Dr J. Graham Jones Examines The

The ‘Land and the Nation’

Dr J. Graham Jones examines the formulation of the highly contentious Liberal policy document which became known as ‘the Green Book’, and its impact upon Liberal- held constituencies in rural Wales. Unlike the better-known and politically more attractive proposals of the ‘Yellow Book’, it appears as though Liberal candidates in Welsh constituencies in 1929 found their campaign hampered by the stigma of ‘the Green Book’ proposals from which the party leadership was by then most anxious to extricate itself.

26 Journal of Liberal History 81 Winter 2013–14 The ‘Land and the Nation’ and Wales

istorians have always which was then widely anticipated humdrum select committee) to devoted much more in 1915, while the Liberal policy of examine the manifold complexi- Hattention to the land cam- Land Value Taxation (LVT) had ties of the land question in Wales. paign inaugurated by the Liberal proved highly popular and alluring By the time it had reported in 1896, Party in the Edwardian period in both urban and rural constituen- however, a Tory government was rather than to their land campaign cies in a succession of by-elections in office, and the return of a relative of the mid-1920s.1 In the context held during 1912 and 1913; and the opulence to the Welsh countryside of the 1920s, far more historical land campaign of 1925–29 intended meant that the far-reaching recom- attention has been lavished on the by Lloyd George to revitalise his mendations of the commissioners Liberal Party’s feud-wracked lead- party’s dwindling fortunes follow- were destined to remain largely ership, especially the clash between ing its nationwide electoral debacle unenforced. Fully three decades Asquith and Lloyd George, the in October 1924. In a Welsh con- later, in the mid-1920s, there pre- high-profile split over the general text the new land campaign of the vailed enduring resentment in rural strike of May 1926, and the ambi- mid-1920s appeared especially per- Wales at the conspicuous lack of tious programme focused on ‘We tinent. Lloyd George had after all governmental legislation relating Can Conquer Unemployment’ on spent the whole of his youth and to land issues.2 It was widely felt which the party fought the general early manhood at rural Llanys- that the relatively small size of most election of 30 May 1929. But the tumdwy and neighbouring Cric- Welsh holdings, often less than fifty deep-rooted dissension over the cieth in Caernarfonshire with their acres apiece, gave its own dimen- party’s land policy, above all the distinctive, highly individualistic sion to the land question in Wales. furore evoked by the publication in political culture focused on the Another factor by the mid-1920s October 1925 of the highly conten- campaigns against brewer, landed was the recent dramatic upsurge in tious policy document The Land and squire and parson, and nourished the proportion of Welsh agricul- the Nation, soon to be dubbed ‘the by vivid folk memories of the gen- tural land which was farmed by its Green Book’, are certainly worthy eral election campaigns of 1859 owners, a rather higher proportion of closer examination. and 1868. Following these elec- than in contemporary England. Throughout the lengthy, quite tions significant numbers of tenant But Lloyd George’s personal unique political career of David farmers had been ruthlessly evicted position had changed markedly Lloyd George, the land question from their holdings for voting for by this period. In 1909 and again was a predominant theme which the Liberal candidate contrary to in 1912–14, as the Chancellor of came to the foreground of political the expressed wishes of their Con- the Exchequer in a strong Liberal life at three crucial periods: in the servative landlords. Two years after administration, he was at the heart celebrated land taxes inaugurated in Lloyd George had first entered par- of government, largely direct- the famous 1909 ‘People’s Budget’; liament following a fiercely con- ing governmental policy under in the land enquiry and subsequent tested by-election campaign in the Asquith. By 1925, however, the land campaign of 1912–14 initiated Carnarvon Boroughs constituency Liberals had been reduced to the with great gusto by Lloyd George in April 1890, pressure from Welsh status of very much a third party as the long-serving Chancellor of Liberal MPs had coerced the age- in the state with just forty MPs in the Exchequer under Asquith, and Lloyd George ing W. E. Gladstone at the outset of the House of Commons, the party’s intended by him to constitute an at Bron-y-De, his fourth and last administration standing and status blighted beyond especial strand in the Liberal cam- Churt, in the to yield a prestigious royal com- measure by the Asquith–Lloyd paign for the next general election 1930s mission (rather than a much more George fissure in December 1916,

Journal of Liberal History 81 Winter 2013–14 27 the ‘land and the nation’ and wales the genesis of a more deep-rooted Thus it was the final policy document should a niggardly, finicky, petty policy; split later on, and the dramatic out- be published under the auspices of but a bold and drastic change’.5 By come of the ‘coupon’ general elec- that Lloyd the Liberal Party. For the Liberal this time, as the eagerly anticipated tion two years later. Lloyd George Party nationally, this was a period land report approached comple- was not even the official Liberal George, of reform and reinvigoration. tion, Lloyd George’s excitement Party leader at this point. But, as An overambitious Liberal Mil- grew. He ‘could talk of nothing on previous occasions, he turned largely on lion Fighting Fund had been set but this Land scheme’.6 But the once more to the land question in a up to raise funds and embark on a ominous inevitable backlash at the rather desperate attempt to revive his own ini- programme of Liberal education. nature and extent of the antici- the fortunes of his ailing party. As There was a general feeling that pated proposals was also gather- a result the primary emphasis on tiative, and people in the 1920s had no appre- ing momentum. Loud warnings rural land reform was the outcome originally on ciation of traditional Liberal prin- were already reaching Asquith’s of a growing conviction that Lib- ciples like free trade, local option, ears.7 In his committees of enquiry, eral Party electoral fortunes could a non-party land reform and the position of the lavishly funded by the replete cof- best be revived in the agricultural House of Lords. At Liberal Party fers of the Lloyd George Politi- divisions, where the Labour Party platform, set headquarters at Parliament Street, cal Fund, Lloyd George, always a remained relatively weak (includ- London, a ‘Roll of Honour’ was respecter of expert opinion, had ing in most of mid and north up independ- established to record the names of made the fullest use of the services Wales), rather than in the towns and all donors to party funds as such of the leading economists of the cities where the Labour Party had ent rural and a move was considered a psycho- 1920s, men like J. M. Keynes, Sir already made substantial inroads, logical boost to the membership. William Beveridge, Walter Layton now most difficult to reverse. As urban land The setting up of numerous com- and H. D. Henderson, all of whom Lloyd George was to tell his secre- mittees of enquiry was an essen- had responded with enthusiasm. It tary and mistress Frances Stevenson committees tial element in the process of party was a dead cert that the published in August 1925, shortly before the rehabilitation. March 1924 had seen reports would at once become the publication in the autumn of the in 1923. the appointment of an autonomous focus of considerable public atten- twin reports The Land and the Nation policy committee to inquire into tion and debate.8 and Towns and the Land, his real pur- the long-term crisis in the British Party leader Asquith, whose pose in establishing the commit- coal industry. Within four short earldom had already been gazetted tees was ‘to strengthen our grasp months it had published its report in the previous February, had com- on the rural districts and the cap- under the title Coal and Power, sig- mented in some detail in July on a ture of a few towns where Liberal- nificantly under the name of Lloyd draft of the final report, and in early ism is still a force’.3 Although there George alone. But its contents were August it was discussed at length had been some drop in the num- not really contentious and its publi- by the Liberal Shadow Cabinet (as ber of agricultural constituencies cation caused but little stir. this body still rather pretentiously in Britain, they still amounted to But inevitably there was much called itself). With publication in some 141 electoral divisions, rep- greater interest in the proceedings imminent prospect, Lloyd George resenting one-quarter of the total and eventual report of the com- delivered a long, impressive perora- seats in parliament, many of which mittees of enquiry into the use and tion at Killerton Park, Devon – as a were especially electorally volatile. ownership of land. When the Welsh kind of policy launch. It is of some Another factor of importance was National Liberal Federation met at significance that this high-profile the increase in the proportion of Shrewsbury at the end of July, with meeting was convened on the estate agricultural labourers (and indeed Carmarthen Liberal John Hinds in of F. D. (later Sir Francis) Acland, their wives) in the electorate as a the chair, Ernest Brown, the former who had been one of the most result of the far-reaching provisions Liberal MP for Rugby, gave a fore- prominent Asquithian Liberal MPs of the reform acts of 1884 and 1918.4 taste of the contents of the report during the period of the post-war Thus pandering to the needs of this expected in October – ‘Justice coalition government. Here Lloyd particular class also made electoral would be done so the landowners, George actually spoke from the ter- sense. and the cultivator would be given race of Acland’s palatial home. This Thus it was that Lloyd George, absolute security of tenure subject was perhaps one indication both largely on his own initiative, and to one test only – that he proved of Lloyd George’s desire to carry originally on a non-party plat- himself an efficient cultivator of the with him former political enemies form, set up independent rural and soil, and he would have to get from in his new campaign and of his urban land committees in 1923. The the competent authority a certifi- deep-rooted respect for the expert.9 former met on innumerable occa- cate of good cultivation’. Brown At Killerton Park, Lloyd George sions between June 1923 and Febru- (who was later to hold a succes- described the very system of land- ary 1925 to thrash out a new policy sion of Cabinet offices during the lordism as inherently obsolete and and comprised a number of lead- National Government and the Sec- inefficient and insisted that the state ing agricultural experts and several ond World War and was eventually needed to ‘resume’ possession of the Liberal politicians of whom Fran- to succeed Sir John Simon as the land. Stopping studiously short of cis Acland, Ernest Brown, C. F. G. leader of the National Liberal group advocating the wholesale ‘national- Masterman and Ramsay Muir in 1940), insisted that their pur- ization’ of agricultural land in Brit- were the most prominent. Only in pose in undertaking the research ain, the old rabble-rouser advocated March 1925 was it resolved, rather was ‘to retain those who were on state ownership ‘for the purpose against the inclination of the agri- the land and add to their number. of giving the necessary security to culturalists on the committee, that … They were recommending not the cultivator of the soil that, if and

