendments, all directed tothe same point, the Chair selects the onewhich it thinks most useful for discuss-ion.

Mr. Pick thorn (Cambridge Univer-sity) : .... 1 should like to' ask one ques-tion about his use of the word 'important'If importance is to be measured entirelyby the size of the interest concerned,there may be some matters which Ithink ought to receive full discussionwhich may not be regarded as fallinginto the "important" class. For instanceif by act of God-or the devil-s-bombshappened to fall in particular directions,there might be so much capital damagethat the whole' control of higher educa-tion would be taken out of the indepen-dent hands in which it has been formany generations and become entirelycentralised. . Therefore matters, whichmay seem small in themselves from the266

point of view of money value comparedwith the whole amount of damage, maybe of very great public and politicalimportance in other directions. I shouldlike to be assured that they will be takeninto consideration in the conduct ofthese Debates.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer(Sir Kingsley Wood): .... The wholemischief of the Amendments on the Paperis that they aim at giving the propertyowner compensation related not to' thevalue of what has been destroyed but tothe cost of its replacement. Again, thisproposal to which I am referring willinvolve payment of compensation on anunduly generous scale in many cases andmore particularly when the propertydestroyed, by reason of its age or othercauses, possessed only a small marketvalue. I suggest that in fact when onecomes to consider this matter in thelight of the considerations which I haveput forward, and tries and thinks ofsome really effective practical proposal,one is driven in the end to the sameconclusion to which the experts and wewere driven when we examined this

matter. We gave a tremendous amountof time to it, as obviously was necessary.In the end we were bound to' come backto .the proposals of the Bill. The basisof the proposals of the Bill is this, thatwhere the restoration of property is notan economic 'proposition, monetary com-pensation should be paid on the basiswhich, while taking into account the VItalfactors of depreciation and market value-they must be taken into account-pro-vides a reasonable basis and a basis fairbetween one property owner and another.In other words, the more one looks atthis problem the more one is driven to'the conclusion that war-time values wouldcertainly be unfair. Some properties to':'day are worth practically nothing at all.Other properties have gone up tremend-ously in value according to the particularareas where' they are situated. It wouldbe impossible to base value paymentsupon such figures ....

Mr. Gratk Henderson (Leeds,North-East) .... As it stands at present',as. has already been pointed out, the manwho suffers most is to receive least, andthis Amendment which I have put down

Saturday, February 15, 1941.- THE SOCIAL CREDITEJR Page 3

F is'.an •att~tPpt 'til. meet. that difficulty, .. II ~d() not" think.. it is unfair that a man whoV has had his house destroyed should

receive i value payment based on thevalue in '1939ifhe is not going to rebuild.That is a fair basis if he is simply goingto get the money. But if he has got torebuild, and a great many proprietorswill require to rebuild, how is he goingto do it? The cost of building even at thepresent moment would be at least doublethe value payment he would receive.Where is he to get the finance to rebuildat the end of the war? ....

Mr. W. H. Green (Deptford) ... Itis possible to argue, as the Chancellorquite rightly says, that it may meansomething beyond the loss sustained, thatthe person will receive: in place of ahouse built perhaps 20 years ago andsubject therefore to depreciation, a newhouse of greater value. That is one wayof looking at it, but I will ask the Chan-cellor or the Parliamentary Secretary tothe Treasury to look at it in this way:a man has struggled, as hundreds ofthousands of our people have done, to bein a position to own his own house,which is about all that hundreds ofthousands do own in this country. Afteryears of struggle, a man has a house

l 1which he can call his own. It is destroy-.............ed, At the time of its' destruction it

may be worth, say, £700. 1take a casewhich is fairly general in the bombedareas. 1. am not concerned about thehuge hotels or great houses in the WestEnd-others will look after their in-terests. I am thinking of the working'man who looks to this Act for the where-withal to get his house erected againafter the war. But, when the war isover, it may cost £1,000 to rebuild thathouse. In hundreds of thousands ofcases houses will never be rebuilt-atleast, as the property of. those whooriginally possessed them. I know thatthere are difficulties, and that there arearguments against it, but there is a gooddeal to be said for the principle thata man who loses his property should bein a position at the end of the war toreplace it and, as the Bill stands; I donot see that that is possible ....

January 30.Oral Answers (37 columns)

DISTRIBUTION OF INDUSTRIALPOPULATION

Mr. Cary asked the Minister with-\..,; out Portfolio whether he will give an

assurance that the Report of the RoyalCommission on the Distribution of the

Industrial population-will form the mainbasis of post-war reconstruction; and,further, will he consider the advisabilityof setting up permanent machinery ofadministration which could form thecadre of a National Industrial Board?

The Minister without Portfolio (Mr.Greenwood): I have already consideredthe Report of the Royal Commission onthe Distribution of the Industrial Popula-tion and, in consultation with my col-leagues who are responsible for the manyDepartments concerned, I am taking intoaccount the recommendations containedin the Report, including those which re~late to the establishment of a NationalIndustrial Board.

LOCAL AUTHORITIES' LOANS

Mr. R. C. Morrison asked theFinancial Secretary to the Treasurywhether permission is given to localauthorities to convert outstanding loansto a lower rate of interest?

Sir J. Edmondson: No, Sir; not atpresent.

Mr. Morrison: Will the hon. andgallant Gentleman represent to his righthon. Friend that local authorities andtheir ratepayers are facing serious finan-cial difficulties? With the Governmentborrowing at 2i per cent. and 3 per cent.they resent having to continue payinginterest on loans at 6 per cent.

SzrJ. Edmondson: My hon. Friendcan rest assured that this matter will beconstantly borne in mind.

. Written Answers (67 columns)GERMAN REFUGEES (EMPLOY-

MENT)Mr: Mander asked the Minister of

Labour the number of Germans classedas' victims of Nazi oppression now inemployment in this country?.'-_ Mr. Bevin: I regret that the re-cords of my Department do not enableme .to furnish this .information.

:LOCAL AUTHORITIES (FINANCE)

Sir R. Gower asked the Ministerof Health whether he will state the namesof the local authorities with whom theGovernment is now in consultationregarding their financial difficulties?

.Mr. MacDonald: As a result of theannounced intentions of the Governmentthat if, as a result of the war, themachinery of local government in any

area is in danger of breaking down, theGovernment will come to the assistanceof the local authority for that area, Ihave been approached by authorities inthe London area, in certain coastal dis-tricts, and in certain other towns whichhave been subjected to severe air attack.

