The Social Crediter, Saturday, July 20, 1940.

THE SOCIAL CREDITERFOR POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC REALISM

Vol. 4. No. 19. Registered at G.P.O. as a NewspaperPostage (home and abroad) Id,

6d. Weekly.SATURDAY, JULY 20, 1940.

RED BOLSHEVISM OR BROWN?'By JOHN MITCHELL

Hopes that the fortunes of France Papen, a Hugenberg or a Juan March.'had at last reached the aid of honest and Transfer these conditions to our own soilnot untalented hands in control of the and it is clear that no section of ourFrench Government have-been shattered. people, whatever their motives, can hopeGeneral Weygand's influence has waned. for anything but annihilation if theyCommenting on this a former editor of accept Hitler's 'honourable peace.'"Petit Parisien wrote in the Sunday Times The people of Great Britain are irion July 14: - no doubt of the menace of Brown

. "~he future now rests with the Bolshevism. But, of its ally Red Bolshev-triumvirate of General Weygand, M. ism, which with the aid of Masonry andBaudouin, and M. Laval in the Petain High Finance, has in other countries soCabinet. Petain himself can be disregard- effectively laid down the red carpet fored as a mere figurehead. the invader, it remains merely suspicious.

. "As for the triumvirate, how soon The leader writer in the Dailywill one of them oust the other two? Mirror on July 12 wrote:

"Less than a month ago many bets "This week-end of the: great~ould. have. been on G~neral W~ygand, festival of dead Republican France, wemcludm~ ~IS own. ~IS sugges~on for shall see two senile Royalist Generals,an armIs.tlCe was quickly c~rrled. far one renegade Socialist, a handful ofbeyond hIS own honourable mtentions, international financiers and a crook ad-and when ru: hea~d the terms favo~ed by venturer of considerable wealth, engaged,M. Ba~doUln, dlscoura~emel!t dId. ~e under Hitler, in assassinating all liberty,rest. HIS .one st;ong pOll~t If ~~bItlOn and, if possible, all culture in France.tempts him, WIll be hIS pOSItIOnas .Commander-in-Chief of the army which "'!et the C~atrman of Veteranrespected but did not love him" Motonsts [Lord Ehbank] can assert that

Th 'E f nki'· d" tr I France's imprisoned or persecutedenemy 0 rna n IS u y .. blb' . Communists killed France! Fee e-u IqUltOUS. minded Communist policy was powerful

T_heEconomist of July 12 makes the. enough to do that!following comment: - "Wh' . d i full f f"Thus the defeat of France has a en a man s nun IS 0 earbitter lesson for any in this country who he sees 'red' everywhere.might be tempted by mistaken patriotism "In this country, if an aged General,or selfish interest to preach a military a doddering Admiral and a few bigcapitulation. The Nationalists - the bankers sold us, as France was sold, toWeygands, the Petains-s-who loved Hitler, they would say that they did it to

. France sincerely and wished to spare her avoid revolution. They would then besuffering, have destroyed her liberty and plundered and shot by the Nazis.sacri~~ed her soil in a vain atte~pt. to "What of that? Better be shot by theconciliate the conqueror. The capitalists rich than face a 'disturbance' by theand politicians-the Baudouins, Prouvosts people!and Lavals-may have purchased a " hi f f' I'"respite from "Reg revolution" but only . T IS ~sane ear or revo.utIon ISat the cost of placing their country at the a mortal penl to all free countnes.revolutionary mercy of Brown Bolshev- "It led our former im?ecileism. Their lease of political life will be Government of crusty-country loonies toas short and inglorious as that of a Von hand Spain over to our enemies. It has

betrayed France, through the Banque deFrance gang of concealed bullies. It maybetray America through the influence ofBig Business-rescued from its ownfollies by President Roosevelt. It maybetray us.

"If our Ministry of Information hereis really going to buck up at last andstart 'an urgent and intensive campaign'to organise a Silent Column, and anattack on chatterbugs, let it not omit toinclude, amongst futile panic-mongers,the shivering rumourists of 'revolution.' "

In Great' Britain we have the RightPress whitewashing the bankers and theLeft Press whitewashing the Communists.Both of them are the mortal enemies ofthe British people. Both of them under-mined France. There is a grave dangerthat the Silent Column will act as theirshield.

• ••FEDERAL UNION

A front page article in the ChristianScience Monitor of May 20, 1940, bearsthe headline "Europe 'Federalized' byNazis is Berlin Post-Victory Plan."

ON OTHER PAGES

"The Gorged Python"by T. J.

"European Background (II)"by Norman Webb

"Dead Centre ?',by B. M. Palmer

"M.Ps. Criticise the Policyof the Banks".

Page 2 THE SOCIAL OREDITER

DIARY OF EVENTS(Military events are recorded in italics, poljtical events in ordinary type.)

JULY 4--:-Mr. Churchill announced in the House of Commonsthat Britain had seized a considerable part of theFrench Fleet. The French commanders were givenseveral alternative lines of action including de-militarisation of their ships, or their intern-ment in the United States of America or theWest Indies. Failing acceptance of these termsthe British would use force to prevent the shipsfalling into German hands. At British ports twobattleships, two light cruisers, some submarines andmore than 200 other vessels were taken over by theBritish with the loss of two lives. At Oran, inNorth Africa, the French Admiral refused to acceptBritish proposals, and the British Vice-Admiralopened fire disabling the battle-cruiser "Dunkerque"and damaging the battle-cruiser "Strasbourg"sinking two destroyers, and setting the seaplanecarrier "Teste" on fire.The oil pipe supply from Mosul through FrenchSyria has been diverted to Haifa.T he British liner "Arandora Star" with 1,500 aliens(Germans and Italians) on board, on their way toCanada for internment, was torpedoed and sunk bya German U-boat.

JULY 5-Marshal Petain's government, now at Vichy,decided to break off diplomatic relations withBritain. It issued an account of the British attackon the French Fleet omitting the offer to permitwarships to be interned in the West Indies or theU.S.A~There was an air-raid on Gibraltar. Germansources stated that the raiders were French bombersthat had not yet been demilitarised.

JULY 6-The Government announced that British aeroplaneshad laid a minefield extending the entire length ofthe German Baltic, Norway, and North Sea coasts.

JULY 7-The French Fleet at Alexandria was demobilisedamicably.

JULY 8-Successful action was taken by British Navy toprevent the battleship "Richelieu" falling intoenemy hands. The greater part of the French Fleetwas then assured from being used by the Germans.Mr. De Valera declared Eire's determination topreserve neutrality and resist attacks by Germany orBritain.Great Britain informed Japan that it would not closethe Burma road to China to arms for China.

Saturday, July 20, 1940.

(July 4 -- July 15)

JULY 9-The Japanese Government expressed their deep dis-satisfaction over the British reply to their request,and urged the British Government to reconsidertheir reply.Tea rationing began. Margarine will be rationed ina fortnight's time.

JULY 10-Lord Beaverbrook has appealed to the women ofBritain to give their aluminium pots and pans to theMinistry of Aircraft Production.More .coin was in circulation than at any previoustime in British history.Conversations between Japan and Britain werecontinuing.

JULY ll-The abandonment of the purchase tax was urgedby the Association of British Chambers of Com-merce in a discussion of the Purchase Tax Bill withGovernment representatives.

JULY 12-The Government announced that evacuation ofchildren abroad would be postponed, as the respons-ibility for taking the risk of the ships' beingtorpedoed was too great.

