Bapton Books' Lessons from history for 10 July 212

7/31/2019 Bapton Books' Lessons from history for 10 July 212

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BAPTONBOOKS

Todays lessons from history:

10 July 2012

Lessons from 1912, 1940, and 1941

on

Crony capitalism; reform of the House of Lords; the Anlican crac!"up;

and the lost dinity of the #pea!ership of the House of Commons

from

$ar!ham #ha% &yle, Fools, Drunks, and the United States: August 12, 1941

'Ama(on )#* Ama(on )+* &aperac!-

.$/ /emyss, The Confidene of the !ouse: "a# 194$

'Ama(on )+* Ama(on )#* &aperac!-

and

/emyss &yle, %hen That &reat Shi' %ent Do(n:

the legal and 'olitial re'erussions of the loss of )"S itanic

'Ama(on )#* Ama(on )+* &aperac!-
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On the Anglican crack-up:

Fools, Drunks, and the United States: August 12, 1941:

n 191, most of the &rotestant mainline churches had een aainst American entry into %ar, at

least until the 3immerman eleram had olted them into the sort of shoc!ed and mournful affront

so common to the o5erly pious and )nco .uid %hen they reali(e they5e een had 'and y a

rifter %ho couldnt ha5e conned a reasonaly riht fi5e"year"old out of a lollipop, at that-6 7n the

denominations that had split into 8orthern and #outhern ranches in the 1:0s and 10s, the #outhern

synods or presyteries or %hat ha5e you had tended to e more pro"Allied, then, in the tradition of the


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On the Speakership of the ouse of !ommons:

The /on"idence o" the %ouse: 0a 194:

o e the #pea!er of the House of Commons, the Dirst Commoner in the land, %as, $r

#pea!er considered, a Fueer anomaly the mere ser5ant of the House and yet its master and

o5ernor, the Dirst Commoner of the realm yet %holly sumered in the anonymity of office,

a familiar face %holly o5ershado%ed y the immemorial %i, a name susumed in a title6 7t %as the

role and duty of a #pea!er to efface himself E unimainale that he should call attention to himself in

his personal capacity, or ma!e statements to the &ress, or appear in ne%sreels as anythin sa5e a silent

hierarchical fiure processin %ied and o%ned upon some #tate occasion E to efface himself in his

office so that, as occasion ser5ed and time reFuired, he miht impose his %ill, the %ill of his office and

not of his indi5idual self, upon the House6

T

7t fell to E indeed it fell hea5y upon E the #pea!er, after all, to ma!e certain rulins e5en, than!fully

rarely, to name and to punish and perhaps e5en to e>pel hon6 $emers %ho had offended aainst the

House6 herefore %as it necessary that he e a cipher in a %i and o%n, $r #pea!er and no sinle

man, the temporary incarnation of the #pea!ership, %hose rulins and discipline %ere impersonal as

they %ere impartial, and i5en out not y one man %ith one mans passions and personal leanins, ut,

rather, y $r #pea!er, the office that endures thouh those %ho fill it are as rass6


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On ouse of "ords #reform $or% &f !'% aldane% (rey% S)uiffy% *inston% and the (oat couldnt

s)uare the circle% +ho in ,uggery does ick !legg% +ith his Si.th /orm sink school de,ating

society nostrums% think he is% to do so:

+hen That *reat Shi( +ent Do#n:

he &arliament Act 1911 %hich emasculated the Lords had E typically of a Lieral ill in the

ae after .ladstone E een at once practical and starry"eyed, and, aain typically, it had not

een %ithout its tincture of humu6 #ir @d%ard .rey %as, as Dorein #ecretary, incisi5e

and clear"thin!in as ecame one of =arins E Lord Cromers E protGGs ; ut his romantic Lieralism

had come too much to the fore %hen he had charmed Cainet and the &$ into insertin, in the

preamle of %hat ecame the &arliament Act 1911, the fateful statement that

T

it is intended to su*stitute for the !ouse of .ords as it at 'resent e/ists a Seond Cha+*er

onstituted on a 'o'ular instead of hereditar# *asis, *ut suh su*stitution annot *e

i++ediatel# *rought into o'eration0 and (hereas 'roision (ill reuire hereafter to *e +ade *#

