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(THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY 0? HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'3 GOVERNMENT).
Copy No.
SECRET,
m
C A B I N E T
48 ( 2 8 ) .
Meeting o f the Cabinet to be held a t No. 10,
Downing S t r e e t , S . W . I . , on MONDAY, 29th
October. 1928, a t 12 noon.
AGENDA.
1.
FOREIGN APPAIRS.
(if
required) .
2.
THE KING S SPEECH ON THE OPENING OP PARLIAMENT.
1
(Reference Cabinet
(28) Conclusion 2 ) .
P r e l i m i n a r y d r a f t of the K i n g ' s Speech, as
approved by the Lord Chancellor.
( C P . 31^ (28)
- already c i r c u l a t e d ) .
3.
REPARATIONS AND ALLIED DEBTS.
(Reference Gabinet 4.7 (28) Conclusion if.).
Memoranda by the Chancellor o f the Exchequer.
( C P . 511 (23) - already c i r c u l a t e d ) .
( C P . 317 (28) circulated herewith).
4.
THE FUTURE OF BRITISH GARRISONS IN CHINA.
Memorandum by the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
( C P . 279 (28)
- already c i r c u l a t e d ) .
Memoranda by the Secretary of S t a t e f o r War.
( C P . 278 (28)
- already c i r c u l a t e d ) .
( C P . 512f (28) c i r c u l a t e d herewith) .
5.
FREIGHT RELIEF ANTICIPATION - CANALS AND PRIVATE
MINERAL RAILWAYS.
(Reference Cabinet 40 (28) Conclusion 1 ( b ) and
Memorandum by the M i n i s t e r of Transport.
( C P . 506 (28) - already c i r c u l a t e d ) .
6.
THE UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE BILL.
Memorandum by the M i n i s t e r of Labour.
( C P . 312 (28)
- already c i r c u l a t e d ) .
(f).)
ROMAN CATHOLIC SCHOOLS.
(Reference Cabinet 45 (28) Conclusion 7 ) .
Memorandum by the P r e s i d e n t of the Board
of Education.
( C P . 507 (28)
- already c i r c u l a t e d ) .
(Signed)
M.P.A. HANKEY,
Secretary,
Whitehall Gardens, S.W.1.
26th October, 1928.
Cabinet.
(THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OP HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT).
SECRET.
C A B I N E T
Copy No.
48 ( 2 8 ) .
CONCLUSIONS of a Meeting of the Cabinet held a t
10, Downing S t r e e t , S . W . 1 . , on MONDAY,
October 29th, 1928, at 12 noon.
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 Right Hon.
Lord Hailsham,
Lord Chancellor.
The Most Hon.
The Marquess of Salisbury,
K.G. , G . C . V . O . , C . B . , Lord
P r i v y Seal.
The R i g h t Hon.
W.S. C h u r c h i l l , O.H..M.P.,
Chancellor of the Exchequer.
The R i g h t 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 C o l o h i e s .
The Right Hon.
S i r Laming Worthington-Evans,
B t . , G . B . E . , M . P . , Secretary
-of State f o r War.
The Right Hon.
The Viscount P e e l , G.B.S.,
Sfeeretary of State f o r I n d i a .
The Right Hon.
S i r Samuel Hoare, B t . ,G-.B.E.,
C.M.G. , M . P . , Secretary o f
State f o r A i r .
The Right Hon.
S i r John Gilmour, B t . , D * S . O . ,
M.P., Secretary of State
f o r Scotland.
The Right Hon.
Sir P h i l i p Cunliffe-Lister,
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.,
M i n i s t e r of Health.
The Right Hon.
W.E. Guinness, D.S.O. , M . P . ,
M i n i s t e r of A g r i c u l t u r e and
Fisheries.
The R i g h t Hon.
Lord Eustace P e r c y , M.P.,
P r e s i d e n t of the Board of
Education.
The R i g h t Hon.
S i r Arthur S t e e l - M a i t l a n d ,
Bt.,M.'.?., M i n i s t e r of Labour.
