My Life

My Life - Oswald Mosleyresources in wartime. Lord Curzon reminded the Cabinet that large quantities of paperfor various publications were always wasted in periods of popular excitement, forexample in the time of Titus Gates. Lloyd George jumped up with a bang of his fist onthe desk—'Oats!—Curzon—you are quite right, the cavalry are far back with thehorses eating their heads off and they are making no contribution to the war'. TheSecretary, Sir Maurice Hankey, duly recorded: 'Cavalry to be dismounted and used inthe trenches'. It was a poignant reflection that this haphazard decision was probablyresponsible for the deaths of most of my remaining friends.It was apparently the peculiar custom of time-honoured usage for the upshot of suchdiscussions to be recorded by the Secretary of the Cabinet. It seemed to me a strangemethod, though I had the greatest regard for the capacity of Lloyd George and of SirMaurice Hankey. Probably in the first stage the Irish affair began in the usual slipshod,inconsequent fashion, but a point near national disaster was reached by the subsequentfailure to grasp the situation and correct the mistake. The reason certainly was thatLloyd George himself was in the grip of powerful forces. A majority of theConservative Party was fanatical on the Irish question, and so was the C.I.G.S. withhis Ulster background. That formidable figure was the most brilliantly articulatesoldier the army produced. When he later entered Parliament he immensely impressedme with a statement of the military case which rested on the simple but trulyunanswerable theme: it is better to have no armed forces at all than an army which isjust big enough to invite attack but not strong enough to win. Lord Hugh Cecilanswered at least to the satisfaction of Mr. Churchill, who said in winding up thedebate that the House had observed how easily the military argument could becircumvented and baffled by the thorny dilemmas of the experienced metaphysician; ajest which amused the House, but was no reply. Sir Henry Wilson was shortlyafterwards assassinated by two Irish gunmen on his doorstep in Eaton Place. LloydGeorge after his initial error was held fast in the Irish bog because the army chief andthe Conservative Party were against him. He could not extricate himself withoutrisking the wreck of his government, until facts and parliamentary exposureconvinced even those men that the game was up. I was glad and proud to have playedsome small part in these events, and still treasure the letter written to Cimmie by T. P.O'Connor—the grand old Nationalist M.P. for a Liverpool constituency, and at thattime Father of the House of Commons:5 Morpeth Mansions,Victoria Street,S.W.December 10, '23.DEAR LADY CYNTHIA,My going to Harrow for Oswald, was not only a pleasure but a duty. I regard him asthe man who really began the break-up of the Black and Tan savagery; and I cannever recall without admiration and wonder, the courage and self-sacrifice whichsuch an attitude demanded on his part. So I said nothing on the platform which I hadnot said to myself many a time.Both your husband and yourself will always be regarded by every good Irishman131 of 424