JULY 13-The United States Department of State and Justicehave relaxed immigration regulations with respectto children from Britain and other war zones.

JULY 14-Mr. Churchill, in a broadcast speech, re-iteratedthe British determination to continue the fight at allcosts, even if it meant resisting the enemy street bystreet through the towns and villages.

JULY IS-It was announced that the registration of allCanadian citizens over 16 will probably begin on~qgust 19.Marshal Petain's scheme for the government ofFrance was described as aiming to restore theFrench provinces of the Monarchy as administrativeregions, and encouraging them to develop alongtheir own lines. The Senate will consist of memberssome of whom will be appointed by the Chief ofthe State, others to be chosen from among promin-ent Frenchmen and yet others to be elected. Bydecree, M. Laval has been made successor toMarshal Petain should the latter not be able to takeup his functions.

During the days under reoiezo constant and successfulair-raids have been made by the R.A.F. on German militaryobjectives, particularly those zohich. might be used in anyinvasion of England. German aeroplanes have also been overEngland every day.

M.REYNAUDThe rumour (which reached some of

the newspapers) that M. Reynaud was inAmerica seems to have been a distortionof Marshal Petain's offer to make himambassador from protected France to theUnited States. M. Reynaud refused thisappointment, and later, according to theHavas agency, had a very seriousmotor accident. He was able, however, toattend the meeting of the Chamber ofDeputies at Vichy.

"TAX-BONDS or BONDAGE and. THE ANSWER TOFEDERAL UNION" by John Mitchell

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Saturday, July 20, 1940. THE SOCIAL CREDITER Page 3

JJ

NEWSFRANCE IN THE GERMAN ORBIT

Of the re-arrangement of the Petaingovernment in France and its newconstitution The Times of July 15 says:

"The new French Ministry containsfour non-Parliamentarians, MM. Alibert,Baudouin, Bouthillier, and Caziot; fourmembers of the armed forces (besidesMarshal Petain), General Weygand,General Colson, Admiral Darlan, andGeneral Pujo; three Senators, MM.Laval, Mireaux, and Lemery; and threeDeputies, MM. Marquet, Ybarnegaray,and Pietri,

"The decree appointing M. Lavalsuccessor to Marshal Petain as Chief ofState, should the Marshal not be in aposition to take up his functions beforethe ratification of the new Constitution,lays down that if M. Laval should in histurn be prevented, his successor shall beappointed by the Council of Ministers, bya majority of seven votes.

"Marshal Petain's scheme to put anend to the excessive centralization whichgave Paris such predominance in thecountry and which denied any initiativeto other regions, is said to aim at restor-ing the French provinces of theMonarchy as administrative areas, and atencouraging them to develop on theirown lines, without continuous interferencefrom Paris. The provincial Governorsare to represent the central Government,and will not only be the liaison betweenthe province and the Government, butwill also form a sort of State Council.

"The Senate is to be maintained. Apart of its members, it is understood, areto be appointed by the Chief of theState. Others are to be chosen fromamong prominent personalities in thescientific, political, and diplomatic world,and those who have rendered services toagriculture, trade, and industry. Othersyet are to be elected according to asystem which has not yet been fixed. TheLower House is to be corporative,possibly on the Portugese pattern.Provincial assemblies may be created andtrade unions are expected to disappear, atleast in their present form.

"M. Lebrun, the retiring President,has stated that he intends to live the life

~ of a plain citizen....~

"Every French soldier, on demobil-ization, is to be given a bonus of 1,000f.(not more than £5), of which 200£. will

& VIEWS

be paid at once and the remainder later,under conditions to be fixed by theCabinet. The Minister of Finance hasinformed the banks that all Treasurybonds, in particular armament bonds, willbe redeemed when they fall due as wellas interest coupons on loans and bondsissued or guaranteed by the State. Theexchange value of the franc will no longerbe fixed at 176i to the £ sterling, but willbe based on the United States dollar, ata rate to be fixed later.

"The projected transfer of the seatof the Government to Versailles isascribed, it is said, to the fact that theGovernment, which preferred to share thenation's fate rather than leave Frenchsoil, propose to carry out their work asnear as possible to the populations whichwill be called upon to suffer most. Thetransfer, if it is made, will be carried outin a spirit of complete autonomy and theGovernment will only move after havingobtained the necessary guarantees forassuring their complete independence andfull freedom for foreign diplomaticmissions, accredited to the FrenchGovernment, to enjoy their rights underinternational law."

• • •M.LAVAL

M. Pierre Laval, who by decree is totake charge of the French State ifMarshal Petain should for any reason beunable to take up his functions before theratification of the new Constitution, is a57-year-old lawyer who started hispolitical career as Mayor of Aubervilliersbecame, in 1914, Socialist Deputy for theSeine. In 1925 he took office as Ministerof Public Works in the PainleveCabinet, and later as undersecretary ofState for the President of the Counciland of Foreign Affairs in the BriandCabinet. Since 1926 he has beenIndependent Senator for the Departmentof Seine. He was Minister of Justice inseveral Briand Cabinets in 1926, Ministerof Labour in 1930 and Prime Ministerand Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1931-32. Subsequently he had many terms ofoffice, mostly to do with affairs abroad,and again held the premiership and theMinistry for Foreign Affairs in 1935-36.In 1934-35 he was a member of theLeague of Nations Council. During the

(continued at the foot of the next column)

LECTURES & STUDIES

NOTICEThe institution of a department of

the Secretariat for organised instruction,followed by examination and certificationof individuals who desired their know-ledge of Social Credit to be tested, wasintended to meet a phase of publiccontroversy which has passed.

The delay which may have beennoticed in carrying out the preparationsfor an examination on a higher standardis an indication of the changingcircumstances.

At no time was the Secretariat's-. willingness to arrange for the examina-

tion of candidates based on considera-tions of an order higher than thestrategical; and certificates issued bearonly the information that those to whomthey have been issued were deemed tohave replied satisfactorily to questionsput to them. But this strategical valueis now thought to have ceased for thetime being, and it has been decided tosuspend further action along these lines.

Certificates will be sent to thoseentitled to the award of them.

In common with the best existent inEngland and abroad we are fighting for"a chance against a certainty," thecertainty being that a victory forGermany would be a victory for thecentralisation of the power of finance:for the centralisation of initiative inhuman society. To that we are implacablyopposed, and for effective oppositionevery ounce of available strength is andwill be needed.

The Lecture CourseThe course of lectures should, it IS

thought, continue to be distributed aswidely as possible, as an introduction tothe serious study of Major Douglas'sbooks and articles.

J. M. B.,Assistant Director, L. & S. Section,

Social Credit Secretariat.

course of the Abyssinian War it was M.Laval who with Sir Samuel Hoaredevised a peace plan to be submitted tothe two combatant nations when itbecame apparent that application of''sanctions' tooil imported by Italy mightcause a European war. Their peace plan,notable for the amount of territory andinfluence which it would cede to Italy,leaked out into the Paris press and causedan uproar in both France and England.

Page 4 THE SOCIAL OREDITER Saturday, July 20, 1940.

DEADBy B. M. PALMER

CENTRE,?

This is not the first time we havebeen brought face to face with a definitesituation needing careful self-adjustment,We have for some years been engaged inwhat we have come to think of as SocialEngineering, and most of us understandthat we must adapt ourselves and ourtools to the problem in hand. We do notexpect the problem to conform to ourpre-conceived ideas of what should be.This, I believe, is the most importantdifference between a Social Crediter anda Socialist or planner.

