Chapter XII - Conflict of Incongruities

CHAPTER XII CONFLICT OF INCONGRUITIES A. INTERNAL CONFLICT The monism and the inherent materialism of' Socialism prevented its fitting into the pattern of the spiritual area it had usurped. To pass over the conflict of those incongruities which had been created by politicizing social units, by lifting alfelements of economic life into the public sphere, and by attempting'to achieve coherence through 'an artificial theology called Socialism~.would be ·unfair to the Prime Minister whose task it was to resolve the conflict. and who had to lead England in her relations with a world which was turning desperately to nationalism. Fiscal collapse resulting from economic ineptittldes and socio~political conflicts of ideas,l faced Engtand in 1931. The Clarion writers and their readers were warned in 1929 that only for Marxists was there a Socialist interpretation for every1 For ten years since Versailles there had been no fixed principle of fiscal policy in any nation save perhaps France where it was" security." Socialists always blamed the unstable conditions upon" Reparations." Usually little account is made of the fact that the dynamic of English and Continental political life was magnetized off its course, as it were, by the conflict of Socialism with the orderof things and its inherent conflict with itself; The subject is matter .for another study. Too easily have the quasi-Socialist historians of the period placed the cause of Europe's collapse at the door of Versailles. " We had learned Maynard Keynes' lesson aU" too well,"

writes M. Cole in Growing Up Into Revolution, p. 170. They have never measured the part reaction to that Socialism which was imprudently bruited about, played in making .Versailles an instrument of three conflicting ideals: The Covenant, the ILO,and Reparations. Cf. Benjamin M. Anderson, Economics and the Public Welfare (New York: Van Nostrand, 1949), Part III, "The First Phase of the New Deal, 1924-1932 [sic]," pp. 113-297. Two psychological factors fructified in an attitude of It sauve qui peut": the discouragement of the employing class which everywhere heard only uncon structive criticism; and the necessary failure of the self-confident. Socialists who though splintered into groups ranging from communist to "christians" capitalized on the political instability which their uncooperative ideologies produced. 493 494 Fabianism in the Political Life of Britain 1919-1931 thing. The author of Heartbreak House (1918) had so concluded, after saying that" No paper should be run as a Socialist paper for there is not a Socialist interpretation for everything." This was the Shaw of 1929, as Davies reported, an " old man," disillusioned and dissatisfied. The younger Fabian seems to have misinterpreted him,2 or misconstrued his meaning. Earlier the octogenarian Blatchford had written of. the" .chastened policy of Labour due to a recognition of political and social realities" ; 3 and he had cited J. R. Clynes: " Socialism which might be to the general advantage in a community of Socialists, could not be successfully imposed by a Socialist minority upon a majority of individuals." So Blatch ford added, If some eager young Socialist believe that the country is ready for Socialism in our time I can only. say that I am unable to believe that and I sincerely hope no Labour Government will frame its policy upon that erroneous faith:~ Here were two nestors, Shaw of the Fabians and Blatchford of the sentimental Socialists, denying the applicability of Socialism to all things and all times. Their advice was followed by the Gov ernment but the Government was given no· peace; pure-Socialist ILP backbenchers, and certain political Fabians eager to prove their Social~sm or placate the. fanatic element continued to· agitate for" Socialism now." It was Fabians of the latter kind who kept The Clarion from expiring from 1929-1931. This monthly mani fested the internal struggle involved even in the effort to define Fabian Socialism.

A young Fabian wrote of a "delightful attack" on Fabians made by· the· non-repentant Graham Wallas. The .editor was mis taken in thinking Wallas had not lectured to Fabians since his resignation from the Society. He had lectured in 1921.5 Now he 2 The Clarion,1 :10,n.s. (October, 1929),5. 8 The Clarion, 1 :7, n.s. (July, 1929). ~Ibid. 5FN, XXXII:8 (October, 1921). W. A. Robson pointed out Wallas' doubts about liberty under Socialism (FN, XXXII:7 [July, 1921]). In October, Wallas lectured on "The Limits of Political Democracy." It is doubtful that many of the Fabians understood him. Robson finds him exConflict of Incongruities 495 accused the Fabians of departing from the original contention that Socialism rested solely on an economic· basis. He seems to have been unimpressive. The political Socialist of The· Clarion reported correlatively that Shaw had recently criticized the Fabian adoption of a constitutional programme: It would not work-it could not attain Socialism.6 These two observations went unheeded. But it is important to note that the Fabians who formed the Government were riding roughshod over, not only the mentality of Trade Unionism, but of thoroughgoing Socialism.

Another Fabian, C. Beresford, an educator, spoke of " Cutting Across the Patterns." As an educator, he detected with distaste the setting of a mould, a patterning of thought for young minds and he grasped at the idea of. a restated individualism of personal respon sibility to combat Communism. He said that although a. member of the Fabian Society should not, by encouraging self-expression, encourage the growing "exploiter" that is, the child who is in nately Capitalistic, he himself scrupled about imposing a system upon unsuspecting charges. But he found excuse for " education for Fabianism by persuasion " and hoped he might be allowed· one personal opinion, that the set pattern could be escaped by Uin dividualism of personal responsibility." 1 Uncertainty on educa tional as well as on economic and political standpoints is apparent, but the quest for a philosophic basis went on, or at least the effort to make a synthesis without one.

traordinarilysubtle and compressed. It is evident Wallas' ideas swung between the near-anarchy of free Socialism based solely on an economic principle and such control of the masses as went beyond·the limits of republi can democracy. 6 Cf. The Clarion, II :12 (December, 1930), 343. The concept of non political and merely economic Socialism offers interesting speculation on possibilities of free association and community· enterprise. Cf. Clement Attlee, Labour in Perspective and Twelve Years .After (London: Gollancz, 1949). His main thesis is quasi-religious, a Socialism that· will bring Trade Unions into perfect collaboration with industry; and he concludes that State Capitalism is designed to produce liberty. One could exchange A~tlee's definition of Socialism for a papal statement, if· if were given a theological basis-the "if" is· significant of impossibility. If Collaboration" may also have the meaning of synthesis. In the Socialist ethic it .usually means absorption. Also," industry," State-owned, can" collaborate" only through the Party.

1 Charle~ Beresford Th~ Clarion, II :11 (November? 1930), 317, 496 Fabianism in the Political Life of Britain 1919-1931 The Fabian editor signaled, " Demos Defended: Professor Laski to The Rescue: ANew Bill of Rights! " when advertising three of Laski's books. He found a new Socialism in Dangers of Obedi ence, but he wondered if Laski were not really worrying about Democracy while reaffirming his belief in it. Laski possessed the "mind of a demagogue" with a "modicum of idealism," as was to be seen in Liberty and the AIodernState. With Socialist Tradition in the French Revolution the editor came to con elude there was nothing really new in Laski's Socialism except "a plea for equality." This was the thesis about equal treat ment of rich and poor prevalent before the crisis.8 TheFabian editor, pondering his mentor's words as he vended his wares, had some misgivings: Did not .the being allowed to follow conscience' result in anarchy? In confusion this former London University student, who boasted of Professor Laski's having made the youth of his day Socialists, now asked, "How will those of whom the· Government is not representative' maintain' their liberty and follow their conscience?" It was characteristic of his' school of thought to deem a minority to be unrepresented. (They lacked the philosophical basis which would have led them to find authority, 8 Cf. Sidney and -Beatrice Webb, English Local Government, Part II (London: Longmans Green and Company, 1929), pp. 826 f., and 829. The Minority Report and the Pr.evention of Destitution (1911) did not suggest a "subvention of working-class households": Not wage earners, nor Trade Unionists' Congresses, nor Labour Party Conferences asked for such sub vention; but the politicians who. sought to avoid " intolerable toil of thought,"

and the industrialists, worked out the Insurance plans whereby, by 1928, "nearly every working-class family in Great Britain has ... a continuous ledger account with the National Government... for Unemployment, Health, and Old Age Insurance, Pensions [widowhood or orphanage]." So P~or Law Guardians who found cases no-t having such benefits made sure they were provided, in the name of "equality"; whereas the true Com munist principle was "To each according to his needs," rather than uniformity or identity in the public services. (Cf. Ibid., pp. 568 and 571.) (Drainage for all arid special help to the sick poor, for example, the Webbs term "communism" and a further refinement thereof. This illustrates how hard was the cake of custom formed upon British. civilization. We do not think in America that U drainage" signifies any sort of "ism.")· The book demonstrates the Webbian premise that the welfare State is not Socialism but a means to it. The Webbs lent themselves to the development of a welfare state knowing :hat it was a means to the destruction of State-ness.

Conflict of Incongruities 497 bound to safeguard the common good, to reside in those whom the majority designated to wield it.) The editor proceeded to take refuge in assent to denials of liberty, such as were expressed in .five acts of the Fabian Socialist Government: An Emergency Power Act, the denial of refuge in England to Trotsky, the official Secrets Act, 9 censorship of news about India. 10 Confused direction was all that Fabians running a Socialist organ could offer. A year before it had been said that the Labour Party aimed at "conversion of the electorate to a belief in Socialism" and not merely the obtaining of votes;l1 and, "Socialism is not a philosophy of government; it is a philosophy of life."12 Then, "Dangle" or Alexander Thompson boasted that ({The Clarion made Socialists before the Labour Party was born."ls So now we see that the Fabian writers in a Socialist organ proclain1ed Social ism as the objective of their collaboration with Labour. The non Socialist world which read the more literary but less entertaining N S believed that the light of Socialism was being kept under a bushel-perhaps ,vas to be snuffed out. 14 The Clarion was more 9 This made it a crime to divulge facts intended to be kept a secret by the Government.

10 The Clarion, 11:6 (June, 1930), 175. 11 The Cla.rion, 23, n.s. (March, 1929), 17. 12 The Clarion, 24 n.s. (Apr,il, 1929), 1. 13 The Clarion, 111:8 (August, 1931), 241. 14 John Chamberlain, writing "Smothered Without Debate" under "Book man's Horizon" in Pla,in Talk, IV:4 (January, 1950), 48-51, says "with out ever mentioning a 'Socialist' program, the Fabians have achieved their object"-the "Harold Laski type of socialism is the English reality." Readers of this study so far will not be able to agree with Mr. Chamberlain about Fabian secrecy. John Chamberlain reviewed The Road Ahead by Mr. John T. Flynn, whose documentation upon Fabianism would bear amplifying. Cf. Flynn, The Road Ahead (New York: Adair, 1949). But Mr. Flynn's correlation of Fabian and ADA characteristics is not far wrong. This writer has a letter from Mr. Jolley who says quite simply that Fabians may be found associated with ADA. There is the added evidence that SDA consider England under the Labour Party Government the mecca of their travels. They, ADA and SDA, proclaim the same objective, "social democracy." Cf. The Progressive, 25 (September, 1949), p. 14. And there is the exhibit of direct collaboration by Mrs. Cole with a Labour "educa ..

tionist" in the Ladies' Garment Workers' Union and New York Liberal Party, Mark Starr, noted above, page 65. Besides the connections indicated by David Williams in FQ there is that typified by the recent publication by 498 Fabianism in the Political Life of Britain 1919-1931 forthright. Unti! the day when they would " see humanity as of two kinds~Labour, and what is damnably otherwise" when a Tory would be as " obsolete as the Beatitudes" 15 as H. M. Tom linson wrote under" Signs of Change," the Labour Party, which alone of all others believed" in its ultimate success and the ful fillment of its ideals" must unfortunately " rationalise" its posi tiou, play for time, try to get its viewpoint to the electorate according to the writer of " Our Point of View." 16 This appeared at the time when The Clarion celebrated its most successful year as a monthly with articles by Beatrice Webb, Harold Laski, and, as usual, M. A. Hamilton and C. Delisle Burns. 17 Mrs. Webb looked ahead to changing Parliament; Mr. Laski criticized "Democ racy"; Mrs. Hamilton upheld the Labour Government; and Mr.

Burns contributed a synthesized view on several foreign countries, friendly or hostile. Fabians had begun their political course in intermingled action with the Liberals. Now there are Fabian Socialists and mere Socialists using. together the old ILP mouthpiece to detach the last Liberal connections. "Dangle," pn the very eve of the Govern ment's downfall, c1arioned " There's a Good Time Coming!" He had some data upon ,the increased relief of poverty (rather than an upturn in the' depression) and he recalled that the ILP had endowed the Party (Manchester, 1893) with the" fourth Clause" which, had freed it from "servile dependence on Liberal pluto crats." However, he reproached the Party now for steps that had failed in the fields of Mines and Transport (the State's competing with railways was a failure even as a step toward Socialism) and he attributed their failure to Liberalism: Socialists. were ready, he said, with boots and spurs, but the blood was freezing in the veins of those loyal to the Party/8 becC\use the Party was chained to the Liberal Parliamentary Party.

In the meantime, no one indicted for liberalism Fabian Herbert the League for Industrial Democracy: Harry Laidler, British Labor's Rise to Power (1945). '15 Cf. The Clarion, 111:8 (August, 1931), 229. 16 The Clarion, II :11 (November, 1930),310. 17 Students of the 41 movement" must dispu'te with Mr. Churchill the appli cation of his aphorism that never did England owe so much to so few. 18.Thf Clarion, 111:8 (August, 1931),241.