The Most Hon.
The Marquess of Londonderry,
K.G. ,M.V.O., F i r s t Commissioner
of Works d e s i g n a t e .
The R i g h t Hon.
Lord Cushendun, Chancellor
of the Duchy of Lancaster.
S i r M.P.A. Hankey, G.C.B
Secretary.
1.
The Prime M i n i s t e r o f f e r e d ,
on "behalf of
the Cabinet, a welcome to t h e i r new c o l l e a g u e ,
Lord Londonderry, p o i n t i n g out that he was only
the second new member o f the Cabinet since the
Government had come i n t o
office.
THE KING S
SPEECH.
1
2 . The Cabinet had b e f o r e them a d r a f t of the
King s Speech on the Opening of Parliament,
1
(Previous
Reference :
Cabinet 47
( 2 8 ) , Con­
clusion 2 . )
approved by the Lord Chancellor f o r t h e i r cons i d e r a t i o n (Paper C P . - 3 1 3
(28)).
The Cabinet agreed ­
( a ) That the End and 3rd paragraphs
should be r e - d r a f t e d so as to put
the r e f e r e n c e to the Treaty f o r
the Renunciation of War f i r s t ,
and to touch upon the question
o f Disarmament i n such a way as
not t o focus a t t e n t i o n on the
f a i l u r e o f the recent attempts
to s o l v e the question of Naval
Disarmament.
The President of the Board o f
Education was asked to forward
to the Lord Chancellor c e r t a i n
suggestions he made to the
Cabinet to t h i s e f f e c t .
( b ) That the 4th paragraph should be
r e - d r a f t e d ao as to lay l e s s s t r e s s
on the evacuation of the Rhineland.
I n t h i s connection the f o l l o w i n g
d r a f t was handed i n by the Acting
Secretary o f State f o r Foreign
Affairs:­
*My M i n i s t e r s have agreed w i t h
the Governments of Belgium,
France, Germany, I t a l y and
Japan that n e g o t i a t i o n s should
be opened i n r e g a r d to the
p o s s i b i l i t y of a complete and
d e f i n i t e settlement o f the
problem of r e p a r a t i o n s ;
and
i t has also been recognised
that n e g o t i a t i o n s should take
p l a c e r e l a t i v e to the German
Government's request f o r the
evacuation o f the Rhineland
at present occupied by B r i t i s h ,
Frenoh and B e l g i a n t r o o p s . "
( c ) That the f i r s t sentence of the 5th
(paragraph should be changed, i n
accordance with a suggestion forwarded
by Lord Stamfordham, to read as
follows
"The Coronation o f the Emperor of
Japan i s shortly to take p l a c e ,
and I take t h i s opportunity, i n
the name of Myself and My p e o p l e ,
o f wishing His I m p e r i a l Majesty
a long and g l o r i o u s r e i g n . "
( d ) That the 7th paragraph, r e f e r r i n g
to the Estimates of the Public
S e r v i c e s , should s t a t e t h a t they
are prepared with due regard t o
the need f o r public economy.
( e ) That the 8th, 9th and 10th para­
graphs should be r e - d r a f t e d and
re-arranged by the M i n i s t e r o f
Health and the M i n i s t e r o f Labour,
i n c o n c e r t , who should forward
t h e i r proposals to the Secretary
o f the Cabinet, f o r the Lord
Chancellor, w i t h a view to laying
l e s s emphasis on the high l e v e l
o f Unemployment and to avoiding
the suggestion i n the d r a f t before
the Cabinet that t h i s i s due e x c l u ­
s i v e l y to the prolonged i n d u s t r i a l
t r o u b l e s of 1926, as w e l l as to bring
i n t o g r e a t e r prominence the importance
o f the Rating Scheme.
(f)
That the lPth paragraph should r e f e r
to the question o f A g r i c u l t u r e in
some such terms as the f o l l o w i n g : ­
" I t r u s t that the r e l i e f from
the burden o f r a t e s a f f o r d e d
under the. Scheme may b e n e f i t
A g r i c u l t u r e and l e a d to a g r e a t e r
measure o f employment i n industry
g e n e r a l l y , and i n p a r t i c u l a r in
those basic trades whose c o n d i t i o n
s t i l l causes c o n c e r n " .
