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The rC oss and the Plough Special Collections Journals

1948 The rC oss & the Plough, V. 15, No. 3, 1948 Catholic Land Federation of and Wales

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ltbe ~tgan of tbe atbolic 1anb mo9ement of £nglanb anb 'UU\alee QUARTERLY TWOPENCE. MICHAELMAS ' 1948 CONTENTS THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS 2 ORGANIC FARMING AND GARDENING: by H. R. Broadbent 3 THE POPE ON PROPERTY: Translated by Walter Shewting • 4 THE UNCONSCIOUS SIXTH COLUMN: by John Boak 5 A PRAYER - 7 THE LAST OF THE ·REALISTS: G. K. C~ESTERTON AND HIS WORK: Part 3: by Harold Robbins - 8 ORDER OF BATnE, X':'XIV: The Curate's Egg - 24 IN ARMED MEN • 24

Vol. 15 No. 3

3 THE POPE TO THE LAWYERS nations, healthy forces seem to be reviving, doubtless continue to give their support. Most DISCOURSE OF 20th MAY, 1948 gaining strength and encouraging hope. One sincerely th€n We declare once more the token of this renewal is, in Our eyes, the per­ hopeful interest We take in this TRANSLATED BY WALTER SHEWRING anniversary, sistency and perseverance of this very Insti­ \vhile We call down on you, on your families ELCOME; it is a real joy for Us to see ~en's .complex ~elationships with each other, tute of yours, to which many States and and dear ones, the abundance of God's graces bl d here for the twentieth mcludmg W espeCially the realm of property organisations have already given and will and blessings. . . you assefmthee International Institute for and of mutual services? Only if one refuses anmversary o f · h · d' 'd 1 h' if . h L of Personal Rights. A ter to see m t e m IV! ua anyt mg more than Un ymg t e ;w nsparing toil your jubilee a mere unit, one among an indefinite number THE UNCONSCIOUS twednty yeka:s dol ugleam throug' h the dense of equally anonymous units, a mere element SIXTH sen s a !11 y . . h I 1 . 1 h t nshrouds mankmd to-day op- m a s ape ess mass or cong omer:J.t10n which g oom t a e d ' · h · f k · f COLUMN ressing our western civilisation an over- 1s t e very opposite o . any md 0 society- ph d ·ng the whole realm of law. Be only then can one chensh the fond illusion of By JOHN BOAK S a OWl ) . )) h . . not unnatural but too exclusive pre- assured that none feels this more deeply than re~ atwg a . uman relatiOnshtps on the THE as claimed, were entitled to this living wage occupation of many teachers of Catholic the Ch urch, since with whether they earned it or not, and even good reas?n she re- b~sts ofbl publbc ll'akw ?lone-!not to mention social doctrine with the special case of the d herself as the mother of tillS western t at pu tc aw 1 ·ewtse co lapses when once whether or not there was the wherewithal to industrial worker has led them into two gross g:ar. 1.s tion whose impact has passed beyond the human person with all his attributes provide it. There can, of course, be no C!Vl !Sa h b 'd d h b . errors, which are fraught with lamentable the nations of Europe and America to t ose ceases to. e c.o ns1 ere t e egm ning a nd end quarrel with the underlying suggestion that consequences. The first is to assume the an economic system which left masses of the whole world. . of all soctall!fe. . . of men pet manence of industrialism, not as saying, as in hunger and You will understand then the !J vely These _r e A ec tiO~s bear specwll y on th ose distress was to be forthrightly we were so often told, "industrialism has condemned; but that is not what he appears interest that We have taken in the account of t:e-al quest1ons wh1ch ~o ~ ce rn the personal come to stay," but as saying, by implication, to have said, and it is certainly not how he our Institute's activities hitherto. T?e work n ght to. property. T .hts ts the ce ntral and that it has come to stay in the same place. was interpreted. If there is to be any sort has indeed been arduous, doing credit to the focal po.mt around your work is bound wh~c.h The second is the attendant belief that since of meaning in logic it was interpreted, and intelligence, learning and indus~ry of those to gravttate. Recogm.oon of p:i~ rights a te industrialism must thus be in some way a with good reason, not as a claim against the who have given themselves up to 1t. We.rr:ay here or falls sta.nd~ wtth recognn~on of per- part of the Divine Plan, it cannot be in any economy for an equitable reward to labour, add further : it has been work of. untmng s?nal ?tgmty of rna~ a~d of the tmpresc rip- way inherently evil, but can be and must be but as claiming a positive right to a given patience, of steadfastness in pursuw~ Y?ur t1~le n ghts and dutte~ mseparably bound up "Christianised." Neither is "false doctrine" standard of living. aim, of careful and delicate tact in cons1denng wtth the free personaltty he has received from in the moral sense. The first is bad in econ­ It is the vague feeling that these are some­ and gauging possibilities that v a .so muc? Only one who ~y ~od .. denies to man the omics, the second bad in psychology. how the same thing that is at the heart of the with the capabilities and charactenstiCs of th1s of a fre.e person . can ?~~~Jty admit the poss- In an attempt, estimable enough in itself, confusion. It is sentiment, perhaps com­ or that nation. Above all, work of ~nwaver- tbtbty of replacmg ~he nght to private prop- to give some practical expression to the mendable sentiment, in the place of reason. ing trust in man's inborn sense of n gh.t ~nd erty (~nd hence pnvate property itself) by Church's teaching o~ the "right to a livin& The "right to a living wage" is a part of the justice-manifest witness to. the co~vtctlon some 11l - de~ned system of legal ~ssura n ce and wage," these apologists have taken the indus.: demand that the economic system shall be that beneath the inexhaustible va:tet.Y . of g uarantees 111 the order of pubb.c law. May trial society as the "norm," and together with just; the "standard of living" is wholly a forms, law presents a groundwork of JUndtcal we ne~er se: the day when a dectsive cleavage an unacknowledged acceptance of all the matter of economics. The labourer is worthy elements common to all. on thts pomt should come to divide the Victorian assumptions of an automatically of his hire; but there is nothing in that to We are happy to be with you in this and na.tions I The work of legal unification in progressive industrialism, have taken our own mean that an Englishman or a Frenchman is eagerly seize the chance you offer Us of d.e- th1s matter of personal rights, difficult as it is as "standard," though not all have gone to by divine ordinance entitled to a higher d aring once more Ou: pe_rsonal confidence 111 al:eady,. would then become impossible. And the grotesque length of arbitrarily assessing standard of living than, say, a Greek or a this sense of law and JUStice that h as roots so With th1s would come the fall of one of the the living wage in the pounds and shillings Spaniard. The first is a question of morals; deep in human nature, Our personal convic- main pillars which for so many centuries have of our highly artificial, and as it now turns everything that is implied in the second is a tion of this ample groundwork of law com- upheld the fabric of our civilisation and out rapidly disintegrating, way of living. question of cold economic facts. man to all nations. May you find this assur- we~te rn unity; like the columns of an ancient The confusion is well illustrated in a There is a similar confusion about the ance from the H ead of the Universa l Church temple, it would lie buried under the wreck- recent statement by Cardinal Gerlier, and in further clarification of what is meant by the an encouragement and a spur to pursue yo ur age it made. a use to which the present writer has seen it living wage which speaks of the worker task wholeheartedly! . H eaven be praised, things are not so put, as justifying renewed strikes in our own enjoying a share in the abundance he helps One could not take on oneself to un1fy desperate yet. Yet the unsc rupulousness with country. At the most charitable view the to produce. That is the only relation between the law of personal rights among nations which nowadays incontestable private rights statement was an intervention in the wave of the living wage and the standard of living without bei ng first convinced that such a law are violated, not only in the particular behav- French strikes to express a warm sympathy which can be a moral requirement. The does indisputably exist and is everywhere iour of certain nations but in international with the real hardships suffered by poorly standard of life obtaining amongst the work­ binding. Again, how cou!d one be convinced agree ments and unilateral interventions is of paid workers. They did not, the Cardinal ers must bear a fitting relation to the wealth of its existence and universal app li cab i~it y a kind to alarm a ll the accredited g-ua;di ans said, receive "a living wage." But he did of the society, and the right of the worker in with~ut ~ ! so being convinced. th~t human per- of our civilisation. B.ut, again, things are not blame the employers; he did not know this matter is, for instance, superior to the sonahty 1s bound to extend Its 111fluence mto not ye t d esperate, a nd, m the juridical life of who was to blame. The workers, he as good even laudable encouragement of the arts by