Conflict of Incongruities 499 Morrison,19 Minister of Transport, soon to be elevated to Cabinet rank, when he advocated England's imitating American develop ment of roads, parks, entrances. 20 He urged. his hearers to see Rye Beach in Long Island, and to relinquish their ancient alle giance to the age and beauty of the Tudor countryside in favor of modernization. Tomlinson may. have had Morrison in mind when he said it was "time John Ball did a·little more dreaming" and pleaded against loss of the Tudor relics in a machine age. He then argued that they might as well have Stalin or Mussolini if their Socialism involved loss of their antique treasures.~l This was the article wherein Tomlin~qn saw in the future humanity of two kinds-" Labour, and what is damnably otherwise." Morrison, the typical Fabian, more than Tomlinson, the sentimental Socialist, might imitate liberalistic America and the Roman modernizer and not fear either dictatorship or liberalistic pollution. So we see Fabians could·not agree even upon the advisability of modernizing the countryside. They divided on the choice either of developing facilities of different sorts or of preserving the England of John Ball.

In a far different field,American creativeness was· imitated. Socialists heard of President Hoover's RFC 22 from the exposition made at a luncheon at which the Prime Minister and a number of financiers learned of America's plan to expend 2,000 million pounds in modernizing equipment, in building public works, and the like, by means of borrowing. There would be no extraneous or non-democratic bodies to execute the plan.23 The Fabian. editor approved but hastened to reassure readers that if. proposed for England, this scheme should be based on Socialism· and. the onus for its rejection thrust upon the Tories. In. other words, this 19 The Clarion, I :10 (October, 1929), 5. 20 The Clarion, I :10 (October, 1929), 5. 2"! The Clarion, III: ~ (August, 1931), 229. 22 An Economic Advisory Council was set up following lines laid down in Labour and the Nation. Mrs. Hamilton said it was" vital·· to economic reorganization in the national interest and on. socialist lines." .. The world had yet to learn that these two italicized elements were~ntithetical and that their attempted synthesis would mean National Socialism.· .Mrs. Hamilton remarked that this council was modelled upon the well-known.Hoover Com missions. Cf. The Clarion,11:3 (March, 1930), 69.

28 The Clarion, 1:12, n.s. (December, 1929), 3.

500 Fabianism in the Political Life of Britain 1919-1931 liberal program if adopted should be made so Socialistic that the Tories, though constrained to vote for it, would have to counte nance such Socialism as would enable the Party to act as if with a n1andate for Socialism. 24 Meantime, readers learned that the standard of living of Englishmen was higher in 1929, than that in any other country of Europe; that Thomas was pressing for in creased production for export; that the national handicaps lay in foreign trade and creation of work. Mr. Thomas was then, although it was not yet generally known, engaged in persuading the Bank of England to back his projects. He was to win the Bank's assent on condition he should also persuade the industries to. re organize. 25 But his Fabian critic plumped for increased social services lest his readers recall that the Keynesian Liberal pro gramme made for Lloyd George's campaign in 1929 had stressed a plan much like that involved in RFC seeking to increase produc tion by loans to modernize industry and transpor~, thereby creating work and shifting by attraction the perennially unemployed to new fields of labor. 26 He warned, without exemplification, that democracy was endangered, yet he wrote these surprising lines: " As to improving trade, international agreements, the strengthen ing of and the participation in, existing cartels for limiting markets and rationing production are necessary." 21 Often, one must observe, there was conflict within the mind of individual Fabians.

The alternative to such a conclusion as the above must be that the benefits of cartelization were preferable to those from natural growth derived from creative work and production for export: A large social segment then remained dependent upon "social servi ces." 2·4, The alternative to this interpretation, irritating as it may be, is that these particular Socialists (all Fabians) did not wish the plan, resembling RFC as it did, to be adopted because collapse which it would prevent favored their objectives. Yet similar schemes were already in use in Britain, namely, Export Credit schemes, Trade Facilities Acts, and the like. Cf. Webb, English Local Government, pp. 696 f. 26 H Thomas' scoop" was somewhat unsympathetically reported. Cf. The Clarion, 11:1 (January, 1930), 3. It is certain that The Clarion never wanted Thomas to succeed. As to· the need for ff rationalization " and a Sherman anti~trust law, cf. Anderson, Ope cit., p. 162 f.

26 The machinery for this scheme already· existed. Cf. Webb, English Local Government, p. 685. 27 The Clarion, 1:12, n.s. (December, 1929), 3. Some innocent fascism.

Conflict of Incongruities 501 lne handicap -of collaboration with Liberals took odd forms. The Government's Coal Bill was a weak one measured by the programme for coal set forth in Labour and the Nation. Now the Liberals in the persons of Lloyd George and Mr. Samuel urged that since the Sankey report suggested it, they should all stand for compulsory amalgamation of the coal mining businesses. In the end, the Liberals abstained from voting in order not to defeat the Government. This was January 1930, and no-Party wanted-to precipitate an Electio,n. The Fabian reporter took comfort in the feeling that the high level of the debate ,on the Coal Bill restored confidence in Parliament. 2~ The fact was it had demonstrated the mastery which Liberals had over _the Labour Party Government and its Programme. 29 They must choose a Socialist measure to go down on, in any case, was The Clarion's advice looking toward one of two possible results: a mandate for Socialism if an election transpired, or the more effectual position of being in a strong Opposition. 30 Another Liberal idea growing out of a Tory adaptation of Keynes' proposal to keep gold and credit at home, was repudiated by Fabians of The Clarion,. this was the "Empire Crusade" of Lord Beaverbrook which advocated a correlative use of sterling in the Empire orbit. The Fabian horizon was colonial-whereon to exercise barter-based "cooperative" purchase and marketing. s1 Meantime poor Mr. Thomas was, they gloated, "burked" by the Bank of England which employed Henry Clay, a Fabian econo mist, to investigate Thomas' propositions. It was thought the 28 The traditional parliamentary procedures were under constant attack by Socialists and Fabians.

29 The Clarion, 11:1 (January, 1930),26. 3'0 Ibid., p. 4. 81 The Clarion, 11:2 (February, 1930). A" colonial" world is a smaller world than" Empire." Socialism was conceived in a small world; "workers of _the world" meant workers of industrial Europe. Colonies form the kitchen gardens of the "if\dustrial democracy" system. These socialistic Englishmen would set Indi~ free but undertake a huge Governmental-plus Monopoly ground-nut proJect in Africa and refuse,. out of respect for tribal cultures and land-tenure customs and laws, to allow development toward modernizing methods among -the native coconut growers, in their African Trusteeships. Cf. Olive Holmes, "People, Politics, and Peanuts in East Africa," Foreign Policy Reports, XXVI :14 (December 1, 1950) 154-164; also, "Unilever's Africa," Fortune, XXXVII:l (January, 1948), pp. 57£.

502 Fabianism in the Political Life of Britain 1919-1931 Bank people intended to prevent Thomas or Labour from having the political credit for the economic gains promised by the ex pansion of plant, through loans.32 So we find the Party encompassing a conflict of ideas: Fabian Socialists against Liberals, Socialists against Fabians who col laborate with Liberals in fiscal policy or in domestic work-creating policy and in Parliament. Fabians afield criticized Fabians in Government for "rationalising" Socialist tenets. Fabian ques tioned Fabian on liberty under Socialism, on doubts about de mocracy - whether force or freedom should prevail; on the political basis-whether constitutional methods or methods eco nomically catastrophic should succeed in attaining Socialism; on the desirability of using an economic basis, alone; on whether Socialism was a total creed or whether· it ,vas desirable to have it now, or not.

B. PARTY versus GOVERNMENT ON THE FISCAL PROBLEM There were still other· areas of conflict. Fabians, as Socialists, criticized the Labour Government and spoke of the Party as against the Government. W. Arthur Peacock in July of 1929 reviewed" A German's View of Labour" as he called Egan Werthheimer's A Portrait of the. Labour Party. The H varsity dons," as Peacock called them Cole, Laski, Lloyd, and Tawney-were rated by the German author as having non-political but very "real influence," more than a dozen Parliamentarians, and Peacock, although he believed their influence was exaggerated, said it was an error to rate them more effective than Hugh Dalton, Harold Lees-Smith, Philip Noel Baker (who were .Parliamentarians) . On either side the reader will recognize all as Fabians. Peacock thought Werthheimer gave too much prominence to Fabians in the Labour Party. The tendency of ILP-minded persons to belittle Fabian influence is noticeable here. It occurs even in a fellow Fabian. 3s Credit for creating the· Party was claimed by the ILP and not disputed by.the Fabians who rather chose inconspicuousness.

At this time, the Labour Party was patently critical of the 32 The Clarion, 11:2 (February, 1930). 33 The Clarion, 1:7, n.s. (July, 1929), 4.

Conflict of Incongruities 503 Labour Government, and the condition .worsened as August, 1931, came nearer. In February, 1930, the editors insisted that the Consultative Committee should· demand to know what the Prime Minister expected to get passed and, it appears, force the passage of this modicum against Opposition obstructionism or Liberal re luctance. The" political reality" of that of which they often complained, Cabinet dictatorship, had not come home to them.84 Since a legislative programm~ could not be formulated without Liberal assent, the proposal seems to have been intended to force the Labour Government to resign. By April, 1930, the Labour M.P.'s were reported to be " despondent" over the Government's scant achievement. 85 There was, it was said, dissension in the Cabinet.86 Mr. Thomas "unfortunately" agreed with certain gloom-ridden economists (so did The Clarion). Yet there existed some men whom the editor -called City optimists-they were all Fabians-Mosley, Lansbury, T. Johnston. A memorandum issued by them revealed the divisive opinions on fiscal matters which were splitting the Cabinet. One side, "the City" side, favored the principles found in the survey made by Henry Clay for the Bank of England, the other side favored the position taken by the Economic Advisory Council. This Council had been set up (in imitation of one of President Hoover's .Commissions) by the Labour Government for Mr. Graham's guidance. It had for secretary the Liberal, H. D. Henderson, who had collaborated with J. M. Keynes on the I~iberal Programme of 1929. These repre sented the hvo schools of thought· on fiscal policy between which the Labour 1\10vement foundered. While Labour M.P.'s despaired some Fabians raised high hope by commencing an extensive works program. This involved the Thomas versus Mosley struggle.

34 The Clarion, 11:2 (February, 1930), 35. After the National Govern ment was formed the NS editor wrote in The Clarion that at last Parliament could reassert its independence of the Cabinet. Cf. Clifford Sharp, II Parlia mentVindicated," The Clarion, IV:3 (March, 1932), 53 f. 35 The Clarion, II :4' (April, 1930),99. 36 Davies (fils) boasted. in another place that he had a source of informa tion directly from Cabinet circles.Cf. The Clarion, III :10 (October, 1931), 283. In another connection, he had remarked, upon finding Oliver Baldwin smoking a pipe, that he had been assured Baldwin was not smoking his father's tobacco.

504 Fabianism in the Political Life of Britain 1919-1931 Mr. Mosley after disputing every step of the works program with Thomas resigned from the Cabinet and disappeared temporarily from the immediate scene-,.to return briefly the leader of a Fascist movement. Meantime, Labour opinion also rejected Cole's scheme to form" labour corps" for slum clearance, a scheme endorsed by Shaw-one suspects, in a mischievous exposition of the necessary conclusions which those who laid the premises disliked to draw. The fiscal policy and the works program were not the only points of division in Fabians' own ranks. Lansbury and Greenwood lam':' basted the chief executive of the Poor Law without naming Miss Bondfield. The old order in the ~orkhouse-the compulsory bath, the dreadful clothing, the diet of bread and cheese, and rock-break ing for occupation, remained unchanged, and Fabians of the social persuasion criticized Fabians in political office, unmercifully.37 The Cabinet had been divided as far back as May, 1930, and the Party as represented by the Consultative Committee was dissident with the Government. Said the Reporter, "I am backing the Party to force the hand of··the Government." 38 He placated his ILP readers with the assertion !bat there would be no pact with Liberals although he reported there was an agreement not to turn Labour out until an Electoral Reform Bill which the Liberals favored should be enacted. The Liberals had begun to advocate "the Alternative Vote" in place of "Proportional Representa tion." The Labour Party was not sure of how much good it would do Labour but the Liberals were trying for any method which would give them a showing in Parliament in larger proportion to the electoral strength they possessed in some geographic areas.

They polled heavily in· certain large constituencies. Labour's promise to consider" A.V." procured some otherwise unwarrant able cooperation .from Liberals. The Davies-Stevens column of August, 1930, a whole year before the breakup, outlined the position taken by those who would use constitutional measures to achieve the social revolution. The as sumption of the \vriter seemed to be that the only other position possible was one against the "social revolution" taking place at 37 Ibid., p. 100. Clarion also ran a series advocating abolishment of capital punishment. 38 The Clarion, 11:5 (May, 1930), 131.

Conflict of Incongruities 505 all. The Government, in theory responsible for the weal of all, was deemed to lack courage, to have a too moderate" get through" policy, to have so far "accomplished far less than was expected of it." Although three points, consisting of reforms at home and abroad, protection against the" worst features" of Capitalism, and unceasing propaganda for Socialism,· were announced as the " con stitutional" standpoints, the Government was reminded that the H attainment of socialism is the be-all and end-all of the Labour Movement." 39 The observer looks for a definition of Socialism in vain, and falls back upon" doctrineless socialism" of the Pro gramme. At this time economists were advising that the worst of the depression, "the economic blizzard," was over; so Labour people were warned that Tories would want to take credit for the improvement which would be notable in a few months; therefore an election could be expected within eight months. There would be no Lib-Lab cooperation even then. "Party discipline" would count. But another hiatus between the Party and its members showed up: "The Labour Party must be more tolerant of its me1nbers' socialist opinions and less tolerant of traditional and ancient forn1s which hold up progress." "Traditional and ancient forms" referred less to the social forms and amenities than to the Parliamentary techniques by which a Cabinet ruled and managed Parliament. "The Party" spoke to " the Government " by means of the Consultative Committee-in vain. Members reiterated their creed of Socialism to remind the Party in Government-equally in vain. Cabinet control of Parliamentary techniques had been evolved from the need to contain centrifugal forces of non-con formism, long ago. Here was the Fabian asking for Party dis cipline and admonishing the Government 40 to heed the Party's directives coming through the Consultative Committee. When the " discipline" broke down and whips found themselves facing rebellion soon after the election in 193,1, Fabian Clifford Sharp rejoiced in the recovery of democracy·41-to all appearances.