WAR DAMAGE BILL(53 columns)

CLAUSE 8.-(Provisions for securing thenational interest in the making ofpayments).Mr. Denman (Le.eds, Central): I

beg to move in page 6, line 21, at beg-ginning, to insert

"The Minister of Works and Buildingsafter consultation with."

The purpose of the Amendment ISto substitute for the Treasury the Minis-ter of Works and Buildings as the author-ity responsible for the planning policyin reconstructing war damaged areas ....Clause 8 makes it possible that the re-construction shall be, to use the wordsof the Bill,"in conformity with the national interest, asrespects town and country planning, the pro-vision of housing accommodation, the develop-ment of industries and services,"and so on. In fact, it makes possible areconstruction worthy of a victorious war.On the administration of this Clause de-pends the lay-out of important parts ofBritain and of cities in which substantialblocks of citizens will live their lives.The Bill imposes this task upon theTreasury who will have to give direc-tions. Many departments will be con-cerned, such as Health, Transport,Trade, Labour and the Defence Services.It is indeed difficult to find a Depart-ment that is not interested. The picturewhich is provided by the Bill is thateach Department brings its own contri-bution to the Treasury, which fits thepieces of the jigsaw puzzle into a com-plete whole and gives directions as topolicy. None of us doubt that thatpuzzle will be solved with high intelli-gence and workmanlike skill and thatwe shall be confronted with a typicalpiece of competent co-ordination.

The Amendment asks that that workshall be given to the Minister of Worksand Buildings simply because co-ordina-tion is not enough. If the work is to bedone worthily we must have a Depart-ment not only acting as a centre of know-ledge and information, but capable ofgiving continuous study and of evolvinga creative policy and applying it withcontinuous drive and direction. I suggest

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that the Treasury cannot possibly fulfilthat task for two reasons. It has not theofficials or the Ministers who can givetime i:othat kind of work. The FinancialSecretary is, in peace-time, notoriouslyone of the hardest worked Ministers inthe whole body of Ministers, and for theChancellor of the Exchequer this mattercould be only a very small by-product of'his main tasks. It is not in that spiritthat the work should be accomplished.

Suppose there were suggested arather mean reconstruction of Coventry;what use would it be for us to try tobring the Chancellor of the Exchequer toaccount for it? He would not have theknowledge of the subject of the continu-ous supervision which would enable ususefully to criticise him. It is not hisjob. A further point is that the Depart-ment responsible for planning must be aspending Department in outlook. It hasto envisage the spending of colossal sumsof money. It is always wrong to try toturn the Treasury into a Departmentwith the outlook of a spending office, be-cause it is not its business. I have muchtoo high a respect for its sense of dutyto suppose that it could possibly do thatwell. The Amendment does not seek fora moment to deprive the Treasury of itsproper control, which must be absolute.We do not want to remove from theTreasury the control that must exerciseas a co-ordinating body when it is facedwith an unresolved dispute between, say,the Minister of. Works and Buildings andthe Ministry of Health ....

Mr. Kenneth Lindsay (Kilmarnock)In spite of what the Chancellor of theExchequer has said I wish to support theAmendment .... The Chancellor of theExchequer says that the Ministry ofWorks and Buildings is only one Depart-ment among many, but I would remindhim that at the time of the Barlow report-s-and, after all, it took two years to getthat· report written-many people weretalking about the importance of havingsome policy in regard to the location ofindustry. That report asked for theestablishment of a Ministry with a Cab-inet Minister at the head-which we nowhave in the new Ministry-to take overpowers under the Town and CouncilPlanning. Act, the powers of the Ministryof Transport and other kindred powers,and have responsibility not only in regardto the powers of the old Office of Worksbut also powers which had been distri-buted among a number of Ministriesduring the last 20 years.

The Amendment suggests that weshould make the new Minister into a268

person who can co-ordinate these VIDlOµSDepartments. I know we cannot 90 thatby this Bill, but I suggest that the morewe can bring into this Bill the M.iAjsterof Works as the proper person to co.ordinate other Departments, the morechance we shall have in the future ofreplanning on better lines. Every han.Member, I believe, agrees with this andit seems to me that there is a chance inthis Bill of making the Governmentrealise that there is a strong feeling in thecountry that the new Minister of Worksshould have larger functions than the oldOffice of Works ....

Mr. Benson (Chesterfield): It seemsto me that the suggestion is that weought to accept his Amendment in orderto give tlie Ministry of Works and Build-ings a free advertisement. It is a verynice idea that we should boost the newMinistry, but I think that putting wordsinto the Bill is the last method we shouldadopt of boosting a Government Depart-ment ....

Earl Winterton: I would like to sup-port what has been said by the hon.Member behind me (Mr. Benson) and theChancellor of the Exchequer. With greatrespect I venture to suggest that it is avery dangerous idea which is at the backof the minds of some hon, Members whoare seeking to anticipate a decision on animmense question of policy about whicha lot of us would have a great deal tosay. People who have spent their livesin local administration would object tothe idea of setting up a supreme Pooh-Bah in the shape of a Ministry of Recon-struction to override all local authorities.Such a matter cannot be decided untilwe have another Bill and we ought notto anticipate discussions which will ariseon the big town-planning Bill which wemust have after the war. Quite apartfrom that, it is entirely wrong from theMinistry's point of view to make theMinistry the deciding authority. Thede-ciding authority must be the Treasury.With great respect; I venture to' say,"For goodness sake let us keep to themain question, which is an attempt torepair the terrible damage done to thou-sands of individuals-and to rich peopleas well-and get payment for them assoon as possible." If we are to clutterup the Bill with other considerations weshall never see it through Committee,