4 5 a wealthy oligarc~y or the purwit of a gre:tt- the human spirit, is not insupportable and certainly not inherently evil. That it is not 0 grandeur m the appurtenances of the ness r . · h. 1 of its very nature evil is, of course, obvious an economic unity, there can still be no State or nation. But the wteq:~re~auon w ~ ~ 1 A PRAYER is commonly being put u~on It IS of a quite enough, for it is not of its nature different prospect whatever of our regaining that posi­ on the one hand from any other form of tion of expanding commercial and industrial A LMIGHTY God, Father of us all, Ruler d'IIerent order ranging m advocacy from of the Earth and Judge of all men, to ~ode st and al~ost meaningless bonus .and routine, or on the other, from any other sort supremacy which we have so foolishly come of working together as a team. But that is to regard as " normalcy." We are faced with Whom we must render account of ourselves profit-sharing schemes to extreme sy?dJcal­ when our lives are done; look down this day ism. It is being suggested, .not on}.Y mdec?, not the whole of the problem. There can be an inescapable decline in the standards of nOLhing inherently wrong with a group of living, or, as it should more properly be upon us, who adore Thee, and do in our that the worker must share ll1 the profits~ blindness see to men in a boat rowing in unison, but there is regarded, with a fundamental change in our k out the means do Thy will : but that he holds a a right a title to. share m look down, and give us of Thy goodness "the ownership and control" of wdustry. all the difference in the world between a way of living. Either by the painful method college eight and a Roman galley. of having our industries fail one after an both sight to see and strength to do those Schemes are being propounded on behalf. of things that be acceptable before Thy throne. It is doubtless a ls~ true that many bctory other, or by intelligent anticipation, we have the worker, because he is a "worker," wh1ch Look down, 0 Lord, upon this farm­ workers feel no speoal sense of frustration to adapt ourselves to the economy of a modest would forcibl y wrest from the employer, JU.st stead and all that dwell in it. Bless the earth, from the lack of the particular satisfaction industrialism aimed at providing primaril y because he is an "employer," property 111 and the beasts, that all in due time may render that comes of individual creative effort and for our own needs, and an agriculture that is industry which is as lcgitima~ely .hi s as his Thee their increase. Bless the seed, that it that even if they did, by the heroic aimed, to the limit of possibility, at self­ hat or his coat. We are bemg asked to pr~ctice may grow in a deep soil. Bless the soil, that of Christian virtue they could sublimate their sufficiency. That is the area of choice. believe that the ri ghts of the worker are such• our valleys may laugh and sing in the time labour, however tedious and menial. But so that if yo u get somebody in to clean th e si lver There can be no factor more potent in of harvest. could the galley-slave. The important thing he not only acq uires the moral right to re­ such a choice than the attitude of the workers Bless us, 0 Lord, who labour here to­ is that great numbers of men do in actual ceive, say, a couple of spoons, but. must also themselves. Yet nowhere is there more gether to Thy glory. We are Thy stewards, fact find t.he nature of their work repugnant, be called into the farmly couno l to help strongly held the unreasoned belief in an keep us simple and patient as the beasts, and that 1t plays no very small part in their decide what you shall all of yo u h ave for inevitable and unending material progress. make us fruitful and uncomplaining as the di scontents. "Improvements" in industrial dinner. When conditions worsen, as they will, and ground. And, insomuch as Thou hast Both these sets of ideas, looking to the t~chnique, and greatly incre~sed regimenta­ they find hunger, unemployment and increas­ ordered the beasts in subjection unto us, and tJo~, have more continuous improvement of the worker's than outweighed the gains ing distress staring them in the face, will give n u s the ground for our provision, let us agamst the lon~er h.ours and the grinding standard of li fe, or to the sharing by the they as readily say this too was inevitable? show ourselves worthy of these Thy gifts by poverty of earher worker in the ownership and control of indus­ times, so that working Will it have availed much to have given using them duly and by ordering of our­ hours can now never be short enough and no try,. draw their inspiration froJ? the .tragic them our own rather pale but still rather rosy selves to be their masters. Thou hast set us sort of bribe can be adequate evils which were either brought mto bemg or . The "inevit­ version of a Socialist heaven in an industrial above the beasts in understanding : let us use ability" of the industrial brought to the pitch of veritable heartbreak system is for count­ society? May they not angrily conclude that it right. Thou hast set us over the earth with less thousands only by the industrial revolution. . They se.t out, relieved and made toler­ it was too pale? The present writer sees no a plough : let us not turn back from it. in particular, to remedy the evils of an mdus­ able by the faint but unfailing hope of some sure indications that the situation which has Whatsoever work is done in this place to-day, trial society. But just as they in such large day ':inning a football pool and escaping arisen in Prague or Budapest will not arise let it be to Thy service, and grant us as from It. measure so derive, so do they also require, for here within three to five years, and many humble ministers of Thy will so to perform their fulfilment, the continuance and even the But bad as that is, what is to become of indications, American aid notwithstanding, our tasks that at the end we may be found continued prosperity of the industrial system. it if the industrialism we have known, so far that it will. There could be nothing more worthy of life eternal. Amen, 0 Lord, Amen. Hence our apologists find themsel ves driven, from being permanent, is economically un­ fallacious than the notion that it is precluded -The Prayer of Amos Ward, in Dewer not always, I think, with a good conscience, sound, even if only in the sense of inevitably by Communism seeming to have been "held" Rides, by L.A. G. Strong. to the defence of industrialism itself. passing like a tidal wave first over one coun­ at a distant continental boundary. It is not try a nd th~n another? Bad as they are, these the proximity of the Red Army, but the lt is true, of course, that they make no are not qUite so much the wrong answers as interior weakness of our economic structure defence of the worker having his jacket tl1e wrong questions. What happens to the and the exasperation of the workers at its UNCONSCIOUS HUMOUR whisked away to the ceiling lest he should living wage interpreted as a constantly im­ collapse that brings the menace nearest our Ministry of Agriculture Press Notice. don it a moment too soon, having somebody proving standard of living if our present diffi­ threshold. Except for a tiny minority, the 9th September, 1948 (M.A.F. 2193)- at his elbow with a stop-watch to see if a culties, so far from being temporary, really workers will not have wanted it any more Mr. J. N. McClean, a member of the particular job cannot be speeded up by a portend an economic decline that is inherent than the Czechs or the Hungarians, but they Smallholdings Advisory Council constituted second or two, and the similar refinements in our inClustrialism and in the money system will have nevertheless opened the door to it. by the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries of modern industrial efficiency. But it is that has evolved with it? What is the use of That is the crux, and there may be little to advise him on matters connected with more and more becoming common form to talking glibly about profit-sharing when you indeed that we can do about it. Disappoint­ smallholdings, resigned recently on taking up say th at there is nothing repugnant to the are actuall y living on your rapidly diminish­ ed and unable to believe in the breakdown anothet· appointment. di gnity of man in the nature of the work ing capital? of ' the modern Utopia, the workers are mis­ The Minister has appointed in his place itself; that monotonous repetitive work, even The answers are grievous indeed. Wheth- · trustful of everybody. But at the least, and if Mr. R. J. Chad:on , who farms r , 200 acres under the speed-stress of the modern conveyor cr or not with the Marshall Plan and with for no other reason than in the interests of in Lincolnshire and is Vice-Chairman of the . ) belt system, whilst perhaps a little trying to or without \Vestern Europe being welded into accurate thinking, we ought to see to the re­ Parliamentary Committee of the National 6 orientation of Catholic thought. ParmerJ Union . 