The fiscal problem increased in scope and intricacy when in October, 1930, the undersecretary of the· British treasury and the 39 The Clarion, 11:8 (August, 1930), 222. 40 The Clarion, 11:8 (August, 1930), 223. 41 Cf. Sharp; supra, note 34.

506 Fabianism in the Political Life of Britain 1919-1931 former deputy secretary to the Cabinet, Sir William Fraser and' Sir Tom Jones, were sent to Washington to explore", the writer guessed, the possibilities of Debt cancellation. The Fabian writer exposed the unannounced move of his Government. Even though he knew cancellation of the War Debt, if achieved, would keep Labour in po\ver a long time, he said the mission acted by "stealth." There had been a conference of representatives of the Bank of England, the Federal Reserve, and the Reichsbank, in New York. Although most writers blamed the French for the failure of the recent Naval Conference, now it was said it was secrecy which crippled it at birth; and it "vas implied that secrecy would cripple this improvised monetary conference also. The Govern ment had no organ whereby to plead for cooperation. On the other hand, it had no means to prevent the divulgence of Cabinet " leaks." 42 Concurrently, there existed great anxiety about India. The Government refused to use force against Gandhi's civil diso bedience and passive resistance but they received no encourage ment from editorial remarks. MacDonald was as involved with India as Henderson was with Egypt; both were arriving at a Liberal-Tory solution. Mrs. Besant, having taken her theosophy from India, had bestowed her Fabianism upon the newly resurgent political forces in India. It 'would involve a special study to trace this dynamic. Egypt 'was the object of nostlch solicitude from Fabians as was India.

Meantime, MacDonald was consistently praised by his biogra pher, Fabian l\1ary Agnes I-Iamilton, in her monthly contribution to The Clarion. In ansvver to her" Nothing to Grouse About," Davies wrote, "Much to' Grouse About" in May, 1931, when France had wrecked the Naval Conference and made a successful disarmament conference impossible. He groused about Snowden's " Liberal" budget and said" the Party" was wondering when the Government would face the electorate on a Socialist issue and cease that "grovelling" toward the Liberals which showed that Lloyd George was now the dictator of the Labour Party. He prophesied that Cabinet reconstruction was coming; younger men \vere to be elevated and others transferred to Lords. For the first 42 The Clarionl II :10 (October, 1930),279.

Conflict of Incongruities 507 time in this organ, readers learned of the .menace of overproduc tion.43 It was not mentioned again until after the collapse in August, 1931. The editorial of the same date decried the omission of " progressive taxation" in Snowden's third Budget; the editor was dissatisfied because it postponed a. reckoning by banking on economy and the prognosticated return of prosperity,44 and he advocated increasing taxation to build up revenue to meet the progressive expenditures of another year's Labour Government. If there were no such funds, there would be, he said, no votes at the end.45 So we see some Fabians whose sentiments were nearly akin to the ILP feeling, expressing themselves as the voice of "the Party" against the Government, disapproving its "Liberal" Budget, revealing its secret move to correct the imbalance of international finance, mocking its failure to achieve "the revolution," goading its reluctance to submit to guidance from a parliatnentary com mittee.

The Party's spokesmen exposed the division in the Cabinet and revealed that the cause lay in the field of opinion on fiscal policy. Material on the two fiscal opinions which were dividing the Cabinet was scant.. In fact, ideas upon how to handle the employ ment problem were few and these not constructive. Mr. Thomas with his ideas for industrial modernization, wore out his energies trying to get increased production of certain British specialties like handbags, and succeeded in many ways in raising exports and employment. He received almost no encouragement from Fabians of either The Clarion or the N S circles. Shaw always encouraged Cole's idea of a labour corps and The Clarion watched Mosley, then Thomas' antagonist,. with an ironic patience, noting the con claves with Cole and others in \veek-end parties at Easton Lodge 46 43 The Clarion, 111:5 (May, 1931), 131. 44 Anderson, op. cit., pp. 244-255, believes that prosperity was· really just around the corner and was demolished by England's going off the gold standard.

45 The Clarion, 111:5 (May, 1931), 130. 46 Easton Lodge was the estate of the Countess of Warwick. Cf. her Life's Ebb and Flow (New York: Morrow and Company, 1929). Lady Frances (Maynard Greville) had laid plans to turn Easton Lodge over to the Labour Unions for a Labour College. She says, "the Coal Strike of 508 Fabianism in the Political Life of Britain 1919-1931 with the satisfied assurance that no harm should come to the Move ment since Mr. Ernest Bevin was in attendance tOO.41 But the reader looks in vain for a concise plan or creative idea as to how to handle the fiscal problem. The best direction from their greatest expert was a burst of exasperation: Webb wrote in 1928: It is hard to say which policy would do the greater harm [" cutting down on Health and Education estimates, re ducing the Government establishments, stopping any extension of Training Centres, and postponing the neces sary perfecting of the insurance and pension systems"

(all Tory measures) ; or making " imprudent extensions of Unemplo:¥J1lent Insurance Benefits ... in Uncondi ... tional Outdoor Relief and all the rest of the relaxations of 1920-1928"] .... In this brainless rivalry it may be doubted whether Parliamentary institutions and Political Democracy would survive. 'Which of two political Parties would be driven 10 set up a dictatorship might depend only upon an accident r 48 It was admitted in 1931 that 1928 and 1929 had been prosperous years but in the same breath it was reiterated, only the Cooperative Commonwealth could cope with unemployment. 49 The Webbs, ·however, had written in 1928: We claim no expert knowledge for these suggestions of how to prevent unemployment and 'how to treat the Un employed for whom provision has to be made . . . the world will discover the appropriate remedy only by actually attempting to do the job ... trial and error. 50 Their bafflement was thus expressed in their masterful appraisal of 1927 so depleted the resources of the Unions that there was nothing left over for education." Ibid., p. 330. Her philosophy is shown in two sentences: 1) "Capitalism is not the only enemy of progress. Ignorance and prejudice are tougher foes [in union circles] "; 2) "There seems to be an acknowledged but secretly conscious recognition that the only solution of life's problems lies in the Gospel of Love." She was spared seeing the hard core of the Liberal-Socialist-Communist formula, the U non-serviam."

, 41 The Clarion, 111:1 (January, 1931), 3. 48 Sidney and Beatrice Webb, English Local Government, p. 1007. Italics are inserted. 49 The Clarion, 111:1 (January, 1931). 50 Sidney and Beatrice. Webb, English Local Government, p. 1013.

Conflict of Incongruities 509 the new Local Government Law ,which they appended to their constructive analysis of the old Poor Law and in which they thanked Mr. Baldwin's 'Cabinet for the abolition of the old Board of Guardians. The' Webbs, throughout this great work, show that they consider" Outdoor Relief" or the dole, a politician's panacea demanded by those who will collect "vhat the unemployed spepd the electorate.. Their most constr:uctive suggestion is the " Frame 'York of Prevention of Destitution." They do not try to settle whether H Equality" is the goal or equal opportunity even, saying that equals. applied to unequals result in.unequals; but they demand as the foundatiqnof any kind of community the prevention of destitution. 51 It is easily seen at this point why the Webbs left the Society, as they did. (Beatrice returned in 1939.) In 19~O, Cole wrote Gatti Credit and Unemployment. A brief notice of it appeared in The Clarion without expository review to indoctrinate their readers. Cole did not advocate devaluing the pound, but he complained' that the external value .'. of gold was too high so that exports were off. His ideas ran' obliquely in disagree ment with the Keynes-Henderson· thesis that gold should he kept at home for expansion of domestic credit, by advocating the discon tinuance of the use of gold on the domestic front. 52 In August, Fabian' C. Delisle Burns wrote, H Why Fence Off the Empire? "

He rejected the Beavernrook thesis, which would,in a manner, ex pand the Keynes" gold theory Te;the'whole Empire ; that is, increase the scope of the term domestic ·t~mdude theCQmmonwealth and give sterling the corresponding position of gold~ Burns was be tween two fires. The Trade Unions were currently advocating a "closed Empire" and the International Federation of Trade Unions 51 Ibid., p. 985. The Webbs' thesis dltninishes to a single point and so negates the broad basal Augustinian (.A.nglo-~hristian). thesis.concerning the nature of civic community, to wit, that a true republic involves the pursuit of Justice and since pagans (not atheists) cannot pursue that Justice which is rooted in the one true God, they may form a community productive of a republic by pursuit of something they love .incommotl. In the' writer's opinion, this is the touchstone of disagreement between Catholic concepts concerning the nature of the State (involving the right to revolt if this basis is threatened) and the philosophy of Social Dembtracy. Cf. S1. Augustine, City of God, Bk. XIX.

52 The Clarion 11:9 (Septetnber, 1930),263.

510 Fabianism in the. Political Life of Britain 1919-1931 (IFTU) with Citrine (ex-officio, an officer), \vere repudiating tariffs. Burns, the Fabian historian, was of the opinion there should be a measure of tariff protection. 53 Burns' thought was dearer by December, 1930, but the international aspect of fiscal matters still absorbed him. There should be, he said, international cooperation-with those countries which were not preparing for war. Thus he blinked the well-known German situation. 54 The Government should arrange for the U economical use n of the gold supply. Finally, it should prevent deterioration of the standard of life by what means he did not say except that he defined wages as purchasing power, not as production cost, and he insisted that control of the standard of living is quite possible since the problem has none of the uncontrollability of an earthquake, for example. 56 Only one Fabian commentator, Pethick-Lawrence, attacked the problem of 10'" prices. In Burns' thought, smoothly as it reads, the instigation of dictatorship is insinuated.

Clever writing could not produce constructive criticism or creative ideas. Fabians seemed to desire to stay in. office only to propagandize. When the National Government materialized there was no great alternative which stood rejected, except an adamant attitude against reducing the dole. The dole uncut and benefits unmitigated seemed the sole objective of Fabians who expressed themselves within the Socialist milieu. But it will be recalled Pethick-Lawrence was currently attempting to shift attention from wages to prices which were unsoundly low at the time. When Margaret BOlldfield sought to raise the borro,ving power of the Unemployment Insurance Fund to two hundred and fifteen million pounds (twenty-five million more than the legal limit), and to obtain a six-month extension of the legal time for borrowing, small account was made ()f the strain upon the Treasury.56 Sharply, the 53 The Clarion, 11:8 (August, 1930).

54 As to fiscal reasons for the poor Franco-German relations, cf. Ander son,op. cit., pp. 234-240. 55 The Clarion, III :12 (December, 1930),35. 58 A normal transaction was involved, the loan of funds from a "consoli dated fund" which inCludedPostal Savings. Such a loan brought interest into the Treasury. The" scare" aroused by Snowden during the ensuing campaign, regarding the danger to Postal Savings, was not altogether mendacious. Cf. Weir, op. cit., p. 441, who blames Runciman for starting the "scare!' Conflict of Incongruities 511 Tories who opposed were pilloried for cruelty: They insisted on " full stamps" for " full benefits" and " strict justice." It was generally recognized that there was a widespread abuse of the law. To curtail this abuse, an " Anomalies Bill" had been introduced. Its framers followed lines laid down by the Trade Unions General Council to curb unnecessary benefits. There existed a large class of " spongers." 51 It is notable that the only effort to cut down on H Poplarizing" expenditures came fronl the Trade Unions. The Anomalies Bill vvas the creation of TUGC.58 Herbert Morrison from 1929 to 1931 struggled to create a public corporation to handle and reform the London Transportation sys tem. This idea of a public corporation was old in western United States. It was hailed atTIong Socialists as an origination and the best means of laying a foundation for Socialism. In June, 1931, Morrison came in for severe criticism of the way he handled the expropriation of the London underground transport facilities. A letter to the editor (Mr. Davies or Mr. Stevens) spoke of " Col lectivism at 9% (signed "Judas") and was captioned by the editors, "Morrison Butters the Shareholders." 59 In this issue, Ernest Davies as " Reporter" captioned his comments, " Herbert Morrison Derailed." Morrison had agreed to give the ovvners of the. London underground 7 and %%, increasing. to 9% in two years. 60 This was said to "reprieve" the Capitalists and it was suggested he had been "bullying" his colleagues into" reaction."

In the August issue, the Reporter's father rectified the errant 57 The Clarion, 111:7 (]uly, 1931), 198. 58 Tom Williamson, M.P., contributed" Bursting the Tory Bubble," The Clarion, 111:8 (August, 1931), 235 f. He described the machinery set up to advise Parliament· concerning " anomalies" of Poor Law administration and Unemployment Insurance. These had been pointed out in the Webbs' English Local Government, Ope cit., p. 1005, in their famous "Epilogue" of 1928 upon the Local Government Act of 1928. "The Act of 1929 does Iittle more than pass over to the Councils the powers that the Board of Guardians have possessed since 1834." These found no third way to save themselves from the alternative of "unconditional Outdoor Relief" and the "Workhouse System," and all were concerned with the" worst of social diseases, ... voluntary and intentional pauperism." (Italics supplied.) A world· without any agricultural way of life was hopelessly morassed in its own·industrialism.

