Cylchgronau Cymru

the local Liberal press concluded that the manner of Davies's unopposed return to Westminster had left 'disagreeable impressions both inside and outside the county'.55 Thus did Clement Davies become one of four Welsh Members who formed part of Sir John Simon's Liberal National group in the House of Commons. His colleagues included Dr. Henry Morris-Jones, Denbighshire, who was re-nominated by his local Liberal Association by forty-six votes to twenty-two, the minority advocating support of Lloyd George's family party, and F. Llewelyn Jones, Flintshire.56 Davies, with his radical and progressive credentials, was a more surprising recruit to the ranks of the National Liberals than either of his associates." Yet he remained a supporter of the National Government right down to the Second World War, although his support was characterized by much independent thinking and not a little indepen- dent action. In his election address to the Montgomeryshire electorate in October 1931, Davies argued that the greatest necessity was 'a strong, active, capable Government determined to govern, having one objective only, and that objective the saving of the Country from financial ruin'. Although asserting, 'I am a Free Trader', he conceeded that such was the state of the country that it might become necessary to introduce measures which included 'tariffs, embargo or prohibition in order to balance the trade of the country'. He concluded by stating his indepen- dence of the other political parties and portrayed himself as a Liberal who was prepared to lend support to the National Government in a time of emergency.58 To what extent personal interests coloured Davies's decision to throw in his lot with Simonite Liberals it is impossible to tell. It seems clear, however, that Davies rejected Simon's view that by 1931, 'The Liberal outlook was so largely shared by modern Conservatives that the things in which Liberals believed could be best promoted by co-operating with the main party which resisted the Socialists'.59 The introduction of tariffs by the National Government in 1932 led to a great deal of soul- searching amongst both Samuelite and Simonite Liberals.60 Ultimately it led to the former group crossing the floor of the House and joining the tiny Labour Party on the opposition benches. Free Trade, it will be recalled, had been far more than one policy amongst many in the Liberal Party; it had constituted the very sine qua non of British Liberalism. Yet, in the circumstances of September 1932, the Simonite Liberals including Clement Davies swallowed the introduc- tion of large-scale protective measures and remained within the National Government. At the Annual General Meeting of the Council of the Montgomeryshire Liberal Association in February 1932, Davies spoke for fifty minutes on the introduction of tariffs, a speech which provoked a number of questions'61 Davies argued that it was the government's intention to appoint 'a judicial body, who would sit as judges to hear the case for the manufacturer, retailer and consumer' before deciding upon the imposition of protective tariffs upon individual products. The over-riding consideration was to be 'the national interest'.62 He himself was in 55 Ibid., 29 December 1931. ^Montgomery County Times, 10 October 1931. 57See Kenneth O. Morgan, Re-birth of a nation: Wales, 1880-1980 (Oxford and Cardiff, 1981), p.278-9. 58Bristol University Library, Special Collections Department, election address of Clement Davies, October 1931. 59Sir John Simon, Retrospect (London, 1952), p.171. 60See Wilson, op. cit., p.403-6. The Samuelite Liberals were the followers of Sir Herbert Samuel who had joined the National Government in 1931. 61Montgomeryshire Liberal Association, Newtown, Mont. Lib. Assoc. minute book, 1920-60, A.G.M. Council minutes, 27 February 1932. 62Montgomeryshire Express, 1 March 1932.