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IS THIS PROPERTY OF HIS BRITAillJIO MAJESTY'S GOVERHMEIIT)
COPY NO.
CAB I I E I
24 ( 2 6 ) .
Meeting of the Cabinet t o he held at No. 10, Downing. S t r e e t ,
S.W.I., on WEDNESDAY, May 5th, 1926, at 11 a.m.
A G E N D U M.­
1.
THE INDUSTRIAL CRISIS.
fa) Proposed Circular to Boards of Guardians
respecting scales of r e l i e f during the "Strike.
Memorandum by the Minister of Health
C P . 184f26) Already c i r c u l a t e d .
fb) Provision of meals t o children by Local
Baucation Authorities
Memorandum by the president of the Board of Education
C P . 181(26) - Already c i r c u l a t e d .
( c ) The Coal Crisis and re-organ is at ion
Memorandum by the President of the Board of Education
C P . 183(26) - Already circulated.
(Signed)
M.P.A. HANICEY,
Secretai-y,
foitehall Gardens, S.Y/.1.
5rd
1% , 1926.
Cabinet.
DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OP HIS: BRITANNIC MAJESTY' S GOVERNMENT)
Copy No,
CABIN
E
^Z^JZ&X.
MEETING of the Cabinet held at 10 Downing Street, 3.W.1,
on Wednesday, May 5th, 1926, at 1-1.0 a.m."
P R E S E N T : The Rf. Hon.. Stanley Baldwin, M.P.,
Prime Minister .
( I n the Chair).
fbe Rt. Hon.. The E a r l ' o f Balfour,
K.G., O.M., Lord President
of the Council.
Hon. W.S. Churchill, C.H.
H . I . , Chancellor of the
kchequer.
The Most Hon. The Marquess of
"Salisbury, K.G. jG.C'V.0. ,C.B. ,
Lord Privy Seal.
IteRt.
The Rt. Hon. Sir William JoynsonHicks, Bt. , M.P. , Secretary of
State for Home A f f a i r s .
Ibe -Bt. Hon. L.S. Amery, M.P. ,
Secretary of State for
Dominion A f f a i r s and the
Coloni es.
The Rt. Hon. Sir Laming Viforthington-Evans, Bt. ,G.B.E.",M.P.
Secretary of State for War. .
The St. Hon. The Earl of
Birkenhead, Secretary of
State for India.
The Rt. Hon. Sir Samuel Hoare, BJfc
-C.M.G., M.P., Secretary of
State for A i r .
fhe Rt. Eon. "W.C. 3ridgeman,M..p.
Tirst Lord of the Admiralty.
%
^
The Rt. Hon. Sir P. C u n l i f f e L i s t e r , K.B.E.,M.C.,M.P.,
President of the Board, of Trade
Ice Rt. Hon. N e v i l l e Chamberlain,
M.P., Minister of Health.
The Rt. Hon. Walter 3. Guinness,
D.S.O. ,M.P. , Minister of.
Agriculture and F i s h e r i e s .
Iha Rt. Hon. Sir John Gilmour,
Bt. ,13. 3.0. , M . P., Secretary
for Scotland.
...
The Rt. Hon. Lord Eustace Percy,
M.P., President of the Board
of Education.
?fee Rt. Hon. Sir Arthur S t e e l Haitians, B t . , ML.P.,
Minister of Labour.
The Rt. Hon. Viscount Peel,G.B.S.
, F i r s t Commissioner of Works.
le Rt. Hon. Viscount Cecil of
-Chelwood, K.C., Chancellor of
the Luchy of Lancaster.
The Rt. Hon. Sir Douglas Hogg,
K.C.,M.P., Attorney-General.
THE FOLLOWING WERE ALSO PRESENT:
The Rt. Hon. Sir W. Mitchell-Thomson, Bt. ,
K.B.E., M.P., Postmaster-General.
(For Conclusion 5 ) .
I t . - C o l . Sir M.P.A. Hankey, G.C.B
Secretary­
ipilATION
HIS MAJESTY
fjNG.
1. The Prime Minister informed his colleagues
that, in view of the failure' of the Press, the
King wished during the present industrial unrest
to see one of His Majesty's Ministers
daily.
Colonel Sir Ronald Waterhouse, the Prime
Minister's P r i v a t e Secretary, has undertaken to
make the necessary arrangements.
-1­
ij,ES OP RFLIBP
TMG THE
2. The Cabinet bad before them a Memorandum
tlicE.
by the Minister of Health in regard to a c i r c u l a r
cular to
,rds of
jrdians .
which he proposed to issue i n order to g i v e some
guidance to Eoards of Guardians respecting
scales
of r e l i e f during the strike (Paper CP.-184 ( 3 6 ) ) .
vious'
jrence:
inet 27
). Con­
sion 3 .)
The Minister of Health's proposal was that the
best solution on the present occasion would be to
direct the attention o f Guardians to the rates o f
Unemployment Benefit as being appropriate to the
ordinary case where the award of r e l i e f covers ­
the man as w e l l as the wife, and the children
and where no conditions of exceptional need are
present.
Where, however, the man is debarred
from r e l i e f by reason of the Merthyr Tydfil
Judgment, the ordinary Unemployment Benefit
of
5/-s per week to the woman and 2/-s a week f o r
each child would be inadequate.
