1922' myths
Sir: Patrick Cosgrave's review-article on the 1922 Committee July 28, was characteristically trenchant, I hope it
is not pedantic to point out a few historical errors. The Carlton Club meeting which saw the downfall of LloydGeorge took place on October 19, 1922, not October 19. It was a meeting of all Unionist MPs, not simply of "Conservative backbenchers.It was not called "to compel Sir Austen [Chamberlain] and his senior allies to break with the Welsh wizard." Rather it was convened by Chamberlain himself to crush backbench rebellion as a preliminary to another general election under Lloyd-George's leadership. It was a product of misjudgement by the party leaders, not of organised erup-. Lion amongst the backbenches. Mr Costrave rightly says that the idea of the 1922 Committee being" a coherent organisation representing Tory backbenchers " is now a myth. It was a
myth in 1922. _ Incidentally, the 1923 general election took place in December of that year, not October.
Kenneth a Morgan The Queen's College. Oxford.
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