28 Journal of Liberal History 81 Winter 2013–14 the ‘land and the nation’ and wales so long as he cultivates it, he and avid political point-scoring.12 Then for the thoroughness of its back- his children shall reap the full har- the whole subject was thrown into ground research extending back vest of their own labour and enter- high relief on 9 October 1925 with over two and a half years to the prise’.10 Certain key functions like the publication of The Land and the spring of 1923, for the ‘encyclo- drainage, afforestation and recla- Nation which at once became popu- paedic array of facts and figures’ mation could, he insisted, be under- larly known as ‘the Green Book’. available in the text and numerous taken efficiently only by the state. A substantial publication run- expansive appendices, and for its Land reform was consequently a ning to no fewer than 570 pages, its commendable ‘full view of condi- social necessity which offered the first half was devoted to a presen- tions at home and abroad’. On these prospect of fresh employment on a tation of detailed comparative sta- grounds the report was widely substantial scale. Social harmony tistics on current land tenure and hailed as ‘a priceless addition to then would follow as tillers of their the productivity of agriculture, the popular literature on the subject’.15 own land had no interest in revo- second half proposing drastic solu- But inevitably the critics weighed lution. Although it rained steadily tions, beginning with the crucial in too. It was immediately pointed throughout the afternoon, Lloyd statement, ‘… The State shall be out that implementation of such a George’s impassioned peroration deemed to have resumed possession far-reaching scheme, closely akin to kept entranced for a full ninety of all land in the United Kingdom the imposition of socialistic princi- minutes an audience exceeding which at that date is used for or ples, ‘would involve the drawbacks 25,000. Not a single one of them, capable of use for the production of of nationalization at least as much it was reported, was tempted to foodstuffs, timber or other natural as the gains’. Indeed ‘agriculture’ leave.11 The expansive speech was products’.13 The core recommenda- was highly likely to be ‘suffocated broadcast to several points within tion of the detailed report was the by bureaucracy, by which enter- Killerton Park and certainly whet- implementation of a novel system prise would only be restrained’.16 ted the public appetite for the pub- of ‘cultivating tenure’ whereby Even before the report had actually lication of the rural land committee each farmer should become the ten- seen the light of day, rumours that report which was due to appear ant of a new County Agricultural it was to advocate the setting up of three weeks later. Authority, thus enjoying complete county agricultural committees Throughout the lengthy period security on condition that he con- charged to assess the competence during which the committee had tinued to farm his land efficiently. of farmers led to much doubt and undertaken its deliberations, agri- Rentals were to be fixed and the questioning. As The Times put it, culture was a subject of some debate supervision strict. According to the ‘Who is to judge whether Blacka- in political circles. The Conserva- report, the farmer would in conse- cre or Whiteacre is well or ill cul- tive Party under Baldwin had quence enjoy ‘the legitimate rights tivated?’.17 The very prospect of recently announced a fairly modest of ownership without its risks, ‘The State a veritable army of qualified civil proposal for governmental assis- and the advantages of yearly ten- shall be servants constituting a nationwide tance to enable the agricultural ancy without its insecurity’.14 This network of county agricultural labourer to own his cottage and proposal amounted almost to the deemed committees, some extending to garden. The Independent Labour nationalisation of agricultural land. more than one hundred individuals, Party had recently published a Compensation would be paid to the to have provoked widespread dissension, pamphlet entitled A Socialist Pol- landlords, while the farmer would even uproar. Outraged landlords, icy for Agriculture, but this had not enjoy relative security of tenure on resumed pos- facing the prospect of summary been adopted by the Labour Party condition that he farmed properly, confiscation of their landed estates, as party policy. Quite indepen- as judged by the new agricultural session of all instinctively protested virulently, dently, the Labour Party had its committees which would assume but so did many others, both within own advisory committee on agri- responsibility for the allocation of land in the the Liberal Party and outside, culture which, it was rumoured in allotments, larger gardens, small- appalled at the perceived threat to political circles, had prepared its holdings and very small farms of United King- so many traditional aspects of rural own report, while the TUC, too, new creation. Full compensation life in Britain.18 had established a committee on would be paid to a farmer who lost dom which Indeed reactions on the whole similar lines. It was anticipated that some or all of his land to the new were questioning and frosty. ‘The a national Labour Party confer- holdings. at that date land policy is not going strong’, ence would be convened at some The rural land report immedi- wrote the influential and perceptive point during the spring of 1926 to ately grabbed the headlines with is used for or Liberal Party organiser R. Hum- consider the various reports and a predictable vengeance. Whereas phrey Davies in early November, ‘I thrash out a party policy on agri- the publication of the proposals of capable of hope L.G. is not being misled by his culture. From the vantage point of Coal and Power the previous year use for the entourage’.19 The term ‘nationalisa- the autumn of 1925, it was consid- had been considered ‘a national tion’ was widely used by critics – ered that agriculture would be one service’ unlikely to provoke con- production ‘there is no evidence in the country of the burning political issues for troversy, The Land and the Nation, of any volume of opinion in favour discussion during the forthcoming although not at the time Liberal of foodstuffs, of confiscation’ of agricultural land, winter. It was known that a general Party official policy, was immedi- a move which was considered to election was most unlikely at least ately viewed as a concerted attempt timber or be wholly unfair to the landown- until the spring of 1929; agriculture to reap a party-political advantage ing class. C. S. Orwin, the Direc- was viewed as an important subject in the form of future electoral suc- other natural tor of the prestigious Institute for on all sides; and it was hoped that cesses. The publication was at once Research in Agricultural Econom- it was a topic likely to be shorn of commended by unbiased observers products.’ ics at the University of Oxford, and

