Niemeyer had already expressed these thoughts clearly to the colonial secretary, Winston Churchill, in October 1921. Churchill had asked him to disclose the Treasury view concerning fi nancial conduct and employment, and his reply was concise but eff ective: “Th e best assistance which the State can give to unemployment . . . is 1) to reduce its expenditure 2) to repay its debts” (T 176/5, part 2, fol. 39). Th us, he continued, “It is obvious that certain minimum immediate assistance must be given to the unemployed to prevent starvation but for the ultimate solution of the unemployment problem it is essential that this assistance should be kept at the minimum” (ibid., fol. 38).

Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, loc. 1694