A HISTORY OF ENGLAND
IN EIGHT VOLUMES
Gensbal Editob Sib CHARLES OMAN, E B E.
VOIiUMB vm
MODERN ENGLAND. 1886-1945
A HISTORY OF ENGLAND
IN EIGHT VOLUMES
EDITED BY SIR CHARLES OMAN
I En’Gx,avd nnionn rnr Norman CosQursT
(BcRinninp-106G) Bj Sm Ciiarixs Oman,
K B E , M P , All Souls College, 0\ford
II England undhr Tiir Normvns and ANGr-
viNS (1000-1272) By II W C Dams,
M A , CUE, late Regius Professor of
Modern History in tlie Universitj of
0\ford
III Evgl \ND IN Tin: Later Middte Ages (1272-
1480) By Kenneth II Vickers, M A ,
Prineipal of University College, Soutlnmp-
ton, formerly Professor of Modern History
in the University of Durham
W EnGL-VND tlN-DER THE TODORS (1485-1003)
By Arthur D In-ni s, M A , sometune
Scholar of Oriel College, 0\ford
V Engl.vn'd under the Stuarts (1003-1714)
By G M Trevelyan, M A , Regius Pro-
fessor of Modem History in the Univ crsity
of Cambridge
VI Enoiand under the Hanoverians (1714-
1815) By Sir Charles Grant Robert-
son, M A , Vice-Chancellor and Principal
of the University of Birmingham, Fellow
of All Souls College, Ovford
VII England SINCE Waterioo (1815-1900) By
Sir jar iMAnRioTT, M A , Honorary
Fellow, formerly Fellow of Worcester Col-
lege, Oxford
VIII Modern England, 1885-1015 Bv Sir
JAR Marriott, M A , Honorary Fel-
low , formerly’ Fellow of Worcester College,
Oxford
MODERN ENGLAND
1885-1946
A HISTOBT OF MT OWN TIMES
BY
SIR J. A. R. MARRIOTT
BONORARir FELLOW, FORThtERLT FELLOW, LECTUmm AND TUTOB
IN MODERN HISTORY, OF WORCESTER COLLEGE, OEFORD .
LATE M F FOB THE CITY OF YORE
WITH SEVEN MAPS
METHUEN & CO. LTD.
36 Essex Sheet, W.C,
LONDON
■Tjr'f Publuhtd Aupust JClh 19 H
>r, ^ T., Fdilton July J'lie
Third Edition, linistd and tntar/fed, Ocloicr lOit,
touTth Edition lOiS
Rcpnnled J95i
OATAIOOTO NO 3378/u
PBIVTEB IN onrAT DniTAIN
PREFACE
T his book has been \mtten as a sequel to my England
since Waterloo (Methuen & Co , 1st ed. 1918, 10th ed
1932), and fonns the eighth and concluding volume of Sir
Charles Oman’s History of England (Methuen). The pre-
vious volume brought the story down to the passmg of the
Parliamentary Reform Bills, 1884-5 Takmg up the story
at that pomt the present work brmgs it down to 1932.
The sub-title recalls the fact that the period under review
synchronizes with my own public life, and may serve to
remind readers m time to come that this volume is the work
of a contemporary, that it has been written partly from
personal recollection of political events, and that many of
the portraits it contams have been drawn from life That
this ^ct renders more difficult the task of the historian who
desires to write sine ira et studio, is obvious ; but I hope
that it may have rendered the narrative mofe vivid, and the
portraits less wooden. Very occasionally I have added a
footnote to indicate personal knowledge of the facts. Of
other footnotes I have tned to reduce the number to a mini-
mum, but the contemporary historian, even more than
others, is bound to give his readers the opportunity of check-
ing his statements. For the rest the reader is referred to
the Bibliography
That Bibhography illustrates one of the difficulties con-
fronting the historian of this period — ^the avalanche of ma-
terials, primary and secondary, with which he must needs
grapple With 'many of those materials I made acquaint-
ance, as a reviewer, on their first appearance, and that
vm MODERN ENGLAND [ 1885 -
acquamtance (m the case of important items) I have sedu-
lously improved. The nature and measure of the task is,
however, very partially revealed by the Bibliography. I
have tried to make it of practical use to students, but it is
not, of course, exhaustive, nor even co-extensive with my
own studies. In making my selection of * Authorities
primary and secondary, I have not, I confess, gone much
beyond the shelves of my own Library, which groan
beneath loads of Blue Books, Parliamentary Papers, etc,
besides a large collection of books bearing on this period.
It seemed to me that I could best help other students
by referring them to authorities which have become (for
the most part) my own most intimate friends. But even
so the list IS merely selective, though it is, I trust, fairly
repiesentative of political history. To that field the book
is restricted : it does not touch literatuie or art nor science
except in so far as science reacts on pohtics.
I have also relied on MS memoranda, pamplilels, news-
paper cuttings and the like, laboriously accumulated durmg
the last half-century. Only a fraction of these materials
have I been able, m the present work, to utilize to the full ;
and I am considering how I may make them available for
those who m the future will dig deep mto ground of winch
I have only scratched the surface.
Any historian who has been set the task of writing the
history of a crowded period in relatively few pages wall, I
am confident, judge leniently any omissions he may detect,
or compressed statements he may deplore. No one can be
so conscious of them as the author. It had been far easier
for me to write this work in three volumes instead of one.
But I have had to conform to the geneial plan of the work
of which this volume forms the conclusion. This being so,
I have aimed primarily at lucidity, at the preservation of
perspective and proportion. How far I have succeeded it
is for my readers to judge.
It IS, perhaps, proper to add that where the present
1945]
PREFACE
ix
narrative overlaps previous works of my own ^ I have not
hesitated to borrow from them, and have ventured to refer
to them for fuller information on the subjects under treat-
ment. I have also utilized the articles — ^some two hundred
in number — contributed by me, during the last thirty-five
years, to The Quarterly, The Edinburgh, The Fortnightly,
The Nineteenth Century and After, and other Reviews.
Readers will observe that, though the general sequence
of chapters is roughly chronological, the treatment of topics
frequently departs from strict chronology. I am well aware
of the danger of this method which involves infinitely greater
labour and anxiety to the writer But the alternative method
has always seemed to me to be — except in the hands of a
great master — ^arid in the extreme, and to issue in the writing
not of scientific History, but of mere Annals — a bare chronicle
of events I have tried to mmimize the dangers inherent
m the method adopted by the regular mclusion of dates
It remams only to acknowledge a heavy debt to previous
wnters who have covered parts of the same ground — am
not aware of any one who has covered the whole of it —
and to express my gratitude to an old fridnd and (m two
spheres) colleague, Sir Charles Oman, K B E , M P , for the
careful revision, in proof, of the whole book I am grateful
also to Mr. Rudyard Kiplmg for permission to quote from
two of his poems, and to the Marquess of Salisbury, Mr.
Lloyd George, Lord Carson and Sir Austen Chamberlain,
who have been kind enough to help my personal recollections
by answering questions addressed to them. In no case, how-
ever, are they responsible for the use I have made of their
answers.
J. A. R. MARRIOTT
June 12, 1934
1 Notably A History of Europe, 18IS-I937 (Methuen, 1988) , Europe and
Beyond (Methuen, 1933) , The Mechanism of the Modem State (Clarendon
Press, 1927) , The English in India (Clar Press, 1932) , Second, Chambers
(Qar Press, 1927) , The Eastern Question (Clar Press, 1940) , and Queen
Victoria and Her Ministers (Murray, 1938) .
NOTE TO THIRD EDITION
T his book has again been thoroughly revised, the concluding
chapters have been largely rewritten, and two new chapfers
have been added m an endeavour — ^perhaps vain and of doubtful
expediency — to bring the narrative up to date It is the penalty —
no light one — of wilting contemporary history, and in the present
case has been increased by my enforced exile, wluch has cut me
off from all great libraries and even from my own All the greater,
however, is mj' gratitude to correspondents, and m particular to
an old pupil, Sir Henrj'^ Baddey, K C.B , C B E , Clerk of the
Parliaments, whose help w'ould constitute an obligation had it
not been so readily and giacefully tendered
J. A. R MARRIOTT
January, 1945
PUBLISHER'S NOTE
S IR JOHN IVIARRIOTT delivered the new matter to be
embodied in the third edition of this book in January, 1945.
He died in June of the same year, before proofs could be submitted
to him.
January t 1946.
INTRODUCTORY NOTE
BY THE GENERAIi EDITOR
E ven in these most troublous days it is necessary that the
record of History should be from time to time revised, as
new information keeps coming to hand.
In England, as m France and Germany, the mam character-
istic of the last fifty years, from the point of view of the student
of history, has been that new material has been accumulating
much faster than it can be assmulated or absorbed. The standard
works of the nineteenth-century historians need to be revised,
or even to be put aside as obsolete, in the light of the new
information that is coming in so rapidly and in such vast bulk
The series of which this volume forms a part is intended to
do somethmg towards meetmg the demand for information
brought up to date Individual historians will not sit down, as
once they were wont, to write twenfy-volume works m the style
of Hume or Lmgard, embracing a dozen centuries of annals.
It IS not to be desired that they should — ^the writer who is most
satisfactory in dealing with Anglo-Saxon antiquities is not likely
to be the one who will best discuss the antecedents of the Reforma-
tion, or the constitutional history of the Stuart period But
somethmg can be done by judicious co-operation. In the thirty-
seven years since the first volume of this series appeared m 1904,
it would seem that the idea has justified itself, as the various
sections have passed through many editions and revisions vatymg
from six to eighteen
Each IS intended to give somethmg more than a mere outline
of one penod of our national annals, but they have little space
for controversy or the discussion of sources There is, however,
a bibhography annexed to most of the senes, which will show
the inquirer where information of the more special kind is to be
sought. Moreover, a number of maps are to be found at the
xi
MODERN ENGLAND
XU
end of each volume which, as it is hoped, "will make it unnecessary
for the reader to be continually referring to large historical
atlases — tomes which (as we must confess with regret) are not
to be discovered m every private library.
The general editor and his collaborators have been touched
lightly by the hand of time. All regret the too earty decease
of our colleague Henry Carless Davis, sometime Regius Professor
of Modern History in this University, who wrote the second of
the eight volumes of the senes. He had several times revised
his contribution Most of us survivors continue to do the same
from time to time, as the pen (or sometimes the spade) produces
new sources of information. Naturally the spade is particularly
active for the purveying of fresh material for the first of our
volumes, and the pen (or the press) for the two last. Information
must be kept up to date, whatever the epoch concerned, even
though it IS known that much undiscovered evidence may yet
be forthcoming m the near future For the volumes dealmg
with the latest periods, of which this is one, new light is con-
tinually cropping up from newly-pubhshed memoirs, or state
papers long kept unpublished. It leads from time to time to
alterations of a necessary sort.
Oxford,
May Isi, 1941
C. OMAN
CONTENTS
BOOK I
I Fbologub . . ... 1
A New Era — Science and Politics — Ocean Transport —
Communications — Refrigeration — Welt-PoliUh — De-
mocracy — Social Reform — Labour — Education — ^Ire-
land — ^The Overseas Empire — ^Bureaucracy — ^The Vis
Inerttae
n The Advent of Democractf .... 12
Parliamentary Reform — Counly Franchise Act, 1884
— ^Redistribution Act, 1885 — ^Resignation of Mr Glad-
stone — ^The First Salisbury Mimstiy — ^Lord Carnarvon*
and Ireland — ^Tlie Tones and the Nationalists — ^The
Radicals — ^Dilke and Chamberlain — ^Tory Policy m Ire-
land — ^The General Election of 1885 — ^The ‘ Unauthonzed
Programme’ — The New Parbament — ^Mr Goschen —
The Third Gladstone Mimstry — Chamberlain and Ire-
land — ^The First Home Rule Bill — ^Lord Hartington —
Lord Salisbury’s Alternative Recipe — General Election
of 1886
III The Saijsbubv Govebnuent — Sociai. Refobu . 80
Lord Salisbury’s Second Mimstry — ^Resignation of Lord
Randolph Churchill — ^Parhamentary Procedure — ^Depres-
sion of Trade and Agriculture — ^The Unemployed —
Capital and Labour — Stakes — ^The Dockers’ Stake — ^The
Status of Labour — ^Reform of Local Government—
Goschen’s Finance — ^Education — Social Reform
IV English Pabties and Ibish Hofes . . 40
Mr Balfour’s Rule in Ireland — C S Parnell — The
Crimes Act and the Parnell Letters — ^The State of Ireland
— ^Tlie Parnell Commission — ^Parnell and Mrs O’Shea —
Gladstone and Parnell — ^Death of Parnell — General Elec-
tion of 1892 — Resignation of Gladstone — ^Deatb of
Gladstone
V Libebalism in Fettebs 63
The Rosebery Mimstry — ^Rosebery and Harcourt — The
Newcastle Programme — ‘ Filbng up the Cup ’ — ^The
Welsh Church — Liquor — Employers’ Liabihty — Hours
of Labour — ^Asquith at the Home Office — ^Trafalgar
Square — Coal Stake, 1893 — Queen Victoria and Lord
Rosebery — ^Harcourt’s Budget, 1894— Death Duties —
General Election of 1895 — Third Salisbury Mimstry
xiu
JIODERN ENGLAND
[1685-
CIr^F TAOr
VI England and her Neighbours, 1SS5-9{) , . 77
The EgjTJtian Problem — ^The Suez Canal Share*: — Re-
bellion of Arabi — ^Thc English Occupation — Gordon and
the Soudan — ^Dcath of Gordon — Engl-^nd and Ruesn in
Central Asia — ^The Penjdeh Incident — Salisbun *s Policj
— Salisbury and Bismarck — ^Franee and Gennan\
France and Russia — ^England and France — Encland and
Germany — ^England and Italy — ^Emperor "Wilh-’m tlic
Second — ‘ Dropping the Pilot ’ — The Kaiser in Engl ind —
German Colonies — ^The Partition of Africa, 1800— Eng-
land and the Near East — ^Bulgaria — Greeks and Turks
— Kaiser and Sultan — ^The English in EgjTit — Cromer s
Work — Reconquest of Soudan — ^The Venezuelan Ques-
tion — ^England and USA — ^Hispano-Amencan at —
The First Hague Peace Conference, 1890
VII The New Isiperialism — The Jubilees . 103
A New Era — ^Afnca — South Africa — ^Australia — Canada ’
— Ocean Communications — ^Links of Empire — .Toint
Stock Capital — Colonial Policy The Manchester School
— Imper iali sm — Disraeli — ^The E-qiansion of England —
Imperiffi~F^erTfEibii ueague — ‘ The Cohnderies ’ — ^The
Imperial Institute — First Colonial Conference, 1887 —
The Queen’s Jubilee — Ottawa Conference, 180 1 — Joseph
_Chan^fiElain — ^The Colonial Conference, 1897 — The Dia-
niond Jubilee — ^Thc Recessional
VIII British Dominion in Ajprica — ^The Boer War,
1899-1902 — The Death of Queen Victoria . 127
Cape Colony— The Great Boer Trek— Natal— Federation
— ^Bntish Expansion m South Afnca — ^Diamonds and
Gold — ^The Zulu War- The Transvaal— Nigena— Rho-
desia — ^Boers and Bntons m the Transvaal — ^The War
Office — ^The Queen and the Army — ^Boer Preparations
— ^The Boer War — ^The Black Week — ^Lord Roberts —
Attitude of the Powers — English Opinion — ^Liberal
Disunion — ^The Commonwealth of Austraha, 1900 — ^The
Khala Election — ^The Queen and her People — ^Tlie Death
of the Queen — ^The Boer War Second Phase — ^Edward
VII and the War — ^Peace of Vereenigmg
IX The Close or an Epoch 155
Constitutional Monarchy — ^The Anstocratical Element —
The House of Commons — ^The House of Lords — ^Labour
Members — ^Party Organization — Social Changes — Sun-
day Observance — The Automobile — Industry and Com-
merce — ^The Wage-earners
BOOK n
X ICiNG Edward VII 169
Accession — ^His Earher Years — Apprehensions Allayed
— ^The Civil List — ^Royal Titles Act, 1901 — ^The Heir
Apparent in Austraha — ^The Coronation — ^Resignation
and Death of Lord Sahsbuiy
1945]
CONTENTS
XV
XI The Decline and Fall op the Unionist Govebn-
MENT — ^The Balfoub IMinistbv . 180
Mr Balfour— Sir M Hicks Beach— The Colonial Con-
ference, 1902 — The Educa tio n, Act . 1902 — Technical
an d Secondary Education — Brord ^of^Edueation — ^Mr
i^ismoerlam in soiitn Africa — Colonial Preference —
Ministerial Resignations — ^The Fiscal Battle— ^he Tariff
Befom League — Chamberlain’s Campaign —'Chinese
Slav^— Resignation of Balfour — Close of Chamber-
lam’s Career
Xn The Diplomatic Revolution — ^England and Fok-
EiGN Alliances 200
The Function of History— England and France-— Fr anco-
Russian Rapprochement •— BlSmafck and Russia —
Franco-Russian Alliaii^==Anglo-German Relations —
Chamberlain and BQlow— The Boer War— The Yang-tse
Treaty, 1900 — ^Lord Lansdo^me — German Sea Power —
Edward VH — The Anglo-Japanese Alliance — Sino-
Japanese War— European Outposts m China — ^The
Boxer Rismg — ^The Anglo-Japanese Treaty — Russo^
Japanese War — ^The Anglo-French Agreement, 1904—
Edward VII and France — The German Emperor — ^The
Algeciras Conference, January 1906 — ^The Anglo-Russian
Agreement — ^The Balkan Crisis, 1908 — ^The Hapshurgs
—Serbia — Edward VH and the Cnsis — ^Russia and Ger-
many — ^France and Morocco — ^Attitude of Great Britain
— ^Franco-German Treaty — ^Italy and Tnpoh
kill The Laboxhi Pboblem — ^Tbade Unions and Poli-
tics ' ... 227
The Advent of Labour— Labour and the State — ^Trade
Unions — Trade Umons and Pohtics — The ‘ Class War ’
— ^Marx and George — ^Labour Representations — ^The
I LP— Trade Disputes Act, 1906— The Osborne Case
— Payment of Members and the Political Levy Act —
Industrial Unrest — Railways — Cotton — Coal — Coal
Strike, 1912 — Syndicalism and Sociahsm
XIV The_ New Libebal ism . ... 247
Sir H Campbell-Bannerman — ^Liberal Disumon — Gen-
eral Election, January 1906 — The New Parhament —
Elementar yJSdueatiinn — .Ttiila-nf i gnti — Trade Disputes
Act, 1906 — ^Plural Votmg Bill — Lords v Commons —
Army Reform — ^Mr Haldane— Haldane and the War
XV The Settlement op South Apbica . . 261
Reconstruction under Rlilner, 1902-5 — Chinese Labour
— ^Milner’s Work— Lord Selbome — ^Liberal Pohcy m
South Afiica — ^The Umon of South A&ica — The Native
Problem — Characteristics of the Umon Constitution —
Resignation and Death of Campbell-Bannerman
XVI Social Repobm and Democbatic Finance . -275
The Asqmth Government — ^Mr Lloyd Geo rge — Old
Age Pensions — ^Housmg — ^Reports "on" the Poor Law —
XYl
MODERN ENGLAND
[1885-
XVII
XVIII
xrx
XX
XXI
Social Conditions — ^Uncmploymcni — ^Labour Exchanges
— Trade Board Acts, 1909 and 1918 — National Insur-
ance Act, 1911 — ^Unemployment Insurance — ^Demo-
cratic Finance — Budget of 1900 — Budget of 1907 —
Budget of 1908 — ^The ‘People’s Budget’, 1909-10 —
Land Taxes
The CoNSTiTunoNAj. Crisis ....
The Peers and the Budget — ^The General Election,
January 1910 — ^Death of IQng Ed^^ard VII — King Ed-
ward’s Reign — ICing George V — Constitutional Con-
ference — ^The lOng and his Ministers — ^The Parliament
Bill in the Lords — General Election, December 1910 —
The Referendum Bill — '' Hedgers * and ‘ Ditchers ’ —
The Parhament Act
On the Brink or Armageddon, 1911-14 .
Mr Balfour’s Resignation — ^Mr Bonar Law — Crisis of
1011 — ^Tlie Church in Wales — Disestablishment and Dis-
endow ment — ^The Disestablished Church — ^The * Marconi
Affair ’ — ^Rlr Lloyd Geprge and Sir Rufus Isaacs — ^The
Women’s MflvcnTenP^5lighcr Education of Women —
Woman Suffrage — J S Mill — ^Militant Suffragettes —
Asquith and Votes for Women — Women and ^e War
— ^Reform Act, 1913 — ^Equal Franchise Act, 1928
The Irish Problem . . . .
Balfour’s Chief Secretaryship, 1880-92— The Land Ques-
tion — Act of 1801 — ^The Congested Distnct Board — The
I A O S — Sir Horace Plunkett — ^Department of Agri-
culture and Technical Instruction, 1890 — ^Local Govern-
ment Act, 1808 — Mr George Wyndham — ^Land Purchase
Act, 1903 — Augustine Birrcll — ^Act of 1909 — ‘ Devo-
lution ’ — ^University Education — ‘ Law and Order ’ —
Ulster — ^The Curragh Incident — ^The King and the Insh
Crisis — The Austrian Ultimatum to Serbia
BOOK III
The Genesis or the Great War
Origins of the War — ^Thc Turko-Italian War, 1011-12 —
The Balkan Wars, 1912-13 — ^English Policy — The Ger-
man Navy — Immediate Antecedents of the War — ^The
Kaiser — ^Attitude of England — ^Russia and Serbia —
German Diplomacy
The Great War ......
On the Eve of War — Outbreak of War — ^Belgium — ^Lord
ICitchcner — ^The Navy — ^The Theatres of War — ^The
Near East — ^Turkey — ^The Dardanelles — ^The Chastise-
ment of Serbia — King Constantine — M Venizelos —
Roumania — Salomka — -Mcsopotaima — ^Egypt and the
Canal— Palestine, 1016-18— The Western Front— Mum-
tlODB
PAOB
292
808
830
847
858
1946]
CONTENTS
xvu
yyTT The Cheat Wah — ^The Hoivie Fbont . . • 875
The First Coahtion Government — ^Mimstry of Munitions—
Labour and the War^War Finance — National Expenfii*
ture — ^Loans — Savmgs — ^Taxation — The Western Front,
1915-16 — ^The Somme — ^The Home Front — ^The Irish
Rebellion — Death of Ejtchener — Mr W M Hughes —
Food Supplies — ^Fall of the Asqmth Coalition — Lloyd
George’s Premie rship — ^The Impenal War Cabinet
Italy in tne War — ^Tr^ty of London — ^The Russian Revo-
lution, March 1917 — Intervention of the USA, Apnl
1917— The German Offensive of 1918— The Price of Wat
ygTTT The Ovebseas Empibe and the Wab at Sea . 899
The Overseas Empire — South Africa — Canada — ^Aus-
traha — New Zealand — Defective Machinery — India and
the War — ^Ruling Pnnces — ^The Influence of Sea Power
—Home Waters— The Outer Seas— The Pacific— Peace
Terms — ^The Battle of Coronel — ^The Sequel — ^The Ger-
man Colonies in Afnca — The Campaign m East Afnca
— ^Mandates — ^The Victory at Sea-^utland — ^The Sub-
manne Campaign — ^The Umted States Navy — ^Zeebrugge
— The Achievement of the British Navy — German
Surrender
XXTV The Peace Coneebencb — ^The Tbeaty op Veb-
8AI1XES . . . 418
The Armistice — The ‘ Coupon ’ Election, December
1918 — ^The New Ministry — ^The Peace inference —
Ftence— Germany — ^Poland — Reparations — ^The Treaty
of Versailles — ^The Hapsburg Empire — Czecho-Slovakia
— Hungary — Jugo-Slavia — ^Roumania — ^The Ottoman
Empire — Greece — ^The Turkish Nationalists — Chanak —
The Treaty of Lausanne — The Turkish Republic — ^Egypt
— ^Italy and the Peace— The League of Nations — ^The
Covenant of the League of Nations — ^Palestine — ^Iraq —
hlandatea Commission
XXV The Aptebsiath of Wab 488
The Peace Treaty — ^President Wilson and his Formula
— ^Problem of Reparations — Unrest in England — Indus-
try and Labour in War-time — ^The Machinery of Govern-
ment— The Cabinet System- The Secretanat— Re-elec-
tion of Mimsters — ^Encroaching Bureaucracy
XXVI The Ibish Rebeuuon and Apteb . . . 446
The Rebellion of 1916 — Sinn Fern — ^The Irish Conven-
tion — Agitation m Ireland — ^Election of 1918 — ^The Re-
publican Party — Outrages m Ireland — ^Home Rule ;
Fourth Edition, 1920 — ‘The Treaty’— The Irish Free
State — ^Repubhcan Outrages — ^The IFS Constitution
— ^Ulster — ^President Dc Valera — Economic War
XXVII The Bbitish CoanuoNWEALTH of Nations — Staat-
BNBUND OB BVNDESSTAAT ? .... 457
The Empire and the War — ^The Impenal War Cabmet
—Federalism Repudiated — ^The Impenal Conference of
xvm
MODERN ENGLAND
[1885-
1921 — ^The Washington Conference — ^The Chanak Cnsis
— ^The Lausanne Conference, 1023— The Locarno Pact
— ^The Halibut Fishcncs Treaty of 1923 — The Imperial
Conference, 1923 — ^Diplomatic Representation at Foreign
Courts — ^The Impenal Conference, 1920 — Staiiite of
Westminster — ^Econonuc Unity of the Empire — ^ThePans
Pact — Safeguarding — ^The Imperial Economic Con-
ference, 1923 — ^The Impenal Conference, 1030 — Cnsis of
1931 — ^Abnormal Importations Bill — ^The Import Duties
Act, 1031 — Ottawa Conference, 1032
XXVIII Expectant India — The Ceown and the Peoples
— ^ThE CnOWN AND THE PeINCES . 478
The Great War and India — The E I C — India under the
Crown — Kaiser-i-Hind — ^Royal Proclamation, 1858 — ^The
Crown and the Princes — ^Education — ^The Civil Service
—Constitutional Evolution — Lord Duffenn, Viceroy
1884r-8 — ^Unrest m India — Lord Curron, Viceroy 1899-
1905 — ^The Morley-Minto Regime- Proclamation of King
Edward VII, 1908 — ^Morley-iSIinto Reforms — ^Indian
Counals Act, 1909 — The Coronation Durbar, 1911 —
Defence — Agitation in India — ^Declaration of August
20, 1917 — ^The Montagu-Chclmsford Report — ^Thc
Rowlatt Report — Government of India Act, 1917 — Cen-
tral Government — ^Tlie Indian States Committee — ^The
Statutory Commission — General Pnnciples— Recom-
mendations — ^Round Table Conference — ^The White
Paper, 1931
XXDC Uneestfol England — The Post-wae Yeaes . 504
Causes of Unrest — The * Fever of Anaemia ’ — ^Demobili-
zation — Russia — * Reconstruction * — Education Act,
1918 — ^Whitley Councils— Trade Disputes— The Onset
of Depression, 1920 — ^Unemployment — ^Unemployment
Insurance — Relief Schemes — ^Empire Settlement— Coal
Alines and Railways — Coal Stnkes — ^Tnple Alhance —
Sankey Commission — The Railwaymen — Direct Action
— ^Aiming Industry Act, 1920 — ^Emergency Powers Act,
1920 — ' Black Fnday ’ — Agnculture — ^National Expen-
diture — Government by Conferences — ^Fall of Coahtion
Government, 1922 — ^Alr. Lloyd George — ^Election of 1923
— ^The First Labour Government — ^The Zinovieff Letter —
The Baldwin Alinistry, 1922-9 — ^Derating Act — Coal —
The General Strike — Ctoal Alines Acts — ^Electricity Act,
1926— Trade Disputes and Trade Umon Act, 1927 —
— ^The Prayer Book Revision — ^Local Government Act —
General Election of 1929 — Second Labour, Alinistry,
1929-31 — ^Financial Crisis, 1931 — ^Alay Report— National
Crisis — ^The National Government
XXX Towaeds the Abyss 581
Nationahsm — Egypt — India — Southern Ireland — A
*‘ Council of State ” — The Social Services — ^Poor Law
Reform — ^Unemployment — ^Local Rates — ^Foreign Affairs
— ^Disarmament — ^Alanchuna — ^The Hitler Dictatorship
— ^The Saar Plebiscite — General Re-armament — ^Italy
and Abyssinia — Sanctions — The Rluneland re-mihtanzed
— ^The British Empire — ^Thc Silver Jubilee — ^Death of
1945] CONTENTS 3tix
I{jng George V — Abdication of ICing Edward VIII —
Coronation of King George VI — Civil War m Spam —
Hitler’s Annevations Austna — Italy annexes Albania
— ^The Narrow Straits — Royal Visit to Canada — Czecho-
slovakia — Outbreak of War
XXXI The Second Wokld-Wae 647
Outbreak of War — Finland — ^Denmark and Norway —
The National Government — Collapse of France — British
Empire alone — The Battle of Britain — ^East Africa —
The Mediterranean — Greece — Crete — See-saw in North
Africa — Sunshine and Shadow in 1941 — Alhance with
Russia — ^Alliance nith USA — ^The Far East — ^Russia
— Conference at Casablanca — ^North African Campaign
— ^Tunisia — ^Invasion of Europe — Italy — ^Alhcs in Con-
ference — Cairo, Teheran — ^The War in 1944 — Clearance
of France
XXXII The Home Fhont .... 660
Domestic Affairs — Tlie War Effort — Man Power —
Administration — ^Industiy — Agriculture and Food —
Rationing — Evacuation — Finance — Social Reform —
Education — ^Tonn and County Planning — ^Programme
for Reconstruction — Social Insurance
Bibeiooeaphy . 567
Index . . . . 583
LIST OP MAPS
Egypt and the Soudan . . 75
Africa Political Divisions, 1893 . . 128
Afnca after the Great War . 412
Central and South-Eastern Europe, 1921 . 434
Europe according to the Peace Treaties, 1918-1924 1
End
The British Empire, 1932 .... f of
Growth of Population . , . , , . J
BOOK I
CHAPTER I
PROLOGUE
T he half-century surveyed in this volume marks a distinct A New
epoch m the history of England, of the British Empire,
and of the World. The apex of the period is reached m the Great
War of 1914-18 Involved m the War as a unit, the British
Empire played in it a decisive part, and on the shoulders of tliat
weary Titan has been imposed a large share of responsibihty for
saving the World from the chaos and bankruptcy, material and
moral, resulting therefrom With these matters the last ^ook
(III) of this volume will be largely concerned Of the two pre-
cedmg Books, the first deals with the last years of the Victorian
Era , the second, covering the whole of Bung Edward’s and the
first four years of Kmg George’s reign, deals with the period of
the ‘ Armed Peace ’
Regardmg the penod as a whole it will be seen to possess
certain outstanding features which it may be convenient, at the
outset, to distinguish
The first is the reaction of Science upon Politics and mdustry Science
Science was responsible for the shrinkage of the globe the shorten- pohtics
ing of distances, and the improvanent of communications between
continent and continent, between country and country, differ-
entiated this era from all those which preceded it This phenom-
enon must be attnbuted, primarily, to a series of remarkable
mechanical inventions It was in 1856 that (Sir) Henry Bessemer
first announced at a meeting of the British Association the in-
vention of a process for the production of cheap steel The most
important practical outcome of Bessemer’s invention was the
substitution of steel for iron rails. This invention entitles Bes-
[.E — 1
2
PROLOGUE
[1885-
semer to be numbered among the greatest of our Empire builders,
for, as we shall see in Chapter VII, the economic development
of the British Empire — alike Dependent and Self-Governing — ^has
been m large measure due to the contribution made by railways
to the cheapening of land transport Not, however, until the
period now under review was Bessemer’s great invention, on a
large scale, commercially utihzed. About the same time steel
began to be mcreasingly used m shipbuilding As a result, steel
being both lighter and more durable than iron, the cost of ocean
transport was substantially diminished.
