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TRANSCRIPT
The Speeches of JohnEnoch Powell
POLL 4/1/5Speeches, January-December 1969, 4
filesPOLL 4/1/5 File 1, November-
December 1969
Image C The Literary Executors of the late Rt. Hon. J. Enoch Powell & content K7 the copyright owner. 2011.
7/11/1969 The Economy/Industry ‘Balance Of Payments’ Wolverhampton and District Branch, Institute of Cost and Works Accountants Nov-Dec 1969 Page 96
12/11/1969 The Economy/Industry Cardiff Cardiff Stock Exchange Assoc. Nov-Dec 1969 Page 90
14/11/1969 The Economy/Industry Strikes YC’s Meeting, Southborough, Tonbridge Nov-Dec 1969 Page 73
21/11/1969 The Economy/Industry Nationalisation YC Rally, Leigh-on-Sea Nov-Dec 1969 Page 65
26/11/1969 The Economy/Industry Balance Of Payments Wellingborough Bye-Election Nov-Dec 1969 Page 64
28/11/1969 The Economy/Industry Germany's Balance Of Payments East Renfrewshire Cons Assoc., Glasgow Nov-Dec 1969 Page 55
29/11/1969 The Economy/Industry State Compulsion S. Ayrshire Cons. Assoc. Nov-Dec 1969 Page 47
2/12/1969 The European Union E.E.C. Southgate Cons. Women’s Luncheon Club Nov-Dec 1969 Page 36
3/12/1969 Education and Literature Violence And Lawlessness - Teachers’ Strike
Holborn and St Pancras South Cons Assoc. Nov-Dec 1969 Page 30
9/12/1969 The Press Journalistic Presentation Institute of Journalists Nov-Dec 1969 Page 20
12/12/1969 Education and Literature Higher Education Public Meeting, Keighley Nov-Dec 1969 Page 12
13/12/1969 The Economy/Industry Prices And Incomes Policy Stonecastle Cons. Assoc., Skegness Nov-Dec 1969 Page 3
Extr:.3ct from se1by the ..u. Hon. .r. :lnochi:-Oell, L-P, et t':-e Arruel 3UPPer of the..:.torecsstle Corzerv9tive 1,,ssocistion st theImoerisl Csfe, 31::.eress, Lincs,et 7.30 pm, J-,:sturdef, 13th Liecember 1969
S,Te hsve nt-.) enteed uoor te concluding
Fceres of the comedy knon es Prices erd Irces
Policj. It seems to heve s fet,31 fssciretior for
:Nvernmerts srd politicel nerties. -.2his is rotAi
t.Ye first time -e. ve seer the ...m.r1. It is the
second complete ohosJin. Trlet I err, concerned
sbout is tt vJe do not hsve to see the 1-:::H)e fiLe
7'ourd Jet s, third time. It Killed the previous
Conservstive '.".]-overnent. Ithe., kiled tl:=
preentbour ::iovernmert. i''02 'eler'..= Lkd let
us resol d 1:1-- t 1--; rext Conseristdve
overm,rt hes rothin:7 ,-Jo do it.!-: it; for it is
as cleeJly t- .2:,ove2rs:ents -es the nenrIeFz of the
,--e tree ere to cettle, srd just :es irresistibli
sttrsctive. ,-,: r. Uri,/ bODO it tO put ,,:,p
stout fence ,e,rourd it consistims, of so much
ridicule .r-d refuttior tiet sil future
CYsrcellor,z of the i.xc'ceuer srd .-rime —iristers
l'.1.1.1 be- ::erned off.
Let rne fnind Jou of the fnel sto7v.
There es ,3 spot of bother it the bdlence of
nyients in the suIrrner of 1931. 7:e said: 'Let'
ve incorres 7Do1icy; but 35 '.';e a O no t
kno het t.,Let is, let' s h?)ve oey free-ze ir
3o 7...re 1)-1(.1 bay freeze - not by le-r,) but by belly-
:.eching - -drd r-rird you, there' s no difficulty ir
Ic.ro 7...;h9t )3 bey freeze i s, beceuse nouzht e
nought. The Orly troubl e it tht it c='t 1.zt .er%)
1on4; but et :s to fbliot- TToboy but
t-Let did rot .r.evert us broducin,-,-; 3 'Mite Pbber
cslled "Irccfr es '2olic;y: the ilext 3ten it being
gerer?)1 rule en in ry to put out 3
hite beber end cell it "The 7ext 3teb" -
keebs 0t be.y for .9 fe,;)-).)e,e,',-;:s. The idesit
heve , 'norm' of 27t, beceuse
if the netiori-il ircre-H);edty :noderte
L, -rd eL incorer irc 0 ; b„ then, b s
your uncle, there ,-;ould be no infis `Lion; rint':
1:1r3 ,ou , tu se --;oras 311 it 061:2_,..3: "7.L: rter
becuse it could rot •)e denied uI t sur).e
- 3 -
would a,nd shoui,d increase by more, much more, only
that correspordir4y others should i•crease by less,
rnuch less, or rot et ill. ler,/ .00d so fer; but
then the -fuestior arose: -;,;hlich, and do ye
kno, and ho?J do re‘ make them? That irdeed vlals the
incomes Tpolicy 'Jhlich, in the bhrae of the
were 'sec, rching". -7e ,ere still "serchin7' viher
Selyr Lloyd decs,rte'l and ,irrived;
but then ae hf -1 the srl'mdid idea of cettinsome—
Cod, else to r,'/Ork Lo do the ',,,e3rchina:' for u--7,
that --Nas the National incomes Com2iasior, thet
The norm mehile =:ot itself increa,=ed 7-,d then
foro_ter olterether, an(-°,
as diliently es -ever whEn x aent out of
office in October 1984, once aoir with ;11obirs
deficit on the brce of r"..yments.
Th=t shoir,7 of the film la:sted just over
three yere, from July 1961. to Octuber 1964, it
put to thirteen diorious yers of Toy
Halin seen it throu5rt nd come into office '33 the
benefici,aries you .uiM ‘r.L:ve thouh, the -Lbour
h7 't 'HiOide=1
S.
- 4 -
concentrF,ted on c ea! follie tic! c7,
fot bit of it. Tey nlured in Hth both frret
just es if nothin 1-1:3d hp:opened. "-;:.=.:orbre on
strted off -,tith t're Bec1-3rTition of Intent, '::here
:.;elyr Lloyd hP:d :lore tree 377.d 9 1-'31 f ers
before, follo.:.!ed it up 1t r. version of
the Ya.,tior3l Incomes Comr_ission, clled the Prices
snd Incomes iord - the Only inrovItion
include prices this time 3s ell 2.s incomes, on
th bsi tht if ore c3r.'t disover Tin incomes
Policy it illbe no h32de2 tO disco ver 9 prices
165 th Ttion1Pim hich
to hJ,,ve boosted the increPse in ti-e r.tion91
income to re .721y 4 er cent ye both c 3me d
':!ent; but P:her the 15 election d been on, the
overnm.ent p:ere es f3r :3s ever from discoverin;f
crices 9nd incoes policy, , thou::;h, of course, they
too •r1.9d Ihite feper ll bout it ,3nc7 3 "norm".
Hoever, there continued to be ho-Alin2 deficit on
tho bJ13nce of o,rrto rd omethir h:7?.d to be
done. Jo emid scenes -:%hich tore the t 2171.-iert7.,ry
- 5 -
Le Cour Party to oieces end from hick it h3s never
recovered end berhabs in its own old. form never
'All, the D)vernment forced throu- -:jnfr r-,ct of
Perliamert, a Prices 3nd Incomes Act, to ..-!hich the
hite.2sper itself :.33 solemnly aboerded es 3
schedule, like the ArF,licTn brsyer book lias a
schedule to Llizabeth It s ct of'brniformity. The
reasonin,7 -,:es evidently thst if ‘moiR#ii but it into '3.r,
-act of barli.:iment `,"Qe rust understand ..,h3t it ine3r s
CrI aniv,,ey it will then be :3ornebod;i's buz,iness to
m3ke i ork. I for s5t, by the to mention the
new "norm". The ne,J Thom 3es nil.
from th3t day to this tlere has nomin3ily
been control by 1.3w over es, prices 3r1 dividerds
- son ethir unkror in this courtry in time of
peece.for centuries. In reality it h en beer
control by bluff 3rd scores of arices
ard heve beer referred to te rices 3.rd
Incomes 3u3rd hich bontific3tefLon tuS. in es
reborts; industries 3rmi. firms h ye reEoti ated ith
the .:je.,-,3rtment of rntioyment 3rd Productivity; -3nd
,EThiernmert hes b:-‘er ;hirJ rty
• - 6 -
oacround t ll neotiJ2,tions beten emblo e2s
3nd emblo;:ees - ith results fa2 inalustrial
relations .jlich an. severl occasions h.:,Lve
rs.diF:ast4rous.:',3crcely ever Ikx have tho leal
20-:e2s hich barliament conferred been used. Liut
here is the supreme irony of it all. Prices h*ve
1.i.ster, not sloer, than before and
that has accelerted tuxixg S3 the 'ears hve bpssed.
lhe effect of the -ihole oberati.or upon .:hc..t it .:pq
suPoosed to control -:77J: r=ely, inflation,
has been ex9ctly nil.
ab,n2opch of ere -227:1election
the decks are bind cleared of the rJrec:a:..rejrd bll
that is left of the Act of 1966 il1 be a ocer to
delaf increases for tree months, 30 thi=;f3 the
.1.overr.17:ent can s,ay to the unions ir te eLer:
"Mold hard for just ,3 little, comrdes, until e
zet the eiection tu ,1.7et the election out of the
-.:ay; then -.pa cn 11 thir
and orices Policy L,;oes out "rot -ith a but ±,
-sver findir cut :,h3t it
- 7 -
-01.9 after •11..744fmZe
I c,ust sdlrit tet, like tirzaz..s Tati's
comedies, I found the film much furrier te second
time round. One ,,,Jes or the lock-out for the firer
Points, snd kne, hen to ,:.,et ready to lauh. 3ut
I trust thst le sre 1esvin7 the cirems ::ith the firtn
resolution never, never to hsve it over sain. Let
me briefly recspitulste -Ahy.
First, i seneral d.emand is increasing fssteri
then supply, no coer or. es:2thcsr. crev-ent prices
(includins±; the bricesof lsbour) from risin. - st
least, ir ary economy Ahere prices have s f.:-,eanin:z:
3rd function st sil. Tfhe principal cause of such
ar incresse ir g.enersl demand, 7.'"'dthe only cause
Ahich is not self-correcting,, is ..:cve=ment
finrc jd of excessive gvernfaert exsenditure.
Therefore, '3 prices srd incomes policy is either
superfluous Or ineffectiie: it is superfluous if
the government is rut forcing up totsl de-ind by its
oAn actions; It is doomed to pe ireffectlie if the
overnment persists in doing just that. In practice
the only result of a )rices and incses policy is to
••- 8 -
en,ole the p:overnment to divert 9ttention 9nd
from tl7e conse-ioences of itc,
I' ti e sec.ori. pl9ce, 3 7)rices incomes
policy is rot (..:!.pable of bein so defined tl-i3t it
c,-3n be put into effect. .2here i. 'o mefir,-, of
k:no,,Jirf- in the cYise of v::ry rticuLir price
increose]etberlend if so to ,:t :-:::Ktent, it
reflects inflation ,:zererl incre-]eP in
prices) and to -,'hst extent it reflects a ched
reltior of su-)oly 9nd leinard for thet >:;ood o r
Nor can '-Tyore predict ho7: prices .:ould
ch9rge in rel-,itior. to one :'=.rother in tl.e :;:isence of
inflotion. C:,orse uently non c orescrib -., or
I-ay do:.in rules for nrecribir.2, il t'f-e
price ch.-]n,L:es 3 hole ill confo'Ir
ziter 'norm", vihether th.it no2,h3per
cent or 2-:t .:,er curt 0-2 4 per cent. nrices d
inc()mes policy involves kro':in:
1hirdly volunt:ry 7.Y2ices r]rd incol:es
is Tts ble s 7olEori one
9 bsurd. .2h e 1: no rto
voluntorily th'..in under duress, the c'.--,nceof
.AbIL - 9 -' II,
311 the attempts to do so oroducinz. e Predetermined
result is even more remote, it they are volurt3ry
J.and inde n pendent the i they are enforced. '2.here
is ro room in loic, es L,here is no basis or
justification in exeriencelfor o rices ?nd
incomes Policy. Let us, at any rate in te
Gorservgtive Partylresolve to lee this Pi.kce of
h4political esC92iSM betirAin te 160's '-7r,a fce
the re decede and e ne7i period of administration
-,ith oper snd hole—heortef: acceptance by 2.0vernmert
of IpreF,Ton.Fibilit," for te conse uences of
Eovernment actions.
