Dear Mr. Bruce,

THE GENERAL STRIKE

Since my last letter there has been no marked change in the
situation. The Emergency measures adopted by the Government are,
as a whole, working smoothly, more trains are running, the
situation in regard to foodstuffs has been relieved and there is
no immediate danger of any serious scarcity. On the other hand, it
is as well to realise that the response of the workers to the
summons of the Trade Union Congress has been very complete.

Apart from minor incidents, the strike has so far been orderly and
there is as yet little sign of bitterness.

Several of my friends among the Labour Parliamentary Party have
told me that they privately regard the General Strike as the worst
blunder made for many years by Labour in this country. I have seen
a number of Conservatives and find that there is a rather strong
reactionary spirit rising which may prove an awkward matter at a
later stage of the emergency.

I feel that, in many ways, the Government are adopting an
excellent negative attitude. Apart from Sir W. Joynson-Hicks [1],
the Government Spokesmen have not been provocative but have
maintained clearly the need to fight a General Strike as such to a
finish. I feel, however, that a mere negative attitude, even if
correctly maintained, is not enough. It is absurd to imagine, as
some reactionaries do, that the idea of the T.U.C. as a whole is
revolutionary. The basis of the present strike is a dread on the
part of Labour of a sapping of the standards of living of the
workers. There is no doubt that certain employers, notably in the
Engineering trade, have given some justification for such a dread.

I believe the average wage of a skilled fitter is only about 50/-
per week whereas the tram conductor, railway man, municipal worker
etc., all less skilled, receive from 65/- to 75/- per week, a very
sound reason for discontent. The most serious feature of the
situation is the deep discontent among the most skilled workers of
the community.

After very carefully considering the position, I wrote a
memorandum on 'Commercial Efficiency and Industrial Peace', of
which I enclose a copy. The object of the memorandum was to make a
tentative suggestion towards a declaration by the Government of a
constructive nature. On Friday last I got a copy of this
memorandum into the hands of Mr. Tom Jones, the Assistant
Secretary of the Cabinet, who is the Prime Minister's right hand
man on industrial questions, and I was very interested to see that
on Saturday when Mr. Baldwin [2] gave a broadcast message to the
nation, he brought, for the first time, the idea of the standard
of living into what he had to say. To that extent the memorandum
may have already done some good. Mr. Tom Jones is lunching with me
tomorrow when I shall discuss the constructive policy with him
again.

Last night I had a couple of hours with Mr. Ormsby-Gore [3] in the
House of Commons and he was particularly keen on my memorandum and
asked me to have it duplicated for distribution among suitable
Conservative Members of Parliament. I am having the memorandum
roneoed but shall not distribute it until I have had the
opportunity of discussing the whole matter with Jones tomorrow.

I understand from Casey [4] that he proposes, when the strike is
over, to obtain for you a full account of the Government's methods
of meeting the emergency. At the present time we have very little
news and even information obtained from what appears to be
excellent authority may possibly prove false. I will therefore not
attempt to give you any news, which would only be stale by the
time it reached you.

MR. ORMSBY-GORE

As already stated, I had a very long conversation with Mr. Ormsby-
Gore last night. He has only just returned from his West African
trip and naturally very full of the impressions which he has
received. He is delighted with the progress being made in West
Africa and thinks that the scope for further development is
enormous, especially in Nigeria.

He told me that, owing to the scarcity of ginneries and the lack
of railway, unbaled seed cotton is carried on donkeys a distance
of up to 100 miles before it can be ginned. He also told me that
he had been able to authorise a railway development programme of a
thousand miles of railway to be laid at the rate of 150 miles a
year and also the erection of further ginneries. He told me that
he had given a great deal of thought to my suggestion that steps
should be taken at the Imperial Conference to inaugurate a system
whereby the information about the development of the Crown
Colonies should regularly be made available to the Governments of
the Dominions.

Mr. Ormsby-Gore told me that Mr. Amery [5] has asked him to become
the Chairman of the Publicity Sub-Committee of the Empire
Marketing Board (Executive Commission) and he said that he had
reluctantly consented but was extremely anxious that I should
serve on this Sub-Committee if he was to become responsible for
the work. He has asked me to let him have my ideas on publicity
and has suggested a further long discussion on that subject this
week.

