Re: Round Table Movement, by Wikipedia
Posted: Sun Oct 13, 2019 2:05 am
James Louis Garvin
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 10/12/19
James Louis Garvin
James Louis Garvin in 1913
Born 12 April 1868
Birkenhead, England
Died 23 January 1947 (aged 78)
Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England
Occupation Journalist and editor
Spouse(s) Christina Ellen Wilson (1894–1918)
Viola Woods (1921–1947)
Children Roland Gerard Garvin
Viola Garvin
Una Garvin
Katherine Garvin
Ursula Garvin
James Louis Garvin (12 April 1868 – 23 January 1947) was a British journalist, editor, and author. In 1908 Garvin agreed to take over the editorship of the Sunday newspaper The Observer, revolutionising Sunday journalism and restoring the paper, facing financial troubles at the time, to profitability in the process.
Youth and early years in journalism
The youngest of two children, Garvin was born in Birkenhead. His father, Michael Garvin, was an impoverished Irish labourer who died at sea when Garvin was two, leaving him to be raised by his mother Catherine. Though a voracious reader, he left school at the age of thirteen and worked first as a messenger, then as a clerk. His elder brother, Michael, became a teacher; his status as the family's primary source of income led them to move, first in 1884 to Hull, then to Newcastle five years later.
Despite undergoing examination to join the civil service, from an early age Garvin yearned to become an editor. As a teenager he contributed letters and articles to the Eastern Morning News and the Dublin Weekly Freeman, much of which reflected his early advocacy for Home Rule. In 1891, Garvin applied to Joseph Cowen for a position at the Newcastle Evening Chronicle. Given a position as a proof-reader and occasional contributor, Garvin spent the next eight years honing his skills as a journalist, with Cowen serving as his mentor and father-figure. Yet Garvin yearned for a larger stage, and by the end of the decade he became a regular (though anonymous) contributor to the Fortnightly Review, then edited by W. L. Courtney.
Garvin's ambition extended beyond Newcastle, however. Through his association with Courtney, Garvin gained a position as a leader-writer for the Daily Telegraph in 1899. Moving to London, his writings on politics and literature soon earned him renown. By now his politics had changed, as he became a unionist and a follower of Joseph Chamberlain. In 1904, Garvin accepted the editorship of The Outlook, a weekly publication which was being turned into a platform for the promotion of Chamberlain's scheme of tariff reform. Though The Outlook quickly saw a rise in circulation and influence, its failure to turn a profit led to the paper's sale and Garvin's exit two years later.
Pre-war editorship of The Observer
?-!, Vanity Fair, 1911
Soon after his departure from The Outlook, Garvin was approached by newspaper magnate Lord Northcliffe. Though he turned down a financially lucrative offer to write for Northcliffe's flagship publication, the Daily Mail, in 1908 Garvin agreed to take over the editorship of the historic Sunday newspaper The Observer. First published in 1791, the paper had recently faced financial troubles that led to its acquisition by Northcliffe. Within eighteen months, Garvin had reshaped The Observer, revolutionising Sunday journalism and restoring the paper to profitability in the process.
With the Unionist Party still recovering from its massive defeat in the general election of 1906, Garvin soon emerged as a dominant figure in Unionist politics. Using The Observer as a platform, he denounced the budget introduced by Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George in 1909, and he encouraged the Unionist-dominated House of Lords to veto it. As the question of Home Rule for Ireland increasingly overshadowed British politics, Garvin advocated a federalist solution to the problem.
By 1911, a rift had emerged between Garvin and Northcliffe over the critical issue of tariff reform. When their dispute became public, the press baron agreed to sell the paper to William Waldorf Astor, who accepted Garvin's proposal to assume ownership on condition that Garvin edit the Astor-owned Pall Mall Gazette as well. In 1915, Astor gave the two papers to his son, Waldorf as a birthday gift; Waldorf Astor then sold the Pall Mall Gazette, which allowed Garvin to leave his position with that paper and focus on editing The Observer.