• MPExtract from speech by the Rt ion.J.Enoch Powell,at a public meet ing in the T rance
at 7.30 p.m., Friday,12 h December,1969.
We now know that in twelve years' time the num-
ber of young people leaving school with the pre-
sent qualifications for entry into higher educa-
tion will be about double what it is to-day. Stag-
gering though that fact is, there is nothing in it
for regret; on the contrary, it is potentially a
cause for sat isfact ion and hope. Nevertheless,
the prospect has to be faced now, not only because
the increase will be continuous during the inter-
vening period but because, if a major change in
our approach to the provision of higher education
is to be made, the sooner that change is debated
and initiated, the better.
Hitherto it has been assumed during the last
twenty years that virtually all extension of
higher education, university and other, must come
about on government init iat ive and be impleme nted
by means of the yield of taxation. The universit
and other institutions of higher educat ion have
2
not grown or expanded: they have been created, ot
they have been expanded - passive voice. The form
which the institutions would take31 their location,
and to a large extent the nature and content of
the education itself, was decided by authority -
basically by the same authority by which the size,
location and composition of the armed forces is
dec ided.
looking back over the period, we can see that
this policy rested on two unexpressed assumptions.
One was that the right form and nature and volume
of higher education could be predicted and foreseen,
bpd (what is more) predicted and foreseen by
government. The other assumption was that this
higher education would not get itself provided
except under compulsion. Many of us would now be
disposed to question both those assumptions, and
even if we must accept what has been based upon
them so far, to question whether they should be
accepted for the fut ire. Hitherto, they have been
3
tegarded as too obvious even to need stating.
In reality they are much more like paradoxes than
axioms.
There is, for example, no reason to suppose
that if the rumbers of school-leavers with two
A-levels increase twofold, or fourfold, or tenfold,4pbeleer
therefore the number going on to loot4imoes4'‘i, edti-
cation ought ideally to increase in the same propor
tion. There simply is no logic in such a rule-of-t
thumb. The most desirable consequence might be a
lesser or a greater increase: we ew4ee4, do not know
Likewise there is no reason to assume that the pro-
portion of students in universities to students in
other forms of education ought to remain the same
while total numbers double or quadruple. It might
be so, or it might not; again, we simply do not
know.
It is not even certain that the proportion of
school-leavers go inF on to any form of higher edu-
cation should remain constant: perhaps it ought,
but it is only guessing to assume so.
Then look at the second ass'Impt ion - that it al
has to happen by compulsion or it will rpt happen
at all. Nothing could be less probable. Here is on
of the sumpreme good things of life, both in an
economic and a non-economic sense. Here is a popu-
lation increasing in well-being and in cultivated
aptitude for higher education. Are we serlously
invited to believe that they will sit passive and
will not produce both a demand for higher educatio
and the means of satisfying it? There are certainly
some who woi 1 d say so; but they are the same people
who would also say that the other activities of the
citizens, their other investments of effort and
leisure and surplus, bust be _compulsorily directed/447 Act
for them by the state, if 14-443. to be directed
aright, or at all.
I suggest we must therefore refuse, here and no
to make the apparently obvious and natural, but in
reality irrational and dangerous deduction which
we are being invited by many voices to make. It is
to deduce that because the number of qualified
school-leavers will double over the next twelve
5
years, therefore the public provision for higher
education - not provision, hit public provision -
must also double.
Let us conduct here to-night a little experiment
and watch what happens under(as it were) laboratory
conditions: it may be helpful in envisaging the
range of possibilities which exist in the real worpublic
Suppose that the volume of/Provision for higher
educat ion remains constant while the number of
qualified school-leavers increases. What will then
happen? We know what will happen. The competit ion
for the public prov ision will increase, and conse-
quently the standards which have to be demanded w
rise. Bat the consequences will not stop at that
point, not by any means; for there will be an un-
datisfied demand, and that unsatisfied demand will
also increase. Like all demands not satisfied from
one source, it will elicit other means of getting
itself met.
Where the ability and desire to pay or to borrow
exist, it will itself bid for additional resources,
and pull them over from elsewhere into the pro-
vision of higher education. Bit there is more to
than that. Here is valuable and Erowing potential-
inve stment opport lnity. The future prospect ive
users of that potential, on behalf of the ultimate
consumers, the community as a whole, will bid for
that potential as a capital investment. It happens
on a small scale at the moment; but there is no
natural limit to the scale on which it coulrl hap-
pen.
So we would see growi.ng up by the side of the
public provision - which of course eal life
would not be by any means static, as we have as-
sumed for the purpose of simplifying our experi-
ment - a whole new non-public (call it better,
non-compulsory) provision of higher education.
The two would certainly not remain separate and
watertight, but would interpenetrate one another.
We can envisage whole areas of higher education
tending to move across into the voluntary sectorstate
from the retlake sector,while conversely the state
7
sector, as often happens elsewhere, would learn
and acquire from the voluntary sector. Men, methods
and even institutions woad move both ways; but the
total result would be a system of higher education
which in form, volume and content reflected the
della nds and needs of the community in a way impos-
sible if public provision were automatically to be
multiplied by rule-of-thumb. What is equally im-share
portant, the area of compulsion would have been
diminished instead 02 continuously increasing, and
the a rea of spontaneity and choice would have
and me and, no less, for those among the
immigrants whose future does lie here, of thatpolicy of assisted repatriation and resettlemed4which Sir Alec Douglas-Home as Leader of our
Party adopted almost four yenrs ago. Toproclaim that policy and, when we have theopportunity, to put it into effect withgenerosity, with huvanity, set vith determina-tion and with hope, is a duty which we owe toall, white or coloured.
oo often today people are ready to tellus: "This is not possible; that is notpossible". I say: Whatever the true interestof our country calls for is always possible.We have nothinf to fear but our own doubts.
Paper vesented to the Institute of journalists by the Rt Hon.V.Enoch Powell, MP, at the House of Co -ons, Committee Rocm 109
at 6.30 p.m., Tuesday99th December91969.
In speaking to the Guild of Newspaper Editors at Scarborough40-4p.41-19-46in April 19689 Iord Hill of Luton, the Chairman of the 13.6.C.F
used words which are more important and significant than perhaps even
he himself realised. "In talking", he said, "abolt the B.13.C's obli-
gation to be impartial, I ought to make it clear that we are not im-
partial about everything. There are, o i st nc (my italics), tux)
very important exceptions. We are not impartial about crime, nor are
we impartial al-out race hatred.* The way in which "crime" and"race
hatred" are linked in this statement reveals more Nate the more one
studies it. "Crime" denotes domethinierfectly objective. To ascerta4_n
what is and is not crime one resorts to the law, to its definition by
s tatute and its interpretat ion and applicat ion by the courts.Whether
a person is or is not guilty of crime is established by process of law
and neither the 13B.C.nor a 77 other medium could with irnpunit - state
that A had committed crime B unless that had been established by legal
process orl at Rost, by way of making an allegation intende(7 to be
proved or disproved by process of law. Ignite obviously n-) citIzen has
the right to be impartial" about "crime": by definition we are all
necessarily, like the preache- and sin, 'agin'
With this perfect y objective thing, "crime", the Chairman of the
B.B.C. places on the same plane what he calls "race h tred", which is
perfectly subjective. "Hatred.", though a sin, is not a crime. It can,
indeed, result in crime, and it is in certa'n circumst nces a crime tobe
promote or encourage it . It cannot however/the criminal consequences of
"sacs hatred'" or criminal acts involving it which are meant here, be-
cause "crime" has already been de5lt with. so the "race hatred" about
which the B.B.C. disclaims impartiality is someth'ng not criminal and
something not objectively ascertainable. The B.B.C. has iven itself
a charter 0 partiality at its own discretion: wherever it, or its ser-
vants, or rep rters on its behalf, form the opinion that hatred due t
difference of race is Present or involved in any matter under 'llscuss
or report, they are thereby released from"the obligation to be impar-
tial". I.:ow wide this charter is, may be gauged if, fo- "hatred") we
substitute other, equally reprehensible sir= such as "greed" or
"envy", and reflect what a range of subjects -would be ,,'ithdrawn from
impartiality if' the B.B.C. were declared rpt impartial about these.
It will be observed, however, that the B.R.C. does not object in
th is way to "hatree, any more than to other non-criminal bat sinful
states of mind A good hater, provided he hates his employer or hisnot-
mother-In-law or the Tory Party.> is asrured of impartial covera e øöw
withstanding, like all other sin ers. Oly where the 11.13.C. detects
not hatred as such but h--Itred in one particular context, and arising
from one particular cause, does the R.B.C. withdraw its impartiality.
This absurd and indefensible c.ontradiction - whch is aggravated raihe
'bility of undisclosed extensions - reflects one of the phenomenathan renoved by those naughty words "for instance", implying the
poss
of our time: a preoccupation, accompanied by avowed slanting of/the
organs of communication, 1,:ith what is called "race"- a ter-, in itsel
of extremely various and un ertain meaning.
This is brought out clearly by a state-ent of Sir Fugh Greehe,whic
Lord Hill quoted with approval in the same context:"A man who speaks
in favour of racial intolerance cannot have the same ri7hts as the
man who condemns it". Since the identificatio: of "r- ial intolernnce
is purely subjective, this means no less than that a man of whose
opinionsSir Hugh di approved on any subject to which Sir Huf!,h chose tc
regard as relevant whatever Sir Hugh chose to mean trf "race" ought tc
be denied (in the B.P•C• or, for that matter, anythere else the right:
yr. ch others enjoy. For examp15, it could pc lectly well be interpret
to mean that those who suor:orted in Parliament or elsewhere theCom-
morweolth Iomigraton Bills of 1961/2 and 1968 are not t- have the
3
same rights as those who spoke against them; for many people did in
fact regard those Bills as evidence of "racial intolerance".
Given what I have called this 'phenomenon of our time', the preoccu-
pation with race" and the assertion of the right and even the duty to
mispepresent one side in any debate where "race" is thought to be in-
volved, it is not surprising that the main methods of misrepresentat tor
generally can be exemplified in classic form in thi= c-ntext; and as I
have made a hobby of collecting specimens in the last year or two, I
would like to put before you some of the favourites, both grave and ga3
from my private cabinet.
The first is an example of the "Archbishop-and-the-New-York-night-
clubs" method. You all `,-,:now the alleged news items"Archbish-T's first
question on landing in New York0Are there any night clubs here?'" It
was, of course, in reply to the questlonCWill Your Grace be visiting
a night club?". I picked up a beauty of this sort when I vent to Brist(
in July, and read next day, under a row of pictu es of myself,on the
front page of the W t Dai P s 9 tne notice, in heavy type:"Page
8:My Rivers of Blood Speech". Sure enough, there was the headline on
page 8:"My rivers of blood spcechlby Powell". Immediately under the
by-line was the introduction to the report:"Er Enoch Powell last night
explained his fa ous 'river of blood' comment". Only then did the
reader, his appetite thus whetted, antive at the hard news item itself
in the smaller print below:" 'I never di...! use the phrase "rivers of
blood" 11, he told a quest toner".
While we are on headlines, I would like to examine a much more seri
ous an', I am afraid, more typcial specimen, where false headlining
perverts an entire report and runs into flat untruth. Crap 19th July
the Daily Mail carried a double-column heading, fo-Ir inches deepOr
"Powell:they'll never be "inglish". The clear implication of such a
headline is that thel are an attributio-aivery reader is Eoirw to reac
them as a direct and literal quote, and would be justified in asFuminf
that I had said not merely that in sense but that in terms. The head-
line in itf3elf is a foul; but instead of being corrected by the text,
in this case the text aggravated the offence:"Coloured people born in
this country could never be English, Mr Enoch Powell told a Conservative
rally in Bradford yesterday". He"ire is a direct attribution of some-
thing which was not said and was not implicit in what was said. Theof
key word, of course, on which the effect Obfk4 the headline and of the
report depended, was the word"never",which imports a meaning and a
dimension wholly new and different. How gross the misrepresentation) can
perhaps be gauged from the con luding words of a speech made by me
less than six weeks earlier:"there is no limit, over the years and theor to
generat 'Ons to the changes we can undergo - yes, switel the strangers
whom we can abso:l, - and still remain, throughout it all, oursclves".