I very strongly put to Mr. Ormsby-Gore the point that the present
emergency should be used as an opportunity for getting the nation
to think about Empire development. He said that he entirely agreed
with me and felt that the present Government had neglected its
opportunities very badly on the subject of Empire development.

He thought that the most useful thing that could be done would be
to try and get Mr. Winston Churchill [6] to adopt a more helpful
line and he then asked me to prepare a brief memorandum for him to
use with Mr. Churchill.

I came to the conclusion that Mr. Ormsby-Gore shared my
apprehension that the reactionary elements in the Cabinet and the
Conservative Party may gain the upper hand as a result of the
present general strike.

I enclose a copy of the memorandum which I am sending to Mr.

Ormsby-Gore for use with Mr. Winston Churchill.

THE GENERAL FEDERATION OF TRADE UNIONS

Mr. Appleton [7], the General Secretary of this General
Federation, a body quite distinct and in many ways opposed to the
Trade Union Congress, asked me to prepare a short statement upon
Empire trade for publication in his journal, which has a wide
circulation in Trade Union quarters. I enclose a copy of the
matter which I have sent to him.

THE BOARD OF TRADE AND THE IMPERIAL CONFERENCE

Sir Sydney Chapman, the Permanent Secretary of the Board of Trade,
asked me to lunch with him last week. He wanted to discuss the
economic side of the Imperial Conference. Naturally we first
discussed the strike situation, including the position of
Australian dried fruit and apples.

He then raised the question of the inevitable increases of
taxation to meet the cost of the general strike and asked whether
there would be any prospect of the special taxes being put upon
some goods which would give increased preferential advantages to
Empire goods. Sir Sydney Chapman was very dubious whether any
increase of taxation would be placed upon foodstuffs. It is,
however, expected that after the strike, a supplementary budget
will be introduced and if it is decided to distribute the cost of
the strike between direct and indirect taxation, I do not see how
foodstuffs can escape. I shall keep in touch with this situation
and have arranged to see Mr. Amery this afternoon.

Sir Sydney said that he could not see very clearly what direct
developments of a major character could occur at the Imperial
Conference. He thought that there ought to be the widest
discussion on Empire Development and trade. He felt that it would
be extremely useful if the Imperial Economic Committee could be
made a more important body. I warmly agreed but said that a change
of British personnel would be necessary. I found that Chapman
agreed and mentioned the names of Hilton Young [8] M. P. and J. W.

Hills [9] M. P. as very useful persons whose views would carry
great weight with H.M. Government. Chapman is a charming
individual but is very lacking in driving power and is therefore
rather feeble in his present important position.

IMPERIAL ECONOMIC COMMITTEE FRUIT REPORT

I am forwarding herewith a copy of the page proofs of the Fruit
Report. There are several small but in one or two cases
substantial amendments to be made in the text. The report cannot
be printed owing to the strike. I had some difficulty in obtaining
this copy for you but I was anxious to let you have the complete
report as soon as possible.

IMPERIAL ECONOMIC COMMITTEE DAIRY ENQUIRY

A first meeting of the Imperial Economic Committee was held
yesterday. It had to be informal because the Chairman [10] has not
yet returned from Paris. We discussed the scope of the Dairy
Report and decided to include the following subjects:

Butter and cheese.

Milk and cream, fresh, canned and dried.

Casein and any other milk products.

Margarine and edible oils and fats.

Eggs.

We decided to set up Sub-Committees for Margarine and for Eggs and
to take the enquiry on Milk products in the Main Committee.

I am enclosing a copy of my letter to the 'Manchester Guardian',
of which I previously sent you a draft. [11] I am also enclosing
article No. VIII on the Economic Problems of the Empire from the
'Times Trade Supplement'. [12]

I also enclose a statement made by the Attorney General [13] on
the cause of the Strike as it is the clearest exposition that has
appeared from Government quarters. I have attached to this Mr.

Pugh [14], the Trade Union Leader's reply.

I am enclosing a personal letter also.

Yours sincerely,
F. L. MCDOUGALL

[Handwritten postscript]

Tom Jones has Just told me that the T.U.C. have unconditionally
called off the general strike. He said that Mr. Baldwin's Saturday
Broadcast made the T.U.C. realise that they had better rely upon
the P.M.'s personal honour and give in.