In these cases
he proposed that where no conditions of excep­
tional need e x i s t
the woman and each child may
receive a maximum o f 12/-s and 4/-s per week
r e s p e c t i v e l y , and to defend those figures
( l ) by
reference to the allowance o f 12/-s per week
o r d i n a r i l y paid to an. insured woman, and (2) as
representing a rather more l i b e r a l payment than
was found reasonable i n 1921, when allowance i s
made for the f a l l . i n the c o s t - o f - l i v i n g
figures
s inc e the n.
The discussion showed that the main d i f f i - .
culty in this matter was to adjust the rates of
r e l i e f In such a way that the families of men on
strike should not receive more than those of men
in r e c e i p t of Unemployment B e n e f i t .
The general view was that the precedent o
1921 was very valuable, and the Cabinet agreed
To approve the proposals of the
Minister of Health in C.P.-184 ( 2 6 ) .
PROVISION OF
KBAliS TO
CHILDREN BY
0CAL EDUCATION AUTHOR!TIBS.
L
3. The Cahinet had before them a Memorandum by
the President of the Board of Education in rega3?d
to the pro vi si on of meals to children by Local
Education Authorities during the present industrial
unrest (Paper CP.-181 ( 2 6 ) ) .
The proposal of the President of the Board
of Education was that administrative action directed
to individual Local A u t h o r i t i e s , and concentrated
upon those Authorities who appeared to be exceeding
or abusing t h e i r powers, was p r e f e r a b l e . t o the
issue of any general c i r c u l a r , and that whenever
such action was necessary the following
condition
of grant should be s t r i c t l y insisted upon:­
( a ) The proper s e l e c t i o n of children,
with a view to the elimination of
those who are not in fact necessi­
tous:
(b) Adequate co-operation with the
Guardians and other r e l i e f
agencies, including arrangements
f o r the recovery of the cost which
should properly be borne by such
agencies:
( e ) .The elimination of any excessive
expenditure.
The Cabinet approved the proposals of the.
President of the Board of Education as
summarised above and set forth f u l l y
In C P . - 1 8 1 (26) .
4. The attention of the Cabinet was drawn, as a
matter o f urgency, to an a r t i c l e which had appeared
i n a newspaper on the previous day which was tanta­
mount to an i n v i t a t i o n or an incitement to sympa­
t h i s e r s with the general s t r i k e to cause
"oscilla­
t i o n " and so to i n t e r f e r e with the c i r c u l a t i o n of
Government information and notices by means o f
w i r e l e s s broadcasting, which was contrary to the
Regulation issued on Vay 3rd. under the authority
of the Emergency Proclamation.
There was no difference o f opinion i n the
Cabinet that, provided the Attorney-General was
s a t i s f i e d that the law had been v i o l a t e d , the Home
Secretary should have authority to take appropriate
action i n regard to the said newspaper.
There
appeared to be some doubt, however, as to whether
the newspaper i n question had not ceased pub l i e a­
tion.
The Cabinet gave the Home Secretary
and the Attorney-General, in con­
s u l t a t i o n with the Prime Minister,
f u l l authority to take appropriate
action against any newspaper that
had transgressed the law.
INDUSTRIAL
[SIS.
Supply and
j,igport
, isation
an
5. The Cabinet discussed generally the emergency
measures taken to deal with the situation created
by the general s t r i k e .
. The Cabinet were Informed that racing had
already been stopped. There was general agreement
ivdous
'jrenc e:
inet 22
), Con­
that c r i c k e t should not be stopped.-
gion 2.)
materially from the l a t e s t Strike B u l l e t i n .
3
The particu­
lars of the l a t e s t information did not d i f f e r
As
regards food prices the Cabinet were informed that
s a t i s f a c t o r y arrangements had been made by the
President of the Board o f Trade rfith the heads of
the principal sections of the food trade in London
in regard to p r i c e s , the only d i f f i c u l t y
outstanding
being with c e r t a i n American interests who controlled
the c h i l l e d beef t r a d e .
. The Prime Minister informed his colleagues
that the l e t t e r of May 1 s t . from the Trades Union
Congress General Council, o f f e r i n g to enter into
arrangements forthe distribution of essential
foodstuffs
(Cabinet 21 ( 2 6 ) , Appendix I I ) , had not
been and would not be answered, but had been
r e f e r r e d to by the Chancellor Of the Exchequer in
his speech in the House of Commons on Monday, May
3rd.
Reports were mentioned of the interruption
of motor t r a f f i c
in Fast London, and the most
important question at the moment was f e l t
to be
to increase the number of Special Constables, and
i t was suggested that special e f f o r t s should be
concentrated on the r e c r u i t i n g of young and vigorous
men for
this purpose.
The Secretary of State for War
undertook to co-operate with the
Home Secretary in stimulating the
r e c r u i t i n g of Special Constables.
The suggestion was made that i f the Government
would make i t abundantly clear that l o y a l Trade
Unionists would be guaranteed against victiroisa­
t i o n by t h e i r Trades Unions i t would have a
valuable
effect.
The above matters were l e f t to
the Supply and Transport Oom­
nilttea, which was about to meet.
Whitehall Gardens, S.W,1,
May 5,
1926.
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