Subconsciously, perhaps, the introduction r) the word and meaning
"never" in the case I have just been examining arises from the pheno-
menon_pf "typing", that is, creating a type, identifying certa' n indi-,
viduais as belonging to it, and then assuming that they must' therefore
display the characteristics atd hold theopini-ns attribute-I in the firt
place to the type. All language is ultimately metaphor, and it might
be a) more than a pardonable exaveration to say that all journalistic
language is type. As in certain for-s of dramatic and other art, from
to the Greek tragedies, there are a limited nu'ber of
stock types which are recognised as appropriate to the genre, and the
art consists in the marver in wl-ich these a d their interactions with
one another are envisaged and poIrtrayeds the audience expect them and
the prod/leers provide them. This is no cr ,icism of an art form, and I
do not suppose that the storyteller's art, vhcch is surely part of
is" can ever dispense with them. The trouble comes when they
influe ce not merely the communication but the perceptio - of what ett-r-
-pe-rts to be reporting of words and deeds, and :r_=rticrilarly whe- the
selectiol and use of: t7pes takes place under acknowledged licence and
4 5
invitat ton not to be impart ial.
Let me take a recent report Irehia.a Parliamentary Corresnonden- of
a debate on Rhodesia, actually on 16th October last, under the head-
line:"Sir Alec swings Tory M.Ps aga'nst Smith". I have only time to
study one paragraph, though the whole report is a rich repository of
misrepresentat ion through"typ ing"
"In the present mood of the Tory party and faced with a strong rightwing revolt over Rhodesia, only Sir Alec could have so successfullydoused the brushfires that were being lit all over the Commons by thewild men of the right. fie was listened to in respectnil silence byM.ps of everAhade of opinion as he said that if' the proposed thodesicontitution were accepted "of c'urse Britain could not be a partnerto it". There was not a aurteur of dissent from either side".
Notice not merely the wildly metaphorical language("brdsh fires being
lit 1 v th Co rn n - surely mtn, but the persistent use of
"typing":"right wing revolt", "wild men of the right". Yet the par-i-
graph ends with the admission that"there was not a murmur of difSent
from either side". No wonder, seeing that every speaker, whethr or
not "right° or "wild", held and expressed that view - including,tho
there was no necessity for this to have been mentioned, the rt hon.
itamber for Wolverhamptois South West. Even Mr Noyes was uneasily aware
of a contradiction here; so he explained thatIthough "unable to quell
completely the revolt on his back benches," Sir Alec"did succeed in
wresting statements on the unacceptability of the regime's proposed
new constitution from almost every Tory speaker". This attempt to re-
concile undeniable fact with the preconceived typing imPorts a false-
hoodsit saysi and intends to be understood as saying, that subsequent
speakers in the debate were forced by Sir Alec's words to aker what
they had inte!Ided to say. Any competent parliamentary observer knows
that this does nnt, and did not, hanpen; and in any case it is his
business to be aware that the speake-s in quest ion had said the -ame
thing before inside or outsi e the House, when it was not wrested"
from them by Sir Alec.
That is not the only falsification. "Sir Alec's speech", the repoi
46
concludes,"brought immediate dividends. Mr Duman Sandys said that his
first inclinatioe had been to vote against the order. Ravine listened
to Sir Alec he woe id abstain". A stranger sitting in the Public Gal-
lery for the first time might have written that; bu the veriest tyro
in Parliamentary report toe would know that Mr Sandys was using a well-
understood formula(which even so evoked a titter from the benches)for
reconciling an intended npn-vote with a hostile speech; and anybody in
the liebby knew that (and perhaps also, why) he had never inteneed to
vote.
The net result is that the render is not only deprived of the servi4
ces of a qualified eye-witness, bet Presented with a report falsified
beyond the point of caricature in order to confdrm with precorceived
"typing". No worder the editer, in answering the expostulations of a
member of the public, explained that"when our Parliamentary Correspen-
dent writes a piece in the paper,it is not intendee to be a fectual
account of what took place". He can, as the phrase ist'say that again',
!nine ie that instance was purely generalllike the type villain of
melodrama - "the weld men of the right". It is carried a stage further
when the type is given the name of a real person, let us say - purely
for purposes of illustration - "Enoch Powell", whether without adjec-
tival terminat ion or with such inflect tons as "-ite", "-ism" , lean".
(Incidentally, why has ".esque"gone out of use? Perhaps too baronue?)
The reselt is that the characteristics of the type must be attributed
to the individeal; for is me the type actu-,lly nemed after hi ? -su-unsuspect ¶ ng
ally the tnakirig of the attribution can be left to the/reade-, against
whose assuel)tions the eponymous hero has no means of protecting hie-
self, since the explicit false ae.: ertion has not teen made. Occasio ---
ally, however, the writer himself becomes the victim of this reverse
reasoning process and betrays the falsity of the deductions.
I say and amusing instance of this recently in a report of the pro-
ceed ngs in the const'tuency of my frd.end and colleague, Mr Nigel
Fisher. Who, the public might wish-to know, ard the people who do notwish his association to readopt him as candidate? "The rebels", Mr
Cashinella told them, - and, I-7 the way, note the typological word"rebelr
again, which we trive just seen in anot' er context - "disagree ,:rith
Fisher's v Lews on race relat io as, immigrat ion, Kenyan Asians and Biafra,and demand in his place an M.P. who su-ports Mr Powellis views on these
questions". Four subjects, you sre; though it needed,Considerable in-genuity to make the first three out of one, rat'er like our friend,Bishop Spacely Trellis(another type, but not one, as far as I have no-
ticed, who features in the news columns of the Dail Te e a h), who
inserted "race"' three times over in his programme for talks-in to repla-ethe Anglican liturgy. However, as regards this trin't-, I will observe
only that on "Kenya Ssiars" what are called "Mr Powell's views"are those
not only of the vast majority of the Conservative Party but of the Houseof Commons as a whole, on the 7inimpeachalle evidence of their voice andvote on the Comnon-,,ealth Immigrants Bill 1968.
The really fascinating thing is the refer,2nce to "Bizafra.". Now,this
is a question on which I have never, so far as I know, been publicly
teported and on which there has been, so far as I know, no public refe-
rence to my opinion; but as a matter of fact my opinion on it happensto be thesame as that expressed by Mr Fisher, as any lo'Thy journalist
could have ascertained si7ly by askin7 me, since I have never made a
secret of it, either amng colleagnes or in correspondence. Thus thewriter, having "typed" the "rebels* as "supporters of Mr Encc h Powell",
proceeds to deduce from his own harkliwork that I must therefofe hold
cert ,in views and states as a fact trat I do hold them.
Another branch of "typing" is to dramatise the preconceived types
and then report the result as hard news, mnch like the British general
serving all h's ife in India in the nineteenth century, who was con-vinced that the novds of Dickens and Thackeray were descript Loos ofactual persons and used anxiously to enquire of visitors from England
8
whether they had any news of Little Nell or Colonel Newcome, in whose
welfare he was deeply interested. Here is a report, doted from
Wolverhampton on 6 Febriary this year snd published in a national
newspaper, about a number of immigrants there who have prospered
through hard work. Of the first the report says: "In winning
acceptance by all but the highly prejudiced he has made himself the
victim dtf unusual jealousy". This is a statement not of the individu
state of mind - that he sees himself as the victim of jealous, - but
of an alleged fact, namely, that others, who are "highly prejudiced,"
envy him. The irix evidence and the description of the type is the
following statement attributed to the immigrant:
"A parking warden who works around here really hates me for doingwell. You can hear his mind saying 'Jaguar plus nigger equalsprostitutes or hempe. The problem wit that warden is ignorance.He just cannot imagine that I work hard, he has been told thatniggers are lazy and he believes it".
Thus a subjective view, attributing thoughts and beliefs to a
character who has not opened his mouth, becomes, not evidence of the
state of mind of the speaker (which, of course, it is) blit evidence
of the state of mind of members ef the indigenous population (which it
is not).
We are back to that subjectively defined area in which some hold
that impartiality can and should be disclaimed by the media. Impart-
iality lies, notoriously, as much in selection as in presentation;
and the last case I want to examine is one in which selection is the
issue.
On Monday 21+ November the Wes e Th3I P s carried rd.ght
across its front page the story: "Racial Riot in t,Test: Police are
attacked, car tyres slashed". The first few paragraphs of the report
ran as follows:
'Seven policemen were beaten up vhen racial violence erupted inGloucester yesterday. Gangs of West Indians went on a rampage ofdestruction when police moved in to search a hou7e in Vauxhall Roadshortly after midnight. As the search squad filed the lightssuddenly went out. In the darkness the policemen 'Vere pummelled,kicked and beaten. The fighting spilled into the street . . . the
seven injured polidemen were taken to the City Geoeral Hospital fortreatment. Six were allowed home, but P.C. Vincent Castle wasdetained for observation overnight . . . four men will apeear Incourt in Gloucester this morning on assault charges. More troublestarted after the police had cleared Vauxhall Road. Nearly eVerycar belonging to a white person in the surrounding streets wasseverely damaged."
Later in the day the Glouce ter Citi en carried a police statement
confirming the injuries to the police and the arrest of four persons,and other reports confirming widespread damage to cars under the
heading "Seven policemen hurt in Gloucester 'battle'". while I have
not examined the whole national press for Vonday 21+ Noverrber and
Tuesday, 25 November, so far as the principal papers which I haveconsulted are concerned, these events which, whatever rnieht be theother circumstances, involved seven policemen beine taken to hospital,
did not come to the knowledge of their readers,ethough an inspectionof the ir columns of those days reveals many items recort ing inc identswhich by any standard were cf less public interest and importance.Nor is this a unique example in recent months.
It is reminiscent to me of something which a Pinch reviewer said
in commenting on the paperTback publication t Lis year of some of my
speeches and articles. I quote it in extenso lesnerm for its signific-ance as an expression of a particular frame of mind:
"Mr. Powell's collected speeches make very eood readine indeed.He brings to the problems of our day a clarity of view unadulteratedby party loyalty or tradition or any ether irrelevant factor - tothe problems of liberty in a socialist state, of the real nature ofcapitalism, of the trade unions, of defence, of Commonwealthimmigrat ion.
"On paper, it all makes sense. Yet, as we have seen, his views onimmigration have been seized on to jusiify all sorts of unjustifiableanti-immigrant activity that must distress Mr. Powell no end. So thequestion must arise, even when there are things thet have te be seid,is it always wise to say them broadcast? Truth in the wrong handscan be as dangerous a weapon as lies."
There it is: "truth in the wrong hands", and the duty ef somebody
therefore to be the judee what hands are ritrieht" and to he the guardlawho ensures into whose hands truth can come. Vh elee 1,s the
10
duty of journalism, it cannot in a free country be the duty to be that
judge and that guardian. Once this principle vas accepted, there woul
be no stopping point short of tyranny, intellectual and, no doubt,
physical also. It is implicit in the kmx assertion, which I began by
examining, that the media of communications have a right and a duty
to eschew impartiality in the reporting of lawful acts and opinions
within certain areas to be defined for this purpose by the media
themselves.
Extract from speech by the Rt. H on. J. EnochPowell, MP, at the Annual Dinner of the HolbornSt. Pancras South Conservative Association,
at the Bloomsbury Centre Hotel WC1, at 7.45 p.mWednesday, 3rd December, 1969.
We live in an age when ome of the basicpresumptions of civilised life is under incessant
attack, not only in this country but throughout
the Western world and perhaps more widely still.
I refer to the presumption in favour of oursiing
interests and purposes by lawful and peaceful meansDay and night the sap2ing and mining goes on, to
subvert respect for law and to discredit the
observance of rules and agreements voluntarily
accepted. The object of some of this activity,it
and the results of all of itshould/succeed, is
the replacementbf lawful authority by anarchy
first, and then by tyranny, which is anarchyls
heir apparent. The method everywhere is to make
violence and lawlessness respectable and to put
those who condemn and oppose them into the pillory.