(NOTE: The l a s t three words,
u n d e r l i n e d , were s u b s t i t u t e d
i n consequence o f a suggestion
r e c e i v e d from Lord Stamfordham,
who had drawn a t t e n t i o n to the
inconvenient a l l i t e r a t i o n i n
the d r a f t b e f o r e the C a b i n e t . )
(g)
(h)
That the Lord Chancellor should consider
the s u b s t i t u t i o n of some other term f o r
the words *most conspicuous", at the
end of the 10th paragraph.
That the Lord Chancellor should be
asked to c i r c u l a t e a f r e s h d r a f t to
h i s c o l l e a g u e s i n time to secure the
K i n g ' s signature at a meeting o f the
P r i v y Council on Thursday, November
Is t .
REPARATIONS
AM) ALLIED
DEBTS.
3 . The Cabinet had b e f o r e them the
following
Memoranda by the Chancellor of the Exchequer:An account of h i s conversations
i n P a r i s w i t h M. Poincare and
Mr Parker G i l b e r t on October 19,
1928 (Paper 0.P.-311 ( 2 8 ) ) :
(Previous
Reference:
Cabinet 47
( 2 8 ) , Con­
clusion 4 . )
A s p e c i a l l y s e c r e t Memorandum
oovering a d r a f t of the Note
v/hich he proposes t o send t o
M. Poincare' i n aocordanoe with
an arrangement made i n P a r i s on
October 1 9 t h , and a diagram showing
how h i s p r o p o s a l s would "work out
on t h e b a s i s of a German annuity o f
£100,000,000 (Paper C P . - 3 1 7 ( 2 8 ) ) .
The Chancellor o f the Exchequer informed
the Cabinet that a f t e r h i s meeting i n P a r i s w i t h
M, Poinc are' he had sent a telegram to Signor
Mussolini and had suggested that he should send
Signor A l b e r t o P i r e l l i
question.
to London to discuss the
I n r e p l y he had r e c e i v e d a t e l e g r a m ,
which he read to the Cabinet and which was
couched i n very c o r d i a l terms, conveying Signor
M u s s o l i n i ' s acquiescence i n the proposal as
regards Signor P i r e l l i , who was due i n London on
Thursday .
The Chancellor o f the Exchequer pointed out
that the B r i t i s h p o l i c y was founded on the Balfour
Note.
There was one p o i n t , however, on which he
had a s l i g h t r e s e r v a t i o n to make, namely, i n
regard to the arrears of £180,000,000 r e q u i r e d
to carry out i n f u l l
the p o l i c y of the N o t e ,
Hitherto we had stood for the whole o f these
a r r e a r s , but i t must now be r e a l i s e d that there
was not the s m a l l e s t chance of our r e c o v e r i n g them
in f u l l ,
although we might obtain a p a r t .
He was
anxious, i n the Note to M. Poincare', not to
r e v e r s e the p o l i c y , but to i n d i c a t e that t h e r e
was room f o r a l i t t l e
" g i v e " on t h i s
question.
He asked the views of h i s c o l l e a g u e s on t h i s
point.
Mr Ghurchill s t a t e d t h a t there were
c e r t a i n points of d e t a i l upon which i n any event
he would want t o a l t e r the N o t e .
I n the course o f the discussion i t was
suggested to Mr C h u r c h i l l that the r e f e r e n c e
to
the question of a r r e a r s should be made at the end
o f the second sub-paragraph on page 2 of Paper
CP.-317
( 2 8 ) , where i t would be l i n k e d up w i t h
the cost o f r e p a i r i n g the devastated r e g i o n s .
I t was suggested that the a d d i t i o n , a f t e r the
words " d e v a s t a t e d r e g i o n s " , might be in some such
terms as the
following:­
"and o f e x t i n g u i s h i n g the accumulated
d e f i c i e n c y o f £180,000,000 r e f e r r e d
to a b o v e " .