Two other inventions, brought into common use after 1870,
contributed to the same result. We are apt to forget that imtil
the ’eighties of the nineteenth century the great bulk of the world’s
trade was still earned in sailmg ships. When Queen Victoria
came to the throne the voyage from England to Australia, now
accomplished m about forty days, occupied from six to eight
months. Steamships had mdeed made their appearance early in
the century; they came into general use for river and cross-
Channel purposes m the ’twenties, in another ten years they
.began to feel their way over the Atlantic; but the engines of
those days consumed large quantities of coal, the voyages of
steamships were, therefore, conditioned by the availabihty of
coaling stations. Moreover, ocean-going ships had to provide
large storage space for fresh water ; sea water could not be used
for the boilers, which were qmckly ruined by salt ; fresh water
could not be used more than once owing to evaporation. Con-
sequently, for long voyages steamers were not generally used
except for the conveyance of first-class passengers and mails.
There was little room on 'them for cargo, except for such things
as gold bulhon, the value of wluch was great and the bulk
small.
Ocean Two inventions then came to revolutionize ocean transport
transport compound engine wluch from 1860 on-
wards greatly economized the use of coal Ten years later the
perfecting of the surface condenser made it possible to pass the
same water through the boilers as often as might be needed.
These inventions not only liberated space for cargo but also made
for a great reduction in workmg costs. By this time sailing ships
had been improved out of reco^ition, but even so they could not
SCIENCE AND POLITICS
hold their own against the compound engine and the surface
condenser, not to mention the Suez Canal which shortened the
voyage, but only for steamers, from London to Bombay by over
40 per cent of nautical miles, and to Hong Kong by 25 per
cent 1
Ancillary to the development of transport facilities has been Com-
the improvement m means of communication by the telegraph
and telephone. The first submarine cable was laid under the
Straits of Dover m 1851, andm 1865, after vanous’vam attempts,
a cable connecting England and America was successfully laid.
Thereafter, progress was steady, and by 1887 over 100,000 nauti-
cal miles of cable had been laid, almost entirely at the expense
of private capitahsts m this country. The nautical mileage now
(1938) exceeds 800,000 , but cable telegraphy has since the
'nineties encountered serious rivals in the development of long-
distance telephony and m the wireless telegraphy which Signor
Marconi was the first to bnng into commercial use To insist
on the extent to w'hich such inventions have consolidated the
Empire, and promoted Empire trade, would be to labour the
obvious
No single invention has done more to bnng the products ofRcfnger^
the outer Empire into common use in English homes than that
of refrigeration and cold storage Refrigeration for industnal
and transport purposes dates only from the early 'eighties The
Refrigerator Car first made its appearance m the United States
in 1868, and in 1882 the system was adopted by the New Zea-
land Shipping Company. Smce that date the export of mutton
and lamb from that Dominion to the United Kingdom has steadily
increased, and is now about 8,000,000 cwt annually. New Zea-
land, Australia, Canada, South Africa and the West Indies all
send to this country fresh frmt m mcreasing quantities and of
constantly improving quahty , butter and eggs arrive m perfect
condition from the Antipodes, bacon and beans from Canada.
Of chilled beef only a neghgible quantity is imported from Aus-
tralasia, as beef in the chilled state remains in good condition
only for about thirty days South Amenca, consequently, has
^ Cf L C A Knowles, The Economic Deoelopment of the British Overseas
Empire, I, pp 17-18 8 vols , London, 1924 and 1030 To this admirable
work these paragraphs owe much
4
PROLOGUE
[ 1885 -
WeU-
Pohhk
almost a monopoly of the supply of this commodity, but there is
confident hope in the Australasian Dominions that before long
patient research, which has already done so much for their
products, will enable them to compete successfully in the British
market with South America.
The bearing of these inventions upon the political unity of
the Sea Empire and upon the development of intcr-imperial
trade 'calls for no elaborate demonstration.
Within the sphere of the British Empire the reflex action of
Science upon Politics, of Politics upon Science, vas harmonious
and complementary. Beyond that sphere, it was contradictory.
Under the influence of Science the globe was shrinking ; under
the impulse of Politics and the stress of Economics Europe vas
expanding The ’seventies had witnessed the attainment of
national unity in Germany and Italy. In both countries political
unification was the starting-point of economic development and
commercial expansion Both began to pass under the dominion
of forces which had long ago revolutionized the social and eco-
nomic condition of Great Bntain. Though more slouly and less
completely than Great Britain, Germany and Italy were indus-
trialized and urbanized Population, increasing rapidly, tended
to congregate in cities and to w’ork in factories. Industrializa-
tion increased the demand for raw materials, many of which
could be obtained only from tropical countries. Large-scale
production revealed the necessity for oversea markets wherein to
dispose of surplus products. Hence the keen competition for
colonial possessions — notably in Afnca.
Thus the economic expansion of Europe led of necessity to
the development of Welt-Pohtik. Diplomacy began to concern
itself no longer with Europe only, but with all the continents of
the world. The European Chancelleries were occupied as much
with the problem of the Far East as with that of the Near East,
with the Pacific as much as with the Mediterranean, with Africa
even more than with Europe. Early in the ’seventies Japan
emerged with amazing rapidity from the isolation which she had
for centuries successfully preserved Not even the United States
could maintain the attitude of aloofness enjoined by Washington
and Jefferson, and emphasized by President Monroe. Truly the
globe was shrinking, and its shrinkage was of special significance
1932]
PARLIAMENTAHY DEMOCRACY
S
to the Power whose possessions were most widely distributed
Every part of the British Empire became conscious of the pres-
ence of European neighbours, and increasingly sensitive to Euro-
pean competition. It is, then, against the background of world-
history that the events of Enghsh History must m this period
be reviewed
Passing from external to domestic affairs, we must note the Democ
completion of the process by which pohtical power has been
transferred from the few to the many, from an aristocracy to
the democracy The earher stages of that movement were
described in the preceding volume of this work^ The process
was resumed by the enactment of the Parliamentary Reform
Acts of 1884 and 1885. With the passing of those Acts the
present volume opens The senes was completed by the Act
of 1928 which conferred the parliamentary franchise on all adult
citizens of both sexes
The culmination of Parhamentary De/nocracy as the prin-
ciple of the Central Government had its eounterpart in the democ-
ratization of Local Government The Act of 1888 estabhshed
elective County Councils, the Act of 1894 extended the same
pnnciple to District and Pansh Councils
Pohtical machinery is not, however, an end but a means The Social
newly enfranchised electors were quick to use the new weapon
placed in the^ir hands They looked to Parhament for legislation
designed to ameliorate the social and economic condition of the
people at large Nor did they look in vain Conservatives and
Liberals vied with each other m the promotion of social reform
The political field was not, in fact, left to these histone Parties Labour
The period under revision is remarkable for the orgamzation,
pohtical and mdustrial, of the wage-earners Combination among
the manual workers was, indeed, no new thing Trade Unionism
and Co-operation had made considerable progress before 1885.
But up till that time the activities of both these working-class
movements were exclusively economic The former aimed at
obtaimng for the wage-earners better conditions of employment,
higher wages, shorter hours and so forth, as well as at succouring
them m sickness and m periods of unemployment The object
of the Co-operative Movement was to enable the working classes
^ Marriott, England since TF aterloo (ISth cd , 1943}
PROLOGUE
[1885-
to lay out their wages to better advantage and to encourage
saving. Neither Trade Unionism nor Co-operation was in its
inception pohtical. But the enfranchisement of the wage-earners
awakened the pohtical ambition of their industrial associations.
The Trade Unions supplied from the first the nucleus, and still
form the backbone, of the Labour-Sociahst Party and with this
Party the Co-operative Movement also is now closely associated.
To these and parallel developments Chapters III, XIII and XIX
will be largely devoted
Educa- Too tardily did England heed the sagacious advice of Robert
Lowe and proceed to educate her new masters. But the develop-
ment of a national systan of education — ^primary, secondary,
techmcal and Umversity — ^is another characteristic product of
this period. Logically, educational reform ought to have pre-
ceded pohtical enfranchisement. In the case of women it did,
as Chapter XVIII will show But the State was not moved to
educate its male citizens until after it had endowed them with
pohtical power.
Ireland Pohtical enfranchisement did not stop short at the shores of
Great Bntam, and the effect of the legislation of 1884-5 was
demonstrated in Ireland even more qmckly than in England.
Consequently Irish affairs must needs occupy a considerable space
in this volume. From the Home Rule struggle of 1885-92 down
to the Rebellion of 1916 and the Treaty of 1921 Ireland played
a conspicuous and even donunatmg part in the pohtics of the
Umted Kingdom. ‘It wa? an evil day,’ wrote Thomas Car-
lyle, * when Strigul first meddled with that people ’ ^ Readers
who are at pains to ponder tiie contents of Chapters IV, XVII, XIX
and XXVII may well be disposed to assent to this aphorism. It
IS already painfully clear that the problem initiated by the half-
completed conquest of Henry H was not solved by the ‘ Treaty ’
of 1921. The sore which for eight centuries has been festenng
yet remams open. Ireland is still to Great Britain as the heel
of Achilles.
The In sharp and pleasing contrast with the depression engendered
Em^re* by contemplation of the Irish problem is the buoyant hope in-
spired by the progress of the Overseas Empire. Of aU develop-
ments to which this volume must draw attention, perhaps the
^ Essay on Chaitism, Wmhs, vi. 127.
ECONOMICS AND POLITICS
most distinctive is the growth of a new spirit in the relations
between the Motherland on the one hand and the Domimons
and Dependencies on the other. Prom the days of Adana Smith
to those of Richard Cohden English colonial pohcy was domi-
nated by the laisser-faire doctrines of the ‘ Manchester School
Chapter VII wiU disclose the reaction which the ’eighties imtiated
The Imperial sentiment demonstrated at the first Jubilee (1887)
deepened and widened down to the close of the Great War. If
since the Peace Conference centrifugal forces have, in the pohtical
sphere, predominated, they have been counteracted by economic
forces making for integration Both processes will demand
attention m the pages that follow
The centripetal tendencies revealed at the Ottawa Conference Econo-
of 1932 cannot indeed be dissociated from the general reaction poSics*
against laisser-faire. The fiscal policy to which from 1846 to 1932
England adhered represented only one manifestation of the philo-
sophy of the Manchester School. The strength of Benthamite
Liberalism was its doctnnal coherence. The State was to stand
aside and allow free play to the activities of the individual citizen.
The greatest good of the greatest number would, it was held, be
most effectually promoted by a minimum of State interference.
Free Trade was only one illustration of a principle extending to
the whole sphere of government But the strength of the Ben-
thamite School was not without a correspondmg weakness. The
disciples of Cobden and Bnght adhered to a latsser-faire policy
in relation to foreign trade long after their doctnnes had ceased
to dominate domestic legislation State control of mdustry
cannot coexist with fiscal Umser-favre. Trade Uniomsm is
philosophically inconsistent with Free Trade ‘ A nation cannot,’
said Abraham Lincoln, ‘ exist half-slave and half-free ’ The
aphonsm has a wider apphcation The State cannot protect
labour and refuse to protect trade If the State compels the
industnahst and the farmer to shorten hours or raise wages, it
cannot leave their products unprotected from the competition of
commodities produced unda conditions less favourable to labour,
more advantageous to those who employ it
Considerations, stated thus crudely, have profoundly, if not
consciously, influenced legislation m this latest period of English
History.
8 PROLOGUE [1885-
The change in the spirit of legislation has involved changes,
even more radical, in the maclunery of administration
Bureau- The term Bureaucracy has only recently been naturalized in
cracy England. The Government * olhcial ’ was not wont in former
times to obtrude himself upon the attention of the individual
citizen. To-day the Government inspector is everywhere . in
the shop and the factory , in the farmyard, the schoolroom, and
the market From the cradle to the grave the citizen is dogged
by the duty of registration, his hfe is laigely occupied by filling
in official forms and making returns to Government. That all
this has contributed to the general well-being to a marked
improvement in public health , to the protection of the weak
and the restraint of the strong ; to the abolition of abuses and
the pro\nsion of amenities, is undeniable. But all this positive
good has been purchased at a price. The Government inspector
is but a symptom of the growth of bureaucracy. Official forms
are merely the outward and visible signs of the extension of the
functions of the State and the multiplication of pubhc Depart-
ments So gravely is this development viewed in some respon-
sible quarters that a latter-day Coke has recently descended from
the forum into the market-place. Lord Hewart, the Lord Chief
Justice of England, has thought it incumbent on him to issue
urht if not oihi a warning against the encroacliments of the Execu-
tive upon the functions of the Legislature and of the Judicature.^
Lord Hewart’s misgivings, though shared by many of his brethren,
are by some dended as ‘ Victorian Nor were they entirely
dissipated by the Report of a Committee appointed by the Lord
Chancellor (Lord Sankey) to consider the powers exercised by,
or under the direction of, Mimsters of the Crown by way of dele-
gated legislation and judicial or quasi-judicial decisions * Detailed
discussion of this important problem is ob\nously beyond the
scope of an introductory chapter. There can, however, be no
doubt that the increase in the powers and functions of the Execu-
tive, whether it be innocent or noxious,' whether it can or cannot
be restrained, represents one of the most significant tendencies
in the sphere of government dunng the years now under re\new.
And it IS with the sphere of government, with the relations
between the State and its citizen, with political events and ten-
^ The New Despotism London, 1929 • Cmd 4000
1088] ENGLAND LEADS THE WORLD 9
dencies, that this book is concerned It will not, however, escape
notice that Pohtics (in the narrower sense), is increasingly merged
m Economics Constitutional questions which loomed so large
in parliamentary debates dunng the first three-quarters of Queen
Victoria’s reign have m recent days fallen into the background.
The work of Parliament and the interest of the electorate are
now almost exclusively concentrated on economic questions and
international afiairs The term * Pohtics ’ must, then, be broadly
interpreted So interpreted it supphes the central theme of the
chapters that follow.
Of the forces that operate m Pohtics, one of the most powerful The Vis
IS, if paradox be permitted, the vts tnertiae The stream of com-
merce is not readily diverted under normal circumstances from
the channels in w'hich it is accustomed to flow A senes of
momentous discovenes such as those which distinguished the last
years of the eighteenth century may, mdeed, bnng about a sudden
revolution. The inventions of Hargreaves and Arkwnght, of
Watt and Stephenson, of Telford and Macadam, revolutionized
industry and transport, and gave to Great Britain a place in
world-economy such as she had never known before That pre-
eminent place she retained down ta the close of the Queen Vic-
toria’s reign Her remarkable success in the field of mdustry
gave her also political pre-eminence All the progressive nations
of the world (with the notable exception of the United States),
envious of her economic prospenty, took to copying her Parlia-
mentary Constitution Imitation was their undoing, political
institutions do not bear transportation One country’s food is
another country’s poison- Parliamentary Democracy is, of aU
forms of government, the most dehcately poised. It calls for the
most precise adjustment to political conditions Those condi-
tions existed in the England of the nineteenth century, the
forces which make for the success of Parliamentary government
w’ere, under Queen Victoria, perfectly balanced Nowhere else
did the essential conditions exist , other.peoples had not passed
through the same indispensable apprenticeship Consequently,
nowhere did a copy reproduce the success of the original In
many cases the experiment has now been abandoned
Thus England no longer leads the world pohtically , her easy
supremacy in commerce and industry has passed away. Still
10
PROLOGUE
[ 1885 -
more serious for an insular State, the centre of a Sea Empire, is
the loss of her ascendancy in shipping. It becomes, therefore,
a grave question -whether Great Britain can continue tc sustain
a teeming population which has come into being under conditions
no longer fulfilled Thus far, the surplus population has been
mamtained by taxing the accumulated resources of the wealthier
classes. Nor has there been any deterioration in the physique or in
the general well-being of the population On the contrary, the
people as a whole are better housed, better clothed and better
fed than they were in the noontide of national prosperity
The economic momentum derived from Victorian days has
not yet exhausted itself. Any decline that may be discerned is
merely relative to other nations; of absolute decline there is
no evidence.
Nevertheless, the doubt persists how long the momentum
can last Adversity has undoubtedly taught some salutary les-
sons ; the leaders of industry have learnt that they cannot expect
the favours of Pro-vidence to be poured into their laps without
effort, that changing conditions demand new methods ; traders
have learnt that even British goods will not sell themselves ;
wage-earners have learnt that no concern can permanently pay
out in wages more than it receives from the sale of its products ;
politicians have learnt that in the miAst of a world fiscally armed
to the teeth tins country cannot remain wholly unprotected ;
they have learnt that continued neglect of agriculture has brought
on them the ine-vitable, if dilatory, nemesis , above all they have
learnt that a nation, no more than an individual, can live beyond
its means -vMthout incurring the penalty of bankruptcy.
The post-War years have been years of difficulty, culminating
at times in crises. Yet, despite the hardness of the times, despite
the crushing burden of taxation the nation has had to carry, the
stream of charity has never failed, no appeal from any people in
any quarter of the world has ever remained unanswered, while
the public ‘ social services ’ have been maintained on a scale of
generosity such as no other country in the world has even
attempted to emulate.
But the most generous purses, public or private, are not bottom-
less. By behaving as though they were, this country was brought
* A Survey of London ( 1934 ).
1932]
THE CRISIS OF 1931
11
m 1931 to the brink of bankruptcy It was forced off the gold
exchange standard, but by a supreme effort of the national will
bankruptcy was averted At the critical moment the King inter-
vened, and once again demonstrated the immense value of an
hereditary monarchy, standmg serenely above all party issues,
and assuming direct responsibihty only T\hen that assumption
was essential to the safety of the State
The King staved off ^saster Only the nation could save
itself To the call for sacrifice it responded nobly For the third
time m the last two decades, the people of this land proved them-
selves to be of the breed of giants. The whole world looked on
with wonder and admiration As in 1914, as in 1926, so again
in 1931-2, Britons proved that the national fibre is still sound,
that in real stamina, moral or physical, there has in fact been
no decay* they remain
A nation yet, the rulers and the ruled
Some sense of duly, somethmg of a faith.
Some reverence for the laws ourselves have made,
Some patient force to change them when we will.
Some CIVIC manhood, firm against the crowd
With the gnm fight against imminent disaster , with the gaming,
inch by mch, of ground that should lead to the haven of national
security, if it may be of national prosperity, this work will close ^
^ To the later editions an epilogue has been added, bringing the narrative
os far as possible up to date
12
THE ADVENT OF DEMOCRACY
[1885-
Parlia-
mentary
Reform
CHAPTER II
THE ADVENT OF DEMOCRACY— ENGLISH PARTIES AND
IRISH HOPES
T he Reform Acts of 1884-5 announced the advent of
Democracy. All classes of the community were at last
represented in the Imperial Parhament at Westminster That
fact governs the domestic pohtics of Great Britain and Ireland
duiing the period surveyed m this book. Down to the Revolu-
tion of 1688, the English monarch not only reigned but ruled
As was the monarch, such was the condition of the people ,
such was the place of England among the nations. A strong
and wise king meant strong and wise'government , under a weak
king the people suffered and the country was abased After the
Revolution of 1688, more particularly after the accession of the
Hanoverian Sovereigns in 1714, the Royal Power, never quite
absolute, was more and more hmited by Parliament and by
Ministers responsible thereto. But until 1832 both Houses of
Parliament were dominated by a group of great families,
the heads of which not only composed the House of Lords,
but to a large extent controlled elections to the House of
Commons
The Reform Act of 1832 detlironed this territorial oligarchy ;
the balance of pohtical power passed to the middle classes, of
whom the new electorate was mainly composed. But though
the middle classes controlled the House of Commons, executive
power still rested with the older aristocracy. A Peel or a Glad-
stone, representatives of the new aristocracy of commerce, might
reach the highest place m the political hierarchy, but they
formed the exception Every Prime Llinister bet\veen 1832 and
1867 belonged to a noble family, as did most of his Cabinet
colleagues.^
1 Except Peel
18 SG] PARI^IAJIENTARY REFORM 13
The Reform Bill of 1867 admitted to the parliamentary fran-
chise some 1,000,000 new electors, mostly urban artisans It -was Fran-^
based on the principle of ‘ household suffrage ’ It was not long,
however, before there was a demand championed by Mr. (after-
wards Sir George) Trevelyan for the assimilation of the county
to the borough franchise and the consequent admission to elec-
toral power of the great mass of the agricultural labourers The
Bill of 1884 conceded this demand, and, as ultimately passed,
added some 2,000,000 voters to the electorate But the Fran-
chise Bill was to be followed by a Bill for the redistribution of
seats, and the House of Lords, on the motion of Lord Cairns,
declined to assent to a ‘fundamental change in the electoral
body ’ until the Government produced its scheme for the re-
adjustment of the constituencies
The action of the Lords, though eminently reasonable, evoked Redistn-
a furious agitation in the country, and a serious conflict between Art,”**
the two Houses, or, as others put it, between ‘ the Peers and the 1885
People ’, was averted only by the intervention of Queen Victoria
She exerted herself strenuously to bring the parties together, and
with such success that the Lords accepted the Franchise Bill,
and the Redistribution of Seats Bill was passed virtually without
opposition Not for the first time in his ministerial career, Mr.
Gladstone had good reason to ‘ tender his grateful thanks ’ to
the Queen ‘ for the wise, gracious and steady influence on Her
Majesty’s part’ which had ‘so powerfully contnbuted to . .
avert a serious crisis of affairs ’ Under the new Act all boroughs
with less than 15,000 mhabitants were deprived of separate
representation and were merged m the counties to which they
belonged j boroughs with less than 60,000 inhabitants lost onr
member For the rest, with the exception of twenty-two middle
sized boroughs, such as Preston, Bnghton, and Stockport, and
certam Universities, the whole country was divided into single-
member constituencies, thus approximating to the idea of equal
electoral areas In order to facilitate this change twelve addi-
tional members were added to the House, bnnging its numbers
up to 670.