• —2—
We should, in my opinion, be guilty
of foolish optimism if we imagined that the trend
in this direction has yet nearly reached its
limit and h-gh water mark. On the contrary the
tide is still perceptibly rising. From time to
time, however, as is the habit of incoming tides;
it seems to make a big and sudden advance. One
of these occurred only just now, and it is right
that it should be recognised and stigmatized for
what it is.
The teakng profession in this country haS/6
dealt a shattering blow for lawlessness and anarchy
by the course of strike action upon which they
have engaged. It is hard to imagine an actionAport-t
fraught with aitilfioPe conseuences for this country's
future by reason both of the nature 40ilig of the
action itself and of the personsby whom it is
committed.
Here we have a profession which, with the
possible exception of the priesthood, preeminently
exists to set an example to those entrusted to it.
• —3—
Schools have rules, like the world outside; and
0 those rules it is the teache?s business to
secure willing and rational obedience. Children
have duties, as they will have duties in adult
life; and the recognition and performance of
duty is an essential part of what society expects
the teacher to instill. That law is better than
force; that bargains are made to be kept; that
service undertaken must be performed — if these
are not among the lessons taught, by example as
well as precept, it is hard to think that the
rest will be profitable.
In the face of this the teaching profession
have deliberately undertaken to set an example of
lawlessness, in—faith, and indiftrence to duty,
and to bring that exa-mple home to their pupils in
the most direct, impressive and personal manner.
Every one of the teachers on strike is in breach
of his duties and obligations, no less than one of
his pupils who absents himself from class or flouts
• -4-a rule of the school. This is not a strike wherea body of employees, while fulfilling their
contract, give notice to terminate it, with theintention of not renewing it unless the employerwill enter into it on higher terms. There might be4debate about the morality of even thisprocedure being applied by the teachers' unions,after the unsuccessful completion of protracted
negotiation. But that is not what is happeninghere. Here we have the dishonorable methods ofthe bully and the tough, who break the rulesdeliberately and rely on force and numbers to get
away with it.
After: this event it will take many yearsfor the teaching profession in this country to
recover either its own self-respect or the respectof the public. They have betrayed their essentialtrust in the most specific manner, by providingthe children under their instruction with a charter
of indiscipline, signed, sealed and delivered.
"Sir", says the pupil to the master, (supposing
that antiquated mark of respect should be still
in use,) "Sir, you absented yourself from your
duties,for which you were paid and which you had
promised to perform; you deliberately interrupted
the course of instruction at this school; you did
this in order to force your employer to pay you
more than you had agreed to take; you did it in
a manner which would cause your employer and the
community maximum inconvenience and embarrasment.
For what offences against discipline can you now
reprove or punish us? I see how it is; this is
evidently the way of the world, and I thank you,
Sir, for teaching us so well that it pays to break
any rules provided there are enough to brazon/the
offence. Good afternoon Sir; and by the way,
the Sixth will not be attending school tomorrow
morning. We shall be too busy arranging a
demonstration on Friday against compulsory P.T.
and andioccupation of the Headmaster's sit study
in relays until the curriculum is altered to suit
our wishes. You will be proud to see how well
$
-6-
we have learned our lesson. It will be an excell—
ent preparation for our time at university".
I see they are saying it will all be settled
in the end for thirty bob a week or thereabouts.41,
I foresee 444 time when the teachers will wish
they could have thrown those thirty pieces away,
sooner than have made their contribution, and a
powerful one too, to the cause of anarchy.
I Lit
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illExtract from speeCh by the Rt. Hob. J. EnochPo-;:ell, 1:.. at a Social EveninLref the Southi'lyrshire Conservative ssocitior t The 1.1-rand, (Aryan at 7 p.m. Ssturday./106q.
0r 1 ,; *,- -' L_)Lci i4ove:Lcer.
The law makes it advisaole for me to avid
referrin to any $4.-1-4-0-z.a posibility that there
might perhabs be a Parliamentillect;;on in tilscr-r
constituency the next fe't Fortunate77airli,
does not forbid me to fo-f'ecE:st thatef
there will be a deneral EJ.ect—n In Lnz-, next
seventeen muths or *,-o robbesy ,hat assaults wIll/
be made -t).iitte:i*A;t==.1-±Trre upOb the intelli:ence of
,) the electors 3f t'hio„4-1.37.ituenc7.' 7;
jhe case that the Lab9ur )ut
is in essence a si one. It
be t-ne sa‘Le in t"is ccnstituency as eloev:h,2re in
tne KondoL, but it will be ur.:ed vcith s)ecisl
emphasis in Scotland. The ct_:se is that ' ,
are not satisfied v,ith your (..:ndi_tions, v:ith your
circumstances, standaTh of life, -,:oo need
is,[verni:ient which v;ill exercise L:Icre
.-.;ou71_,.7on lies at the hert of Labuf
-2-
Is the rste of economic advance slower in Eritain
thsn elsevdaere? Then the j:.,svernment must be
ct:iven20P12S to ensure that we 'E,Trot -flaster.
Is there leso investment in 3ritin than in
comoarsble in:7.ustriel countries? Then the :i7overn-
ment must obtain mone copulooril:: by taxation
and direct it to the investment of' which it ..-,)approves. _lc, there lesF security in old ae,
less Ledical core, less education than mi:Jit be
desired? (It v,ould be hard to say no,
our C,esi:e for the,:e thin75 is virtJ11:i unlimited)
l'hen the 7overnent mu.ot tae, reatel. shLJte
o-r incoLies, so thot it ce,n be devoted to
these 2L+2::)Oses. 3o ono coo' s.Jint.tever
the oroble, vteveo the disstioct:Lon, socibl-
ism 1:1:3 en oiclsv:or for St;',./cf the ;:.:Fr is
sloEç's (Iore
snsv;er L, be
-Jut .ftrward, ._uite, irrespective f the results
of eoerience. is chedli:t vrere to
continue to teoc 1o-,o4r÷!-Lte-h 7:eoe cc,,ostnt7:::/
;
orefutedeentL_. •
hve t-zied the Lleti.ed of coDulsion Luru t'he
15st five In ev,.-ry c,::e the res'e7 te
heve tee:: ntve. / ?he :2's..te eaen:raio
Eft, e. been lov!er, , ltrer b,y, n e , thsn in the
precedin.7 oerot vciue f invest.lent in
nu -fa ctu n du et ry hs s1ut-.1p ed. e
incresce rsonel.„sevin hes teen heltect.14. • 3
3h3rt;es en insdeuscies more
.,s,sinfully felt thsil 50. Such e-ee„
'2esults of the , 4hez:
v:het el ye been predicted
Compulsion (meansAlever it is ep.).."._-ied, thet the_
fovernft.ent ib of' with IL,,)
the grsin sf humsn nature rnh IeircGt:17etenceS.
It is :redictbOle thst the best Va-- scSieved b.
peole' s 17 s snd wishes snd vioriny
in the ssLie airection.9 and O7 -LI.)rovin[;;; t ,e
aQyCt s5Cu C5iC Cui atifer ins_tesd of
t•t to in-, •.4.;
v;hich do not es1 tinit ;re
is the Selective Eni..plo-LF:--dent ?ax, of v:hich tho
oi.Deot 7;as to force f- 'force', you will notice,
is thl 3ra - j3:oo3r &?:ff)3_:1 from services intn
anufecturing,, / 21:c,:.ervese, since41/L iat, L„1,4...-u; -7 7
/V4-- eff_f;kt 4 ,
less into ,:„,,,c.,;:sic31 Lorc-over,
the object, - erverse or not, 4,c not ottDined: the44. 744 tt.“.tA, t. / -;/`-"" .4
I ratio) 3nd'the oth= -
Sothenettresusica-tense v:aste of effort
in futile ::,;n4 resist3nce to
.human n3ture a.nd_ economic forces4
Ths; o 'Icy of ccy:1)ulsiDn vd11 be coendedr:t-
frce 3nd vigour to those v:ho 7,ive
, in Scotland. The:; vii.7.1 be invitEJd be'lieve
t'nat stond to bc,nefit if riore coiT)ulsin
brou:fnt to be:3r on tneir fellow citirens.in.
other ports of the Until fiftu Liears
ao economic forces h3d combinedo i tt;Lae
ond teGlperaLent of the peoole of Scotl3nd to
t •,--;ut, ti
•pronote intense economic activity 10 tuis count',,y:
resources, ravi materiels, comunica:tions,
s17 consired toet'cler to this result.
the economic forces the cul-rents bein
to flo';-; in different chinnels onc. the r)ositi:m
relactive to other parts of ,27.re‘,:it ritin y.as
reversed: vihat had been e,dv-Liniades turned into
dravic3cs. su,ch e bPC:round the a,:))e:31
of the L-dvoca tes of csiulsion is p,r3rticuler17
speci:,us and .Tirticularly dan:erous, It is st
first f)7essant to be told tht the 2oer of F-::.svern-
uent be to te—e froT, st.lers in srder to
ive to ;vou• that ,Lon==:z: 1,7-].11 re:ised in tax-- , r,
. /atic:In 5'rder tc)-oe s:)ent b:..-.3vel'n:Lent in Scot-
land; thot e:.oloyers elseere 's111 hbVe the r
frzok4444'4.1, Ar 14114164,,,pvi4(....-04h0'42....ftiar- . 42.e, /.costs increesed in order thai ;-4 peo.,-)le v;hs ,:;nt to
strt or ex a-nf ousinesses in ot',:l orts v;ill be
forbidden to do as, on te off-ch,unse that tneu
decide to stsrt or es,a, d in Scotl instesd,
?here is one -:.:eness, but it is 3
4 r tH4, r-ese at tl-ae L,dvs,stes
• -6-
sion to benefit the inhabitants of Soa -and., There
is no more reason to suppose tht,401.10 w6uld be
successful or effective or beneficial than the
coPpulsion Ivhich was supposed to be ::.oin:„77 to benefit
the econom;,7 as a whole. There is no m-.11e reason
why the reional employment premium should work
thsn the Selective Er,:F)loyment tax: th,„ are similar
essays in futility, and t e objections to the one
are the sa-e, and as valid)ss tie ob;-jections to the
other. lhere is no more reason to supoose that th
,qovernment can sot the economic 'winners' in
Scotland than in Enfjsnd: the rrincile of the
Industrial..,:eorp'anisation Corporation and the
Industrial Expansion 2=ct, -which we condemn in
England as perverse and harmf lidoes not becoe
sound and laudable by crossini, the iots. The
idea that ,)tle c-n be made to pro, - oneself
holding other peop e back_ is as fallacious in
economics, snd oiens,:) lied to the econorLy of
Scotland, isin every , er sonere of human
Theri, is no gr-,und for thintin7 tnst
-7—
•Illsame policy and ',7overn:;lent which have shown them,-
selves unable to oroote *Oft-economic 3-rowth and
wellbeing in theination as a whole - and tbat is
a very yenerous understateu-ient - are endowed, by
some curious freak, with the ability to dr', so in
Scotland.
The policy of com:pulsion is a non-starter
for the basic reason that iirv;orl(s against, and not
with, the human and material circucstnoes. It is
simply no use expectinz thL,t the trends fJ.ndforces
which are transfin the .-)atte -fn of economic
activity here end throu;7hout the v;nrld will be
halted or turned bck u-Jon theselves 13:: force:
the nett result will onTy be fetele exenditure
of effort and th isin ,a of ezpectations doomed totL
disappointment. Ihe'inhabitnts of Scotland have
most, not least, to lose by etteizt,-„, g33-111. For
their securitu and their future it is es,)eciall-,,,
L.Iportant to '04-41v-locesketr pattern of economic,
i,v,„t4 4sctivzty cpti,ndieffJrds :oc est -7):23S-ect
beiny pr,ofitable and sustinable v,ith:)ut oo)ul-
sion. This oottorn they can only. discover and
work out if there is freedom not onl:i in Scotland
but throufnout the United Kin7dot:i for people
to ma'ke theireconomic choices 6nd decisions
unbiassed ancl unconstrined by covernment.
economj 'which de2ends on coulsion to maintain
it is the least secre. To proaice )0,31e
secrity by ,;:leens of coaoulsin is the most cruel
deceotion./,
•
,
, 1 S2eech by the Rt. Hon. J. Enoch Powell 1:,P,to u Dinner of the Last Renfrev:sinire Conser—vative .Association, at the Conservative_Clubjlas.crow 3 o.m. F'rida7 23th llovember -19bc
Ey heart Meayt for joy this week when my
wakin eyes fe7" u:.)on a headline. 1 ho,)e you will
have seen it too; for, understood ariht, it brin:z
L;ood tidings to ell of us. It v/as tlams: "'Jest
Germany to mae 500 million dollar drain on the
Internationa7 Loneta-ry Fund.' So there it was
at last, in blacl,:—and—white: Germany Eoes a—borro
in. Irld iny? Lecauze she is lacin a dellcit
on her balance of paym.ents, a deficit — did you
hear that I thou7ht baca over all the yers
durinE which the sterlin ,ua7its ol-: the GertLan
workers have been extolled in contrast to'-2 ovin;
the laudable 2ropensity of the Gernns tu 87 ahd
invest has been paraded before our eyes; th
wonderful 7ruth rate of the Germn econpmy has
teen held u2 to us as a nliracle,:.:11 that — and
then suddenly, vihsn: e-:7 face,-,.: deficit .cic go
a—birrov:in,..iu.st like those _21tin, hitnel't3
—2—
des7)ised as 7eyebouts, thriftless, unentery_oisi,,
an effete. "est ssid theort from
"whse currenc.j has lon been the
strenest curency in the -';')rid."