And what is the situation which wehave to face?

I t has been set before us in the termsof a metaphor which cannot be improvedon. It is as if, during all these years, wehad been pressing the keys on an addingmachine. We are not the only people whohave pressed those keys, but perhaps itwould be correct to say that no othershave pressed them with such persistence,or with more exact knowledge of whatthey were doing.

The period for key-pressing ispassed. The handle is being turned. Nopower on earth can recall the past topress more keys, or to undo what hasbeen done. You cannot wipe out thescore. All you can do is to wait for it.

The result, as yet unknown, will bedelivered by the machine in the usualmanner.

No action we can take can alter theresult; no information we can give otherscan affect it. That particular phase of ourwork is over.

Action on the old lines may injureboth ourselves and the machine.

Thereis, however, no need for us toretire into the background. Nothing isinevitable, and everything we do shouldbe directed to increasing our prestigeas responsible citizens. Character andcreative knowledge (not intellectualknowledge) may be of the greatest valuein the near future. If we can act insuch a way that we command respect, ifour behaviour and bearing in face ofwhat situations may occur are such as toreflect credit upon our own philosophy,if our spoken words are apposite andrealistic, we shall be recognised as menand women who know, and who are ableto accept responsibility at need. Perhapsthe people's most urgent need could besummed up in the words "character and

judgment." Men with these attributescan lead the way out of confusion.

I feel that at first some of us mayfind the adjustment difficult. Are we nolonger to devise openings for discussingthe anomalies in the financial system, ordirect the conversation of those wechance to meet into channels favourableto our point of view, so that they may bestimulated to action? Cannot this bedone at the same time? .

No, for the very simple reason thatit is not a sound engineering principle.You cannot have one objective in viewwhile running another as a sort of side-line. It is like having an industrialsystem for producing goods and services,and at the same time for making morework. Or trying to run a war to savedemocracy, and at the same time to savethe international financial system.

It does not mean, however, that wecannot speak of the things that lienearest our heart when occasion arises,provided we show ourselves as men andwomen of the world, well endowed withthat rarest of qualities, common. ,sense.

"Let your light so shine' beforemen ... "

"Let your communication be yea,yea, nay, nay."

It is a question of being and doing,not of saying, and still less, of persuadingto action.

And the being and doing will con-cern only those things with whicheveryone of us will be concerned.

A parallel might be drawn from thepast. Before 1935 the Social Creditmovement very properly devoted its timeto making quite certain that the policy ofthe fuller life was a practical policy.This involved a close study of technique.But when the Electoral Campaign wasdevised as a mechanism to enable thepublic to impose their will on Parliamentit was necessary to understand that wewere dealing with sanctions or power.We were attempting to arouse the senseof personal sovereignty in the individualvoter. To have confused the issue byattempting to educate the electorate intechnique at one and the same timewould have been just as senseless andharmful as to hit the keys of the addingmachine with a hammer.

If we emerge from the maelstrom on

the right side it will be in a world inwhich many facts, perhaps the majority ~of facts with which we used to conjure willbe as tinkling bells and sounding ~cymbals. It will be a world in whichcharacter and creative knowledge will beabove pearls.

We do not know; let us prepare forthe best. In so doing we shall keep oursanity. Our enemies have prepared forthe worst. Let them go on. They cannot,at their damnedest, take from us what wehave had.'july, 11, 1940.

NO SIGNPOSTSThere are superficial disadvantages,

including the waste of a considerableamount of petrol, involved in the re-moval of signposts and nameplates fromtheir appropriate situations. Butmaybe England is not sorry. Might shenot have been suffering from theconstraint proper to her native folkwhen forced-as sometimes at meetingsor conferences-to label themselvesprominently? And it has shown us thatdoing away with the label 'Preston' doesnot do away with the name 'Preston', stillless with the town, Preston. ~

The road leads to the place it does ~lead to, whether there is a signpost or not,and the lie of the land must be con-sidered carefully before rushing headlongdown any pathway. The country, insteadof existing as a series of dots, labelledneatly and tied loosely together by thestring of roads, takes on its geographicalcharacter again. The web of roads isfilled out by the contour of the land overwhich it is lain. As well as the lanes it isthe fold of the valley that encloses ourvillages and fields and crops in the yellowsunlight of this summer. As wellas the arterial roads, it is the rivers andthe seaboard and the plains that leaddown to the towns, now bristling bravelywith barbed wire and concretepill-boxes. The stems of signpostsblossom flowerless to the sky, withoutmeaning and irrelevant, some fungoidgrowth fostered (like bank premises) onlyon the peculiar virtues of the Corner Site.

Travelling by train becomes a testof vigilance by day as well as by night,and after a long period of being familiarwith everywhere it is once again not onlypossible but imperative to 'explore'.The world is more exciting. Athing must be known by its configuration, ~by its smell (who would not know ~London merely by the zones of smell ~through which one passes on approaching

Saturday, July 20, 1940. THE SOCIAL CREOITER Page 5

Uit?), by its noise and its behaviour; thecontour of the factory, the green hill and

,the gnome-infested back-garden; the~ noise of the sea and the aromatic smell

of the hills in hot weather.To label a thing is to give it the

properties of the label to trail along withits own features. Why did Sir JohnSimon choose the Pembroke village ofStackpole Elidor for his name town whenhe became a viscount, if not to associatewith himself the lily ponds and thefragrant approach to the grim, rockyshores of those parts? Or perhaps hefelt the need of the alias provided by avillage, which, carefree in the possessionof two names, is gravely recorded by theOrdnance Survey Commissioners as"Cheriton or Stackpole Elidor."

"The name of the song," said theWhite Knight, "is called 'Haddocks'Eyes.' " "Oh, that's the name of thesong is it?" Alice said, trying to feelinterested. "No, you don't understand,"the Knight said, looking a little vexed."That's what the name is called. Thename really is 'The Aged Aged Man.'''"Then I ought to have said 'That's whatthe song is called'?" Alice correctedherself. "No, you oughtn't: that's quiteanother thing! The song is called 'Ways

,....; and Means': but that's only what it'scalled, you know!" "Well, what is thesong then?" said Alice, who was by thistime completely bewildered. "I wascoming to that," the Knight said. "Thesong really is 'A-sitting On a Gate': andthe tune's my own invention."

Alice would have been still morebewildered if all the variables had beenexpressed by the same arrangement ofletters, the same word or phrase. Somuch has an arbitrary and inventedrelationship between labels been mistakenfor the description of the behaviour of therealities behind the labels, that any devicewhich enforces the transfer of attentionto the realities themselves is a step in theright direction.

The "Daily Mirror~"and the BanksIn The Daily Mirror of July 11

'Cassandra' wrote the following:Subversively Yours

On July 4 (Independence Day!) Ihad the temerity to publish what Ithought was a relevant piece concerningthe banks.

The gist of it was, that the bankswere not doing their part in this war,and that the usurious principles to whichthey so rigidly adhere, do not make avery inspiring ideal for the soldiers todefend and maintain.

The matter has now been taken upin Parliament. I have been fiercelyattacked by Sir Irving Albery, theConservative Member for Gravesend,who described my article as "extremelyignorant, extremely ill-informed and,with reference to financial matter, sub-versive." This M.P. remarked in passingthat he thought we had in this country thebest banking system which exists.

Who for-the bankers? If so, Iheartily agree.

No attempt was made by Sir IrvingAlbery to deal with any of the points Iraised.