The f i r s t
four l i n e s of the f o l l o w i n g
paragraph
might then be o m i t t e d .
Another suggestion was that the
fourth
sub-paragraph, on page 2, should be amended by
referring
to the Expert Committee as an "independent''
Expert Committee.
I n t h i s connection the Cabinet
were reminded that Lord Cushendun had committed
the country u n c o n d i t i o n a l l y t o an expert
invest!­
gation,
Mr Churchill wished at this stage to avoid
the word "Independent", but undertook instead
to a l t e r the words "would b e " , i n the second l i n e ,
to "have b e e n " , so as to r e a d : ­
"On t h i s understanding His M a j e s t y ' s
Government, f o r t h e i r p a r t , have been
w i l l i n g t o r e f e r the question o f the
t o t a l annuities to be paid by Germany ,
to an Expert Committee f o r examination",
etc ,
Another suggestion made i n the course o f the
discussion was that i t was important that any
d i v i s i o n o f c a p i t a l m o b i l i s e d by the marketing
o f German Bonds should not be on d i f f e r e n t
propor­
t i o n s from the arrangements agreed to at Spa as
regards the d i v i s i o n o f the i n t e r e s t .
I t was
suggested that a t the end o f paragraph 3 the
f o l l o w i n g words might be added:­
"and, i f thought expedient, the r i g h t
of the Government to r e c e i v e the
annuities i n accordance w i t h the Spa
percentages".
Some discussion took place as to the best
procedure to be adopted i n order to communicate
to other I n t e r e s t e d Governments the present
i n regard to the proposed expert i n q u i r y .
position
On the
one hand i t was recognised as d e s i r a b l e to avoid
presenting
the German Government with a formal
Note based on the draft Note t o M. Poincare and
demanding t h e i r adherence thereto .
On the other
hand, the Governments o f B e r l i n , Brussels and
Rome had a l l been made aware that Mr Churchill
and M . Poincare' were about to exchange p r e c i s e
Notes and consequently would expect some f u l l
communication.
I t was recognised to be necessary
to acquaint them f a i r l y and f u l l y with the p o s i t i o n ,
l e s t otherwise the same sort o f suspicions might
be aroused as in the case o f the Anglo-French
Agreement on Naval Disarmament, the g i s t o f which
had been communicated to c e r t a i n f o r e i g n
ments, but without, the
Go vern-
text.
The Cabinet agreed
—
( a ) That the Chancellor o f the Exchequer
should c i r c u l a t e a r e - d r a f t o f the
Note to M. Poincare attached t o Paper
0.P.-317 ( 2 8 ) , and that i n the absence
of any c r i t i c i s m from any o f h i s
c o l l e a g u e s he should have authority
to despatch the Note without further
discussion at the Cabinet:
-S­
( b ) That the form and method o f the
comtrranications to be made t o the
various f o r e i g n Governments con­
cerned should be l e f t f o r a r r a n g e ­
ment between the Acting Secretary
o f S t a t e f o r Foreign A-ffairs and
the Chancellor o f the Exchequer.
CHINA.
I Future B r i t i s h
WGarrisons
in.
(Previous
Reference:
Cabinet 41
(28) , Conolusion 5. )
if.