Even so the prmciple of equal representation, one vote one
value, was most inadequately realized Two votes in Ireland,
for example, were of equal electoral value to three in England,
14.
THE ADVENT OF DEMOCRACY
[1885-
while in England itself the growth, and still more the shifting,
of population quiekly reduced the idea of equal distribution to
a grotesque absurdity. Nor did the system of single-member
constituencies secure, as was hoped, the adequate representation
of minorities, or help men of independent opinions to obtain seats
in Parhament. On the contrary, it tended to accentuate the
over-representation of ma 3 oritics, and to increase the rigidity of
party organization — both central and local. Yet no alternative
has yet commended itself to any one of the fourteen Parliaments
elected since 1885
toon of*^" The new system was soon put to the test. Hardly were the
Mr. Glad- Reform Bills on the Statute-book when Mr. Gladstone’s ministry
stone ^as defeated in the House of Commons (June 8) The occasion
of their defeat u as a clause m the Finance Bill of the year. The
cause IS to be found m a rapidly accumulating burden of unpopu-
larity, evoked mainly by the disastrous polic y pursued b y the
Government in Egypt, partly also by the failure of their succes-
sive and contradictory pohciS~m~Tr3an9.~^Alt&hatcr’^se^of
coercion and concili ation excited Ihingled hatred and contempt
i iTlreiand , and l ed E n ghsh p'eople to despair of finding any solu-
tion of an .immemorial problem. Though the majOTity "againsl
him was only twelve, and thouglT the reverse might have been
retrieved, Mr. Gladstone insisted on resignation BHs insistence
bespoke the shrewd tactician. Now as always the Queen resented
the intrusion of party tactics, but after a vain protest sent for
Lord Salisbury, the leader of the Conservative Party in the Lords,
rightly judging that he was better equipped for the post of Prime
Mimster than Sir Stafford Northcote who led a somewhat undis-
ciplmed party in the Commons.
Lord Salisbury, agreeing with the Queen that Gladstone’s
resignation was uncalled for, was unwilling to take office. More-
over, he was in a dilemma Under ordinary circumstances he
could have taken office and then immediately have asked, for a
dissolution of Parliament But the Reform Acts interposed
inevitable delay No election could take place before November,
and Lord Salisbury, accordingly, declined to take office in a
mmonty unless Gladstone would undertake to help the Conserva-
tives to obtain the necessary supphes and carry on the routine
^ Involving a new rcgislier of electors.
FIRST SALISBURY MINISTRY
IS
1886]
busmcss of State. Gladstone would give no pledges, a tense
situation was protracted for nearly a fortnight, and was then
reheved only by the strenuous exertions of the Queen She
pressed an Earldom on Gladstone in a letter which, as he wrote
to Lord Granville, ‘ moves and almost upsets me It must have
cost her much to write and is really a pearl of great price.’ The
peerage was declined, but the rival leaders at length arrived at an
xmderstandmg and Lord Salisbury kissed hands as Prime Mimster.
In forming his mimstry Lord Sahsbury was confronted by a The Arat
difficulty. Some of the younger and more energetic Conservatives
in the House of Commons had long chafed under the leadership
of Northcote The rebel leader. Lord Randolph Churchill, now
refused to take office unless Northcote was translated to the
Lords Sahsbury demurred to this ultimatum, he had a real
affection and respect — ^shared by all who knew him — ^for North-
cote, and was unwilhng to put this gross affront upon a man,
already disappomted of the fulfilment of his legitimate ambitions.
Lord Randolph, however, was adamant Sir Michael Hicks Beach,
who stood next to Northcote in the official hierarchy, supported
Churchill, and Salisbury gave way. He had no alternative.
Northcote became Earl of Iddesleigh and First Lord of the
Treasury. Sahsbury himse lf took the Foreign Office, the best of
all possible arranpments had that office not been combined
with the Premiership Hicks Beach became Chancellor of the
Exchequer with the lead of the House of Commons ; Lord Ran-
dolph went to the India Office, where he quickly won golden
opmions from the permanent officials , ]\Ir R A Cross, to the
Queen’s satisfaction, returned to the Home Office ; Mr. W. H.
Snuth went to the War Office and Lord George Hamilton to the
Admiralty , Mr. A J. Balfour, a nephew of the Prime Mimster,
and one of Lord Randolph’s heutenants, became President of the
Local Government Board, but without Cabmet rank, another
rebel, Sir John Gorst, became, not too appropnately, Sohcitor-
General. But the Irish offices furmshed the key positions Mr.
Gibson, an Insh la^vyer, whb for some years^ had done yeoman
service on party platforms, became Lord Chancellor of Ireland
with a peerage (Lord Ashbourne) and a seat m the Cabmet
Most significant of all the appomtments, however, was that of
Lord Carnarvon
16 THE ADVENT OF DEMOCRACY ri 885 -
The Irish situation was of the utmost complexity. ^ At the
election of 1880 Lord Beaconsfield had attempted to concentrate
the attention of the English electorate upon He warned them
that Ireland would attempt ‘ to sever the constitutional tie which
unites it to Great Britain Nobody at the time believed that
his warning was other than an electoral device to diveit attention
from a tarnished record in foreign policy. The next five years
were to prove the accuracy of his forecast During those years
the condition of Ireland went from bad to worse Land Acts
had failed to conciliate , coereion failed to restore order Was
there a sors ierim open to Lord Carnarvon and his Conserva-
tive colleagues ’
Lord Lord Carnarvon was a elose friend of the new Piime Minister,
TO^anc resigned from Disraeli’s first ministry, rather
Ireland than accept the Reform Bill of 1807. Admitted to Disraeli’s
second ministry in 1874 he had again seecded — this time on the
Eastern Question Carnal von’s mind was of too fine a texture,
his conseientiousness too great for the day-to-day work of admin-
istration He was a scholar-philosopher who, under a high sense
of public duty, had descended mto the dusty arena of politics
He had presided with conspicuous success over the concluding
stages of the great measure for Canadian confederation He had
been anxious to apply the federal principle in South Africa, and
his mind was turning towards some form of devolution in Ireland
when in June 1885 he accepted the Viceroyalty and as a Cabinet
Minister became primarily responsible for the Irish pohey of the
new Government.
Only with reluctance did he yield to the pressure of his old
friend and colleague Nor was Lord Salisbury unaware of the
risk the appointment involved * Our best and almost only ho ne
i s to c ome to some fair and reasonable arrangement for Ho me
Rule ’ with safeg uards So Carnarvon had vTitten to Salisbury
in February. Lord Salisbury was not hopeful of the suggested
solution, but nevertheless pressed Carnarvon to go to Ireland.
He ultimately accepted the post as ‘ a special mission limited to
the period indicated (i e. until after the General Election or the
meeting of the new Parliament) and knowing,’ as he wrote on
* It IS analysed in detail in tlie preceding volume of this vork Cf.
Marriott England since Waterloo, pp. 482-5, 492-S.
1880] TORY POLICY IN IRELANl, 17
June 16, ‘ that I may implicitly count upon the fullest support
of j ourself and my colleagues at home.’
Other Conservative leaders were moving, if not towards Home
Rule at least away from ‘ Coercion ’ On May 7, 1885, Hicks and the
Beach had written to Sahsbury after ‘ a long talk with Churchill ’ National-
expressing his opmion that the Tones ought not to turn Gladstone ,
out ‘ unless we feel that we, if m office, could do without a renewal
of the Irish Coercion Bill ’ , and he added, ‘ I do not hke Spencer’s
system, and do not believe m its necessity ’ ^
Churchill vas, at that time, in communication with Parnell,
theTeaderof the Irish Nationahsts Speaking at St Stephen’s
Club to his Conservative finends on May 20, he concluded with
these grave words * ‘ I beheve most firmly that this ought to be
the attitude of the Tory party — ^that while they are ready and
willing to grant to any Government of the Queen whatever
powers may be necessary, on evidence adduced, for the preserva-
tion of law and order, they ought . . not to be committed -to
any act or pohey which should unnecessarily wound and injure
the feelings and sentiments of our brothers on the other side of
the channel of St George ’ * Not that Lord Randolph ever
wavered for an instant in his attachment to the Legislative
Union ‘ On that issue he was immovable I never heard him
use but one language with regard to it — ^that it was impossible.*
That is tlie testimony of his mtimate friend. Lord Rosebery , and
it IS conclusive.® But short of Home Rule , t here was no conces -
s ion which he was not prepared and anxious to make . particu
larly if he might thereby satisfy the Irish Cathohcs in the matter
of rehgion
The attitude of the Tones reacted not only on the Par- The
nellites, but also on the Radical wmg of the Liberal Party, already
in semi-revolt against Gladstone and the Whigs, and far from
dismayed by the downfall of his Government Among these
Radicals two stood out promment
One was Sir Charles Dilke, who had been admitted to Glad- Dilke and
stone’s Cabinet as President of the Local Government Board
1882, had served as Chairman of the Royal Commission on the
* Hicks Beach, Lnfe, i 230
* Winston Churchill, lnfe of Lord Randolph ChurchtU, i 291.
» Rosebery, Lord R C , p 23
ME — 2
18
THE ADVENT OF DEMOCRACY
[ 188 i
housing of tile working classes in 1884, and had displayed con-
spicuous parliamentary ability in piloting the Redistribution Bill
through the House of Commons. Down to 1885 Dilke was re-
garded ns the predestined successor to Gladstone in the leader-
ship of the Liberal Party ; but m that year he became involved
in divorce proceedings, and, though not adjudged guilty of the
more scandalous charges alleged against him, his political career,
at that time full of biilliant promise, was prematurely ended.
Closely connected vith Dilke in ties of personal and political
friendship was J oseph Chamberlain . During the period imme-
diately under renew Chamberlain was, of all English statesmen,
the most representative and one of the most influential. Firmly
convinced of the merits of parliamentary democracy, an ardent
social reformer though opposed to social revolution, above all a
V hole-hearted believer in the Imperial imssion of the British race,
Ch amberlain pre-eminently embodied the most vital an d the mo st
characteristic ideas, o fJLhat epoch. Bom in 1830 of middle-class
stock, vith strong Nonconformist traditions, Joseph Chamber-
lain, though a Londoner by birth, was from the age of eighteen
continuously associated with Birmingham Entering the busi-
ness of his unde, Mr Nettlefold, a screw manufacturer, in 1854,
he vas so successful that within twenty years he w^as able to
retire from active business with a considerable fortune. Mean-
w'hile, he had already exhibited his keen interest m pubhc affairs.
He became Chairman of the National Education League in Bir-
mingham in 1868, -was elected to the City Council in 1SC9, to the
first Birmingham School Board in 1870, and served as Mayor of
Birmingham in 1873, 1874 and 1875, A strong advocate of
municipal enterprise, he stimulated the Corporation to purchase
the gas-w'orks, the water-works, the sewage farm, and, by an
extensive scheme of slum clearance and rehousing, he transformed
the outw'ard aspect of the city of his adoption. He keenly sup-
ported the movement for the provision of Art Galleries and Free
Libraries, and by every means witlun the reach of individuals
and of Local Authorities he sought to promote the material and
moral well-being of the whole community
But there were reforms, on which he had set his heart, outside
the competence of Local Authorities. To achieve them he sought
a seat m Parliament. Defeated at ShefTicld m the General
JOSEPH CHAIMBERLAIN
19
Election of 1874, he was returned for Birmingham at a by-
election in 1876, and promptly set to work to reorganize the
local Liberal Associations on a representative basis. He thus be-
came with Mr Schnadhorst the reputed father of the ‘ Caucus
The frmt of his labours was reaped in the Liberal victory of
1880
Some personal reward could hardly have been withheld , but
Chamberlain and Dilke had mutually agreed to swim or sink
together Mr Gladstone and his Sovereign were more than will-
ing that both should sink Their co-operation was, however,
essential to the success of the new Government. Chamberlain
was accordmgly admitted to the Cabinet as President of the,
Board of Trade Dilke represented the Foreign Office m the
House of Commons, and two years later was promoted to Cabinet
rank. Gladstone had recommended Chamberlam to the Queen
on the ground that ‘ he was very pleasmg and refined in feehngs
and manner ’ that ‘ he had never spoken against [the Queen] Dr
the Royal Family, or had expressed Repubhcan views ’. The
Queen, however, found him ‘ most dangerous * and frequently com-
plained to the Prime Mirastor about his impetuous colleague’s
speeches They were, mdeed, hardly less distasteful to Glad-
stone than to the Queen but Gladstone had the fortunes of the
Party to consider , the Queen had no thought but for the country.
From the Party point of view Chamberlain’s support became
increasingly indispensable But it was rendered with increasing
reluctance Chamberlam hked coercion no more than did
Churchill, and l ong before Gladstone’s ' conversion to H ome Rule
I propou nded a large scheme for the reorgamzation of local govern -
ment, on an elective basis , with a representative Central Board
for the whole of Ireland, to be charged with such matters as
primary education, pubhc works and poor rehef, but not to be
in any sense a parliament with an executive responsible thereto.
His scheme was turned down by the Cabinet, but from the prm-
ciple which underlay it he never swerved.
Responsibihty for the government of Ireland had, however, Tory
passed into other hands. The policy of the Sahsburv Ministry
w as announced by Lord Carnarvon m the House of Lords^ on
JuIyjS)^ and his statement was briefly endorsed, a day later, by
* Cf Carnarvon, Life, HI, 165-7 , Hansard, 6 vii ’85
20
THE AD’NOilNT OF DEMOCRACY
[1885-
Hicks Beach in the Commons The Government had decided
'not to renew the Coercion Act or any part of it, but to make an
earnest attempt to rule Ireland by a ‘ vigorous and vigilant
administration of the ordinary law
Ten days later Parnell demanded a public inquiry into the
justice of the sentences passed on various persons convicted of
murder in the Maamtrasna and other recent cases The sen-
tences had been confirmed by Lord Spencer ; Carnarvon was
opposed to the reopening of the question, and the Cabinet sup-
ported his decision Ilicks Beach, however, was uneasy about
the matter and induced the Viceroy to promise a full mquiry
into the matter. The inquiry was held and as a result Carnarvon
confirmed the decisions of Lord Spencer.
On August 1, however. Lord Carnarvon met Parnell with
every circumstance of secrecy in an empty house m Hill Street.
Salisbury was informed of the proposed meeting beforehand,
and received from Carnarvon both a verbal and a written report
of the conversation immediately after the intcmew^ He had
urged the Viceroy to be ‘ extremely cautious ’ in all that he might
say, and was dismayed to learn that Carnarvon had neglected
the precaution of having Lord Ashbourne present as a third
party. Carnarvon desured that the Queen but not the Cabinet
should be informed about the interview; Lord Sahsburj’^ de-
murred, and neither the Queen nor the Cabinet “ heard anji:hing
about it until m June 18SG it became public property.
On the night of June 7-8, 1886, two hours before the fateful
division on the Home Rule Bill, Parnell created a great sensation
by stating that he ‘ had every reason to know that the Con-
servative Party, if they should be successful at the polls, would
have offered Ireland a Statutory Legislature with a right to pro-
tect her own industries, and that this would have been coupled
with the settlement of the Irish Land Question, on the basis of
purchase, on a larger scale than that now proposed by ’ Mr. Glad-
stone ^ Sir M. H Beach emphatically contradicted the state-
ment of Parnell, who then rose and stated positively that he
spoke on the authority of one who was then a Minister of the
Crown. Challenged to name the individual he stated that he
1 Printed in Carnarvon’s L%fe, III; 178-81
* Except Lord Ashbourne. ^ Hansard, 7. vi p 1181.
1880]
LORD CARNARVON AND PARNELL
21
would do it when he received permission from him to do so.^
Hicks Beach spoke of course in perfect good faitli , he was evi-
dently believed , the incident had little if any effect on the
division. ,
The Press immediately identified Carnarvon as the Minister
indicated by Parnell, and on June 10 the ex-Viceroy “ made a
brief statement in the Lords ‘He did not,’ Lord Kimberley
reported to the Queen, ‘give any information as to the nature
of these communications [with Parnell] except that they were
made without the cognizance of any of his colleagues, and con-
veyed no promises . . ’ The pertinent passage in Carnarvon’s
speech ran as follows ‘ Let me endeavour to say in the plainest
language I can command that I was not actmg for the Cabinet
nor authorized by them ... I never commumcated to them
even that which I had done Therefore, the responsibility was
simply and solely mine , they were not cogmzant of my action ’
As to bargain with Parnell Ihere was none ‘ We both left the
room as free as when we entered it.’ ® In assuming ‘ sole respon-
sibihty ’ Lord Carnarvon repudiated in greater detail the account
of the mterview which in the interval Parnell had given. Car-
narvon was more generous towards his chief than his chief towards
him To the Queen, who was greatly annoyed at having been
kept in the dark, Salisbury wrote (June 14) that Lord Carnarvon
‘ acted impulsively and with little foresight ’ and took singularly
httle precaution to protect either himself or his colleagues from
misunderstanding That was undeniable
In order to complete the story of a cimous incident the sequence
of events has been anticipated To return Carnarvon was not
alone among the Conservative leaders in his anxiety to make
terms with Parnell ‘ There was no compact or bargain of any
kind,’ said Churchill to an mtimate friend , ‘ but I told Parnell
when he sat on that sofa [m Churchill’s study] that if the Tones
took office and I was a member of their Government, I would
not consent to renew the Crimes Act Parnell replied, “ In that
case you will have the Irish vote at the elections ” ’ ‘
1 Mr Gladstone to the Queen (Q F L , 3rd Scries, 1, 142) Two years
Inter (May 1888)
: Carnarvon had resigned in January 1886
s Hansard, 10 vi pp 1256-0 * R C , Life, 1 305
22
TIIE ADVENT OF DEMOCRACY
[1885-
Thc
General
Election
of 1885
The * Un-
author-
ized Pro-
gronune ’
The Crimes Act was not renewed, and during tlie brief
remnant of the session a Land Bill known as the Ashbour ne Act,
was passed. That Act laid the foundatio ns of the gradual_jprb-
cess wluch . by the use of English credit, "cpnverFedjEhe t^ant-
culiivators into the propiielors of the soil Under this Act,
a tenant could, by voluntary agreement with his landlord, pur-
chase Jus farm, borrowing the whole amount of the purchase
money fiom the State at 4 per cent. Not only did he thus
secure an immediate reduction of rent (generally reckoned at
about 20 per cent as compared vith the ‘ judicial ’ rent of 1881),
but at the end of forty-nine years he became automatically the
owner of his farm. The total sum to be advanced by the State
(out of the Irish Church surplus) was limited to £5,000,000. But
the experiment, though on a modest scale, formed the basis of
all subsequent land-purchase legislation do^Yn to the great measure
passed by Mr George Wyndham in 1903
The Parliament elected m 1880 had now run its course. Its
successor w'ould reflect the judgement of a greatly enlarged elec-
torate To the enlightenment and stimulation of that electorate
the autumn was devoted by all parties. Interest, however, w'as
largely concentrated on the speeches of Mr Chamberlain. In
July the blow, almost as terrible to him as to lus friend, had
fallen on Dilkc The campaign planned by them in common had
to be fought by Chamberlain alone, and with an added sense of
responsibility. For if Dilkc w'cre driven out of public hfe, on
W'hom could Gladstone’s mantle fall but on Chamberlain himself’
Gladstone had in fact no intention of retiring, and, not without
subtlety, obtained from both wungs of his party a written assur-
ance that they wished lum to retain the leadership Neverthe-
less, Chamberlain launched his ‘ unauthorized programme * and
in a series of masterly speeches dehvered in all parts of the country
expounded its details.
Chamberlain was at that time regarded by all Conservatives and
many Liberals as a dangerous agitator, a modern * Jack Cade
Be that as it may, he had gauged more accurately than any one
else the significance of the Reform Acts of 1884-5. * I am con-
fident that the inclusion of the whole people in the work of
J To tills the writer, who took on active port in the political campaign,
can personally testify.
1880] “THE UNAUTHORIZED PROGRAMME” 23
Government will compel a larger measure of attention to those
social questions which as they concern the greatest happmess
of the greatest number ought to be the first object of Liberal
pohcy ’
Those words were in the forefront of his election address to
the electors of West Binmngham His numerous speeches sup-
phed a powerful and masive commentary on that text The
‘ programme ’ as summarized by his biographer contamed seven
principal propositions • (1) Free Primary Education ; (2) Re-
orgamzation of local government, on an elective basis, for rural
areas , (3) Financial reform, partly by graduated taxation moder-
ately applied, through death duties and house-duties, not income
tax, partly by a levy on ‘ unearned increment ’ (the doctrme
of ‘ ransom ’ on which opponents fixed), with the object of
hghtemng indirect taxation and paying for social reforms —
particularly for slum clearance, (4) Land Reform, especially
designed to give the labourer a stake in the soil, and re-create a
race of smallholders and yeomen, by the action of local authonties
equipped with compulsory powers for the acqmsition of land at
an eqmtable price; (6) Disestabhshment of State Churches in
England, Scotland and Wales, (6) Manhood suffrage and pay-
ment of members It is noticeable that every one of these items,
with the partial exception of (3) and (S) have smce been conceded
Finally . as regards Ireland On that, as on all other matters,
the Radical leader spoke without ambiguity or penphrasis
Speaking at Dublm on August 24, Parnell had put forward his
demand for a separate and mdependent Parhament for Ireland,
and declared that its first object would be to impose a protective
duty on all English manufacturers To that speech Chamberlain
replied in his histone speech at Wamngton (September 8). * If
these, and these alone, are the terms on which Mr. Parnell’s support
IS to be obtained I will not enter mto competition for it ’ Nor
did he He had already demonstrated his sympathy with the
Irish people ; he had declared for ‘ Home-Rule-All-Round ’ — on
equal terms for the different parts of the Umted Eingdom, but
preserving its umty, and leavmg the Impenal Parhament, unim-
paired m composition andauthonty, as the supreme legislature of
a common realm ^ To the idea of an independent Parhament, based
* Garvio, Joseph Chamberlain, II, 75
General
Election
of 1885.
“>
24 THE ADVENT OF DEllIOCRACY [188&-
on the recognition of Ireland as a separate nation, Chamberlain
would never hsten.
The momentous election opened towards the end of Novem-
ber. The earlier returns from English boroughs seemed to por-
tend a sweeping Tory majority, and they did finally return 116
Tories against 106 Liberals. Liverpool returned 8 Tories and
1 Home Ruler ; Manchester 6 Tories and 1 Liberal , London 36
against 26. But the balance was redressed by the English
counties, which returned 184 Liberals against 108 Tories, and by
Scotland and Wales where Tones were hard put to it to find any
seats at all. Thus the final result was 335 Liberals ; 249 Tories
(of w horn 18 came from Ireland) ; and 86 Nationalists Parnell
held the balance. His astute calculations had been precisely
realized. If he united with the Tones he could reduce the Liberals
to impotence. In conjunction with a united Liberal Party he
could dictate to the House of Commons.
But were the Liberals likely as a united Party to form an
alliance with Parnell ?
To Mr. Gladstone Parnell’s victory in Ireland appeared con-
clusive. The new Irish electorate, increased by Gladstone’s Bill
from 200,000 to 700,000, had spoken. On December 17 his
* conversion ’ to the principle of Home Rule was publicly an-
nounced by the ‘ mischievous machinations ’ (the phrase is John
Morley’s) of his son Herbert. Labouchere, a Radical free-lance,
not wathout influence, asenbed Gladstone’s conversion to the
* senile passion of an old man ’ for pow’er Labouchere w'as not
only cynical, but unjust.^ Gladstone w ould gladly have seen the
Irish question settled by the Tories, and actually suggested that
solution to Mr. Balfour, who duly reported it to his uncle. Lord
Salisbury. The latter was, however, adamant against Home
Rule. So W'as Churchill, who admitted that the Tories had been
badly advised m their Irish policy and by dropping Coercion and
flirting with Parnell had largely contributed to Gladstone’s ‘ con-
version ’. But there was to be no further surrender Lord Car-
narvon’s attempt to govern by the ordinary law had lamentably
1 Injustice did not, how e\ cr, blunt the edge of lus wit ‘ To get into
power I really bclie\e,’ wrote Labouchere (December 23), ‘that he would
not only give up Ireland but Mrs Gladstone and Herbert ’ Lord Salisbury
was of the same opinion . * Gladstone is mad to take office,’ he wrote on
December 11.
1880]
THREE ACRES AND A COW
25
failed. ‘ Almost immediately after the lapse of the Crimes Act
boycotting increased fourfold ’ Those were Gladstone’s own
words (April 8, 1886). The National League had trebled the
number of its branches , magistrates and juries were intimidated,
and in many parts of Ireland the law was openly defied
Such was the situation when on January 12th the new Par-
liament met. A few days later Lord Carnarvon and his Chief ment '
Secretary, Sir W. Hart Dyke, resigned,^ and Mr W H Smith
became Chief Secretary and pnmanly responsible for the govern-
ment of Ireland
The Queen’s Speech hinted haltingly at a renewal of Coercion,
and on January 26 Hicks Beach gave notice of a motion to sus-
pend all other business, in order to pass a measure for the sup-
pression of the National League At long last the Cabinet had
decided on resolute action The die was cast On the same
night the Government was defeated by 831 to 252 on an amend-
ment to the address, moved by Chamberlain’s heutenant, Mr
Jesse Collings The amendment regretted the omission from the
Queen’s Speech of any measure about allotments for labourers
‘ T hree Acres and a Cow ’ was Urns made to play an histone part.
But ^Ereland was the real point at issue Chamberlain’s brilliant
campaign was crowned with the imprimatur of Parliament , but
Parnell dominated the situation. Of the majority of 79, 74 were
Parnellites
Lord Salisbury immediatdy resigned , and the Queen, who
for some weeks had been in correspondence with Mr Goschen,
summoned him to Osborne
Goschen, standing aloof from all the recognized parties, held
a unique position among the statesmen of that day He had ^
entered the Cabinet under the premiership of Lord Russell in
1866, and served under Gladstone from 1868 to 1874 He was
out of sympathy, however, with Gladstone both on foreign and
domestic questions, and dechned to rejom him in 1880 His
reputation for samty and moderation, combined with ardent
patriotism, was an exceptional one, and he might had he chosen
have been Viceroy of India or Speaker of the House of Commons
The Queen relied greatly on his judgement and almost pathetically
* For letters interchanged with Lord Salisbury, see Carnarvon’s Life, III,
211, and for his memorandum for the Cabinet, ibid , 256 f
26
THE ADVENT OF DEMOCRACY
[1885-
turncd to Inm for counsel m her anxiety and perplexity. ‘ I
hope and think Mr Gladstone could not form a Government.’
So she wrote to him on January 27. Lord Salisbury shared her
belief Mr Goschen did not; and begged to be excused from
going to Osborne on the ground that to do so uould expose the
Queen ‘ to much misconstruction and misinterpretation and
might further compromise the present most critical situation ’
He stronglj’’ advised the Queen to send, without delay, for
Gladstone. Gladstone was accordingly sent for, unhesitatingly
accepted office, and formed his third Jlinistry.