That is not surprising. This 'gtntle-man has been a member of the StockExchange for nearly forty years and nowfrequents the revolutionary precincts ofthe Carlton Club. It is therefore hardlysurprising that suggestions of monetaryreform are distasteful to him.

This assault on your correspondent,however, did not go unchallenged. Mr.J. J. Davidson, the Socialist Member forMaryhill, said:

" ... It is natural that the people inmany parts of the country should expressthe desire that the Chancellor shouldexplain fully and exactly what the banks

are doing regarding the national wareffort.

"As long as the Government. hesi-tate and as long as the Chancellorhesitates to make that point perfectlyclear, so long shall we have these articles,and rightly so, in the public Press."

There are many people who believethat the banks are unambitious organisa-tions, under enlightened administratorswho have not the slightest desire forpower.

A pertinent comment on this wasmade by Lord Novar at the centenarymeeting of the Union Bank of Scotland.

Said his lordship:"Fortunately the real power is still

in the hands of the independent bankswhen they like to combine in the publicinterest."

That's frank enough, anyway!Lloyd George, who did so much to

win the last war, is also under no illusionas to the merits of the banking fraternity:

"I want to urge the Chancelloragain not to be too frightened of the Cityof London. Since the war the City ofLondon has been invariably wrong inadvising the Government. ... Thesemen, who have mishandled this monetaryquestion, not merely advise what to dobut establish a veto on every proposalwhich is made for national development."

To criticise these people just nowmay be inconvenient for them.

\VeIl, I, too, want to win this war,and my desire for victory will bearcomparison with that of Mr. MontaguNorman and his friends. And to be calledsubversive by gentlemen like Sir IrvingAlbery will certainly not deter me.

In fact, I think it is something of acompliment.

The "Sunday Times's" OpinionIn his column in the Sunday Times

'Atticus' makes a delicate-and interest-ing-contrast in comment. Of Air-Marshal C.F.A. Portal, he says:

"As Chief of the Bomber Commandhe is responsible for the hammering ofthe enemy that is going on every day and

~ night. Although by no means lacking in- humanity, he possesses that streak of

~ ruthlessness which is essential to greatcommanders. He is only forty-seven, andwhen one realises that he enlisted in the

ranks in the last war as a despatch riderone has an encouraging proof that abilitywill find its way to the top even in theFighting Services. He won the M.C. anithe D.S.O. in the last war, and now inthe present struggle, he has become anAir-Marshal and a K.C.B."

Then he speaks of Air ChiefMarshal Sir Cyril Newall:

"Over them all, however, is theenigmatic personality of Air ChiefMarshal Sir Cyril Newall. He neither

exudes charm nor vitality. He does notbroadcast or imoress himself either onthe consciousnes~ of the R.A.F. or thenation. He has his champions, but alsohis detractors, who say that the head ofthe R.A.F. should be more glamorous,more dynamic. He listens to yoursuggestions with a poker face, and whenthe interview is over he endures theparting without emotion. But do not besurprised if early next morning an R.A.F.officer calls you on the telephone andsays he would like to go more deeply intothe subject you were discussing last nightwith the Air Chief Marshal."

Page 6 THE SOCIAL OREOITER Saturday, July 20, 1940.

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Saturday, July 20, 1940.

corresponding power to resist all strainsfrom within and in fact from without.The great standing quarrel of our timethroughout all European civilisation andits expansion overseas is the quarrelbetween the proletariat and those whocontrol the means of livelihood. Thisperil to society has created theCommunist movement, which is mostviolent in the great industrial cities of theContinent. This country is the mostindustrialised of all the greater nationsand is yet freest from Communist dis-ruption or decline . . . "

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

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Vol. 4. No. 19.

The GorgedWhatever else may be happening at

the moment, Mister Hitler is behaving,in some respects, like the gorged python.The python is a reptile of enormousstrength which it devotes exclusively tothe maintenance of enormous strength.The stages of this process are clearlymarked: (1) control of the source ofstrength; (2) crushing the source ofstrength; (3) engorgement. Venomoussnakes, of which the cobras which adornthe doors of the Bank of England are anexample, are terrible; but the constrict-ors, of which the python is an example,are terrible and repulsive alternately.Doubtless there are snakes which combinethe disagreeable features of both classes,and Mister Hitler may be one of .them,without being by any means the only one.

There seems some ground forbelieving that the capacity for mischief ofthe gorged reptile is less than of theungorged or the about-to-be-gorged, andthat one may pause a moment before itto examine it at close range.

Mr. 'Belloc has just been doing this;but he has done it less satisfactorily insome respects than in others. He pointsout that the enemy has announced hisconviction that the satisfaction ofmaterial needs is all that the mass of mendesire and is now engaged in satisfyingthe material wants not only of his ownproletariat but of the industrial wageearners in every area he controls. Butthe idea that Mister Hitler, or anyoneelse, presumably, can evade "a universalreaction throughout mankind" to this"absurdly crude simplification," Mr.Belloc dismisses. "Strength," saysMr. Belloc, "is best founded upon arecognition of reality." We should gofarther and say that strength-or, to give::\bstractionism an even wider berth, astrong thing-is, like a weak thing, orany thing at all, a part of reality ornothing.

It will not escape notice that thecogency of this argument rests principallyupon matters of fact; and concerning

The war and everything connected these matters of fact our observation bywith it and contributory to its course and no means coincides with Mr. Belloc's. Itdirection is altogether a matter of does not matter very much where one isrelative strength, and to say anything in this country, there is an absolutelyabout it that is in the least degree likely "uniform" feeling-doubtless not un-to be true involves an accurate assessment connected with the uniformity of selectiveof strengths. Our Social Credit strength is "freedom" conferred on the Press.probably best described as one of the in- And this uniformity may indeed imply atangibles. It may be little and yet kind of unity. But whether it is unity ofsufficient; it may be enormous and yet a desirable kind, or even unity in resist-insufficient. It is a question of the appli- ance to Mister Hitler is another matter.cation. We are not going to commit the . Quite noticeably, it is something whichmistake of going off at half-cock. Having unites with fellows like himself the sortno sanctions of our own, we have got to of man who feels that the whole thing isalign ourselves with the side that has, breaking up-and actually likes theprovided always that that side is with us feeling. This liking of the prospect ofin its real direction, wittingly or un- disintegration is the worst feature. Itwittingly. If there is no such side, the isn't an intellectual matter at all but anbattle's over; we're not going to win. We emotional; which makes it all the morebelieve there is such a side and that certain that mere intellectual convictionvictory awaits it. of its error is not enough to combat it

Whether we are fighting the real without quick and powerful support fromenemy or not at the present moment, we th: .un~onscious. A Zeitgeist (~ Time-are certainly fighting the troops of the real ~PI~It) IS not. a construct of th: mt~llect:enemy, for pan-Germanism, 'High' free- It. IS .som~thmg d:eper. tha_n intelligencemasonry nazi-ism bolshevism are all the WIth Its flickers of illumination; and whensame thlng and Mister Hitler's mon- you are confronted with two "Zeitgeists",strous machine is its effective expression. one real and the other manufactured, asAs M1'. Belloc says, "nothing more we are at present, a~d ~hese two cross-monstrous has appeared in our midst relat:d as to. their intellectual andthroughout all the two thousand years of emot.IOnal constituent parts you seem toour culture." We're fighting something be m for a crash .. Nature do.es r;otmonstrous. Taking account of the state preface her accomplishments WIth m-of national nrenaredness and morale rroductory remarks.we~re ?oing it'rather marvel!ously. The If you base your antagonisms on thepomt IS we have got to do It even more assumption that someone has beenmarvellously, and with great respect to grinding the faces of the poor when, inMr. ?elloc: we sha~l not do that unless fact, someone has been sowing dissensioncertain misconcepnons are removed: by grinding the faces of the rich andmisconceptions which even Mr. Belloc making it - impossible for the rich toshares. enrich anybody, not even themselves, it

