THE CAPTAIN RAMSAY CASE

New Zealand Listener, Volume 5, Issue 125, 14 November 1941, Page 4

THE CAPTAIN RAMSAY CASE

Sir,-Of all the attacks now being made upon our beloved Britain, and all that she stands for in the life of the world, none surpasses, in subtlety and satanic slime, that which is being persistently directed against British aristocrats, nobility and gentry. It pretends to be directed only against " privilege," against the power of an alleged "ruling class," against the "haves" in the interests of the "have nots," against "the old school tie" as a symbol of "class-conscious superiority." It avers that its only desire is to have Britain’s life directed by the best possible. But what it really does is to foster the idea that -gross unfairnesses abound in British life, It suggests that the son of the labouring man is not given a fair chance. It would have Britons think in terms of ability going to waste in the lower ranks of society, while futility, in the upper classes, is allowed to make a stupid muck of British affairs. It lampoons the British nobility and gentry as a collection of brainless fools who are allowed all too much influence on the life of Britain. In short, it stirs up class-consciousness, resentfully, to the detriment of British unity and solidarity, at a time when everything which might hinder our being fully one with each other should be put aside. There are fools and knaves, alas, in every class, but to single out for special attack those Britons who have been brought up on " noblesse oblige " (privilege carries with it responsibility) is to do Britain poor service. The suggestion that " nobility and gentry only need apply" in the selection of Conservative Party candidates in Britain is simply untrue. I myself worked, years ago, towards the election of an ex-elementary-schoolmaster, the selected Conservative candidate in the constituency in which I lived. You quote, in your editorial article (31/10/41), and in your reprint of matter from that periodical, The Economist’s assertion that Captain Ramsay was selected as a candidate for Parliament only because he came from " the right class." What right has The Economist to make any such assertion? It had no entry into the minds -and motives of the selection committee, and without such entry this assertion is merely supposition. It has no value, no necessary relationship to the facts. All that you print from The Economist is class-consciousness-provoking pro-

paganda. That a periodical of the standing of The Economist can lend itself to such propaganda goes to prove the strength of the interests behind the attack on British nobility and gentry. One wonders who inspires all this, and what the real objective is. In whose interests is it to defame the British " upper classes," to try to divide Britons by class-conscious diatribes, to gird at "privilege" in British life (to the ignoring of the deep sense of responsibility which most privileged Britons have)?. My one and only aristocrat friend once said to me, "The only way in which a man like myself can justify his existence is by free, ready, and willing community-service." Is Britain to be deprived of people of his sort because some of his class forget "noblesse oblige" and lead useless lives? There is nobility to be found, even as things are, in every class of the community; and there is much need for more leisure for all that true culture may have chance of life among us; but British life will be the poorer if this attack on nobility and gentry succeeds.

C.C.

C.

(Cambridge).