§
Motion made, and Question proposed,
That a sum, not exceeding £50,000, be granted to His Majesty to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1936, for Expenses connected with the Celebration of the Twenty-fifth Anniversay of His Majesty's Accession.
§ 10.55 p.m.
§ Mr. MAXTONI do not want to delay the House on this matter, but I want to 500 oppose this Vote. I feel that it is absolutely necessary that at some stage in this matter we should make our protest against national expenditure on jubilee celebrations. We recognise that it might be appropriate on occasions for a nation to celebrate the passing of important milestones in its history, but we feel that. this has become a matter of pro-monarchist propaganda, and some of it not very appropriate. There is a boosting of the monarchist institution. We who sit on these benches are not monarchists; we are socialists, democrats and republicans. We know that this country has inherited a monarchist institution from the past and that round about it a lot of history has grown up, but we are also aware that the people on a large proportion of the earth's surface manage to conduct their affairs reasonably well without maintaining a hereditary monarchy, and we do not propose, holding the view which we hold, and which we were elected to the House to further—
§ Mr. HANNONWas the hon. Member elected to further republican views?
§ Mr. MAXTONOh, yes, there was no doubt about that, and to further a lot of other things that might strike my hon. Friend as being worse still. I can claim that my constituents were under no illusions as to the principles upon which I fought my elections, and upon which they were good enough to return me at a number of consecutive elections. The institution remains, but we cannot cast any votes which tend in our view to perpetuate the monarchist institution. I do not know what my hon. and right hon. Friends on the Opposition benches propose to do on this matter, but I know that one of the affiliated organisations, at its annual conference which took place in Scotland a week or two ago, carried, I think unanimously, a resolution for the abolition of the monarchy. The organisation is an integral part of the British Labour party, and, if hon. Members above the Gangway are proposing to disown their Scottish membership for the purpose of this Vote, I am ready to convey that information. So far as I am aware, the Scottish members of the Labour party are still in good standing in their membership and are still welcome members.
I oppose this Vote on that general principle. Secondly, I oppose it because at this time in this nation's affairs there are large masses of people who are not in any mood for jubilation. Their circumstances are such that they do not feel that the national condition justifies a general rejoicing. There are 2,000,000 unemployed, and so far as we can see there will be 2,000,000 people unemployed at the time when the celebrations which are being provided for are in progress. These 2,000,000 people unemployed, that very big proportion of people who, by Act of this House, have been refused medical benefits, whose wives and unborn babes have had the benefits withdrawn which were
§ previously granted for the birth of a child, labouring under a deep sense of injustice and grievance, are told that the sufferings that have been imposed are absolutely necessitated by the difficult national circumstances. All these millions of people have neither the heart nor the inclination for general jubilation, and on top of that there is hanging over this country, as there hangs over the whole of Europe, a great doubt about the future so far as peace and war are concerned. All these things tend to make us believe that in the circumstances the attempt to create celebrations and jubilations in this country are completely out of place, and instead of bringing gladness to the hearts of many, will intensify the sadness that already exists.
§ The sum asked for here is, I admit, not an excessive amount. I would have liked to have heard from the spokesman of the Treasury what is the total sum to be expended from national sources, because as he explained in the Estimates the £50,000 asked for is only the fraction which falls directly to be discharged by the Office of Works. There are other charges to fall upon the Navy, the Military and the Air Force, and other charges to fall upon the Post Office and the Mint. I would like to know what is the whole amount to be spent out of the national purse. I know that very large sums of money are going to be spent by local authorities out of the rates, and by local governing bodies in one direction or another the total expenditure nationally must amount to a very large sum indeed. We, holding the views that we hold, elected upon the principles for which we were elected, are compelled of necessity to cast our vote against the granting of this sum.
§ Question put.
§ The Committee divided: Ayes, 137; Noes, 0.
