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L pQflUtfEg? IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITAJflllC MAJESTY' S GOVBPJMIMT. )
C A B I N E T
l£ ( 2 6 ) .
Meeting of the Cabinet to be held at 10 Downing
S t r e e t , S . W . I . , on "^DNESDAY, A p r i l 14th, 19 26,
at 11,30 A.M,
A G E 3ST D A.
THE SITUATION" IN THE MINING flroPSTKg. ( I f
required).
The Coal SubB idy and: German Compet i t ion..
1
Note by the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
( C P . 147 (26)
*- already c i r c u l a t e d , )
SAEBGUARDISfG OF INDUSTRIES... *- K E Y INDUSTRIES .
Memorandum by the President of the Board of
Trade covering-the Report of Informal Committee.
( C P . 14^ (2D)
already c i r c u l a t e d . )
SAFEGUARDING OF INDUSTRIES - ENAMELLED HOLLOW fABE.
Note by the President of the Board of Trade­
covering Report of Committee.
( C P . 148 "(26) - already c i r c u l a t e d . )
THE WORKING OF THE LAW RELATING TO CLOSING HOURS FOR SHOPS,
Memorandum by the Home Secretary,
( C P . 143 ( 2 6 ) - already c i r c u l a t e d , )
RUBBER RESTRICTIONS,
Memorandum by the Secretary of State for the
Colonies.
( C P . 149 ( 2 6 ) - . to be circulated,.)
TO TAKE NOTE OF. : IHS USE OF AEROPLANES ON THE NORTH-WEST FRONTIER OF INDIA.
Despatch from the Government of India circulated,
by th$ Secretary of State f o r I n d i a ,
( C P . 139 (26) " already circulated,.')
PRIVATE MEMBERS' SILLS FOR FRIDAY, APRIL l 6 t l u
( )
J u d i c i a l Pro c e e d ing s (R e g ul at i on of Rep or t a) B1 l x
"TBajor Kinderslay TTT
i
(Reference Cabinet 11 (26) 1.)
( b ) i l l e g a l Trawling (Scotland) P e n a l t i e s B i l l .
(Mr. Livingstbin e ) .
a
7
Whitehall Gardens,- S.W.1,
12th A p r i l , 1926.
(Signed)
Yu P. A .
HAHKEY,
Secretary,
Cabinet,
IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY S GOVERNMENT)
1
COPY NOi
C A B I N E T
15 (26) .
Meeting of the Cabinet to be held at 10 Downing
Street, S . W . I . , on WEDNESDAY, A p r i l 14th, 1926,
at 11.30 a.rrw
ADDENDUM TO AGENDA*
MALTING BARLEY.
Memorandum, b^. the Minister of Agriculture and
Fisheries^ - ­
(C.-P* &5$(26) - Circulated h e r e w i t h ) ,
( S d . ) M.P.A, HANKEY,
Secretary to the Cabinet A
Whitehall Gardens, S
April 13th, 1926,
pOffBffilNT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITAMTIC MAJESTY'S GOVEH1SD-3NT. )
C A B I N E T
1?
Copy No,
(26).
CONCLUSIONS of a Meeting of the Cabinet held at
10, Downing S t r e e t , S . W . I . , on WEDNESDAY,
A p r i l 14th, . 1 9 2 6 , at 1 1 . 3 0 A.M.
PRESENT:The Right Hon. Stanley Baldwin, M.P.,
Prime M i n i s t e r . .
( I n the C h a i r ) .
The Bight Hon.
Sir Austen Chamberlain, K.G.,
Secretary of State
for Foreign A f f a i r s ,
The Right Hon.
Viscount Cave, G.C.M.G,,
Lord Chancellor,
[The Most Hon.
The Marquess of Salisbury,
W , , 8 , C V , 0 i ,C.B.,
Lord Privy Seal,
The Right Hon,
W. S. Churchill, p.H.,M.P,,
Chanoellor of the Exchequer.