7 This is as much as any outsider is entitled It was never clear to the outsider why The LAST OF THE REALISTS to say, but I must add a word on the general New Witness had to go. Some of us were in­ THE point. clined to suspect the Beaconsfield Influence, and G. K. CHESTERTON AND HIS WORK Chesterton took over The New W itness and certainly Chesterton's references to Mrs. Cecil By HAROLD ROBBINS started G:K.'s Weekly because he wanted to play about this time showed a curious uneasiness. It AU right.., are reserved to the author the part m savmg . England which was imposed may well be, of course, that Mrs. Cecil, as the continued from Vol. 15, No. 2 by his qualities. He encouraged the formation widow of the OJiglnal owner, had more say In the of The New Witness League and The D istributist conduct of the paper than Beaconsfield approved. Chapter 6 L eague for the same reasons. These, in his view Certainly, even at this early stage, Mrs. Sheed were the most important tasks any Englishman can say of Frances Chesterton : "In the decision THE PAPERS AND THE LEAGUES could undertake. The future will prove him to edit the paper he had not even fully her sym­ And gentlemen in England now a-bed right, if the present does not. It is useless 'for pathy:•• tThis 1s another example of powertul Shall think themselves accursed they were not here. Mrs. Sheed to sigh: "Was it worth while? ... understatement). -King H enry V, Act IV, Scene III And yet at moments imagining the poetry the However that may be, the last number of E It . sincere hope that readers and finance, then Gilbert Chesterton was a bact philosophy, that might have been ours-an~ther The New Witrress appeared on 4th May, 1923. . NOT .- i~ my ter or the last and the editor. But if we want a man who can write White Horse, another Everlasting Man-I am Three curious facts must be recorded here. Will not take this cha!ts 'or sectional struggle. what no other man can write, who can keep his tempted to wish that these year6 had not thus 1.-At the very moment of closing down, Chester- I point without getting been sacrificed to the paper which enshrined his ton announced In the last Issue his intention ~~~ ~h~~e~ee:~:~;~omings-and have tried paper closely to his ch~en brother's memory.'•• f k b t them-we offered the first monotonous, and who, m partiCular, iS of such of starting again at once-"Even apart from l't th t 0- e tl 'nk f . . to anisedbe ran fi hta. ouagainst the oncoming Servile. qua i ':( a n o.""n~ ver li s o questiomng or But this enshrines two fallacies at least: our particular purpose of a new paper·• rt!te we gdelayed if we did not destroy it. changmg his leadership, then Chesterton was not that Gilbert was less Of an Englishman, even (Leader of 4th Me.y, 1923) and In the first Th · k has all to be done again, and now only a good editor but a great one. le There can be no doubt that his intentions, that any but the purest motives had existed any­ assembled a surpriSing )'lumber of emment people said: "So blindly and blankly has this natural both in title and in conduct, were most humble, where. In any case, it is only fair to him to from all over the country. N?t much result may social ideal been ignored in England, that I really and had reference solely to the work in hand. remember that he was deeply indebted to Chivers have been noticeable at the tun.e, but I thm~ the do believe it to be true that my normal ideal is But it involved him in too much labour which both for much finance and for much kindness, agreements made there bore widespread frUit m Jess known than my name. I am therefore could have been done better by others. Early and the operative decision had been conceded later years. The Glasgow contingent: in partic­ driven to use the name as the only familiar in 1926, W. R. Titterton was asked to act as already by the terms of the Bath meeting. ular, had solid local achievements to 1ts credit. introduction to the ideal. assistant edltor. Titterton is a very fine jour­ Anyway, the new Board had it. Everyone There would be little point now in trying to But 1 live in hopes of seeing this relation to nalist indeed, but would never claim for himself, was heartily sorry both for the Old Man and for detail the local Birmingham operations. The things reversed. I shall work upon this paper nor would anyone claim for him, that he was Titterton. high-spots were a very successful l arge meetmg in the h6pe tha.t familiarity with the name m:~.v also a business expert. It does not seem to have The new Board did not actually operate for of members of Trade Unions, addressed by be allowed to fade as familiarity with the cau~e occurred, either to Alderman Chivers or to Lord very long, and the effective conduct of the paper increases; and that that will increase and I Howard, that the kindest thing they could do Father Vincent McNabb on the threat to pemo~al shall then fell to the brothers Macdonald. It was not decrease. Then perhaps a happier generation, for both editor and assistant, apart from the liberty; addresses to tw~ of the . ex-Service announced who suggested the Board. Certainly Jiving under a healthier precarious position of their own money, was to associations absorbed later m the Bnt1sh ~egwn, social order, may be com­ not the League, anu the Branches were not con­ pletely puzzled by the initials that stand at P· , see that an adequate business man was included sulted. So ended a very unhappy controversy, on the same subject; a big public meetmg (m in the team. association with the Mothers' Defence League), head of this page. Learned professors will in which, as I h ave suggested, the chief mystery ponder upon what the hieroglyphic of "G.K." One editorial point of some interest must be was why such a hoodoo hovered, and remained addressed by Mrs. Cecil Chesterton and Father recorded here. While Chesterton was absent Vincent, and a Press campaign in which we got can possibly have signified; those holding the over the business conduct of the paper. It must barbaric theory of the twentieth century inter­ abroad in the late Spring of 1926, there occurred remain a, mystery now. a lot of publicity •for our points in a local Sunday the great Coal Lock-out, and the General Strike newspaper. Finally, we were allowed to address preting it as "GOd Killing," while those with a However, the paper had survived a crisis more pious idealisation of the past translate it which supported the miners. Titterton came out that would have killed any paper less solidly the local Trades Union Council, and we got m strongly on the side of the miners and strikers, touch with the then Secretary, the late Mr. F. as "Greater Knowledge." Students of contem . supported. It remaineu in full vigour until the porary literature may sunpose it to be a sort of in a mimeographed isSue, because the printers Old Man's death in 1936. w. Rudland. J.P. This last development led to were on strike. He was supported in this by a very curious example of the over-riding force monogram of God and Kipling or possibly Kipps, At this point, perhaps, I should draw atten­ while dynastic historians prove that it was but Chesterton himself,• but many subscribers took tion to the importance of W. R . Titterton's G . of anti-eatholic prejudice. When we had been the other view and there was a minor row. K. on the friendliest terms with Mr. Rudlanu for a ceremonial inversion elf King George. But I Chesterton: A Portrait, published in 1936. It shall not care very much what they say, so long I think there is no doubt that in this case is, I think, mentioned only in the Bibliography some time, and he had helped us to get several the editor and assistant took the right line ; but of the Li'fe. Despite the obvious haste articles into the local Labour newspaper, we met a,s they say it in a free country where men can of its own once more. the incident afforded, the first ominous rumbling writing, it is as masculine in its outlook as the him one day to discuss some development which of the earthquake which, much later, was to Life is feminine. The Biographer wlll find in it I have forgotten. To our surprise we had a very For there is no nobler fate than to be for­ gotten as the foe of a forgotten heresy and no split both Paper and League from