Journal of Liberal History 81 Winter 2013–14 29 the ‘land and the nation’ and wales the co-author, with W. R. Peel, of Brown Book’, had also seen the extensive Fund had already been the recent highly acclaimed mon- light of day. This was devoted to made to finance the various com- ograph The Tenure of Agricultural town planning on regional lines, mittees of enquiry, while the Lib- Land, 20 summarised the nub of the embodying the principles of site- eral Party nationally languished opposition to ‘the Green Book’ value taxation and reform of the close to bankruptcy. Tensions grew proposals from the standpoint of leasehold system, and was much as, swift on the heels of the publi- the farming communities: less controversial than its prede- cation of The Land and the Nation in cessor. It was envisaged from the October, Lloyd George brazenly It is common knowledge outset that ‘the Brown Book’ pro- proceeded to establish his own amongst those familiar with posals would readily be adopted as independent propaganda body, to farming conditions that farm- Liberal Party official policy with be called ‘The Land and Nation ers undertake the functions of but little dispute. Published on 24 League’, with himself as its presi- the landlord with the greatest November 1925, Towns and the Land dent, to campaign up and down reluctance. They have not been was officially launched as a confer- the country in favour of ‘cultivat- trained in the job; they have ence at the Kingsway Hall, Lon- ing tenure’ and the other reforms. no knowledge of the planning don, just three days later. As the Indeed in mid-November Lloyd and construction of buildings, background to the new reforms, the George told his old ally C. P. Scott of surveying and levelling for chronic overcrowding and conges- of the Manchester Guardian that it land drainage, of schemes for tion, still so prevalent in many Brit- was his intention ‘to put his whole water supply, of the principles ish towns and cities in the 1920s, strength into the movement’, secure of forestry &c.; all these mat- were underlined cogently by Lloyd in the knowledge that ‘he had ters belong properly to a sepa- George. In the evening session of money enough to carry it on for 4 rate profession, that of the land the conference, C. F. G. Master- or 5 years’. He gleefully anticipated agent, and it is impossible that man, who pithily described himself that ‘there would be meetings at the farmer should double suc- as ‘neither a Lloyd-Georgian nor every town and village in England cessfully the parts. The Com- an anti-Lloyd-Georgian’, moved a and he was starting at once’.24 Days mittee contemplate supervision resolution pressing for a wide-rang- later, H. H. Asquith, still party and pressure by the County ing measure of leasehold reform, leader, and by no means overtly Agricultural Authority to secure the grant of power to local authori- antagonistic to the proceedings and the maintenance of the perma- ties to acquire land at a fair price in report of the rural land committee nent equipment of the land in anticipation of future needs, and (‘I expressed warm admiration for a state of efficiency. But what the rating of site values. Masterman the thoroughness and ability with degree of effective supervision continued, ‘When he saw a man which they had conducted their can be exercised by a Commit- who was willing to carry through inquiry’), now felt obliged to warn tee, and what degree of pres- the things he longed for, he was Lloyd George that the recent set- sure is likely to be applied by a with him. The Liberal party could ting up of ‘a new organisation’ had body composed, as it must be, carry these reforms if it avoided a immediately led to ‘much concern’ mainly of ‘cultivating tenants’? semi-Tory combination’. The reso- and was thus likely to impede the The application of the scheme lution was unanimously adopted, ‘full and free discussion’ now sorely would result, in some cases, in and reactions in the country were required on the proposed reforms. well-intentioned but inefficient generally favourable.23 Asquith drew Lloyd George’s atten- attempts at the maintenance of But the furore over the propos- tion to the ‘frequent, almost daily holdings, and in others in the als contained in The Land and the Reactions to communications from stalwart deliberate intention to annex the Nation certainly showed no sign of and hard-working members’ of the difference between the old rent, abating. The merits and demerits of ‘the Green Liberal Party voicing ‘their own as paid to the present landlords, the scheme were intensely debated doubts and difficulties and depre- and the fair net rent payable to alongside the allegedly discredit- Book’ pro- cating at this stage anything in the the State.21 able means by which Lloyd George nature of propaganda, either on the was attempting to foist it upon a posals were one side or the other’. He insisted Further criticism focused on the reluctant Liberal Party, and the that it would be ‘a very curious realisation that the novel ‘cultivat- ongoing thorny question of party becoming matter’ if there should be ‘any con- ing tenure’ proposal advocated as finance. Early in 1925 the party’s flict, or appearance of conflict, the key policy of The Land and the new creation the Administrative coloured by between the National Liberal Fed- Nation would ‘tie’ farmers ‘to their Committee, basically Asquith- eration and the new organisation holdings’. Governmental legisla- ian in character, had launched an general dis- [the Land and Nation League] pro- tion, it was argued, had already appeal throughout the constituen- approval of posed for promoting the views of provided a much-improved ‘secu- cies to raise £1,000,000 for the Lib- the Land Enquiry Committee’.25 rity of tenure’ for farmers, ‘but eral cause – the Million Fighting the exist- Indeed reactions to ‘the Green freedom to go is almost as impor- Fund. This had floundered badly, Book’ proposals were becom- tant to them as the freedom to largely because of a nationwide ence and use ing coloured by general disap- remain’. Finally, it was maintained, awareness of the existence of the proval of the existence and use of the necessary development of agri- Lloyd George Political Fund, and of the Lloyd the Lloyd George Political Fund. cultural land would not follow.22 LG’s marked reluctance to make At the end of November, veteran Before the end of November the full use of it for the good of the George Polit- Welsh Liberal Judge John Bryn second land report, entitled Towns party nationally. It was known, Roberts, a traditional Gladsto- and the Land, soon to be dubbed ‘the too, that large inroads into the ical Fund. nian loyalist who had represented

