My Life

My Life - Oswald Mosleyindignation than he can contain'. He was a splendid companion in a tough fight.Another Liberal who stood firm and fought hard for the cause of justice in Ireland wasPringle, an experienced parliamentarian who died before his time. During the war heand his brother-in-arms of the Westminster variety — by name Hogg, but no relationeither familial or political of the distinguished Conservative father and son—had beenbitter thorns in the side of Lloyd George's government, as they were devotedAsquitheans. Pringle was a master of parliamentary procedure and, though no orator,of a caustic debating method. The Liberal Party was able to put into the Irish field aformidable team, occasionally with the massive support of Sir. Asquith. When jibedon one of the older statesman's frequent absences with the cry of 'Where's yourleader?' Pringle continued his speech with the calm observation, 'the leadership of theLiberal Party is tonight in most capable hands'. He was never disconcerted.It was natural that in the course of the Irish struggle I should have become closelyassociated and very friendly with some of the Liberals, but the story afterwardscirculated that I accepted the Liberal Whip was untrue. The occasion of the tale wasthat in my years as an Independent I had none of the normal party informationconcerning parliamentary business, because, of course, I had no whip, and therefore aLiberal Whip, McKenzie Wood, arranged to let me see the notices sent out from theLiberal Whips' office. It was a purely personal arrangement with a close friend.I was indeed often pressed at that time to join the Liberal Party, and refused ongrounds of political conviction, but with personal regret as I much liked some of them.An agreeable memory of this period is that Lady Violet Bonham-Carter—now LadyAsquith—became god-mother to my son Nicholas; it is one of the few positions fromwhich it is impossible to resign. We were in a small minority—Labour, Liberal andConservative dissidents —against the massed ranks of the Conservative majoritysupporting the Coalition; this tended to draw the opposition together in a comradeshipof arms during the savage debates on these events in Ireland.The Liberals were quick to grasp and use against the government all availableevidence on the Irish question, and some Labour leaders, such as Henderson, alsocame lumbering into the fray in their slow way. Conservatives like the Cecils were atfirst not so easy to convince. Robert Cecil was a K.C. with an acute legal mind, andhad been one of the counsel in the Marconi enquiry, of which he retained vividmemories. He required exact evidence before moving, and Hugh Cecil was in thismatter at first even predisposed against us. They were relations of Balfour, who hadthe toughest experience as Irish Secretary, and Lord Frederick Cavendish,assassinated in Phoenix Park, was another intimate associate of their older generation.The Cecils had long memories. Yet above all they were just men with an acutesensibility to moral issues. The necessary evidence was soon available in all tooample measure.Finally the parliamentary battle against the Irish atrocities, or 'reprisals' as the otherside preferred to call them, was successful to the point of securing peace with Ireland.This seems at first sight a high claim, but there is evidence to support it. We had stoodthroughout for Dominion status, which was in effect the final settlement, and inquestion and debate we had exposed facts which the British Government could notjustify in face of world opinion. Even in Britain's much stronger situation of those129 of 424