top to bottom. much that is essential to his purpose. hostile reception. It appeared that someone had In this case, there could be little doubt where I think it should be emphasised here that told him that a number of us were Catholics. better success than to become superfluous; it is well with him who can see his paradox planted the Distributist point lay, but it proved tha.t the Old Man, as he was generally and affection­ He said quite frankly that he had no use for there had to be a Distributist point before any­ ately called, sustained the burden of editorship catholics and would not co-operate with us anv anew as a platitude, or his fancy shed like a feather when nations renew their youth like body took a line on anything. There were other for twenty years. Seven years of The New longer. We reminded him that this fact did not points, as will be seen, where Distributists might Witness, two years interregnum which can eag~es: and when it is no longer thought amus­ invalidate the arguments and facts he had reasonably differ. I cannot be sure that this hardly have been less of a strain, and eleven already accepted. Nothing we could say got ing to say that a farm should belong to a farmer and no longer called brilliant to suggest lesson was adequately learned. years of G.K.'s W eekly. In that time he also behind this entirely unreasoned prejudice. The that a Things drifted on with both the paper and wrote over fifty books. Can any author show whole at this part of our work crashed at once. human being might live in his own house as in the money his going great guns, until the early such a record of fertility and vigour? And much own hat, then indeed the trumpets of a fin al Autumn of 1928. Then, Alderman Chivers being of his work in the papers It was at this point, about the enu of 1920, t1iumph will tell us we are needed no more." has never been re­ that we learned a lesson which wa.s to be useful ill at Bath, Chesterton anu Cecil Palmer jour­ printed. This was the man who might have We were never able to understand whence neyed thither to form a quorum 'for an emer­ written another White Horse. In God's name to us later on. We had tried. with reasonable C' ame the irresistible force to use his name in success, to build up a body af membership, and gency Board Meeting. Chesterton was also taken did he not write enough? Some hoped he might we held quite a number of meetings to keep it t!l.e title. It is clear that Shaw, whose att.it1'cl" ill there, and the meeting was actually held .in be saved from the paper. More will be glad interested. But work crowded on the Committee was most friendly and appreciative throu ~ ho ut , the Alderman's bedroom. A deplorable financral that the paper saved, him from his friends. wM strongly in favour of Chesterton's Weeklv. position was reported, and Palmer, 8.6 the only It does not seem that with the files open to so thick and fast that we rather forgot our own but as Gilber members. After the Trade Union crash. we re· t rarely took his advice on other fit man present, was deputed to investigate and inspection, I can add usefully any more on bhe membered them rather belatedly, only to find noin1R. he i~ not likelv to have done so here.• act. It would have been better if the phrase paper itself. that they had melted away. Nothing we could Probably the use of his name was a mistake. had ended and report, to give time for reflection. But it must be emph8.6ised that it fulfilled. do built up this membership again. Certainlv it was a mistake for Distributism, but At this time there was a group of young critics and continued to fulfil, the essential function • that can'•t be helped now. anxious to form an Editorial Board, and Mr. keeping a large group together, and of present­ I remember that during our active period When t.he paper first P.ppeared, Chesterton Palmer deposed both Tltterton and the BusineSs ing, with admirable cogency, the convictions wr several enquiries were made of Miss Dunham, i n was so enthusiastic that he wrote. if possib'c, Manager, and formed the Board under his own all shared. I must allude here, without pre­ The New Witness office, as to what London was too much. For instance, Letters to the Editor, Chairmanship. judlce to much other valuable work, to a couple c.:loing. That body seemed to have sunk without Both the matter anct the manner of this of remarkable features which I have not had trace; and Mrs. Cecil Chesterton talked m'lre • It is a m us in ~ that in a letter urging this Sh~w proceeding caused a storm in the League, and occasion to mention elsewhere. than once of getting the League funds transfer­ said : "As the success of Prohibition is so ovrr­ 1.- For many years, a whole page of advertise­ red to Birmingham to help us to carrv on. Thecc whelming that it is bound to become a com­ • Titterton, p. 157. ments of small workshops . was maintained. also, app:tren~. I y, were sunk without trace. monplace of civiliGation." (Life, p. 4201. 11 10 Formation of the Central Branch in London This severely practical step has been largely were •full of people, mostly university students, copies and ietters sent. Of these, two were overlooked, but it cannot. have been without a nd of other Branches in London an to be handed to voters. who would themselves ownership of individual enterprise in land, debate, and more gracious still in declinin~>; all recreation of diffuSed property and true rural ask the questions at candidates• meetings. The shops and factories. n'lyment for it. I have no first-hand knowledge communities. I hope that will be remembered. text follows: I cannot be sure that it is th Thus the League fights for Small Shops of how it was fixed up, but Titterton (p. 193) in America if not in England. Unemployment original Liverpool fmm: it may have been and Shopkeeper5 against multiple shop .~ and says it was by the efforts of Gregory Macdonald was soluble on the strictly conventional capitalist adapted for use by Birmingham as by other trusts. Individual Craftsman hip and Co­ and H. E. Humphries. It was a.rranged for the principles. It was not solved because it involved Branches. Many thousands of copif6 were dis­ operation in indust~·ial enterprises

12 13 2.-Loosen the Grip OJ the Greedy. Are you pamphlet entitled The War on the Weak, by K. in favour of anti-trust legislation and com­ L. Kennck, M.A. (Oxen). It was prefaced by ines in the first World War should have dam­ This year was notable for the first Summer plete revision CJf Company Law, to dis­ this note: "During the months of September aged his health so as to restrict his activities in C.Jnference in September. It passed a strong courage combines? October and November, 1930, the B.B.C. per~ retirement. During the second World War he resolution calling for a programme. It 1s of 3.-Property jor All. Will you promote or suP­ m1tted Professor A. M. Carr-saunders, and Mrs. rejoined the Royal Navy, and contracted a fatal interest that about this time correspondence in port legislation to increase the number of Mary Adams, to broadcast two series of talks illness on the west coast of Africa from which The Cockpit took on a note' of acerbity which property owners? (e.g., to break up large entitled 'Standing Room Only: a Study in he died on his return to England. God rest his had been absent up to then. estates both rural and urban, and to facil­ Population,' al1d 'A1 or C3 : the Future of the gallant soul. It is much to be hoped that a In December, 1931, a domestic monthly itate the transfer of property). Race.' Just before Christmas the Executive second edition of this permanently valid book or~an- The Distributist-was set up, and was 4.-Help tor the Land. Will you support the Committee of the Distributist League applied for may serve as a tribute to his memory. edited by Branches in turns of about three farmers• demand for a three party con­ permiSSiOn to broadcast a reply to these talks In London there was a big public meeting months. Glasgow, Birmingham, Central, Man­ ference to construct a national land policy? and instructed the Birmingham Branch af the on 25th April, when Chesterton gave an address chester, Mid-sussex, Bradford, Cl:"Y-desdale, and (We import annually a hundred million League to prepare such a reply. The League's on The Menace oj Empire, and on 29th June was then by various of these Branches. It is not pounds worth of produce which could be application was not entertained by the B.B.C., staged a debate on The Menace Of Prohibition mentioned, I think, by Mrs. Sheed. It lasted grown at home). but the reply was prepared and is here printed " between Chesterton and the late Mr. E. until the end of 1935. 5.