30 Journal of Liberal History 81 Winter 2013–14 the ‘land and the nation’ and wales

Caernarvonshire South (the Eifion ‘We have in land policy. If his Land Policy is the capital’s Albert Hall on the constituency) in parliament from rooted in Liberalism, nothing on eve of the party’s landslide victory 1885 until 1906, and was certainly this country earth will prevent the party as in the general election of January no friend of Lloyd George, wrote represented by the Liberal Asso- 1906 – ‘We wish to make the land sourly: ‘Lloyd George’s Land Policy a landless ciations from adopting it, and less a pleasure-ground for the rich stunt seems to me to hang fire, and adopting it gladly. On the other and more a treasure-house for the kept alive only by the large political peasantry hand, if it is not genuine Liberal- nation’. 29 Observers were reminded fund which he has seized. It would ism, no amount of expenditure of the tremendous fervour of the be interesting to know the sources such as exists on his part will constrain the venerable Gladstone’s great Midlo- of these funds. I suspect most came nowhere else party to adopt that policy. thian campaign of the 1870s. out of the secret service votes when After Reunion we really Meanwhile during the same he was P.M. & from the sales of in the world. tried to play the game here, but month the Liberal and Radical Honours. The land scheme seems to when your partner does not play Candidates’ Association, a new me to be the wildest ever suggested The object it, what are you to do? Ll.G. is creation, met at the National Lib- by any responsible statesman, and not an outsider who can pursue eral Club in London to discuss ‘the more like the offspring of a mental- of those any fad he likes. He is leader of Green Book’ proposals at some ity like that of the Clydesdale sec- the Liberal Party in the House of length. Some two-thirds of Lib- tion of the Labour Party. … Our who support Commons, and the fundamental eral Party candidates were present national and local experiment in policy he is pursuing is not such at the meeting. The outcome was that direction have not been suc- the recom- as any leader has played before. that a ‘modified policy … partial cessful’. Commenting on the ‘cul- To attach conditions to party and gradual’ in its essence, was tivating tenure’ proposals, Judge mendation contributions is an unheard-of endorsed rather than the ‘univer- Bryn Roberts went on: thing, and it is asking for trou- sal and simultaneous’ application is to give to ble. The pity of it is that the rank which had been the essence of the … This to be secured by an army and file in many parts of Eng- ‘original policy’. The keynote of of Inspectors to keep the tenants these men land are working splendidly, and the revised policy thrashed out by up to the mark seems to me to be what they want is encourage- this association on 8 December was a short cut to national ruin. The land at a fair ment and not discouragement. to be ‘gradualism’, the new county Inspectors will be appointed out Ll.G. was urged not to attach agricultural authorities were to of a horde of applicants, mostly rent. There conditions, but nothing would assume control of agricultural land out of work or agricultural is no sug- move him. This for your own only ‘in certain circumstances’: failures or under the late war information.27 when such land was up for sale, regime. The main qualifications gestion of there was a vacancy on a farm, an being capacity for wire-pulling The Liberal land campaign was estate was being ‘badly adminis- and exercising political & pri- confiscation.’ certainly dominating the British tered’ or a farm ‘badly cultivated’. vate favouritism. The whole political landscape. On 5 Decem- Four different kinds of tenure were thing would in my opinion lead ber Lloyd George addressed a Lib- then outlined. Lloyd George read- to appalling corruption, and eral demonstration at the Drill ily declared his support for the mis-government to avoid trou- Hall, Coventry where the audi- amended policy – ‘We have in this ble and disputes with tenants; ence totalled nigh on 5,000 indi- country a landless peasantry such all losses, as in case of war, fall- viduals, while a substantial crowd as exists nowhere else in the world. ing on the State. … The present had also assembled outside to hear The object of those who support scheme does not spring from the speech. LG urged his listen- the recommendation is to give to any public demand, or out-cry, ers to lend vigorous support to the these men land at a fair rent. There a fatal defect. It is simply a des- new land policy: ‘Do not let us is no suggestion of confiscation’. perate stunt by Lloyd George to waste our strength on petty bick- It was also emphasised that the recover political influence and erings. They are unworthy of the new land policy did not apply to leadership.26 dignity of a grand cause (Cheers)’. Scotland where independent com- He underlined the growing prob- mittees were to discuss the matter Bryn Roberts was certainly not lem of rural depopulation, a factor further.30 alone in his views and opinions. On which was brought home to him Lloyd George was undoubt- 1 November senior Liberal Party every time he returned to the vil- edly much relieved that the Liberal organiser R. Humphrey Davies lage of Llanystumdwy where he and Radical Candidates’ Associa- wrote from the Liberal Central had grown up.28 Just a week later, tion had not disowned, but simply Association at London: accompanied by Dame Margaret, amended, the new policy.31 He had Major Gwilym and Miss Megan resolved, in the interests of Liberal What you say about the Land Lloyd George, he spoke equally Party unity, to accept, albeit with Policy is very interesting. passionately at the Coliseum, some reluctance, the revised land In a nutshell the position is Leeds, and a few days later at the policy which had been rather acri- this:- Our funds are well nigh Capitol Theatre, Haymarket in moniously thrashed out at meetings exhausted. Ll.G. apparently has London. As Lloyd George spoke at of the Candidates’ Association. To ample funds. The essential work London, a huge screen behind him his mind, the compromise policy of the party machine is being on the platform bore an inscrip- was ‘not wholly satisfactory’, but crippled for lack of funds, while tion which was a quotation from he remained convinced that the Ll.G. can spend a very large a speech delivered by the late Sir original ‘Green Book’ proposals as sum of money in developing his Henry Campbell-Bannerman at unveiled the previous October ‘had