59 The Clarion, III:6 (June, 1931), 177. 60 Ibid.} 163.

512 Fabianism in the Political Life of Britain 1919-1931 thinking of both letter writer and editor. This financial expert explained that the reported gain to the underground shareholders of 2% up to 9% was exaggerated, that Lord Ashfield had per suaded the reluctant owners to accept the low valuation of shares as assessed before talk of nationalization ran up their value. All was· well.61 This conflict of financial ideas was very significant. There were few in the Movement, outside the Trade Unions, who held publicly such capitalistic tenets as Alderman A. E. Davies, L.C.C.62 His son was the rescuer of The Clarion and he was to be the one link of Fabianism with its past through the 1930's. Among the pages of Volume II of The· Clarion a pamphlet was found by this· student, probably one of the sort which was mailed out with The Clarion, often. Entitled" How to Invest Safely," it was written by Alderman A. E. Davies, L.C.C., whose name headed the list of trustees of three Cooperative Investment Trusts. With Sir D.

Drummond Fraser, and F. W. Crittenden, the elder Davies, who was perennially a member of the Fabian Executive, solicited in vestors. The Trusts were designed, he wrote, for small investors. Their reliability "vas attested by the fact that they were backed by Midlands', Lloyd's, National City, National Bank and Trust Com pany of New York, the Royal Bank of Canada, the Bank of Mon treal, the Deutsche Bank and others. Prospective· investors were told that wealthy men learned long ago to hand over their money to experts to invest for them in order to benefit from the pool thus formed, wherein only dividends were distributed and profits from sales of investments went into a reserve fund to increase the value 61 The Clarion, 111:8 (August, 1931), 245. Baron Ashfield had been "general ~anager of American electric railways," especially in Detroit, for twelve years, was "chairman and manager " of fourteen transportation busi nesses (including one in Havana), was a director of Midlands Bank and of a chemical company as well as the "British· and German Trust, Ltd." No wonder Davies understood him.

62 Fabians collected rents on the Society's old building and all their writers collected the usual royalties on their books which received complimentary notice in such organs as The Clarion. The Davieses, father and son, were very representative Fabians. The son's reporting had a touch of merriment and irony. He mocked the left-wing to whose gallery he played. The father, a fundamental Capitalist in thought, cherished the Society as the son cherished The Clarion for sentiment's sake.

Con/liet of I neongruities 513 of uninvested money. Investors were offered these inducements: Shares multiplied their value to three times the original price; their money was invested where the market was kno\vn to be the best; the trust could borrow. cheaply at banks and from the· public. There is scant evidence that the pure-Socialists understood Davies. Fabian intellectuals undoubtedly connived with his patent CapitaI'ism. If Socialism must liquidate the investing class, there were fruits still to be garnered from the doomed system. Hinging on fiscal policy was the attitude toward France. Fabians hailed the Hoover Moratorium as the great" creative" statement of the age. At· first it was thought France could not refuse to cooper ate. It will be recalled that Henderson leaned toward France in the matter of the Austro-German tariff verein. In other words, the intellectual attitude toward rationalistic France was at one ·now with the seasoned loyalty of Neville Chamberlain. Ever since the D'Abernon Commercial Treaty, England was a friend to France who had lost her hegemony in Europe. We have seen. how Mrs.

Hamilton criticized Snowden for his adherence to the old-fashioned Trade Unionist francophobia. Snowden was once said to have ended the " subservience" of Britain to France. That was after his stubborn resistance to that portion of the Young Plan which was unfavorable to Britain,&3 when for a brief moment Snowden was a hero all over England. But in general the period 1925-1931 was marked by cajoling a recalcitrant France on the part of political Labourites. 64 France rendered null the Naval Conference and it was known in March of 1930 that so it must be since the Monetary.Conference had failed. At this conference Snowden's efforts in favor of Bruning had been checked by MacDonald and Henderson in favor of France. The effect in England was to keep Labour in power longer. Tories were too well schooled in politics to miss the timing of an upward momentum. The failure of these conferences was a Labour boon. The ungrafeful work of getting passed the Coal Bill broke the health of the highly respected Fabian economist, William Graham; but his victory in its final passage resulted from 63 Cf. Snowden, op. cit., II,pp.777-838.

u Feiling, op. cit., p. 193, reveals "the French 'were anxious to get their hands on our throats as they have on the Germans" in September, 1931.

514 Fabianism in the Political Life of Britain 1919-1931 the fact that Liberals did not vote so as not to defeat the Govern ment. Had there been any hope of success for the coming Naval Conference, the Liberals might have voted with the Tories on Graham's bill in order to throw Labour out so as to procure the prestige of a successful Naval Conference for the Conservatives. 65 At the same date it was reported that Fabian Susan. Lawrence, Undersecretary of State for Health, told the Fabian Society at a reception that there \vould be no dissolution because Snowden needed two budgets to iron out the fiscal disorder inherited from Churchill. 66 So we see the conflict of Fabian present-day fran cophilism against their history of francophobia had domestic political repercussions. It was all right for France to spoil the Naval Conference under the circumstances. Fabian Josiah Wedgwood contributed" Pacifists at Odds" in June of 1930. He found Fabian Norman Angell's attitude pro French and in favor of the status quo as against W. H. Dawson, whose Future of Empire he advertised, and who was pro-Ameri can. Dawson had written that America had been right in re jecting the Versailles Pact which would have meant endorsing the existing treaties and Article 18, all favorable to French hegemony in Europe. Wedgwood was inclined to agree with Dawson and to find Angell, whose view greatly resembled Neville Chamber lain's, responsible for the pro-French attitude whereby the Labour G6vernment missed the opportunity to dictate terms on one of Hoover's proposals to exclude food supplies from capture as .contraband and thus to settle one problem of freedom of the seas :61 The· Socialist viewpoint had been divided and the Party had pulled in two directions; so the French had taken this advantage to de stroy by delaying tactics the effects of the Hoover Moratorium.

It is not unusual to find divided opinion in political 'ranks. The 65 The Clarion, 11:3 (March, 1930),67. 66 Ibid. Churchill. had defended his disorderly exchequers by saying he did not foresee the Strike and increased unemployment. It was simply false to blame Churchill for a budget in disarray which was caused by· the American Crash of 1929 after which exports of American capital dropped (cf. Spender, Great Britain, Empire and Commonwealth, p. 693) from $1,130 million in 1928 to zero in 1930. Prosperity in 1928-1929 had been admitted, as we have seen; likewise, the break in the U.S. market in 1928. 67 The. Clarion, 11:6 (June, 1930), 172.

Conflict of Incongruities 515 important point is that a Party demanding solidarity and bloc voting and a H machine that will work " did not make adjustments to political realities. The Labour platform had to allow for fluid political action \vhile its constituent Socialism made demands for solidarity and adherence to a dogmatic creed which it could not define. On France fell the onus of defeating German recovery. The same division between spokesmen for the Party and for the Government was evident still regarding Russia. While t( trade" was the incentive offered rank and file Trade Unionists, it is certain that the supposed Socialism of Russia like the imminent Socialism of France attracted the Socialism in the Labour Govern ment even against the judgment of their political leaders. It is un derstandable that political laborites alluded to the Acros raid 68 in cessantly to embarrass the Tories. No Labour politician admitted that the capture by Soviet-Socialists of the Labour Conference in 1925 69 led to the Strike of 1926 which prompted passage of the Trade Disputes Act; but in January, 1930, The Clarion editor justified Russian illegal propaganda by reminding readers that, ,vhile diplomacy ,vas one thing, for another Russia being a " revo lutionary country" must be expected to propagandize. 70 This line of thinking surely proved an embarrassment to the Prime l\iinis ter.

68 In 1927 the Baldwin Government had discovered machinery for printing propaganda in the Arcos Company premises; and they had broken. off reIa tionswith Russia. The Labour Goverilment of ·1924 had, of course, upon coming into office recognized Russia. Lansbury had revisited Russia in 1926. There can be no doubt that the good feeling with which he reported his experience stemmed from the cordiality of his reception. (Lansbury, op. cit., pp. 238 f.) Compare this with Ben Turner's story of pilgrimage and association in 1921 with Russian organizers in his About Myself, pp. 211-231. The names of fellow pilgrims are interesting: Tom Shaw, Robert Williams, Mrs. Snowden (Party); " Alf" Purcell, Harry Skinner, Miss Bond/ield (TUC); Clifford Allen and Dick Wallhead (ILP); C. R. Buxton (interpreter) and Dr. Haden Guest (medico) and Meakin of the Daily News with Mr. George Young. Ben T1!rner was chairman. (Names of then Fabians are italicized. Tom Shaw contributed to Clarion, 1929-1931.) The Webbs and Shaw prepared to visit Russia by fortifying themselves with mounds of books and manuals .0£ the Russian language, when the Labour Government went out in 1931.

69 Cf. Mrs. Cole; Beatrice Webb, p. 159. 10 The Clarion, 11:1 (January, 1930), 4.

516 Fabianism in the Political Life of Britain 1919-1931 C. FABIANS AND TUC-Now ~IACDoNALD'S MAINSTAY Two oth~r important divisions loomed large in the misty logic holding the Movement together: The Trade Unions for the sake of whose adherence MacDonald was kept in the leadership, spurned overtures of comradeship from Fabians; on the back benches· the Clydesiders, who were " loud speakers" for Socialism against the Government, were unwilling to be at peace with English Trade Unionism. The Fabian Society held a reception for MacDonald in Decem berof 1929. The Fabian Reporter said it had been badly arranged. The Fabian· Pensions Minister, F. O. Roberts, was Master of Ceremonies. Fabian Susan Lawrence made the welcoming ad dress. When John Beard of the TUC was called upon, he was found to be absent. The same embarrassment followed the calling upon Mr. Moses, M.P., of the Doake Division. The writer noted that at this reception Ishbel MacDonald contended for social suc cess with the Countess of Warwick,71 and Mrs. Webb was un noticed. She had "grown old gracefully." The reporter was qui~e premature in retiring Beatrice so soon. She wished, no doubt, to be unnoticed because she and Sidney did not like Mac Donald. Evidently the TUC men did not like Fabians. The reception and the Webb's attendance like that of the Fabian editor was designed to hide the rift in Labour's lute. Then the Reporter revealed it in all its. delicate splinters of social sensitiveness.

At the mid-point of Labour's second Government, Cole defined the terms of Trade Unionism in relation to the Labour Party. "Trade Unions and the Government" appeared in February of 1930. Taking Cole's aphorisms in their order of appearance can only strengthen the conclusion that Trade Unionism and a Socialist way of life are not miscible elements: 72 1) The unions must abstain from alliance with employers " the borderline of negotiation and alliance should not be crossed." 2) Trade Unions and the Labour Movement were "agents for the 71 The Clarion, 111:8 (August, 1931), 235. Cf. Fra'nces Countess of War wick,· Life's Ebb and Flow. She was U converted" to Socialism.by Blatch ford. 12 The Clarion, 1:12, n.S. (December, 1929), 5. Also, cf., The Clarion, 11:2 (February, 1930), 41.

Conflict of Incongruities 517 attainment of Socialism." 3) The Trade Unions had thrown in their lot with the Party and therefore were expected to¥, press for Socialism in the industrial field. 4) Their objective therefore was a satisfactory standard of life for everybody and "satisfactory relationship between man and man cannot· be got without Social ism." 5) Now. he faced realism: A slump was good for the Party with its ability to compromise; bad for Trade Unions, harnessed to the ebb and flow of trade. Conversely a boom was bad for the Party and good for Trade Unionism. 6) But unions must never assent to permanent acceptance of Capitalism: "The politicians must not compromise us so as to damage the strategic position of the Trade Unions, or the Trade Unions so as to hamper the Labour Party." Both aim toward Socialism and the abolition of Capitalist. employers for whom there should never be recognition of their" right to e~ist." Of course, while they exist they must be recognized. 7) Cole did not approve of a Socialist Party based on individual membership; better,' a working-class basis to " guarantee devotion to the interests of the whole people." (The italics indicate the contradiction which· Cole did not recognize. Of course, without individual memberships the blocworking-c1ass basis produced artificial homogeneity.) 8) Trade Unionists were to take comfort from the statement that "the Labour Party as constituted" makes the fullest provision for. the internal expres sions of the Trade Union point of view. Whatever the meaning of " internal expression" may be, Cole's self-contradictions had a clear meaning: The subjugation of unions to the furtherance of Socialism.73 Cole held week-end parties at Easton Lodge where invited guests discussed the problem of credit. Mosley was among them with John Strachey "his ghost." 74 The Labour Members of Parlia ment were said to be dejected concerning the Government but the group which met at Easton Lodge worried the Fabian Reporter more.75 Mosley had proposed his "Dictatorship of Five" and 73 Ibid., the fourth point furnishes support to the definition of social democracy as a secular religion.

74 The Clarion, 111:1 (January, 1931), 3. The almost worshipful attitude of Strachey toward Mosley is described. 75 In· this period of dejection, Vernon Hartshorn died. Mrs. Hamilton used her pen to influence the selection of Dr. Addison, a recent convert to 518 Fabianism in the Political Life of Britain 1919-1931 eighteen members of the Party signed it. (Their names appear in another connection.) The Clarion's writer himself maintained the confidence that one man among those present would save the Movement: Ernest Bevin, the Trade Union leader, had learned his economics on the Macmillan Commission, and on the Banking and Economic Advisory Committee-his minority report had been " deadly orthodox." He "vould not let his four million union men be divided in a "New Party" Movement. He was likely to be the next Prime Minister. 76 In a time when it was still thought the Government would last for two or three years-a point which alone indicates the lack of comprehension of the fiscal problem of England and the world when Labour M.P.'s were still enthusiastic for the Government, the Trade Union body stood forth in distinction from the rest of the Party. A bitter feeling resulted from the success the Trade Unionists achieved in speaking directly in Committee against the abuses sought to be rectified by the Anomalies Bill. The Bill n1ade la"vful some means of checking admitted abuses : Printers, for example, who by working three days earned £6 a week were collecting benefits for the other days.71 Working wives of work ing husbands created a problem for local poor law administrators. 78 The remedy was devised by TUGC.79 Against the corrective measure stood the "loud speakers" for Socialism, who were critical of the Government, as Tom Williams wrote in The Clarion.79 He also stated that the Government should not penalize those. suffering " the results of the failure of the capitalist system," suggesting as the excuse for "poplarizing," the idea of making reparation for Capitalism in society.so In the midst of the success of Trade Unionists in correcting some abuses the "Zip" was founded embodying Cole's ideas, the Society for Socialist Inquiry and Labour and often singled out for praise by the lady Fabian M.P., to replace Hartshorn-a doctor vice a miner. The Clarion, 111:1 (January, 1931), 11.