.ihat then has ho encdto4the str:;:n:_;et
currenc7 in the --:orld"? Have the '-:Jermans suddenly
lost their vunted notional chDracteristics of
industry end thrift? Heve tee etc ei investin,
from one wee'K—end to the next? He-, their cele—
brated overseas sdles effDrt, beced such pleni—
tude of credit, seddenl eched u2'-: You rec.:.Abei.,
how the sorcerss, 3 v,ave 1-1e12 V1, trans—
forr:ned the co:Ipnions of Lia:.:ss fre. :der, into
animels. h-)n(1 is it tht n
euelly swift -of: the
Ger-:danCane nd t-heir ecdnoLly I can t11.1 you,
because zlt for ye3I's I n=Jve Toin round ,offer—
inL; to do the ver:7 se cc,nurin
me" I renie,:cer sa:;in.: "the str..-..nest
eccnm.:7 in the WOr7f,. and T '0
reduce it in six onths to a citin snivelLn
•incdmpetence." Hov? 3y one sim2le act: by
alerinE the exchnze rate of its currency so that
instead of bein',7 valued too it was valued
too hln. usual, I WSS of understatin.;:
the c:ase when 1 saTL:ested that as lon as six
taanths v,ould be necessary. '21-le jermans have
needd less sbn siK vieeks to convert tl.,emselves
from 3 creditor nation to a debtor rition.
heartily sorry fp:: the '-ermans; theu
have been rmost ,h,nfartunate. few wes 570,
you 1:Jill recll, t y floated the detschma, so
that it vi.as free to itself ains,t othe:2
cufrencies ar:aihst o1ri in the o)en c.iar'Let.
In fact it fIctuted. at about •cet bV3 itS
prevics fixed Da,It.:his ±.11TE i
nPither the:: nal- an:.; ....;ne else
ah:,7 hL:rm thereby. t'ne jouinal t'rleof
nfederation io icitish indiustr-,7
s)ecblta25 somethih ts v,.072-27 tfo: oLLn
and meant -LI..ntio Mve.2.ment
-4-take a holiday frorll the impc)ssible taso of tryin[)
to.)reserve an obsolete eche rate'
woJld the Sercnns have oeen if they had co
continued, eotr neither a serplus nor a deficit,
and folfillin). the inuncti,en -)f Polonius 'neither- c.ir a lende he'. Tinfortintely they
had forsv,arn this paadise reained and were
oblihed to aban(5on this sothatic rezulat-ion
their balance of as,yments, eat.:;TH2ny
to the Euroloean -.1,cencLic Corimunit, v;hose economic
snd particols:ly arfd_-17.turs1 policies are reduced
to chaos by chsnr7es in e]:chahe rates betveen the
currencies of the mehber countries. Jas
sie,p1-y had to itsrency a-zain & soon bS
possible in order to 7o on playin the Co.hon
So the probleL. arose: an That
fi.:7,ure were they 7 don't 1.:nov:.
whether at that a touch of v:hich
is not ubkno..vn in the J;-7,r1.:Lsn chor:acter, dEtttlt
felt, or whether other inflL:ences
• —5—
it Ls natural anyhow that n country vihose
currency has been 2ersistentl:; underriced should
exc)ect tht it would continue to a2:;reciate in
relstion to others. ILit ail events, the:: decided
to fix the rate not at the level at which they
hod beenfloatinE, but consideratly hiL:her — almost
half as hi:m agin. before -you co,uld S3:j. la
'Jack ',;:o-einson:', they had joined the ranks of
the borroer
There are at least two lessons for us in
Brillion in thes events. One is aerhs:)s technical
thouh not uni,:Loortant. The atl-ier is of out—
stsndin irtoortonce. :he opinion is ro4dly
zainin:1 Eraund that e::,:ch..-n7e rstes 'u'Lat to be
used, like sny other 2rices, to balance suaply
snd de:aand without continual intervention b:7
authority; ,:ut still there are 1.ny .Lpeople who,
while now con7;ineed that a fixed echn*;e rate is
inherently da.haging anci.that an echane rate
fi-xed too hi7h has been st the root of. msny of
Brtain's diffdculties since the 'war, nevertheless
.,' III•
_0_hesitate to tae the plunge into freedom, sayin:
"This is a move that can only be liade f'rom
strem7th: it ',-as alri:ht for the mark, because
the mark is a 'stran. cencY". `2he more
recent stor of. the jeran ark shoulf have tauht
us that there is no such thin -:, ',,,tron7
currencLT' or a T7i:ea:,:r currnc-7'. 1he're is only
an underpriced csrrency or an overpriced currency.
A cu'ff nc-,y v:hich finds its cn level in the mdar',,,et
is stren7thened by doin so if, like sterliu.7., it
has been overpriced, and weakened by doinT: so if,
like the mark, it has been underpriced....•-it t.:-..e
point at o:hich suly and feahd for it balancefit
is neither 'veak.' nor 'str..:.n:-:; it is rt,
Which i 3 the Treat, and indeed the only, vi:tde
of z.,ny )rice. -..'here is therefore no .Lo're reason
to delay r hesitate td abandon 1..iKed rstes in
favour of e f7.o..-)tin...: rate %hen tHe initiL:l
conse.i:,sence woul.d be to flodt davv.rirds to the
ri7ht point than 7,-; elE, it 7,-:o..:.7..d be to float uowards
to the riF:ht ooint.
'. 6 —7—
This lesson, hoever, is as nothin7 in
iortonce compred '.::ith the co015.r3tion that
Brit=,in's exaeriences v:ith her ba7nce of )a-i-ients,
which have held her u.'..) to c‘7)nteLpt as tbe Isicl-ci
an of Euo)e' L-nd hd;ve been used to brLiino:1-ish the
3ritish 2eople theselves into 1- belief in their
own shortcominE:s and their need ic--r verblent
,-1,1idsnce finc] control, nave taii notin to do either
v;ith the j'ualities of her peo.ple or Tith the real
cno,racteristics of her/ economy. It isLosJ,,rd to
suose tn.st the i'oolities :if the :(7::r[f3ns scaden-17
deteriorated between Septeef and :-.-,veber; it is
ecjuolly 9bsurd t-:. s3iose that the .:J.;31t1-:s o-r
thr,'frtio,11 occont ft,r the behsviour of 3ritn's
b37ance of ppu:..lehts. t2he sh.,h nnd the h3r,:L h3sa overvilued
been th3t/oertoich3lly/ehrrenc:y h3s e.:::oosed the
3ritish for 'ears ft 3 ticie to th,: strictJres of
the outside world Linf..i :rown:: lo)s,,, .Thf sel.-1'-
confidence 3n3 foith in toeselyes. t2heoe were
as ondeserve:i 3n til ,3ttrion of the 000Tite
,J,lities t.;) t, -.,:efns -w3::: undoerved.
•They have been ::de thE leF,s'is fT)r per
ent and dams:in7 interfe-2ence tLy jovernent nith
the processes of the british econoy itself. In
the endeveu: to fit the ec,::)nomy itself into the
bed of : f3lse but fi:-,-ed interntic)nab
rate for the pound sterlinve2nents have acted
orbitra,rily :::nd unol'edictsb7.y. They have Thte2ed
hire—u: chose rnles r-id credit co—nditions, -o1,,,st
this viay and then that; thou hve :)ut si)eoll
taes on and taen the off 6sin; the;y hsve
deanded imcort de2osits, and then rothod theu.
after it 1-1,3d been pr:“nised th-:.t they ,,oi:Ild be
released; they have distrted the hoLi :r':.ot by
2efli : :Sh izd)orts anl] co'etrol7i•: investent. .1:.
‘47.1/1,1this has ipumte.i a vhale new ei::,ension hf
uncertLlint snd 2.:Le into the '2.,e1 -„Dii.-lh
is th,..e i'snt7ou o-' bhF, r]....snt -hnteod y,d_th. ?he
iusihess:::3n h!us to co2e on;'eos 1:,_th the -ejactuatio
of sudoly snd dend, and ,ith the unforeseen dh:-:nL:
es of ecoucrItio life. ..hen he is drevehted
— —it. •Icrom discharqin7 this function, fer v,hich he is
trained and for 7hiCh he exists, b. the inter—
positon of et at ever stsge, then
real deiae and losT: vihich are
aone the less •.,..7_ous beocuse, in the ni.N.Jre of
thj_ngs, is impossible to elrluate them 'ire(.,:isel'y
And so a fictitious cause cl,oduces pal;pable evil.
Yet I do not knov: if, 5fter all, the 2f.:coloi2al
da.,nage h3S not outweighed the materiel. -.or years
at a stretch Devi the peoole of this country have
been r:lade to labour under a sense of insufficiency
and failure. -J.,;.o nation, not even the stron;7est
can survive such a diet indefinitely. -;Hor toa laa
long we nave learnt discouraement frol- the
experience of 3'24f continental nei7hJeurs. It is
time we 3e:7.3n to draw frovi it the opposite less,.)ns
of self—assurence.and hope.
fixtract from speech by the Rt Hro.J.Enoch Powellat the Wellingborough bye-election,Conservative Club, Raunds,
p.m. Wednesday,26th November,1969.
When the Government come andtell you that they
have pot the balance of payments right, ask them:"Who put it wrong eine kept tit wrong through five
years in succession, a thing never known before?"When the Government come and tell you they are
gl.Vpg to end the comulsory control of wages,
(which they promised never to introduce,) ask them:
"What good has it done anyhow, as prices have Pone
on ris!ng faster than before?" When the Government
tell, y0.2 that you can nov seelthe light at the end
of the tunnel', ask tkemeWto led us down the
tunnel in the first place?" When they coma to you
with undertakings and pnomises and prot stations
for the next five years, ask thems"What happened
to the promises of 1964 and 1966?"
.0 Extract frcy,:i s.,)eech by the Rt. Hon. J. l'rinchPowell, EP, to a Youn7 Conservative Rally atSt. Clement's Hall, Leir,:h—on—Sea, Essex,
3 c.m. Friday 21st 1Toverilber iq57,•
There is no proverb less true in politics
than the Biblical sentence: 'In vain is the net
soread in the sitszht of the bird'. On the
contrar in politics one is reinded of -(7jar Men
Poe's story where a docui.nent is concealed fron the
police investi7tors by bein,77 hung up in the r:iost
prominent place pos',ih 7e. The one thin in which
it seems iflpossible to 7et the oul-c to t,,-;he t'oe
slightest interest are the publicly declared
intentions of a political party. I don't lean
the slogans that 70 on the posters; I don't mean
the brief 1.ossyofferin4d7 the election
campains; I mean the pro.T-ra,mes and policy
documents in which a political party thins ,s1D(7J
in the years between. Those are the ones worth
listening to.
reember how before ic64, ,-.inc-i before 165,
one used to cparound readilw '..)assawes fro i a
• —2—
Labour Party oublication called Si7noosts for the
Sixties and pointin7 out, for instance, that, if
it meant anythin7 at all, it meanestate cnntrol
of prices and wewes. The assertion, 1411 recall,
was received with polite incredulity, as much as Lo
say: "That's a very afflusing theory; but of cours
we know thGt even a Labour xovernrilent wouldh't
dream of such a thing." Then millions of electors
thouht theselves hard done by, when it was
precisely what hap)ened to them and speedily, as
soon as the Labour Party 7ot a subst,ntial majority.