Journal of Liberal History 81 Winter 2013–14 31 the ‘land and the nation’ and wales destroyed the Labour propaganda The depth of forth from the presses – from Coal it was clear by December 1925 that in the rural areas’, a vital break- and Power (1924) to We Can Conquer Lloyd George fully intended to through for the struggling Lib- the furore Unemployment (1929) – contained amend substantially the original eral Party of the mid-1920s. Lloyd little, if any, Welsh dimension. The plans, Mond doubted his sincer- George emphasised that it was occasioned Land and the Nation was certainly ity, and a strong personal element essential to push the watered-down no exception. Its detailed index crept into his criticism. The rebel policy as still a radical initiative. by the pub- contained just three specific refer- MP received the ready backing Party leader H. H. Asquith had ences to Wales, and there was no of his constituency association in ‘entirely agreed’ and had stressed lication of explicit policy initiative tailored Carmarthenshire which denounced his personal conviction that the to the demands of the principality. the new land proposals as ‘semi- agricultural labouring classes ‘must The Land and This glaring omission was possibly nationalisation’, potentially detri- be shown that this is their new the Nation, an implicit recognition on Lloyd mental to the continuation of the charter’.32 George’s part that Wales and Eng- freehold system in Britain.37 Shortly The depth of the furore occa- with its core land shared common agricultural afterwards, on 19 January 1926, Sir sioned by the publication of The problems in the wake of the depres- Alfred Mond formally defected Land and the Nation, with its core ‘cultivat- sion and should thus be dealt with to the Conservative Party. Lloyd ‘cultivating tenure’ proposal, as a single entity. But most contem- George’s response was bitter. He was wholly predictable. The pro- ing tenure’ poraries saw this as a defect and a declared that he was ‘not in the least gramme was especially unpopular clear indication of how far Lloyd surprised’ at the precipitate action because during the period imme- proposal, George had travelled from his taken by his old ally whom he had diately following the First World Welsh roots and his once proverbial long sensed to be ‘obviously mak- War, the years of the so-called was wholly concern for Welsh issues. ing tracks for the Tory party’. In ‘Green Revolution’ of 1918–22, The political repercussions were Lloyd George’s view, dissatisfac- agricultural land had been sold on predictable. far-reaching, not least in the Lib- tion with the proposals of The Land a massive scale in consequence of eral heartland of rural Wales. The and the Nation was ‘only an excuse’ the break-up, or the near break-up, most dramatic upshot occurred in to justify his dramatic defection to of many of the great landed estates. Carmarthenshire where the sit- the Conservatives: ‘His action is About a quarter of the agricul- ting Liberal MP Sir Alfred Mond nothing to do with the land, or he tural land in England and Wales had actually served as a member of would have gone to the Liberal con- had changed hands in four years. the Liberal Land Committee. After vention to present his case. If the Many farmer labourers had now the committee had met at Lloyd decision had gone against him, he become small-scale tenant farm- George’s home Bron-y-de near could then have acted. The real rea- ers. Those who rented had seen Churt in Surrey in August 1924, son is given in that part of the letter their rent levels reduced as a result one of its members the Oxford where he reveals his conviction that of the agricultural depression. In academic and Liberal politician the Liberal Party offers poor pros- Wales predictably the response H. A. L. Fisher recorded that Mond pects for ambitious men’.38 Mond was especially vehement. Here was ‘very doubtful’ about the wis- then helped to ensure that the Lib- the scale of the transfer of agricul- dom of the evolving land policy.35 It eral nomination in Carmarthen- tural land owned by the occupier was also widely known that he dis- shire went to Colonel W. N. Jones increased from 10.2 per cent in approved strongly of the adminis- (described as ‘a man after his own 1909 to 39 per cent in 1941–43, most tration and use of the Lloyd George heart, a right-winger and a viru- of this dramatic increase having Political Fund. His disenchantment lent anti-Socialist “business- occurred prior to 1922.33 Generally, and opposition only grew, to such man’s Liberal” ’39), another diehard it would seem, Welsh landowners as extent that, as the contents of The critic of ‘the Green Book’ reforms were more anxious to sell and the Land and the Nation were finalised, which were discussed at length in Welsh tenantry more inclined to he felt impelled to send a memo- Carmarthenshire right through purchase than were their English randum to Asquith deploring ‘the until the by-election of June 1928 counterparts.34 entire and fundamental change’ and indeed during the general elec- By the period of the Second implicit in the new policy, so much tion campaign of May 1929. World War, while fully 39 per cent so, he insisted, that it demanded In Montgomeryshire, too, there of the acreage of Wales as an entity ‘the closest investigation and criti- were equally dramatic repercus- was owner-occupied, the compara- cism before the party should be sions. Here the long-serving Liberal tive figure for England was only asked to adopt it’. Mond’s experi- MP, a veteran of 1906, was David 33 per cent. During the very years ence both as a practising landowner Davies of Llandinam, the heir to that this massive change in the pat- and a Liberal MP had led him to the multi-million pound fortune tern of Welsh landownership was conclude, ‘I do not find myself able of his namesake grandfather ‘Top taking place, Lloyd George was to accept the reasoning on which Sawyer’, and a headstrong, opin- Prime Minister of the post-war, the scheme is based’.36 ionated individual. ‘DD’ had been Tory dominated coalition govern- Mond’s annoyance increased recalled from active service at the ment and seemed to be travelling still further as a result of the propa- front in France, where he had com- ever further from both his Liberal ganda methods employed by the manded a battalion with distinc- past and his Welsh roots. By the Land and Nation League, and tion, in June 1916 to become Lloyd mid-1920s, his closest advisers and indeed he was still in the fore- George’s parliamentary private political confidants were almost front of the ever-mounting cho- secretary. An initially close rapport all Englishmen, and the radical rus of opposition to the original between the two men crumbled policy documents which poured ‘Green Book’ proposals. Although quickly as Davies dispatched to the

32 Journal of Liberal History 81 Winter 2013–14 the ‘land and the nation’ and wales

Prime Minister a formidable bar- Montgomeryshire, but the attempts the appointment of ‘a new host of rage of letters sharply critical of the to persuade David Davies to con- bureaucratic officials’ rendered nec- allied war effort and reporting continue in parliament proved futile. essary by implementing the new versations, highly critical of Lloyd When his successor as the Lib- proposals.44 Three delegates from George, which he had heard in the eral candidate for Montgom- the county were duly nominated to clubs and tea rooms of Westmin- eryshire was chosen during 1927, attend the revising convention to ster. His immediate dismissal fol- attitudes towards ‘the Green Book’ be held at the Kingsway Hall, Lon- lowed and created a gulf between weighed heavily. The chosen candi- don in mid-February. Once news the two men which was never to date, E. Clement Davies, a native of of the shock defection of Sir Alfred be healed. In Montgomeryshire, Llanfyllin, was quizzed relentlessly Mond hit Cardiganshire, there was Davies’s personal and political posi- on his attitudes. Although admit- immediate conjecture that Hopkin tion was immensely strong as was ting his general support for Lloyd Morris might well be inclined to reflected in unopposed returns to George and his policies, he asserted ‘follow suit’ in the near future, in parliament in the general elections his determination to refuse the reality an unlikely scenario.45 of 1918, 1922 and 1923. But Davies’s financial assistance of the notorious Within the county Liberal inclination to continue his politi- Lloyd George Fund – ‘I would pre- Association there had emerged cal career steadily weakened as he fer to stand upon my own two feet, something of a rift between Hop- became ever more absorbed in an even if I had to mortgage all I have. During the kin Morris and his supporters, array of philanthropic initiatives … I am not an out-and-out sup- virulently hostile to the ‘Green and in his avid support for the work porter of anybody’.42 During the ensuing gen- Book’ reforms, and local Liber- of the League of Nations and simi- ensuing general election campaign als led by the law Professor T. A. lar bodies in the 1920s. Predictably, in May 1929, cross-examined inten- eral election Levi who saw at least some virtue Davies disapproved strongly of the sively by the farmers of Welshpool, in the audacious proposals. Indeed proposals unveiled in The Land and he was compelled to reassure his campaign Levi endorsed the idea of ‘cultivat- the Nation in October 1925 and then inquisitors that he would certainly ing tenure’ as essentially ‘a fair and looked aghast at the divided Liberal vote against a bill to nationalise in May 1929, equitable scheme, without an atom reactions to the general strike in agricultural land introduced by of confiscation. … They need have May 1926. By July he had resolved any future Liberal government – ‘I cross-exam- no fear as to the result’.46 But even to retire from parliament at the believe in the freedom of the indi- the revised proposals did not in the next general election. As he told vidual, and that is why I quarrel ined inten- least impress Hopkin Morris whose the chairman of his county Liberal with Socialism’. 43 displeasure increased still further Association, in his view the ‘Green In Cardiganshire, too, where sively by the as he viewed the ever escalating Book’ proposals would simply ‘cre- recent years had witnessed pro- activities of The Land and Nation ate a new host of officials’ and ‘give found dissension and indeed acri- farmers of League which, he knew full well, a stimulus to farming from White- mony in the ranks of the county Welshpool, were being financed by the replete hall’. Moreover he felt convinced Liberal Party, the ‘Green Book’ coffers of the Lloyd George Politi- that their implementation would proposals were, predictably, suspi- Clement cal Fund whose role he heartily inevitably ‘add an additional bur- ciously scrutinised and generally despised: ‘Accept the creed [of the den to the already over-weighted badly received. At a public meeting Davies was Land and Nation League], and you finances of the county without any at Cardigan some two weeks before get the money; your principles can corresponding advantage’. These the publication of The Land and the compelled be purchased for the price of your proposals, coupled with the Liberal Nation, the highly principled con- election expenses’.47 Joseph Parry, Party’s split reaction to the general viction Liberal MP for the county to reassure one of the three delegates from strike, felt Davies ‘made it almost Rhys Hopkin Morris shared a Cardiganshire present at the Feb- impossible for anyone to advocate platform with his political near- his inquisi- ruary convention, did not mince sincerely the return of the party to neighbour Sir Alfred Mond. Mond his words in the least, ‘The least power’.40 Months later, still unim- went on the attack at once – ‘He tors that he said and done in the matter will pressed by the ‘amended and trun- would never agree to any freehold- be best for the Liberal cause in the cated form’ of the much revised ing farmer being interfered with as would cer- county of Cardigan’.48 As attitudes proposals, he condemned them far as his land was concerned’. Hop- hardened, Hopkin Morris contin- as designed ‘to initiate the policy kin Morris took much the same tainly vote ued to assail the ‘mercenary army’ of land nationalisation under the tack, questioning rigorously many which, in his view, now constituted cloak of Liberal reform’. At the aspects of the ‘Green Book’ propos- against a bill the Liberal Party’s organisation, same time he took advantage of the als and expressing his concern at and the ‘fancy policies’ recently same opportunity to take a swipe at the proposed inspection of farming to national- advocated. the infamous Lloyd George Politi- standards: ‘The test to be applied ise agricul- There is evidence, too, of the cal Fund which, he felt certain, had was the test of good farming, and impact of The Land and the Nation been ‘accumulated by doubtful and who was to determine what consti- tural land on the political life of Denbigh- dubious means in the days of the tuted good farming? Was it a tribu- shire where the sitting Liberal Coalition Government’. In con- nal and if so, how was the tribunal introduced MP Ellis W. Davies, although sequence, he insisted, there was a to be constituted and how was that estranged from Lloyd George, very real danger that the organisa- tribunal to bring about more effi- by any future was himself a member of the rural tion of the Liberal Party might well cient farming?’. Weeks later Mor- land committee and, recorded degenerate into ‘the appendage of ris publicly reiterated his belief in Liberal his co-member H. A. L. Fisher, a private endowment’.41 The affair the concept of peasant proprietor- was clearly ‘very keen on the LG dragged on for several months in ship and his firm opposition to government. policy and thinks we shall sweep