-Freedom, not Officialdom. Behind this bald announcement lies ·a Scrymgeour, M.P., Prohibitionist Member for The Hon. Secretary, troubled by the con­ (a) Will you vote for the restoration of struggle to induce a government monopoly to be Dundee. If I am not mistaken, this gentleman tinued delay in getting out a programme for personal liberty lost during and since the lffipartial rather than tendencious. It failed had, then or previously, defeateo Mr. Winston which the material was now massive convened a war? entirely, but the fact was thereby established churchill in this constituency. So far as I know, special conference to be held at 'Glossop, to (b) Will you oppose the tendency to legislate beyond dispute. this debate was never fully reported. It was a tackle the job properly, and to tackle nothing by Orders in Council? In London there were two large meetings very hot evening, and Chesterton was much dis­ else. It was held on three days of J une, 1933, (c) Will you oppose Prohibition and Local in May and December, on Our Cure for Unem~ tressed on arrival, and on mounting the stairs and 44 delegates attended from nine Branches. Option? ployment and The Menace of Bureaucracy. Bo h to the hall. I r emember vividly how unanimously With good will on all sides, great progress was 6.-Cleaner Politics. were addressed by G. K. Chesterton and others we refrained from tendering help, so well was made, and further conferences in London and (a) Are you in favour of the public audit of Towards the end of the year, Headquarters so it known how he hated it. I walked up the Birmingham must practically have completed a the party funds to expose the sale CJf faT ceded to provincial pressure as to invite stairs close behind him, in the vain a leaflet) was issued in November. an~ to prominent medical men. The absence of much missed the 'bus we ought to have , threw .off .. almost in passing, the thesis develoPed In 1931, the new Hon. Secretary of the we hao been kicked off the last one that ran. le~lation fol!owmg this substantial and sus­ later m 1ts pages. We bullied him until he tamed offensive may be taken to be another League, whom I am constrained to call X, for The League carried on until well after CheS­ useful piece of agreed to write it out, and, greatly daring I 1·easons that appear later. began to force the terton\s death. but the heart was out of it. The counter-battery work by the committed my Branch to publication We s~c­ Branch. To our knowledge. no other body was issue of a Distributist Manifesto and Programme. reasons behind this will be found in chapter 8. prom1nent on the side of the poor. ceeded m ~btaining guarantors for t~ expenses He was unable to get through the mysterious Whether it will be revived now that the of productwn, and an edition of 1,000 copies was Her:dquarters reluctance at this time. The war is over remains to be ,oeen. If it Is. the To conclude here our anti-eugenlst offensive: produced at 2/ 6 a copy. All were sold and in the winter of 1930. the League published a economic and financial crash which moot CYf vs sponsors will be well advised to adopt a federal autho~. guarantors ana Branch received' some had foreseen for years occurred in August. It rather than a centralised basis. We have now • :r"he substan~ of this criticism may be found financial return for time or money so risked found us with many enquirers but no programme no great name to keep us together. on the m my Exammat~on Of Eugenics, chapter 3. This .. pro:tJabJy, was the second most in1portant to se' before them There ran be liLtle r!n•Jht. other hand. we have a large number of little men The full text is m the Catholic G for survival. and lt was a gre?.t pity that his work in submar~ 14 15 Chapter 7 THE CATHOLIC LAND MOVEMENT ASSOCIATION PATRONS CHAIRMAN hON . SECRETARY TRAINING FARM And hold their manhoods cheap while any speaks - I That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day. scottish The Archbishop of Glasgow Rev. John J.P. Magennis, Broadfield Farm. -King H enry V, Act IV, Scene III McQuillan, o.o. F.C.R.A. Symington So far a.s the pioneers everywhere were con­ everywhere to begin by Training Farms for the cerned, the Catholic Land Movement grew unemployed. That is, we sought to demonstrate s outh of The Archbishop of Westminster Rev. Herbert B. Keating Old Browns Farm, out of the Paper and/or the League. I was sur­ that urban young men could be trained for the England The Bishop of Northampton Vaughan, o.o. Chartridge prised constantly during its progress to find land. This we achieved beyond question, as will The that recruits and groups springing up in remote be seen. In our innocence, we thought that after parts of my area were practically always familiar the success of the demonstration we should be Midlands The Archbishop of Birmingham Rt. Rev. Mgr. H. Robbins West Fields Farm, with G.K.'s Weekly and/ or the League. The able to secure government help for settlement The Bishop of Shrewsbury J. Dey, D.S.O. Market Bosworth Land Movement could not have been begun, and perhaps on the lines of The Birmingham Scheme. ' The Bishop of Nottingham certainly would not have lasted, without those Scotland was first off the mark, as might two sources of recruitment and inspiration. In have been expected from the substantial if un­ North of The Bishop of Rev. T. Fish, D. J. Jones, the case of Scotland, which was the first to start, recorded work of the Foundation Distributlsts up England D.O. A.C .A. the Land Association began before the League there. Dr. John McQuillan calleu a meeting in in Glasgow had become fully active. Every­ December, 1929, and the quarterly organ of the Nottingham T.1e Bishop of Nottingham Rt. Rev. Mgr. H. G. Weston Grove Farm, where in England the Land Associations were Scottish Catholic Land Association : Land tor J . Bigland M.A. Panton formed at a time when the League seemed to the People, began its distinguished career under have ree.chcd the doldrums, and when immed­ his unchallenged editorship in January, 1930. Liverpool The Dam Gregory J. Gavin Priors Wood Hall, iate action, on a compact basis which offerect a A year later, in February, 1931, the English I Bui.sseret, o.s.s. Parbold chance of success, appeared imperative. Catholic Land Association was started by a It Is desirable to say here why we decided group in London. But it was so clear that If THE CATHOLIC LAND FEDERATION: to make the attempt on a catholic basis, al­ the work were to be done at all, several associa­ Chairman: The Rt. Rev. Mgr. J . Dey, n.s.o. Hon. Secretary: Reginald Jebb, M.A., M.c. though we all knew of the danger, and of the tions were necessary in England, that on the •for• tendency to say (wrongly) that only Catholics mation of the Midlands Catholic Land Associa. see Appendix C : The Holy See and Distribu­ Farm, we received some £2,000 in donations. were Distributists, whereas it is not only a but tion in the same month, the London group was the remedy for the whole of the industrialised tism, for other matter. This would have been barely enough to provide rem·ganisect a.s the South of England Catholic working capital for ouT farm of nearly 200 acres, world. Briefly, there were two reasons. The Land Association. Others were started soon If in the ensuing brief account, I give chiefly first was that immediate action being imperative, the e~per i ence of the Midlands Association, it and even so, it came in a steady trickle over the afterwards, as the North of England (Manche£­ three years; and a good part of it had there was much greater chance of the necessary ter), Liverpool and Nottingham. is because I knew it best. I have no reason to to be demonstration in a relatively compact group such suppose that its experience was not character­ spent in groceries instead of in productive stock. In October. 