.... Amendment negatived.Sir Harold Woebbe (Westminster,

Abbey): .... The purpose of this Clauseis to secure that the expenditure of thisgreat sum of public money and rhede-velopment to which it will give rise

shall be in confQ1111itywith the nationalinterest. That ilt the one object with )which no one can p.ossibly quarrel, but I.oc:tI. suggest that the Clause, as it is now 'drafted, goes further than is necessary toachieve that purpose, The Executivein this country has already been armedby Pal'liament with very . considerablepowers: of controlling development andcontl'olling such. matters as will fall tobe dealt with under this Bill, TownPlanning legislation, Housing Acts,Building Acts aad such legislation havealready given to. the central and thelocal authorities a considerable measureof control to. secure that the nationalinterest is not impaired by wrongdevelepment, lij. this Clause thesepowers lire b~ing very widely extended.As· the right hon, Gentleman the Chan-cellor of the Exchequer has said, theyare being extended into fields whereParliament has so far had no opportunityof discussion or consideration, and whereit has certainly not made up its mind,but where, at any rate in the immediatewar conditions in which we live,it is necessary that we should takea chance and delegate the authorityof Parliament in this way to theTreasury in the national interest andin the' interest of national defence.AlreAdy, additions to the list of groups ""I!!!and s,uhj~cts in regard to which directionshould be given have been suggested andthe Chancellor has undertaken to con-sider them, and if possible.. add them tothe list, I de) suggest that, having takeninto account all these types of case, inwhich, as far as this Committee at themoment can see, there is likely to be noneed for directions of this kind, andhaving. given to the Treasury: and to theCommission by authority of the Treas-ury power to deal with all these cases,the Committee should say that that isenough te go on with and should notadd the phrase which appears at the endof sub-section (I) of the Clause:"and any other matters as respects which itappears to the Treasury that such directionsare required." .

That is a perfectly blank cheque bywhich .to give directions on any matterwhatever and even though these direc-tions might be embodied in publishedRegulations and directions laid on theTable of the House, and subject to theveto of the House, I submit that thatwould be yet another extension of thevery unsatisfactory tendency which hasbeen shown in recent years. There isfar too' much government to-day by I

Regulations and Ministerial orders. \,.,Speaking, as one who has spent some

Saturday, February 15, 1941. THE SOCIAL CREDITER Page 5

/

Il ~)years as a member of a local authority,V I can certainly say that this method of

producing a Bill, which lays down policyin a skeleton form, and leaves the details-very often important. details--to befilled in by Ministerial orders and Regu-lations makes any kind of intelligentcriticism of a great many Measures' quite"impossible....

Captain Crookshank: .... Thesewords do not mean a blank cheque onany matter whatsoever. The matter isgoverned by the opening' words of theClause which say:

"The Treasury shall give to the Com-mission directions for securing that theprovisions of this Part of this Act relatingto the making of payments in respect of wardamage shall be executed in conformity withthe national interest." ..That is not quite the sallie sort of thingas my hon. Friend has in mind.

Sir H. Webbe: I beg to withdrawthe Amendment...

Amendment, 'by leave, withdrawn.

February 4.Oral Answers (32 columns)

BANKS (CO-OPERATION).~ Sir Patrick Hannon. asked' the

Chancellor of the Exchequer whether,since the outbreak of war,' he has re-ceived the full co-operation and supportof the principal banks both in Londonand the provinces; whether he is satis-fied by the effort made by the banks tostrengthen and maintain war-time credit;and whether the response of the banksto requests arid suggestions from theTreasury and Public Departments hasbeen satisfactory?

Sir K. Wood: The answer to' allparts of the Question is in the affirma-tive. ". .,.

Sir P. Hannon asked the Chan-cellor of the Exchequer what is the totalsum . lent by the five leading banks tothe Government since the beginning ofthe war, including the increase inbalance-sheet totals, sums released bythe decline in call money, bills andadvances, investments in Governmentsecurities and loans on Treasury depositreceipts? .

Sir K. Wood: The answer containsa number of figures, I will, with myhon. Friend's permission, circulate it inthe OFFICIALREpORT. .

\ \.. Sir P. Hannon: Does the Chari-~ cellor agree that his Answer indicates

the extent to which the banks of thiscountry are co-operating with the Gov-

ernment in raising funds for the war?Sir K. Wood: Yes, Sir. That is

what my answer does.Following is the answer:The published accounts of the five

leading banks do not enable me to stateprecisely the amounts lent by themdirect to the Government since the be-ginning of the war, but the followingfigures will give my hon. Friend anindication of the sums involved. In theperiod between August, 1939, andDecember, 1940, the deposits of thefive leading banks increased by£473,000,000, which together with adecrease in advances of £59,000,000increased their liquid resources by£532,000,000. Cash balances, money atcall, etc., and cheques in course of collec-tion, increased by £130,000,000 and thebalance of £402,000,000 was accountedfor by an increase of £262,000,000 inbills discounted (consisting almost ex-clusively of Treasury bills and Treasurydeposit receipts), and an increase of£142,000,000 in investments (almostexclusively in Government securities).

JAMAICA (CONSTITUTION).Mr.' Stokes asked the Under-

Secretary of State for the Colonieswhether :he will give an assurance thatbefore any Order in Council is madealtering the Constitution of Jamaicaopportunity 'will be given for discussionin this House?

The Under-Secretary of State forthe Colonies (Mr. George Hall): Aswas stated in reply to a Question by thehon. Member for Dewsbury (Mr. Riley)on 29th January, the question whetherthe constitution of Jamaica is to beamended is among those which are beingdiscussed with the' Governor of the'COlonywho is now in this country; andI should prefer not to make any furtherstatement pending the outcome of thosediscussions,

Mr .. Stokes: Is my hon. Friendaware of the great anxiety felt by resi-dents in the Island on this subject, andwill he give an assurance that neither thesale nor the leasing of the whole Islandto a foreign Power is contemplated?

Mr. Hall: That is another question,but I can assure my hon. Friend in re-gard to the question of constitution that,if changes are agreed upon then, I.think, the Government will consider thequestion .of the matter being consideredby this House.

Captain Cunningham-Reid: Would

the hon. Member give an assurance thatthere will be no leasing or sale of ourpossessions in the future without firstconsulting this House?

Mr. Hall: No, Sir.Sir. A. Southby: Would the Under-

Secretary convey to the Prime Ministerthe desirability of a statement at an earlydate on the whole subject of leasing andthe constitution of these bases?

Mr Hall: That can be done. TheHouse will remember that a conferenceis sitting at the present, and I have nodoubt that at its conclusion a statementwill be made.

Sir A. Southby: Is the Under-Secretary aware that this House is des-irous of knowing exactly what is beingdone, and what will be done in thefuture, before a final decision is taken?

Mr. Thurtle: Is my hon. Friendaware that the great bulk of Membersof this House are very happy with thearrangement. with America in regard tothis matter?

Mr. Stokes: Are we to understandthat the Cabinet feel at liberty to disposeof British possessions without consult-ing this House?