Journal of Liberal History 81 Winter 2013–14 33 the ‘land and the nation’ and wales the country with it’.49 When the the Liberal MP for Swansea West by so many within the rural land next general election ensued in and the chairman of the influential proposals.57 the autumn of 1924, Ellis Davies Radical Group of Liberal MPs, at On the very day following the vocally sang the praises of the a dinner of the Eighty Club held high-profile Kingsway Hall con- evolving radical land policies in at the National Liberal Club on 26 vention, a leader writer in the relation to the tenant farmer and January 1926. Runciman urged Manchester Guardian claimed, ‘Mr the farm labourer. But he made his fellow Liberals to press their Lloyd George has conceded much, conspicuously little impression views whilst remaining within very much, in the interest of party in the county as his majority fell the party’s ranks, while politicians unity’.58 To some extent the dissen- drastically from 6,978 votes to just within the other political parties, sion which had wracked his party 1,411. Davies’s predecessor as the gleefully viewing the intense inter- during recent months, focused Liberal MP for Denbighshire, J. C. nal disputes among the Liberals, mainly on the ‘cultivating ten- Davies, wrote shortly afterwards hailed them as clear evidence of ‘the ure’ policy, generally subsided. It of ‘the intensity of the feeling’ crumbling condition of the Liber- began increasingly to seem that against Ellis Davies. In conse- als’ in the words of ILP activist J. R. no real electoral dividends were quence, ‘some of the most stalwart Clynes. Clynes eagerly anticipated going to be reaped from an empha- Liberals’ at Llanrwst, traditionally that defections to the Tories would sis on radical land policies, urban staunchly Liberal, had ‘worked soon be counterbalanced by ‘the or rural. Limited public interest hard and openly’ for the Conserv- march of many Liberals to the ranks was aroused by the high-profile ative candidate ‘because of their of Labour’.54 activities and propaganda of the dissatisfaction with Ellis Davies At the Kingsway Hall conven- Land and Nation League and the and his policy, especially his land tion in mid-February the proposed thousands of public meetings held. policy’. Towns such as Colwyn amendments to The Land and the Lloyd George, although heavily Bay, Ruthin and Llangollen had Nation were duly approved with but criticised for the ‘Green Book’ pro- recorded ‘a decisive majority little ado. Fundamentally, the prin- posals, had gained some respect for against him. … He is a dull per- ciple of the universality of applica- his apparent readiness to compro- sonality, but what ruined him was tion of the original proposals was mise and revise his rural land poli- his silly flirtation with Labour’.50 now unceremoniously jettisoned. cies, and for his evident aptitude to Ellis Davies continued to display The proposed County Agricul- draft radical new policies so sorely much greater interest in the land tural Authority was to remain, There was needed by his party. But the role question than in any other political but it should assume control of the of the Land and Nation League, issue, constantly pointing up the agricultural land only as it became genuine fear which Lloyd George had supported problems faced by the relatively vacant, and not always then. It at its establishment to the tune of small size – less than fifty acres in should take control of land that was within the some £80,000 (so readily donated many cases – of the majority of ‘badly managed or badly farmed’, Liberal Party from his personal war chest the Welsh farmsteads, and the need was required for smallholdings, Lloyd George Political Fund), still for legislation to enable Welsh or was surrendered voluntarily, at the likely rankled. Over the next few years farmers to purchase and improve for instance in lieu of death duties. it was estimated that no less than their holdings.51 Throughout the The highly inflammatory concept long-term £240,000 was made freely avail- county there was much interest in of ‘cultivating tenure’ should be able to support the activities of the the ‘Green Book’ proposals which adopted only as one means of land- electoral League in this way. Many Liber- Ellis Davies tended to support, holding amongst many – ‘Land als looked askance; they disliked especially in their amended form.52 should be held under a variety of implications the new policies and they firmly But there were profound misgiv- tenures to meet different local con- believed that the resources of the ings locally as the Liberal ‘land ditions’.55 The much vaunted Land of adopting fund should be in the hands of the van’, the vehicle of the Land and Value Taxation (LVT) was accepted party as a whole. Nation League, was seen regularly as a major policy in the urban such a social- The rift grew deeper still. Inter- in the county proclaiming the policy adopted, but had no place est in the land question was stimu- message of The Land and the Nation in the rural policy. Lloyd George istic policy lated throughout the summer by and not infrequent political meet- soon won the commendation of the ongoing propaganda of the ings were held in the towns and many of his fellow Liberals for his initiative and Land and Nation League. Six ‘land villages.53 apparent readiness to compromise vans’ toured many of the rural Almost as soon as the radical and his flexible approach, and his alarm that areas, including one which trav- proposals of the ‘Green Book’ had ‘unvarying attitude of reason and elled through north Wales. Hand- seen the light of day, the frenzied conciliation’ as the Liberal Magazine other Liberal bills and literature were distributed furore of opposition made it clear neatly put it.56 LG was indeed most MPs might in abundance. In October 1926 that substantial modifications were anxious to get his revised policy the first number ofLand News, the inevitable. There was genuine fear approved and then speedily adopted well follow official monthly publication of the within the Liberal Party at the as Liberal Party official policy. In Land and Nation League, was cir- likely long-term electoral impli- this aim he enjoyed complete suc- the example culated and proved highly popular, cations of adopting such a social- cess; both the revised ‘Green Book’ demand soon apparently exceed- istic policy initiative and alarm and the original ‘Brown Book’ of Sir Alfred ing supply by some 50,000. It was that other Liberal MPs might well proposals were approved, Asquith thus agreed to print 250,000 copies follow the example of Sir Alfred rejoicing in the introduction of Mond and of the November issue. From the Mond and jump ship. ‘Will others the new elements of ‘graduality beginning of 1927 it was distributed follow?’ asked Walter Runciman, and elasticity’ considered essential jump ship. in Cardiganshire attached to the