The sa'ne riillions are lininf up a7ein, to be
hoodwinked once 1-iore bv the sa:':e soit ,,-)f political
'double—take'. "Don't Pa:f:!e to us," we hear them
sa7in:,?; alreadu, — and Tiore will be heard in this
strain 8s the y:Jonths ;7o bu — "Don't coe te, us and
tan abot a Labamo co-vernent in the f'uture push—
inn ahead v,t-1 nationlisation at an acceTerated
pace and iuyoein tiThter (.-:ntrol a than evel'. They
qloU have tried al-7. that a few years moo, bUt nPL,
soon learnt their leson in.,,raotice and ,ron't do it
- •again. 'i7hy, they are actually taldnE controls
off as fast as they. can 70:"
So the,y are. A LabsufovenTient always
does that in the year before a General il,lection.
Harold. ';;:ilson himself did it at the Mard of Trade
in 1950-51, and claied cred4,t for il. Then
people with short siTht and short rfieJboriF-s ben
to think to theciiselves that oerhoss there ,ssLght
not now be so much bsrs after all in votinr aain
for a Labour -Prtr./ which the7 is.Aaine has ceased
to be socialist ond hos becouie a nice, cosy, fusz.ily
liberal affair, with Food intentions, 5nd plenty of
and tax reliefs for everbody. The answer
to this is: "Listen to hut the Labourr1::! are
sa;"!in theselves." If .,7cu do,you will learn tht
they are resslved upon cprehenoive ntionalis—
tion and control. The:: ..)rcLe to provie the—
selves 7,ith ::i] intru-:1---nt VhiC"-.1 i3 SUffiC:ieDt to
eli'riinte Lvrivfr,te enerise frcy„ t}:i.i7 =ritish
ec.)nomy. It is sirfiple; it i.7. -2f,cctiv.:;
I teT1 -LT.:Du 'ahoct it, '7,,,Et .:3c: of ucu -;sill 1:..- ao
incredulous ao .eale wee in ilT.7),I.
• - 4 -
It lorks li(e this, and you fird it
set out in the econoriA.c section of Into the
Seventies, the highly im9gintite title of
Siroosts for the Sixties, ter years later. The
hesdir is "Prices erd investment".
A great pert of industriel irvestert ir
this country consists of the plouFting beck of
brofits. Profits in turn depend, nf course, or
prices in relation to costs. Corse..„uently, by con-
trolling prices 9 socielist 7,overnmer
sutometicelly secure e upon investn-nt. -41
forcibly holding don the brices)dnd conseuentlyc.
csr lw de7,,riviii* of
the surplus for re investment. There ulil e
little or no possibility of bprro:Arg
the m-?,:ckeL,, since the priv',=te in.restor is unli'Kel,i
to put his money into , concern m ich is being
brerented from mekirg ede-;uete profits or ever .1-v
profits 9t -3.11. It is -tu use 7;r- et increeeei
efficienc, fir:'s to minti- their
profit -ithout i-cresi-g nrice,s. Intl :tip- - the
the profits of en industr/
- 5 -
:greet 91ly of socialism - put peid to that
possibility. Thu s te industri,a1 rut iill be held
firm bet7.^)eer the rutcrecicer jss of infle tion or
the one ITend end price cortrol or the other.
Of course it is not the int,-rtinr of the
eocielists so to use price control thet investment
is brevented 9lto,7et}-er. It is their intention to
use it for t7io concurrent purposes: first to ensure
th.it the investmert dOe S te 015CC is thp-,t
%,Jhich they, the socieli st ..,.overre.rertjsbprove of;
secondly, to eplsce any te onersbio by stete
ovmers1-..ip. Le Cd9Ssic ,4entence, the fulcrum of
the -:;hole oner, 71tion, is this; "Ur' it is the c'se
et s corrip`P.ry must r9:i qe coOit l th rouT,,:b incre
its brices, then the co=uniti es S hole hve
riqtt to dem.,-;:rd SOMe sh7:re in te -]gets Id
for by the hi.Eher Prices". Tbi s th,it r,er-
rLis:::ior to set srices
produced for reinvestment :rill be condition/4
the st--:te c.=.7led h esity tke
in tLe com,:ry."
— 6 —
more simple yet subtle i.echsrism of
exoropristior rsrely 1-ive beer devised.
profits hich sre earned by the esoitsl
to private bersors :rd reinvested by those privte
persons — remember,this is after tsx, not before —
ar.e., to be pertly confiscsted cr. the pretext thst
the stste trsde the -profits Posible by suthcrisir;::
thebrices. It is sn -assertion s.lhich comes, like
the Esst ,.tind E-sex, str'?.is"‘.t frOM the Jite,:oes
of Tt is the bure principle
-tt-let the freits of t1-.e citicers' i osr , tbe
brouct of his cspitsl, if he is silo e d to 171-sve
srv, belon,T in the firQt irQtcrc:-.. to the stTte,
i;hichErsciously 7ermits hi:.-re to dispose of such
Portion of th-- cc it deet-:s fit.
"Are uity ot:ake"; it eouri's cc re?sor 'able
and e—.Luitsble. 3.st os.)0ershi,p of e Jlity :.[..eT!ns
shere ir control of sEe:nert; it rr.e'..ars
director cr the bo'ard. He ill rot git
otber diIrectore sit; 005 s!ill the ct,at,- e.!-.?
ir psrtner, s it, is ir itjsh et em. 'he
stsu:e of the :;i7J-Jer--Trent) ctste
director or directors or the board, there to
exerci se cont rol4 the po-..e-r of
bPhird thern, the1 A_11 be the mosters. rihe ot'ner
sh-9 -r‘eholders kro:.; ths t business is rc
zoir.:;; to be no-ducted for th.eir benefit -
to brin:.: thern the 'o)st return C, r t'-oir
it to be onduct-d sceo rd7ynce iththe
v e snd tu2tC uC F.) :se o h o :1 the le e 3
e sttu. i hich'
ird blorrs, cut tLPI.r .Lo csee oat:
rptior 1iuctio' iiihrsve i evee s7ift but
silent stsi*es. It is the euthsr-.si.-. criL9te
enterprise: s course of injectior E of price con-
trol d thuJictirr si :t in to slee f ron: i p's
destins-.! not to ri Pe.
e , e r , ill Cst
-.Nell or r.il profits berm]. Sted .srofi ts. e
Ls:boznfoo . r'cos tern..'tive Procedure fsr
c3ses
rer.
- rtc.1-21y those00,0 rrre ;10s1 t,,u she
Qt.snaH'OC o f the Cri;. ofths peoble' e
•C 3e.'S ri c e r e s <3,/.. o.oretec. :31 tu e tl. e r
but te csri uisite for re,': ir..vest:Ter..t iLlPrir/a-a4
oiidiby t s te t self . 2rex.: s -are
t'hese: I Dl orius i ese. sectii."46•.s.
7C) t bi t(-) ire .-rse their 7)21c,
heould t h.e to ek
17-,restt firc tothei
Here the irfusior of stte otpi Drder to
keep V.- e busiress ljve?.h:d '2.)a.L
uto2T-tic911y tDi tote cortrol of
t!-.e erterp-ise
theessets._
Archirred es used tu
the S ro rit to the --,rourt.., of
levero -e th't ruulU be Xeoto. tIIJ 1 te
to s: he, j.-=ed tc ,LII
e .1.1;
- -ire cc-- 7_ e
rot ir/02
i e i.-
,J; •••••.:L 7"7 C)
Extract from speech by the Rt. Hon. J. EnochPowell, MP, to a Young Conservative heetingat the Royal Victoria Hall, Southborough,Tonbridge, Kent, at 8 p.m. on Friday, 14th
November 1q5q•
A week or two ago I was amused to read the
letter of a correspondent the CBI's journal
Industry Week. Referring to the plethora cf
strikes, he wrote: "I believe that the CBI,
together with such purposeful men as Lord Stokes,
Vic Feather and Robert Carr — and, may I add,
Enoch Powell and Ray jui]ter — could rise nowabove ell other considerations and lead Britain
out of this mess as surely as Churchill did from
1940." Naturally, I was delihted to find myself
placed, even half apologetically, in the company
of such distinguished and in highly respectable
gentlemen. Vvhether they would be similarly over—
joyed, is of corse npt for me to guess. Hoc:;ever,
I fell a—musing on what so e or all of us would
do when called upon to save the nation. What
is this essential act of almost superhuman courage
and deci-ion, that is needed to solve (as it is
• -2-
called) the problem.of strikes?A)--rdwe
I do not exoect4/My colleagues on the
involuntary panel would agree with me; but
the conclusion that I came to is that the courage
needed, at any rate on the part of governments
and ooliticians, is that rarest and most difficult
kind of courage: the courage to do nothing.
Don't 7et me wrong. I am not saying that
government is not concerned with the st te of the
law; of course it is, and I happen to believe
that the state of the law governing trade unions
and trade disputes recluires to be refonied in the
interest of justice between man and :J.an and betwe
the individual and society, a thin7 which is pe-
culiarly the care and chare of legislation and
government. I am also not saying that a reform
of the law relatin to trau- unions could not
contribute, over a substantial period of time, to
a fall in the indidence of trade disputes and of
the aniount of productive potential wasted throuj(1
strikes; I hope, and wish to believe, that this
• —3—could be one result of the right sort of reform.
What I am saying is that the fault of governments
and politicians has not been that they were too
little concerned with strikes and industrial
relations, but that they have taken far too muchfl
notice. They have fussed too much, not too littl
They ;lave assumed that a dispute between tne buyer
ana sellers of labour in a oerticular industry was
self—evidently their, the covernment'5business.
:he true presu 2tion is 17holl3T the other way.
If a buyer and 5 seller cannot a2;reeupon
the price for what they wish to buy and sell, that
is too bad; they- must, 5S the ohrase is, "do the
other thinP"." It is nc concern of zjours or mine,
and in particular no -oncern of the state.
Ad-:littedly, the law of trade disutes enables,i1-7-14
indeed oblizes, aining about the price (pi'
labour to tal:le place under sp,ecial conditions:
so:ne of thelQ, "collective bargainin ",7_,PAI: r 1-'4>
and others involve a eree of deres t to4_
• -4-bear by some citizens upon others which may, or
may not, be unconsciona'le.''? Still I say, givenjut' 'A- &
these conditions, given:that frameworW, it is up/ ;--,
to them to get on with it,and if they cannot aree
without messing up their business and their lives,
so much the worse for them. If so be there is
widespread oropensity ong our fellow men to
behave foolishly, then neither Laws nor politics
nor preachinc7 will ma,k.e them wise. They will be
schooled, if at 511, only by hard reality, by the
conseeuences of their acts; and thfthese conse—
cluences are not sufficiently harsh or unpleasant
to mak.e them deist from their folly, then perhaps
they were riL;hta::d we were wran after all.*Ks
Hoever, I do n,.atbelieve that imen ts prowrity
to respond irrstionally to circumstances. On the
contrary, my observstion is that those involved
in any situation are ecerally behaving morc'
rationally th5n the onlook.ers f7ive thea credit for.
Still, iLy proposal "just t1,7.eno notice"
must, I 5.m aware, sound psrado:Kical to tbe point
• -5-
of whimsy. It is worth askin7 why it should
see so strle• 1T,F,ttept to answer Nay yield
valuable clues to our problem. _After all, live
2and let live is 6 sound enouZhLand indeed an
esoecially :ritish do we so sinally
abandon it in this case? ':ecause', the comuter
says, 'thej interfere with my journey home and
cause tiz'esome and sT:fden interru.,tions to the
even tenour of my life'. '3ecause', the
customer says, 'I find I crinot yurchase what
I had intended at the time I intended'. :hese,
4ndeed, are annoya,nces, and i,ore irrit. tiuf tnan
sume of the othechan7es and chsnces of this
mortal life bF:cause they see.(n to h.Jive 9 kind of
personal malevolence and be aiqied deliber2.tely at
us — of cnorse they are not. host of us,
however, laveithe sense to know. that if we invoke
compulsion aaint others to .)revent their actions
frcyo OSUSn. ; urinconvenience — if they ore to be
bbliged to iro on drivin trains, or (Dtor
car batteries when they choose not - the cor:loulsion
Till not stop there but will presently be exercised
ag.ainst us. Besides, we have the consolation of
knowing that when the customer is irritated or
disaopointed, so(nebody else too is sufferin some-__
where and has a very special interest in terminat-
inc:. the irritation or avoidirv,7 a repetition of the
disappointing events. If the life of the nation,
or a part of it, is literally brou,xht to a stand-
still or endan-ered, te government has power to
act and should and will act; 'but that is a cats-
gory as narrow as it is/e-144442, and is not what the
ar7u-cilent is abeut. So, l face it, when people
say 'the 7overnment dust do sociething: about this
problem of strikes', the reason they have in (And
has little to do/with'private and personal incon-,..
venience.