"There is no threat," he says, "of is obvious you will find yourself emotion-class war nor any appreciable tendency ally on the side of someone who just lovestowards it. There is no racial division. poverty-all-round. It doesn't mean thatThere is not even any religious division when class cleavage has won poverty-all-upon a scale sufficient to modify the round everybody will like it, anymorehomogeneity of the nation and its than they will like the thing to which

Python

Saturday, July 20, 1940. THE SOCIAL OREDITER

poverty-all-round is just a stepping-stone.The best cultivator of land was thehereditary landowner; but the working-class (particularly in that phase of itsexistence in which an exaggerated andmisapplied notion of class is combinedwith not working at all) hates the land-owner and is quite tolerant of theindustrialist who has ground its face toputty. What could be more symbolicof complete servitude than to hang yourown coat on a rail to be hoisted out ofreach until such time as you may ceasework and put in on again?

The tax-payer now supports greatresearch establishments whose soleobjective is the elaboration of such

devices for divorcing the loss of freedomfrom the resentments which it might beexpected to entail. They call it"industrial psychology." There neverwas a department of "agriculturalpsychology." If the industrialist hasbeen obliged to lay himself open to _ acharge of oppression (as the landownercertainly was) by an over-ruling financialtyranny; he has done it with somethingakin to zest. Class cleavage is anartificial product. If the workers areever going to win anything-and whynot?-they must be sure what they arefighting. No one can say that a race ofmen whose chief relaxation is the thrill ofbacking blood-stock for a place if not for

Page 7

a win while at the same time basing thewhole of its social philosophy on thedoctrine that there's nothing in birth issure of anything. There's crafttnanshipin birth, and, among men, an infinitevariety of craftsmanships-among themthe craftsmanship of establishing acorrect relationship between men as menand men as functionaries. The injunc-tion: "Let him who would be greatestamong you be your servant"is closer tothe truth of that matter than theinjunction to "Get it off someone else."The hand that guided the peasant to getit off the landlord and the bureaucrat toget it off the peasant is the wrong handto play. T. J.

Europ~an Background.

(II) THE GREEK CONTRIBIJTIONBy NORMAN F .. \"WEBB

The modern interpretation of history is purely materialistic. In the world to-day zoe see the results of thisattitude to life as a practical proposition, and no one appreciates them.

These notes represent an attempt to see history from the Christian point of view-the metaphysical, asopposed to the physical interpretations of events.

Historically speaking, nothing ever begins or ends; buthistorians have always been obsessed with a desire to dis-tinguish and label epochs and to trace influences to theirsources, and generally date and document. It is verydifficult wholly to avoid the practice, and possibly not wiseto try; but the point should be made here at the very outset,and kept clear, that such divisions and period are largelyarbitrary and to be regarded more as mental conveniencesthan anything else.

It is easier to assess the Greek achievement than to sayto what extent it has been permitted to influence modernEurope. Classical culture, in combination with Christianity-the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth-is the attributed basisfor the modern, scientific world, and if we do not take thestatement too literally, and give it only provisional weight,it will serve well enough as a point of departure for a briefsurvey of European civilization.

The contribution of Greece to human experiences is verygreat indeed. The Athenian Republic and the Greek citystates generally, represent one of the two almost perfectexamples of a small-scale experiment in social environmentever carried out. The second example (to be examinedlater) is, of course, the Judaic experiment in Palestine, whichmight be better described as an experiment in masspsychology; an imposition, as opposed to the Greek attemptat exposition. The results of the Greek expository methodwere very considerable indeed, no less than the discovery ofdocumented knowledge and-quite as important---of the ideasof Leisure and Liberty. And from Greece, too, came thefirst philosophical expression of the idea that the essence ofthe universe was metaphysical rather than physical.

Intellectually and philosophically Plato was the discover-er of God in the sense of a universal Essence, or Principle.Men had felt and acted, had even thought and reasoned on

these lines long before; great men, like Moses and Isaiah hadprobably experienced far more profound and personalinspiration than Plato, but it was in practical terms of thenation and' the occasion that they thought, which make theuniversal application of their inspiration a matter of extremedifficulty. Plato universalized and systematized the idea,and made it an accessible generality-at least to students.But Platonic monotheism has largely remained a speculativetheory, except in so far as it has influenced, and beenincorporated with Christian theology. In isolation it lackedwhat alone could make it a practical reality: that is, it lackedincarnation-the co-ordination of theory and practice.

The essence of the Greek spirit, and its greatest bequestto Posterity, was Science-the humble and enquiring mind-and the -testimony to the wonderful effectiveness of thisattitude is to be seen in the sheer volume of knowledgeaccumulated by this small nation of independent people,apart from any other of their remarkable achievements.From the time of Thales of Miletus in the fifth century B.C.,who may be said to be the first scientist, through Aristotledown to Theon of Alexandria who wrote in the latter part ofthe 4th century A.D.; that is, over a period of at least eightcenturies, the Greek mind and thought laboured originallyand conscientiously, investigating Man and the world he livedin, as they had never been examined before, and were not tobe again for over a thousand years. In architecture andliterature the achievement of the Greeks was no lessconspicious. While, in the example of republican Athens,they gave civilisation more than a hint of what a freedemocracy might produce.

One has to be on guard to avoid fulsomeness in writingof the Greeks. In this world of blundering and make-shift,they preserved such a sense of the vital importance ofmethod, and of the Principle they had evolved. There is

THE SOCIAL CREOITERPage 8

something particularly exemplary about the behaviourof Greek culture-if one may speak of a culture behaving.In its manner of going to work, of permeation, it was thereverse of fanatical. This was certainly not due to a lack ofcommon efficiency, nor to an inability to employ force. Greekmilitary exploits are among the most dramatic and sensationalin history, and in the Macedonian Alexan fer, the pupil ofAristotle, Greece produced the greatest military leader andconqueror of all time- a terrific empire-builder, but of therecognised pattern. Under him the shores of the EasternMediterranean and the Black Sea became Greek. He foundedAlexandria, one of the great cities of antiquity, and tookGreek culture to India. None-the-less, the essence of Greecewas not force, but a sweet reasonableness; how potent in itsinfluence, its subtle and unexplosive nature probably kepta secret even from those upon whom it was working.

From the 6th to the 4th centuries B.C. Classical Greekculture flourished supremely, with its social and architecturalhigh-spot in republican Athens, and in the buildings in theAcropolis. Then as an Empire she faded, and gave placeto Rome, becoming politically merely tributary to the Westernpower and the happy hunting-ground of wealthy Romanart-collectors. That was the end of classical Greece; yet fromher decay she rose again in the Middle Ages and flourishedgreatly, both politically and culturally, and even imperially,for a thousand years when Rome was little more than amemory.