The Cabinet had b e f o r e them the
following
documents r e l a t i n g to future garrisons i n
China:-
A Memorandum b y the S e c r e t a r y of
State f o r War (Paper C P . - 2 7 8 ( 2 8 ) )
asking the Cabinet t o approve in
p r i n c i p l e the f i x i n g of the future
B r i t i s h garrisons i n China at 5
Battalions (in addition t o the
Indian B a t t a l i o n ) i n o r d e r that
he might discuss w i t h t h e Treasury
the d e t a i l s of the p r o v i s i o n of
accommodation f o r the two a d d i t i o n a l
B a t t a l i o n s t o be l o c a t e d at Hong-Kong:
A Mote by the Chancellor of the
Exchequer (Paper C P . - 2 7 9 ( 2 8 ) )
c o v e r i n g a Memorandum by the
Treasury opposing the S e c r e t a r y
of S t a t e ' s proposal on the grounds,
i n t e r a l i a , that I t amounts t o a
oonfession that our p r e s e n t Army
i s t o o s m a l l ; t h a t i n v i e w o f the
p r e s s i n g need of economy the proposal
could only be j u s t i f i e d on grounds o f
i m p e r a t i v e urgency, which does not
exist;
that the proposed garrison
would be an o v e r - i n s u r a n e e ;
that
i n the present state of f o r e i g n
r e l a t i o n s t h e r e i s no menace from
Japan; and that the p r o p o s a l i s
premature, no d e c i s i o n b e i n g
r e q u i r e d so l o n g as an emergency
f o r c e i s r e t a i n e d i n China:
A r e j o i n d e r b y the S e c r e t a r y of S t a t e
f o r War (Paper C P . - 3 1 4 ( 2 0 ) ) p o i n t i n g
out t h a t , as explained i n Papers b e f o r e
the Committee o f I m p e r i a l Defence, the
B r i t i s h Army i s not r e a l l y adequate
f o r the task which i s required o f i t
t o d a y , although he accepts the
i n a b i l i t y of His M a j e s t y ' s Government
to inorease i t ;
that he i s only seeking
to advise as t o i t s best d i s t r i b u t i o n ;
quoting" the opinion of the Foreign
O f f i c e t h a t China w i l l be the danger
area i n i n t e r n a t i o n a l r e l a t i o n s so
l o n g as c i v i l war continues;
adducing
r e c e n t h i s t o r y t o combat the argument"
t h a t i t i s an o v e r - i n s u r a n c e : eiiphasiz­
i n g the inadequacy of the present
g a r r i s o n of Hong-Kong; and u r g i n g
that the p r e s e n t proposal i s not
pre nature and that we must adopt a
d e f i n i t e p o l i c y which w i l l admit of
accommodation b e i n g ready i n Hong-Kong
against the t i m e , not f a r d i s t a n t ,
when we may hope to withdraw the l a s t
B a t t a l i o n from Shanghai.
I n the course of the discussion the
S e c r e t a r y of S t a t e f o r "far was asked as t o
why, i f
there were s i x B a t t a l i o n s i n China
b e f o r e the w ar, i t was - now necessary to put up
r
new "barracks i n order to carry out h i s p r o p o s a l s .
The Secretary of S t a t e f o r India warned the
Cabinet t h a t , i n the event of future trouble in
China, i t would not be safe to count on
a s s i s t a n c e from I n d i a , as trouble i n one p a r t
o f Asia was l i a b l e
to produce r e a c t i o n s
elsewhere i n that Continent.
Questions w,.re a l s o asked as to what
a c t i o n , i f any, was b e i n g taken "by the Municipal
Council a t Shanghai to strengthen
maintained l o c a l l y ,
the-forces
as so o f t e n urged upon
them, and the Cabinet were informed that, although
the question had been studied a t Shanghai,
the Council had so f a r shrunk from the i s s u e .
The Cabinet agreed ­
-he present time would r e q u i r e
r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n by whateverGovernment might b e j r f f o f f i c e a f t e r
the General ElecJ^on, and since
the t e n d e n c y i r f u h i n a i s towards
g r e a t e r t r a n q u i l l i t y , i t would be
a d v i s a h i ^ x o postpone a d e c i s i o n
u n i i ^ a f t e r the General E l e c t i o n
"5nat i n the meanwhile the Committee
o f I m p e r i a l Defence should keep
the question under c a r e f u l
o b s e r v a t i o n , and r e p o r t t h e i r
recommendations i n due course.
RATING REFORM.
Freight R e l i e f
on Gam I s and
Private R a i l ­
ways.
5.