"Yes of course," comes the rejoinder, "we
are thinking aboat the national interest. Look at
all the loss to the nation's econom,:, snd look at t
S.
the do to our balance of eyents." There,
-7-
indeed, we get to the heart of the matter. All
privacy has been lost. Nobody's income is any
longer his own; nobody's production is any lon(l'er
his own business. It has become an item in the
national income, a diit in the Gross rational
Product, I don't think we realise tow .L-cussified
we have become: there is far less difference
than most of us suppose between the outlook into
which we have been brainwashed throuh the years
of socialis7i and s -.ni-soCialism, and the mentality
of the 200 million inha,,itants of the Soviet Union
So we p.o7gle, open-mouthed, at the headlines v:hich
tell us how- many million pounds worth of product
ion has been "lost" in this or that strike, just N
as if we were obliged to arrive at a particulbr
annual total, like the Israelites in 1]vpt making
theirAuota of bricks bad dash it: somebody has
t some of the straw again. If the ewloyers
and the eLployees in the motor industry canxike
manae their affairs so as to azree upon the terms
on which they will toTlether manufacture cars -
-8—
alright then, so much the worse for them, and you
and I will either buy cars_from those who canZrt,
manage to a%) on producinc, or/will find something
else to soend our money on'. ene oottom hasn't
drop,.)ed out of our world yet, and the statist—./icians can look after the jolly old G.N.P. and tel
us about it when they've done their SUMS.
"But you've forgotten the balance of deo:—
Fents: ',That about exports?" The olain man's
voice rises almost to a shriek o irritation.
No, sirl I have not forgotten the balance of
payments. On the eontrary, I am willing to make
you a concession that you don't deserve. I will
let you off bein7 told that the majority of our
trading partners and oarticularly such celebrated
competitors of oura, as the Jaoanese are just as
troubled with strike: I mill say nothing aboutPao: a.//1.4ia'razthat at all, swiddwill aSSume instead tnat because
of our industrial reletions our exports oecor::e
prorressively less des red in the rest of the woe.
-0-
- and notice, Sir, your armament reuires these
words, "progressively less". 'Jell, then, the
demand for pounds to buy our exports will fall
corresoondinly and the exchange rate of thepound will decline. As it does so, two things
automatically happen; exportim7 becomes more
profitable, so that higher wae rates can, if
desired, be paid in the exporting industries; and
imports beco(rie dearer, so that we ta'ke the conse-
guences of our own behaviourlin terc:Is Gf a stand-
ard of livinc7 with slihtly less of the foreignes
products, which we should have liked to h:we, L:n1
oliahtlg mo-r:e indi7enous products. "Bat," says
the respondent, "the ,_)()Ind sterTin is hot free to
behave like that - the exchane rate is fixed".
Here at lvt we arrive c:t one of U.-3e
c; thouL:h b: no LJ=1:ina, avol;:
one, for the fateful and feverish peoccuption
of Travernent ar:d alar.7 therefore of
,p)ublic a:Anion, v:ith tbe interruption of indust-.ria7 oroduction by .11,-,,t*-!.../7t-r7T
the
—iC—
blessed rate of exitune. This it is 7ihich makes
the Government potentially a party to every nego—
tiation, every dispute; for every item of prod—
uction for export — and all production affects
exports one way or another — is an item in that
arithmetical computation, ite TIK trading account,
which purports to show how- we are managin7 our
balance of osyments. There is s direct link
between the fixed rate of exchange and ;;hat is
called "the problem of industrial relations."
When I said that the sot of courage which is
Aktessary is the courave to do nothing, that, for
governments and politicians, means the courage to
make it possible to do nothing. ,A free exchange
rate, like other free orices, is the condition of
governments and politicians bein,, able to do
nothing. is are called upon to divest ourselves
ef that ..arment to which politicians clin7 as
though it were the lest veil of modesty — the
excuse for interfering.
I hsve the ipression that opoositon to
-11—
the free exchang:e rate is crumblin7 fast. It is
always a good sin.n when rational arvument is
abandoned for ridicule. Today no serious
intellectual atteeTiot is made to argue the case for
rigidly fixed rates of exchange, and the opponents
of flexible or floating exchanges are resortin7
to the last devise of desberation — to treat an
economic principle against which they have argu4,d
in vain as the exclusive personal foible of Enoch
Powell. When that happens the end is not fari
off, and the episode with the Geran mark has
broup.ht it rabidly nearer. It was in that
connection that in the sae issue of the CB1
journal from vhich I have already -uoted, the
floating xuhd, attained edf,toxial benedittioll:
!.r "The one oeriod -when the2e were no crises,
when everyone could l'elax, was in the three
weeks before official revaluation when the
mark was left to float. Economist pundits
who defend the Bretton ':-Lods system had always
predicted that flo,ating rates would cause chaos
and panic. Yet just as their judgent over
the virtues of Bretton -4400ds looks misplaced,
so their misgivings about floating proved
7roundless. floatincr makk took,,,the heat off,
,J7ave soeculators soethin7 to worry aboet for
-1 2- -/I7e.
a change and meant/frantic Government exchangedealers could take' a holiday from the imposs-ible task of trying to preserve an obsoleteexchange rate. The real lesson of the mark'slong overdue revaluation is that the 'eholesystem is peobably worse than the alternative,:those three weeks e.ave everyone a elimpse ofthe stability a floating world might bring."ere- !
It vould be wrong to suppose that the balance
of payments is the only cause of the fateful
involvement of the government in the terms and
conditions on which private citizens afTree to buy
and sell their labour. If we were the only
country in the world, and had therefore by defin-
ition no balance of payments, there is still
mechanism which would tilLike the ',:overnment a death's
he d at every bargaining It is perhaps
the most subtle and devilish mechanism which the
politicians have evee invented, and yet/simple to
boot. The government causes inflation: by its
own expenditures, and the way in wnich it finenc s
them, it causes all prices (includin we , which
are the price of labour) to rise and 70 on risin
Having done this, it blames everyone else for the
-13—
consequences: it blaeles the sellers of goods and
services for puttincT up their prices; it bla es
the workers and the unions for putting up their
wages. To clinch it all, the government plays
what is Perhaps the greatest con idence trick of
all time, by producing somethin7 celled a prices
and incomes policy, which is supposed to tell
everybody what the prices of their zoods and
services and labour ought to be. Every time a
price or a wage is fixed, the qovernment is, or
may be,tn on the act". gefore the citizens can
agree among themselv s, they have to resort to
the government to ret approval. The damaye which
this third hand in the rame has done to indestrial
relations in recent years is beyond computatio :
that elusive undefined, tyrannous concept of
"the public interest" has been spatchcocked into
the private right of citizens to aree or disagree.
You may be wratified to know that the Prices
Ir.comes 3oard have produce6 131 reports in the
last three and a half years — there's "product
• -14-ivity" for you - and I will satisfy your curiosity
by telling you that the last two are on "Plaster-
board Prltes" and the "Pay of Certain 2,mploye s
in the Film Proc ssing Industry". Ch this
principle there could be 1151 reports, nd stillLi t-.1j-
no limit to the subjects *444c1 untouched. Rem-
emberfithst everMOne of those reports is an
arroqation to the state of the cower to know what
agreement the "public interest" recduires between iki./tws)
those who have,goods or services or labour to buy
or to sell. In the end the whole thing
contraption, desined to conceal the true causes pr
the increase in prices from which the public are
suffering, and divert their irritation onto the-
selves and their fellow citizens. It r Ands oneve
of those idols whose are sup osed to
respond to the pravers of the worshippers but
which in realitL; are ma -pulated from be ind b:;
the 2riests with res and levers. If the
government creates new 'Loney to meet its expend-
itures, prices and waes will rise if trade unions
-1 5—
had never been invented. „c7f the overnment keeps
the increase in total demand broadly in line with
output, then no union that ever existed, however
stron and no monopolist4however avaricious, hes
the power to cause inflation: they can do no more
with their utmost efforts than shift a little
purchasing power from one point to another, some
wares and prices a little up, but others down.
So it does call for a greet rd continuing effort
of government, a performance of the essential duty
of government, in order to render superfluous that
mighty charade which has bedevilled the industril
scene for -ye:aro.
This is not ell. Government is lso a
party to industrial relations as an em.ployer.
Some employment by ;overnme'')t is inseparable from
government itself: the state must have ,ts
serv-nts, civil and ci.ilitary, rut must afford.
them that remuneration which will secure the
numbers and zueii ty it has ̂ cided that it
-16--
needs. -2,,Jt the Tiodern Socialist state is a
voracious emploLer, and a dishonest one, v,hat's
more, in a sense vihich I will )resent]u explain.
From the nationalised provision of medical care„)
end of tuition from infant to post—gradute level)
right th-r.ough to the nationalised industri_
providinc: power and transport or producing coal
and steel, the modern, encroacnim; state is a"*" ...e..'-i
gigantic employer; but t f.L.Lg the state an&ared
with the 2ower of the state, it is nnt pure
emplo;yer, not pnre pluchaser ct 1,50401-4.-- dr—cA71
politician at the sa:::e tIrP..14"1 4. ng politician,-
it endeavours to promise the nnimum c-,n VcieAksafreyAZ stm " I frbezz4c‘ G "i4. 07 6 A'Aet, .44tG
popular side) fiere EI conflict beten its4
profese:ion of intentions,wnich ore boundless, and
its reans, or taxation capcitu, which ,s,re limited
.Tieing- politiciian, it cl::ines tile industries which
it ovins, not for pureip cot=ercia: ends, obe-,.ying
commercial criteria, but for politicsl e-d, to
subsidise, to infloence, to :i.l'i votes or avoi
-.17—
1osing them. To its e:Aployees, especially its
industri,fa.leffiployees, there is the stnd i nj - contrgt
beteen the theoreticalyunlirnited resources of' the
state ss eployer or banker and its apparent
unwillinness to 2ay the :-cirke 4; 1.,te for the
labour it tries to 2urchase 4t is not Tithout
reason that th strike record in n&:tionf=lised
industry can compare v:ith nn'thind in private
industry. So this double character of the
government as er:;Iployer not only involves it
directly in the market for industrial 1J-;bourai
under unfavourable conditions, bet makec, it
impossibly difficlt for it to ply its proper
role of disinterested arbiter in the relationships
between citizen and citizen.
,
1,xtract from speech by 2he Rt. hon. J. 2.nochPowell, ..P., proposing the toast of "TheCity and Port of Cardiff" at the InvestitureDinner of the Cardiff Stock 1,,xchan-e .,1ssoc-iation at the ,,ngel Hotel, Caidiff, o p.m.,
ednesda-i12th Nove,lber le60.
If I said that Cardiff and that remarkableit#2.04. 41 .C2 vfe-are, the industrial West hidlands, from which Imyself come, embody the same economic excerienceand teach the same colitical lesson, I mi7ht seemto speak in riddles. True to a considerable extent it was -,elshmen who built the industriesof the West Lidlandsi-and their n.:,mes remain tothis day as evidence - but I not thinkin ofthat fact. I mean that both were created by causes which have largely or wholly disap)eared;yet both have proved to have a vitality ano a
4., r growth which is far bejon4 what
would have been credicted andlowes little ornothing to those h'.Lstorical origins.
The West 1.idlands rose to wealth and
populousness thro 11 the trinity of coal, iron
and limestone. Not one of those remains today;
• —2—
yet there is no area in the kingdom which is more
prosperous or contributes more, in pr000rtion to
its size and population, to the nation's wealth.