First World War
Despite being an admirer of German culture, Garvin was alarmed by the growing challenge the country posed to Britain in international politics. Through his friendship with First Sea Lord Admiral John Fisher, he gained access to inside information on naval matters which he used to inform editorials calling for a greater naval construction program. When war broke out in 1914, Garvin embraced Britain's involvement in the conflict. He was close to many people in power, most notably Fisher (who left retirement to return to his former position as First Sea Lord soon after the start of the conflict), Lloyd George, and Winston Churchill, and he enjoyed considerable influence during this period.
Yet the conflict brought great personal tragedy to Garvin. At the start of the war his only son Roland Gerard Garvin (known to his family as "Ged") enlisted with the South Lancashire Regiment and was shipped to France. Though subsequently assigned a staff position, Ged transferred back to a combat posting soon after the start of the Somme campaign and was killed in a night assault on German line in late July.[1] Heartbroken at the loss, Garvin never recovered from Ged's death, and it shaped many of his attitudes to subsequent events.
Despite his bitterness towards the Germans, Garvin believed in the need for a just settlement of the war. Soon after the armistice he published his first book, The Economic Foundations of Peace, in which he called for a lenient treaty and Anglo-American co-operation as the cornerstone for an effective League of Nations. When the punitive terms of the Treaty of Versailles were published, he denounced it in an editorial as leaving the Germans "no real hope except in revenge."[2]
Later years
In 1921, Garvin moved from London to Beaconsfield. From there, in a home once owned by Edmund Burke's agent he continued to edit The Observer, and he began work on a biography of his hero Joseph Chamberlain. Though three volumes of the Chamberlain biography were published in the early 1930s, Garvin never wrote the final fourth volume, and the project was completed after his death by Julian Amery. During this period Garvin also served as editor-in-chief of the fourteenth edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1926–1932).
Yet Garvin's stature as a man of letters masked his declining influence during this period. Working from Beaconsfield cut him off from much of the political life of the British capital. A new generation of British politicians emerged with whom Garvin had few connections. Alarmed by Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Germany, he pushed for a program of rearmament. He also became an advocate of appeasement, both of Hitler to buy time for rearmament, and Benito Mussolini in an effort to win the Italian leader's support for an alliance.
Saddened by the outbreak of war in September 1939, Garvin nonetheless was a strong supporter of the war effort. Heartened by Churchill's return to the Admiralty, Garvin offered unflinching support for his old friend after he became Prime Minister in May 1940. Such support created a rift between Garvin and Astor. Though the two had been of like mind regarding appeasement, Astor opposed the concentration of war powers in Churchill's hands. Adding to the tension was Astor's son David, whose attempts to inject a more liberal tone into the newspaper were viewed by Garvin as an effort to criticise the Prime Minister. As a result, when Garvin published an editorial in February 1942 in support of Churchill remaining in office as Minister of Defence as well as Prime Minister, the Astors viewed it as a breach of their contract and requested Garvin's resignation.[3]
Garvin quickly received an offer from Lord Beaverbrook to write a weekly column for his newspaper the Sunday Express. Switching to the Daily Telegraph in January 1945, Garvin continued to write a weekly column until just prior to his death from pneumonia at the age of 78.
Personal life
Garvin was married twice. In 1894 he married Christina Ellen Wilson, who bore him his son Ged and four daughters: Viola, Una, Katherine, and Ursula. After Christina's death in 1918, Garvin married Viola Woods (née Taylor), the former wife of Unionist politician Maurice Woods.
Works
• The Economic Foundations of Peace: or world partnership as the truer basis of the League of Nations. Macmillan and Co. 1919.
• The Life of Joseph Chamberlain. Macmillan and Co. April 1932.