76 Commentators thought an election was at least eighteen months away and again Mrs. Hamilton, (ibid.), urged a "restatement of aims." It would not be strange to find a future student willing to entertain the notion that Socialism was put over by a sort of hypnosis caused by reiteration of aims. 77 The Clarion, 111:8 (August, 1931),235. 7,8 The Clarion, 111:7 (July, 1931), 195. 7'9 Ibid., (August, 1931), p. 235. 8'0 Ibid. This psychological device has had wide usage.

Conftict of Incongruities 519 Propaganda. The need for ~uch was evinced, said the Fabian reporter, in the apologetic attitude on Socialism taken by Mr. Bevin. it Zip" would lay the conclusions on various aspects of Socialism before "ordinary folks" and publish the results " for the guidance of the Labour Party." This sort of work was that done it quietly and unobtrusively by the Fabian Society to whose Executive Mr. Cole was recently elected." 81 The it guidance of the Labour Party" meant dictation to the Trade Unions by the intelligentsia. The need for guidance was· evinced by the apologetic Trade Unionist. 82 The Trade Unions seem to have annoyed their Party's M.P.'s at times. Mrs. Hamilton \vrote in April of 1931, "Nothing to Grouse About," but she scolded: "The Trade Unions can't hand over all their babies to Westminster to carry." 83 This was noth ing more than an outburst of petulance for a Socialist society intended indeed to carryall labor's problems to Westminster--or carryall Westminster's to 11 Dartmouth Street. An idea of sub sidiarity or automatic welfare within an association unconnected \vith the State· was never countenanced in their system of industrial democracy. So while Trade Unions were not to overburden with their peculiar problems, the political machinery, they were sup posed to learn Socialism better and be guided by Fabians in their relations with the Party. Nevertheless, the Trade Union leader saved the Movement from the Mosley it New Party" on one hand and the Maxton impracticalities on the other by disregarding Mosley's pleas and evolving an " anomalies" bill to put a stop to needless relief expenditures. Meantime, the Trade Unions were developing a plan for currency expansion-to be extinguished in its incipiency-.

81 The Clarion, 111:7 (July, 1931), 195. In the same article the Fabian expressed great displeasure with the Dockers who had on a recent occasion appeared quite ignorant of this Socialist vocation and had acted like mere union laborers. 82 Bevin seems to have become a Fabian only in the re-birth of 1936, as we have learned· from Mrs. Cole~ His position in the International made it necessary to belong to a Socialist society. Mr. Cole, the moving spirit along with John Parker from these years until the present date, kept the Trade Unionist in the orbit of Fabianism for his" guidance." 83 The Clarion, 111:4 (April, 1931), 103..

520 Fabianism in the Political Life of Britain 1919-1931 D. FABIAN FRONT COVERS CONFLICT OF BACKBENCHERS versus THE REST While the Fabians tried to contain the forces of Trade Union ism, a rear guard attack was directed against them by the " back benchers." In July of 1929, the Fabian advice to the ILP was that .it should do Socialism not politics because ILP in political action could only duplicate the Labour Party's work. It was almost a censure for infidelity to· add, "we cannot pride ourselves equally (as upon the programme of the Labour Party) upon the number of convinced Socialists belonging to the Labour Party." This could have purported censure of the Trade Unionists, but it was part of a paragraph dealing with ILP.The latter had fallen down on its function of producing propaganda. s, In Jan uary, 1930, the ILP backbenchers voted against the Government on an amendment to the. Coal Bill at its second reading. Mrs.

Hamilton reported this with scorn. 85 As she had sponsored Dr. Addison she now extended recognition to a daring young Welsh miner, Aneurin Bevan, a man well liked bY' backbenchers. She seemed to appeal to pride of association· to be shared with her in the company of William Graham, Tom Williams (a Clarion writer), G. Edwards, and Vernon Hartshorn. She· said their speeches were especially admirable. (The speeches of back~ benchers were less graceful to say the least than those of the Oxonians of the front bench, and less recondite than· those of the scholars of London University or London School of Economics.) We know that only when writing his memoirs did Kirkwood repent of his wild manners. Still, he is rarely named by Fabians. Mrs. Hamilton was Glasgow-born herself'; her literary attain ment was marked. At this time, while praising leaders' speeches, she congratulated Margaret Bo'ndfield who was a noted 'union organizer and long a Fabian, for her silent· gathering of " collec tive wisdom" for her" Clause 4"-part of the Unemployment Insurance Act of 1926,.amended 1929, whereby burden of proof that work had been sought by an' applicant for relief or placement was laid upon the Labour Exchanges. The wise Miss Bondfield 8' The Clarion, 1:7 (July, 1929),4.

85" The Session's Work," The Clarion, 11:1 (January, 1930), 5.

Conjlict of Incongruities 521 said little, listened to all dis.cussion and made an amalgam of all ideas on the topic. She was offered as a model for talkative ILP backbenchers. When in February, Mrs. Hamilton praised the " classless Parliament " in which the Labour Party was remarkable because" they believe[d] in something," a Party in which there were no " nonentities" (as in the Liberal Party) and no " persons of no occupation" (one supposes this to mean the investor Tories), all the encomiums went to Fabians after the Prime Minister who was said to be "masterly": Snowden, Henderson (her youth was accountable for her saying Henderson was H growing"), Graham and Morrison. "The Front Bench is far stronger than in 1924." 86 Despite her efforts to smooth the. surface, the backbenchers con stantly complained of the class and the snobbery of the front benches. " Rebels or Robots " clarioned the editor reporting on an occasion when forty-eight young vigorous rebels listened sympa thetically to Maxton's " great speech" and a debate between Mrs.

Hamilton, M.P., and John Reckitt, M.P. Then Maxton, M.·P., had summed up: Patience made the gradualist; impatience, the Com munist; courage and the spirit to do it now, the ILP. The Clarion writer wished Henderson and Hugh Dalton, the wise ones, had been present. 87 Instinctively the need for the Fabian emollient revealed itself. ' The ILP was reminded there must be no " parting of the ways," and there must be Party discipline. Again, gradualness was the principle opposed to Maxton's" Socialism in Our Time." 88 To placate ILP the Reporter reassured them there would be no agree ment with Liberals. except that but just then arrived at: Labour would not be turned out until an Electoral Reform Bill was passed. On the current debates on amending the Trades Disputes Act of 1927, again readers found" ILP R~els." 89 In the Budget debate, the scene became theatrical. Pethick-Lawrence, who was also a member of ILP but a Fabian and a front-bencher, was more a monetary expert than Snowden and, as Financial Secretary to the Treasury, he had charge of the defense of Snowden's Budget.

86 The Clarion, 11:2 (February, 1930), 37. 81 The Clarion, 11:5 (May, 1930), 139. Reckitt was a Christian (Anglo Catholic) Socialist. 88 Ibid., 130. • 89 Ibid., 131.

522 Fabianism in the Political Life of Britain 1919-1931 The House was more impolite to him than to Snowden who, in 1927, had resigned from ILP in a formal letter. The back benchers led by Maxton-the Reporter said he was "imprac tical '.'-protested Snowden's statement that the programme called for no greater taxes next year. They maintained that the Labour Party's Programme called for expenditure rising higher, and in creasingly higher taxes. Churchill played the Left against the Party and entertained the House by mimicking, while he was de bating, the gestures which Pethick-Lawrence had made in futilely signaling to the backbenchers to cease interrupting. If Lloyd George was dictating the Lab-Lib parliamentary policy, Churchill and the Tories (Baldwin obstructing Neville Chamberlain's rise to the premiership) were preparing the rift in Labour's ranks for their OVln break-through. When it came and only then, ... the pleaded-for discipline was, ironically, duly observed; the Labour Party stood together against the MacDonald-Snowden- Bondfield coup, and Fabians devised the tactics.

The Clarion editorial of May, 1930,90 listed two reasons why Maxton's idea to tax the wealthy out of existence was impractical. This would" clog the wheels " before Socialism replaced Capital ism; this would make matters worse even if it produced a Socialist state. (This was also Shaw's criticism of Lenin's pre-NEP system). He also listed three reasons for resisting the ILP agita tion: Labour had only a minority· government; industry was not yet in the control of the State, that is, the State did not control the flow of capital. Until then, there should be no higher taxes, for to impose higher taxes would cause a flow of capital abroad and act as a deterrent to industrial development. "First let the state con trol the use to which the country's capital is put, then higher taxa tion will be the only means of maintaining the State through a transition to Socialisn~." Thus did Professor Laski's former student recite his principles.

The hallmark of Lonc1onlJniversity is plain. " To the Mother of Parliaments" 91 Vias a rebuke to both the backbenchers and the older Fabians. The young Fabian seemed 00 Ibid., 141. 91 The Clarion, 11:9 (September, 1930), 259. This unnoted advice was repeated as blame by Norman Angell after the 1931 collapse.

Conflict of Incongruities 523 to wish to blame the sentiments of the Old Gang for the Govern ment's slowness of which the backbenchers complained: Labour had " lost its head"; evidently backbenchers and others pined to be in Opposition. After all, unemployment (a topic upon which speeches made for constituents' attention were· repeated over and over again) was not Labour's fault. Admittedly there remained unfulfilled, the election promises; gradualness however inevitable was painfully gradual; the" old brilliant speculations "were miss ing. Perhaps there was something to be said for the Webbs' plan to reorganize Parliament into two sections, one political and one social; but then, Shaw had said" Capitalism will burst it [Parlia ment]." Could they not wait? Professor Laski's words were in the editor' smemory when he advised they must" determine" for the present generation and the future" the kind of civilization that the community desires to maintain." He did not intend to be amusing.

The ILP could hardly take guidance toward Party discipline from such an editorial, so n1arked by neutralizing positive and negative charges. Then, there ,vas a wrangle over subsidizing Opera. The back benchers screamed" luxury" when the Government made avail able to the BBC a share of the Post Office license money. P. R. Leslie, while he showed that this did not increase the drain on the Treasury, thought the BBC had been" handed over" to the Covent Garden Syndicate and the Beecham (Sir Robert was then a Fabian) Imperial League of Opera. 92 To read in Kirkwood's auto biography the struggle which he maintained to achieve the re commencement of building the Queen Mary in order merely to sustain life in the Clydeside community is to appreciate the attitude of the ILP la"wmakers toward increased cultural benefits.93 They became .more " doctrinaire" to press their causes. 92 Beecham called himself, at the Jubilee concert in 1950, a one-time Fabian.

Fabian Granville-Barker meantime advocated a subsidy for Drama. The Clarion, III :12 (December, 1930), 364. 93 This term II lawmakers " used in this connection is anomalous; it confounds a social problem with a legal method. Mrs. Webb tried to solve the anomaly by inventing another Chamber. The anomaly was created by the surrender to the legislature ou the part of societary units of their own 524 Fabianism in the Political Life of Britain 1919-1931 The " classless parliament" was less classless than Mrs. Hamil ton hoped it would be. "Don't Play the Enemy's Game" she admonished in December, 1930. She explained that India and the Round Table Discussion then in progress was the politically im portant thing~ While the Government concentrated upon it there was reason for reassurance in the domestic field: Dr. Addison was handling Land Utilization, and was very. efficiently abetted by Major Attlee and Tom Johnston. True, Dr. Drummond Shiels had poor luck in the matter of .the Palestine White Paper but MacDonald was doing very well. (She wa.s not specific' about MacDonald, generally.) There was some accord with the Liberals on the question of the school-leaving age; and the Liberals had an agreement with the T.ories on economizing on governmental ex penditures. Mrs. Hamilton hinted that the backbenchers might help preserve the balance.94 This was but a continuation of her admonitions and encomiums. In August of 1930, she faced the problem which so agitated the backbenchers: The relief machin ery, she confessed, was collapsing all along the line; nevertheless, she said, 95·% of those applying to the exchanges got help. Com paring the Parliamentary Labour. Party to a cricket team, she singled out certain names, the team's boast. They were all Fabians; a few were also ILP: Graham, fighting against hostile and vacillating opinion in the House of Lords on Coal; Morrison working out a traffic bill for the basis of nationalizing [his' key industry; Henderson, the best ever to hold the Foreign Office, in control of "the machine"; Alexander, who handled questions " beautifully" ; the law officers were a tower of strength-Melville and Cripps. Heading the Consultative Committee, Henry Snell, although silent, was the ablest and best informed of men. He could "steady" the "fussers." Drummond Shiels recorded Snell's hard work on Colonial matters, specifically at Geneva on the question of " Forced Labour." 95 There was John Scurr the responsibility for economic welfare, the politicizing, in other words, of social elements having an economic purpose.

M The Clarion, II :12 (December,1930),346. 95 Webb's -anonymity in the Colonial Office at this time is interesting. The Clarion said he was" happy" in the Colonial Office. Mrs. Cole said he was unhappy over the Palestine embarrassment.