Cardiff', as a great city and port, is the creation
of coal. It was the torrent of coal from the
valleys which converged upon the mouth of the Taff
and was carried from here over all the oceans and
continents of the world, that made the name of
Cardiff famous and built its docks and its street
Yet althouwh coal has long since been in retreat
and is fast vanishing from the scene, Cardiff not
merely remains but is larger and more prosperous,
the metropolis of a happier hinterland, than
in the days when King Coal reipmed suoreme.
What is the explanatl:n of the paradox:„Ik
Aimply this, that a large and concentrated
Population is itself a magnet and a dynamo,J:4
expecially whe'lnicriarried to position. It cant
leave the trammels of its past behind it and
t-et.:zz a :icyaentum of its o, n. .iloove all in
3ritain we a-le sin;Jf larly fortunate that such
• —3— eLiettconcentrations of TxDpulation -,re never far from
one another or from the sea, /44-topOiCardiff is at
one of the corners of a trianglqkthe other point
are London and the industrial 'Iest Lid-
a geometrical fir7ure on a maplands.
is not enough: the trian:fle must be drawn in
teie:Is of transport, snd this above all, in our
age, means roads. Past private enterprise has
beueathed to us the railway triangle; and I do
not doubt that future orti-e-i,Lro-re will learn to
get far more out of it in speed and traffic than
we yet imagine; - Hut today it is the roads, the
mo to r-ro ed, that is life - and-death.
1411-147-14 "' different - caeitalism and enterprisel'?"7 at '
would have given us the eotvor road too,L'!;e are
committed, for our time at least, to the rosd as
the creation of the state. •ell then, so te it;
let us put the eower of the state and the rethle
e- of the state to 'eork. To ril;e-mind we waste01-41.644,,-,/!41
too much time and enery inicslculetions of cost-
benefit snd iinickye444 -4...4.1.testo meet all theaei, 0144
• -4-
aualments. The decisions are croinc-r to be
arbitrary anyhow; so let us do what the Romans
would have done, and what the Romans did7 out
down a qrand but simple system, and le 4people
get on and mak.e the best of it. s it was, the--
Romans :2,ot it right,— as near as msk_es no matter —
1900 years ago(' and of course they came straight
throu7h Cardiff. I say it is far too long we
have been waitin7 for two of the three sides of
that vital trisnl to be completed
The other factor is that great common factor
of everything 7.:ritish, the sea. Cardi-Pf is s
city because it is a 2ort; but also, ever since
cosl began to die, it is a port because it is a
city. 2-nd here I have another wish for you, a
wish that will bring .:Tie riht to the perilous
vere of politics, :),,eihps -oeyond. .2sason
why a great J.:tass of L?.eople living in 5 concentrated
area becomes, as I said before, a msj:net of a
dynamo is that everyone of them is lookin, is
forced to look, for ',2n outlet .Lor their energy;
—j—
and the larger the reservoir of human capabilities
which they have among them, the more successful
and productive each is likely to be. It is the
sarde with a port. I have no idea — but E.,f1
consoled by the fact that neither has anybody
else — what traffic froL, what places in britain
and overseas the port of- Cardiff can transit
,Ath 47reatt or greater advantae, than anu other
port. but this I do know: it must be under
compulsion, continuing compulsion, to find out.
I do not care so :1-uch whether in form the aort
is owned by shareholders, or by the city -I'the
or by 8 public authority, or even by 6 ':-Iuess.
at ls essential is that it be able, anf be
oblied, to fight fc-r its traffic aiainst all the
possible alternatives. s ir mm secnd v,dsh
for your city pot: the spirit ok.k. of rivalry,
and the opportunity, indeed the necesity)to
exercise it. by "-t I do not mean rvslry in
the corridors of Thitehall, or rivairo in bifdin
• - 0 -
for larese from the taxpayer, or rivalry around
the planning board of a suoer-bureaucracy.
mean fair and open rivalry to borrow t:Ioney from
investors for the best return, and fair end openagalit41-:ivalry those who o,::n and mana7e other ports
to get their traffic and cut their throats if
you can.
Above all beware of those who would try to
tell you what Cardiff can do =--nd be ,t-Jd v;hatit
cannot do and be. They would have been wrom,
disastrously wrong, if they had told you fifty
years ago - no, twenty-five years ao. The,y will
'still be just as wrong today.
I lilce the motto on your crest: DEF1,a3 LA7
DYDD. It is an excellent one. But the day cannot
always be dawning; one surely needs somethinc: mar
So I presume to offer you another, a more defiant
motto, for t'he city and port of Cardiff. It is
from the first Epistle General of St. John.
ETO BETH iBDI, "it doth not :jet appear
what we shall be."
Speech by the t. Hon. J. Znoch Pov)ell, LP,to the Annual Dinner of the Wolverhampton&: District branch of the Institute of Costsnd Works Accountants, at the DunstallSuite, 'Wolverhamoton Racecourse, 7.45 p.m.
Friday th .L'ove-aber
I have rarely felt so strong a sense of the
House of Co.:,mons bein insulated from the real
world outside 5S I did when listenins. to this
week's debate on the balance of pastpents. By
all accounts - and this was what it felt like in
the chamber - the Chancellor cf the Excheqluer
won a famous victory, triumphantly demonstrating
that his opponents were vron7 in challen in his
trade fiE;.res, and announciny that this country
is in fact at this moment runninh a whopainiz
surplus pn its balance of payments.
t,e8soar's P.randson miht have asked the
same tuestion: 'what they g each atier for'.
It would have been as difficult to give hi. the
answer aS to explain to him the reasons for the
battle of Blenheim - and just as unsatisfying;
for the whole thing is a tissue of mystification.
4
—2—,
It may amuse accountants in a licThthearted hour
when they relax, to contei plate the comedy of
errors which is pla:yed when politicians try to ka
balance the nation's books. I would therefore
like to take you behind the scenes for a fewminutes anrf, shov: you s methinJ: of what hao)ens
off stae so that you may be able to derive the
maximum amusement from the tragi—comedy entitled
1-3alance of Payments," which is going
to be staged in the next few months..
First of all then, payments do balance,
always, automatically, arni inevitably, because
payments bre made by buying and selling pounds
and the number of pounds bou7ht is always, auto—
matically and inevit bly ehual to the number of
pounds sold. It is as true of pounds as it is
of potatoes.Our rulers,however, are not satisfied with
this vonderful disoensation of providence. They
are determined that the balance shall be struck at
-3-
a particular, gedetermined orice — or rate of
exchange. This determination is the Pandora's
Box, from mhich have issued a great port of the
ills by which we have been plagued and of the
nonsense to which we have had to listen. In
order to achieve their object, our rulers must
obviously buy pounds themselves to force the
price u2 when they have fixed it too hi.c1h, and.
fibrePsell pounds theselves to rinfIr the price down
when they have fixed it too low. 7;hen they have
to buy pounds, they tell us that we have a deficit
on the balance of payments. This mak..les us feel
very poorly and asha ed of ourselves, ,iorse than
that, our rulers, in order to buy pounds, have to
use up our stocks of gold and forein currency
and go and borrow from our neifhbours.
no mistake, however: a surplus on the
balance of pay!nents, which akes s Chancellor of
the Excheguer crow like a cock, is just as big a
nonsense as a deficit. It is as silly to buy
and hoard other people's cuL.rency as it is to
-4-
borrow other oeoples currency to buy back one's
own. You will recall that the Germqns have
recently got tired of that particular lark.
leither of course can go on for ever, which is
why it is as silly to telk or boast about a
continuing surplus as about a continuing deficit.
The one is as impossible, and for the same reasons
as the other. This is why our rulers engwge in
their adventures in accountancy. Having prevented
payments from balancinz of their own accord, by
fixing the rate too hi7h or too low, as the case
may be - they are embarrassed by the invitabe
'cap' and ima;:ine that they could get rid of it(/
' buyiot (or sell/pg) their own currency,
itatr-by altering the other ites in the balanue
so as to eliinate the 'gap' itself.
So they labo iously atte pt to copile
accounts of all the individual transactions -
the reasons for all the ,)urchases of sterling
and sll the sales of sterling - which have added
up to the grand total. inyone could hsve
- 5-
predicted before they started that the attec-pt
was doomed to fail. Just look at the items.
First, there are the pa ments for all the imports
and all the exports, which they try , co ,ile
by identifying the individual imports and exports.
I have in my possession a co.:)y of a letter from
a customs official in October tryin.7 to chase up
the statistics of a. consinment of 50 cardboard
boxes of En;7lish 6heddar cheese exported to France
the previous February: in view of the importance
in national affirs of the trade statistics",
says the official, "you will appreciate it is
vitally necessary th,t there should be no delay
in the lodgement of export ent s." I wonder
when the payent for the Oheddar cheese hot itself
added into the computationof our balance oi
ments.
Then there is a separate attet to estim ,e
- again from the component ite s - the sales and
162X1EiZEN purchases of services - the so-called
'invisible account". But this ls child's
,^—0—
play com7,Dared with the trouble when it comes to
the capitol oart of the sum. Here oir.ain an
effort is rfiade to esti_ate the capital invested
in Eritain by people dutside, ond outside Britain
by oeople inside it. -,hat there is no means of
controlling or estimating is the .Aove!rient into and
out of Britain& aioney nct o.;:ned by its residents,
a Llovement vvhich can te lar7e and rapid and
unpredictable. Well, 7Inen all the oluses and
minuses that can be identified have been added up,
the result of course turns out to be miles adrift.
There is a 7cp, often s yawninc ;rap, tetv:een the
realit Mich hos to be accounted — the
amount which is spent by the :7overnent in buyin7
pounds — and the co:-:iplicated sum which is the
attempt to account for the soc:-,770d
This is stuffed up _ith a fizjure called the
"bala,.]cin7 item," a delici..Dus expression, so much
essiec on the ear then "error.s and omissions"
and so much better calculated to cunvey that,
'fhen all's said and done, Pi7ovidence has come to
• .
—7—
the rescue of the .3rit:Lsh and given theu a
haloncin:7 itec:1 which (ii,=',ies their sums coine true.
For the year I jg the "clancing iteo started as
Then the Treasury revis,,d cli the
fi:zures for the different parts of the sum, and
the balancing itei cae out at ::1-50m. instead.
The year before it =173 riilthn — in the other
drection! Tha balancin is, in reality,
an adTiission of ncJisense; it is the peretual
reminder that all these laborious or:iputations
are a phoney way of accounting for a sitmple and
oredictable fact: that if you fix the rate too
ni;th, the govermilent must buy pounds; and ii you
fix it too low, the government oiuct sell pounds —
how many, nobody cantell in advance: bow :iany,
is all thst anybody I-moos afterwards.
The accounts are phoney, not because anyone
has deliberateT:: fuded the figures, but because
25xyxxxxtuus they purport tc exlain what in fact
they do not explain. all phoney occou ,nts
they lead to trouble, and look -at trouble they
-
have led to.
Because the trade fiizures were port of the
phoney accountinp:, P7overnments h d tried to push
and pull them, in order, as the- said, "to get
the balance of payments right." They put sur-
charges on i: ports and demanded deoosits; they
gave subsidies to exoorts and medals to exportg.t4
At least this is what we did in Britain: in
Germany they taxed the exports and subsidised the
imports, which is the saTie nansense the other way
round. Then they moved on to t'e capital section
of the fphoney account4, and tne2e tne;7 forbade
or restrained the British from investing overseas
and encourag-d the nationalised industries to
borrow money on the continent. But all this was
the lesser oart of the harm. In order "to cTet th
the balance of oayments ri.ght" 7overnments have
tugged 5nd strained at the economy itself, forcino:
it now this way and no-- that, like on osteopath
gone berserk - autting purchase tax up and then
putting it down, c)utti - hire purchase restrict-
, :110ions on sod then t akin them off, putting a
sciueeze on credit and bank k lending and then
(what is called) "reflating" again.
It is, I say, a great tragi-comedy: one
dbes not know whether to laugh or cry. I think
lau;;Thter is better; for l ughter is a potent
destroyer of pretensions. 'o 'hen you hear in
comin 7:ont s that the "problem of the balonce
of payments has been solved';or that we hAre Mxam
"earnedra surolus" so many hundred million
pounds, or that our external account has now
turnd permanently into crdit, I suf-zest yau
give a 7,00d, hearty chuckle. If other people
dverhear you, they may ask why; and then
you can explain.
_0_