503| Division No. 141.] | AYES. | 11.3 p.m.] |
| Acland-Troyte, Lieut.-Colonel | Braithwaite, Maj. A. N. (Yorke, E. R.) | Christle, James Archibald |
| Adams, D. M. (Poplar, South) | Briscoe, Capt. Richard George | Cleary, J. J. |
| Adams, Samuel Vyvyan T. (Leeds.W.) | Broadbent, Colonel John | Collins, Rt. Hon. Sir Godfrey |
| Albery, Irving James | Brocklebank, C. E. R. | Colville, Lieut.-Colonel J. |
| Allen, Lt.-Col. J. Sandeman (B'k'nh'd) | Brown, C. W. E. (Notts., Mansfield) | Cook, Thomas A. |
| Apsley, Lord | Brown, Ernest (Leith) | Cooper, A. Duff |
| Aske, Sir Robert William | Brown, Brig.-Gen. H.C.(Berks., Newb' y) | Copeland. Ida |
| Athoil, Duchess of | Browne, Captain A. C. | Crooke, J. Smedley |
| Bailey, Eric Alfred George | Burghley, Lord | Croom-Johnson, R. P. |
| Baldwin, Rt. Hon. Stanley | Burnett, John George | Cross, R. H. |
| Baldwin-Webb, Colonel J. | Campbell, Vice-Admiral G. (Burniey) | Curry, A. C. |
| Beaumont. M. W. (Bucks, Aylesbury) | Castiereagh, Viscount | Davies, Maj. Geo. F.(Somerset, Yeovil) |
| Bowyer, Capt. Sir George E. W. | Cazalet, Thelma (Islington, E.) | Denman, Hon. R. D. |
| Dickle, John P. | Lansbury, Rt. Hon. George | Reid, William Allan (Derby) |
| Duncan, James A. L. (Kensington. N.) | Law, Sir Alfred | Rhys, Hon. Charles Arthur U. |
| Dunglass. Lord | Leckle, J. A. | Rickards, George William |
| Elliot, Rt. Hon. Walter | Leech, Dr. J. W. | Ropner, Colonel L. |
| Elliston, Captain George Sampson | Lindsay, Kenneth (Kilmarnock) | Russell, Albert (Kirkcaldy) |
| Everard, W. Lindsay | Little, Graham-,Sir Ernest | Russell, R. J. (Eddisbury) |
| Filnt, Abraham John | Liewellin, Major John J. | Rutherford, Sir John Hugo (Liverp'l) |
| Foot, Dingle (Dundee) | Lioyd, Geoffrey | Salt, Edward W. |
| Fremantle, Sir Francis | Lockwood, Capt. J. H. (Shipley) | Sanderson, Sir Frank Barnard |
| Gardner, Benjamin Walter | Loftus, Pierce C. | Shaw, Helen B. (Lanark, Bothwell) |
| George, Major G. Lloyd (Pembroke) | Lovat-Fraser, James Alexander | Smiles, Lieut.-Col. Sir Walter D |
| Gillett, Sir George Masterman | Lyons, Abraham Montagu | Somerville, Annesley A. (Windsor) |
| Gilmour, Lt.-Col. Rt. Hon. Sir John | Mabane, William | Sotheron-Estcourt, Captain T. E. |
| Goodman, Colonel Albert W. | MacAndrew, Lieut.-Col. C. G. (Partick) | Stanley, Rt. Hon. Oliver (W'morland) |
| Greene, William P. C. | MacAndrew, Capt. J,O. (Ayr) | Stevenson, James |
| Gretton, Colonel Rt. Hon. John | McConnell, Sir Joseph | Stourton, Hon. John J. |
| Groves, Thomas E. | Macdonald, Gordon (Ince) | Strickland, Captain W. F. |
| Gunston, Captain D. W. | McEntee, Valentine L. | Stuart, Hon. J. (Moray and Nairn) |
| Guy, J. C. Morrison | McKle, John Hamilton | Taylor, C. S. (Eastbourne) |
| Hammersley, Samuel S. | Mallalleu, Edward Lancelot | Thompson, Sir Luke |
| Hannon, Patrick Joseph Henry | Margesson, Capt. Rt. Hon. H. D. R. | Thomson, Sir Frederick Charles |
| Headiam, Lieut.-Col. Cuthbert M. | Martin, Thomas B. | Tinker, John Joseph |
| Hope, Capt. Hon. A. O. J. (Aston) | Mayhew, Lieut.-Colonel John | Titchfleld, Major the Marquess of |
| Howard, Tom Forrest | Mifner, Major James | Ward, Lt.-Col. Sir A. L. (Hull) |
| Howitt, Dr. Alfred B. | Moore-Brabazon, Lieut.-Col. J. T. C. | Ward, Irene Mary Bewick (Wallsend) |
| Hudson, Capt. A. U. M. (Hackney, N.) | Morris-Jones, Dr. J. H. (Denbigh) | Ward, Sarah Adelaide (Cannock) |
| Hudson, Robert Spear (Southport) | Ormsby-Gore, Rt. Hon. William G. A. | Williams, Herbert G. (Croydon, S.) |
| Hume, Sir George Hopwood | Palmer, Francis Noel | Wilson, Lt.-Col. Sir Arnold (Hertf'd) |
| Jamieson, Douglas | Pearson, William G. | Wise, Alfred R. |
| Jenkins, Sir William | Percy, Lord Eustace | Womersley, Sir Walter |
| Jones, Lewis (Swansea, West) | Petherick, M. | |
| Kerr, Lieut.-Col. Charles (Montrose) | Radford, E. A. | TELLERS FOR THE AYES.— |
| Kerr, Hamilton W. | Ramsay T. B. W. (Western Isles) | Sir Victor Warrender and Mr. |
| Lamb, Sir Joseph Quinton | Ramsden, Sir Eugene | Blindell. |
| NOES. | ||
| TELLERS FOR THE NOES.— | ||
| Mr. Maxton and Mr. Buchanan. |