References
1. "Letters to the editor… from his dear lad in the trenches". The Guardian. London. 20 September 2009. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
2. Observer text timeline | Newsroom | guardian.co.uk at http://www.guardian.co.uk
3. "Garvin Gets Out". Time Magazine. 16 March 1942. Retrieved 14 August 2008.
Further reading
• Ayerst, David. Garvin of the Observer. Croom Helm., 1985
• Garvin, Katherine. J. L. Garvin: A memoir. W. Heinemann., 1948
• Gollin, A. M. The Observer and J. L. Garvin, 1908–1914: A study in a great editorship. Oxford University Press., 1960
• Pottle, Mark; Ledingham, John. We Hope to Get Word Tomorrow: The Garvin Family Letters, 1914–1916. Frontline Books., 2009
External links
• Portraits of James Garvin at the National Portrait Gallery, London
• Working papers of David Ayerst for his biography of J.L. Garvin, a special collection in the Bodleian Library at Oxford University
• James Louis Garvin at Find a Grave
• Newspaper clippings about James Louis Garvin in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 10/12/19
The Coefficients was a monthly dining club founded in 1902 by the Fabian campaigners Sidney and Beatrice Webb as a forum for British socialist reformers and imperialists of the Edwardian era. The name of the dining club was a reflection of the group's focus on "efficiency".
The Webbs proposed that the club's membership reflect the entire gamut of political beliefs, and "proposed to collect politicians from each of the parties". Representing the Liberal Imperialists were Sir Edward Grey and Richard Burdon Haldane; the Tories were represented by economist William Hewins and editor of the National Review Leopold Maxse; and the British military was represented by Leo Amery, an "expert on the conditions of the army", and Carlyon Bellairs, a naval officer.
The club's membership included:
• James Louis Garvin, journalist and editor
-- Coefficients (dining club), by Wikipedia
James Louis Garvin
James Louis Garvin in 1913
Born 12 April 1868
Birkenhead, England
Died 23 January 1947 (aged 78)
Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England
Occupation Journalist and editor
Spouse(s) Christina Ellen Wilson (1894–1918)
Viola Woods (1921–1947)
Children Roland Gerard Garvin
Viola Garvin
Una Garvin
Katherine Garvin
Ursula Garvin
James Louis Garvin (12 April 1868 – 23 January 1947) was a British journalist, editor, and author. In 1908 Garvin agreed to take over the editorship of the Sunday newspaper The Observer, revolutionising Sunday journalism and restoring the paper, facing financial troubles at the time, to profitability in the process.
Youth and early years in journalism
The youngest of two children, Garvin was born in Birkenhead. His father, Michael Garvin, was an impoverished Irish labourer who died at sea when Garvin was two, leaving him to be raised by his mother Catherine. Though a voracious reader, he left school at the age of thirteen and worked first as a messenger, then as a clerk. His elder brother, Michael, became a teacher; his status as the family's primary source of income led them to move, first in 1884 to Hull, then to Newcastle five years later.
Despite undergoing examination to join the civil service, from an early age Garvin yearned to become an editor. As a teenager he contributed letters and articles to the Eastern Morning News and the Dublin Weekly Freeman, much of which reflected his early advocacy for Home Rule. In 1891, Garvin applied to Joseph Cowen for a position at the Newcastle Evening Chronicle. Given a position as a proof-reader and occasional contributor, Garvin spent the next eight years honing his skills as a journalist, with Cowen serving as his mentor and father-figure. Yet Garvin yearned for a larger stage, and by the end of the decade he became a regular (though anonymous) contributor to the Fortnightly Review, then edited by W. L. Courtney.
Garvin's ambition extended beyond Newcastle, however. Through his association with Courtney, Garvin gained a position as a leader-writer for the Daily Telegraph in 1899. Moving to London, his writings on politics and literature soon earned him renown. By now his politics had changed, as he became a unionist and a follower of Joseph Chamberlain. In 1904, Garvin accepted the editorship of The Outlook, a weekly publication which was being turned into a platform for the promotion of Chamberlain's scheme of tariff reform. Though The Outlook quickly saw a rise in circulation and influence, its failure to turn a profit led to the paper's sale and Garvin's exit two years later.