M.P.S' ArrACK ON MINISTERCharges of "bullying" and of

failure were levelled against the Min-ister of Agriculture (Mr. R. S. Hudson)during a brief debate on agriculture inthe House of Commons on February 11.

Mr. de la Bere (Evesham, C), whourged more material, manpower andcapital for the land, said: "The Min-ister has antagonised the human elementthroughout the country. He has failed,and he must resign."

Mrs. Tate (Frome, C) said: "TheMinister has not learned that howevermuch you may be able to bully in pri-vate life, you cannot bully the yeomenof England, nor can you bully the soilof this land. I beg the Minister, whennext he speaks to the farmers, to speakwith greater sympathy and understand-ing, because the yeoman stock will notstand for his bullying."

London Liaison. .

GroupFor the next meeting

see page 12.

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Page 6 THE SOCIAL CREDITER Saturday, February 15, 1941.

THE SOCIAL CREDlTERThis journal expresses and supports the policy of the Social CreditSecretariat, which is a non-party, non-class organisation neither connectedwith nor supporting any political party, Social Credit or otherwise.

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Three months 78. 6d ..Editorial Office:4, ACREFmLD ROAD,WOOLTON, LIVERPOOL.Telephone: Gateacre 1561.Vol. 5. No. 23.

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Saturdoy, February 15, 1941.

FROM WEEK TO"INTERESTS" BEHIND SIROIS

REPORTThe recommendations of the Sirois

Report were vigorously assailed byArthur W. Roebuck, K.C., member ofparliament for Toronto. Mr. Roebuckis a former attorney-general for thisProvince of Ontario and the EdmontonBulletin describes him as an authorityon constitutional questions.

Mr. Roebuck reviewed the purposesof Confederation and the great successof the federal scheme adopted and pro-ceeded to describe how the Sirois Com-missioners propose to "re-confederate"the nation.

His speech was a striking warningagainst the crippling of Canada's warcredit by the heaping of two billiondollars provincial debt burden on theDominion government at the very timeit is engaged iri prodigious war spendingand at the same time limiting the Dom-inion's powers of taxation, and equallya warning against the destruction ofprovincial autonomy by placing the pro-vinces under control of the money powerwhose headquarters are located at Ottawa.He suggested that certain interests arebacking the report for their own privategain.

As reported in The Social Crediterthe Sirois Report has been "thrown out"-a notable victory for the forcesattacking banking interests in Canada.

• • •The Times displays anxiety lest Mr.

Winant's interest in 'world affairs'should be thought to date from hisattachment to I. L. O. Mr. Winantserved in the (American) Air Forcebefore his appointment to the Inter-national Labour Office, "so that:' hisinterest in world affairs does not date270

WEEKfrom that. Wonderful what a lot youcan see of the internationalist plot fromreally high up in the (American) air!

• • •Benghazi (like Dunkirk)-Impro-

visation (not centralisation!) : TheTimes says so.

• • •From Winston Churchill (not the

novelist): -"There is an almost univer-sal. innate revulsion against interventionsin the biological scheme of things. Wenone of us quite like them, and customand religion will probably resist them.And custom and religion are probablyright, for we do not seem to be makingsuch a wonderful success of our presentsystem that we can afford to have thrustupon us political problems such as willarise if the very make-up of mankindbecomes the plaything of the bureaucrat."

• • •THE LABOUR PARTY

A writer in the New Statesman andNation has been deploring the conditionof the Labour Party. "Physically theLabour Party is dying." Hundreds oflocal parties have a name to live but aredead. The three chief reasons for [hecondition of the Party, according to theNew Statesman's contributor are:-

1. The absence of members on one ormore of the services.

2. The black out .3. The political truce.

"Political activity was the king-pinthat kept the party wheels securelyattached to the war chariot. When werenounced it for a truce the pin cameout and in hundreds of localities thewheels came off ....

"Only by including the first three

months of 1940' in the 1939 balance, !.

sheet-a shrewd device-was it possible ~for the 1939 Balance Sheet submittedto the Bournmouth Conference to show£7,553 revenue from local parties asagainst £8,383 for the preceedingtwelve-not fifteen months. Significantas that was the story for the year justended is much more serious. Revenuefrom local parties will not total£5,000 .... "

. We could suggest other reasons thanthose quoted by the writer. The first isthat the leaders of the Labour Party ha vetheir eyes onthe Treasury Benches. Theyare utterly arid violently opposed to thepenetration of new ideas into the move-ment: . they wiped away the last pretencefor their existence as a Labour Partywhen the leader of the opposition ac-cepted £2,000 pounds a year to "oppose"the great "enemies of Labour." Theyhave thrived on the teachings of theWebbs, planners, orthodox economists,the Fabian Society (which is now linkingup with Federal Union): they haveplaced in positions of authority in themovement. men .. whose incompetencewould have been instantly observed hadthey not been shielded by the perniciousdoctrine' of collective responsibility. ~

If the Labour Party dies two thingswill have killed it: Social Credit and itsown inherent weakness and unreality.

E. J. P.

• • •THE _(I. S. M.) PLAN

The Daily Express reports that thenew American Ambassador to thiscountry, Mr. John G. Winant, is bring-ing to London plans. for a new worldorder of Democracy, "which, it is hoped,America and the British Empire will beable to guarantee when the war is over."

"According to well-informed sourcesin Washington, the final peace' planwhich the American Government has inmind envisages the establishment of aninternational- society of mankind basedon economic as well as political demo-cracy.

"It calls for social justice and econ-omic security for the vanquished as wellas for' the victor nations.

"In an attempt to bring about alasting peace, it will offer the citizenof every nation freedom of religion andspeech, and contains definite plans tosolve the unemployment problem whichis expected to follow the war."

Saturday, February 15, 1941. THE SOCIAL CREDITER Page 7

After an unsuccessful initial attempt,at the Conference called to 'put-over' theSirois Report to make Canada total-itarian, Mr. MacKenzie King threaten-ed desperate measures. These are re-portedin the Edmonton Bulletin to be asfollows:

"1. Invade the succession duty field.2. Increase the income tax rate.3. Discontinue advances to the pro-

vinces to enable them to meettheir maturities.

4. Ration gasoline, thus reducingrevenues to the provinces throughgasoline taxation."

"But," says the Bulletin "before theweaker provinces are engulfed in theconsequent chaos, there will be anotherDominion-Provincial Conference, pro-bably in the late spring, at which thepartners of confederation will have asecond chance to avert catastrophe. Forthe moment the smoke of the wreckageobscures the real significance of what hashappened.