The The new Government differed greatl}’’ in personnel from that
' q ^, which had resigned six months earlier. Hartington, Goschen,
stone Derby and Bright all refused to join it So did Lord Selborne,
great lawj’-er who occupied the Woolsack in ISSO, and Sir
Henry James who might have had it m 1S8G. The Queen refused
to allow Lord Granville to return to the Foreign Office, w Inch was
given to Lord Rosebery; but the most significant appointment
to the new Cabinet was that of Mr John Jlorlcy, an eminent
joumahst and man of letters, who had entered Parliament in 1883
and now took office for the first time as Chief Secretary for Ire-
land. Mr. Chamberlain and Sir George Trevelyan joined the
mimstry on the understanding that they were committed thereby
only to ‘ inquiry ’ ; and when the inquiry led to a conclusion
repugnant to them they resigned (March).
It was hinted that had Gladstone handled Chamberlain more
tactfully, had he gratified his wish for the Colonial Office, the
breach might have been, if not averted, postponed. It is im-
hkely ; for Chamberlain, from first to last, never sw erved from
the principles on which his own policy was based ‘ Sooner than
consent to wfiat~l"fear Mr. 157 is contemplating I wrould go out
of politics altogether.’ So he had written to Motley on Decem-
♦ ber 28.
Chamber- O n f o ur points Cham berlain was adamant. (1) The scheme
Mand* * Home Rule ’ must~Ee~jrc3erdC Sot separatist, consequently
felaln iTImusircontinue t o beTe^rese nted at Westminster; (2)
the taxative powers of theTHsITdentral Coiincd musrHe severely
restricted ; (3) the appointment of judges and magistrates must
be retained by the Imperial Government; (4) the ‘residual’
powers of legislation must be vested m the Imperial Parhament ;
1886]
HOIVIE RULE BILL
27
the Insh Legislature must exercise only such powers as were dele-
gated to it In short, Irelandjgiight have a Provincial Parha-
ment on terms similar to-Qa faanPi n ot a Dominion Parliament on
the lin es of Canada
On Apnl 8, Gladstone, m a speech of great power, introduped
the Home Rule Bill There was to he a Legislative Body in Du b- Bill
h n to deal with Insh affairs m stnct subordmation to the Imnena l
Parhament In the Legislature there were to be two ‘ Orders ’ :
oneconsisSng of the 28 Representative Peers of Ireland and 75
members elected by select constituencies , the other consisting
of 206 members elected by the existing constituencies The two
‘ Orders ’ were to sit together, though either might demand a
separate vote, and thus exercise a suspensive veto upon the other.
The Insh Legislature was forbidden to make laws relating to th e
&own, the Army, Naw. or -d ef enc^, treaties, peace or war ,
trade and n avigation, coinage, customs, excise, and various other
mitter s, nor was it to esta blish or endow any particular Church.
I rish ihembCTs were no longer to sit m the Lnnerial Parli ament.
As to the Executive, the Lord-Lieutenant was to be converte d
i nto a Constitutional rul er, assisted by a Privy Council, bu t actmg .
ord inarily, on the advice of Mmisters responsible to the loca
Legislature This Executive was ultunately to control the Pohce,
and to appoint the Judges. A week later the Prime Mimstei
explained the details of his Land Bill Insh landlords were toi
have the option of selhng their estates, normally at the pnce oy
twenty years’ purchase of the net rental, to the State. The freef
hold of the farms was then, at their option, to be vested m the
tenants, who were to purchase outnght or by a series of annuities
spread over forty-mne years This scheme was very severely
cnticized from more than one quarter, and its unpopulanty
reacted unfavourably on the prospects of the Home Rule Bill
with which it was said to be inseparably linked.
Not that the latter had much chance of success Against
Gadstone was arrayed not only the whole Conservative Opposi-
tion, now firmly united, but the flower of the Lib eral Party in
b oth Houses of Parh ament,_and outside Parhament almost I&e
whole aristocracy of "B^ITTjf mtellect and of commerce Glad-
stone himself was under no illusions. In a manifesto issued to
his constituents on May 1 he wrote . ‘ On the side adverse to the
28
THE AD^TSNT OF DEMOCRACY
[1885-
Governmcnt arc found, as I sorrowfully admit, in profuse abun-
dance, station, title, ealth, social influence, the professions, or the
Urge majority of them — in a word, the spirit and power of class.’
‘He put Ins faith not in the classes which on many gieat issues
in the past had fought uniformly on the wiong side ’ But they
had ‘ uniformly been beaten by a power more diflicult to marshal
but resistless w hen mdrshalled — by the upright sense of the nation.’
* T he classes versus the masses’ That was the appeal of the
dernagogue . and tlnTresponse of the masses, so latelj*^ enfranchised
by Gladstone himself, w’as unequivocal
In the House of Commons Lord Hartington led the opposition
Ion ” to the Bill and w'as powerfully supported by Goschen andN Cham-
berlain, as well as by Churchill. Hicks Beach and the Tones.
Great efforts were made before the Second Reading debate to
detach Chamberlain from his new' alhes, mainly through Labou-
chere as intermediary , but in vain He had taken up his posi-
tion, after mature deliberation, and nothing W’ould move lum
from it. Schnadhorst w ent over to the enemy and tried to carry
the Birmingham organization w'lth him But after a stiff fight
Chamberlain emerged tnumphant
On May 15 Lord Salisbury issued a counter-manifesto to Glad-
bury’s Stone’s in w'hich he set forth the alternative pohey on which his
Alteriia- Party subsequently fought ‘ My alternative policy is that Par-
Recipt hament should enable the Government of England to govern
Ireland • apply that recipe honestly, consistently, and resolutely
for twenty years, and at the end of that time you will find that
Ireland w'lll be lit to accept any gifts in the w'ay of local govern-
ment or repeal of coercion laws that you may wish to give her.
What she wants is government — ^government that does not flinch,
that does not vary ; government that she cannot hope to beat
down by agitations at Westminster; government that is not
altered in its resolutions or its temperature by the party changes
which take place at Westminster ’
The Second Reading of the Bill w'as moved on May 10th, but
•not until June 8 did the division take place, when it was defeated
by 343 votes against 313. In the majority were no fewer than
93 Liberals, of whom 46 were reckoned to belong to the Chamber-
lain wing of a Party now definitely organized as ‘Liberal
Umoiusts ’.
GENERAL ELECTION OF 1886
29
Gladstone promptly appealed to the constituencies. Parlia-
ment was dissolved at the end of June, a terrific fight ensued , of i«sb
but the verdict declared in July was decisive The Gladstonian
Liberals returned less than 200 strong, and but for the staunch
adherence of Scotland and Wales to Radicahsm would have been
still weaker The English boroughs returned 169 Unionists
against 67 Gladstomans, while the counties which had given the
Liberals a majority of 50 in December returned m July 172 Union-
ists against 81 Gladstomans In all, the Unionists in the new
Parliament numbered close on 400, of whom 318 were Tories.
The old Liberal Party was shattered, and for twenty years,
with one insignificant interlude, the Unionists retained both office
and power.
THE SALISBURY GOVERNMENT
[1886>
CHAPTER in
THE SALISBURY GOVERNMENT (188G-1892)- DOMESTIC REFORMS
A ccepting the verdict of the constituencies, Mr. Glad-
stone resigned office without awaiting a vote in Parliament
The Queen at once appealed to Lord Sabsbury * to undertake to
form a Government and as strong a one as he possibly can form
‘ It seems to her,* she proceeded, * to be a time when every nerve
should be strained, every personal and party feehng should be
set aside, for the public good ; and it would be a great thing, and
what the country earnestly wishes for and expects, if he could secure
the assistance of some of the Liberal Unionists ’ ^
Lord Salisbury’s wishes comcided with the Queen’s He
appealed to Lord Hartington to form a Government and offered
to serve under him, conscious that he was better fitted for the
Foreign Office than for the Premiership. Lord Hartington, how-
ever, refused. 2 Lord Sahsbuiy proceeded to form a purely Con-
servative Mmistry. The Foreign Office was the mam difficulty.
Various names were suggested, notably that of Lord Lyons, the
most distingmshed of British diplomatists and stiU at the Pans
Embassy. Ultimately the office was given as a tardy reparation
to Lord Iddesleigh. The Queen, greatly as she was attached to
that statesman, had her misgivings about his fitness for that
particular post. Six months’ tenure of it unfortunately justified
them. Hicks Beach insisted that Churchill should lead the House
as Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Queen objected : ‘ He is
so mad and odd and has also bad health.’ But Hicks Beach pre-
vailed, choosing for himself, with charactenstic modesty, courage
and patriotism, the post of greatest difficulty and danger — ^the
Irish Office. Cross, to the Queen’s aimoyance, was sent to join
1 Q V.L (3rd), 1, 164
^ For lus reasons, cf Holland, Devonshire, II 169
SECOND SALISBURY MINISTRY
B)
Lord Iddesleigh m the Lords, but solaced with the India Office
Churchill insisted that Cross’s place at the Home Office should
be given to Mr Henry Matthews, a clever lawyer, who had won
a Birmingham seat, but had httle Parhamentary experience ^
It was beheved that Matthews would bnng great strength to
the Treasury Bench, m ‘ oratorical power, in which ’ (m Sahs-
bury’s view) it was ‘ lamentably weak ’ ; and that being a Roman
Cathohc his appointment would ‘favourably mfluence themoderate
Roman Cathohcs m Ireland In neither respect were anticipa-
tions fulfilled. In 1895 Matthews went to the House of Lords
as Viscount Llandaff. For the rest, the team was composed of
much the same men as m 1885, though there was the usual shifting
of places.
Strongly entrenched m the House of Commons (so long asUn«o
the Liberal Umomsts did not oppose them) the Salisbury Govern- “
ment had no easy task before them. Twice within the last
twelve months had the enfranchised Celts of Irdand declared,
with virtual unammity, m favour of Home Rule. Their cause
had now been espoused with enthusiasm by the most conspicuous
statesman of the day For a moment it had seemed not impos-
sible that his gemus and vigour might prevail Once agam, as
in the days of Lord Fitzwilham, Irish hopes had been raised only
to be dashed to the ground. How were the Umomsts going to
tackle the situation?
Lord Salisbury had declared that what Ireland needed was
twenty years of consistently strong and resolute government.
The restoration of social order was, therefore, the first plank m
the Unionist platform. Sir Redvers Duller, a distingmshed sol-
dier, was sent into the West of Ireland to suppress outrages and
crimes, whereupon Mr Pamdl produced, in his Tenants' Relief
Bill, an alternative prescription. In Irdand, as in England, there
was genuine distress among agriculturists, but whereas in Eng-
land the landlords behaved with extraordinary consideration
towards their tenants, in Ireland there were some landlords who
were disposed to press their legal nghts to the uttermost. Par- .
nell, therefore, proposed that rents fixed before 1885 should be •
^ He had sat as a Conservative Home Ruler for Dungarvan (1808-74),
%vhere his success iias due, by his own account, to a combination of Nationahst
and Tory votes gained at the cost of ' 800 bottles of vrlusky
32
THE SALISBURY GOVERNMENT
ipduced bjf the Land Court, that leaseholders should be brought
under the Act of 18S1, and that no tenant should be evicted who
paid up his arrears and half his rent. The Bill was rejected by
a majority of nearly 100
The Prompt came the response from Ireland in the ‘ Plan of Cam-
paign’. This new strategical device was invented by John
paign’ Dillon and lYilham O’Brien, and was fioA/ned upon by their
leader. The de^^ce w’as simplicity itself. The tenants of any
given estate were to agree on a ‘fair’ rent; should their offer
be declined, the money was to be paid into a w'ar chest and spent
on organized resistance to evictions The ‘ plan ’ was inau-
gurated in the autumn of 18S6, and tliroughout 1887 the cam-
paign was vigorously sustained It was a direct challenge to the
elementary principles of law, and no Government worthy of the
name could have refused to take it up Consequently, the first
business of the new Session (1887) was a Bill to amend the Crimi-
nal Law in Ireland Before this Bill was introduced the per-
sonnel of the Jlinistry had already undergone considerable
modification.
tion of^* Christmas (1886) the W’orld was startled by the
Lord announcement that Lord Salisbury’s principal lieutenant had
resigned. Lord Randolph Churchill’s ministerial career had
* scarcely begun. By a few months’ tenure of the India Office he
had established a reputation as a fiarst-rate admmistrator ; a few
W'eeks’ leadership of the House of Commons had convmced friends
and foes alike that he would take rank among the great Parlia-
mentarians of the Victorian era ; he had earned the approbation
of the Sovereign, and in the Party his supremacy w’as unques-
tioned Well might he regard himself as not only omnipotent
but indispensable Some of his opinions may have sat lightly
upon him , in regard to national economy he had genuine con-
victions. He believed, with Mr. Gladstone, that so far from being
incompatible with efficiency, economy is the complement and
test of it.^ He was determined, moreover, to enforce his views
upon his colleagues Neither ]\Ir. W. H Smith at the War Office,
nor Lord George Hamilton at the Admiralty, would abate materi-
ally demands already reduced to a minimum , the Prime Minister
supported them, and Lord Randolph resigned. That he expected
* Cf e g Speech at Blackpool, January 24th, 1884, Speeches, p 37
LORD RANDOLPH CHtJRCHILL
to be recalled on his own terms is mdubitable ; but he had made >
one grave miscalculation He afterwards confessed to having
‘ forgotten Goschen His lapse of memory was fatal , ^ his
resignation virtually ended a bnef but brilliant political career
This narrative may, therefore, regretfully take leave of this ‘ way-
ward and spoilt child ’ of fortune Lord Rosebery, who supphed
these epithets, held that Lord Randolph could never have con-
tinued to co-operate with Lord Salisbury, since the differences
between them were fundamental Mr Winston Churchill con-l
curs in that view. But it is not easy to understand why the
policy which secured the adhesion of a Chamberlain should have '
alienated a Churchill The latter was his oiin worst enemy, or ,
rather was the hapless victim of congemtal disease Conse-
quently the period which elapsed between his resignation and his
death (1894) was one of deepemng tragedy, and the historian
may pass it over in silence, though the biographer may not The
estimate of two friends may, however, be quoted ‘ He rarely,’
said Mr. Balfour, ‘ took advice Even more rarely did he take
good advice Though adnurable with subordinates, with equals
he was difficult and sometimes impossible ’
A truer judgement was never passed But equally true was
Lord Rosebery’s appreciation. ‘Randolph’s was a generous
nature m the largest and strictest sense of the word. . . . His
lack of jealousy and personal charm arose from the same quahty
— ^that there was no perfection or daun of perfection about him.
He was human, eminently human , ^full of faults as he himself
well knew ; but not base or unpardonable faults , pugnacious,
outrageous, fitful, petulant, but eminently lovable and winning *'
Let those words stand as his epitaph; let his memory rest m
peace.
In face of Churchill’s resignation Hicks Beach took lie view
that, faihng a coahtion with the Liberal Umonists, the Govern-
ment should resign Lord Salisbury lost no time in renewing to
Lord Hartington the offer dechned m July The latter adhered
to his decision, but was wdhng that Goschen, who had held no s
office since 1874,^ should enter the Conservative Government.
Goschen, therefore, succeeded Lord ]^ndolph at the Exchequer
and proved a tower of stren^h to the Party with winch he wa«^
^ On account of lus opposition to an extension of tlie franchise
ME — 3
84
THE SALISBURY GOVERNMENT
[ 1886 -
Parlia-
mentary
Ptooe-
dute
henceforth associated W. H. Smith resigned the War Office to
Edward Stanhope, and himself became First Lord of the Treasury
and Leader of the House of Commons These changes involved
others. Lord Iddesleigh, with characteristic unselfishness, had
placed his seat in the Cabinet at the Premier’s disposal, in order
to facilitate negotiations with the Liberal Unionists. It was,
however, from the newspapers that he first learnt that his offer
had been accepted and that Lord Salisbury had himself taken
over the Foreign Office (Jan. 4th, 1887) He declined the Presi-
dency of the Council, and on January 12th the country was
shocked to learn that he had died suddenly in' the ante-room of
the Premier’s official residence at 10 Downing Street. Thus
closed, amid circumstances almost tragic, a life of high utihty
and complete blamelessness. Three months later Sir M. Hieks
Beach was compelled, by temporary lU-health, to resign the Irish
Office in wluch he was succeeded by Mr. A. J. Balfour.
Mr. Balfour’s rule opens a new chapter in Anglo-Irish rela-
tions ; but although Ireland contmued, for the next ten years,
to hold the centre of the pohtical stage, the story must, for the
sake of lucidity, be postponed
The record of the Salisbury Government in purely domestic
affairs was far from insigmficant, and may, first, engage attention.
The Irish Nationalists threatened to make governments im-
possible not only in Ireland but at Westminster. Mr. Smith’s
first task, therefore, was to restore some measure of efficiency
and decorum to the House which he was appointed to lead The
new rules of procedure adopted on Gladstone’s motion m 1882
had proved insufficient for the purpose, and in March 1887 the
House resolved that a debate might be closured by a bare majority,
on the motion of any member, provided the Chau accepted the
motion and was supported by at least 200 members. A year
later the minimum number of supporters was reduced to 100,
and the hours of business were rearranged with a view to greater
efficiency and dispatch. Mr. Chamberlain, returmng to the
House, after some months’ absence, in March 1888, found the
change ‘ marvellous ‘ The new rules,’ he wrote, ‘ work well
and the House has resumed the orderly and dignified conduet
of public business ... I always felt confident that sooner or
later we should shake off the incubus of obstruction',' but the
1892]
HAED TIMES
85
reformation has come and is more complete than I expected’
The ‘ reformation ’ extended to the writer He had just returned
from a sojourn in the Umted States where, as head of a Bntish
mission, he had succeeded m negotiating terms for the settle-
ment of the long-standmg dispute about Fishenes between the
States and Canada The Chief Commissioner won golden opinions
on all sides He also won, m the person of Miss Mary Endicott,
a very charming bnde whom m November 1888 he married as
his third wife No wonder that the dual success made him, as
his biographer says, a ‘ new man and that he found the House
‘ marvellously ’ dianged for the better ^
But the Salisbury Gkivemment had not yet sailed into smooth Depres-
waters Loyally as Lord Hartmgton supported it, the entente
between the two wings of the Unionist Party was still far short and Agri-
of an alliance, and the parhamentaxy position was consequently
precarious Moreover, quite apart from Ireland, apart also from
the European situation which threatened to issue at any moment
in war,® times were difficult The agncultural depression which
began in 1879 had become steadily worse , prices, not only of
agricultural produce, were so low as to discourage enterprise,
trade was shifty, employment precarious, mdustnal disputes
alarmingly frequent. A Royal Commission which had been
appointed to inquire mto the causes of trade depression reported
m January 1887 A small mmonty of four commissioners favoured
a return to Protection under the name of ‘ Fair Trade but a
large, majority preferred to recommend less controversial and
less drastic expedients such as cheapening the cost of production,
an improvement of transport facilities, and of technical education
and so on. They msisted that wages were too high m relation
to prices which were affected not only by foreign competition
but by a scarcity of gold The Report served to damp down
the Protectionist agitation, but produced httle effect on the
general situation
Least of all could it be eqiected to appease the discontent The un-
among the unemployed, or to arrest the activities of the agitators
who menaced social ordo: in London and other great towns In
February 1886 a small army orgamzed by tlie Social Democratic
Federation and headed by John Burns, a working engineer, and
* Garvin, II c. xxxvu * Sec ‘infra, p 82 I
Capital
and
Labour
86 THE SALISBURY GOVERNMENT [issc-
IL M Hyndman, an ex-Cambndge cricketer,^ invaded a Fair
Trade demonstration in Trafalgar Square, and having dispossessed
the demonstration, marched through Clubland, and many of the
chief shopping centres of the West End, smashing windows, over-
turning carriages and othenvise striking terror into the hearts
of law-abiding citizens. For tivo hours or more. Central London
was at the mercy of the mob, though the damage to persons and
property was inconsiderable No arrests were made at the time,
but four Socialist leaders. Bums, Hyndman, H H Champion
(an ex-officer of the R A ) and Williams, were subsequently prose-
cuted for seditious speeches, and after a long trial, in which they
conducted with conspicuous abihty their own defence, were
acquitted, though the jury condemned the language of Burns and
Champion as inflammatory.
There was a renewal of ‘demonstrations ’ in London in the
autumn, and again in November 1887, when a serious conflict
occurred between the police and a large mob m Trafalgar Square.
Meetings m the Square had been prohibited on the technical
ground that it was Crown property but the agitators contested
the prohibition So menacing did the attitude of the mob
become that a battalion of Foot Guards and two squadrons of
the 'Life Guards were summoned to the assistance of the police.
Nor were the disturbances confined to the metropolis Riots
occurred in 1886-7^ in Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield, Notting-
ham, Cardiff and other towns. The exciting causes varied from
place to place, and from time to time , but the great mass of
law-abiding citizens could not fail to be perturbed by outward
demonstrations of a discontented if not revolutionary spirit
The discontent might arise from legitimate impatience with
social and economic conditions It might, on the other hand, be
fomented by those who, from honest conviction or mere malice,
desired the overthrow of the existing order. Anyhow, the symp-
toms were disquieting • the public was alarmed and perplexed
Even more disquieting than the riotous demonstrations were
the recuriing conflicts between employers and their workmen,
misdescribed as disputes between ‘ capital and labour ’. For no
one could pretehd that the remuneration of mere capital was,
on the average, excessive, or that the ‘ employer ’ was any longer
synonymous with the ‘ capitalist The day of the capitalist-
1892]
STRIICES
87
employer, of the one man- or family-business, was rapidly pass-
ing Thanks to the Lvnuied Ltahdiiy Act of 1855, capital, mstead
of being concentrated m relatively few hands, was now very
widely diffused. The capital of a single firm was frequently
subscribed by thousands of ‘ shareholders This change, des-
tined to work nothing less than a revolution, was, however, hardly
realized in the ’eighties, and its economic and social significance
was very imperfectly apprehended Consequently ‘ labour ’ found
itself arrayed against ‘ capital provided, in some cases (notably
in the cotton mills of Lancashire), by the wage-earners them-
selves, and in many more by innumerable thrifty folk drawn
from all classes
Nevertheless, despite the diffusion of industrial capital there
was a real conflict of economic mterests between the different
parties among which the total product of an industry or busi-
ness was distributed, though it was to the common interest of
all that the product should be as profitable and large as possible.
Strikes were consequently frequent and in some cases pro- Strikes
longed In the year 1888 there were over 500 strikes, most of
which were settled by arbitration Among them a strike of the
girls employed in match-makmg by Messrs Bryant & May
attracted special attention Early in that year the pubhc con-
science had been stirred by the pubhcation of a Board of Trade
Report on sweated labour The match-girls afforded a striking
illustration of the mam thesis of the Report They were wholly
unorganized, but encouraged by the outcry against ‘ sweating ’
they struck work, and the directors, in due course, conceded their
demand, more in deference to the pressure of public opinion than
to that of their match-girls whose services could easily have been
replaced
Of far wider significance was the strike of the unskilled dock The
labourers m 1889 The more skilled workers had already com- stiSce*^
bined in their Stevedores’ Union , but the great mass of labourers
at the London Docks were unskilled and unorganized, and their
emplojTnent was casual and mtermittent Many of them had,
however, been hstening of late to the orators in Trafalgar Square
and at dozens of street-corners. Accordingly, when Ben Tillett,
a fiery orator, engaged in a tea-warehouse near London Bridge,
urged them to form a Umon a few of them agreed to do so They
88
THE SALISBURY GOVERNMENT
[1880-
persuadcd the dock labourers to demand a uniform rate of pay
of sixpence an Iiour, for a minimum of four liouis. Even thus
the lucky ones might not earn more than 85 . to IO 5 . a ^\cek, since
emplo 3 rment was entirely casual, and the supply of labour greatly
exceeded, except at limes of pressure, the demand The Dock
Companies refused the men’s demands ; on 12 August 2,500 men
struck work. John Burns and Tom Mann promptly went to
the assistance of Tillett, and within a w'cek the strike had
extended to all the London docks The dockers of Liverpool,
Hull, Grimsby and Glasgow promised to support their brethren
in London, if ships w ere transferred from London to other ports ;
subscriptions, amounting m all to nearly £50,000, poured in from
sympathizers in all classes. Cardinal Manning, Canon Liddon,
and Sir, Sydney Buxton, then M P. for Poplar, laboured hard to
arrange terms of peace , and the Dock Companies, finding them-
selves in conflict not only with the labourers but with the ship-
o^vners and with public opinion in general, after a month’s con-
test gave way. The dockers got theu* ‘ tanner ’, and what w'as
even more important a strong Union. On the w hole the strike,
thanlcs m large measure to the influence of John Burns, had been
conducted without disorder, it had, how'ever, for the time being,
paralysed not only the shipping industry but the wholesale trade
of London, in paiticular Slincing Lane, and the Corn and Coal
Exchanges One significant result of the Dockers’ Strike was
that the London County Council followed the example already
set by the London School Board and in all its contracts inserted
a * Fair-w’ages ’-clause. Another w'as seen in the immense im-
petus given to Trade Unionism. In a very short tune the Dock,
Wharf and Riveisidc Labourers’ Union had, with the energetic
help of Tom jMann as General Secretary, enrolled 40,000 members.
During the last few months of 1889 the Sailors and Firemen’s
Union enrolled some 50,000 new members ; Joseph Arch’s Agri-
cultural Labourers’ Union, which had languished since 1S74, sud-
denly increased its membership from 3,000 to 17,000 , the timers’
Federation from 30,000 (1888) to 147,000 (1891) ; the Bricklayers
from 7,000 to 17,000 , and so on.
But the triumph of the Dockers w'as not reflected only in a
vast increase in Trade Union membership. It meant, for better
or woise, a revolution in the spirit and aims of Trade Uniomsm.