34 Journal of Liberal History 81 Winter 2013–14 the ‘land and the nation’ and wales first number of theCambrian News, It was clear during the spring of 1929 (as the party leadership was by then most widely read throughout the county, general election fast approached), it anxious to extricate itself and move to be published each month. Soon a by the end of gave pride of place to the new dra- on to more promising territory carefully prepared Welsh language matic Liberal plans for unemploy- and, it fervently hoped, more ben- version entitled Ein Tir was avail- 1928 that the ment and agricultural issues were eficial results. able too and, it would seem, avidly sidelined.60 read. Local folk, much impressed, land cam- Certainly it was very clear by Dr J. Graham Jones has recently retired eagerly shared copies with their the end of 1928 that the land cam- from the post of Senior Archivist and neighbours. Public meetings paigns of paigns of 1925–26 had very largely Head of the Welsh Political Archive increased and were generally well run out of steam, to be supplanted at the National Library of Wales, attended.59 1925–26 had by the campaigns to stimulate Aberystwyth. Welsh unity was the theme very largely industrial recovery and tackle the of the proceedings at the annual menacing scourge of unemploy- 1 See especially, Ian Packer, Lloyd meetings of the Welsh National run out of ment. These achieved a newfound George, Liberalism and the Land: the Liberal Foundation in July when centrality through the publication Land Issue and Party Politics in England, Lloyd George spoke power- steam, to be of the so-called ‘Yellow Book’, 1906–14 (Boydell Press, 2001). fully. By the end of the year no Britain’s Industrial Future, in Febru- 2 Ellis W. Davies, ‘Cwestiwn y tir: fewer than twenty-one ‘land vans’ supplanted ary 1928. Unemployment was by agweddau gwahanol y Sais a’r under the auspices of the Land and then the political issue which cried Cymro: sicrwydd daliadaeth a Nation League were operational, by the cam- out to be tackled – if any electoral phrynu’, Baner ac Amserau Cymru, 26 and there were some 7,000 speak- success, however modest, might Mawrth 1925. ers being briefed to expound the paigns to ensue. Certainly, no such rewards 3 Lloyd George to Frances Stevenson, new land proposals. The vans were were going to be reaped from the 20 Aug. 1925, as cited in A. J. P. Tay- often the vocal point of open-air stimulate ‘Green Book’ proposals, amended lor (ed.), My Darling Pussy: the Letters meetings held in numerous vil- and truncated or not. But it gave of Lloyd George and Frances Stevenson, lages and towns some of which had industrial the candidates of the other political 1913–41 (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, witnessed no major Liberal speech parties a barbed stick with which 1975), pp. 97–98. since before the Great War. Most recovery and to beat the Liberal Party in their 4 Michael Kinnear, The British Voter: of these vans were equipped with election addresses and campaign an Atlas and Survey since 1885, 2nd ed. loudspeakers and magic lanterns. tackle the speeches. As one Conservative can- (Batsford, 1981), pp. 119–20; Michael Indeed the propaganda activities of menacing didate in Wales put it, ‘Your farm Dawson, ‘The Liberal land policy, the burgeoning Land and Nation will be nationalized if you vote for 1924–29: electoral strategy and inter- League appear to have played a key scourge of a Liberal. Inspectors can turn you nal division’, 20th Century British His- role in several crucial by-elections off your farm if Liberals get power. tory 2, no. 3 (1991), pp. 273–74. at this time: Southwark North unemploy- Under the Liberal Land Scheme you 5 Cambrian News, 24 July 1925. John (March 1927), Bosworth (May will be no longer a man, but a cog Hinds (1862–1928) was the former 1927), Lancaster (February 1928) ment. These in a wheel. The Conservatives have Liberal MP for Carmarthenshire and St Ives (March 1928) – all strik- given the farmer what he asked West from 1910 until 1918 and for ing gains for the Liberal Party. Land achieved a for – freedom to run his own farm Carmarthen from 1918 to 1922. He News, it was claimed, now had a and entire relief from rates.61 His was also the Lord Lieutenant for circulation in excess of 250,000 cop- newfound colleague for Monmouthshire, Sir Carmarthenshire from 1917 until his ies and was widely appreciated. Leoline Forestier-Walker, derided death on 23 July 1928. But successive issues of Land centrality the new Liberal agricultural poli- 6 Trevor Wilson (ed.), The Political Dia- News clearly reflected the dimin- cies as ‘simply Socialism decorated ries of C. P. Scott, 1911–1928 (Collins, ishing significance which Lloyd through the up a bit’, while at Carmarthen John 1970), p. 481, diary entry for 1 July George attached to the land ques- Coventry dismissed them as ‘semi- 1925. tion as a political issue. From its publication nationalization’.62 In some constitu- 7 Bodleian Library, Oxford, Lord first number, which was pub- encies careful plans were laid for Oxford and Asquith Papers file lished in October 1926, its pri- of the so- awkward questions to be asked at 134/199–279. mary emphasis was firmly on the Liberal political meetings on their 8 See Roy Douglas, Land, People & exposition of the new Liberal land called ‘Yel- land policy – deliberately to embar- Politics: a History of the Land Question in policies. But from January 1928 low Book’, rass the candidates.63 The Liberal the United Kingdom (Allison & Busby, onwards it appeared under the con- Party simply could not extricate 1976), p. 190. trol of the Liberal Campaign Com- Britain’s itself from an unpopular policy 9 Ibid. mittee, and from the beginning of statement which it had substan- 10 David Lloyd George, speech at Kill- March it was printed in three sepa- Industrial tially amended and watered down erton Park, Devon, 17 Sept. 1925: The rate editions, Mining News, Indus- more than three years earlier. As a Times, 18 Sept. 1925, and the Manches- trial News and Land News, with the Future, in result, as might be predicted after ter Guardian, 18 Sept. 1925. last-named devoted solely to the the tenor of the Carmarthenshire 11 See the report in The Nation, 26 Sept. rural divisions. By the autumn it February by-election of June 1928, it would 1925. was stated that the specific purpose seem likely that some Liberal can- 12 See the editorial column ‘The Land even of Land News was to dissemi- 1928. didates in the Welsh constituencies Report’, Manchester Guardian, 19 Oct. nate Liberal policies more generally in April and May 1929 found their 1925. rather than to publicise the rural campaign hampered and harmed by 13 The Land and the Nation: Rural Report land policies specifically. In its last the persistent stigma of ‘the Green of the Liberal Land Committee, 1923–25 issues, which saw the light of day Book’ proposals from which the (London, 1925), p. 299.