"The rebel provincial leaders haveeither gone home or are remaining herein splendid and unenvied isolation.Premier Hepburn is expected to dis-solve and go to the country within sixweeks."

Every device of propaganda andmisrepresentation is being. used by someof the Canadian papers ro isolate andattack the three Provincial Prime Minis-ters, Mitchell Hepburn, Aberhart andPattullo. The following is the sort ofthing to. be found in the Press reportson the Conference: .

"The prospect of provincial leadersappearing in the garments of monetaryreform at this critical stage in the war,plainly takes on a sinister turn in viewof plans to put on a big war loan earlyin the summer and to enlarge the warsavings .program. Nothing is bettercalculated, it is felt, to upset the wareffort by kn.ocking out the financialfoundation of Canada's fight againstHitler. Since inflati.on is the plain al-ternative to the Sirois reforms, as far asMr. Hepburn and Mr. Aberhart are con-cerned, there is growing conviction thatOttawa will have to launch a drasticcounter-attack. Meanwhile Ottawa iswaiting for Mr. Hepburn to show hishand, following his announcement thattlie Ontario cabinet would consider hisplan of monetary reform."

Most outspoken of the Provincial

INPremiers against the Report was Mr.Hepburn of Ontari.o. When asked whowas responsible far calling the Confer-ence, he said, "King unloaded the fullresponsibility upon Finance MinisterIlsley. Ilsley was definitely made thegoat. He (Mr. King) said he was in-fluenced by Ilsley and Ilsley probablywas influenced by the financial interests."

Mr. Hepburn followed his highwaysminister, Mr. T. B. McQuesten who, afew minutes earlier had declared, "Ourassociation with this so-called conferenceis .over." Mr. Hepburn was not sparedby the Press. One paper reported:

"Mr. Hepburn was choleric, ill-tempered, prone to attribute sc.oundrel-ism to other people. He indicated hisdrift toward rubber money by applau-ding Mr. Aberhart on the first day of theconference, and by coming out flat-footedagainst orthodox finance on the' second.He did so after listening to Mr. Ilsley.He said: 'We have to get away fromthe orthodox system of money, and wemight as well come to it now.' Mr.Hepburn's pet word, during the twodays, was 'nefarious.' He cl.osed on it-that he and his delegati.on would with-draw and leave 'the wreckers of confed-eration, under the guise of patriotism, toc.ontinue to carry on their nefariouswork.' "

"Sa it ended."Mr. Ilsley's speech rocked the dis-

senters who appeared nat to have th.oughtthat the Dominion meant any harm.But the gun was pointing right at them.It was loaded, and nobody could watchMr. Ils1ey urging his case with a sup-pressed, livid passion, without knowingthat the trigger will be pulled.

"New and higher Dominion tax-ation will cripple provincial taxes. Dom-inion aid to the provinces will cease.Gasoline rationing will slash provincialrevenue. ' The prospect for provinces isone of unrelieved gloom. There will beno complaining to Ottawa because thiswar must be fought and taxpayers willpay gladly far victory.

"And so the business of gettinganother conference began the momentthis one failed. Mr. King is ready when-ever the dissenting provinces are willingto sit down at the conference table."

After the c.onference Mr. Hepburnstated that he was well pleased with theresult. "The Federal Government," .he

CANADAsaid, "tried to put .over a blitzkrieg toforce us to abandon our rights and pri-vileges under the guise of a war eff.ort."

The next day, under such bannerheadlines as "Hepburn Urges NewMoney for War Needs," the Press re-ported -Hepburn's Financial Proposals.The' following are extracts from hisstatement :.

'. "My first proposition is that theauthority far creating money now vestedby. the constitution in the D.ominiongovernment should not be delegated toany other authority, public or private ... _

"During this time when the veryexistence of the state is threatened thegovernment sh.ould not be required tohire or borrow money from others andto pay high rates of interest, except thatwhich might be termed a reasonableservice charge, for the use of the very'thing which the Dominion governmentalone has the right to create.

"By attempting to prosecute the war,which is in fact. a great industrial andeconomic. effort, by means of moneyeither exacted at burden-some rates fromthe taxpayers or borrowed at unreason-able high rates of interest, is merely toload down the government with extraburdens which discourage and preventan all-out participation in the war effortof the Democracies ....

"In time of war, governments ....must realize that so long as the g.oodsand services' necessary for the prosecu-tion of the war effort of the nation areavailable the problem of creating moneyto secur-e these goods and services is ofvery sec.ondary importance ....

"Heavy taxation is bound to grinddown the producers and particularly theprimary producers ....

"An increase in the quantity ofmoney is not of itself inflation. Theproblem, as I understand it, is not theissue of new- currency to retire all ex-isting bond obligations, thereby floodingthe country' with useless and worthlesspaper money, but rather to make avail-ble sufficient new currency in order totake care of the expanding requirementsof war time ... .-

"This war in which we are engagedis nat being waged for money and itscost will never be expressed in terms ofmoney. The real cost will be writtenin terms of human ·sacrifice."

J. M._271

Page 8 THE SOCIAL CREDITER Saturday, February 15, 1941.

Mr. Solon Low on .'Treasury Branches'Mr. Solon Low, Provincial Treas-

urer of Alberta, has unmasked an organ-ised campaign to make political capitalout of "grossly misleading" statementsconcerning the government treasury"branches" instituted in the Province aspart of the 'interim' plan. At the sametime he announced that the governmentwas preparing to expand this service.

Mr. Low said that "All this un-timely and misleading propaganda hasbeen emanating from a small group ofpolitical antagonists to reform, who seemas yet unaware of the realities of theextremely critical situation which hasdeveloped in the world." In spite ofthis, he said, and in spite of the factthat the purpose and policy of the treas-ury branches as an essential feature ofthe interim program has been explainedand has been endorsed by the people ofthe province, "it is necessary that theirstatements should not go unanswered."

Mr. Low said that it had been re-presented to the public that the treasurybranches had cost Alberta taxpayersabout $336,000 in the last fiscal yearand that this amount constituted a com-plete loss to the people.

"It is as sensible to state that be-cause the treasury services cost $336,000there was a deficit of that amount, as itwould be to assert that education servicesshowed a deficit of $2,868,000, theagricultural services a deficit of$573,000 and so forth," said Mr. Low.