The Right Hon.
Sir William Joynson-Hicks,
Bt.,M.P., Secretary of
State for Home A f f a i r s ,
The Right Hon.
L, S, Amery, M.P., Secretary
of State f o r Dominion A f f a i r s
and Secretary of State f o r
the Colonies.
The Right Hon.
Sir Laming Worthingt on-Evans,
Bt.,3.B.E. ,M.P,, Secretary of
State for War,
The Right Hon.
The Earl of Birkenhead, ­
Secretary of StatV. for I n d i a .
The Right Hon.
Sir Samuel Hoary, B t . ,
C.M.G ,M.P,, Secretary of
State for A i r .
The Right Hon.
Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister,
K.B.E. ,M.C, ,M,P,, President
of the Board of Trade,
The Right Hon.
Neville Chamberlain, M.P.,
Minister of Health.
The Right Hon.
f , Guinness, D,S,0,,M,P,,
Minister of Agriculture and
Fisheries,
The Right Hon,
Sir John Gilmour, B t , , D . S , 0 , ,
M.P., Secretary for Scotland.
The Right Hon.
Lord Eustace Percy, M,P,,
President of the Board of
Education.
The Right Hon.
Sir Arthur Steel-Maitland,
M.P,, Minister of Labour,
The Right H n.
Viscount P e e l , G.B.E,, F i r s t
Commissioner of Works.
e
Bt.,
0
The Right Hon.
Sir Douglas Hogg, K.C.,M.P,,
Attorney General,
The Right Hon.
-.
Viscount C e c i l of Chelwood,
K.C,, Chancellor of the Duchy
of Lancaster,
THE FOLLOWING WAS ALSO PRE SENT;
L t * - C o l . G.R Lane-Pox, M.P.,
Secretary, Mines Department,
Board of Trade.
(For Conclusion
6
S i r
M,P,A, Hankey, G . C . B . , , ,
*
Secretary.
AFFAIRS.
gernian
1* The Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs
made a statement t o the Cabinet i n regard to n e g o t i a tions f o r T r e a t i e s between Germany and Russia, and '
W'
.. Roumanian
i
between Poland and Roumanian
sn
As regards the Russo-German Treaty he r e c a l l e d
yi.0118
tn0
Q
lion
on-
that the Russian Soviet Government had sought to
prevent the Germans from taking part in the Locarno
negotiations and from going to Geneva, but without
success.
Although the Germans had not been w i l l i n g
to y i e l d to the Russian wishes and threats,, they
did attach p o l i t i c a l importance to the maintenance
of some sort o f r e l a t i o n s with Russia..
In the l a s t
century i t had been a cardinal feature of German
p o l i c y to keep on good terms with Russia.
The t e r ­
mination o f t h e i r Reinsurance Treaty with Russia
by the l a t e Emperor had led to the formation of the
Franco-Russian Treaty and other events culminating
in the war and the German d e f e a t .
The view was held
i n N a t i o n a l i s t c i r c l e s i n Germany that the termina­
t i o n of the Reinsurance Treaty with Russia had been
the point at which t h e i r f o r e i g n p o l i c y had taken a
wrong t u r n i n g .
I f the assurances given to Lord
D Abernon by Dr. Stresemann were c o r r e c t , the new
r
t r e a t y would not be one o f a l l i a n c e between Germany
and Russia but one guaranteeing German n e u t r a l i t y in
the event of an tinprovoked aggression against Russia.
I n S i r Austen Chamberlain's view the Treaty
itself,
as described by Dr. Stresemann, would be innocuous,
the r e a l danger being i t s reactions on France and
Poland.
Germany had not i n this case followed the
Genoa precedent in entering on die Treaty of Rapallo
without n o t i c e . In this case the Germans had informed
Great B r i t a i n and France of t h e i r i n t e n t i o n s .