Journal of Liberal History 81 Winter 2013–14 35 the ‘land and the nation’ and wales

14 Ibid., p. 460. 13 Nov. 1925. 41 Ibid., Davies to Jones, 15 Nov. 1926 15 See the editorial column ‘Life and 25 Asquith to Lloyd George, 21 Nov. (copy). land: the great problem: the new 1925, cited in Trevor Wilson, The 42 Montgomeryshire Express, 22 Nov. policy’, The Observer, 11 Oct. 1925, Downfall of the Liberal Party, 1914–35 1927. published just two days after the (Fontana paperback edition, 1966), 43 Manchester Guardian, 29 May 1929. appearance in print of The Land and pp. 351–52. 44 Cambrian News, 2 Oct. 1925; Cardigan the Nation. 26 NLW, E. Morgan Humphreys Papers and Tivy-side Advertiser, 27 Nov. 1925. 16 John Campbell, Lloyd George: the Goat A/3022, J. Bryn Roberts to Hum- 45 Ibid., 29 Jan. 1925. in the Wilderness, 1922–1931 (Jonathan phreys, 27 Nov. 1925 (‘Private’). 46 Cambrian News, 29 Jan. 1926. Cape Ltd., 1977), p. 123. There is also a draft of this letter, 47 Cited in R. Hopkin Morris’s obitu- 17 The Times, 18 Sept. 1925. dated 26 Nov. 1925, in NLW, J. Bryn ary in The Times, 23 Nov. 1956, p. 13, 18 See Campbell, Lloyd George, p. 123. Roberts Papers 630. cols. c–d. 19 National Library of Wales (hereaf- 27 NLW, E. Morgan Humphreys 48 NLW, Cardiganshire Liberal Asso- ter NLW), E. Morgan Humphreys Papers A/514, R. Humphrey ciation Records, no. 1, minute book, Papers A/513, R. Humphrey Davies Davies to Humphreys, 1 Dec. 1925 1923–50, AGM minutes, 10 June 1926; to Humphreys, 8 Nov. 1925. (‘Confidential’). Cambrian News, 18 June 1926; Welsh 20 C. S. Orwin and W. R. Peel, The 28 Lloyd George, speech at the Drill Gazette, 17 June 1926. Tenure of Agricultural Land (Cam- Hall, Coventry, 5 Dec. 1925: Man- 49 Bodleian Library, Oxford, H. A. L. bridge University Press, 1925), 3s 6d. chester Guardian, 7 Dec. 1925. Fisher Papers, Fisher’s diary entry for 21 C. S. Orwin, ‘A critic of the land 29 Lloyd George, speech at the Coli- 26 Aug. 1924. scheme; objections stated; the farm- seum, Leeds, 12 Dec. 1925: Man- 50 NLW, Henry Haydn Jones Papers er’s new duties’, Manchester Guardian, chester Guardian, 14 Dec. 1925; Lloyd 175, J. C. Davies to Jones, 12 Nov. 14 Nov. 1925. George, speech at the Capitol Thea- 1924 (‘Private & confidential’). 22 Ibid. For a contrary view, a spirited tre, Haymarket, London, 16 Dec. 51 Baner ac Amserau Cymru, 26 Mawrth defence of the ‘Green Book’ propos- 1925: Manchester Guardian, 18 Dec. 1925. als, see the article by F. S. Acland 1925. 52 North Wales Weekly News, 28 Jan. in the Manchester Guardian, 12 Nov. 30 The Times, 9 Dec. 1925, p. 8, col. g. 1926; Liverpool Daily Post and Mercury, 1925. Acland’s views were consid- 31 See Dawson, ‘The Liberal land pol- 26 Feb. 1926. ered especially important as he was icy, 1924–29’, p. 278. 53 Denbighshire County Record Office, the representative of a famous Lib- 32 Reform Club, London, W. Mc Eager Ruthin, Denbighshire Conservative eral county family, was himself the Papers 5, note of meeting on negotia- Association Records, minute book, owner of the extensive Killerton tions, 2 Dec. 1925. Eager was the sec- minutes of meetings, 30 Sept. and 20 Park estate in Devon, and was the retary to the Liberal Land Enquiry. Dec. 1927. chairman of the influential Agricul- A breakdown of the extended 54 Walter Runciman, speech to the tural Organisation Society. Moreo- negotiations is also available in the Eighty Club dinner at the National ver he had served throughout its Parliamentary Archive, House of Liberal Club, London, 26 Jan. 1926, existence as a key member of the Lords, London, Lloyd George Papers and J. R. Clynes, speech at York, 26 Liberal Land Committee and had G/30/4/54, Harcourt Johnstone to Jan. 1926: The Times, 27 Jan. 1926, p. personally drafted several sections Lloyd George, 1 Dec. 1925. 9, col. d. of the report. Another long-term 33 John Davies, ‘The end of the great 55 Liberal Magazine, Jan. 1926. member of the committee, C. F. G. estates and the rise of freehold farm- 56 Liberal Magazine, March 1926. Masterman, also readily weighed in ing in Wales’, Welsh History Review, 57 Newcastle-upon-Tyne University to defend the ‘Green Book’ propos- vol. 7, no. 2 (Dec. 1974), pp. 193–94. Library, Walter Runciman Papers als – ‘Here is at least a courageous and 34 See the detailed statistics presented 204, H. H. Asquith to Runciman, 20 practicable scheme for the redemp- ibid., p. 212. Feb. 1926, as cited in Campbell, Lloyd tion of rural England with the assis- 35 Bodleian Library, Oxford, H. A. L. George, p. 128. tance of the whole nation. In the lack Fisher Papers, Fisher’s diary entry for 58 Manchester Guardian, 20 Feb. 1926. of any more practical recommenda- 24 Aug. 1925. 59 Cambrian News, 22 Oct. 1926. tions it holds the field’. Manchester( 36 Bodleian Library, Oxford, Asquith 60 See Dawson, ‘The Liberal land pol- Guardian, 17 Nov. 1925). Interest- Papers, vol. 34, ff. 210–14, memo- icy, 1924–29’, p. 280. ingly, both Acland and Masterman randum by Sir Alfred Mond, 8 61 Election address of Captain Alan were traditionally political enemies Aug. 1925, ‘Some notes on the pro- Graham, Conservative candidate for of Lloyd George, as indeed was Ellis posed new land policy of Mr. Lloyd Denbighshire, May 1929. W. Davies, the Liberal MP for Den- George’. See also Hector Bolitho, 62 L. Forestier-Walker, speech at Aber- bighshire since 1923. (See J. Graham Sir Alfred Mond: first Lord Melchett gavenny, 29 May 1929: Western Mail, Jones, ‘Ellis W. Davies MP and Den- (Secker, 1930), pp. 258–64. 30 May 1929; John Coventry, speech bighshire politics, 1923–9’, Denbigh- 37 Carmarthen Journal, 11 Jan. 1926. at Talley, Carmarthenshire, 14 May shire Historical Society Transactions 59 38 Daily Telegraph, 26 Jan. 1926. 1929: Carmarthen Journal, 17 May (2011), pp. 207–41). Lloyd George’s 39 D. M. Harries, ‘Carmarthen Politics: 1929. conscious decision to include old the struggle between Liberals and 63 See J. Graham Jones, David Lloyd political adversaries on his land com- Labour, 1918–60’, unpublished Uni- George and Welsh Liberalism (National mittee is interesting. (See Campbell, versity of Wales M.A. thesis (1980), Library of Wales, 2010), p. 278. Lloyd George, p. 99). pp. 31–32. 23 Manchester Guardian, 29 Nov. 1925. 40 NLW, Lord Davies of Llandinam 24 British Museum, London, C. P. Scott Papers file A1/6, David Davies to Papers 50,907/171–82, diary entry for Richard Jones, 14 July 1926 (copy).

36 Journal of Liberal History 81 Winter 2013–14