Continuing, Mr. Low said:"In the case of all public services

the justification of the cost is the valueof the services to the people. The criticsof the treasury branches argue. that theneed for economy requires the eliminationof the cost of the branches. On thatargument the cost of government servicesin general could be reduced to nil bythe simple procedure of eliminating themall-health, education, relief, debts,highway and other services.

"I agree with these critics that theneed for economy today is imperative.But we probably differ on the meaningof the word 'economy.' I would referthem to the Greek derivation of theword, and they will find that originallyit meant 'home management.' Its cor-rect application is 'good housekeeping asapplied to the management of the entiresocial life.' That is the urgent needtoday, not only in Canada but in every272

country. Nobody in their senses coulddispute· that.

"Is it good management to give thepeople of Alberta the services of treasurybranches. On balance do they gain orlose by having these facilities? That isthe test.

"In the first place, let us take thefinancial cost of $336,000. Of thisamount $86,000 represented the returnof taxes collected in the form of con-sumer bonuses. It was no more a 'cost'than a straight refund of taxes, becauseeverybody was eligible to get the bonus.The higher their income and the greatertheir purchases the more bonus theycould obtain, so that they could havegained a refund in this way in propor-tion to the taxes they paid. Could any-thing be fairer?

"Was the bonus the best way torefund these taxes? What about theremainder of the cost of $250,000?What did the people get for that? Letus now examine these questions.

"By bonusing goods obtained byconsumers with vouchers and by makingAlberta-made goods the basis' for theamount of bonus, the manufacturers andproducers of Alberta-made goods obtain-ed the benefit of a most thorough-goingsystem of sales promotion for their pro-ducts. As anticipated the results havebeen quite spectacular, for to our know-ledge a number of manufacturing con-cerns have found their sales steadilyexpanding and in some cases expandingat a rate which has taxed their produc-tive resources. In other words by makingAlberta consumers 'Alberta-made con-scious' we have boosted the developmentof Alberta manufactures and other pro-ducts.

"This in turn has meant increasedemployment and increased payrolls.Which in turn has meant further in-creases in the demand for Alberta-madegoods and so on.

"It is no exaggeration to state thatas a result of the Interim program, thepeoole of the province-manufacturers,producers, wage-earners and everybodyelse-have benefitted, in terms of in-creased business, to the extent of manytimes the cost of maintaining thoseservices. This in itself has boostedrevenue receipts by the government byfar more than the $250,000 paid out in

maintaining the treasury branches service."That is the true picture of whether "-

the treasury branches are an economicproposition. As yet all the people ofAlberta may not have fully realised thetremendous advantages they are obtain-ing by these facilities. But an increasingnumber are doing so, as is evidenced bythe number of resolutions reaching thegovernment, urging an extension of theinterim program in accordance with themandate given the government at thelast election.

"As a matter of fact, the govern-ment has been working for some monthson the expansion of Treasury Branchservice and the announcement will bemade at an early date in response to the .growing demand for such action. Forthe present all I can say is that in itspreparation of plans for giving extendedservices in all branches of the interimprogram the government has kef!clearly in mind these vitally importantconsiderations:

"(1) The responsibility resting onthe province to direct the developmentof its economy to the dominating taskof making a maximum contribution tothe national war effort.

(2) The need for laying strong \",foundations now to meet the problemsof post-war reconstruction.

(3) The growing necessity for re-lieving our people-s-particularly farmers--of the acute economic conditionsarising out of the agricultural situation.

(4) The need to incur no expen-diture which does not constitute a soundeconomic investment.

(5) The importance of avoiding anyaction which might impair the nationalunity so essential at this time.

"This policy which I feel confidentwill be endorsed by every responsible-minded citizen-and I hope, it will helpthose who have been pressing us foraction to understand why the prepara-tion of future plans has taken a littlelonger than might have been possibleunder normal conditions.

"As we move in 1941 let us stopall this political scrapping and get onwith the great job before us as an unitedpeople with a single purpose-s-to con-centrate our energies on defeating thetotalitarian enemies of our country andempire, and out of victory to build agreater Canada based on an economicfoundation of prosperity and peaceful \,.progress, in which all will be secureand all will be free."

Saturday, February 15, 1941. THE SOCIAL CREDITER

"'TRUE'

Do you remember that priceless bitin Eyeless in Gaza where the youngFabian says:

"If you want to be free, you've gotto be a prisoner. It's the condition offreedom-true freedom."

And his 'cynical' friend replies:"The contrary of a thing isn't the

contrary, oh no! It's the thing in itself,but as it truly is. Ask a diehard whatconservatism is; he'll tell you its truesocialism. And the brewers' tradepapers; they're full of articles about thebeauty of true temperance. ... Truetemperance is a bottle of claret witheach meal and three double whiskiesafter dinner. Personally, I'm all fortrue temperance, because I hate tem-perance. But I like being free. So Iwon't have anything to do with truefreedom .....

"What's in a name? ... Practicallyeverything, if the name's a good one.Freedom's a marvellous name. That'swhy you're so anxious to make use ofit. You think that if you call imprison-ment true freedom, people will beattracted to prison. And the worst ofit is your're quite right. . .. Truth, it'sone of the magical words, Combine itwith the magic of 'freedom' and theeffect's terrific ....

"Curious that people don't talkabout truth. I suppose it sounds tooqueer It's like berri-berri, or wagga-wagga If you want to make thecontrary of truth acceptable, you'vegot to call it spiritual truth, or minortruth, or higher truth."

That isn't cynicism, though Isuppose Huxley came, at last to believethat it was. It's realism, since I supposewe must use an abstract word occasion-ally. A better description of themagical methods of the present daySocialist cum Bankers' press. couldscarcely be written. Notice that theSocialist comes first. A few years agoit would have been Banker cum Socialist.This is important, as I know you willagree, from the point of view ofstrategy.

You can't help surprise as you reachthe end of the book and find thatHuxley'S 'cynical' hero (himself perhaps)falls into the same trap, and speaks of"unity of mankind, unity of all life .... "

Page 9

FREEDOM"By B. M. PALMER

even "reality .of unity!"Of course it's not a new book; it

pre-dates Ends and Means, to whichit is in some senses an introduction,and which it anticipates in the passage:

"Means determine ends, and mustbe like the ends proposed. Means in-trinsically different from the ends pro-posed achieve ends like themselves, notlike those they were meant to achieve.Violence and war will produce a peaceand a social organisation having thepotentialities of more violence andwar."