1802]
THE NEW TRADE TINIONISM
Hitherto the Unions had aimed at securing better conditions for
wage-earners vnthin the limits of the existing organization of
Industry. Henceforw^ird, the * new ’ Trade Umonists began to
aim at a fundamental reconstruction of the existmg order of
Society, beginning with the Industnal system on which that
order rested This revolution was to be effected not by force
and bloodshed, but by the ballot box and the capture of the
parhamentary machine T he Dockers* Strike, then, gave birth ,
m due course, to the Parhamentary Labour Party But that is
to anticipate events 5^e meantime, the stake of the Dockers
was followed by many others, among which that among the
employes of the South Metropohtan Gas Works was of special
significance. It originated in a demand not for higher wages but
for improved ‘ status ’, and m particular for a voice in the control
of workshop conditions, for the regulation of piece-work and the
abohtion of overtime. The Directors wisely responded by the
offer of a profit-sharing scheme The Union discerned in this
offer a subtle attempt to undermine their authority and divert
the allegiance of the men. The stake was accordingly prolonged
and did not end until February 1890, when the Company’s terms
were accepted The profit-sharmg principle was adopted • the
men were to receive one per cent, increase in wages for every
penny by which the pnce fell below 2s. 8d per thousand cubic
feet Since every mcrease in .profits is accompanied by a de-
crease in price, the wage-earners would share in any increment
of profit accrumg to shareholders. Moreover, the wage-earners
were obliged to capitalize at least 50 per cent of their bonus on
wages, thus becoming shareholders in the Company, and were
entitled to elect their own representatives on to the Board of
Directors, m proportion to the amount of wage-earners’ capital
Profit sharing would, at first sight, appear to offer an ideally just
solution of the industnal problem. But the Trade Umons, for
reasons obvious if not always avowed, have consistently opposed
it, while the material advantage to the employes has been, as a
rule, insignificant as compared with the substantial mcrement m
wage-rates secured (as they believed) by Trade Umon activities
Consequently (except in statutory undertakings such as Gas Com-
pames where profits are regulated by law), the success achieved
by Profit-shanng Schemes has been disappointingly meagre and
The
Status of
Labour
Reform
of Local
Govern-
ment
4^ THE SALISBURY GOVERNIMENT [1880-
intcrmittent. At present (1933) there are in operation less than
500 such schemes , only about 260,000 wage-earners are sharing
in profits, and the average bonus is only £9 lOs 2d. per annum,
or 4 8 per cent, on earnings
To attnbute the manifestations of industrial unrest to elec-
toral reform would be fantastic, but the Reform Acts of 1867
and 1884 did undoubtedly tend to inspire the classes then admitted
to citizenship with an unwonted sense of their important place
in the national economy. The younger w'age-earners were, more-
over, the product of the new primary schools ; there they had
learnt to read , but only in a few cases had they as yet been
taught to think. With a smattering of education and suddenly
entrusted with supreme political power, it was small wonder if
many of the younger workmen listened eagerly to prophets who
prophesied less truthfully than smoothly.
Nor did reform stop at Parliament. It extended to the re-
form of local government in the rural districts. Half a century
had elapsed since the abolition of the urban oligarchies, and the
time for the application of the democratic principle to rural areas
was overdue The State vras anxious to delegate some of its
rapidly multiplying responsibilities to local bodies, but most of
these involved finanee, and it was contrary to fashionable prin-
ciples to entrust fiscal responsibility to non-elecicd bodies.
There was an even more urgent reason for reform. During
the last half-century local government had been sinking deeper
and deeper into chaos. It was, said Mr. Goschen, a * chaos of
authorities, a chaos of jurisdictions, a chaos of rates, a chaos of
franchises, a chaos worst of all of areas In 1888 there were
no fewer than 27,069 independent local authorities taxing the
English ratepayer, and taxing him by eighteen different kinds
of rates. Among the ‘ authorities ’ were Counties (52), Municipal
Boroughs (239), Improvement Act Districts (70), Urban Sanitary
Districts (1,006), Port Sanitary Authorities (41), Rural Sanitary
Districts (677), School Board Districts (2,051% Highway Districts
(424), Burial Board Districts (858), Unions (649), Lighting and
Watching Districts (194), Poor Law Parishes (14,946), Highway
Parishes not included in urban or highway districts (5,064),
Ecclesiastical Parishes (about 1,300).
How had this ‘ jungle of junsdictions ’ arisen ? For the last
1802] COUNTY COUNCILS 41
half-century Parliament had been busily at work attempting to
adapt the existing framework of the administrative system to
rapidly changing conditions And this had been done, perhaps
inevitably, by a long course of tinkering, piecemeal legislation
No attempt was made to fit in the new with the old Act was
piled upon Act , each involving new administrative functions and
each creating a new authority to perform them. The result was
an appaUmg mass of overlapping, intersecting, and conflicting
jurisdictions, authorities, and areas, bewildering to the student
and fatal to orderly administration.
Reform, then, was imperatively demanded m two dmections •
first, the concentration of authorities; and, secondly, the re-
adjustment and simphflcation of areas.
These may be regarded as the guiding principles of the Local
Government Acts of 1888 and 1894 The former, popularly
known as the County Councils Act, provided for the creation of
sixty-two ‘ Administrative Counties some of them cotermmous
with the fifty-tw o historic shires, but some representmg sub-
divisions of the same, and sixty or more ^ ‘ county boroughs ’ —
towns with more than 50,000 inhabitants. It set up m each
county or county borough a council consisting of (o) councillors
elected for a term of three years by the ratepayers, (6) co-opted
aldermen, who were not to exceed m number one-third of the
elected councillors It transferred to these councils the cdmmis-
iraUve functions of Quarter Sessions, such as the control of pauper
lunatic asylums, of reformatory and industrial schools, local
finance, the care of roads and bridges, the appointment of certain
county officials, &c , but while leaving to the JMSfoccs of the Peace
all their judicial and licensmg functions, it committed to a Joint
Committee of Justices and County Councillors the control of the
county pohce force. To the above important functions of the
County Councils, subsequent Acts (1889 and 1902) added that of
the control of education, higher, secondary, and elementary
A Local Government Act for Scotland, framed on similar lines,
was passed in 1889 Meanwhile two spectacular features of the
English Bill of 1888 demand further notice As originally intro-
duced the Bill dealt with the thorny question of ‘ Licensing ’.
The new County Councils were empowered to extinguish public-
» There are now (1945) 83 County Boroughs
42
THE SALISBURY GOVERNMENT
[1880-
house licences to sell alcoholic hquors, on payment of compensa-
tion But these provisions -were so bitterly attacked from both
flanks, both by the hquor interest and the temperance reformers,
that the Government wisely dropped them, and so lightened the
ship.
The reconstruction of London government, also a question
bnstling with difiiculties, constituted, however, an integral part
of the scheme, and the Government successfully defended their
proposals. The square mile of * City ’ over which the Lord Mayor
and Corporation exercised their ancient jurisdiction was prudently
left intact. But the rest of London, or more precisely the vast
^arca which since 1S5G had come under the Metropolitan Board
of Works, was formed mto an * Administrative County ’ to be
governed, like other counties, by a body directly elected by the
ratepayers. The Council consists of 144 members, of whom
twenty are Aldermen elected by the Councillors. Each parlia-
mentary division except the City, elects two Councillors; the
City elects four.
The first elections to the new Councils took place in March
1889 and, especially in London, evoked considerable excitement.
The new government for London started under the happiest
auspices, with Lord Rosebery as the first Chairman of a Council
which also included men of great eminence m all walks of hfe.
The structure of London government was completed by an
Act passed in 1899. The Act swept away all the old Vestries
and Local Boards, and m their place established tAventy-eight
Borough Councils composed hke other Municipal Councils and
endowed with powers similar to, though more restricted than,
theirs
Taken as a whole, the Act of 1888, at once radical in scope
and conservative in temper, more than fulfilled the anticipations
of its authors. The county magistrates, instead of sulking at
their partial dethronement, came forward with pubhc spirit to
assume a new role and new duties. To their experienced guidance
it was due that a profound transition was effected without fric-
tion and without breach of continuity.
The reorganization of local government begun by one Con-
servative Government in 1888, was completed as we have seen
by another in 1899. Meanwhile, an important addition to the
1802]
LOCAL GOVERmiENT
structme was contributed by the Rosebery Government in 1894
Under the District and Pansh Councils Act of that year every
county was divided into Districts, urban and rural, and every
district into Parishes. Li evoy district and m every rural parish
(with more than three hundred inhabitants) there was to be an
dected council , m the smallest parishes a primary meetmg of
all persons on the local government and parhamentary register.*
To the pansh council or meetmg the Act transferred all the civil
functions of the Vestries, with the control of parish properties,
chanties, footpaths, &c. To ambitious pansh councils was also
given power to ‘adopt’ certam permissive Acts for providing
the parish with libraries, baths, hght, recreation grounds, &c.
The Vestry stiU retamed control over purely ecdesiastical matters
— ^including ecdesiastical chanties
To the mtermediate or district cotmcil,^ whether urban or
rural, were transferred the control of sanita^ affaurs and high-
ways. Councillors for rural distncts were also to act as Poor
Law Guardians. An urban distnct was virtually a mumcipahty
with somethmg less of digmty and less coherence, but with equal
powers The largest distncts tend naturally to apply for and
obtain ‘ incorporation ’ as ‘ boroughs
The Acts of 1888 and 1894 did much to bnng order out of
the chaos which had existed m local government for the previous
half-century, and more recent legislation, notably the Education
Act of 1902, illustrated the mcreasmg tendency to simplify areas
and consolidate authonties
Though undemably efficient, the new scheme of local admin-
istration did not make for economy m expenditure. Local taxa-
tion and local indebtedness mcreased mdeed with appalhng
rapidity. The debt habihty of Local Authonties in England and
Wales which m 1875 stood at about £92,000,000 had increased
by 1905 to £483,000,000, and by 1936 to about £1,500,000,000
In this respect, it is fair to add. Local Authorities did but
imitate the extravagance of the Impenal Government Su:
Robert Peel’s last budget (1846) provided for an expenditure of
£55,000,000. By 1898 it had reached £102,000,000, a figure which
1 This includes women and lodgers Parishes of less than 800 inhabitants
might have councils, if they desired it The smallest Parishes (under 100
mhabitants) were required to obtam the consent of the County Council
44 THE SALISBURY GOVERN]\IENT [i88ft-
in comparison with an expenditure of £943,649,000 (1938-9) seems
almost paltry, but was then regarded as alarming.
Goschen’s During the period under review (1886-92) national finance
inancc highly competent hands of IMr Goschen, but m con-
nexion therewith only two points call for particular notice. In
1888 Goschen earned through a scheme for tlie conversion of the
greater part of the funded debt of the country. The fact that
‘ Consols ’ bearing interest at 3 per cent, stood at that time well
above par facilitated an immediate reduction of interest to 2J
per cent , and a further reduction, after 1903, to 2 J. The policy
did not lack critics, but Goschen’s ‘ City ’ experience and con-
nexions stood him in good stead The hook was craftily baited and
greedily swallowed Nor did the transaction lack the justifica-
tion of success. Thanks to a long spell of cheap money (due
largely to falling trade) ‘ Goschens ’ in 1897 touched 113J. In
1890 Goschen effected important changes in the relations between
Imperial and Local Finance. An additional tax was imposed on
spirits, and the proceeds of this and part of the existing tax on
beer were earmarked to provide compensation for the extmction
of publicans’ licences. Parliament refused to sanction this appro-
priation, and eventually the greater part of the money amounting
to over £500,000 a year was placed at the disposal of the Local
Authorities with a strong hint that they should apply it to techni-
cal education.
Educo- The State had hitherto been far from lavish in expenditure
on education. Not until 1883 did it make any contribution at
all , m 1839 the grant was mcreased to £30,000 a year and in
1846 to £100,000. Only, however, with the passing of the Act
of 1870 were Local Authorities empowered to levy a compulsory
rate to supplement voluntary efforts for providing elementary
education. The Acts of 1876 and 1880 made attendance com-
pulsory. Further steps were taken by Sir William tiart Dyke,
who as Vice-President of the Council, was responsible for educa-
tion from 1886 to 1892 The Code of 1890 made it possible to
maintain evening continuation schools , payment on the results
of individual examinations — ^the system initiated by Robert Lowe
in 1861 — ^was abolished, and for it a ‘ block ’ grant reckoned on
the basis of average attendance was substituted. In 1891 still
more important change was effected. The fe es pa id by pa rents
1802 ]
SOCIAL HEFORM
45
were abolishe d an d the State undertook to make good to th e
Local Aut horities the delicienqr, thmestimated at £2,000,000 a
yearl Thus eleme ntary education became not merely compul-
sor y but gratuitous. Certain fee-paying schools were, to the
satislaction of not a few parents, permitted to survive, but were
sacrificed m 1918 to the doctrinaire passion for uniformity and
the democratic jealousy of ‘ inequality *.
Meanwhile, the State was beginning to take thought about
secondary education, conscious, perhaps, of the truth enunciated
by Sir Richard Jebb that ‘ elementary instruction, unless crowned
by something higher, is not only barren but may even be dan-
gerous ’ Not, however, ilntil the establishment of the new County
Councils was any effective step taken towards evolving a coherent
system of secondary education for the nation at large The
Technical Instruction Act of 1889 empowered the Councils of
counties and boroughs to provide technical instruction and for
this purpose to levy a rate not exceeding one penny m the *£
In 1890 came the windfall mentioned above , the term ‘ techni-
cal ’ was generously interpreted, and thus the ‘ whisky money ’
facilitated a real advance in the national system of education *
Nor did the reforms already enumerated stand alone An^ooial
Act of 1888 extended, m the workman’s favour, the principle of
the Act of 1880, which had established the liability of employers
for accidents occurring m the course of their employment to
workmen It also made the Act applicable to seamen — ^thus
achieving an object at which Chamberlain had long aimed
Equally congenial to Chamberlain was the Act of 1887 which
made a begiiming, if a meagre one, with the provision of allot-
ments for farm labourers. Another Act passed in 1887 conceded
the claim persistently urged by the colhers that the majority of
the men employed in any coal pit should be entitled to appoint,
at the owner’s expense, a chedc-weigher to keep an independent
record of each miner’s output The same year witnessed the
passing of a Merchandise Marks Act designed to deal with the
practice of importing foreign goods and selling them as Enghsh
That Act also was the parent of a numerous progeny.
To the two outstanding events of that year, the first meeting
of a Colonial Conference and the celebration of the Fiftieth
* See infra, c xi
[1886-
46 THE SALISBURY GOVERNRIENT
Anniversary of Queen Victoria’s accession to the Throne, more
detailed reference must be made in a later chapter. Here it must
only be added that the record of useful legislation begun in 1887
was maintained until the Parliament elected in 1886 reached its
end in the dissolution of 1892 A few examples typical of the
legislation of this period may be cited.
An Act passed in 1890 gave effect to many of the recommen-
dations of the Royal Commission on the Housing of the Poor
and carried several stages further the provision of Artisans’
Dwellings begun by the Disraeli Government in 1875. Provision
was made for the ‘clearing of insanitary areas, the removal of
unhealthy or obstructive buildings, the rehousing of persons dis-
placed, and the erection of dwelhngs for persons of the working
classes Complaint was subsequently made that the Act w’as
inadequate, but there were some among the supporters of the
Government ^ho in 1890 thought the Act too drastic, and
subsequent criticism is difficult to reconcile w'lth the Census
Report of 1901 That Report showed a notable decline during
the intervening decade in ovcrerowding, all over the country.
Rluch remained to be done : but to say that is not to depre-
ciate the value and volume of results achieved under the Act of
1890.
A Titlic Bent Recovery Bill was introduced in December 1890
and passed into law, despite some factious opposition from cer-
tain Welsh members, in 1891. By transferring the responsibiliiy
for the payment of Tithes from the occupier to the owner it put
a stop for thirty years to an agitation which was provoking strife
between clerical tithe owners and their pansluoners, and eased
the burdens of agricultural tenants as a class at the expense
of their landlords After the extensive purchase of farms by
occupying tenants in post-War years the alleged grievance re-
emerged, but has been finally extinguished by the Tithe Redemption
Act of 1936.
Earlier legislation was in several important respects amended
and enlarged by the Factory Ad of 1890. Po^er w'as given to
local authorities to enforce sanitary conditions in factories, and
the Home Secretary was empowered to act, should the local
authorities prove negligent. He was also empowered to certify
dangerous and unliealthy trades, and to insist that every occupier
1892] SOCIAL REFORM 47
of a workshop and contractor for work should keep a hst of his
outworkers
The last days of the Salisbury Government were devoted to
two useful measures. A Shop Sours Act (1892) prohibited the
employment of young persons under eighteen years of age for
more than seventy-four hours in a week, including meal-times ;
while m 1892 Mr Henry Chaphn signahzed the close of his reign
at the Board of Agriculture, which at long last had come mto
bemg in 1889, by plaemg on the Statute book his Small Asncu l-
t ural Holdings Bi ll. This Act enabled the County Councils to
acquire, by voluntary agreement, land suitable for reselling m
lots of from one to fifty acres to purchasers prepared to cultivate
it, ‘to deposit one-fifth of the purchase money and undertake
to pay the interest and the remainder of the capital money over
a penod of fifty years Lots not exceedmg ten acres might be
let on certam conitions instead of sold. The Act failed to ac hieve
its pu rpose By 1895 only eight County Councils had put the
Act m operation, and the total amount of land purchased m Great
Britam aggregated only 483 acres An amendmg Act of 1907
met no better fate. The truth is that the multiphcation of small-
holdings is a panacea chiefly though vociferously advocated by
doctrmaires, who have httle e:^enence of farmmg conditions, and
are only superficially acquamted with the idiosyncrasies of the
Enghsh agricultural population Nor have these folk learnt
wisdom from the expensive mpperiments m land settlement tned
m post-War days. The reasons for the failure of much experi-
mental legislation since 1892 are to be found, mdeed, as much m
psychology as m econonuc and climatic conditions, or m fiscal
pohcy.
The foregomg summary, though hardly more than catalogic,
should suffice to show that the legislative output of the Sahsbury
Parhament, despite the unavoidable preoccupation of the Pre-
mier with Foreign Affairs, and of the Government as a whole
with Ireland, compares favourably with that of any similar
period. As regards social reform there had, mdeed, been nothing
comparable with it except the Disraeh Parhament of 1874-80.
That the results of this legislative activity were disappomtmg
may frankly be conceded. Legislation rarely achieves the antici-
48 THE SALISBURY GOVERNMENT ti88G-i802
patcd results , and for an obvious reason It generally touehes
only the surface of things; it deals not with causes but with
symptoms. This is inevitable*
How small of all tliat human hearts endure
The part which lows or kings can cause or cure.
Dr. Johnson penetrated to the heart of the problem. The laws,
as Burke said, reach but a very little way. But they do reach
some way , as Ireland in these years demonstrated. The amaz-
ing improvement in the state of Ireland was, indeed, due not to
laws, new or old, but, as the next chapter will disclose, to the
skilful, strong and sympathetic administration of Mr. Balfour.
By 1891 he had so far accomplished the work he had set out to
do that he felt justified in handing over the reins to another
Whip On the same day that Parnell died at Brighton (October
Death of 6) there passed away full of years and honour W. H. Smith, w*ho
Smith since 1SS7 had led the House of Commons with conspicuous ability
and success, W H Smith was a fine type of the middle-class
Englishman. Endowed with great business acumen he had made
a large fortune, and in making it had done nothing but good to
his fellow citizens. As a member of the first London School
Board (1871), as the representative of Westminster in the House
of Commons from 1868 until the day of his death, at the Treasury,
at the Admiralty, and at the War Olficc, he had served well his
generation. Utterly devoid of vanity and selfishness he had
sought no rcw’ard but that of honourable service. Disarmingly
Simple, transparently honest, invariably courteous, ‘ Old Morality ’
won the respect of his opponents while retaining the affection of
Ins friends. He died, a victim to the overw'ork necessitated by
the great position he had never sought, by all parties sincerely
mourned By the universal acclaim of his Party the man w'ho
had achieved brilliant success as Chief Secretary for Ireland w'as
called to fill the vacant place But lus uncle and leader w'as not
without misgivings. ‘ There is no help for it, — Arthur must take
It. Beach w'as possible Goschen is not But I think it is bad
for Arthur, and I do not feel certam how the experiment w'lll
end ’ So the Piime Minister WTote to Lady Sahsbury on October
14, 1891. His misgivings, shared by Mr. Balfour himself, were
not wholly without foundation.
1887-1804]
ENGLAND AND IRELAND
4d
CHAPTER IV
ENGLISH PARTIES AND IRISH HOPES
G ood as was its record m domestic legislation, and brilliantly Mr Bal-
as Lord Sabsbury had directed the work of the Foreign
Office, it is by its administration of Ireland that his Government Ireland
will, at the bar of History, be judged.
That administration was prunarily the work of one man
Arthur Balfour’s rise to fame was rapid A Scottish laird,
nephew of Lord Sahsbury, a distinguished alumnus of Trinity
College, Cambridge, he entered the House of Commons in 1875
as a man of twenty-seven under his uncle’s auspices as member
for the borough of Hertford In the 1880 Parhament he was a
somewhat detached member of the Fourth Party, which under
the intrepid leadership of Lord Randolph ChurchiU gave some
trouble to Mr, Gladstone and much more to Sir Stafford North-
cote. ‘ As he sprawled ’ (to quote ‘ Toby, M P.’, Punch’s bnlhant
dianst) * on the bench below the gangway he was taken at best
for a Parliamentary flaneur, a tnfler with debate, anxious chiefly
in some leisure moments to practise the paces learned in the hall
of the Union at Cambridge He was not sufficiently m earnest
or adequately industrious to take his full share in the labours of
the Fourth Paity . . . The fair-faced, languid youth, too indo-
lent to stand bolt upright, was the very last person likely to
develop into a civil Cromwell, the most unbendmg thorough
administrator of iron rule Ireland has known since ’98 ’
But little as its presence wras suspected there was under the
silken glove the mailed hand.
A man of high courage, perfect temper, and winning per-
sonality Arthur Balfour was admirably qualified for his difficult
task Neither lawlessness in Ireland nor abuse at Westminster
disturbed his serenity, or deflected his course of action Having
UE
60
ENGLISH PARTIES AND IRISH HOPES [1887-
armcd himself with a new and effective weapon he pursued the
pohey marked out for him without haste, without acerbity,
and with unfaltering determmation and consistency. The new
weapon ivas the Criminal Law Amendment Act (Ireland) of 1887.
This Act diffeied from previous Coercion Acts in that its provisions
were permanent. The Lord-Lieutenant was authorized to declare
an association to be ‘ unla-wful *, and to proclaim a district as
^Parnell- ‘ disturbed The powers of the Resident Magistrates — ‘ Bal-
Cnme^ four’s removables ’ as they were nicknamed — ^w'cre greatly en-
larged ; in particular they were empowered to try summarily
cases of conspiracy. The passing of this Crimes Act was facili-
tated, on the one hand by the new rules of procedure which, as
mentioned before, were adroitly carried through the House by
Mr. Smith, on the other by the publication in The Times of a
senes of articles on Parnclbsm and Crime. The object of the
articles w'as to establish the complicity of the Nationalist leaders
in recent agrarian crime. On April ISth, 1887 — ^the date ap-
pointed for the Second Reading of the Crimes Bill — The Times
pnnted in facsimile what purported to be a letter from Mr. Parnell
to an anonymous correspondent, apologizing for having had to
denounce the murder of Mr. Burke m Phoenix Park. ^
The letter dated ‘ 16.v. 82 nine days after the Phoenix Park
murders, ran as follows : —
‘Dear Sir, —
I am not surprised at your friend’s anger, but he and you
should know that to denounce the murders was the only course
open to us. To do that promptly w’as plainlj’^ our best- policy.
But you can tell him and all others concerned that, though I
regret the accident of Lord F. Cavendish’s death, I cannot refuse
to admit that Burke got no more than his deserts. You are at
liberty to show him this, and others whom you can trust also,
but let not my address be known. He can WTite to House of
Commons.
Yours very truly
Cha® S Parnell.*
C.S.
Patncll
The letter created an immense sensation. At the time when it
appeared Parnell had attained a position unique m the history
of Irish pohtics. By descent an English aristocrat, m religion a
1804]
C. S. PARNELL
51
Protestant Episcopalian, he had inherited from his father a fine
estate in Ireland and from his mother a bitter hatred of England
Entering the House of Commons in the same year as Mr Balfour
(1875), he found some fifty Insh Repealers led by Isaac Butt, a
moderate Home Ruler, but successfully incited to obstructive
tactics by Joseph Biggar. Biggar was a man of some business
ability — ^he had made a large fortune out of pork in Belfast — ^but
a poor speaker, hideous in aspect, of indifferent character but
unbounded impudence He had no endowments of body or mind
wherewith to impress Parhament, but he determined, if not to
dominate, to debase it, and bring it into contempt. In striking
contrast to this satyr was the young member for Co Meath.
His morals were not perhaps much better than Biggar’s, but he
was of gentle birth, fine presence and fastidious tastes He was
no orator in the Irish sense ; if he was inspired by enthusiasm
he rarely displayed it, nor was he at any pains to conceal his
contempt for the men whom he had to call colleagues He domi-
nated them by sheer force of mtellect and will, as a fearless rider
masters a restive horse Though he had been at Cambridge for
a time he had little or no book learning, he was grossly super-
stitious, and could not bear the thought of death or the sight
of blood
On Isaac Butt’s death m 1879, Parnell, who had ousted him
from the Presidency of the Home Rule Confederation of Great
Bntain m 1877, was elected Chairman of the Irish Parhamentary
Party. Crime, especially if it involved cruelty to man or beast,
repelled this sensitive man. But m the Land League founded
by Michael Davitt m 1879 he perceived a serviceable weapon
wherewith to attack the landlord garrison in Ireland and so achieve
his dwn purely pohtical end, the destruction of Enghsh ascend-
ancy He could not, therefore, repudiate or repress the agrarian
agitation, and his public association with it led m October 1881
to his impnsonment in Eihnainham Thence issued the famous
* No Rent ’ manifesto Parnell’s release (May 8) was immediately
followed by the Phoenix Park murders, the news of which so
completely unnerved him that he offered his resignation to Mr.
Gladstone
Like Chamberlain and Churchill, Parnell was quick to per-
ceive the sigmficance of the Reform Bill which raised the Insh
The
Crimes
Act and
the
Pnmcll
Letter
The
state of
Ireland
62 ENGLISH PARTIES AND IRISH HOPES [1887-
elcctorate from 200,000 to 700,000 Speaking at Cork in 1885
he made an histone declaration- ‘No man has a right to fix
a boundary to the march of a nation. . . . We have never
attempted to fix the ne plus ultia to the progress of Ireland’s
nationhood and we never shall ’ Chamberlain denied the nation-
hood, Gladstone, like the British signatories of the Treaty of
1921, fondly imagined that, while recognizing it, he could fix a
boundary to it
The ‘ Parnell letter ’ appeared on April IS, 1887. On that
evening the Crimes Bill passed its second reading in the House
of Commons by a majority of 101 (370 to 269). Immediately
before the division Parnell rose, and passionately disclaimed all
knowledge of the ‘ villainous and barefaced forgery,’ this ‘ un-
blushing fabrication ’ ‘ I certainly never heard of the letter,’
he declared, ‘ I never directed such a letter to be written. I
never saw such a letter before I saw it in The Times this morn-
ing . . .’
Parnell, as we no^^ know, spoke the truth , but though Glad-
stone and his colleagues accepted his disclaimer, the public at
large was more sceptical Scepticism deepened when Parnell
refused the offer of the Government to pay the expenses of a
libel action against The Times, Gladstone proposed the appoint-
ment of a Select Committee, but that was negatived and for
twelve months the matter dropped.
