Item 196 - Draft of a letter from F. W. Pethick-Lawrence to Hugh Dalton

2 single sheets

Congratulates him on his appointment to the Privy Council, and comments on his radio broadcast. Wishes to discuss the purchase tax with him.

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Transcript

June 9
My dear Hugh

First let me send u my hearty congrats on your richly deserved P C {1}, th one honour which seems to m worth having & which does give one useful standing in the H/C {2} for more effective work.

Next let me tell you how much interested I was in your b-c {3} last night. I have been thinking all along tht it was H’s {4} petrol tank that probably wd give him his greatest trouble & it hasn’t escaped me how the B {5} bombers have gone above everything else for his petrol dumps. Your b.c strengthened my opinion & I imagine wd have th same effect on the B P {6}. In short I think your b.c was intended to say to the B P. “Hold on in good heart—if we can keep H at bay till Oct we are well on the way to victory.” I think you got this a x {7}

Now for a spot of criticism which I think a true friend shd always give. You struck me as being a little too dramatic & emphasised certain words too much, with the minor result tht those words did not come too well over the air & the major result tht you did not give as much the sense of strong confidence as you wd have done. You have probably noticed the difference between Churchill & D C & will understand when I say you were [there follows a mathematical formula representing ‘D.C.’ squared, divided by ‘Churchill’]. Finally I am not sure it pays to sound quite so venomous about the Germans as you did. It smacks a little of the Mikado & his boiling oil.

All this with your big heart you will take in the spirit in which it is written.

Ever yours
[blank]

If you have any free time say Tuesday evening or Wedday I should much enjoy a talk w you about the purchase tax.

[I have myself copied this letter out & sent it to H D from Twys.] {8}

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{1} Privy Councillorship.

{2} House of Commons.

{3} broadcast.

{4} Hitler’s.

{5} British.

{6} British Public.

{7} across.

{8} The square brackets are in the MS. This sentence was presumably addressed to a secretary.

This description was created by A. C. Green in 2020.