Huxley is .one of the minority whosees clearly that means and ends areinseparable. But I cannot agree withhis assumption that force is evil in itself.Is steam evil in itself? It might beused to move a mechanism contrived foran evil end. It might not.

But this isn't a review, and I haven'tmuch more to say about Huxley;but it is surprising to find, over andover again, that one who sees so much,should not see the last links in the chainof reasoning. He never grasps the self-evident fact that if war were the worstevil that could befall, no one wouldfight-Peace is not an end in itself.

The pacifists, after all, have neverbeen put to the test, for they havealways been protected from the con-sequences of their pacifism-and theirvery existence is due to the protectionthat culture has received from force."Quite demonstrably, force has broughtone nation after another to a certain typeof pre-eminence. With that pre-eminence has come a rise of culture,arising, I think, not out of force, orfinance, but out of economic prosperitywhich is the bait used by finance,"wrote C. H. Douglas in chapter VI ofWarning Democracy. This chapteris of the greatest value to us at the presenttime. I do not think we have studiedit closely enough.

"The danger of a decline once thislevel of a new culture is reached, is not,in my opinion, due to that culture itself.It is due to the failure on the part ofthat culture to develop a system of fi-nance, and a use of force, which issympathetic to the general spirit of thenew culture."

This, it seems to me, is not only

the justification of the present waragainst a bestial military dictatorshipand a financial despotism but the in-dication that in building up our ownmilitary power we may be providingourselves with a very useful sanction tobe used in a new way.

Judging from what Mr. AnthonyEden says about the future of Abyssinia,and the International protection and helpthat is to be afforded to that long-suffering country after the war, there maycome a time when he and his associates-may suggest to our armed forces thatfor the sake of "true freedom" theyshould lay down their arms and submitto disarmament in the interests of anInternational authority, On that day,Mr. Aldous Huxley may not rememberhis own opposite remarks on "true free-dom" ; but our soldiers, sailors andairmen, with minds unclouded by intellec-tual subtleties and strengthened by prac-tical experience, may refuse to walk intothe prison where they are told freedomis to be found-they may rememberwhat Internationalism and Mr. Edendid, or didn't do, for Abyssinia in thepast, and may decide that they will nolonger tolerate absentee management oftheir right to bear arms in defence oftheir own culture!

This might give new meaning to thephrase, "military dictatorship"; but itwill be the expression of the will of anation in arms to defend its own nationalsovereignty, and that is something wewant. We should then be in a positionto develop "a use of force which issympathetic to the' genera} spirit of thenew culture,'" and save our culture fromthe utter destruction which is plannedfor: it.

THE EDITOR OF "THEECONOMIST" AND DOUGLAS

From a review' in "Truth" of "AnOutline of Money" by Geoffrey Crow-_ther. Geoffrey Crowther is the Editorof "The Economist."

" .... Not the least valuable sectionis an appendix in which Mr. Crowther;reprints four articles written a few yearsago in examination of the Douglas CreditScheme, of which he is' a reasoned-s-andhighly reasonable--opponent."

Page 10 THE SOCIAL CREDITER . Saturday, February 15, 1941.

CO'RRESPONDENCE WITH CHELWO,O:D'Lord Cecil of Cheluiood, P.C.,Haywards Heath,Sussex.My Lord,

The death of the Marquess of Lothian in circumstancesreminiscent of the death of Sir Cecil Spring-Rice in thesecond year of the first world war would seem to suggestthat the position of British Ambassador to Washington inwartime is one of the more dangerous administrativeoccupations.

Both of these men were supposed to be in good health,and both died suddenly after suggesting to the U.S. govern-ment that deeds not words are necessary to win a war.

As it seems to me of vital importance that your Lord-ship should be made acquainted with the arresting factscontained in the enclosed booklet* I beg your acceptanceof a copy.

Yours faithfully,(signed) W. L. RICHARDSON.

Byways, Hillside Road, Sidmouth; December 22, 1940.

w. L. Richardson, Esq.,Byways,Hillside Road,Sidmouth.Dear Sir,

I am desired by Lord Cecil to acknowledge your letterof 22 December, and to say that there was no similaritybetween the deaths of Sir Cecil Spring-Rice and LordLothian. Sir Cecil Spring-Rice had been ill a very longtime before he died.

As for the booklet you enclosed, Lord Cecil desires meto point out that, wherever he could check them, the factswere entirely wrong.

Yours faithfully,E. VERA LAZARUS,

Private Secretary.Chelsoood Gate, Hayzoards Heath, Sussex; 'january 3, 1941..

The Rt. Hon. Lord Cecil of Chelwood, P.C.;My 'Lord,

Major Douglas, having acquainted himself with thecontents of your letter to me of January 14, desires me to

""'-This'American Business by C. H; Douglas.

say that if your Lordship would state which facts in thebooklet are "entirely wrong" (? incorrect) he will eitherverify or withdraw the assertion of them.

Yours faithfully,(signed) W. L. RICHARDSON.

Byways, Hillside Road, Sidmouth.

W. L. Richardson, Esq.,Byways,Hillside Road,Sidmouth.Dear Sir,

I am desired by Lord Cecil to thank you for yourfurther letter, and to express his regret that it is not possiblefor him to find the time to underake your suggestion.

Yours truly,I. M. BUTLER,

Private Secretary.60, St. Martin's Lane, W.C.2; 'january 14, 1941.

The Rt. Hon. Lord Cecil of Chelzoood, P.C.,60, St. Martin's Lane, W.C.2.My Lord,

I beg to acknowledge your letter of the 14 inst, andpresume t-hat you will have no objection to the publicationof the correspondence in the Review in which the articlefirst appeared.

Yours faithfully,W. L. RICHARDSON.

Byways, Hillside Road, Sidmouth; 'january 24, 1941.

W. L. Richardson, Esq.Dear Sir,

I am desired by Lord Cecil to thank you for yourletter of the 24 instant and to say that he has no objectionto the publication of his correspondence with you, if youthink that will serve a useful purpose. He is prepared toleave it to your own judgement whether you do so or not.

Yours truly,I. M. BUTLER,

Private Secretary.60, St. Martin's Lane, W.C. 2; 'january 30, 1941.