Pre-war editorship of The Observer
?-!, Vanity Fair, 1911
Soon after his departure from The Outlook, Garvin was approached by newspaper magnate Lord Northcliffe. Though he turned down a financially lucrative offer to write for Northcliffe's flagship publication, the Daily Mail, in 1908 Garvin agreed to take over the editorship of the historic Sunday newspaper The Observer. First published in 1791, the paper had recently faced financial troubles that led to its acquisition by Northcliffe. Within eighteen months, Garvin had reshaped The Observer, revolutionising Sunday journalism and restoring the paper to profitability in the process.
The real efforts of the Milner Group were directed into more fruitful and anonymous activities such as The Times and The Round Table.
The Milner Group did not own The Times before 1922, but clearly controlled it at least as far back as 1912. Even before this last date, members of the innermost circle of the Milner Group were swarming about the great newspaper. In fact, it would appear that The Times had been controlled by the Cecil Bloc since 1884 and was taken over by the Milner Group in the same way in which All Souls was taken over, quietly and without a struggle. The midwife of this process apparently was George E. Buckle (1854-1935), graduate of New College in 1876, member of All Souls since 1877, and editor of The Times from 1884 to 1912. (2) The chief members of the Milner Group who were associated with The Times have already been mentioned. Amery was connected with the paper from 1899 to 1909. During this period he edited and largely wrote the Times History of the South African War. Lord Esher was offered a directorship in 1908. Grigg was a staff writer in 1903-1905, and head of the Imperial Department in 1908-1913. B. K. Long was head of the Dominion Department in 1913-1921 and of the Foreign Department in 1920-1921. Monypenny was assistant editor both before and after the Boer War (1894-1899, 1903-1908) and on the board of directors after the paper was incorporated (1908-1912). Dawson was the paper's chief correspondent in South Africa in the Selborne period (1905-1910), while Basil Williams was the reporter covering the National Convention there (1908-1909). When it became clear in 1911 that Buckle must soon retire, Dawson was brought into the office in a rather vague capacity and, a year later, was made editor. The appointment was suggested and urged by Buckle. (3) Dawson held the position from 1912 to 1941, except for the three years 1919-1922. This interval is of some significance, for it revealed to the Milner Group that they could not continue to control The Times without ownership. The Cecil Bloc had controlled The Times from 1884 to 1912 without ownership, and the Milner Group had done the same in the period 1912-1919, but, in this last year, Dawson quarreled with Lord Northcliffe (who was chief proprietor from 1908-1922) and left the editor's chair. As soon as the Milner Group, through the Astors, acquired the chief proprietorship of the paper in 1922, Dawson was restored to his post and held it for the next twenty years. Undoubtedly the skillful stroke which acquired the ownership of The Times from the Harmsworth estate in 1922 was engineered by Brand. During the interval of three years during which Dawson was not editor, Northcliffe entrusted the position to one of The Time's famous foreign correspondents, H. W. Steed.
-- The Anglo-American Establishment: From Rhodes to Cliveden, by Carroll Quigley
With the Unionist Party still recovering from its massive defeat in the general election of 1906, Garvin soon emerged as a dominant figure in Unionist politics. Using The Observer as a platform, he denounced the budget introduced by Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George in 1909, and he encouraged the Unionist-dominated House of Lords to veto it. As the question of Home Rule for Ireland increasingly overshadowed British politics, Garvin advocated a federalist solution to the problem.