Meanwhile, the Crimes Act was passed, together with a Land
Act, which gave power to the Land Court to revise the rents
judicially fixed under the Act of 1881, and admitted leaseholders
to the benefits of that Act.
In Ireland, however, tlungs w'ent from bad to worse.
Lawdessness probably reached its acme in the autumn of 1887.
Balfour and his Cnnies Act were defied by the Nationalist leaders ;
but in July eighteen counties were proclaimed under the Act,
and on August 19th the National League was proclaimed as an
unlawful association. On September 9th a meeting attended by
8,000 persons was held in the market-place of Michelstowm, Co
Cork. The police, while attempting to protect the Government
reporter, were attacked with stones and blackthorns and com-
pelled to retreat to barracks, whence they fired, with fatal effect,
on the crow d. ‘ Remember Michelstowm ’ w'as immediately
1894] PARNELLISM AND CRIME 53
adopted as a slogan by the Nationalists Before the close of the
year IVIr. William O’Brien, M P for Co Cork, and several other
members 'of Parhament, Blr T D Sullivan, Lord Mayor of
Dublin, and Mr Wilfrid Scawen Blunt, an English sympathizer,
who had mixed himself up m Irish eviction affrays, were con-
victed under the Crimes Act and imprisoned. It was a struggle
d outrance between the forces of order and disorder, but the law,
thanks to the steady persistence of Mr. Balfour, slowly but surely
won
In the summer of 1888 the controversy aroused by Parnelhsm
and Crime was revived by an action for libel entered against Tlie
Times by one F H O’Donnell, a former member of the Irish
Parhamentary Party The Attorney-General, Sir Richard Web-
ster, counsel for The Times, practically converted his defence of
his clients into an indictment of Parnell, and stated his intention
of proving that not only the letter published in April but
others of a like nature were actually written by Parnell O’Don-
nell declined to go into the witness-box, and the case terminated
somewhat abruptly in a verdict for The Times (July 5)
On the following day Pamdl rose from his place in the House
to contradict the charges made against him by the Attorney-
General Jn a level unimpassioned tone he read out the incrimi-
nating letters, one after another, seven m all, and simply demed
all knowledge of them ‘ I will only say,’ he concluded, ‘ that
the absurdity of the whole senes of letters, with one or two trifling
exceptions which I have pointed out, must be palpable on the
face of them to every fair-mmded man ’ ^
The Times retorted that they were prepared with legal proof The Par-
of the authenticity of the letters , Parnell then asked for a Select
Committee which the Government refused to grant In its stead '
they introduced, and after long debate. Parliament passed, a
Bill setting up a Special Commission to investigate the charges
* I happened to be at the House, as a visitor, during this statement and
prejudiced as I iias against Pameil, was impressed by his apparent sincerity
Three months later I ivas dining with a friend in Dublin, who asked me my
opinion about the ‘ Parnell Letters ’ I replied, rather carelessly, ‘ I sup-
pose Parnell wrote them ’ ‘He did not,’ retorted my host, * and I will tell
jou wno did — Richard Pigott ’ It was in September 1888, a month before
the Commission began its hearing, and five months before Pigott was put
into the box that a casual aisitor to Dubhn learned (in confidence) the name
of tlie forger of the famous letter
64 ENGLISH PARTIES AND IRJSII HOPES [1887-
Three distinguished -Judges, Sir James Hannen, Sir John Day,
and Sir A L Smith, consented to serve on the Commission which
was in effect, if not in form, a State trial of high significance.
The Attorney-General was the principal counsel for The Times^
Sir Charles Russell, afterwards Lord Russell of Killowen and Lord
Chief Justice of England, for the defendants. • The Commission
sat for 128 days,’^ and examined more than 450 witnesses Only
at one moment during this protracted period was the dramatic
interest really tense. That was when, towards the end of Febru-
ary, an old and broken man was put into the witness-box, and
subjected to a scathing cross-examination by Sir Charles Russell.
The man was Richard Pigott, a needy journahst, and now re-
vealed to the world as the forger of the famous letter. After
enduring torture m the witness-box for two days the miserable
man fled the country, leaving a full confession behind him.
Before the police could execute a warrant for his arrest he shot
himself in Madrid (]\Iarch 1st) Meanwhile Parnell had gone into
the box, and had denied on oath the authenticity of the letters,
W'hereupon The Ttmes offered an apology and withdrew the forged
documents. With this withdraw'al much of the popular interest
in the case evaporated, but by no means all its significance.
The Liberals naturally made all the party-capital they could
out of the incident. Parnell was the hero of the hour. He was
entertained by Liberal Clubs, received the freedom of Edinburgh,
stayed with Mr. Gladstone at Hawarden, and accepted a gift of
£8,000, publicly subscribed, towards his expenses in connexion
with the Special Commission.
of On February 18th, 1890, the Commissioners presented their
Report They found, of course, that the facsimile letter was a
forgery, and they acquitted Mr. Parnell and his colleagues of the
charge of insincerity in their denunciation of the Phoenix Park
murders They found that the respondents collectively w'ere not
members of a conspiracy having for its object the absolute inde-,
pendence of Ireland, ‘ but that some of them had established the
Land League ’ with the intention by its means to bring about the
absolute independence of Ireland, and that they had conspired,
by means of an agrarian agitation, to ‘ impoverish and expel from
the country ’ the Irish landlords who were styled the ‘ English
» Until November 1880.
1894]
MRS. O’SHEA
55
Garrison*; that they had incited to the intimidation that
produced crime, and had promoted the defence of agrarian
What was to be done with the Report ? The Government
moved that the House thank the Commissioners for their ]ust
and impartial conduct, adopt the Report and enter it upon the
Journals. Mr Gladstone tned to persuade the House to record
‘its reprobation of the false charges of the gravest and most
odious description, based on calumny and on forgery that had
been brought against members of the House ’. It was clear that
the terms of Gladstone’s amendment went, in exculpation, far
beyond the findings of the Commission, it was rejected by a
substantial majority, and the Government had its way.
No impartial person could mterpret the findings of the Com-
mission as a general acqmttal for the FameUites Nevertheless,
it was mevitable that the revdation of the carelessness and blun-
ders of The Times, and the exposure of Pigott’s forgery, should
have caused some revulsion of popular feeling Mr Gladstone
and his Party were immensely elated by the issue, and the Union-
isti correspondmgly chagrined. But the elation was short-hved.
"Mr PameU had entered an action for hbel against The Times
m 1888 ; in February 1890 the case was compromised by the
payment of £5,000 damages. Before the compromise was reached
PameU was abeady mvolved m htigation of another kind
He was cited as co-respondent in a smt brought.,by Captain I’a meil^
O’Shea for divorce from his wife O’Shea was an Irish Roman o’Shea
Cathohc who had held a commission in the ISth Hussars and
in 1880^entered Parliament as member for Co. Clare Mrs O’Shea
(nee Page Wood), the daughter of a parson and mece of a Lord
ChanceUor, met PameU for the first time in 1880, and ftom then
imtil his death in 1891 PameU was her lover. Both O’Shea and
his wife acted for many years as mtermediaries between the Radi-
cals and the Irish Nationalists , but m 1886 O’Shea retired from
politics, and m November 1890 filed a petition against his wife
and. PameU There was no defence ; and as soon as the decree
msi was made absolute PameU and Kitty O’Shea were married
(June 25, 1891)
In the meantime much had happened of high consequence to
the Insh Nationalists and their Enghsh aUies.
66 ENGLISH PARTIES AND IRISH HOPES [1887-
Glad- Parnell had affected to believe that the divorce suit was a
Parnell matter of merely personal interest and on the pronouncement of
the decree mst (November 16, 1890) the Irish National League,
at the instigation of John Redmond, resolved to stand by him.
Gladstone held that ‘ abstractedly * the Irish had a right to decide
the question , but it was not the abstract aspect of the matter
that interested his followers. Their concern was with the con-
crete effect of the scandal upon the fortunes of the Liberal Party.
Much of the strength of that Party was derived from Scotland.
* Whether they are right or wrong my belief is that the Scotch
will not tolerate P in his position of quasi-partnership with the
Liberal leaders ’ So Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman wrote
(November 20) to Harcourt On the next day the National
Liberal Federation met at Sheffield With the greatest difficulty
Harcourt and Morley averted a formal pronouncement m the
sense indicated by Campbell-Bannerman, and on the 22nd Har-
court reported to Gladstone that ‘the opinion was absolutely
unanimous and extremely strong that, if Parnell is allowed to
remain as the leader of the Insh Party, all further co-operation
' between them and the English Liberals must be at an end. You
know that the Nonconformists are the backbone of our Party,
and their judgement on this matter is unhesitating and decisive
Mr Gladstone at once accepted that judgement and on November
24 in a letter to Morley to be communicated to Parnell Gladstone
expressed his view that Parnell’s ‘ continuance m the leadership
would be productive of consequences disastrous in the highest
degree to the cause of Ireland ’.
The same evening Gladstone sent for Mr. Justin McCarthy ^
and gave him an identical message. As far as is known it never
reached Parnell. On November 25 Parliament met. The Irish
Party met as usual to elect their Chairman Parnell entered
the Committee Room ‘ looking as if we had committed adultery
with his wife With great enthusiasm he was unanimously
re-elected Chairman. Only after the meeting did Morley run
Parnell to earth and read to him Gladstone’s letter. He was
perfectly unconcerned, and perfectly obdurate. ‘ Of course,’ he
said, ‘ Mr. Gladstone will have to attack me I shall expect
that. He will have a right to do that.’ No more
1 A distinguished journalist and highly respected member of the Irish Party.
DEATH OP PARNELL
57
18D4]
To Mr. Gladstone only one course was open He immedi-
ately published his letter The thundercloud burst For some
weeks confusion prevailed in the Home Rule camp Dillon and
O’Brien, then in the United States, called upon Parnell to resign ;
Healy vehemently urged the same conclusion upon his colleagues
in Committee Room No 15 , the Roman Catholic Bishops issued
a pronouncement of similar purport But Parnell held gnmly
on He would neither abdicate, nor submit to deposition At
length (December 6th) a majority of his colleagues, forty-four in
number, withdrew their allegiance, and elected Mir Justin McCar-
thy as their leader Twenty-six remained faithful to the old
Chief. For nine months Parnell made frantic efforts to mamtain Death of
his position m Ireland His pluck was superb, but all the cards
uere against him, and on October 6th, 1891, the painful struggh
was terminated by his premature death Thus was removed
from the political stage one of the most remarkable personalitie s
of the century ‘ O n the list of Irish patriot s ’ M r ^Gladstone
placed him ‘ with or next to Daniel O’Connell * . deeming him to
be ‘of more masculine and stronger character than Grattan ’
That he loved Ireland is certain , whether his love for Ireland
was as intense as his hatred of England is doubtful His family
history suggests that there was madness in his blood , his own
behaviour confirms the suspicion Yet no statesman of th e
time was more clear as to his obiective. o r more resolute in pursui t
of it That his objective was an independent Insh Repubhc
there can be little doubt , still less that had he lived to become
its President his rule m Ireland would have been as dictatorial
as it was m Committee Room No 15 He required of his fol-
lowers unquestioning obedience • it was given He sought not
their love , nor did he obtain it. Healy’s venomous description
of his Chief as * a cold-blooded sensualist ’ was as unjust as it
was inapt Not for him was the promiscuous dalliance charac-
tcnstic of some of his colleagues His affections were fixed on
one woman , that she was the wife of a friend was grievously
unfortunate that he was as passionately devoted to her as she to
him IS certain. ‘ Tragedy ’ is a term now applied to every sordid
crime or violent death, but if there ever was m politics a truly
t ragic career — pure drama from start to finish — ^it was that of
Charles Stewart Parnell.
58 ENGLISH PARTIES AND IRISH HOPES [1887-
Pamell’s death was followed almost immediately by the trans-
ference of ]\Ir. Balfour from the Irish Office to the Treasury, and
his succession to the leadership of the House of Commons. He
had accomplished the task to which he had set his hand m Ire-
land. He had shown himself sympathetic towards imdeserved
suffermg, quick to devise heahng remedies, but, above all, in-
flexibly firm m the vindication of law. He had greatly extended
the operation of the Ashbourne Act, and had set up a Commission
for dealing with congested distncts. He proposed, in 1892, to
crown his work by a large measure of Local Government, but
the scheme was coldly received, and early in June it was aban-
doned. A few weeks later Parliament was dissolved.
General The General Election which ensued grievously disappointed
of IM 2 ” the hopes of Mr. Gladstone. Instead of the majority of at least
100 on which he had confidently counted, the country gave him
one of 40, and that highly precarious in composition England
was still staunchly Unionist, but was overborne by the ‘ Celtic
frmge ’. In the new Parhament the Umonists numbered 315,
of whom 269 were Conservatives, the Gladstonian Liberals 269,
and the Irish Home Rulers 81. Of the latter 9 counted as Pax-
nelhtes. Mr. Gladstone’s own majority at Midlothian dropped
from 4,000 to 690. In view of the composite majority opposed
to him Lord Salisbury decided to meet Parhament, but, on an
amendment to the Address, he was beaten by a majority of 40,
Mr Glad- and m August he gave way to Mr. Gladstone, who, at the age
of 83, took office for the fourth time. The Cabinet of 1892 dif-
Mmistry fered httle m personnel from that of 1886, but was reinforced
by Mr. H. H. Asquith, a young Oxonian who had quickly estab-
hshed a reputation at the Bar and m Parhament, and now became
Home Secretary, by Mr. Bryce, a great jurist, by Mr. H H.
Fowler, a shrewd provincial sohcitor, who did admirable work
at the Local Government Board, and by Mr. A H D Acland, a
zealot for education. The new Ministry at once (September 1892)
suspended by proclamation the operation of the Crimes Act m
Ireland, and thus cleared the decks for the great measure of 1893.
^oDd second edition of Home Rule was disclosed to the House
e^tion of by the Prune Minister on February 13th, 1893 In several im-
portant particulars it differed from the first. The single-chamber
1893* device with its two ‘ Orders ’ was dropped, and the bicameral
1894]
HOME RULE (2nd EDITION) 59
system was frankly adopted The Legislative Council of forty-
eight members was to be elected for eight years \by persons who
owned or occupied land of the rateable value of £20 per annum.
The Legislative Assembly was to consist of 108 members, elected
by the existing constituencies, except Tnmty CoUege Should
the two Chambers disagree, the question was to be decided, but
only after the lapse of two years, in joint session by a majority.
In the onginal draft Irish members, to the number of eighty,
were to be retained at Westminster, but not to vote on questions
affectmg Great Britain exclusively This ‘ in and out * clause
was subsequently dropped, and the Irish members were retained
for all purposes.
The Second Reading of the Bill proposed on April 6 was
carried, after a debate extendmg over twelve days, by a majonty
of 48. Protracted as it was, the debate was sustained at a high
level by Gladstone, Asquith and Morley on the one side, and
Balfour, Chamberlain, Goschen, Hicks Beach, Carson and DaVid
Plunket on the other The Committee stage of the Bill occupied
sixty-three sittings and the whole proceedings eighty-two. Not
until September 1 was the Third Reading at last earned by 801
votes against 267. The dnving power of the octogenanan who
had literally pushed the Bill through was nothing short of amaz-
ing, and extorted the admiration of foes no less than friends.
‘ Talma, Keen, Kemble,’ wrote Morley, ‘ might have envied his
magical transitions . . . m spite of party passion the whole
House watched him with wonder and delight as children watch
a wizard ’ ^ But ‘ magic ’ had some drawbacks, as Morley ad-
mitted, when the Bill was m Committee Gladstone’s ‘ discur-
sive treatment exposed an enormous surface. His abundance of
illustration multiphed points for debate ’. He ' always supposed
that a great theme needs to be copiously handled, which is per-
haps doubtful, and indeed is often an exact inversion of the true
state of thmgs ’. The protraction of the debate was not, then,
wholly due, as was commonly alleged, to the obstructive tactics
of the Umonist Opposition
The Lords made short work of the Bill which, after four
nights of brilliant debate, they rejected by 419 votes to 41 (Sep-
tember 8). Not, however, tmtil March 5, 1894, was this Session,
EecoUeelions, i. 85S.
Resigna-
tion of
Glad-
stone
Death of
Glad-
stone
60 ENGLISH PARTIES AND IRISH HOPES [1887-
tlie most protracted in the history of Parliament, brought to a
close. -
Ought Mr. Gladstone, on the rejection of the Bill by the House
of Lords, to have appealed to the country? On the tactical
question theie was some division of opinion. Gladstone strongly
favoured a dissolution, and an appeal to the electorate on the
single issue of Commons v. Lords But to his lasting regret he
was overborne by his colleagues. The country might have given
him the mandate he wanted , or it might not. Denied the oppor-
tunity of bringing the matter to an issue, Mr. Gladstone decided
that his part in the great drama was played Moreover, between
him and some of his most important colleagues there was on the
Estimates for the Navy what Gladstone himself described as
‘ profound disagreement ’.
Accordingly, on his return from Biarritz (February 1894),
weighed down by increasing infirmity of sight and hearing, and
Sincerely desiring a quiet interval between the turmoil of politics
and the grave, he resigned office He held his last Cabinet on
March 1, and on the same day made his last speech in the House
of Commons. The speech, made on the Lords’ Amendments to
the District and Patish Councils Bill, was a call to battle against
the hereditary Chamber. Those Amendments, though in them-
selves of slight importance, seemed to him to raise a ‘ question
enormously large, a question which has become profoundly acute,
which will demand a settlement and must receive at an early
date that settlement from the highest authority ’ — the electorate.
That was Mr. Gladstone’s farewell to a Chamber which he had
first entered sixty-one years before. -
The interval he had desired between Parhament and the
grave lasted for four years. He emerged from Ins retirement to
plead the cause of the Armenian Christians in 1896, on May
19th, 1898, after some months of suffeiihg, he passed away.
In both Houses of Parhament and by the Press of the whole
world, noble tributes were paid to Gladstone’s memory. Lord
Salisbury emphasized ‘the umversal consent of all persons, of
all classes and of all schools of thought in doing honour to a
man who has been more mixed up in political conflict than prob-
ably any man that our lustory records ’. The reason for this
unammity he characteristically found in Mr. Gladstone’s pursuit
18011 DEATH OP GLADSTONE 61
of a ‘ high moral ideal ’ ‘ What he sought was the achievement
of great ideals, and whether they were based upon sound con-
victions or not they could have issued from nothing but the purest
moral aspirations . . He will leave behind him the
memory of a great Chnstian statesman ’ Lord Rosebery
sounded the same note Mr Balfour spoke of him as ‘ the greatest
member of the greatest deliberative assembly which so far the
world has seen ‘ He brought to our debates,’ he added, ‘ a
genius which raised in the general estimation the whole level of
our proceedings ’ Sir Whlliam Harcourt spoke with great affec-
tion of his old Chief, of his patience, his modesty, his tolerance,
while a tribute not less sincere or eloquent was paid on behalf
of Ireland by John Dillon
To Gladstone’s charm, as a man, to his courtesy, to his eager
pursmt of knowledge, his modest anxiety to learn of all who could
teach him, his marvellous versatihty and mental energy even to
extreme old age innumerable tnbutes have been paid, but none
more stnking than those of two imbending Tories, who as young
men were brought into contact nith Mr Gladstone, when as an
old man he revisited Oxford and stayed m College rooms at All
Souls ^
For a final appreciation of a statesman who played so large
and so controversial a part in public affairs, who excited m
unusual measure alike adnuration and detestation, the time has
not, perhaps, arrived But this much may be said Though
lacking the simplicity and directness characteristic of Bright, he
was a consummate orato r Endowed by nature with a jcom-
manding presence and a sonorous voice, he acquired by art an
extraordinary com mand of language Tnd uncommon felicity of
illustr ation As a debater he was not equal to Disraeli, lacing'
his imperturbable temper and his sense of humour , and although
he could rouse intense enthusiasm among his followers, he cannot
be said, like Peel, to have ‘ played on the House hke an old fiddle ’.
Great as an oratorJ ie-miS-Still-g3£at_er_a s a man , marvellous in
the versatihty of his interests, and touching life on many sides ,
a ge nuine scholar of the old Oxford School, and a devoted son
o f the Anglican Church A s a statesman his greatest^engt tf
* C B L Fletcher, Mr Gladstone at All Souls (1008) , Sir C Oman,
Things I Have Seen (1033)
62 ENGLISH PARTIES AND IRISH HOPES [1887-1894
l ay m finance. He had been admirably trained m the school of
Peel, and he was, t hroughout his career, a j ealous guardian o f
the p ublic pu rse^ Perhaps he spent too much of his ministerial
life at the Treasury; undoubtedly he spent too much of his
public hfe m the House of Commons. Consequently his states-
ma nship was of the strictly parhamentar y tjye; his ga 2 e~was
too closely concentrated upon tactics, sometimes, as in 1884-5,
with disastrous results. To sa y that his outloo k was insula r
woul d b e untrue ; n o man had a more v mg~^ >Tnpathy w ith
oppressed nationalities, or a more touting faith i n the univers al
efi&cacy of parham^tary ms£tutions. But although he was fre-
^ently aroused to vehement speech by tales of oppression and
occasionally to prompt action, as, for example, by the bad faith
of Russia in regard to the Penjdeh incident, yet his interest in
e xternal affairs was intermitte nt^ a nd h is temper, m such matters
only, was apt to be procrastinatmg. Nevertheless, no one could
look upon him without a sense that here was a man cast in an
heroic mould, and that whether right on a given question or
wrong, in nothing was he less than great.
1894-1895]
LIBERALISM IN FETTERS
68
CHAPTER V
UBERALISM IN FETTERS
A fter Gladstone’s resignation his Party fell on evil days.
Some held that Liberalism had done its essential work;
certam it was that the era of liberating reform was closed As a
prevalent philosophy latsser-fmre, if not actually dead, was passmg
to a grave less honoured than it should be. Even if it be true
that Its mfluence hngered too long, it will hardly be denied that
under the mspiration of its leadmg doctrme legislation had aimed
at securing the greatest happmess of the greatest number, and
considerable practical results had been achieved But towards
the close of the century pohtical interest began to shift from
questions of administrative and constitutional reform on the one
hand to economic and social problems, the solution of which
appeared to mvolve the interference of the State ; on the other
to problems Imperial and IntemationaL
Gladstone was a typical representative of the Manchester
School m relation alike to domestic and external affairs.
To whatever school his successor belonged it was not that The
Who that successor would be was a question eagerly canvassed
before Gladstone’s retirement It was decided by the Queen
Had Gladstone been consulted he would have named not (as was
generally supposed) Sir Wilham Harcourt, who * he was told was
not popular ’, but Lord Spencer. The Queen sent for Lord Rose-
bery, who after much hesitation accepted the commission to form
a Government. Harcourt agreed to remain Chancellor of the
Exchequer with the leadership of the House of Commons, on
condition that he saw aU the Foreign Office papers, had some
control over patronage, and was free to act, on occasion, without
consulting the Prune Mimster. Rosebery was, in fact, as ‘ strongly
averse to serving “ over ” BEarcourt ’, as Harcourt was to servmg
LIBERALISM IN FETTERS
Il894-
under Rosebery ; but the Cabinet was almost unammously
opposed to Harcourt’s succession. John Morley was determined
not to serve under Harcourt , he was even doubtful whether he
could serve with him. He coveted the Foreign Office and was
angry with Rosebery for preferring Lord Kimberley.
Lord Rosebery’s position was, from the first, almost impos-
sible. As he himself expressed it, his was ‘ the most uneasy
throne in Europe since that of Poland *. Yet to this spoiled
child of fortune the Premiership had been an object of lifelong
ambition, and he attained it at the age of 47. Unfortunately he
had been deprived by his early succession to the peerage of the
disciphnmg effect of service in the House of Commons ; nor had
his official apprenticeship been arduous or prolonged. Born in
1847 he had first come into pubhc notice as Gladstone’s host
durmg the Midlothian campaign of 1879-80 He served under
Harcourt, as Under-Secretary at the Home Office, 1881-3, entered
the Cabinet as Lord Privy Seal and First Commissioner for Public
Works in 1885, was designated by Gladstone, in 1885, as ‘ the
man of the future ’, and in the brief Liberal Ministry of 1886 served
as Foreign Secretary, an office which in 1892 he resumed. The
Queen would have liked him to retain it together with the Premier-
ship in 1894. But always mistrustful of his own powers, and
anxious, not groundlessly, about his physical powers of endur-
ance he declined.
Rosebery Even as it was the task proved too heavy for a man of his
self-tormenting temperament. Difficult at any time it was,
under the actual circumstances, unendurable. With a Cabinet
divided both on personal and political issues ; with a small and
precarious majority in the House of Commons and in a hopeless
minority in the Lords, a Peer-Premier who was (literally) not on
speaking terms with the leader of the House of Commons had
no chance of winning distinction for himself, or of doing good
serviee for the country.
Vhe New- The Liberal Party, anticipatmg an appeal to the country and
their own restoration to power, had, at a meeting held at New-
1 gramme castle (October 1891), formulated a ‘ programme ’. . Retaining
Home Rule for Ireland in the forefront of the programme the
Party Organization had also committed itself to the Disestablish-
ment of the Church in Wales; the establishment of elective
“FILLING DP THE CUP
65
1S03]
councils m Districts and Parishes, the reform of the land lai\s
and the taxation of land values and ground rents , the direct
popular \ eto on the Liquor Traffic , the payment of Members
of Parliament and the reform of registration and electoral laws ;
the ‘ mending or ending ’ of the House of Lords, and other drastic
reforms
The umvisdom of loading the parliamentary ship with such a
top-heavj cargo was conclusively illustrated during the next few
years The ‘ Nen castle Programme as it was quickly mck-
named, not merely evoked against the Party which adopted it
the opposition of many powerful interests, but seriously weakened
internally a Party which could ill-afford a further loss of blood i
The Liberal Government of 1892 was triply fettered by ‘ Filling
dependence on the Irish vote m the House of Commons, by a
solid and unyielding majority opposed to it in the House of Lords,
and by the supremacy of the Caucus which had dictated the pre-
posterous programme at Newcastle As a consequence the three
yeais of its uneasy existence •were largely spent in ‘ ploughing
the sands ’ or ‘ filling up the cup ’, as the process of passing Bills
through the Commons, with the prospect of their drastic amend-
ment or rejection in the Lords, was alternatively described by
foes and friends Of the victims thus adorned for sacrifice the
two which, apart from the Home Rule Bill, encountered the
bitterest hostility were Welsh Disestablishment and the Local
Veto
To jirepare the way for the former, Asquith, the new Home The
Secretary, introduced (February 23, 1893) a Suspensory Bill, pro-
viding that ‘ a person appomted after the passing of this Act to
any bishopric, ecclesiastical dignity or preferment in Wales or
Monmouthshire or to any lay office in connexion therewith, shall
hold the emoluments of his office subject to the pleasure of Par-
liament The Act was to operate until August 1, 1894, or if
Farhament were sitting, then to the end of the current session
The substantive measure ■was mtroduced m April 1894 It w'as
based upon a distinction betw'een ancient and relatively modern
endovments All ecclesiastical property m Wales and Mon-
mouthshire, except private benefactions made since 1703, was to
vest in three commissioners All ecclesiastical corporations w'ere
to be dissolved, and a Representative Church Body to be formed
ME — 5
LIBERALISM IN FETTERS
[1894-
Local
Veto
To this Body the Churches and parsonages were to be handed
over, the Cathedrals to the Commissioners. Glebe lands were
to be vested m the local Councils, Borough, Urban District or
Parish ; the tithes to the County Councils Incumbents and other
holders of freehold offices were to continue to hold them for life,
with the emoluments attached thereto, but might exchange them
for annuities. The Bill encountered the most determined opposi-
tion both inside and outside Parhament. Gladstone had de-
fended it on the ground that it was demanded by twenty-eight
out of thirty members returned for Welsh constituencies, and (in
reply to the protests of the Queen) disclaimed the suggestion that
it was ‘ a first step towards the disestabhshment or disendowment
of the Church of England That the Bill was so regarded by
the great bulk of Enghsh Churchmen was not less certain than
that it was desired by the bulk of the Welsh people.