The new Polish-Roumanian Treaty d i f f e r e d
from
that of 1921 i n that i t i s said to bind Roumania to
defend Poland s German f r o n t i e r as well as her
1
Eastern f r o n t i e r ,
the l a t t e r having been the l i m i t e d
o b l i g a t i o n in 1921.
The Treaty purported to be in
conformity with the Locarno model, but i t was l i k e l y
to arouse i n d i g n a t i o n in Germany and Russia.
U n t i l the excitement caused by these Treaties
had died down i t was diffi-eult
to make progress in
the working out of the Locarno p o l i c y .
For example,
M. Briahd found i t impossible at the present time to
agree to the increase i n the p o l i c e force in the
Rhineland desired by Germany,
S i r Austen Chamberlain
said that he had suggested to the French Government
that, provided the Convention was compatible with
the assurances given by Dr. Stresemann, i t would be
inadvisable to r a i s e opposition to i t s
signature.
2.
A^ the suggestion of the Secretary of State
f o r Foreign. Affairs,, the Cabinet
agreed­
( a ) That Lord Cecil o f Chelwood should
rep-resent G-reat B r i t a i n on the
Committee set up by the Council of
the League o f Nations to consider
the composition of the Council.
(Lord Cecil expressed his
w i l l i n g n e s s t6 undertake
this responsibility.)
( b ) That before Lord Cecil leaves to
attend the f i r s t meeting, the
question should be discussed at
the Cabinet.
3 . The a t t e n t i o n of the Cabinet was drawn to a
despatch i n "The Tiroes" newspaper of Tuesday, A p r i l
13th,. from their Riga Correspondent, s t a t i n g that
the Executive Bureau o f the Soviet Trade Union
I n t e r n a t i o n a l of Moscow has held a meeting e s p e c i a l l y
to decide in what form and in what- degree i t
is
p o s s i b l e to support the B r i t i s h miners in a c o n f l i c t
with the mine-owners.
The question was raised as
to whether some representation ought to be made to
the Russian-Soviet Government i n regard to this
a l l e g e d i n t e r f e r e n c e i n a domestic controversy.
The Cabinet were reminded that
information
from Riga had o f t e n proved inaccurate.
They were
also informed that the Russian r e p r e s e n t a t i v e
in
London at. the present time was only a Charge'
d'Affaires
in the Trade Delegation, and that the
Russian Soviet Government had always declined
r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r the actions of the Third I n t e r ­
national.
The Secretary of State for Foreign
A f f a i r s undertook to g i v e careful
consideration to a proposal that
a t t e n t i o n should be drawn in some
form to the a l l e g e d a c t i o n of the
Third I n t e r n a t i o n a l , in order to
show that the B r i t i s h Government
had taken note o f i t .
4.
The Cabinet had a general discussion in
regard to t h e present p o s i t i o n of the dispute in
the coal industry,.
The coal-owners had taken a
p o s i t i o n - i n d i c a t i n g a general w i l l i n g n e s s to accept
the Report of the Royal Commission on the Coal
Industry, although t h e i r acceptance was rather less
d e f i n i t e than that of the Government.
The Executive
of the Miners' Federation had f i r s t met the Trades
Union Council, and then a Delegate
Conference.
The l a t t e r had passed a resolution in favour o f
no reduction :of wages, no lengthening of hours
and no d i s t r i c t settlements, which had had the
e f f e c t o f tying the hands o f t h e i r leaders and '
rendering any negotiations d i f f i c u l t .
The r e p r e ­
s e n t a t i v e s o f the miners were leaving for Brussels
the same e v e n i n g . i n order to meet the International
Miners' Federation with a view to arranging f o r
no f o r e i g n coal to be shipped to this country in
the event o f a s t r i k e .
The representatives o f the
owners would be leaving the same evening f o r t h e i r
d i s t r i c t s , where they would i n v i t e discussion with
the men's leaders in regard to wages and hours, ­
an i n v i t a t i o n which would i n e v i t a b l y be r e f u s e d .