By 1911, a rift had emerged between Garvin and Northcliffe over the critical issue of tariff reform. When their dispute became public, the press baron agreed to sell the paper to William Waldorf Astor, who accepted Garvin's proposal to assume ownership on condition that Garvin edit the Astor-owned Pall Mall Gazette as well. In 1915, Astor gave the two papers to his son, Waldorf as a birthday gift; Waldorf Astor then sold the Pall Mall Gazette, which allowed Garvin to leave his position with that paper and focus on editing The Observer.
1791 The Observer is published for the first time on Sunday 4 December. Its founder, WS Bourne, states that it would share 'the spirit of enlightened Freedom, decent Toleration and universal Benevolence'.
1812 Observer journalist Vincent George Dowling has a real scoop when he not only witnesses the assassination of Prime Minister Spencer Perceval he also seizes the assassin.
1814 William Innell Clement buys The Observer, adding it to his growing stable of newspapers .
1820 Clement defies a court order against coverage of the trial of the Cato Street Conspirators accused of attempting to murder members of the Cabinet. Woodcut illustrations are used to promote the story.
1857 Lewis Doxat, Clement's editor, is succeeded by Joseph Snowe.
1861-1865 The Observer sides with the North during the American Civil War. Readership declines.
1870 Julius Beer, a wealthy businessman, buys the paper.
1880 Frederick Beer inherits The Observer on the death of his father. Frederick's wife, Rachel, buys the Sunday Times in 1893 and edits both papers until 1904.
1905 The executors of Frederick Beer sell The Observer to Alfred Harmsworth (later Lord Northcliffe). Circulation is just 5,000 copies.
1908 James Louis Garvin (pictured) becomes editor and by 1909 circulation has increased to 40,000.
1911 William Waldorf Astor buys The Observer, subsequently giving it to his son, Waldorf.
1919 JL Garvin's editorial on the Treaty of Versailles at the end of the First World War condemns the Treaty for leaving the Germans 'no real hope except in revenge.'
1942 On Garvin's departure, David Astor, Waldorf's son, begins to modernise The Observer. Advertisements are removed from the front page in favour of news and photographs and the Profile, a collective opinion of an individual in the news, is introduced to British journalism. Ivor Brown is appointed editor and the paper begins to move away from the conservatism of the Garvin era.
1945 The Astor family transfer ownership of the newspaper to a Trust, which ensures that any profit is used to improve the newspaper, promote good journalism or support charitable enterprise.
1948 David Astor becomes editor. He favours writers over traditional journalists, bringing in George Orwell, Vita Sackville-West, Arthur Koestler, Philip Toynbee, Kenneth Tynan and others.
1956 On 10 June The Observer publishes the 26,000 words of Nikita Kruschev's denunciation of Joseph Stalin in full. The paper's position as the first national newspaper to oppose the government's action during the Suez Crisis is costly as thousands of readers desert it.
1963 Kim Philby, widely accused of being the Third Man (the Soviet spy who had let it be known that Donald Maclean was about to be exposed), was cleared by the British and American governments. He became The Observer's Middle East correspondent based in Beirut but was expelled and fled to Moscow. He had been the Third Man all along.
-- Our Story, by The Guardian
First World War
Despite being an admirer of German culture, Garvin was alarmed by the growing challenge the country posed to Britain in international politics. Through his friendship with First Sea Lord Admiral John Fisher, he gained access to inside information on naval matters which he used to inform editorials calling for a greater naval construction program. When war broke out in 1914, Garvin embraced Britain's involvement in the conflict. He was close to many people in power, most notably Fisher (who left retirement to return to his former position as First Sea Lord soon after the start of the conflict), Lloyd George, and Winston Churchill, and he enjoyed considerable influence during this period.
Yet the conflict brought great personal tragedy to Garvin. At the start of the war his only son Roland Gerard Garvin (known to his family as "Ged") enlisted with the South Lancashire Regiment and was shipped to France. Though subsequently assigned a staff position, Ged transferred back to a combat posting soon after the start of the Somme campaign and was killed in a night assault on German line in late July.[1] Heartbroken at the loss, Garvin never recovered from Ged's death, and it shaped many of his attitudes to subsequent events.
