Letters and Papers Concerning the Trans-Persian Railway and Other Railways in Persia [‎216v] (432/442)

703 The Government's Land Policy. [LORDS] The Government s Land Policy. 70-t
policy.” He said there was no such
thing as a new policy—that the Govern
ment of the day was the Government of
the day, and the policy of the Government
was the policy of the Government; and
to speak of such a thing as a new policy
was, he said, an hallucination. I could
not help thinking at the moment that,
according to this argument, it is perfectly
easy for any Government at any time to
alter their policy completely and then to
say “ This is not a new policy because it
is the policy of the Government.” Con
trasting that speech with the statement by
Mr. Outhwaite I should like to ask your
Lordships, To which of those statements
does probability more attach ? I think
I shall be able to show your Lordships in
a very few words that all the positive
evidence that we have is in favour of Mr.
Outhwaite’s statement that this policy is
the policy of the Government and that it
is going to be pursued accordingly. In the
first place, we know that Mr. Lloyd George
has a positive policy with regard to land,
and Mr. Lloyd George, as we also know,
is a very powerful member of the Govern
ment. He has made a statement to this
effect once or twice. In a letter which he
wrote on the occasion of a recent by-
election he said—
“ Our present land system may have served some
useful purpose in the past, but it has long ceased to
be anything but a burden and a blight.”
Then, again, speaking at Woodford, he said
that the land was in the “ shackles of
feudalism ” and so on, and that it was their
duty “ to free the l£tnd.” Therefore there
is no doubt as to what Mr. Lloyd George’s
policy is with regard to the land.
Now Mr. Lloyd George’s policy, according
to the Prime Minister, is shared by all his
colleagues. On July 8 Mr. Asquith was
asked whether the statements of Mr. Lloyd
George at Woodford were approved of by
the Government and his answer was—
“ The views expressed bv my right hon. friend
in his speech at Woodford as to the necessity for
land reform are shared by his colleagues.”
Therefore these are not merely the views of
Mr. Lloyd George ; they are the views of His
Majesty’s Government. Then in appoint
ing this co-called unofficial Committee Mr.
Lloyd George had Mr. Asquith’s approval.
In reply to a question Mr. Asquith said—
“ My right hon. friend has with my approval
approached certain gentlemen . . . with a view
to securing their services on an unofficial Com
mittee which has been formed for the purpose of
investigating the question of land reform.”
The Earl of Camperdown.
Later in the same afternoon he was asked
whether there was any precedent for an
individual Minister of the Crown appointing
a Committee to deal with a subject like
| this, and Mr. Asquith replied—
“ I said the Committee was appointed with my
| sanction.”
Therefore, my Lords, it is quite clear that
this cannot properly be described as an
unofficial Committee. I do not see how the
word “official” can possibly be withheld
from it seeing the auspices under which it
was appointed.
Further than that, this very extreme
theory of land taxation is being pressed by
j Liberal candidates at the various by-
elections, more especially at the by-election
which is now taking place for the Crewe
Division. Mr. Murphy, the Liberal candi
date there, has been gradually advancing
in his views with regard to land. He was
a little modest and rather coy at first; then
he progressed until he reached a 2 d. tax on
the capital value of land ; and yesterday
he advanced still further. He did not enter
into a figure, but he said this—
“ Take whatever figure you choose. A penny
will bring in £25,000,000 ; 2d. will bring in
£50,000,000. That would enable you to wipe off
every single duty now on the necessities of life and
relieve poor people of their burdens.”
The Prime Minister, in writing his approval
of Mr. Murphy’s candidature, did not refer
to this extreme doctrine as going beyond
his own individual opinions. What he said
was this—
‘‘I trust that the Progressive forces in Crewe
will return you at the top of the poll to strengthen
and encourage the Liberal Government in the
arduous work which lies before them.”
It is evident, therefore, that Mr. Asquith
thoroughly endorses Mr. Murphy’s candida
ture ; and if the Prime Minister is not a
Single Taxer himself he is not ashamed and
not unwilling to take advantage of the votes
which will be obtained by Mr. Murphy,
who is in favour of extreme taxation. I
think I have said enough to prove to your
Lordships that all the positive evidence we
have is in favour of supporting the statement
made at Crewe by Mr. Outhwaite.
I do not know who will reply to my
Question on behalf of His Majesty’s
Government, but I wish—I cannot say I
hope—I could be told that there is nothing
in this statement by Mr. Outhwaite, that
it does not in any sense represent the