The owners were expected to post n o t i c e s almost
at once terminating the present wage contracts on .
May 1 s t , , and they would probably be in a p o s i t i o n
to announce the wages in the various
districts
e a r l y next week.
' The discussion, revealed a general consensus
o f opinion in the Cabinet to the following
effect:­
That up to the present time the Government
had had public opinion with them in t h e i r
attitude:
That the p o s i t i o n taken up by the mine­
owners had not reacted adversely on public
opinion:
That i t was very important that the mine­
owners should not antagonise public opinion
by o f f e r i n g
inadequate wages i n the various
di str ic ts :
That the Prime Minister or one of his
colleagues should see the mine-owners
before they l e f t
for t h e i r d i s t r i c t s ,
in
order to impress this upon them:
That any assistance given by the Government
should not go beyond easing the temporary
s i t u a t i o n caused by the ending of the
subsidy in conformity with the Prime
Ministers statement to the Mining Associa­
t i o n and Miners' Federation on March 25th
(Paper C P . - 1 3 1 ( 2 6 ) ) , but that i t was
undesirable at the moment to make a s t a t e ­
ment as to the precise form that such
assistance should take, provided that the
general p r i n c i p l e as to i t s purely temporary
character was maintained.
This sho\ild be
made c l e a r , i f necessary, as the experience
of i n d u s t r i a l disputes of this kind was that
the p a r t i e s thereto would postpone serious
efforts
for a settlement u n t i l the very
mordent, in the hope o^ obtaining
last
further
Government assistance:
That the most hopeful prospect of averting .
a s t r i k e was to be found i n the action of
the Trades Union Council. .
At the and o f the discussion the Prime
M i n i s t e r said that he would proceed on the general
l i n e s as summarised above, and would summon the
Cabinet Committee o r , in case of n e c e s s i t y , the
Cabinet, i n the event of any development of the
s i t u a t i o n requiring a d e c i s i o n .
jpplY AND
5. In view of the danger of a s t r i k e , the
£SPORT
pRISATION.
Cabinet authorised the See ':-;t.ary of State f o r War
to make arrangements for the provision of such
ference:
binet 9
5) Conion 7 . )
9
transport as would be -necessary to secure the f r e e
movement of t r o o p s , at a possible f o r f e i t
£10,000 i f
i t was not taken up.
-S­
of
H
O
A
R
D
I
N
G
6. The Cabinet had before them a Memorandum by
the President of the Board of Trade covering the
Indus ­
ries.
Report of the informal Committee he had appointed
to consider the position of the industries
protected
Terence:
as key industries' by Part I of the Safeguarding of
"Jjj^Gon-
Industries Act of 1921 and to advise as to what
Jiusion
action should be taken when the relevant Sections
of the Act expire in August of this year (Paper
C P . - 1 4 5 (26) ) .
The President of the Board of Trade informed
the Cabinet that the recommendations of the informal'
Committee ware in conformity, with the recorcmenda­
tions o f the Committee of Imperial Defence
(CI.D.
Paper No. 676-B and Minute (4) of 211th Meeting of
the Committee of Imperial Defence - to be c i r c u l a t e d
shortly).
The President of the Board of Trade also
summarised the proposals of the informal Committee
as s e t f o r t h in paragraph 173 of t h e i r Report.
As regards h o s i e r y latch needles he considered
it
unnecessary at the present time to r a i s e the Duty.
The Cabinet agreed —
( a ) To approve g e n e r a l l y the Report of
the informal Committee, attached to
Paper C P . - 1 4 5 ( 2 6 ) ) and to take note
that this Report would be published:
(b) To leave to the President of the Board
of Trade and the Chancellor of the
Exche quer ' the arrangements f o r giving
e f f e c t to the Report:
(c)
(By a m a j o r i t y ) That the period for which
the Safeguarding Duties are continued
should be a minimum o f ten years:
( d ) That the recommendation contained in
the Report i n regard to magnetoes
should be l e f t to the President o f the
Board o f Trade and the Chancellor of the
Exchequer.