The Cabinet had b e f o r e them a Merriorandum
by t h e M i n i s t e r of Transport
(Paper C P . - 3 0 6
(28))
r a i s i n g f o r d e c i s i o n the question of whether
railway f r e i g h t r e l i e f
should be a n t i c i p a t e d
(Previous
Reference:
Cabinet 40
( 2 8 ) , Con­
elusion 1
( b ) and ( f ) .
i n t h e case of canals and p r i v a t e mineral
A l s o Cabinet
47 (28) , Con­
clusion 10. )
i n the case of harbours and docks.
r a i l w a y s , which had been l e f t
over f o r
not
later
c o n s i d e r a t i o n when i t was decided/to a n t i c i p a t e
After
r e v i e w i n g i n his Memorandum the p r o ' s and oon's
o f the q u e s t i o n , the M i n i s t e r of
Transport
advised that the p r e l i m i n a r y scheme should be
s t r i c t l y limited to t r a f f i o
c a r r i e d by the
p u b l i c r a i l w a y s , and t h a t the answer t o other
claimants should be t h a t the Government
that I t
regrets
cannot see i t s way t o extend to them
any s p e c i a l a n t i c i p a t i o n of the r e l i e f
from
r a t i n g which w i l l come i n t o f o r c e on the 1st of
October, 1929.
A f t e r explanations by the P r e s i d e n t of
the Board of Trade, the Cabinet agreed ­
( a ) That the M i n i s t e r of Transport
should have a u t h o r i t y to
inform claimants that the
Government r e g r e t s that i t
cannot see i t s way to extend
to chem.any s p e c i a l a n t i c i p a t i o n
of the r e l i e f from r a t i n g which
w i l l come i n t o f o r c e on the
1st October, 1929;
( b ) That c o l l i e r i e s owning p r i v a t e
mining l i n e s
who consider
themselves e n t i t l e d to r e l i e f
should be encouraged to
approach the Mining A s s o c i a t i o n
whose claims for r e l i e f from
the oppressive burdens of r a t e s
on the p u b l i c railways have been
met so "handsoinely by the Govern­
ment, and who might p o s s i b l y
be able to make some arrangements
among t h e i r members i f they
thought that the s p e c i a l circum­
scancee of the c o l l i e r i e s owning
p r i v a t e l i n e s j u s t i f i e d some
adjustment.
THE UNEMPLOYMENT
INSURANCE BILL.
(Previous
Ref erenc e :
Cabinet 52
( 2 7 ) , Con­
elusion 1. )
6. The Cabinet had b e f o r e them a Memorandum by
the M i n i s t e r of Labour (Paper C P . - 3 1 2 ( 2 8 ) ) in
conneotion w i t h the Unemployment Insurance
Bill,
by means of which, i t i s proposed t o increase the
b o r r o w i n g powers of the Unemployment Fund beyond
the present
l i m i t of £30.000,000 and up to a t o t a l
of £40,000,000.
The Memorandum d e a l t mainly with
the complicated question of the adjustment of the
revenue and expenditure of the Unemployment Fund
and otntained the suggestion that the B i l l
should
not p r o v i d e f o r any increase of contributions
at
the moment but should include powers to do so
should i t be subsequently found t o be necessary.
A f t e r some d i s c u s s i o n ,
the Cabinet
agreed ­
(a)
That i n i n c r e a s i n g to £if0,000,000
the borrowing powers o f the
Unemployment Fund, no attempt
should be made at the present
time to adjust the revenue and
expenditure of the Fund.
It
should be p o i n t e d out to P a r l i a ­
ment that the insolvency o f the
Fund i s due to the s t r i k e s of
1926, and that the Government do
not f e e l e n t i t l e d at the present
time to i n f l i c t extra burdens in
respect of i t .
(The M i n i s t e r of Labour asked that
his personal dissent from the
views of his colleagues on t h i s
p o i n t might be r e c o r d e d . )
f
(b)
That the M i n i s t e r of Labour should
consider and discuss with the
Chancellor of the Exchequer a
proposal made by Mr. Churchill that
the increase of the Fund t o
£ 4 0 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 should be l i m i t e d to
two y e a r s , and r e p o r t to the next
meeting of the Cabinet.
