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DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY Off HIS BRITAHITI0 MAJESTY' S GOVERNMENT. )
E C R E T.
Copy No
C A B I N E T
26
(26).
Meeting of the Cabinet to he held at 10 Downing
Street, S.W.I., on FRIDAY, May 7th, -1926, at
9.0 P,M.
AGENDUM.
THE INDUSTRIAL CRISIS,
(Signed) -M. Pr A , HANKEY,
Secretary, Cabinet..
Y/hitehall Gardens, S.W.1^,
.7th May, 1926. .
5 j^CfflaSNT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT.)
CABINET.
26
. Copy No,
(26).
CONCLUSIONS of a Meeting of the Cabinet held at
10 Downing S t r e e t , S.W.1. on PRIDAY, 7th May,
at 9.0 P.M.
1926,
PRESENT : The Right Hon. Stanley Baldwin, M.P.,
Prime M i n i s t e r .
(In the C h a i r ) .
[he Right Hon.
Viscount Cave, G.C.M.G.,
Lord Chancellor.
The Right Hon.
The Earl of Balfour, ICG,,
0.M,, Lord President of the
Council,
fee Host Hon.
The Marquess of Salisbury,
K.G.,G.C.V.O.,C.B. , Lord
privy Seal,
The Right Hon.
W,
Churchill, C.H. ,M.P.,
Chan-beIIor. of the Exchequer.
xhe Right Hon.
Sir William Joynson-Hicks,
3t.,M,P., Secretary of
State f o r 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,
file Right Hon.
Sir Laming Worthingt on-Evans,
Bt. ,G.B.E. ,M,P., Secretary of
State f o r War,'
The Right Ron,
The E a r l of Birkenhead,
Secretary of State f o r India.
Ihe Right Hon.
Sir Samuel Hosre, Bt, ,C.M.G.,
M.P,, Secretary'of State f o r
Air,
The Right Hon.
W. C, Bridgeman, M.P.,
F i r s t Lord of the Admiralty.
Die Right Hon.
Sir P h i l i 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.
The-Right Hon.
N e v i l l e Chamberlain, M.P.,
Minister of Health.
fae Right Hon,
W, Guinness, D.S,0.,M,P,,
Minister of Agriculture and
Fisheries.
The Right Hon.
Sir John Gilmour, B t . , D . S . O . ,
M.P., Secretary for Scotland.,
flie Right H n.
Lord Eustace Percy, M,P.,,
President of the Board of
Education.
The Right Hon.
S i r Arthur Steel-Maitland,
Bt..,M.P., Minister of
Labour.
jihe Right Hon.
Viscount P e e l , G.B.E., F i r s t
Commissioner of Works,
The Right H n,
Viscount Cecil of Chelwood,
K.C., Chancellor of the
Duchy of Lancaster.
f
0
0
The Right Hon.
Sir Douglas Hogg, E.C,,M.P,,
Attorney General,
5i?
M, P. A, Hankey, G.C.B
Secretary,
B INDUSTRIAL
ffi
1, The Chancellor odT the Exchequer read to the
Cabinet the Report of the Cabinet Committee -on a
Civil Con­
jtabulary
jeserve.
previ ous
Reference:
Cabinet 25
(26), Oon­
olusions I. d)
and (o) .
C i v i l Constabulary Reserve (Paper CP..-187 ( 2 6 ) ) ,
which met with unanimous approval.
The Prime Minister Informed his colleagues
that he had received a l e t t e r from Lord Stamfordhain
expressing the King's concern at the evidence
contained in o f f i c i a l
reports o f intimidation of
people ready and desirous of assisting the 6-overn­
ment in the maintenance o f law and order, and
pointing out the d e s i r a b i l i t y of a l l Police control
being under the r e s p o n s i b i l i t y of one Executive
Officer.
I t was pointed out that in paragraph (4)
of the Cabinet Committee's conclusions (see below)
provision was made that the t a c t i c a l employment
of the new C i v i l Constabulary Reserve should be
under the Chief Commissioner of P o l i c e .
The Cabinet agreed -—
( a ) That the Secretary of State for War
should explain to the King the
arrangements in regard to the
r e s p o n s i b i l i t y for the maintenance
of law and order, and that Sir Ronald
Waterhouse should be asked to arrange
that S i r Laming Worthington-Evans
should- be the Minister to wait on
His Majesty on the following day
in accordance with the plan adopted
at an e a r l i e r meeting (Cabinet 24
I
(.26), Conclusion 1 ) .
;
(b) To approve the conclusions o f the
O i v i l Constabulary Reserve Committee,
which are as f o l l o w s : ­
( l ) That the "ome Secretary should
continue to swear in Special
Constables on a voluntary basis
to a total of 50,000.