69/3
4 59
7. The Cabinet had before them a Note by the
President of the Board of Trade covering the
Report of a Committee set up under the Safeguarding
o f Industries Procedure to enquire i n t o the applica­
t i o n made by the Enamelled Hollow-ware s e c t ! on of
the wrought Hollow-ware Trade Employers' Association
(Paper C.P.-148
(26)).
The Cabinet approved the proposal
of the President of the Board of
Trade that, i n view of the findings
of the Committee, no action should
be taken beyond the publication
of the Report.
the Home Secretary regarding the working of the
law r e l a t i n g to the closing hours o f shops (Paper
CP,-143 (26)) .
Some doubt was expressed as to whether i t
was desirable to reopen the question by appoint­
ing a Select Committee to examine the working of
the Acts of 1912 and .1920,
The Home Secretary was asked to
discuss the matter with the Chief
Whip., w i t h a view to avoiding a
Select Committee, i f p o s s i b l e .
W
EXPORT
Motions..
9 . The Cabinet had before them a Memorandum by
the Secretary of State f o r the Colonies i n regard
to the percentage of "rubber whieh w i l l be allowed
net 44
Con­
sion 11.)
to be exported from Ceylon and Malaya during the
three months beginning on the 1st of May next
(Paper 0.P.-149
(26)).
The Secretary of State for the Colonies
informed the Cabinet that he had brought this
question before the Cabinet as the new proposals
involved some s l i g h t departure from the o r i g i n a l
Stevenson scheme,, which had been approved by the
Cabinet of the day, but that Lord Stevenson concur­
red i n the new proposals .
The Cabinet agreed —
( a ) To approve generally the proposals
of the Secretary of State for the
Colonies as set f o r t h i n Paper
C P . - 1 4 9 ( 2 6 ) , subject to the
following:­
( b ) That 2/-, instead of Is .9d., should be
adopted as the p i v o t a l f i g u r e , p r o ­
vided that the Secretary of State
f o r the Colonies on enquiry finds that
his expert advisers have no ittsrrper- SVI-COTLA
ablo objection to this proposal.
In
the contrary event, however, the
question of the p i v o t a l f i g u r e should
be r e f e r r e d to a Committee composed o f : The
The
The
The
Secretary of State for the Colonies,
Chancellor of the Exchequer,
Secretary of State f o r War,
President of the Board of Trade.
10; The Cabinet, took note of a despatch from the
Government of India ( For-ign and P o l i t i c a l Depart­
ment), dated October 15, 1925, to the Secretary of
State f o r I n d i a , i n regard to the p r i n c i p l e s to be
adopted I n f l y i n g on the Indian Frontier
CP.-139 (26)) .
(Paper
11. The Hore Secretary informed the Cabinet
that the Newspaper Representatives i n s i s t e d , as a
condition of t h e i r agreeing to the Judicial Proceed­
ings (Regulation of Reports) B i l l , that a l l divorce
proceedings should be conducted i n camera.
-14­
12.
The Cabinet agreed —
( a ) To meet on the following day,
THURSDAY, APRIL 15th, in the
Prime Minis t a r ' s Room a t the
Hottse of Commons, at 4.15 p.m.,
f o r the purpose of discussing a
question to be raised by the
Chancellor of the Exchequer in
connection with the Budget, as
w e l l as the Memorandum by the
Minister of Agriculture and
Fisheries in regard to Malting
Barley (Paper C.F.-151 (.26));
(. b) That the Budget discussion should
take place e i t h e r at the usual
Meeting on Wednesday,A.pril 21st,
or, i f this was found impossible,
at a Special Meeting next week.
i t e h a l l Gardens, S.W.1,
A p r i l 14, 1926.