Mr. Asquith who, both as Home Secretary and a bom Non-
conformist, was appropriately put m charge of the Bill, piloted
it through the House of Commons with marked abihty, defending
it agamst the assaults of Churchmen who regarded it as ‘ sacri-
lege’ and of those Welsh Nonconformists who hke Mr Lloyd
George, a young Welsh Baptist who had entered the House in
1890, attacked its provisions as too tender towards the Church
they wished to despoil. The Bill was read a second time on April
1, 1896, by 304- to 260, but had not emerged from the ordeal of
Committee when the Government fell. No more was heard
until 1912 when Asqmth, as Prime Minister, passed it, with the
aid of the Irish Roman Cathohcs, through the Commons, only
to meet inevitable rejection in the House of Lords. Its subse-
quent fate will demand attention later.
Four days after Asquith had introduced the Welsh Church
Suspensory Bill came the third instalment of the Newcastle Pro-
gramme. The apostles of total abstmence and other more moder-
ate advocates of restrictions on the sale of alcoholic hquors had,
of late years, been making great headway in all parts of Great
Britain. They were especially strong in the various Noncon-
formist Bodies, and by the ’eighties had become so important an
element in the electoral stren^h of the Liberal Party that their
demands could no longer be ignored. As to the best means of
dealmg with the vice of drunkenness, and with the trade which
LOCAL VETO
67
was held to foster it, opinions differed Many schemes were put
forward, but the device most favoured in the ’nineties was that
of a local veto upon the grant of hcences for the sale of intoxi-
cating liquors The Conservatives had so far conceded the
principle as to mclude in the County Councils Bill, as originally
introduced, clauses deahng with hquor licences. The elected
Councils were to be empowered to refuse the renewal of hcences
to pubhc-houses on payment of compensation to hcensees The
proposal found few friends. The brewers and pubhcans were
alarmed at the prospect of being placed under the control of
popularly elected Councils Temperance reformers jibbed at the
principle of recognizmg by compensation a vested interest in vice.
Persons who had practical knowledge of a difficult problem found
m the BUI no guidance as to the basis on which compensation
was to be computed. The proposals had evidently been insuffi-
ciently considered, and m face of an outcry from many quarters
were withdrawn.
The Liberals, however, on retummg to office m 1892 attempted
a solution of the problem Harcourt’s BUI of 1893 was framed
with singular unwisdom. A Liberal politician and historian has
justly described it as ‘perhaps the most unpopular measure
ever introduced into the House of Commons’.^ It proposed
that on the demand of one-tenth of County CouncU electors, in
any ward of a borough or any parish, a poll might be taken on the
question of the total closmg of all pubhc-houses in the area If
supported by a two-thirds majoniy of the votes polled, no hcence
should be granted or renewed for the sale of intoxicating hquor
withm the area, save m hotds, refreshment rooms or eatmg
houses.
To the brewers and pubhcans this appeared to spell confisca-
tion ; the working man who liked his glass of beer regarded it
qmte reasonably as class legislation Thoughtful temperance
reformers complamed that Harcourt, as Chamberlain remarked,
appeared ‘ more anxious to pumsh the publican than to reclaim the
drunkard ’ Chamberlain himself contended that the only construc-
tive solution of a difficult problem was, having compensated the
licensee, to substitute pubhc ownership and disinterested manage-
ment for private control, and to provide facihties for alcohohc
^ H Paul, Modern England, v 263
LIBERALISM IN FETTERS
[1894-
Em-
ploycrs’
Liability
Hours of
Labour
Asquilb
It the
Home
Oflice
refreshment under deeent conditions. Harcourt’s Bill was imme-
diately damned and soon dead Partial expciimenis have in
recent years been made on the lines advocated by Chdmbcrlain,
but a marked diminution of drunkenness in England has com-
bined with the spectacular failure of ‘ prohibition ’ in the United
States to take Local Veto out of the category of urgent reforms
A happier fate attended, as ue have already seen, the Bill
for the establishment of District and Parish Councils. Intro-
duced in March 1803 it became law a 3 ’car latci ^
Mr. Asquith, alicady in charge of the IVclsh Disestablishment
Bill, was also deputed to mtioduce an Emiiloycrs’ Liabilit}’^ Bill
T he Bill abolished the last remnant of tlie Common Law doctrine
of ‘ common emploj'mcnt and made the employer liable for an
accident due to the negli gence of a servant^ e ven though tli at
servant a n d the injured person wcfc~^ilrenrliis emplo^Tuen t It
also included various classes of workpeople hitherto excluded,
such as domestic servants and seamen , and forbade ‘ contracting
out The latter provision ivas hotly contested m the Commons,
and deleted in the Lords, -whereupon the Government refused to
proceed w'lth a measure so shamefully ‘ mangled It served
none the less to ‘ fill up the cup *.
The Government did, however, succeed in passing a modest
measure for limiting the hours of railway servants, but although
m some other occupations the Tiade Unions were agitating for
an ‘ eight-hours day ’, the railway servants were far from unani-
mous m their w'clcome to this extension of State interference
One of the last acts of the Gladstone Government w'as, how-
ever, to introduce the eight-hours day for workmen in the
ordnance factories under the War Ofiice, and the Rosebery
Government applied the same rule to wwkmcn m the Royal
Dockyards.
]\'Ir. Acland, more fortunate than most of his colleagues,
earned credit for a new Code for Evening Continuation Schools
issued in 1893, and for the passage of two Acts, one of which raised
the compulsory limit of age for school attendance to 11 , and the
other made better provision for the* education of blind and deaf
children. Mr. Asquith also, though doomed to disappointment
as icgards the ambitious legislative projects committed to his
* See supra, p. 40 f.
1605]
TRAFALGAR SQUARE
charge, acquired a lugh reputation as an administrator As
Home Sccrelarj' he was confronted with several difficult prob-
lems The first was the use and abuse of Trafalgar Square for Trafalg
demonstrations The Square is Crown property but it would
seem that the public has by long use acquired a right of way
through the Square, though not the right to use it for public
meetings The increasing abuse of the Square for demonstrations
of 1 arious sorts had, as already noted, led the previous Govern-
ment to forbid the use of it for that purpose But at the election
of 1892 ]Mr John Burns, whom Asquith had unsuccessfully de-
fended in 1887, had m 1889 become Lord Rosebery’s colleague
on the London County Council, and in 1892 had been returned
to Parliament as member for Battersea At the same election
Mr Keir Hardie, a Scottish colher who had espoused with zeal
the Socialist creed, had been returned for South-West Ham, and
had arrived at Westminster, m the cloth cap of a miner and to
the blatant accompaniment if not of a brass band, at least of
a cornet The advent of these men announced the opening of
a new chapter in English politics The Liberal Government
W'ould ignore its significance at their peril
Hardly was Asquith installed at the Home Office before he
was called upon (October 1892) to receive a deputation from the
Metropolitan Radical Federation on the subject of Trafalgar
Square He announced his decision with characteristic courtesy
and clearness The use of the Square for meetings was a favour,
not a right, but meetings would be permitted, during daylight
hours, on Sundays and Saturday afternoons (when shops were
shut and traffic at its lightest), and subject to arrangements made
with and by the First Commissioner of Works (representing the
Crown) and the Commissioner of Metropolitan Pohee All British
parties were satisfied with this reasonable compromise
Not so the Irish Nationalists, who, conscious of their parlia-
mentary power, demanded (January 1893) the release of the
prisoners still sen mg their sentences for their part in the dyna-
mite outrages of the early ’eighties On this question Asquith
w’as quite uncompromising No dynamiter, however ‘ political ’
the motives which inspired his crime, need expect more favour-
able treatment from him than any other convicted criminal
The Nalionalists were bitterly chagrined, but supported on an
Coal
Stnke,
1803
70 LIBERALISM IN FETTERS [1894-
issue such as this by the Unionists, the Ministry could and did
defy them
A third question of law and order arose in connexion -vVith
the great coal dispute which broke out in the summer of 1898.
In that act of the political drama Lord Rosebery ultimately
played the part of the hero ; Asquith was most inappropriately
cast for that of villain.
Great depression m the coal trade had necessitated a reduc-
tion of wages The demand of the owners was not seriously
resisted m South Wales, and the colliers in the Northumberland
and Durham coal-field never joined the strike. Bht it spread
with such rapidity in Yorkshire, Lancashire and the Midlands
that 250,000 men were involved. The dispute had already lasted
about two months when a regrettable incident occurred at Feather-
stone Colliery near Pontefract The Doncaster races were iti
progress ; large bodies of the local police forces had, as usual,
been drafted to Doncaster, and the strikers seized the opportumty
to attack the collieries of Lord Masham who had imported non-
unionists from other districts to work his pits. The weakened
police force was overpowered , a small body of troops summoned
from York were compelled to open fire and tnvo colliers were
unfortunately killed. Mr. Asquith, as Home Secretary, was
bitterly attacked in Parhament and for years afterwards his
appearance on pubhc platforms was frequently greeted by mur-
murs of ‘ Featherstone ’ and ‘ murderer ’. In face of those unfair
attacks he comported himself with digmty. On one occasion,
when a voice cried, ‘ That was when you murdered the nuners at
Featherstone m 1892 his only retort was ‘ In 1893 The
Featherstone riots raised, however, important questions both of
law and fact. A small Commission under the chairmanship of
Lord Bowen, a judge of the highest distinction, found that the
soldiers who fired and the ofl5cer who commanded them to do so
had ‘ done nothing except what was (their) strict legal duty
The strike was not interrupted by * Featherstone ’. Not until
after it had lasted for fifteen weeks, had inflicted great hardship
on the poor, and caused loss and mconvenience on all classes, did
the Government intervene. Fourteen owners and fourteen miners
were then brought into conference at the Foreign Office under
1 Parliamentary Papers, Cd 7234, Dec 6, 1893
LORD ROSEBERY
71
ISD?]
the chairmanship of Lord Rosebery. After six hours of nerve-
vrracking negotiation, the chairman succeeded in arranging terms
of peace His diary for the day reads : * One of the most anxious
and happiest days of my life . . . Dined alone, very tired.
But it would have been a good day to die on.’
The owners agreed to take the miners back to work at the
old rates until February 1, 1894 , after that date the rate of wages
was to be fixed by a Concihation Board of fourteen a side, under
an impartial chairman, with a castmg vote.
Lord Rosebery had good reason to be satisfied with his day’s Queen
work It immensely enhanced his reputation m the country,
and might have eased his position as Prime Minister, even though Rosebery
it did not conduce to his appointment. His sdection was, m
fact, due to other rea sons The Queen had noted with "satisfac-
tion his~c6ndud: of Foreign affairs; and thought that m contrast
with th^ who had been associated for a longer period with Air.
Gladstone, he could be trusted to maintain the honour of the
country. For that was the real cause of the growing estrange-
ment between Queen Victoria and the outgomg Minister In the
monarchy as an institution Gladstone had a deep-rooted behef ;
for the Queen herself a profound respect The Queen, on her
part, always gratefully remembered Mr Gladstone’s ‘devotion
and zeal in all that concerned {her] personal welfare and that of
[her family] ’, but she held that he had lowered the place of his
country among the nations of the world She hoped that Lord
Rosebery would not only exercise a moderating mfluence "upon
his "colleagues m domestic affairs, but carry on the Foreign pohcy
inherited from Lord Salisbury. *
Lord Rosebery disappomted her expectations On social
questions his views were, indeed, more ‘ advanced ’ than those
of his older colleagues, and as regards the House of Lords his
tone was decidedly more aggressive With a speech made on the
latter question by the Prime Minister at Bradford (October 27)
the Queen was so seriously displeased that she contemplated the
possibility of dissolvmg Parhament — a course from which she was
dissuaded by the Umonist leaders Accordingly, she contented
herself with administering a sharp rebuke to her Alimster ^
In disgrace with the Queen, the Prime Almister had also evoked
*QFL (8rd),II 431 f.
LIBERALISar IN FETTERS
[1894:-
Har>
court’s
Budget,
1804
Death
Duties
the displeasure of lus colleagues, and still more of their masters
m the House of Commons. In his first speech as Piime Minister
(March 12, 1891) he made an admission -which greatly perturbed
the lush Nationalists ‘Before Irish Home Rule is conceded,’
he said, ‘ by the Imperial Parliament, England as the predominant
member m the partnership of the tliree kingdoms n ill have to be
convinced of its justice.’ The statement was, as he subsequently
explained, electorally truistic ; but the ‘ predominant partner ’
speech was never forgotten, nor in some quarters forgiven. It
was instantly repudiated by the Radicals and Nationalists who,
on the very next day, under the leadership of Mr. Labouchere,
carried against the Government an amendment to the Address.
The majority was only two but it n as a bad start for the Rose-
bery Government
The only parliamentary success achieved hy that unhappy
ministry fell to Sir William Harcourt. The Budget of 1894,
piloted through the House by him with consummate adroitness,
made financial histoiy. Faced with an estimated deficit of about
£4,000,000 Harcourt was compelled to impose fresh ta-vation.
Ee put an extra Id on the income tax and an extra Gd per gallon
in spirits and Gd per barrel on beer. But the outstanding feature
if the Budget was a re volutionjin-the Death D uties The new
icheme of Duties was based on two mam principles first, that
and (‘ realty ’) should be put for the first time on the same foot-
iig as other kinds of property (* personalty ’) , secondly, that
die rate of duty should be graduated according to the aggregate
ralue of the property passing on the death of the deceased person.
For the smaller folk the pill of the extra id on income tax
was sugared by raising the limit of total exemption from £160
to £160, and by an abatement of £160 on all incomes up to £400
and of £l00 on those between £400 and £500. There was also
a sop for landlords In the assessment of real estate under
Schedule A a step was taken towards the substitution of
net for gross income, by an allowance of one-tenth (afterwards
one-eighth) in respect of land and one-sixth in respect of houses.
But this was small compensation to landowners for the ternble
burden imposed on land.
Harcourt’s proposals were bitterly attacked and resisted It
was contended, and justly, that the duty ought to be graduated
1895]
DEATH DUTIES
73
according to the amount received by individuals, not according
to the aggregate amount left by a testator. Otliemise a bene-
ficiary v,as cruelly penalized, however small the benefit received,
if his portion happened to come out of a large pool Lord Ran-
dolph ChurchiU’s stillborn Budget of 1887 would, we now know,
have contained proposals hardly less drastic than those of 1894,
but he definitely rejected the principle of graduation based on
the aggregate estate, in favour of one based on the individual
succession ‘ My instmct,’ he said, after a long discussion of the
question at Somerset House, * tells me that it is wrong ’
Nevertheless, bitterly as Harcourt’s Budget was assailed, no
subsequent Chancellor of the Exchequer, Conservative or Radical,
ever dreamt of financial disarmament, of foregoing the employ-
ment of the terribly effective weapon which Harcourt forged
Hareourt anticipated a revenue of £14,000,000 from his Death
Duties A Conservative successor collected £80,000,000. The
convemence of this method of raising revenue is unquestionable ;
but it involves a levy on capital, and the revenue so raised ought
not, in the new of financial punsts, to be devoted to any purpose
save the reduction of capital habihties, in short to the reduction
of debt
The Lords, though they detested Harcourt’s proposals, did not
venture to reject them but almost every other proposal emanat-
ing from the Rosebery Government they either rejected outright,
or * maimed and mauled ’ so drastically that the ministerial
parents could not recognize their own progeny, and allowed themi
to perish
Rosehery himself would have preferred to deal with causes,
rather than effects, by a drastic reform of the Second Chamber
His colleagues thought they saw more electoral advantage in
‘ filling up the cup ’ A number of highly controversial measures,
including the Welsh Church and the Local Veto Bills, were,
accordingly, introduced or remtroduced in the Commons, with
small prospect of their reaching, and none of their passing, the
Upper Chamber. This futile performance was, however, brought
to an abrupt conclusion when the Government were defeated on
their Army Estimates (June 21) and iought escape from a humili-
ating situation by immediate resignation Mr Campbell-Banner-
man, Secretary of State for War, had but a few hours before the
74
LIBERALISM IN FETTERS
[1894-
fatal Division made the important announcement that, m order
to facilitate certain changes m Army organization, the Duke of
Cambridge ■v\as about to retire from the post of Commander-in-
Chief Tlie Duke was first cousin to Queen Victoria; he was
exceedingly popular with the Army and had held his post, with
devotion if not distinction, for close on forty years. A Royal
Commission presided over by Lord Hartmgton had recommended
(1890) the abolition of the post. The Duke, though 76,^ was
reluctant to retire. The Queen shared his reluctance, the more
so when it was made plain to her that the Duke of Connaught
would not be appointed to succeed him. The Duke of Cambridge,
handled with kindly tact by Campbell-Bannerman, ultimately
placed himself in the Queen’s hands, and she decided, ‘ though
with much pain ’, to accept his resignation, but only on condition
that the office should be retained, and that her son should not
be debarred from appointment to it in due course. The Duke of
Connaught, though ‘a little disappointed’, was according to
Colonel Bigge ‘ very dignified and sensible ’ about the matter.
The same could not be said of the Duke of Cambridge, whose
annoyance at his compulsory returement was aggravated by the
refusal of an additional pension.
Meanwhile, the Government had fallen. The Queen took
leave of Lord Rosebery in gracious terms, but she added a ‘ few
words of kindly advice towards one in whom she will alw'ays take
a sincere interest. It is that he should in his public speeches be
very careful not to hamper himself by strong expressions which
would hamper him hereafter.’ The advice wns sound ; but for
Lord Rosebery there was no political ‘ hereafter ’. The breach
between him and Harcourt reached a climax in August 1895, and
in October 1896 he resigned the leadership of the Liberal Party.
For many years to come he brilliantly fulfilled the function of
the ‘ Pubhc Orator of the Empire ’ ; he became Chancellor of
two Universities , he did fine literary work ; but he repeatedly
repelled the advances of Liberal Imperialists who would gladly
have accepted his leadership and in the event he never again
played any official jiart m pubhc affairs. Reading of himself as
a * failure ’ he half admitted, and half repudiated, the impeach-
^ Exactly the same age as and not less vigorous than the Queen herself,
whom he outlived by three years.
1805]
GENERAL ELECTION OF 1895
75
ment ; yet as he hunsdf wrote of Lord Randolph Churchill, ‘ his
career was not a complete success . . his achievement came
infinitely short of anticipation*. ‘The secret of my life’, he
wrote, ‘is that I always detested pohtics.’ It was not pohtics
he detested , pohtics was the breath of his nostrils , but the
sordid concomitants of party warfare Shy, fastidious and tor-
tured by self-consciousness, he could not endure the rough and
tumble of pohtical life under the conditions imposed by Repre-
sentative Democracy. So Lord Rosebery, like Lord Randolph
Churchill (though for reasons widely different), goes down to history
as a man of promise imfulfilled
On Lord Rosebery’s resignation the Queen immediately sent
for Lord Sahsbuiy, who kissed hands as Prime Mimster on June MiaLtr^
25, 1895. Three years in opposition had cemented the alliance
between the two wmgs of the Uniomst Party, and Lord Sahsbury
had no difficulty in persuading the Liberal Umomst leaders to
]*om his Mmistry the Duke of Devonshire as President of the
Council, Goschen (Admiralty), Lord Lansdowne (War) and Lord
James of Hereford as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
Mr. Chamberlain selected the Colomal Office Mr. Balfour led
the House of Commons, Hicks Beach became Chancellor of the
Exchequer, and Lord Sahsbury himself took the Foreign Office in
conjunction with the Preimership The Queen insisted that Lord
Cross should be retamed in the Cabinet, with the sinecure office
of Privy Seal, while other Conservatives included in a Cabinet
of nineteen were Lord Halsbury (Lord Chancellor), Sir M White
Ridley (Home Office), Lord George Hamilton (India), Lord Bal-
four of Burleigh (Scottish Secretary), Lord Cadogan (Lord-Lieu-
tenant) and Lord Ashbourne (Lord Chancellor of Ireland), Mr C T.
Ritchie (Board of Trade), Mr Chaplin (Local Government), Mr.
W H. Long (Agriculture) and Air Akers Douglas (Commissioner
of Works).
Parhament was dissolved on July 8, and at the ensuing General
Election the Liberal Party was routed The Unionists obtained of 1805 °
a majority of 152 over all other parties combmed, 411 Umomsts,
of whom 71 were Liberals, being returned against 177 Liberals
and 82 Nationalists But for the staunch support of the ‘ Celtic
Frmgc ’ the Liberal Party would have been almost annihilated.
70
LIBERALISM IN FETTERS
[1801-1803
As it was its plight was pitiable , rent by inLcriial dissensions,
repudiated by the ‘ predominant partner it remained for a full
decade in political eclipse For the fust time for over sixty years
Ml Gladstone did not offer himself as a candidate. Harcourt
failed to secure re-elccLion at Derby, and John Morley at New-
castle. Labour fared as badly as Libciahsm, Iveir Hardie and
most of the othei Socialist candidates being defeated
The electorate emphatically endorsed the action of the House
of Lords in rejecting the Home Rule Bill For the rest, it was
evidently determined to put into powrer a Government which
could govern The final fusion of the Liberal Unionist and Con-
servative Parties gave promise of strength ; how far that promise
was redeemed subsequent chapters w’lll disclose.
1885-1800J
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
77
CHAPTER VI
ENGLAND AND HER NEIGIHJOURS, 1885-90
F rom preceding chapters all reference to Foreign Affairs has
been excluded The omission must now be repaired Dur-
ing the last fifteen years of the century the conduct of Foreign
pohcy was in the hands of only two statesmen. There were,
indeed, two brief interludes when Lord Iddesleigh and Lord
Kimberley respectively held the offiee of Foreign Secretary, but
in the one case Lord Sahsbury, in the other Lord Rosebery, was
at hand in Dowmng Street, and it is a convention of the Cabinet
system that the Prime Mimster should be in close touch with
the Foreign Minister From 1886, then, until 1901 Salisbury and
Rosebery were in continuous control
As domestic affairs were conducted throughout this period The
against the background of Ireland, so Egypt dominated the “
European situation
To the importance of the Egyptian problem England had but
tardily awakened Even Napoleon’s broad hint had been lost
upon her ‘Really to ruin England we must make ourselves
masters of Egypt ’ So General Buonaparte had written in August
1797. Egypt was in his view, even then, the nerve-centre of the
British Empire The Czar Nicholas I of Russia was of the same
opinion. Twice he proposed to England that she should take
Egypt as her share in the immment partition of the Ottoman
Empire But neither m 1844 nor in 1858 were British statesmen
disposed to listen to the voice of the tempter Until the cutting
of the Suez Canal, Cape Colony was regarded, naturally enough,
as more important to the Sea Empire than Egjrpt
To the construction of the Canal English statesmen were,
moreover, stoutly opposed, and not one penny of the capital
raised by M de Lesseps was subscribed in England. Yet from
SCALE ; '°° y »°°T FnglVlilBR
EGYPT AND THE SOUDAN.
78
1809]
EGYPT
79
the day it was opened (1869) Great Britain contributed 75 to 80
per cent of the traffic, and more than that proportion of the
revenue. Not, however, until 1874 did there come into power
in England a statesman who reahzed that new conditions of
world-politics had arisen, that there were ‘ vast and novel ele-
ments in the distribution of power ’
In 1875 an opportunity arose whereby England might, if she The^S aez
could act promptly and boldly, redeem the errors of the past sharcn
Out of 400,000 shares m the Suez Canal Company Ismail, the
Khedive of Egypt, h^d 176,602 Brought tp the verge of bank-
ruptcy by an orgy of eittravagance, he decided m 1875 to sell
them. Disraeli, with the help of the Rothschilds, bought them
for Great Britam.^ Both on financial and political grounds the
investment was brilliantly justified It opened a new era m the
history of the Egyptian problem and of English Foreign Policy.
The sale of the shares did not solve Ismail’s difficulties The
debt, which at his accession stood at £3,293,000, had mounted by
1876 to £94,000,000 — a crushing burden for a country which was
small and poor The Khedive’s creditors, particularly in France
and England, became alarmed about their security, and m 1875 the
British Government at the * request ’ — perhaps gently prompted
— of the Khedive, sent out Mr (afterw’ards Sir) Stephen Cave,
a distinguished Member of Parhament, to investigate and report
upon the financial situation of the country.
The French Government, alarmed by the growrth of British
influence m Egypt, proposed the creation of a jomt Commission
for the control of Egyptian finance, but Lord Derby was opposed
to any measure that might entail ‘interference with the inde-
pendence of Egypt ’. How iroracally did events mock his cautious
rectitude , They ensued m rapid sequence In 1879 the Sultan
was induced by the Powers to procure the abdication of his vassal
Ismail. ‘His abdication,’ writes Lord Cromer, ‘sounded the
death knell of arbitrary personal rule in Eg5q)t ’ No doubt . but
the situation was not thereby immediately improved Tewfik,
Ismail’s son and successor, though well intentioned, was even less
capable than Ismail The condition of his subjects w'as deplor-
able and of the prevaihng discontent Arabi Bey, a soldier of
* For details of this brilliant transaction cf Marriott, Europe since 1S15,
pp 813-18
80
ENGLAND AND HER NEIGHBOURS
[1885-
Rebcllion
of Arabi
The
English
Occupa-
tion
humble birth but great ambition, made himself the mouthpiece.
In February 1882 Arabi became War Minister, and in June revo-
lution broke out. Arabi’s revolt represented a long-accumulating
mass of discontent among all classes of the native population
Though military m origin, it was nationalistic m purpose, being
directed partly against the suzerainty of the Sultan, partly against
Occidental intervention in Egyptian affairs. At the end of May
1882 British and French squadions had been sent to Alexandria
for the protection of the large foreign population Not without
reason On June 11 the Arabs attacked tlie European population
in Alexandria, massacred fifty or more of them, mostly Greeks,
and looted the city. Order had to be restored ; but how ?