(2)
That the Secretory of state for War should
immediately order the headquarters of a l l
t e r r i t o r i a l units a c t i v e l y t o form companies
of tho C i v i l Constabulary Reserve, which w i l l
bo a paid whole-time force oi sworn-in
Special Constables ox*ganisod in unit formations
wearing plain clothes but supplied with
brassards, s t o o l helmets and truncheons.
The administration of this force should rest
e x c l u s i v e l y with the War O f f i c e .
( 3 ) The Home Secretary should not recruit any
paid Speoial Constables. He should r e l e a s e as
soon as the emergency permits any t e r r i t o r i a l
Speoial Constables who may wish to r-ejoin t h e i r
own u n i t s .
(4) The Secretary of State f o r War w i l l for the
next few days at any rate not recruit for the
C i v i l Constabulary Reserve any outsiders,
esoept e x - m i l i t e r y men known and trusted at
the t e r r i t o r i a l headquarters.
(5) As soon as the Secretary of State f o r War
n o t i f i e s the Homo Secretary that companies
of the C i v i l Constabulary Reserve have been
formed the Home Secretary should be e n t i t l e d
t o draw upon them as needs bo f o r the purpose
of aiding the p o l i c e . While these companies
would act together as much as p o s s i b l e , t h e i r
t a c t i c a l employment w i l l be directed by the
Chief Commissioner of P o l i c e .
(6)
A l l the above applies to London, is urgent,
and i s to be acted upon forthwith upon the
authority of tho Cabinet.
(7) In the Provinces the War Office w i l l Instruct
the G.O.C.'s of the various Commands t o issue
the earns orders t o the t e r r i t o r i a l u n i t s ,
subject to such modifications as may be found
necessary by the Expert. Committee, and a c t i v e l y
t o promote the formation of C i v i l Reserve
Companies.
The terms of the instructions t o
the G.0.0. in 0. to be agreed between the
Home Seoretary and the Seoretary o f S t a t e for
War. The C 0 * C s w i l l also be instructed t o
place themselves in communication with the
county and Borough Police a u t h o r i t i e s , informing
them that they are preparing these Forces and
that as soon as they are ready they w i l l be at
t h e i r disposal in th e oase of emergency.
Action in t h i s case also should bo immediate.'
s
(8) In a few days when we see how the s i t u a t i o n
develops and how the formation of the new TOTQQ
proceeds, the question of whether the t e r r i t o r i a l
centres should be allowed t o recruit for the
C i v i l Constabulary Reserve w i l l be considered,
and the Home Secretary w i l l also consider
whether he can release f o r f u l l time s e r v i c e
in the C C.R. Borne of his present volunteer
Special Conctables.
( 9 ) In the event of the embodiment
of the T e r r i t o r i a l Army, a l l
the T e r r i t o r i a l s i n the C i v i l
Constabulary Reserve w i l l
immediately r e j o i n their units,
lay aside t h e i r police status
and resume m i l i t a r y duty under
the War 0 f f i c e . Out s id er s
who may.have been engaged w i l l
r e v e r t .to the Special Constabulary
under the Home O f f i c e .
(10) An Expert Committee w i l l assemble
immediately to draw up the detailed
terms o f pay, e t c . , and to implement
these general decisions.
(ll)
The provisional organisation set
up by the Home Secretary under Generals Scott and Percy, with
any arrangements with regard to
depots, to be transferred to
the War Office forthwith.
-THE BRITISH
BROADCASTING
COMPANY AND
jHS STRIKE.
2 . The attention of the Cabinet was c a l l e d
to many complaints received by Ministers and
Members o f Parliament as to the quality and
nature of the news sent out by the B r i t i s h Broad­
c a s t i n g Company, the importance of which in
informing public opinion had been greatly enhanced
owing to the collapse of the Press;
and the
question was discussed as to whether control of
the Company should i n some form be exercised by
the Government.
The question was f e l t
to be bound up with
the subject o f the following Minute, and a
decision was postponed.
-4­
3.
The Attorney-General made a verbal progress
report to the Cabinet regarding the wo rk of the
Cabinet Committee set up by the Cabinet decision
r e f e r r e d to in the margin.
Attention was also c a l l e d to the Memorandum
by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
(Paper CP.-188
(26)).
A discussion followed.
Suggestions were
made f o r the guidance o f .the Cabinet Committee;
but f i n a l decisions were postponed u n t i l the
Committee had made further progress.
The next Meeting of the Cabinet was arranged
for SATURDAY, MAY 8th, 6 p.m., at 10 Downing Street
2, Whitehall Gardens, S.W.1,
May 8, 1926.
-5-