Additional Number of Land Forces.

Part of Orders of the Day — Supply. – in the House of Commons at on 18 April 1921.

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Photo of Mr David Lloyd George Mr David Lloyd George , Caernarvon District of Boroughs

The hon. Gentleman who has just sat down always contributes to the Debates in this House in a spirit of great moderation, with very accurate information and knowledge with regard to the topic under debate. He is always very full of practical suggestions and therefore his speeches are worthy of very special attention on the part of those who have to deal with the problem under consideration. Before I come to the latter and the more helpful part of his speech, he will allow me just to refer to the first part of his remarks, in which he follows criticisms which have been directed against the action of the Government in reference to the raising and maintenance of exceptional forces. I am very anxious not to say anything which would be in the least provocative, but, at the same time, it is essential that I should defend the action of the Government in that respect. Why did the Government adopt these exceptional measures? Because, as my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer has already pointed out, we had to meet very exceptional conditions. I have seen many trade disputes in this country and I have taken part in endeavours to settle a good many; but there never has been a trade dispute where there were at the outset so many rather novel and sinister elements to deal with.

There were three absolutely new elements with which we were confronted. The first was that it was a dispute which challenged a definite decision of Parliament. Parliament had decided to decontrol. The first demand put forward was practically a reversal of that decision. That was a change in the whole character of trade disputes. The purpose of the ordinary trade dispute is to ask for increased wages or to protest against decreased wages, or to improve the conditions of labour either in respect of hours or otherwise, but this was, for the first time, a dispute which put in the forefront of its demands a reversal of a decision arrived at by Parliament. That constituted a very serious new departure in the character of the dispute.

The second new element, and a very dangerous element, with which we had to deal was the decision taken by the Miners' Federation for the first time not to adopt the necessary measures to save the mines. [An HON. MEMBER: "They were locked out."] I am not arguing whether it was right or wrong, but I am just pointing out that there were new elements; I am very anxious not to argue, because that would involve going back upon a controversy which happily is closed. The third point was the organisation, or rather the threat, of a general strike, which for the first time matured even to the point which it had reached before it finally was abandoned.

Those were three very threatening elements which had never before been in- troduced into any great struggles in this country, and of which we were bound to take notice. If we had neglected to do so we should have failed in the elementary duty of Government. It is all very well to say that it turned out to be unnecessary. I wonder whether it would have turned out to be unnecessary if it had not been done. I will tell hon. Members what I mean. The vast multitude of the workmen of this country are opposed to anything in the nature of disorder—the vast multitude. They will admit—in fact, there is no one who has more reason to complain of the fact than they have—that there is a small element whose sole means of achieving their end is a. revolution. It is a small body, but it does exist. Those who interfered with the pumping of the mines in Fifeshire and in Midlothian were a very small percentage of the miners, but there is always in every country a second body of men. They are not revolutionaries; they are against revolution, because they are temperamentally opposed to it, and because their common-sense teaches them that it is not the surest method of achieving their end, but if the revolutionary elements succeed up to the point of making the prospect of success a reasonable one, they have no constitutional objection. That is a larger body, and therefore it is essential that the revolutionary elements should not succeed up to the point which would induce the second and the larger body of men to join them, and that is always what a Government must bear in mind. You may over-insure, and the worst that happens is an Estimate. If you under-insure, what is the worst that would happen? Therefore, I had rather stand at this box to defend over-insurance than underinsurance, when you have the condition of things with which we were possibly confronted about a week or a fortnight ago.

We were not the only people who were using the word revolution. There were moderate men amongst the Labour people who were equally afraid of it. They were just as frightened as we were of the possibility, and under those circumstances it was a good thing for Labour itself that we should make it clear to the wilder elements in this country that we had resources that were adequate to deal with a situation like that. It forced even those elements to depart from any plan or scheme or idea they had in their minds that there was the slightest possibility of success along those lines. I believe that this display of force, this display of the readiness of the community to defend itself against anything in the nature of sabotage, anything in the nature of an attack upon property, anything in the nature of an attack upon the established institutions of the country, was in itself a useful demonstration and calculated in the long run to help the reasonable elements in the Labour party, who have got their fight, who have had it, as anyone can see, for months, for years. It would help them to triumph that there should be that knowledge of the determination of the community to defend itself against all these ultra-constitutional methods of achieving an end. I think it necessary to say that.

My hon. Friend (Mr. Hartshorn) has referred to cases where, in his judgment, it is not necessary any longer to display this force. He knows that the civil authority down there in Glamorganshire is a purely democratic one. It is elected in the main by workmen, and if the civil authority down there is of opinion that it is not necessary to have the support of the forces of the Crown, they have only got to make representations in the usual way. We do not want to thrust military aid upon a civil authority that has come to the conclusion that it is no longer necessary, but as long as they think it is necessary it would be a great mistake to withdraw it and to precipitate disturbances. My hon. Friend must have seen the report in the South Wales papers to-day of meetings that were held yesterday—and I am not sure whether they wore not held on Saturday—where resolutions were carried in favour of recurring to the old plan of refusing to pump the mines. I do not know whether that represents anything like a body of opinion in South Wales, but until we are completely reassured on that subject it would only encourage those elements to go on passing those resolutions, and the step from resolution to action is a very short one when a strike is on. In the interests of himself and of those whom he represents, the reasonable and common-sense people down there, I do not think it would be desirable, unless the civil authority are of that opinion, prematurely to withdraw this demonstration of force. My hon. Friend who spoke earlier in this Debate (Major Morgan) represents moderate opinion, and he considers that it is not necessary, but, if it is not, he admitted that there was nothing provocative in the attitude of the forces of the Crown in that area. On the contrary—and I think the hon. Member for Abertillery (Mr. G. Barker) also said the same thing—he said that they were fraternising, and that there was the best feeling among them.