Despite his bitterness towards the Germans, Garvin believed in the need for a just settlement of the war. Soon after the armistice he published his first book, The Economic Foundations of Peace, in which he called for a lenient treaty and Anglo-American co-operation as the cornerstone for an effective League of Nations. When the punitive terms of the Treaty of Versailles were published, he denounced it in an editorial as leaving the Germans "no real hope except in revenge."[2]
Later years
In 1921, Garvin moved from London to Beaconsfield. From there, in a home once owned by Edmund Burke's agent he continued to edit The Observer, and he began work on a biography of his hero Joseph Chamberlain. Though three volumes of the Chamberlain biography were published in the early 1930s, Garvin never wrote the final fourth volume, and the project was completed after his death by Julian Amery. During this period Garvin also served as editor-in-chief of the fourteenth edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1926–1932).
Yet Garvin's stature as a man of letters masked his declining influence during this period. Working from Beaconsfield cut him off from much of the political life of the British capital. A new generation of British politicians emerged with whom Garvin had few connections. Alarmed by Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Germany, he pushed for a program of rearmament. He also became an advocate of appeasement, both of Hitler to buy time for rearmament, and Benito Mussolini in an effort to win the Italian leader's support for an alliance.
Saddened by the outbreak of war in September 1939, Garvin nonetheless was a strong supporter of the war effort. Heartened by Churchill's return to the Admiralty, Garvin offered unflinching support for his old friend after he became Prime Minister in May 1940. Such support created a rift between Garvin and Astor. Though the two had been of like mind regarding appeasement, Astor opposed the concentration of war powers in Churchill's hands. Adding to the tension was Astor's son David, whose attempts to inject a more liberal tone into the newspaper were viewed by Garvin as an effort to criticise the Prime Minister. As a result, when Garvin published an editorial in February 1942 in support of Churchill remaining in office as Minister of Defence as well as Prime Minister, the Astors viewed it as a breach of their contract and requested Garvin's resignation.[3]
Garvin quickly received an offer from Lord Beaverbrook to write a weekly column for his newspaper the Sunday Express. Switching to the Daily Telegraph in January 1945, Garvin continued to write a weekly column until just prior to his death from pneumonia at the age of 78.
Personal life
Garvin was married twice. In 1894 he married Christina Ellen Wilson, who bore him his son Ged and four daughters: Viola, Una, Katherine, and Ursula. After Christina's death in 1918, Garvin married Viola Woods (née Taylor), the former wife of Unionist politician Maurice Woods.
Works
• The Economic Foundations of Peace: or world partnership as the truer basis of the League of Nations. Macmillan and Co. 1919.
• The Life of Joseph Chamberlain. Macmillan and Co. April 1932.
References
1. "Letters to the editor… from his dear lad in the trenches". The Guardian. London. 20 September 2009. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
2. Observer text timeline | Newsroom | guardian.co.uk at http://www.guardian.co.uk
3. "Garvin Gets Out". Time Magazine. 16 March 1942. Retrieved 14 August 2008.
Further reading
• Ayerst, David. Garvin of the Observer. Croom Helm., 1985
• Garvin, Katherine. J. L. Garvin: A memoir. W. Heinemann., 1948
• Gollin, A. M. The Observer and J. L. Garvin, 1908–1914: A study in a great editorship. Oxford University Press., 1960
• Pottle, Mark; Ledingham, John. We Hope to Get Word Tomorrow: The Garvin Family Letters, 1914–1916. Frontline Books., 2009
External links
• Portraits of James Garvin at the National Portrait Gallery, London
• Working papers of David Ayerst for his biography of J.L. Garvin, a special collection in the Bodleian Library at Oxford University
• James Louis Garvin at Find a Grave
• Newspaper clippings about James Louis Garvin in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW