[Roy Harrod] COPY Typed Letters to Lady Violet Bonham-Carter, leading Liberal, friend and biographer of Churchill

Total 6pp., 4to. Headed "COPY" in red, from the papers of Mark Bonham-Carter. LETTER ONE: He is trying to persuade Lady Bonham-Carter that her views of the future of the Liberal Party are valid and should be aired, given her "unique position in British Liberalism". She should not fear dividing the Party because "[he has] come to the regrettable conclusion that there is nothing to divide", and it is necessary to "revive sopme life in Liberalism".He comments on the leadership and individuals (C. Davies, for example) and the low state to which the party has descended. "[It] does not strike me as having a common point of view and purpose." He recalls the thrill when he "went for the first time to a meeting of the Ecponometric Society, where he found a common purpose and energy which is absent "at our [Liberal] councils". He goes on to discuss Mark Bonham-Carter in detail, his talents and his future as a Liberal leader. LETTER TWO: He ws "touched by [her] telling me of Mark and your thoughts about him." He feels there is s drift "from democracy towards totalitarianism". The issues include Anglo-American co-operation, mentioning Keynes's view (that it should be pursued). People of all persuasions seem to respond more to the idea of a United Europe. He comments on the economy: "whther we try to solve the economic problem by the liberal method of allowing greater freedom of play or by ever tighter controls. My campaign for capital cuts is only a facet in the campaign for greater freedom [...]" "Then there is the political question - is Parliament to be ironed out of effective power [...]" Apparently unpublished, original not traced.