Source: Action, October 8, 1931, p. 3

What This Paper Stands For

The people of Great Britain are at this moment dumbly perplexed. Were I asked to define the cause of this perplexity, I should reply as follows: "We lack a sense of purpose".

The whole aim of this paper is to Indicate that there are still, whatever happens, many desirable objects in life. We want to suggest, week by week, that the Modern Adventure is not, after all, so very terrifying, that the future is, after all, filled with a hard, bright interest.

We believe that the old world is dead. We believe that from its ashes will rise a new world more scientific, more human, and far more enjoyable. Week by week we shall put before you new vistas into the future. Week by week you will see the sunlight glimmering at the end of this dark forest. Our purpose, in a phrase, is to provide you with hope. To provide you with a sense of purpose. To give you renewed zest.

Our Politics

The general tone and tendency of "Action" will be in harmony with that of the New Party founded by Sir Oswald Mosley. We believe with him that the happy days of Tory rectitude and Liberal intellectualism are now ended. We believe that this country must abandon its old shibboleths and face the future with eyes confident in some new message. We are aware that this message will at first be unfamiliar, and that as such it will provoke hostility and even ridicule. We are aware that there are many timid souls who will hesitate to leave the upholstered chairs of acquired convictions for the ardours and endurances of a new formula. Yet we are certain that month by month more men and women in this country will come to realise that our revels now are ended, and that this country must brace itself as a man to face new thoughts, new sacrifices and new adventures. We wish to become the medium through which these ideas will be conveyed to the public mind. We are resolutely determined to succeed.

We know that for many the future holds dark questionings and gaping uncertainties. We wish to illumine those shrouded perils, to indicate calmly what is dangerous and what is not, to teach people that they can advance under sure guidance without fear and without wretchedness. Sacrifices for the rich there will have to be. Betterment for the poor must come immediately. We shall strive, however, to convince the rich that these sacrifices will not in the end, and if they are intelligent, diminish the joy of life. And to teach the poor that destruction alone is not enough.

Our Watchwords

We have adopted certain watchwords to guide us through this dark passage. The first is truth. The second courage. The third intelligence. And the fourth vigour.

We appeal to youth. By "youth" I do not mean only those who are young in age. We appeal to the young in mind. We appeal to those who have the gift of curiosity. We appeal to those whose nerves can stand what is unpleasant in modern life, and whose minds are sufficiently alert to grasp what is stimulant, hopeful and regenerating.

We appeal to the intelligent. By that I do not mean those men and women who have had the privilege of a luxury education. I mean those countless others who feel themselves at a loss when confronted with the complexity of modern conditions. Those men and women who are not quite sure whom to trust: who resent the patronising airs of those who have been more fortunate than themselves: who are angered by the small tribute paid by the average papers to their own intelligence. Those are the people whom I care about. Those are the people to whom I want to speak. Those are the people in whose hands rests the future of this country.

What of our watchwords?

Truth

Truth, as we know, is something more than the mere avoidance of lies. It is the avoidance of false implications. It is also the avoidance of false values. We do not pretend that we who edit this paper are immune from the usual human fallacies or that objective accuracy is at every moment attainable. But we do contend (and we are prepared to stand or fall by that contention) that it is possible to interest the people of England by appealing not to their transient emotions, but to their more durable habits of thought.

We want, above all, to establish confidence. If we make a mistake, if we commit an injustice, we shall say so. We are not afraid of apologising. We are so certain of our ultimate purpose that we are indifferent to the small brambles in our path. We want the readers of this paper to feel that, subject to the average limitations of human prejudice and error, they will in this paper nothing but what is reliable.

Courage

Our second watchword is courage. We shall not be afraid of offending the susceptibilities of our readers. That Parish Magazine atmosphere which hangs like a fog over so much of the British Press is due more than anything to timidity on the part of the editorial staff. We shall not be timid. We know that the virginal funk of the average editor leads him to beat the big drum to cover up his maidenly quivering. We shall beat no big drums. We loathe stunts of any sort. We shall say quite quietly and calmly what we feel. And in the end our public will be grateful to us for this cold gentleness.

Intelligence

We are convinced that many of the popular papers under-estimate the intelligence of the public for which they cater. We shall make no such mistake. We shall not be high-brow in the sense that we shall not say things merely to display educational superiority. We are not in any sense to be regarded as culture snobs. But we shall be high-brow in the sense that we shall appeal directly to the thought of man, whether that man be a miner in Wales or whether, at Leeds University, he holds the Chair of Sociology. We aim at the head: we shall never strive to hit our public below the belt.

Vigour

The abiding malady of all journalism is over-work. The actual pressure and rush of production leads journalists to acquire a tired feeling, and this, in its turn, produces that weak shouting which is the stigma of the Yellow Press, We do not wish to shout. We wish to speak with virile accents. There will be no hysteria about this paper. But let Heaven grant us muscle. We shall not punch unduly, yet we trust that In every line of this paper will be felt the muscles of a vigorous intent.

We stand for the New England.

We stand for the future of British purpose.

Try us out, and see.