What kind of a People do they think we are? - Winston Churchill

THE PEOPLE'S RIGHTS-.OPPORTUNITY LOST?What would nave happened hadChurchill s Liherals succeededin their original plan ror rerorm?Andrew MacLarenwho, towards the end of the 19th century, had examinedIn 1970, Jonathan Cape published a new edition of Churchill'sthe paradox of the age in his Progress and Poverty. Hisrare work, The People's Rights (Woods A16). We have recentlyprinciples had a major impact, first upon the radicals ofcome across a copy containing an eight-page publisher's pamphletScotland and Ireland, including Campbell Bannermanwe had never seen before, the contents of which we publish herewith.The author owned a first edition he had bought new inhimself, and later upon the policy of the Liberal Party.1910, possibly the copy Cape used for the offprint. Mr. MacLaren Henry George propounded that whilst people(see biographic note) was Labour MP for Burslem during 1922-45- have the right to possess what they produce, or receive inHis argument is akin to that of Malcolm Hill in Churchill: HisRadical Decade, reviewed in Finest Hour 108:38. —Ed.The republication of any Churchill work after sixtyyears is an event commanding widespread publicinterest. Such attention is owed the rich dessert ofThe People's Rights, last published at the culmination ofthe election campaign of 1909/10, when the speechesfrom which Churchill compiled the book were delivered.Many a reader will find himself astonished thatso vivid a portrayal of one of the great men of our timeshould have lain so long out of print. Yet modern readerswill miss much of the value of the book if it is read onlyfor the brilliant and sometimes surprising insight into thisvital stage of Churchill's political development.For the principles and aspirations set out here arenot those of the individual, but the life force of the greatmovement that reached its zenith in the Liberal Governmentsof Sir Henry Campbell Bannerman and HerbertAsquith that followed the landslide Liberal victory of1906. If one dares to summarise the purpose and vision ofLiberal leaders of that time, it was to bring in a society inwhich the poverty and social injustice of the previous centurywould be eradicated without diminishing the libertyand independence of the individual. The incentive wouldremain to develop his abilities to the full for the good ofhimself and of the community.In seeking and proclaiming the steps which wereto be taken, Churchill and the other leaders of the radicalwing of the Liberal Party encountered fierce oppositionfrom powerful vested interests, even within their own party,and in particular from the House of Lords. Thestruggle with the Lords, following their rejection ofthe so-called "Peoples Budget" in 1909, led ofcourse to the introduction of the Parliament Act.Churchill himself had crossed the floor ofthe House in 1904 on the Free Trade issue andhis passionate advocacy of Free Trade found brilliantexpression in the 1909 speeches. It was notlong however before he became the equally ferventand conscientious exponent of other greatLiberal causes, many of which are now little remembered.Apart from Free Trade, the great economicand social issues were taxation and the alleviationof poverty. The Liberals were concerned toremove the basic cause of the problem—not justto mitigate its undesirable effects.It was the American economist Henry Georgeexchange for their work, there is no such right to privateownership of the elements upon which all depend—air,water, sunshine and land. Indeed, George held the right ofaccess to these basic elements as strong and equal as theright to life itself, and that if private ownership of basic elementsis permitted, suppression and exploitation of oneclass by another is inevitable. The consequent injusticemust become more acute as the community develops.Thus it became a major point of Liberal policy toshift taxation from production, and to raise taxation uponthe value of land, on the basis that this value, as witnessedby the tremendously high prices even then demanded forcommercial land, is created not by any individual but bythe existence and work of the whole community. A naturalsource thus arises from which the community maymeet its growing needs without discouraging productionor inhibiting the growth of earnings.The justice and practicality of this propositioncan rarely if ever have enjoyed a more brilliant advocatethan Winston Churchill, and today's reader is left to wonderhow different might be the present state of Britain hadthe forces of social change pursued these principles totheir enactment. As it was, the great power and intellectualprowess of the Liberal Movement, which had commandedworldwide admiration for the breadth and nobilityof its vision, was soon to be dissipated by war, internalfeuding and the fear of Bolshevism.Under the cruel heel of war and unemployment,Britons came to value security more and independenceless. The emphasis in social advance shifted to the massiveprovision of public benefits, and the increasing interven-FINESTHOUR 112/42