The Mediaeval Greek Empire is a strange and muchmisunderstood phenomenon-the first meeting-ground of theChristian and Greek spirit. When early in the 4th centuryA.D. the Roman Emperor Constantine accepted Christianityfor the Roman state, he accompanied the act by the foundingof the city of Constantinople and the consolidation of theEastern Roman Empire there as the strategic and economiccentre of the whole. But Rome had never been able either toconquer or absorb Greek culture, and the newly-formedByzantine (to give it its original Greek name) Empire, whilenominally Roman, was in fact fully four-fifths Greek fromthe start-Greek and Christian. The impact produced notso much a national revival as an entirely new and originalculture; one in which mystical experience seems to have takenthe place of the Classical Greek scientific speculative passionfor natural science and philosophy, but with no material lossto society, rather the reverse; and in which the Greek geniusin co-operation with Christianity had a new lease ofarchitectural and administrative life; so different from Athensalthough geographically so close, and politically so divergentfrom the Athenian democracy, as to demonstrate the almost,one might say, incorrigible originality of this remarkablepeople.

But the history of Byzantium belongs properly to theMiddle Ages, not to classical Greece, and cannot be dealtwith here. The job on hand is to sum up classical Greece,and assess what it was exactly that she bequeathed to themodern world. This is important, because the popularconception of Classicism, held ever since what is known asthe Classical Revival in the 15th Century A.D. is that it isessentially Pagan materialism-the Rational and Hedonisticoutlook on life. That, undoubtedly, was a side of Greeklife, and as in the case of all Pagan civilisation, a veryconsiderable side. But it was not essentially Greece; andthe important point for us is not, how much of this or thatwhich happens to suit our turn can be picked up from theGreeks, but what in sum was their essential gift to humanity

Saturday, July 20, 1940.

-the quality they existed to exemplify?

It was not worship of the body, or the delights of theflesh, though at no time in human history have those mattersreceived more successful attention; it was not in the rationaland materialistic outlook on Life, though no people have everbeen more matter-of-fact-Iess transcendental-than theGreeks; it was not even in the written word, for Greekphilosophic speculation, great as it was, was not all of Greece,nor even the major part-Greek learning was only a founda-tion to be built on and superseded. No; the primeachievement of Greece was, without a doubt, the discoveryof the power of knowledge, Truth, and the effective valueas a means to acquiring knowledge of what has been calledthe scientific spirit. The essential quality of this spirit is,as has been pointed out, a humble and enquiring mind; anattitude of wonder-of worship, if you like-a passionateinterest in Creation, rather than an itch to create.

The fact that the birth of the scientific spirit in Greecewas accompanied by so much that was materially beautiful,is a tribute to it as a method of achievement, a way of doingthings; "If the eye be single" the whole body cannot help butbe full of light. The Classical Greeks approached thissingleness of vision more closely than any nation before orsince, fully demonstrating its effectiveness. within the limitsof what was available to them. Why the nation, as a nation,failed to carryon; and why, having once started along thepath to knowledge the Greeks stopped where they did, isnot very clear. On the question of the application of theirknowledge it must not be forgotten that Aristotle and Greekscientists in general held grave doubts as to the practicalwisdom of applied science-doubts which our present worldis doing its best to justify. It would seem that what theGreeks lacked-a want common to all Pagan civilisation-was a concrete, incarnate, sense of Unity, of a single,underlying Principle, or Law of Life. This lack Platoattempted to supply for he recognised that ultimately therecan be no such thing as knowledge without Law; since thevery concept of knowledge pre-supposes an absolute Truth,no matter how approximate or tentative the knowledge. Toknow anything about nothing is impossible. Only monotheismthen, as Plato recognised, can supply the complete basis forscience-the belief in one unchallenged power. It is acurious fact to contemplate that monotheism was in Plato'sday an established fact actually within the boundaries of theGreek Empire, in Palestine. It will be necessary to returnto that, only noting that Jewish monotheism existed in sucha narrowly tribal, and exclusive form as to fail to attract evenpassing attention in Greece.

Historians close the Classical Age of European culturewith the founding of Constantinople in A.D. 320, by theEmperor Constantine, and the official acceptance toChristianity. The Age is presented as a homogeneous whole-Graeco-Roman and Pagan. To start with that is a falsegrouping, for the Greek and Roman minds had almostnothing in common. This Classical culture-thus the historybooks have it-was attacked internally, and finally overcome,by a rival and absolutely incomputable doctrine known asChristianity, to which Constantine capitulated. This state-ment is no more true that the previous assumption that Greekand Roman culture were in any sense one; and furthermoreit completely ignores the fact of the Graeco-Christianpartnership that endured so beautifully for the astoundingperiod of a thousand years in Constantinople.

Saturday, July 20, 1940. THE SOCIAL CREOITER Page 9

M.Ps. Criticise the Policy of the BanksIn the debate in the House of Commons on Supply (Supplementary Vote of Credit, 1940) which was considered

in committee on July 9 several members urged the necessity for a realistic financial policy. Speeches of some ofthem are reprinted below together with Sir Kingsley Wood's reply.

)

Mr. Benson (Chesterfield): ... Thereis one factor and one factor alone involv-ed in the rate we have to pay forTreasury bills, and that is the re-discountrate at which the bill market can get itsmoney from the banks, and that in itselfis a purely artificial rate. The re-discountrate is a rate agreed upon between theTreasury and the banks, and I want toknow why the Treasury, which agreed toa re-discount rate of -! per cent. beforethe war, has now agreed with the banksto increase it to 1 per cent.

In the first six months of the war thecost of that extra i per cent., irrespectiveof any increased borrowings, was morethan £3,000,000, and as we shall beborrowing continuously larger and largersums of Treasury bills, that £3,000,000in six months, representing £6,000,000 ayear, will grow. After some nine monthsI think we are entitled to a clear anddefinite explanation from the Chancellorwhy the Treasury has agreed with thebanks that the re-discount rate shall be1 per cent., because it means a definitepresent of i per cent. to the banks. Themoney that the banks utilise is not bankmoney; it is purely artificial money. Itis created money, and the Treasurythemselves are the controllers of theamount of that money which is availablefor re-discount. They can put the banksin funds by open markeet operations toany extent they like.

The banks are not so much creatorsof this money as the conduits. The moneythat we borrow on Treasury bills, is, infact, the credit of the country, and is nota credit of the banks. The banks aremerely the machinery that makes itavailable. The banks themselves can makeit available only if the Treasury, by openmarket operations, puts them in funds.There is no reason at all why the re-discount rate should not go down to tper cent., or, if our issue of Treasurybills increases beyond a certain point, to! per cent. On this question of Treasurybills, it ought not to be regarded as aninterest rate, but as a remuneration forservices performed, and that remunera-tion ought to be cut down to a reasonablelimit. We had far fewer Treasury billsbefore the war, and the banks receivedonly t per cent. Now that tender billsamount to between seven and eighthundred million pounds they should not

be allowed to charge 1 per cent. We havehad no explanation from the Chancellorof the Exchequer so far, and I hope thathe will give us one as to why this in-defensible bargain has been struck be-tween the Treasury and the banks.

• • •Sit' Richard Acland (Barnstaple): I

wish to support the plea put forward bythe hon. Member for Chesterfield (Mr.Benson), and I would impress upon theChancellor of the Exchequer that hereally must produce for us a careful andreasoned answer to the case which hasbeen presented so ably, though briefly, bythe hon. Member, one which has beenpresented over and over again in all partsof the House at Question Time. Althoughit is a complicated question, it seriouslytroubles the minds of a great manypeople who will, perhaps, never be ableto understand all its intricacies. This isone of the influences which, I believe, aredamaging the morale of this country atthe present time. This kind of questiongoes on being asked, and no 'answer isbeing given to it, except elusive answerswhich arouse interest just because theyare so cleverly elusive. No serious answeris given to a case which seems to beabsolutelv irresistible. We have beenasked to - sacrifice for democracy; if thiswere really a 100 per cent. democracy,this kind of thing could not happen. Youcould not have a case of this kind putforward by hon. Members in this House,never answered, and treated as though itwere a matter not requiring an answer.

We are asking that this rate of in-terest of 1 per cent. should come down to-1 or ! per cent. There seems to be noreason why this extraordinary and costlypolicy should continue, and no seriousanswer is ever given to us. I believe thatone thing is certain; we are determinedthat in and through this war we shallbreak the power and the control of thelittle group of gentlemen who work soharmoniously with the Chancellor of theExchequer, but over whose comings andgoings he expresses himself incompetentto exercise any control; which means thathe can arrange anything with them, butthat this House and this Committee haveno control over the matter at all. It isvery strange, but every time a Chancellorof the Exchequer says, "I have no control

over them," he is really saying that thepeople of this country have no controlover them. That sort of thing is not to goon at the end of this war .The sooner thepeople of this country say that in mattersof this kind the policy of this country isto be determined differently after thewar, the better it will be for our morale.The longer the arguments which peopleexpect to be answered are left unanswer-ed, the worse it will be for our morale.May I say one thing to Members of the-Liberal party who are on the TreasuryBench? If the country sees that theirpresence in high places in this Govern-ment has made no difference to thehabits of the Chancellor of the Exchequerand of other Ministers, and no differenceto the answers which these Ministers give,we shall begin to wonder what differencehas been made in the machinery ofgovernment. I appeal to them to use theirinfluence in putting these points more,privately, to Ministers.

• • •Mr. Loftus (Lowestoft): We all

realise that we are dealing with a col-ossal sum. My hon. Friend the Memberfor Ealing (Sir F. Sanderson) said thattaxation has nearly reached its limit.That means that an immense sum mustbe borrowed. The point is, Where is themoney to come from? It can only comefrom genuine savings, and as regardsgenuine savings I would certainly give2t per cent. or oven 3 per cent. interest,but I doubt whether any hon. Memberthinks that genuine savings would actual-ly bridge the gap. There must be createdmoney to bridge the gap. We know thatmost of the National Debt consisted ofcreated money lent by the banks tocustomers, who again subscribed thatmoney to the Exchequer. Last Novemberthere was an article in the Economist,headed "The Technique of Inflation,"which warned the country that in this warwe must not follow the same technique aswas followed in the last war. We mustnot have bank-created money lent tocustomers and burdening the countrywith 4 per cent, and 5 per cent. TheEconomist strongly urged the Govern-ment to utilise genuine savings with afair rate of interest. Will the Governmentdo that with the joint stock banks andcharge them ! per cent., which was the

Page 10 THE SOCIAL CREOITER

figure mentioned by the Economist?Something on those lines will have to beused if we are to refrain from burdeningthe nation with an intolerable debt infuture.

Sir K. Wood in a later speechreplied to these points.

. . . The hon. Member for Chester-field (Mr. Benson) raised again a matterwhich is very dear to him, and on whichhe put a number of questions to my pre-decessor. He put forward, with greatforce, his argument about the differencebetween the rate given to the banksbefore the war and that given now. If hewill address a question to me, I will givehim a considered reply. I have observedthe replies given by my predecessor, andI thought they were explicit, but I willendeavour-s-net, I am afraid, with muchsuccess-to be more explicit still. Thefact that ~ per cent. was the rate at whichbanks lent money to the market beforethe war does not mean that it would beappropriate now. It does not take intoaccount several other considerations, likethe general financial and economic situa- .tion, and the fact that the volume ofTreasury bills issued to the market is nowmuch greater. The lending rate is, infact, settled by the banks themselves, butthe whole structure of short money rateshas to be considered in the light of allpresent circumstances. That, as I remem-ber it, was the gist of my predecessorsreply. Some statements have been madethis afternoon also about the position ofthe banks in relation to the generalfinancial situation. I will study them, butit is only right that I should say that, atany rate in my belief, the banks have infact given the fullest assistance, in closeco-operation with the Treasury and otherDepartments, in financing the war effort,and in providing for the needs of thecommunity during the emergency. I donot myself think-and I must testify towhat I know-that there is any case forthe suggestion that they are not playingtheir part in the war effort.

Mr. Davidson: The Chancellor hasstated that he believes that the banks areplaying their part. Does he mean theirfull part, and, if so, will he expatiate onwhether the banks are giving the Treas-ury any special facilities with regard topercentage rates?

Sir K. Wood: No one can say forcertain whether a particular institution isplaying its full part or not. It is to someextent a matter of opinion. I have givenmy opinion. That does not mean that thehon. Gentleman need not hold the con-trary opinion. He is as much entitled to

Saturday, July 20, 1940.

THE BRITISH EMPIREThe British Empire: How it Grew and

How it Works: by Ramsay Muir. 6d., pamph-let. Jonathan Cape.

In these days when to be Britishrather than American is to. lay oneselfopen to a charge of being not quitereliable politically, it is a relief to findfreely displayed on our bookstalls amongthe extensive array of Americanpropaganda a pamphlet which actuallypraises not merely the British Empire,but the philosophy underlying it.

This philosophy has been expressedin action rather than words, and thenature of it is made clear in the follow-ing sentence (Muir's italics) :

"Every colony established by theEnglish was endowed, as a matter ofCOU1'Se,with rights of self-government.No colony established by any otherpeople was ever endowed with theserights."

This, as Professor Muir makes clearis "the most distinctive characteristic ofBritish colonisation," and is the chiefcontribution of the British conduct of theaffairs of mankind.

Decentralisation and control by thepeople on the spot is the essence of theBritish idea of freedom, as opposed to theidea of Centralised Control and absenteemanagement which is inherent in suchphilosophies as Nazi-ism and FederalUnion. The British Commonwealthrepresents a real practical achievement in

which the good far outweighs the evil.It is to be expected that in a short

propaganda pamphlet the shameful sideof British history should not be stressed.Nevertheless, the author makes it clearthat where British Government has failedand disasters have occurred, as in Ireland,South Africa and India, it has beenbecause this British principle of De-centralisation has not been followed.

Referring to the difficulties in theway of Indian self-government he writes:

"The first arises from the mere sizeof India-an area as big as Europeleaving out Russia, with a population.which forms about one-sixth of the totalpopulation of the world. No system ofdemocratic government has ever beenestablished for a country of anything likethis size, except in China, where theattempt to establish it produced chaos.Democracy works best in littlecountries . . . "

This is the first time that I haveseen this fundamental objection to theUnion idea in print except in a SocialCredit publication. It is evident thatProfessor Muir, like ourselves, is to becounted among those who are notashamed of the 'philosophy and the wayof life which were native to these islandsand which have shown the other peoples,including the Americans, the meaning ofthe word freedom.

his opinion as I am to mine. I will onlysay that I will carefully study all theobservations that have been made thisafternoon, and I hope that they will bringme some assistance in the very difficultsituation which faces us at the presenttime. It will be my endeavour in anyfurther efforts which I shall ask theHouse to sanction, and the' country tomake, to see that all sections of the com-munity are asked to make a fair financialcontribution, and I would express theopinion that it obviously must cover thewidest field. I am not in a position topick and choose. Every possible sourcethat is a reasonable one must be open tous, and it is in that spirit that I shallapproach my next task.

PACKARD ACCEPTSThe Packard Motor Company of

Detroit, has agreed to take a contract formaking 6,000 Rolls Royce aeroplaneengines for this country, as well as 3,000.for the United States.

IVAN MAl SKY"Squat-built Ivan Maisky, Soviet

Russia's smiling but inscrutable Am-bassador, was always on friendly termswith Winston Churchill when thePremier was a gladiator in the ranks offreelance politicians. In pre-war daysthey often met, dined and talked'. . .

"When Russia marched into Finlandand popular opinion went anti-Soviet,Churchill said as little as possible. Hewas a member of the Chamberlaingovernment by that time. But he re-mained as kind to the Socialist State inhis criticism as he had been to France inmore recent days.

"When First Lord of the Admiralty,Winston was too much immersed in hiswork to see much of Maisky. As PrimeMinister he did not see him at all. Lastweek, however, Ivan Maisky got asurprise. He suddenly received a tele-phone message to call at DowningStreet."

-"News Review," 1uly 11, 1940.

Saturday, July 20, 1940. THE SOCIAL CREOITER Page 11

AlternativeMr. Roosevelt has not yet decided

whether he will stand for a thirdterm as president of the United States:nevertheless, the general opinion express-ed in the press is that Mr. Roosevelt willallow his name to be put forwardprovided that the members of theDemocratic Nominating Convention areunanimous in choosing him, and that ifhe does accept nomination he willprobably be elected.

The Republican Nominating Con-vention has already chosen as Republicancandidate Mr. Wendell Willkie, a businessman from Wall Street.

After the way of American businessmen, Wendell Willkie has had a variedcareer. In his boyhood he used to workwith the migrant workers on the harvests,starting early in the southern states andmoved northwards with the summer. Hewas also a travelling farm labourer inCalifornia, a labourer in a steel mill andon a sugar plantation in Puerto Rico. Bythese activities he earned enough to takehim through college, where he specialisedin history. There he made a reputationas a soap-box orator of radical opinions.For a while he taught history in a Kansasschool, and then went back to Universityto study law. Academically, he did well.

At the beginning of the war he en-listed as a private, and by the time peacewas declared was promoted captain of theartillery.

After the war he became lawyer tothe Fireston Tyre and Rubber Companyin Ohio and, specialising in corporationlaw, was remarkably successful. Soonafter he married, the depression started,and on the basis of his success with asubsidiary of the Commonwealth andSouthern Company he was transferred toNew York city. Soon he was runningthe Commonwealth and SouthernCompany and getting on well in WallStreet. He first came into conflict withthe New Deal government when theTennessee Valley Administration en-croached on the territory served by hispower company in the south. By hispersistence he increased by $30 millions-the price the government had to pay toacquire the Commonwealth and Southernsystem.

Mr. Willkie has that essentialquality of high office holders-charm.

One American columnist says ofhim:

"It isn't merely that he is a big,

to Roosevelttousled bear of a man with a kindly andamused expression. , It is principally aquality of Will Rogers, who 'never met aman he didn't like' . . .

"We might call this quality 'charm',but let's not, because the word for thatabstraction has been worn out on Mr.Roosevelt's great and undoubted quality.Franklin could charm a canary out of atree to sit at a tomcat's supper. Thedifference is that Mr. Roosevelt has toturn his on for the occasion. Mr. Willkie'sseems to be effortlessly working all thetime."

This charm of Mr. Willkie's (and byhis photographs he is very charmingindeed) has been developed by hisexperience in selling electricity, at whichhe was so successful that in the last sevenyears he has reduced the cost to theconsumer of his company's electricity by41 per cent. and increased consumptionby 83 per cent., figures far better thanany other improvement on either score inthat period anywhere at all.

As regards policy Mr. Willkie haslittle new to suggest. Of home policy inthe United States he says that the NewDeal set out to achieve reformation andrecovery. The reforms have: beenaccomplished, but where is the recovery?He offers recovery by means .of what hecalls a "free-enterprise system." In anarticle in the Saturday Evening Post ofJune 22 he says, charmingly:

"The free-enterprise system is asystem of movement. It must always goahead, because within it there is alwaysa competitor setting the pace. It is notsimply a 'profit' system;' it faces loss farmore often than profit. It is a profit-and-loss system; in which the opportunity forprofit is worth the risk of loss. . . .Sometimes a group of businessmen mayset up a monopoly, so that competition iseliminated and, within that industry,enterprise is no longer free. That is bad.. . . Sometimes a group of Governmentofficials sets up a monopoly of politicalpower that can freeze the enterprises inan industry and drive capital out of it.That is bad also . . . "

But on the other hand:"We want a budget that tells us

exactly where we stand financially. Andwe want the Government to make aserious effort to balance it. We know thatit cannot be balanced this year or nextyear. But at least the deficit can bereduced." And he also asks for a

'solution' to the unemployment problemby giving people work instead of leisure;and for severe economy of governmentexpenditure.

On the matter of foreign policy heseems to agree with Mr. Roosevelt:England and France constitute America'sfirst line of defence, but Americans mustdismiss any thought of going over them-selves to help them. "We have no troops,and if we had troops we should lackequipment," he said in May, "It wouldbe enormously to our advantage to havethem win. It must, therefore, be to ouradvantage to help them in every way wecan, short of declaring war."

As Mr. Willkie's bias towards the .'business' world would probably mean thedevolution of the tremendous powers nowin use by the New Deal Governmentto 'business', inevitably big business,it seems that the policies of theprospective candidates, from the point ofview of the individual American, will notdiffer much. His 'choice' will offerlittle alternative. It should not be for-gotten, either, that Wall Street is backingMr. Willkie, the president of a hugeutilities company.

• • •EVACUATION OVERSEAS

POSTPONEDThe government's scheme to

evacuate children abroad is now post-poned. After the torpedoing of theArandora Star, which was taking intern-ed aliens to Canada, the responsibility isconsidered too great to be taken by thegovernment.

Some children, however, havealready arrived in America: the Queen'sniece and nephew, the Ron. Davina andSimon Bowes-Lyon and three of theircousins went to New York; the Earl ofAthlone's daughter with her threechildren has arrived in Montreal; anephew and some nieces of Mr. AnthonyEden reached Quebec 'with the grand-children of Lord Simon. Among thepassengers of the ships for childrenarriving in New York were Lady Knollysand her two children; Baron and Baron-ess Alphonse Rothschild and their twodaughters; and Julian and Karis Mond,children of Lord and Lady Melchett, whohad gone to the United States a fortnightearlier.

The New York Times is charitablysuggesting that American ships should beused for the transport of British childrento the United States. It is also suggestingthat children of the poorest parentsshould be sent.

Page 12 THE SOCIAL CREDITER Saturday, July 20, 1940.

Books to ReadBy C. H. Douglas:-

Economic Democracy ..(edition exhausted)

Social Credit 3/6Credit Power and Democracy 3/6The Monopoly of Credit 3/6Warning Democracy .

(edition exhausted)The Tragedy of Human Effort 6d.The Use of Money 6d.Approach to Reality 3d.Money and the Price System .. , 3d.Nature of Democracy 2d.Social Credit Principles Id.Tyranny id.

By L. D. Byrne:-Alternative to Disaster 4d.The Nature of Social Credit 4d.Debt ana Taxation 2d.

ALSOThe Douglas Manual S/-The Economic Crisis:Southampton Chamber ofCommerce Report 6d.The Bankers of Londonby Percy Arnold 4/6Economics for Everybodyby Elles Dee 3d.

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