1931, Land tor the People became The farm, therefore, tended always to be under­ as the Catholic Body. The second was the result a joint istic of all. organ. and all six Associations united to stocked. but as the owner, on our giving ii ~ . of our reflections on settlement after training. form Besides the "official As Is well known, the difficulty with a community a Standing Joint Committee in the Sllme " efforts, other private sold it for £300 more than he had given for 1t, E:et up artificially from any vear In 1934 this was formaliseu as The Catho­ or semi-private enterprises were begun at or we may claim that we did not let the farm random cross-section lic Land Federation; about this time at Langenhoe, Marydown, Laxton of society is to induce it to cohere. Such a com­ Han. Secretary, Reginald down. Jebb. It was at this time that the Committee af and elSewhere. The communities of craftsman­ munity of Catholics would have, obviously, much We had, of course, no precedent to guide u~ greater reason so to cohere than any random the Scottish Association, but not the Chairman ship with a foothold on the land were very valu­ wi~hed to resume control of Land tor the People; able to the movement, alld. exist and flourish in the choice of applicants. Some of the most community. We hoped, and said, that In the promising wanted to leave quickly, and some of social extremity many religious or other social and The Cross and The Plough was started for still at Ditchting Common and High Wycombe. England and Wales, and Is still in existence All were under Distributist influence. the most unlikely turned out very well. Others groups would follow our example. A county of under my editorship. ' again were willing enough, but could not get the such "closed" communities admittedly offered the Some two years we devoted to the hard pre.. Training farms were set up as speedily as hang of things. We made many mistakes, but prospect of some disadvantage. But the worst paratory work of making the Association known at the end of the three years we had six men likely to happen, we said, was an Annual Bother, pcssible. First by Scotland at Symington in -writing lecturing and trying to collect money. AJ?ril, 1931, then by the South at Chartridge, by who could definitely have run a holding of their on November the fifth, or some equally suitable In this and the later developments we were much own. Several others were in the final stages. • ann! versary. Midlands at Market Bosworth, by Nottingham at indebted to the greatest figure thrown up 1.. Panton, and b~- Liverpool at Parbold. In the last twelve months we ran an experi­ At that time, the minds of all decent men England by the Land Movement. Mgr. James mental holding called Little Frieslands. This were filled with the spectacle of a large part of When the Associations were fully developed, Dey, D.S.O. , at this time Rector of Oscott Col­ the officers and organisations were as shown in was of 22 acres, and the careful accounts showeu a generation rotting on its feet. The govern­ the table on lege and later Bishop in Ordinary to H.M. Armed undoubted success. ments had done nothing towards a real solution the next page. For~es.• had been a Distributist for many years. of the appalling unemployment. Nor, on strictly Papal approval was also granted In a letter He threw himself with great energy, and w1th On taking West Fields, we took a copy of industrial lmes, was any real solution possible, dated 1st July, 1933. It will be seen that the all the charm of his personallty and prestige, Mr. Thomas Derrick's cartoon, showing Chester­ for not only were foreign present Pope signed as Secretary of State. ton milking a cow. I was soon told by the markets failing per­ into our work. Both for the Midlands Associa­ trainees that he was milking from the wrong manently, but industrialism needed a reserve cYf Dal Vaticano, t ion and iater for the work of the Lan~ Federa­ unemployed to keep the employed in order. 1st July, 1933 tion his help was invaluable. Practlca.lly all side. I never found a chance of telling him Accordingly, they allowect mental The Holy Father has heard with satisfac­ about this, but the strict realism would have decay and the the .;,ark of administration was decided at Oscott. delighted him. cessation of hope in up to two million people tion of the progress already made by the five and by his courtesy it was the. scene .of every while preserving them from actual physical star­ Catholic Land Associa.tions of Great Britain conference held during the act1ve ~erlQd from We must now turn to the representations vation. The mere callousness of this attitude In and prays this important work of restoring 1930 to 1935 inclusive. His name, w1th. that ?I made after some or all of the training farms the governments will not soon be forgotten or the sane and healthy life of the countryside Dr. McQuillan, must go down as pre-emment m were 'in being, for help for the cost af training forgiven. may be abundantly blessed by God and result the work we did. and settlement. . It was known to all, but admitted only by a in a diminution of unemployment through the development of the agriculture.! resources of With £66 in the Bank, the Committee de­ As English readers will know, the system C' ' few. that industry could not revive to a point cided in January, 1933, to accept the offer, b·; Unemployment Benefit permitted subsistence which would absorb even the bulk of the unem­ the country. to the fullest extent possible. As payments only to the unemployed who were ployed. Therefore, any remedy must take them an enco!-lragement to persevere in this good Mr L L Green. of Leicester, of the tenancy o. west Fieids Farm, Market Boswo~th . A Warden genuinely seeking work. Work was defined as out of the deadly competition altogether. At the work, H1s Holiness most gladly imparts his insurable employment within industry, and all same time it was denied, without trial or nroof, Apo~tollc Blessing to all who are engaged in (always a priest), Manager, Ba1.liff and Ho~ keeper ·were appointed. and tramees averag~ng the trainees forfeited their unemployment bene­ that an urban man could be trained to make an helpmg to further this most praiseworthy fit on going to the farm. All representatiOnS, or indenendent livelihood on the land. enterprise. twenty in number were selected from the waitmg With the assurance of my personal good Jisi of unemployeu and urban young men. Alto­ Not because we thought it the best or the wishes, gether. during our three years' running of the only thing to do, but because our poverty drove * These figures are exclusive Clf severa~ men who us to it as a first and vital step, we deciclec! I am, Yours very sincerely. left to try their vocation in the rellg1ous life. E. CARD: PACELLI. • The Bishop died on Victory Day, 8th June, Most were successful. This was one of the 16 1946. most unexpected results of our efforts. 17 bodies, and would urge that these forces, lying time f!:'oln other bodjes, but the ~i't!Si!nt posi­ test cases, in the Royal Courts of Justice were ible to say with confidence that the majority ready to hand, should be welcomed and helped tion is that there are no funds available from forbidden under the relevant Act of Parliament. of the trainees will succeed. by H.M. Government as a most valuable aid which such a grant you desire could be in a period of crisis. as But in the modern sinister fashion, provision My committee has exhausted unsucces&. made. was made for successive a;ppeals up to the Head­ fully the indirect means of obtaining govern­ My committee would be happy to place Its It Is understood that you have been In quarters of the Ministry of Labour; as a final, ment support. A Test Case for receipt of proposals, thought out over a long period of communication with the Ministry of Labour and now independent, court of appeal, equivalent Unemployment Benefit has been carried to the years, and its experience at the disposal of as to the possibility of obtaining assistance by to a hearing in the House of Lords, a case could Umpire, and rejected on the ground that the any other religious body wishing to use them. way of unemployment benefit or transitional be represented before a full-time Barrister, ap- Trainees are not available for industrial work, I am instructed therefore to request that payments towards the cost of maintaining the . pointed under the Act, and known as the and that they are being trained for a non­ H.M. Government will give its sympathetic men during their periOd of training, and that Umpire. industrial life. The points are no doubt con­ and early consideration to the following sub­ the restrictions imposed by the Statutes at In February, 1933, as soon as the farm was clusive under the Statutes. but they represent missions:- present In •force have been explained to you; occupied, we began a test case to secure pay­ in themselves the best possible claim to State It Is not possible to bring training for land support. 1.-That H.M. Government should make for ment of unemployment benefit to the trainees. the existing and future Training Farms a settlement within the framework of the exist­ It went through all its stages, and by July, 1933, A subsequent attempt to secure help for ing unemployment insurance legislation. it retrospective per capita grant of 33 ~% 'or came to its final stage before the Umpire. ~ direct marketing of flour under the Wheat Act the cost of training, subject to a maximum I am therefore to express regret that it is represented the Association at this final hearing. has failed even more definitely. The bulk of of £20 per year per trainee. not possible under existing conditions for the The Umpire, and the Ministry of Labour officials the correspondence is printed in the accom­ Government to give you the assistance that throughout, I found personally sympathetic, but panying Annual Report. 2.-That H.M. Government should contribute you desire. officially without hope. 50 % of the cost o! equipment of the Model On the other hand, my Committee has Small Holdings (which should not nor­ Yours truly, The case turned on whether the man remain­ information that the Young Men's Christian ed technically available for employment mally exceed £250 each), per capita grant J . A. BARLOW. in his Association receives from H.M. Government a as In (1) to be continued for one year, and own trade. I said undoubtedly yes: we put no grant of 25 % in respect of land training of The Hon. Secretary, pressure on any man to remain if an opening at half rate for a further year If necessary in boys, and that the admirable efforts of the In respect Of each trainee so established. ' The Midlands Catholic Land Association. his own trade presented itself. Technically, Society of Friends, both for allotments and 3.-That H.M. Government should add 50 % to there was no doubt he was so available. ThiS, permanent settlement, are assured of a Gov­ Subsequently, the Ministers of Labour and they said, was not enough. Suppose temporary ernment bonus of 100 % or 50% on sums col­ any sums collected for the purcha~ and laying af Agriculture, besides another Prime Minister. work, say for three days or a week, were offered, lected. out estates for settlement and were I communities. (Once the land training is approached in similar terms. Replies were would the men take it? said the same freedom in every case a decided negative. and it is of existed, but obviously he would not if he had It will be seen from the enclosed Annual under way, it is the intention of my any sense. There was a general murmur that Report that, besides the Training Farm in Association to settle also sufficient crafts­ some Interest that in no single case did the reply we were being too honest. The trouble was that existence, the Association propose the follow­ men to supply the needs of the new com­ include an expression of sympathy or thanks for ing extensions of its work :- this needed and unpaid work from the Ministers the Association was trying to take men out of munities). of the Crown. industry. I said that seemed to be our chief 1.-A second Training Farm. 4.-Alternatively, my Committee would wel­ claim to consideration, as the only way of easing 2.-A Training Farm or Institute for women. come a 50% bonus up to a given ·maximum After some time we were advised, unofficially, the unemployment position. The Umpire decided, that some concessions were being made ed by the Catholic Land Federation. It will be agreed that, whatever its defects. ed by H.M. Stationery Office on 9th December, the Scheme lacks nothing of practicability and yeoman farmer cultivating his own small farm 1939 (2/6 net). (b) It is a platitude that with unemployment on completeness. It seems certain that it is the with the help of his wife and family and a its actual scale and permanence any man put only Scheme for straight subsistence fa1ming in minimum of hired help. Craftsmen such as It would be an ungracious task to indicate in on the land would reduce the unemployed community ever placed before an Association blacksmith, cobbler and tailor should be mem­ detail all the points where the Report discredits figure by one automatically. The field of re­ bers of the community in order that as a whole the L.S.A. approach which proclaimed that its duty was "to experi­ and administration, or to cruitment should be general, not forgetting ment with all types of smallholding." it may be self-subsisting to the greatest possible show how by implication the principles Of the the highly qualified class of farm workers. It. extent. The Scheme contains provision, there­ Catholic Land Movement are justified. Only is the disgraceful failure to provide The proposal is that Coton Priory Farm and fore, for accommodating such craftsmen. Fur­ hope and Upper Far Coton Farm. lying immediately to essential points will be mentioned. outlet for this la.tter cla~s which has led to the t.her, as the maintenance of the community as a 1.-The cost of settlement per holding has ex­ country's being confronted with an acute short­ the west ctf Market Bosworth, Leicestershire, be whole depends upon its spirit and ideals remain­ ceeded original estimates by 150%. The age of agricultural labour in the recent crisis. acquired in order to start permanent community ing those upon which it is founded, the presence settlement for trained men from the Catholic of a splritw:l estimate was £750. The actual average is The permanent waiting list of 4,000 country­ Land Associations. and intellectual head in the shape £1,854. men approved but not settled under the Small of a priest or schoolmaster is necessary. and for Holdings Acts must be the test of the sincerity Coton Pl1ory is of 494 acres. Large house, the exercise of communal life a church, school 2.-Even so, the Committee has little conviction very large outbuildings, six cottages. Available that the bulk of the settlers will succeed C1f the Ministry of Agriculture over the whole and village hall. sorry business. for £9,000. Possession in March, 1936. Well In order to secure homogeneity in the com­ permanently. The costs continue.to mount bounded by roadfi on three sides. Well watered. in many cases, and terrifying poultry (c) £1,854 sounds a lot of money. It is a lot munity, sound finance and a co-operative struC­ or 30 acres woodland. ture, it will be necessary to fo1m a new Associa­ epidemics alone involved (e.g.) a special money-much more, I think, than would have Upper Far Coton is of 262 acres. Large grant of £9.577 to 85 tenants; a type ctf been necessary under the full scheme of the tion on which the interests of the settlers and house and buildings, two cottages. Available for the financial backers will be represented. A Con­ liability inseperable from any form of Federation. But let us analyse this sum by £5,000. Possession in March, 1936. Well inter­ specialisation. the best principles of high finance. The L.S A. stitution for such a body follows. The holders sected by roads; well watered; 14 acres wood­ are to be possessed of the fullest meas11re of 3.-The L.S.A. is criticised severely for its cen­ Trainees received subsistence grants on the land. usual scale from the Unemployment Assistance independence and liberty compatible with the trali~ed control and its alienation of the West Fields Farm (188 acres) is adjacent well-being and persistence of the community. sympathy of local advisory councils. This Bo:t.rd. They averaged 38/2 per week nP" and is already in possession of the Midlands family. This sum, capitalised at 3% Holdings will be restricted fr~eholds , with the centralised control cost £22 per settler per with a Catholic Land Association as a Training Farm. main object of assuring the permanence of the annum. In addition, there was a loss on sinking fund to extinguish the debt in thirty Its function could be adapted to that of a central :vears. provides a capital of £1,970. From thio holdings as units of the community. Each settler "Central Farms" of £14 per settler per farm with technica.l advice, reserves of stock will be a member of the Association and bound annum. must be deducted any sums by way Of rent or and implemenoo, etc. by it.s rules. repayment from the settler. and It remains to consider the situation arising surely the All the farms are of excellent quality and The holders should not be expected to refund second generation would succeed if the first In good heart. and are favourably considerect for from there essential points in th~ Report. made rather a mess af it. the whole cost of settlement. but only such sum the purpose by competent local surveyors. a!" m:ty be as:essed by the spor.sors. It is sug- 20 21 gested that this should be In the neighbOurhood sell the same to any other person subject never­ of 60 per cent, and should be In the form C1f theless to the provisions of paragraph (2) Mortgages with annual repayments on the hereof which shall be a restriction binding the hoUS€6 and land; otherwise with freehold poss­ said holding into whosoever hands it may ession, restricted as shown in the schedule. come. CoNSTITUTION OF THE BOSWORTH GUILD 5.-I! th.a purchaser shall at any time (otherwise 2.-0bjects. The establishment and mainten­ than by death) cease to be a member of the ance of the community or communities of Association he shall be deemed to have given smallholders, craftsmen and others giving such notice as is mentioned in paragraph (4) practical form to the principles of the Encycli­ hereof to the Association on the date when he cals Rerum Novarum and Qua.dragesimo Anno. shall so cease to be a member. To engage whether as principal or agent in 6.-The expression "the purchaser" shall for the trading, agricultural marketing, etc., and in purpose of these presents (save where the con­ particular to undertake co-operative trading text otherwise requires) be deemed to include by and on behalf of the members. the purchaser and his peTsonal representa­ 3.-Members. (a) Any Association member of t;vcs or any person becoming entitled to the the Catholic Land Federation; (b) tht:- owners said holding by reason of the death of th<> of holdings; (c) craftsmen of the community. purchaser provided that unless any such last 12.