Conjlict of Incongruities 525 admirable chairman of the Standing Committee on Housing. oo Mrs.. Hamilton mentioned C. R. Buxton, also, (the Buxton and Scurr families were friends and ILP members, also Fabians). She mentioned also the " yeoman service " in " briefing" the Party given by Colonel L'Estrange Malone, and singled out Ernest Thurtle and Chuter Ede 97 along with a "new man," Philip Noel Baker-all Fabians. Stephen Sanders and W. B. Taylor, an " accepted authority" on foreign affairs, were listed. The weakest part of the machine, she noted, was the backbenchers, always against the Government by habit, in " arrogant egoism" seeking "cheap newspaper reputations." Mrs. Hamilton lectured them: The-essence of Socialism, she said, was supporting the Govern ment; for "The Government acted consistently in a Socialist spirit"; they were laying the foundations for public control and increasing the consuming power of the masses; the Economic Advisory Council was effectual to these ends.98 There was never any indication that this effort settled the turbu lence. In January, 1931, "Certain individuals" garnered pub licity from anti-Labour peers. This may have been meant to indicate Mr. Mosley. Measures to placate the "left-wingers"

were, as usual, offered. At a recent caucus,' when the Prime Min ister had been present,99 it was agreed the Party would drive for the Alternative Vote, would regulate the use of motor cars-that is, their use in driving persons to the polls; and would, they promised again, repeal the Trades Dispute Bill.100 There was some warning of an attempt to be made to cut unemployment benefits. Through out the period there was agitation to reorganize Agriculture. Land Utilization and a Marketing Bill were on the calendar. As to the School Attendance Bill, Mrs. Hamilton stated positively that no 96 John Wheatley with whom Mrs. Hamilton had disagreed in toto was dead. Scurr fell from Fabian grace over the School Bill and died in 1932 having received a papai blessing through Cardinal Bourne. 97 Ede was identified with Surrey County Teachers Association, a Fabian and member of the National Labour Club.

98 The Clarion) 11:8 (August, 1930), 277. 99 This was noted as an" "advantage." Webb and Laski were later to ascribe to MacDonald's" aloofness" blame for the debacle of 1931. 100 The Clarion}111:1 (January, 1931), 11.

526 Fabianis1n in the Political Life of Britain 1919-1931 religious problem would retard its progress now as in 1929.101 The Lords had backed Graham on a·Dyestuffs Act aimed at taking control of production from the textile industry; Shinwell was overcoming the noble Lords who were " mangling" the Coal Act. And Mrs. Hamilton found that all these items were" foundation stones" without which the erection of Socialism was impossible. The persons singled out for notice were Fabians. The back benchers gave no evidence of being mollified. In July of 1931, the Reporter told of a " raging battle" between the rebels and the front bench. This was only a month before the National Government was formed. It gives rise to the question of ho\v many more of the anti-back-benchers were expected by Mac Donald to follow hitTI than actually did.102 He had come to the conclusion that it was best to split his Party.lOB The above-men tioned incident so distracted the Reporter that, remembering Shaw he wished the war games then being practiced might be real and that bombs might fall on Parliament. He no doubt had seen or read Shaw's Heartbreak House, which ends on lines expressive of such a wish.104 As to the cause of his distraction: The ILP was un reasonably seeking to amend the Anomalies Bill; the radical, Charles Trevelyan, had actually questioned the sincerity of the Government in introducing this Trarle Union measure, accusing lQ'l Cf. Tom Shaw's opinion against retaining the" conscience clause " in The Clarion, 21, n.S. (January, 1929), 3. The stand on the School Bill of 1929 by which· Catholics evidenced their devotion to conscience above Party so impressed Mr. Laski that in his The Constitution and the Crisis he noted the need for religious conviction, a "faith" to conduct and impel Socialists toward their final struggle.

lQ2 MacDonald said Henderson was about to follow him until TUC "intervened." Probably Henderson would have liked to carry TUC and the Party with him behind MacDonald. Certainly the attitude of Webb, Laski, ILP and Zip forbade it. 1Q8 Cf. Feiling, Ope cit., p. 193. lQ£ Undeniably, an element in Socialist ranks felt that only fiscal catastrophe would bring about their desired end, "Socialism now." They had been taught by Fabians like Webb and Pethick-Lawrence that the nation could afford and could find the money for handling the Socialist State just as it found the money to run the war; hence, they should see no reason why the Socialist Government could not find the money to handle fiscal (Capitalistic) collapse. After all, their wise one had preached this and so they were hardly to be censured for naivety.

Conflict of Incongruities 527 them of not really seeking to obviate the anomalies of the dole but to make "a mean little bit of economy"; the Tories were cun ningly delighted (Steel Maitland said he was voting for the Bill but wondered what Labour would have said had he introduced it) ; and the backbenchers continued in rebellion, sniping· against the Gov ernment. The ~eporter went on : .Mosley's followers were return ing to the fold. ?vfosley himself was never really in the Party. (Of course, he came into the Party by the way of becoming a Fabian.) It was the end of the ILP. Now Maxton, the man of "charm," was boycotted by the rest of the ILP. These in turn were H furious" with Jimmy Thomas. (Snowden said Thomas never asked for any funds from· the Exchequer which were for an unsound purpose.) This Fabian correspondent hinted that Thomas should have delayed ·introducing his measures· until the back benchers were all abroad in Vienna attending the Labour and Socialist Internationa1. 105 In the August issue, in contrast with this turbulence, again the lady Fabian spoke of MacDonald as the " best man available for the momentous crisis." The ILP had It stabbed him in the back "-this Prime Minister who possessed a "genuine inter national viewpoint." Mrs. Hamilton laid claim for thanks to MacDonald and Henderson that British H authority" was highest in the world. She had but just said that France, suspicious re garding the Austro-German tariff union, had spoiled the effect of the" great moratorium proposal" of President Hoover. The ILP and the " New Party" ( Mosley's) headed by the former president of the Board of Education (Trevelyan) attacked the Anomalies Bill and worked against the Trade Unions in the amending of the Trades Disputes Act 0 f 1927, which had been "redressed" in 1929, Mrs. Hamilton reminded her readers. Tories had moved a vote of Censure on the Agricultural policy of the Government fol lowing the revelation of the Party weakness made by backbench tactics. Land Utilization, Agricultural Marketing, Rural Housing Bills were about to be put upon the Statute book. The benefits of sm.all holdings allotments, low-cost housing, marketing machinery (price controls) ,and the providing of "national direction" for large scale farming facilities were listed. Understandably," the 105 The Clarion, 111:7 (July, 1931), 227.

528 Fabianism in the Political Life of Britain 1919-1931 Land Lords" Party opposed the agricultural proposition and took advantage of the fissure observable in Labour Party solidarity. " Electoral Reform " having been defeated in Lords, the Peers were labelled "reactionary" and "class-conscious." However, since the Tories were still willing to hand over to Labour the " terrific" problems of the day, there would be no election for at least two years. 1oo Before the next month's issue of the Clarion there was a Na tional Government and an Election followed in November. Look ing back over the conflict with the backbenchers we see some causes. The Party in power had been injured by its incongruous parts. Political Fabians cajoled the backbenchers without avail. The raging battle over the anomalies bill had betrayed the Party and the Premier. It was hard enough to counteract the tidal attraction of Mosley on one side and Maxton on the other, without having to contend with the backbenchers' disregard alike for the superior brains of those named to elicit their respect and the self-interest of the English Trade Unionists. In little matters the mentality of the· backbenchers was revealed: Their disdain for Liberals and their scorn for custom, costume, and protocol; their philistine atti tude toward the great "spiritual" .aims of the devisers of the monolithic State such as music and drama. Facts suggest that Mac Donald had some reason for believing that he could take the moderates with him.

The all-smoothing N S had characterized the Maxton-Cook revolt of 1928 as " not serious." All-understanding and poised, it had pointed out that these young men wanted " Socialism in our time; " they were shocked at the sight of Trade Unions in friendly conference with employers. Illogically, NS also said, such " friendly conferences" the Labour Party had " rudely" refused to adopt. Then it went on to state its long view which might well have been MacDonald's: That one day a more or less clear cut socialist party will mark itself off from the Labour Party is pretty certain, we think. But that 'day is not yet, and this manifesto is ---106 TheClarion , III: 8 (August, 1931), 228.

Conflict of Incongruities 529 likely to prove a futile gesture rather than the first step in a grand new frontal attack on Capitalism. 107 The Webbs themselves had by 1930 chosen out of the men on all sides, to replace both Passfield and Parmoor in Lords, the one most near to Tory mentality, the man then receiving the eco miums of the Conservative Press, Philip Snowden. But the Prime Minister must have misread the reason for the apparent agree ment of the Webbs with a right-wing policy. In his telling of the story of 1931, Webb touched upon the Party conflicts and passed on to vilify MacDonald. The Webbs were not satisfied, according to Mrs. Cole, with the idea of a Labour Party. Their idea of an Order would perhaps have channelized the energies of the ardent , and the staid, if only by repression, or in Cole's phrase, " internal expression." Mrs. Webb saw contradiction in the attempt to solve social problems' of an economic nature by a political unit of legal mentality and she invented another kind of Parliament which she explained in the Decemb'er, 1930, .issue of The Clarion.lOS In general, it aimed at doing away with the House of Lords and creating two Parliaments' or a political and a social section-" The Machine That Will Work" was Lord Ponsonby's expression.

Mrs .. Webb's Parliament bore no resemblance to the corporative state. Although it showed respect· for the products of autonomous associationalism it did not conceive of the existence of unpolit icized associations. In the face of the. fiscal realities posed for MacDonald in 1931, such schemes seemed, no doubt, inconse quential. But workers or their vocal leaders were bemused. Citrine in his preface to the LYE of 1931, remarked that there was a " stirring of the dry bones of politics" caused by Labour's insistence upon progressive and democratic planning by States where Labour took power, to relieve mankind of the ills of an archaic system.109 The Labour leader seemed to imagine that politics had long been dead bones which Labour had revived. (Labour had been more like a burr under the saddle of politics.) It is understandable that Labour leaders so recently going into 101 NS, XXXI :791 (June 23, 1928), 346.

108 The Clarion, II :12 (December, 1930), 343. 109 Cf. LYB (1931), p. iii. This ascribed to systematic agitation, spon taneity.

530 Fabianism in the Political Life of Britain 1919-1931 politics imagined politics had never been lively until they appeared upon the scene. Not only was the Movement a new force, as evinced by Citrine and the Webbs, it exhibited naive conceptions which MacDonald, now long inured to the realities of politics, failed to comprehend. E. FABIANS AGAINST THE SYSTEM: EMERGENT IDEA OF DIC TATORSHIP Fabian Hamilton Fyfe wrote " Why Not Get This Peer Busi ness Out of the Way?" The situation he described as " Peers vs People" arose from the fact that some of the legislation which had passed the House of Commons had been blocked in the House of Lords. 110 Fyfe found it deplorable that the Party clung to an tiquated ways and even created Labour peers. Of course, Labour picked its peers from those who had no sons in order to defeat the hereditary principle. 1ll Fyfe now pressed the attack on the Lords made by the former Prime l\1inister's son, Oliver Baldwin. The latter had contributed to The Clarion for a few 'months in 1929.

His ardor for Socialism with a Soviet quality brought him into conflict with most of the political leaders of Labour. He was a Fabian and a Mosley Manifesto signer. Inveighing against the " aged hoary system." he said the Labour Ministers had forgotten their Socialism and had placed belief in Civil Service servants. These permanent officials were running .. the Government. Oliver Baldwin disapproved of Tom Shaw's acquiescing in the "volun tary" army enlistment system; he complained of "too much Jowittism "; 112 he questioned Clynes about the ban on Russian films (Clynes answered that it was not in the public interest to explain); he found fault with Miss Bondfield for agreeing to strike off the rolls of the Labour Exchanges those" not genuinely seeking work "-the n.g.s.w. cases. He did approve of Susan Lawrerice, of Hugh Dalton, and, for his directness and firmness of Charles Trevelyan., Nevertheless, he said, "Yes, Comrades, I 11() Much had become law. Cf. LYB (1931), pp. 230-382.

111 The Clarion, 111:4 (April, 1931), 107. 112 He was referring to a convert to Labour, the new Attorney General, A.W. Jowitt K.C., a minister's son, now Viscount Jowitt. Since 1922 he had served as a member of the Royal Commission on Lunacy.

Confiictof Incongruities 531 am disappointed": Bondfield and Thomas had not tackled the problems of currency and credit, due no doubt to the influence of the Bank of England. We are indebted to Comrade Oliver for a list of backbenchers: the Welsh miner Aneurin Bevan,113 the Scotsman Fenner Brock way, a Fabian, W. J. Brown, a Fabian, and Fabians Roden Buxton and Somerville Hastings. 114 Young Baldwin also supplied further evidence of contradiction, for while he saw continuity in the Young Plan, the editor pointed out that Snowden had destroyed its con tinuity with the Dawes Plan .. Although Baldwin thought that the restoring of the gold standard had depressed the standard of living, brought on the Strike, increased unemployment and induced Stanley Baldwin's downfall, all the measures he sponsored were social rather than fiscal, except his original one-to nationalize royalties. This would have gone hard on the Fabians. 1l5 Oliver Baldwin is significant only because so early he started the ever continuing criticism of the Government: In September, 1929,116 he began complaining of the Ministry'~ failure to handle certain relief cases ,vhich he had forwarded to them from his vacation place where he, deploring the fact, was obliged to enjoy three months with pay for no work. The puritan strain was strong in some of these Socialists. In November, he came back with " Tackle the Banks" ; 417 but far from analyzing the Bank problem he singled out Thomas to accuse him of merely selling coal in Ottawa, while Henderson, he said, was the most effectual of offi cials at Geneva. Snowden, he said, had sho,ved at the Hague that he would produce no Sociali~m. More Socialism should come from Noel-Buxton's Agriculture programme but if the" family allowance" scheme went into effect it should only be with provision for information concerning birth control to accompany payments.

Baldwin was the type of the audacious youth that Professor I~aski was to call upon to forward Socialism after the fall of 1931. 1'13 His name appears on a Fabian lecture schedule in 1942. So far his services had not been required on the international scene. 1'1.4, The Clarion} 1:8, n.s. (August, 1929), 7. Not named was Jenny Lee, very active. 1'15 The.Clarion}I (September, 1929), 2. 118 The Clarion}1:9, n.s. (September, 1929), 7. 1'11 The Clarion}1:11, n.s. (November, 1929), 7.

532 Fabianism in the Political Life of Britain 1919-1931 His previous attack on the efficiency of Miss Bondfield had been answered by Tom Williams, M.P., in October. 118 Williams was her Parliamentary Private Secretary. Denying that she was sub servient to the civil service officers, he showed how impossible it was to do better under a law which was made up of twenty Acts of Parliament, which involved, ordinarily, 45,000 umpire decisions annually, required 700 local officers, and 400 labour exchanges,a court of referees, an insurance officer and an umpire. It was, in the· end, those officers who were criticized by the young radical, BOlldfield, Snowd.en, Thomas-who, with Tom Johnston, followed MacDonald into the National Government. Baldwin left The Clarion staff when Mrs. Hamilton and C. Delisle Burns joined it in January, 1930.119 The trend toward destructive criticism of Parliament and of ministers and the t~nd ency to countenance the idea of dictatorship did not change. The editor disclosed the latter tendency in his expressions. Although he wished that Shaw would acquire some new ideas or desist from lecturing to the Fabian Society because his ideas on education were twenty years old and he "made a charlatan attack on democracy,"

this son of Alderman Davies never rebuked his professor, Harold Laski, for his doubts about democracy. As part of the attack· on . democracy, systems 0 f control or State Planning were contemplated. An Englishman and a Fabian, G. E. C. Catlin, then a professor at Cornell, wrote " Mastering the Machine" for the issue of October, 1930.120 Quoting Bevin on" conscious control of economic factors and forces" Catlin rejected the Trade Unionist" rationalisation" as a Liberal idea not a Socialist one, and went on to advocate a National Planning Council which would involve, he said, " political rationalisation" and social control. He made the conclusive step in November when again he wrote" crisis in Britain." This time he quoted Maxton, " a Christian martyr," who had said: " If you can't get international socialism, will you take national socialism or do you prefer to have nothing?" According to Catlin and Max ton, Russian State Socialism was not for" the glory of the State, but the glory of the Community." No one asked the Cornell pro118 The Clarion, 1:10, n.s. (October, 1929),9.

119 The Clarion, 1:12, n.s. (December, 1929), 7. 1oo The Clarion, II :10 (October, 1930), 282.

Confliet of Ineongruities 533 fessor if by " community" was meant the soviet, the zemstvo, the village, an extension of one of these terms to embrace the idea of Nation, or the reduction of the idea of State to the service-function implied in any of the terms. Catlin followed Maxton in advocating a State Planning Committee for the home market and the depend encies, to eliminate dependence upon foreign markets. 121 The currency given the idea of State Planning made it possible even to. ask " Do we want a Dictator?" There was Thomas who needed .to be a dictator to achieve anything concrete in the way of in creased production for jobs and increased outlet for trade. For once the editor sympathized with the harassed Thomas, now Minister for the Dominions. Nevertheless, he thought Thomas leaned too near the Tories, and he considered Beaverbrook and Rothermere in their Empire Campaign not unlike Mussolini.122 If he turned to the Thomas critics there was Mosley whose one ideal was Hitler. 123 On the other hand, there was Bertrand Russell, cynical and witty, "destroying faith in Democracy" in favor of his" old love "-Anarchy. Even though The Clarion complained that there was no new blood in the Fabian lecture series, it began at this time to print the lectures of Russell, Mrs. Webb, and Laski. 124 The Mosley problem had been acute in June, 1930, and that scion of wealth had aired his grievance with the Party for hours on end in Parliament. Then the Prime Minister, as the Reporter noted, had been fighting on four fronts 125-the Naval Conference, the Unemployment problem, the Party imbalance drawing his attention from far-left to near-Tory, the menace of Dictatorship.

When in December, 1930, Mosley again came forth with a mani festo demanding a " dictatorship of the five," fifty percent of the 121 The Clarion, II :11 (November, 1930),314. 122 The Clarion, 11:6 (June, 1930), 171. 128 Ibid. (November, ·1930),311. 1'14 The Clarion, II :11 (November, 1930), 311. Thomas paid dearly for his Inodicum of sympathy. By the following November he was .expelled from the Party's Executive, and from the N.U.R., his pension illegally cancelled. Cf. Thomas, Ope cit., pp. 196-198. Thomas was convinced that the rank and file had no knowledge of his defence, which was printed but not permitted to be circulated, and that left-wingers hostile to him since 1921 were responsible for his ill treatment. 125 The Clarion, 11:6 (June, 1930), 163.

534 Fabianism in the Political Life of Britain 1919-1931 appended names were those of Fabians. The signers of the Mosley Manifesto of December 7, 1930, were these, as given in the Daily Herald: Fabians Sir Oswald Mosley, MP, Oliver Bald win MP, L. Lovat Fraser, MP, J. P. Horrabin, MP, Lady Cynthia Mosley, MP,. H. T. Muggeridge, MP, M. Philips Price, MP, (PPS to Graham) E. J. Strachey, MP, S. F. Markham, MP (replaced Weir as PPS to MacDonald); 126 'and these Miners, Aneurin Bevan, MP,127 W~ G. Cove, MP (now of the National Executive of the Union of School Teachers), J. Bates, MP, and A. J.Cook; and these ILP Backbenchers W. J. Brown (also a Fabian), DoctorR. Forgan, MP,]ohn McGovern, MP (successor to Wheatley), J. J. McShane, MP, C. J. Simmons, MP.'128 It helps to understand the Prime Minister's dilemma to consider that the names represented prominent types in his Party: the barrister, the educator, the Maxton-follower, the descendant of some prominent family, the angry coal miner. Idealists, they had made borrowings from the Platonic ideal of an elite; they had more than a hint of fascism in their thinking; and they subscribed to a belief that in order to achieve positive ends social control must involve dictatorship. The Party was not an ordinary political party made up of people of diverse classes, pursuits, vocations, religions, and opinions, who might use Party as a civil implement to call rulers to account. The Labour Party was contrived by col lecting the economic coefficients of social units into a quasi political configuration. An ordinary party shares with its rival party, in the national sum of civil interests-call them political coefficients-129 inhering in and generated by social units which 126 Weir, op. cit., p. 435.

127 Bevan's Fabian lecture in FN, 53:6 (June, 1942) noted. An inquiry elicited a very surprised answer from Miss Eve Saville, a clerk in Filson's office, that Fabians had no record of his membership. 128 Daily Herald December 8, 1930, p. 3. Typical Clydesiders' names do not appear. 1'29 This writer conceives of politics or civil interest as a sort of electric charge generated in subsidiary social groups-families, businesses, cultural or economic associations. This energy interacts with its like from group to group and unites outside the groups to form the State. An agency of the common good or the common interest, the State is something more, having received the imprint of majestas by reason of the divine source of its authority. Within the State society acquires adhesion from the crossing of Conflict of Incongruities 535 are economically or culturally determined and are free of the State though enveloped in the Nation. A State' formed by a " Labour"

Party must become the usurper of the area of religion because the constituent economic coefficients of men and societies inhere in the realm of ethics. The challenger of the very being of the Labour State is that capitalism which is defined as voluntary and private enterprise, and is amenable to the private juridicalorder. 130 Economics, inherent in such capitalism constitutes the prime dis putant of the right of the State to usurp the place of religion in ethics, in the family, in enterprise, in association of persons for mutual benefit. The religion of Socialism asks to be' allowed to guide economic life toward the material benefit of the community. Material' benefit. is exactly equivalent to "profit." Religion asks to leave man free to direct within himself by respect for natural law and public statute the profit motive in relation with the com mon good. The benefits to society of men's being free surpass the description of being mere good feeling arising from allowed or permitted self-will in private persons. These matters had to be learned by the intelligentsia of British Socialism, according to British character, empirically. In 1931, a harassed Prime Minister had to make a choice. It could not be a choice consonant with the quasi-religious socialism he once spoke at Lossiemouth.

The search continues to uncover a single creative idea offered to him as an alternative by his equally harassed mentors. Profes sor Laski, in debate with Clifford Allen who had been created Lord Allen in 1932, stated that Henderson in the crisis had adduced alternatives; but Laski did not enumerate them.'131 Ideas came but they were all destructive: A comradely letter from one who signed " Ganzy" referred to' Fabian Tom Groom's" Up the Rebels,"written to encourage ILP rowdy tactics at a Clarion fellowship meeting at Warwick. 132 the horizontal line of socio-economics by the vertical line of politics. To fashion artificial politics out of economics reduces the societary contours to a total horizontal stratification easily manipulated by a Tyrant-State. ISO The papal expression cited supra p. 201 uses "Economics," a word in plural form which implies a nice distinction between the science and its metier.

131 The Clario,n,IV:2 (February, 1932),29. 132 The aristocratic site was the estate of the Countess who wrote of her 536 Fabianism in the Political Life of Britain 1919-1931 " Ganzy" reminded Groom's readers that they ought to 1) show that the church· and the present order are interwoven; 2) inculcate the idea that organized religion is Socialism's adversary and must be fought; 3) adopt the Russian five-year plan.1ss Earlier, Fabian Hannen Swaffer, writing of " Religious Persecution," lS4: sought to reconcile his readers to the cruelties of Russia's Socialists by equating these to the persecution of Englishmen by Englishmen the current prosecution of spiritists, and patent discrimination against believers in transubstantiation demonstrated by the point that' Anglo-Catholic Bishops could· not sit in the House of Lords. This example is not offered because it samples benighted thinking of simple persons of good will. Although Swaffer wrote with a vagabond air, he was nevertheless a noted lecturer and Fabian Summer School teacher. No contradictory reply followed either "Ganzy" or Swaffer. The ecumenical Fabians passed judgment upon moral propositions concerned with the family by approving the rising cult of nudeness practiced in London Parks which were now under the direction of the benevolent Lansbury. "Britannia rules the Heat Waves," it was said and the youth of contemporary demoralized Berlin were presented as exemplars. l35 Irreverence of another kind was evinced by Lord Snell who remarked that bishops should confine their activities to their prayers and not en gage in "stabbing Labour in the Back." 13'6 In the Society, a highly developed microcosm of the Party, the idea of dictatorship was gaining strength and losing its horror, while a tone of irre ligion became clearer than ever before.

The conflict with the backbench mentality heightened the ten sion because it was so much a conflict within the Fabian Society 11 Dartmouth Street vers'Us Easton Lodge. This conflict was typified in the Webbs themselves. They certainly cared nothing for the Mosley camp or the Ganzy type but they were not sure the Labour Party could produce the effects of an Order. For the conversion to Socialism in Life's Ebb and Flow. The use of her good bed, board and automobiles by fatigued workers in the Strike of 1926 is depicted in Susan Lawrence's novel, Clash. 133 The Clarion, 111:7 (July, 1930), 231. 134: The Clarion, 111:5 (May, 1930), 137. 135 The Clarion, 1:9, n.s. (September, 1929), 3. 136 The Clarion, III :11 (November, 1931), 311.

Conflict of Incongruities 537 Webbs, the Society was becoming too much like the Party. Ideolo gically, the Party oscillated between the poles of" tyranny and anarchy. H Democracy" was impugned by Maxton with his na tional Socialism, by Mosley abetted by Strachey with the" dictator ship of the Five," by Russell with his anarchy, by Cole with his labour-corps schemes, and by Shaw with his contempt for Parlia ment. It was not all mischievous: Fabian against Fabian on whether to permeate or abolish the House of Lords;. Fabian in The Clarion against Fabian on the backbenches; ILP Fabians against Fabians in the Government-the more ardent for their Socialism, the less light could they throw on the fiscal perplexity. Yet there was an indefinable common bond; there· were certain agreements, and a common style. Let us call it the it ubi tendimus "-that magnetized impulsion toward the new and secular order. (Laski, as cited elsewhere, said the age was" clamant" for a secular way of life.) MacDonald shared the esoteric spirit but his political experience drew him out of the Fabian orbit.

We have said that the challenge of fiscal perplexity produced no creative ideas. The triviality of certain responses would preclude their inclusion here except Jor the importance they have acquired in later reasoning. For example, at the end of a session in which Mr. Ernest Davies had argued against H rationalisation" and "world price," he fairly shouted "Change the whole system!" For, he averred, he had discovered "where Communists were made "-where this year's debutantes were" presented." 131 Such generalizations provided subterfuge for those unable to present constructive ideas. Once in their past, they had been able to set up a great alternative. They had gathered into Albert Hall a vast crowd unanimous in the insistence that peace, when it came after the first World War, would take the form of a League and a Cove nant. Now they were preparing to survey the ruins of an experi ment in government, and no great alternative was forthcoming.

F. FABIAN SELF-REBUKE In September, the self-analysis following collapse had already begun. Strangely, the materials of the assay were almost entirely 18.1 The Clarion, 11:6 (June, 1930), 163.