Miss Thompson AgainAt the request of Senator Vanden-

berg, the United States Senate ForeignRelations Committee has decided to askthe State Department whether "definitecommitments" to the United States onthe use of the Royal Navy in return forAmerican aid, says a Washington report.

Senator Vandenberg produced forthe committee an excerpt from an articleby Dorothy Thompson; which said, "Ourall-out aid for Britain is accompanied bydefinite commitments of Britain to usregarding the British Fleet. It presup-poses a community of interests."

"BARRIER TO HEALTH"by Dr. Douglas Boyd.

Price 6d.

Your doctor should have acopy!

274'

Saturday, February l5;,194·L ~~ge 11

It is .doubtful whether the dying.refiections of John Hamer Shawcross*are intended a~ the apotheosis. of his life'of betrayal; 1, wish ·1· could think theywere, ; ",' . , . r ,

This ...is the ::'story , of" ~'politicianwho falls, through .. 679 .pages .. to am-bition. -It, contains .the skilful develop-ment of characters on the backgroundof modern politics and during the des-cent to his coronet Shawcross says somevery nice things:

"No government that ever will be'can do more than maintain a clear frame-work within which the essential acts ofprivate life may go on." (unfortunatelyit can, and does). "The more a govern ..ment confines itself to that, and keepsout of the way of the lives of the people,the better government it is . . . . :

"He asked himself bitterly whetherstatesmen might not be the true pestsand cancers of human society. Theyhad controlled the affairs of the worldfor centuries, and the affairs of the worldseemed to him now beyond any controlat all.: He could not think of any matterof statecraft that was not conductedwith more complication, less honour and

'-..? '*Fame is the Spur by Howard Spring. Col-, Iins.

simplicity; than would go to such amatter between a few private humanbeings. It looked as though the. timewas coming when mankind would haveto devise a sharper and more stringentmeans of controlling those who" condue-,ted its business .... ,.·· . ,. '. ... .

After the war,'

."The people in whose name bothsides are fighting will say, 'Thank Godthat's over,' and, a good deal poorer andsadder they'll settle down till anothersaviour comes along to run them. IfI could be sure of having one prayeranswered I would pray for this: thatfor fifty years, throughout the wholeworld, politicians of all breeds wouldleave the people alone. We might thenhave a better world. We couldn't havea worse one .... "

Cheers and hurrahs! How true itis-but how fatiguing to see so manyarrows shot into empty air .... There isa time for everything and perhaps pati-ence can be postponed until to-morrow.Targets exist, why not use them? Andcan we never have a philosophic poli-tician capable of seeing just a glimpseof democracy beneath its filthy ..rags?Must we always see party politics as its

only raiment?" Must we always be con-demned to aimless abstractionsj-e-prattleof"poverty in plenty," and Ilcyel' a.wordto ;~ay whose, word that is? ..' ';<Dying, '(is "to' fall' asleep" still~rrency' for 4~~m?):~MWCfP"S:tPOIiders,Llfe:~' .- -_,_ " .~,.." ,-~..-.. . "Disillusions arid 'despairs' went atlast the same way as dreams and desires.One came' in the end to an equipoise,to an acceptance of all that life couldgive or take away."

Dear me, oh dear me, how sad, butafter all, disillusions, despairs, dreams,desires, equipoise and acceptance allmust have reference to some real thing.And for Hamer, being a politician, thatwould naturally be the next thing hiselectorate wanted;' which might well belower taxes; he would better have reflec-ted something like this:-- - "Disillusions of more taxes todayand despair at the prospect of more taxes'tomorrow went at last the same way asdreams of lower taxes and desires ofno taxes. One came in the end to anequipoise, to an acceptance of all thetaxes life could give or take away".

Life?H.E.

Nightmare"Kindly sign the white form and

return to Desk 14 Counter 10 Room 12Section D Floor 7. Then bring thepink counterfoil of the yellow form andfill in as instructed on the back, age,nationality, birthplace, birthtime, occu-pation of parents, whether single, marriedor a widower, number of children,official or natural, and where they arebeing educated. Thanks. Now pro-duce your magenta form and hand itin at Counter 15 Room 10 Section MFloor 12. The clerk will in exchangegive you a red form which you willbring back to me. Don't lose yourbrown form but return the counterfoilfor registration and reference. Nowproduce your Registration Card' No. 4and attach same to White Form No.X 124AB/5, retaining same' for refer-ance."

'''I see.""Where's your day. sheet?""I ... I ... I ... er-"

. "Let's see your papers."

"Yes ... er ... 1-""Oh, here we are! National

Existence Form No. 4X/1456.""I ... i ...I ... Yes."

.. "Attach this form to the yellowcounterfoil with your Registration FormNo. 1. That's it. Now let me see."

"Yes ... 1-""Take this card up to Room 50

Counter 16 Desk 4 Section C Floor 2,ask the clerk to file your brown formwith Registration Card No. 1 and giveyou a check-pass marked A2/B4. Takethis to the next counter and purchasea sixpenny existence stamp, affix sameto your yellow counterfoil and keep itfor general inspection at the end of themonth."

"Yes-Thanks awfully. Er-""That will be lOid. please.

Thanks. Three halfpence change.""I-er ... Where did you say? Oh

yes, of course. I see. Yes." .- A. F. THORN.

LINES WRITfEN AT MALVERNand addressed to all who claim DivineSanction for their 'own schemes of inter-ference with the lives of others.So, gentlemen, you're privy to God's

plan!To you a revelation has been madeThat puts your Saviour's teaching in

the shade!To you has been vouchsafed the power

to scanThe past and present of this creature

manAnd plot his future ! You are not afraidAs humbler men would be. You know

your tradeAnd boldly flaunt the trademark of your

clan.God is not mocked, so do not be

deceived.Your claim to knowledge of the primal

causeAnd sequence infinite of cosmic lawsShall be assessed by what you have

achieved.God,-God alone can make His pur-

pose plain,And woe to them that take His Name

in vain .- EXCALIBUR.

275

Page 12 THE SOCIAL CREDITER

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Saturday, February 15, 1941.

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at The Plane Tree, Great Russell Street.Enquiries to Mrs. Palmer, 35, BirchwoodAvenue, Sidcup, Kent.

NEWCASTLE and GATESHEAD SocialCredit Association. It is important thatall Social Crediters on Tyneside should main-tain contact. Write Hon. Secretary, R.Thomson, 108 Wordsworth Street, Gates-head.

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