-Votes. A ma.jority of the members repre­ mentioned person shall within six calendar senting the Federation have an over-riding months of the death of the purchaser become vote during the period of indebtedness to the a member of the Association and commence Federation. · personally to cultivate the holding the Associa­ 16.-The Association shall act as the exclusive tion may within three calendar months of agent C1f every member for the purchase or such period of six months by notice in writing sale of any agricultural supplies, produce or addressed to the "Owner" and left at the said stock. The member on whose behalf the holding require the holding to be conveyed to Association acts in any particular transaction the Association at a price fixed in manner may be appointed the representative of the mentioned in clause (4) hereO'!. Association for effecting the same (purchases Driven back thus on our own resources, the of livestock, particularly, were envisaged by Midlands Association having wasted much time this concession). on what proved to be a meaningless offer by a 17.-In the case of farm implements, live or dead weaithy man, decided to seek permission to stock which by their expense, limited use or make an appeal under Catholic a,usplces, to otherwise are suitable for co-operative use, the settle on holding~ carved from West Fields Fa rm Association may maintain a sufficient supply five of the men already trained, and to keep the of such implements or stock. Use shall be rest as a smaller tralnmg farm. The whole cost, decided by the Committee or by drawing lots. including purchase of the farm, was carefully 24.-Profits to the objects of the Association, to estimated to be no more than £6,000. reserve, or to the benefit of members In the I can best give the remaining history in the abSence of other liabilities. words of my Annual Report for 1935, presented at the Annual Meeting of 26th March, 1936. SCHEDULE The unremitting efforts of your Committee Holdings will be sold to members of the and of the Catholic Land Federation Association on the to secure following terms :- recognition by the Government of the work of 1.-The holding shall be occupied anct cultivated the Movement were by the purchaser entirely fruitless. Negotia­ and shall not be occupied or tions with an unsympathetic Land Settlement cultivated in conjunction with any other hold­ Association have also failed. Ing established by the · Association. Correspondence during most of the year with 2.-The holding shall not be used for the pur­ a prominent Catholic gentleman pose of market gardening, who intimated poultry farming or his wish to help the Association have also been any trade, business or profession other than abortive, as no co-operation that of agriculture. with or constructive criticism C1f the various schemes submitted to 3.-The purchaser shall not grant, sell, convey, him could be elicited. lease, let or alienate the holding or any part In September, your thereof or interest therein Committee was forced otherwise than to to the conclusion that the only hope for the the Association without the prior consent in Association and Its writing of the Association unfortunate trainees was to . Inaugurate a small scheme of settlement, based 4.-In the event of the purchaser desiring to on the cease purchase of West Fields; to set up four personal occupation and cultivation of or five holdings as a demonstration the holding, he shall give notice In force, and in writing to to retain the balance of the farm as a smaller the Association of such desire and thereupon Training Centre. The the Association may total cost of this scheme by counternotice in would have been no more than £6,000. writing given to the purchaser within three His calendar Grace the Archbishop of Birmingham• months of the date of service of the was approached on 24th first mentioned notice purcha...c:e September for his auth­ the said hold­ ority to proceed with an appeal to the Catholic ing at such price as shall falling agreement be and determined ~eneral public. It was. of course. explained by two valuers of estate agents one to H1s Grace during the appointed by each party or their interview that it was umpire in approval and support. not financial aid, which accordance with the provisions of the Arbitra­ were tion sou(?ht a.t his hands. Act, 1889, or any statutory modification or . His Grace re-enactment thereof for decided to remit the whole posi­ the time being in tiOn to a forthcoming meeting of the Hierarchy, force be determined to be Its value as an agri­ cultural and on 15th November forwarded the ·following holding. If the Association shall not letter to your Secretary :- within the said time Intimate its intention to purchase the said holding the purchaser may • The Archbishop died 1st April, 1941!. 22 i i ( ( ( ( (( ( ORDER OF BATTLE: XXXIV \ \) \ ~ \ THE CURATE'S EGG · I 11 the end of June this year, the Conser- In 1932, as mentioned elsewhere in this vative Party issued The Agricultural issue, the Birmingham Branch of the Distri- Charter: A Statement of Conservative Agri- butist League sent a copy of the Birmingham cultural Policy (xn. Scheme with a covering letter to every Mem- It was produced largely under the aus- ber of Parliament, and to a number of mem- pices of Mr .. R. A. Butler, M.P., whose Edu- bers ~£the upper J::Iouse .. -r:here was then an cation Act of 1944 is being administered so etfecttve Conservative .maJonty. . enthusiastically by the Labour Government. The ~ranch rece1~ed only three replies, It is both striking and disedifying that two of ~h1ch were ~noted postcards. the Charter contains no. confiteor for the Th1s Charter will not do. We are on Party's wanton neglect and hostility towards the very. verge of des~ration, ~nd maximum farming and domestic food production. On p~oductzon per acre 1s essent:l.al t? our sur- the contrary, it seeks (p. 7) to make Party v1v~l. As our readers know, there IS only one capital out of past Labour actions. We would bas1s for that. . not draw attention to this except that con- And as we sa1d fifteen years ago [The fession as well as a firm purpose of amend- Charter] ina~ put money in somebody's ment is necessary to a sound future. It will pocket. It will not solve the problems of be enough, here, if we refer our readers to the England. callous rejection of improved domestic food p!oduction·made by Mr. Neville Chamberlain IN ARMED MEN at Kettering, early in 1939· He was then INDUSTRIALISM has sown the Dragon's Conservative Prime Minister of England. It teeth, and they are springing up in armed is, indeed, notorious that for long eoough men. that Party has been concerned (and concerned We are happy to announce two more exclusively) with the welfare of Big Business. such armed men, in the important field of a Even now, the Charter's chief anxiety is to sound soil. · press (e.g., P.P.· 16 and 24) for reforms such as A distinguished group is quick-freeze. plants, piped water and electric­ making a solid and useful attempt to carry ity, which are concerned intimately with Big .o~ the work of Sir Albert Howard by found­ Business. Artificial manures are nowhere ing a new Quarterly-Health and the Soil. criticised, and tractors and other machinery We co d it heartily to all our readers. are pushed (not to say forced), but the dis­ The first number, Summer, 1948, is well turbing decline in work-horses is nowhere worthy of its predecessors, if we make the mentioned. necessary reservation that the Master's hand To justify our title, we must add that has gone. The Editor is Dr. Angus Camp­ the Charter does say (p. 6): "No other coun­ bell, and the address is 48 Mann Place, Edin­ try in the world has such a small proportion burgh 3· The first issue is 2/6. of its total population working on the land." We are also happy to announce that our It also pr~ses .(p. 13) for balanced production, friends across the Channd are enjoying a and we may infer, if we choose, small mix formidable reaction. A French ·society, farms, although these are nowhere mention­ L'Homme et le Sol, has been started, with the ed. Nor is the ·best method of securing sort of solid backing we should ·expect from maxinlum production per acre anywhere dis- that realistic race. French official circles, cussed. · strangely unlike our own, seem to be giving ,It does not criticise County Committees serious support. · The Secretary ~ M. Andre as such, bqt it criticises their detail very Birre, ~5 Rue Louis-le-Grand, Paris, 2e; The savagely. . . · · · 'mportaht monthly, La Sante de l,Homme, There are twO. ~y short J:~a5$~S dev~ a whole issue recendy ~o c,pm~ (pp. 25 a~ 43) on small holdiriS!· They .are ero.ton and he:ilih. not mentioned elsewhert, and ate n~~ We wish ~both theSe brave ~prists discussed. ~v:ery ~ua:ess-. ·