3arlia+ent in a +easure effeting suh su*stitution for li+iting and defining the 'o(ers of the

ne( Seond Cha+*er, *ut it is e/'edient to +ake suh 'roision as in this At a''ears for

restriting the e/isting 'o(ers of the !ouse of .ords-

&ractically, this Fui>otic aspiration has ede5illed =ritish politics for the succeedin century6 @ither

the )pper House is popularly elected, or it is not6 7f it is, then the loss of the Lords 5eto, and the

practical impossiility of restrictin to memers of Commons the opportunity to ecome prime

minister, are no loner supportale, althouh it %as precisely to secure these ends that the Act %as put

throuh6 7t %as felt necessary that it *eput throuh ecause the Lords in 1909 comprised a permanent

Conser5ati5e and )nionist ody that simply %ould not cease to loc! Commons leislation that %as

not either introduced or accepted y the Conser5ati5e and )nionist &arty6 et if the )pper House is not

to e elected, it can e composed only either of hereditaries and life peers, or y appointment y the

o5ernment of the day in the latter case especially recreatin the prolems of 1909, in %hich an

outoin ministry of one party can create a maority in the appointed )pper House that may and shall

then th%art as much as possile the ne% ministry as put in place y the people in a eneral election6

And as Carson %as so soon to say %ith scorn in replyin to the Home


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On crony capitalism% 'arclays% "&'O% Solyndra% and 3r O,ama generally:

+hen That *reat Shi( +ent Do#n:

he only colourale arument aainst capitalism is the eha5iour of capitalists, as the

arument aainst the Church is the eha5iour of Christians6 7n the first instance, at anye5ent 'theoloy ein out%ith the scope of this %or!-, the eha5iour of capitalists that

rins capitalism into disrepute is precisely not capitalistic eha5iour6 he reat enemy of crony

capitalism is the true capitalist6 et the un"capitalistic eha5iour of capitalists E heretical, as it %ere,

eha5iour E is the result of po%erful temptations, difficult to resist and specially so for the larer

concerns, =i =usiness6

The larer the usiness concern, the more fa5ouraly it reards, despite its loud ut 'ro for+a

protests, o5ernmental reulation6

After all, the o5ernmental reulations estalishin a minimum standard of eha5iour or safety or

%hat ha5e you, ine5italy ecome the ma>imum standard, and a defence in la%6 he politicians and

ureaucrats %ho estalish these reulations are either nescient in the technical aspects of the matter, in

%hich case they are amenale to ein uided and informed y the e>pertise of industry, or, if they are

themsel5es technically informed, are amenale to remunerati5e positions in that industry %hen they

shall ha5e left their ill"payin o5ernment posts6 7n either case, reulatory capture is fatally easy for a

maor industry and its larer concerns6

All reulation acts as a dra upon commerce ut there are al%ays loopholes, commonly inserted y

the reulated industry in the process of reulatory capture and political influence, and they are carefully

desined to e e>ploited and e>ploitale only y the lare corporations that possess the %here%ithal to

deploy men of la%, chartered accountants, and loyists y the do(en6 Dor a lare corporation,

o5ernment is an annoyance it is not the enemy6 he enemy is competition, and particularly upstart

competition6 7t is %ith usiness concerns as it is %ith ships si(e matters6 @5en as 5l#+'i and Titani

could upset smaller 5essels in their %a!es, a lare company can e>ploit reulation to cripple a smaller6

A lare ship, of considerale urthen and drauht, %ith its centre of ra5ity %ell elo% the %aterline,

can pass throuh currents and %inds that lihter 5essels are %rec!ed y6 A reulatory scheme that

reduces a lare companys di5idend y tuppence can cripple and an!rupt three smaller firms, therey

protectin the lare corporation from their %ould"e competitors inno5ation, in5ention, superior

customer ser5ice, and competiti5e reduction in price6

=i =usiness also naturally enoys the enefits of crony capitalism, %ith the #tate in its poc!et and

contrari%ise a commercial protection rac!et to %hich o5ernments of a 5auely Leftist stripe are


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peculiarly and specially prone6 If course =i =usiness ma!es the appropriate noises, and rails and

screams aainst oppressi5e reulation J all the %ay to the an!6

7n this is the enesis of all trusts and anti"competiti5e arranements6

Documents

Bapton Books' Lessons from history for 10 July 212