538 Fabianism in the Political Life of Britain 1919-1931 new. They included a number of fiscal elements hitherto hardly mentioned. There had been a threat to sterling. It was considered to have been manufactured by the Press. It would be suggested that the'Press had outwitted both the Tories with their ancient Tariff ideas and the Socialists with their hesitations as to tariffs or "cuts." Laski was to write for The Clarion, " The Crisis and After" to state that the Socialists considered the maintenance· of the whole wage structure to depend upon keeping the floor of insurance benefits under it. Early in September it· was being said that it was not due to the May Report that " foreigners" were withdrawing funds; but Lord Pass field declared that such was the case, in his What Happened. Without reference to the situation produced by the failure of the proposed Austro-German tariff union, the editor attributed the outflow of gold to the need to replace funds immobilized in Germany. No allusion to the part played by Henderson in favoring France to defeat the Verein.

" We " had lent money to Germany ; Webb refined this to indicate that financial houses in· the City had lent money and under the stringency had had to call on the Bank of England when the with drawal of gold started-as early as J 929. When the Bank rate had been raised before the 1929 election, the Fabian spokesman had objected and cried out that it should be lowered by law; now the Fabian son of Alderman Davies announced that to have bor rowed gold and to have raised the Bank rate would have been sufficient to stabilize the financial situation; instead the Press had attacked sterling. At this point the editor did not disclose some thing which The Clarion later boasted was originated by Labour ites Bevin and Citrine; the TUe had advocated and agitated, with out encouragement from fellow Fabians, the devaluation of the pound sterling to stimulate exports and production. us Directly, the Fabian placed the blame for the debacle upon the bankers and financiers of London for loans made to Germany, endangering, he said, the supply of gold in London. A colleague, Tomlinson, M.P., had stated a n10nth before that those loans which had been made to central European States w~re usurious. 13·9 Unable to draw con clusions, readers must retain in memory the data previously 138 The Clarion, III (November, 1931), 312.

139 The Clarion, III :100 (October, 1931), 288.

Conflict of Incongruities 539 presented concerning Alderman Davies' Investment Trusts and the general encouragement given by him to the making of loans to German municipalities and States. It must be recalled at the same time that the Keynes-Lloyd George statement in the financial programme of 1929 campaign pointed to the need to stop this sort of thing, and to develop national assets by putting money to work at home. In the Pethick-Lawrence commentary upon Labour and the Nation there had been no objection to Davies' stand expressed weekly in his column " The City" in the N S. Nor had a Fabian voice been raised to encourage Pethick-Lawrence in his attack upon the fiscal problem made at the point of the too low prices. The Clarion summed up the exhaustion of credit, the pre carious state of the budget, the dilemma concerned with economy in payments to the Unemployed, and what it chose to consider Snowden's ineptitude (he had Pethick-Lawrence in his Depart ment) : The collapse had done H immeasurable harm to the Move ment." 140 Two items come up for consideration: 1) There was no general line of hatred for MacDonald reflected in The Clarion immediately following the Crisis; he was considered to have been " heroic" but " unwise," '141 and 2) there is a subtle indication. as to why the Webb-Henderson leadership and the far-left stayed together and did not break the Party into two parts, one a moderate-labor faction following MacDonald, and the other a straight Socialist Party.

The high tensile' common bond of these two ill matched factions is discoverable in the direction taken by the Fabian Socialist mouthpiece: The aim and the job of Socialists must now be not to " get the Capitalists out of the mess," but to exert all energies for SocialislTIand one day a majority Government. It did not then matter that back in July the Hoover Moratorium had been hailed as so " simple" and so " just" a " miracle" 'which gave the world back its confidence because it had " given Capitalism a breathing space "-like Russia's Five-Year Plan. 142 Now there was to be no 140 Ibid. (November, 1931), 312. '141 The Clarion,111:9 (September, 1931),254. 142 The Clarion, 111:7 (July, 1931), 194. This item had also argued that the Austro-German tariff union had been made necessary by the Versailles in equities and that France must now at least accept the moratorium. But the leadership which now the left-wing followed had sided with France against 540 Fabianism in the Political Life of Britain 1919-1931 quarter for Capitalists. The" floor" of wages was the point upon which the division, MacDonald-Snowden against the rest took place. The rigidity of the wage scale had become a crowbar to wreck Capitalism.

The decision taken by the leadership to repudiate MacDonald the head but not the leader-was taken to save the Movement. Offered a standpoint of pure Socialism, the left-wing which had really been more critical of the other moderates than of Mac Donald went with the Fabian leadership. Why did the Trade Unions not break away? The Party leadership kne~ well by now that they would not. There had been a rehearsal after all. When enticed by the Cole-Mosley novelties, the nearly 4,000,000 Trade Unionists had followed Bevin in solidarity and shunned the" New Party." Why did' Bevin follow a lead labelled Socialism, when Trade Unionism is by nature capitalistic? It will be recalled that Bevin had fought the acceptance of Government by the Party when it did not command a majority. It might well be that he preferred to a " Labour" Government the bargaining position of a Party in Opposition, and that a Tory Government suited his purposes by favoring business. The possibility of "the conquest of a mere majority," Laski's step to revolution or civil war was indeed remote in 1931. The Party was saved by a slogan of Socialism. It was saved only in order to save the Movement. If the leadership offered. the return to first principles and the restatement of Social ism sincerely, in order to shepherd the left-wing flock, it was articu lating the COlumon bond which would draw them toward the destruction of the "whole system." If it acted with a view presently to keep the segments of the Party together, it aimed at the ultimate rule of the One-Party, by means of the Movement. The British Fabian is not a gradualist without a goal. That goal is not the survival of Capitalism nor the protection of any agency which defends its own right to exist independently of the State.

That is why The Clarion Fabians did not study fiscal problems, did Austria. Over a year before, Mrs. Hamilton' had narrated with complete satisfaction the success of MacDonald in winning American sympathy for the Labour Government and in creating sentiment in the United States against an "isolated war "-presumably against depression. cr. The Clarion, 11:3 (March, 1930), 69.

Conflict of Incongruities 541 not fall in behind the Prime Minister. The Labourite memoirs of the period are unanimous that the Movement stood firm as a rock. Having counted but 6,000,000 voters, they said this. They had only lost the floating vote and that could be re-won. People could always be induced to imagine that by voting Labour they were voting reform. Six million were enough to form cadres. Laski complained of "brilliant secrecy." There are some facts which make the need for secrecy understandable. The son of that great financial expert, A. E. Davies, had reported, boastingly, in his monthly that he had a leak from the Cabinet. It seemed a bit imprudent of him since he was an associate of the ex-Prime Minister's Fabian son, Oliver Baldwin.us The informant could have been Mr. Weir. Davies revealed that he had this leak at the time when after he had revealed the effort of the Party in Parlia ment to control the Cabinet through the Consultative Committee, it was said that they had called Thomas' "bluff." Thomas had offered the alternatives: ten percent" cuts "--or tariffs. If the ultimate proposal regarding the fiscal problem had been leaked to the Fabian Socialist publication, the furor would have been aston ishing and' the results confusing. The Fabian press was not ostensibly backing the Bevin-Citrine devaluation ideas. The Beaverbrook-Rothermere Press, though it was not preaching de valuation was coming near to achieving it by calculated reports.

Concerning England's financial state, the Baldwin-MacDonald understanding with George V had to· be brilliantly secret. But in October, two months after the Crisis, Davies said MacDonald had believed his duty lay in the direction he had taken. 144 This too might have COlne from a Cabinet leak, even from a page out of Chamberlain's Diary. Even so, Davies also remarked that Mac Donald ,vould now be " unsafe" at the National Labour Club and 148 The Clarion, III :10 (October, 1931),283. 144 To read the tetter which MacDonald sent to Thomas in February 1930, refusing to accept the latter's resignation when Mosley had gone over his head with quasi-fascist schemes, is to learn that the Prime Minister's princi.. pal consideration was the national safety-u national interest "--even then. With this motive he obliged Thomas to carry on, and he called.Mosley and Strachey to his office for advisement upon their misbehavior. Cf. Thomas, OPt cit., p. 172. II None of us is in a positionnow to follow our feelings;we must endure however hard the road may be!' 542 Fabianism in the Political Life of Britain 1919-1931 that at the 1917 Club, the haunt of Intellectuals, discussion about Russia exclusively had ceased. Yet even the revolutionary Jenny Lee, along with Jimmy Maxton, maintained that MacDonald had had no other alternative. He had saved Capitalism from crum bling. Miss Lee stoutly maintained that the only real alternative, was revolutionary Socialism; and, it would seem, they were not ready for it.145 The need for brilliant secrecy was twofold: Fabian press agents had a "leak"; wiser heads knew Labour's Left could not be taken into confidence.

This was the time when " Fabians Resolve [d] the Crisis" with a Summer .School headed by Lord Passfield; also, when the "opponents of the National' Government," Barbara Wootton, A. E. Davies, Norman Angell, S. K.Ratdiffe, H. J. Laski, the youngest, and "of course" G. B. Shaw, the eldest, discussed "Capitalism in Dissolution "-nothing from the Fabians about' reassembling the Party, rallying to the political field, adjusting the platform to public opinion. The Fabians went into retreat like religious to study the first principle and foundation of their pro fessed Socialism. That was how they "resolved the Crisis." 146 A very significant note crept into the end of the report: The Re porter had learned, doubtless from his source in the Cabinet. or its environs, that the Reverend James Burr,t41 head of the Consulta tive Committee, had been the one who" called Jimmy's bluff" (by choosing no " cuts" and no tariffs) ; that eight of the Ministers led by Henderson had opposed cuts in unemployment benefits.u8 The story about Burr's interference indicates the attempt to 145 The Clarion,III:9 (September, 1931),255.

148 Ibid. 141 There were several Protestant ministers who were Labour M.P.'s; Henderson was an ex-minister. Burr replaced the demoted Scurr. 148 It can be learned from Thomas himself that it was clear that Hender son and his. followers had in mind the votes they might lose in an election thought to be imminent. That· Thomas was bitterly disliked in a small circle makes it imperative that he be heard. No one worked harder to "rationalize" and to increase both industrial production and colonial trade. Noone received less assistance from his colleagues. Lord Snowden testified to the soundness of Thomas' ideas (cf. Snowden, Ope cit., II, pp. 775 f) but averred Thomas would need to be a dictator to succeed in getting coopera tion from employers or workers.

Conflict of Incongruities 543 direct the Cabinet to the ends of the Parliamentary Labour Party.149 This would, besides developing a force outside of the machinery necessary for Liberal cooperation, revolutionize the Parliamentary system as practiced in Britain since Walpole's day, the system which supported "Ministerial Responsibility." Lord Ponsonby had written of a (( machine that will work" and currently Shaw was talking about forces developed outside of Parliament which were building up strength to reduce to desuetude the negative re actionary thing that Parliament was by its nature. His infornlant told Davies that the National Government was " sprung" without giving time for alternatives to be suggested or compromise to be reached. But the idea of a National Govern ment could not but have been in the back of the Cabinet Members' minds. It had been mooted among themselves and in the Press for some time. It is this question which points to Weir, Mac Donald's Parliamentary Private Secretary, as .the possible in formant of The Clarion's reporter; Davies divulged the source when he told, under the heading" Betraying the PM," 150 that he was reading the "yet unpublished Memoirs of a friend of mine well known in London circles." The story here told with argu ment inspired by animus toward MacDonald' is identical with the story, argument and animus in Weir's Tragedy of Ramsey MacDonald. These memoirs had been written in 1922. Weir stayed in MacDonald's office until 1931. These memoirs, even as Weir's later book, traced the history of the idea of a National Government as far back as 1911. Lord Haldane had been present when representatives of the Conservative and Liberal Parties had suggested such a Government and MacDonald had then agreed to join a Cabinet so formed. The comment does not show that in 1911 the reason for acceptance of such a suggestion was" permeation,"

concerning which there could have been differences as to method. We have seen how even in 1929 there was a real question as to whether Labour should join forces with the Conservative or with the Liberal Party. Chatnberlain's part in persuading Mac Donald to make the decision he made in 1931 has been noted. It 14:9 Ibid. lao The Clarion, III :12 (December, 1931),339 f.

544 Fabianism in the Political Life of Britain 1919-1931 remains to add that Churchill 151 later wrote: " Certainly during the summer I had talked to MacDonald· about a national administration and he had shown some interest." Stanley Baldwin, who,as Keith Feiling says, preferred to be in a position to give advice rather than to take action, and who, Churchill says, was the real ruler of England during these years, suggested a National Government to MacDonald and Henderson. The latter refused offhand. It was Baldwin no doubt, of all the advisors, who best knew the King's mind. Henderson doubtless expected a dissolution and an election in which that Party would win the far-left vote which. had refused to cut the unemployed benefits. He must have been certain that even if elected with a nlandate for Socialism, the Party would have found· itself either in conflict with the backbench mentality or in servitude to it. It was not desirable to win, only to unify or keep the command of the socialist-labour cadre. Henderson, it would seem, did not assume as Harold Laski did) that the forces of "property," or the "investing class" would go into revolt and confront an elected Labour Party with civil war. Henderson also had some insight into the King' smind and knew how far he could go after coming into conflict with the King's right to choose a royal favorite to form a Government, the point at which a Socialist majority should logically go into revolt. Henderson's" Party"

would get its revolution without either civil war or revolt if it kept "the Movement" intact. His mind is best judged by· his action in 1923 when he .saw the Baldwin approach to Protection and seized the challenge with," We'll get an election out of this." The Fabian Society went with Henderson. If he had followed Mac Donald, England would have reverted to a political complexion half Tory, half Whig. The unions and the agitators would have been liberated, to exert influence on either side at their choice. In October, Mrs. Hamilton who had written two very friendly biographies of MacDonald broke publicly with him.152 The Clarion readers were told that she who spoke" pure Socialism" and Doctor Addison who was popular with the backbenches were the" only distinguished" Labour I'll. P.'s now. (The Laski-taught 151 Churchill, The Gathering Storm, p. 36. 152 The Clarion, III :10 (October, 1931), 283. Her biographies were pa tently campaign literature.