MIGRATION.
7.
A t the request of the Secretary of
State f o r Dominion A f f a i r s ,
(Previous
Reference:
Cabinet 42
(23) Conelusion 9 ) .
the Cabinet
agreed that a Committee, composed as
follows
The Secretary of S t a t e f o r Dominion
A f f a i r s ( i n the C h a i r ) ,
The Lord P r i v y S e a l ,
The Secretary of S t a t e f o r War,
The Secretary of State f o r I n d i a ,
The P r e s i d e n t of the Board of Trade,
The M i n i s t e r o f Labour,
A r e p r e s e n t a t i v e of the Treasury,
should meet to a s s i s t the S e c r e t a r y
of State f o r Dominion A f f a i r s i n
g i v i n g e f f e c t to the p o l i c y of the
Government i n regard t o m i g r a t i o n .
The Committee, c o n s t i t u t e d
p r i m a r i l y f o r the above purpose,
should not be precluded from r a i s i n g
new p o i n t s of p o l i c y i f they should
a r i s e i n the course of i t s d e l i b e r a n
tions.
8, The Cabinet had b e f o r e them a Memorandum by
EDUCATION.
The P o s i t i o n
of Ohuroh
Schools.
(Previous
Reference:
Cabinet 45
( 2 0 ) , Con­
clusion 7 . )
the P r e s i d e n t of the Board of Education (Paper
C P - - 3 0 7 ( 2 8 ) ) c o v e r i n g a r e p o r t of a speech by
t h e Roman C a t h o l i o Archbishop of C a r d i f f , who i s
b e l i e v e d t o be a strong C o n s e r v a t i v e ,
criticising
the present Government f o r i t s unwillingness
to
help as regards the b u i l d i n g o f Roman C a t h o l i c
Schools and u r g i n g t h a t " i f t h e y w i l l not recognise
" t h e i n j u s t i c e under which we are s u f f e r i n g , and
"if
they w i l l not g i v e us any r e d r e s s , then l e t us
"take the f i r s t
opportunity we have of t r y i n g t o
" f i n d others who s i l l
act more i n conformity with
"what we know as B r i t i s h j u s t i c e .
Next Spring or
"Summer we s h a l l have an opportunity of doing t h i s
"when the General E l e c t i o n takes p l a c e " .
In the course of a statement in
a m p l i f i c a t i o n of his memorandum, the President
of the Board of Education appealed to h i s
colleagues to g i v e an i n d i c a t i o n i n t h e i r
p u b l i c speeches that the Government was
favourable to voluntary schools.
Ke thought
that the question was one of such importance
that the Cabinet would do w e l l to devote some
time to i t s c o n s i d e r a t i o n .
The Prime M i n i s t e r agreed with the
P r e s i d e n t of the Board of Education, and said
he would t r y and f i n d time a t an e a r l y
meeting f o r the discussion of the subject,
in
which he would ask every Member of the Cabinet
to express h i s opinion.
He asked his
colleagues
in the meantime^ to g i v e the matter t h e i r very
careful
consideration.
-lp­
XT MEETING
THE CABINET.
9.
The Prime M i n i s t e r t o l d h i s
colleagues
that he had "been informed that there were
t h r e e v e r y important questions which,
though hardly ready f o r
c o n s i d e r a t i o n on
Wednesday ne?:t, would be r i p e
for
settlement towards the end of the week,
namely, the Report of the Lord C h a n c e l l o r ' s
Sub-Committee of the Committee of
Defence on the P e r s i a n Gulf;
Imperial
the Local
Government B i l l now b e f o r e the -Committee
of Home A f f a i r s ;
the Report of S i r barren
F i s h e r ' s Interdepartmental Committee on
Unemployment.
In the circumstances he proposed not
to hold the usual weekly meeting of
the
Cabinet on Wednesday, hut t o postpone
it
u n t i l Monday. November- pth, a t 5.0 P.m.
i t e h a l l Gardens, S.W.1.
29th October, 1926.