Tca\ fik was powerless , his Suzerain could give him no help
France, though jealous of England, refused, vhen the moment
for action came, to participate The French fleet sailed away.
England was compelled to aet alone Sir Beauchamp Sej'mour,
the Admiral m command, bombarded Alexandria Arabi,
having released the convicts, abandoned the city vhich vas
handed over to fire, pillage and massacre The Admiral then
landed a body of bluejackets and marines and order was tardily
restored.
Troops were dispatched from England and India, and under
tlie command of Sir Garnet Wolseley inflicted a crushing defeat
on Arabi at Tel-el-Kebir (September 13th). On the 14th Cairo
surrendered to a couple of squadrons of British cavalry. Arabi
was captured, tried, and finally deported to Ceylon^ England
was to all intents mistress of Egypt. France never forgave her-
self for a pusillanimous abdication.
England, however, had no desire to remain in permanent
occupation of Egj'pt. Munster after minister reiterated the
intention to retire as soon as ‘ the authority of the Khedive ’
was completely restored and a regime of permanent stability
established But again events mocked their intentions. In 1883
the Soudanese, led by a rehgious fanatic who styled himself the
* Lladhi ’, revolted against their Egyptian taskmasters. General
^ There he remained for some years, but was eventually allowed to return
to Egypt, where he died in obscunt^' Valentine Chirol {Fifty Years, pp 32-4)
says that Arabi was sineerely grateful to the British for the benefits they
had conferred upon the fellaheen from whom he had himself sprung.
180D1 DEATH OF GORDON 81
Hicks, an English soldier, was dispatched to quell the rebellion.
But the Egyptian force under his command was wholly in-
adequate and lU-disciphned, and the General, his European staff
and his Egyptian soliers nere cut to pieces
What was to be done’ The distracted Cabinet at
sought the advice of General Charles Gordon, who until 1879 soudan
had been Governor of the Soudan under Ismail Acting on it,
they dispatched Gordon himsdf to report on the situation
Appointed Governor-General of the Soudan by the Khedive,
Gordon went to Khartum and quiekly found himself besieged
by the Mahdists (February 1884) Sir Evelyn Baring (Lord
Cromer), who went to Egypt m 1883 as Consul-General, dis-
approved of Gordon’s mission, but insisted that he must be
rescued At home the Queen was equally insistent ‘ If not for
humamty’s sake, for the honour of the Government and the
nation he must not be abandoned ’ But the Cabinet still delayed
Month after month passed by Nothmg was done Not until
August did the Gladstone Cabmet decide to send out a rehevmg
expedition under the command of Sir Garnet Wolselcy. Wolseley
made all possible haste , but he was too late On January 26,
1885, the Mahdi stormed Khartum Gordon was killed A^eattof
British force came m sight of the city two days aftei it had
fallen
The Cabmet decided that the power of the Mahdi must be
crushed , but m April 1885 reversed the decision , Suakin, the
port of the Soudan on the Red Sea, was retained, but the whole
Nile Valley south of Wady Haifa was abandoned to the Mahdi
Danger was threatening from another quarter ^ The renewal England
of Russian activity m Central Asia liad, m the last few years, ^ssia
been excitmg serious alarm both in London and at Calcutta m Central
There were rumours in 1881 that Russia was preparing to occupy
Merv, a vital point in South Turkestan, now an important junc-
tion on the Trans-Caspian Railway From ' Merv a short line
runs south to the Afghan frontier m the neighbourhood of Herat
The Russian Government promptly disavowed the rumoured
intention That was m 1882 Early in 1884 Russia, encouraged
doubtless by England’s diQiculties m the Soudan, occupied Merv
^ For e\ cats leading up to the situabon, see Marriott, A History of Europe
(1815-1039), c MX , and Marriott, Anglo-Russian Relations, c xiv
ME — 6
82 ENGLAND AND HER NEIGHBOURS [1885-
and SaraLs, and thus came within 200 miles of Herat and the
frontier of Afghanistan
Despite tins gross bieaeh of faith the Britisli Government
assented to a proposal for the appointment of a joint Anglo-
Russian Commission to delimit the noithcrn frontier of Afghanis-
tan Sir Peter Lumsden, the British Commissioner, punctually
arrived ; his Russian colleague. General Zclenoi, tarried, and
made excuse after excuse for the delaj'. The Russians usefully
employed the interval by occupying various points in dispute,
in order to present to the Commissioners a faxi accompli.
Tlic Matters reached a ciisis uhen on !March 30th, while Wolseley
Ina^nt Soudan, Russia attacked Pcnjdeh, a village some
hundred miles south of Merv% and drove out the Afghans with
a loss of 500 lives News of the incident aroused public excite-
ment m England to the highest pitch The Government acting
w’lth unusual promptitude called out the Reserves, and asked for
a vote of credit for £11,000,000, of which £4,500,000 was for the
Soudan expedition. The Vote was agreed to w ithout a dissentient
voice. Russia took the hint The Ameer of Afghanistan, Abdur
Rahman, happened at the moment to be the guest of the Viceroy,
Lord Duffcrin, at Raw'al Pindi. The Viceroy exerted all his
diplomatic skill to avert w'ar, and persuaded Abdur Rahman that
Pcnjdeh w'as of small importance as compared with the Zulfikar
Pass. So Russia retained Pcnjdeh . the exclusive control of the
Zulfikar Pass was secured to the Ameer.
Between Afghanistan and Russia the matter w'as satisfactorily
adjusted Between Russia and England negotiations dragged on
until July 18S7 when the frontier was settled up to the line of
the Oxus and a definite .check was put upon Russian advance
towards Afghanistan Meanwhile, the Quetta district, under the
designation of Biitish Baluchistan, w'as annexed to British India
Sails- Such, in rough outline, W'as the position when in 1SS5 Lord
Policy Salisbury assumed the control of British policy An ardent
patriot. Lord Salisbury was also a genuine lover of peace. Deter-
mined to maintain the honour of his own country, he was scrupu-
lous m respecting the rights and consulting the susceptibilities
of its neighbours From the liist, therefoie, he was anxious to
determine the British occupation of Egypt, partly because our
presence in Egypt meant an open sore m our relations with
BISaiARCK
88
1890]
France, and still more because it gave Bismarck the oppoitumty
of plajnng a diplomatic game precisely adapted to his peculiar
genius In a letter (February 1887) to Sir Edward Malet, then
British ^bassador m Berlm, he expressed this view very strongly.
* He [Bismarck] -IS, hard to please Unless we take the chest-’ Sahsbury
nuts out of the hottest part of the fire, he thinks we are shirking marok
our work But we cannot go beyond a certain point to please
him . . . when he wants us — as he evidently does — ^to quarrel
with France downright over Egypt, I think he is driving too hard
a bargain It is not worth our while Our policy is not, it we
can help it, to allow France either to force us out of Egypt
altogether or to force us into a quarrel over Egypt . . Om^
position in Egypt is ... a disastrous mheritance, for it enables
[Bismarck] to demand rather unreasonable terms as the price,
not of his assistance, but of his refusal to ]oin a coalition against
us ’ (February 23, 1887 )
In similar strain he wrote on the same day to Sir Henry
Drummond Wolff
‘ We are steering m very narrow channels, and we are in con-
stant danger of running aground on one side or the other. On
the one hand English opmion is not prepared for an evacuation
of Egypt ... On the other hand, we must keep it diplomati-
cally in our power to satisfy France, on account of Bismarck’s
attitude. ... I heartily wish we had never gone into Egypt.
Had we not done, we coidd simp our fingers at the whole world.’
Egypt was, then, the ‘ heel of Achilles ’ for Great Britam m
her foreign, as Ireland was m her domestic, relations The occu-
pation of it comphcated the European situation But the imme-
diate danger to European peace arose from the relations of France
and Germany.
The recovery, of France after the disasters of 1870-1 was, in
an economic sense, astonishingly rapid So rapid that Bismarck,
regretting that he had not ‘ bled France white contemplated
a renewal of war, in 1875, m order to complete the process The
crune contemplated by Bismarck was averted by the personal
intervention at Berlin of Queen Victoria and the Czar Alexander
of Russia The threat was renewed m 1887. The arrest (April 20)
of M Schnaebele, a French Police Commissioner, by German
agents on the Alsatian frontier led the Czar to suspect that
84 ENGLAND AND HER NEIGHBOURS [188S-
Bisinarck was at his old game and wanted to provoke France to
var
France Between Fiance and Russia there had not hitherto been any
Russia political friendship It was one of the governing principles
of Bismarck’s diplomacy to prevent it Thus far, despite the
war-scare of 1875, despite also his quarrel W'lth Gortschakoff at
the Congress of Berlin, he had succeeded in ‘ keeping open the
Avires betw-een Berlin and Petersburg ’ But in February 1887
there appeared in Le Nord, the organ of the Russian Minister, de
Gicrs, an article containing these significant w'ords * Henceforth
Russia w'lll watch the events on the Rhine and will relegate the
Eastern Question to the second place . . . The Cabinet of
Petersburg will in no case permit a further weakening of France.*
Two months later, after the new's of the Schnaebele incident had
reached Petersburg, the Czar Alexander IIIwTote to the German
Emperor formally announcing that he no longer regarded himself
as under any obligation to maintain neutrality m the event of
w'ar between France and German 5 \ Schnaebele was promptly
released.
England A second crisis was averted Relations between France and
France Germany remained, how'cver, tense They w'ere hardly more
satisfactory between France and England. Lord Sahsbury,
peace-lover that he w'as, could not understand the provocative
attitude of France * She is an insupportable neighbour ’ So
he wrote to a friend on July 3, 1887. A few days later he wrote
to the Biitish Ambassador m Pans . ‘ Our relations w'ith France
are not pleasant at present. There are five or six different places
where we are at odds .
1. She has destroyed the Convention at Constantinople.
2. She wnll allow no Press law to pass [Egypt].
8. She IS trj ing to back out of the arrangement on the Somah
coast.
4 She still occupies the New Hebrides.
5 She destroys our fislung tackle, etc [m Newfoundland].
6. She IS trj'ing to elbow us out of at Jeast two unpronounce-
able places on the West Coast of Africa
Can you wonder that there is, to my eyes, a silver lining even
to the great black cloud of a Franco-German War ? ’ On August
lOtli wc find him writing to Sir William Wliite at Constantinople ;
1800]
ENGLAND AND ITALY
85
* For the present the enemy is France Her conduct is hard to
e\plain on any theory. She is traihng her coat to us almost as
ostentatiously as she does it to Germany.’ ^
The childish and provocative behaviour of France did not, England
hoTiever, drive Lord Salisbury into the arms of Bismarck Were Germany
they ready to receive him ’ Despite the opening of ai chives, and
the publication of countless diplomatic documents, it is still diffi-
cult to discern the exact relations between Germany and England
during the last decades of the nmeteenth century But it is clear
that on no fewer than six occasions between 1876 and 1903 Ger-
many approached Great Britain with a view to the conclusion
of an alliance No alliance was, in fact, ever concluded , buti
i\e were nearer to it perhaps m 1887 than at any time before oif
since
In 1881 Bismarck, in order to keep France at loggerheads,
with Italy, had encouraged her to occupy Tunis He was re-
warded, in 1882, by the adhesion of Italy to the Austro-German
alhance The Triple Alliance formed the pivot of German policy
down to the outbreak of the Great War Concluded in the first'
instance for five years it was renewed in 1887 and again in 1891
1902 and 1912
From the first, however, Italy was anxious that it should be-England
made clear that her alliance with Germany and Austria would
not interrupt her friendship wnth England to whom, ever since
the days of the Rtsorgimento, she had been bound by ties of grati-
tude and affection Between Great Britain and Austria-Hungary
also relations were consistently friendly, at any rate with a Con-
servative Government in pow-er Accordingly, in February 1887
Lord Salisbury concluded with Italy and Austria an agreement
to maintain the status quo in the Onent (mcludmg the indepen-
dence of Turkey), in the Mediterranean, the Adriatic, and the
Black Sea Italy agreed to support England m Egypt Great
Britain promised to support Italy ‘ at’eve^ otlier pomt whatso-
ever of the North African Coast districts, and in particular in
Tripolitania and Cyrcnaica ’. This meant, in effect, as an Aus-
trian Professor has pointed out, ‘ the co-operation of the British
fleet against French advances in the Western Mediterranean and
also against the Russian menace to Constantinople and the
* Salisbury’s Life, n 48-uO.
ENGLAND AND ITER NRIGimOURS
(1885-
8G
Dardanelles It js, however, erroneous to suggest that in these
negotiations the initiative came fiom Lord Salisbury. On the
contrary, from the latter’s coiiespondcncc with the Queen, it is
clear that the proposal came from Italy, that it was strongly
supported both from Vienna and Beilin, and that the final result
was a ‘ cauliously hinitcd cn1ciUc\ Cautious and limited it was ;
yet, writing to the Queen (February 10), Lord Salisbury used
significant woids ; * Short of a pledge upon tins subject, it [the
agreement with Italy] undoubtedly carries very far the “ relations
plus iniimcs ” which have been urged upon us It is as close an
alliance as the jiarhamcntary character of our institutions will
permit ’ On the difliculties to effective diplomacy presented by
those institutions Lord Salisbury frequently insisted. Still more
were they a stumbling-block to Bismarck, and neither he nor the
Emperor William II nor Prince von Bulow' ever again touched
the high-water mark of ‘ relations plus viUmes ’ reached in 1887
Dropping So matters stood when William II came to the throne after his
PiTot father’s reign of SS daj s Two years later (1890) he ‘ dropped the
pilot’ who had steered the ship of State into a safe harbour.
The Iron Chancellor had not nicrcl}’ created a united Germany,
but had with infinite patience and skill constructed a diplomatic
edifice winch seemed to stand four square to all the winds that
blew'. lie had carefully cemented friendships, and had sedulously
fomented the jealousies and rivalries of potential enemies The
old friendship with Russia, though weakening since 1878, had
been re-cemented by the Reinsurance Treaty of ISSt; Austria
w'as closely allied w’lth Germany ; Italy had been brought in as
a third partner m the Triple Alliance. On the other hand, Italy
was estranged (thanks to Tunis) from France; France (thanks
to Egjqit) from England ; England, by rivalry in the Near and
lyiiddle East, from Russia.
Thus in 1890 Germany was surrounded by Powers at least
as friendly to her as to each other. Within twenty years she was
confronted by a Triple Entente equal m strength, and not inferior
m cohesion, to the Tuple Alliance so laboriously constructed by
Bismarck.
\Vhat had w'rought the diplomatic transformation
Historical criticism in Germany, based on a careful study of
the published documents, has appealed to the Weltgericht for a
1809]
ENGLAND AND GERMANY
87
verdict of acquittal on the charge of ‘ -war-guilt But while ^P^or
repudiating the cnminal charge, there has been no attempt to ij*
extenuate the clumsiness and stupidity of German diplomacy
since the fall of Bismarck. How far responsibility must be fixed
on the Emperor William II is a point stiU m dispute Certain it
is, however, that the Emperor was a man of many moods, of
unstable character, and contradictory impulses Consequently,
throughout his reign, German diplomacy pursued a tortuous
course
As regards England, William II was torn by the conflicting The ^
emotions of ‘ aversion, admiration and jealousy ’ ^ When he 3 ^“®”
came to the tlirone German feding against England was pecu- England
liarly bitter. His mother, the Empress Frederick, Princess Royal
of England, though a woman of strong character and great
ability, was not conspicuous for tact. She had, moreover, m-
curred the hostihty of Bismarck, who well understood that when-
ever his old master should pass away, the English Princess would
become the ruler of Germany. Bismarck instilled his own nus-
givings mto the mind of the yoimg Prince William. Feehngs
were further embittered by the dispute between the German and
the English doctors as to the exact nature of the illness which
some two years before his father’s death the Crown Prince Frede-
rick developed The absurd allegations against the Empress
Fredenck and Queen Victona current m Germany in 1888 have
now been conclusively disproved. But at the time they were
widely beheved and poisoned the mmd of the young Emperor
against his mother and the country whence she had come ®
Nevertheless, the Eaiser William’s first inchnations were
to-nards a good understandmg with England, nor was Lord
Sahsbury, for reasons already indicated, disinclined to reciprocate
them During his first tenure of the Foreign Office Sahsbury
had VTitten to our Ambassador at Berlin ‘ Germany is clearly
cut out to be our ally ’ ‘ Even our ancient friend Austria ’, he
added, ‘ is not so completely free as Germany from any plans or
interests vhich cross our o-vm for the present ’ (Jan 14, 1880 )
* Ludwig, Life, p 15
* On the wliolc episode of Momott, Europe from 1815 to 1939, pp 374 f
As to contemponry feeling in Gcnnany I can personally testify, as I was
in Germany at the time
88
ENGLAND AND HER NEIGHBOURS
[1885-
During the eight years’ interval events had tended to confirm
that opinion. German)’, on her side, had every reason to be
grateful to Great Britain for facilitating the realization of her
colonial ambitions.
German Down to the year 1884 Germany did not own one foot of
Colonies territory outside Europe Only m recent years, and under the
pressure of economic and social developments, had she begun
to feel the need of oversea possessions Thus the cry for a for-
V ard colonial policy became irresistible. But w here were colonics
to be found ? The fust inclination w'as to look towards Brazil,
vhcrc there vns already a large and inci casing German popula-
tion ; but the entrance to South America was baired by the
Llonroe doctrine Germany therefore turned to Africa
Africa offered everything w Inch Germany was seeking ; un-
told w'calth in raw’ material ; inexhaustible man-power, which,
if brought under German discipline, might well be utilized for
European w’arfarc ; sliatcgical points of immense significance —
especially in relation to the eventual conflict with the British
Empire to w Inch the thouglits of far-seeing Germans were already
beginning to turn.
The notorious unrest among the Dutch in South Africa seemed
to offer a favourable opportunity for German activities. Paul
Kruger had already visited Berlin to seek German intervention
at the time of the first British annexation of the Transvaal He
visited it again in 1884, and w’as cordially welcomed both by the
Emperor and his Chancellor. Meanwhile a resolute attempt had
been made by Germany to secure a footing at Dclagoa Bay, at
St. Lucia Bay and m Pondoland, and it w'as subsequently stated
by Sir Donald Currie, speaking w ith know ledge, tliat ‘ the German
Government w'ould have secured St Lucia Bay, and the coast-
line betw een Natal and the possessions of Portugal, had not the
British Government telegraphed instructions to dispatch a gun-
boat from Cape Towm with orders to hoist the British Flag at
St. Lucia Bay ’.
German The German effort in Africa did not go unrewarded. In the
course of less than tw'o years (1884-5), she leapt into the position
of the third Euiopcan Pow'cr in Africa. She established a Pro-
tectorate over Daraaraland and Namaqualand, a distiict with an
area of 332,150 square miles, which w'as afterwards known as
1800]
PARTITION OF AFRICA
German South-West Africa Two more German Colonies were
established by the annexation of Togoland and the Cameroons
Most important of all, however, ahke from the point of view of
strategy, of man-poner, and of raw materials, was the great
province on the East Coast with an area of 384,180 square miles
and a population of 7,646,770 persons, mostly belonging to strong
fighting races This province became known as German East
Africa
Coincident with these German annexations m Africa was the
acquisition of German possessions m the Pacific The northern
coast of New Guinea, subsequently known as Kaiser Wilhelm’s
Land, and the group of islands collectively known as the Bis-
marck Archipelago were acquired m 1884 The German settle-
ments in South Africa and m the Pacific were not effected without
loud protests from Englishmen on the spot But to these pro-
tests the Government at home refused to listen. * If Germany
is to become a great colomzmg power, all I say is, God speed her
She becomes our ally and partner m the execution of the great
purposes of Providence for the advantage of mankind ’ So said
Mr. Gladstone. Nor was Lord Sahsbury more grudging towards
German expansion. Meanwhile an International Conference had
met at Berlin m November 1884 under the presidency of Prince
Bismarck to discuss the whole African situation The General
Act of the Conference was approved by Great Britain, France,
Germany, Belgium, Portugal, as well as other Powers. The Act
laid down regulations as to the traffic m slaves , m regard to
freedom of trade m the Congo Basin , to the neutrahty of tern-
tones m the same region, to the navigation of the Congo and
the Niger , and finally m regard to the treatment of the native
populations ' The Congo State under Kmg Leopold was recog-
nized, and in 1908 was-transferred to the' Belgian Kingdom
■ The entrance of Germany into the colonial field did not, how- The Par-
ever, arrest British progress in Africa A Charter granted
1888 to the Britisli East Afnca Company recovered for England 1890
that hold over the sources of the Upper Nile which were endan-
gered by Lord Iddesleigh’s agreement with Germany in 1886.
In 1889 a Charter was granted to the British South Africa Com-
* For text of the General Act cf P Albin, Les Grands trades poliliques,
pp 3G8-100
90 ENGLAND AND HER NEIGHBOURS [i885-
pany, and the preposterous claims put forward by Portugal to
the upper reaches of the Zambesi were firmly repudiated, not
indeed mthout fnction, but happily without hostilities:
Agreement with Portugal was followed by agreements liath
France and Germany. Great Britain recognized the French
Protectorate over Madagascar, France recognized the British
Protectorate over the islands hdd by the Sultan of Zanzibar.
Germany did the same. She also acknowledged the claims of
Great Britain to the northern half of the shores and waters of
Lake Victoria Nyanza, to the valley of the Upper Nile, and to
the coast of the Indian Ocean about Vitu, and thence north-
wards to Kismayu. On the other hand. Great Britain recogmzed
German claims to the land north of Lake Nyassa, and ceded to
her the island of Heligoland, a strategic point only too valuable,
as was proved m the Great War, to Germany, but one which
would have been of little use to Great Britam.
The final partition of Africa left France m a terntorial sense
the largest of African Powers, but much of her territory was
desert ; Great Britam emerged with an area of something less than
8,000,000 square miles; Germany possessed nearly 3,000,000.
Portugal, Italy, and Belgium also had their shares in the spoil.
Though quantitatively mferior to that of France, Great Britain’s
position, controlling as she did three out of the four great arterial
nvers of Africa, possessing m South Africa the only great con-
solidated area adapted for white colonization, and holding all the
most important strategic points on the East, South, and West
Coasts, was incomparably the strongest At the same time, the
reasonable claims of other nations were satisfied, and a most
difficult diplomatic corner was turned without a colhsion involv-
ing loss of life. It was a great and a characteristic achievement.
The success that Lord Salisbury achieved was not dramatic He
would have been greatly dismaj’^ed if it had been. He shunned
the limelight. He cared nothing for popular applause. Intensely
jealous for his country’s honour, he was profoundly convinced
that her true strength lay m, ‘ quietness and confidence ’. * Im
Herzen ein stoker Patriot ’ was the discermng analysis of his char-
acter arrived at by Wolff-Mettemich, who as German Ambassador
in London had good opportumties for studying it B ut, patr iot
though he was, he was no Chauvmist. ‘Boastfulness or self-
BULGARIA
91
c ongratulation in diplomacy -was to him.* as_ a kinsman ]ust ly
o bser ved, ‘ not only an offence against good manners, but tli e
v ery way to make the "worsted negotiator recogm ze and resent
I ns defeat *
Problems arising from the rdations bet the Western
Powers m Africa, though of pre-emment imp^^i-ance, did not Near
monopolize during these years the attention of Downing Street E“t
The Balkanic 'volcanoes are never long qiuescent. The most
eruptive of them was at this time the Bulgarian
The Treaty of Berlm (1878) had destroyed the Russian scheme Bulgana
of a Greater Bulgaria to be brought into being under Russian pro-
tection But the division effected by Lord Beaconsfield endured
for less than a decade Bulgaria proper and Eastern Roumeha
resolved (1885) on umon, but under conditions wholly different
from those of 1878. The Greater Bulgaria of 1878 would have
come into bemg as a Russian provmce, establishmg Russia within
striking distance of Constantinople The united Bulgaria of 1885
was, on the contrary, mtensely Nationalist and it constituted an
effective barner against ~flite~advance of Russia towards Con-
stantinople ‘ If you can help’ to build up these peoples into a
Bulwark of independent States and thus screen the “ sick man *’
from the fury of the northern blast, for God’s sake do it * Thus
wrote Sir Robert Moner from Petersburg to Sir William White
at Constantmople at the height of the Bulgarian cnsis in Decem-
ber 1886. * These newly emancipated races want to breathe free
air,’ wrote White, * and not through Russian nostrils * Lord
Salisbury was in complete accord with tlie views of the two Am-
bassadors. * A Bulg ^a , frie ndly to the Porte, and jealous of
foreign influence, would ’, he said, ‘ be a far surer bulwark against
foreign aggr^sion than two Bulganas severed m administration,
but limted iiT considering Uie Porte as the only obstacle to their
national development’
But the erection of the bulwark mvolved senous comphca-
tions The Porte did indeed recognize the umon of the Bulganas
under Prmce Alexander, but Biflgana had to repel an attack
from Serbia, and the Czar of R^sia was infuriated by the mde-
pendent attitude of Bis quondam protege, the Prmce of Bulgaria.
In August, 1886, Prince Alexander was kidnapped by military
conspirators, compelled to abdicate, and earned off as a pns-
92
liNGLAXD AND HER XEIGHBOVRS
{IS'iS-
Grecks
niid
Turks
oner Xo one ^^as more gni\cly perturbed by llie ourra^c limn
Queen Vic lorn In July ISSj her youngest diiughlcr. rrinecss
litatncc, Ind become the wife of Prince Alexander’s }*oungcsl
brother, Prince Henry of Baltenbcrg An elder brother. Prince
Louis, a distinguished ofTicer in the English Xav\, Imd in ISSt
married the Queen’s granddaughter, Princess Yiclona of Hesse,
the eldest daughter of Princess Alice. Slorcovcr, at the moment
ot Prince Alcxandci’s abduction the Queen was interesting her-
self in a projected marriage between the Prince himself and
another granddaughtci, Princess Victoria of Prussia Tins latter
mariiage is as, however, fiustrded bj Bismarck, and the Prince
married an opera singer But before then be had ceased to be
a reigning Prince. Though restored, after a ten days’ detention,
to Ins capital and his jjcoplc, he ■weakly yielded to Russian pres-
sure, resigned his throne, and retired into private life lie died
in J89a The Bulgarian Sobranje. reject ing a Russian nominee,
had in]887 elected as Alexander’s siuccssor, Pimce Ferdinand of
Saxc-Coburg-Gotha, who, strong in the support of the Emperor
Francis Joseph, m whose arinj he had scr\cd, defied Russia,
and plaj cd duiing the ensuing thirty jears an increasingly impor-
tant part, not only m Balkan but in European diplomacy
Great Britain was not less interested m Greece than in Bul-
garia. Like the Bulgarians the Greeks had hoped much from
the Congicss of Berlin, but had returned from it empty-handed,
and it was not until 1881 that Mr Goschen, acting as a sjiecial
Envoy at Constantinople, wrung from an unwilling Sultan, for
our Greek friends, a large slice of Epirus and the greater part of
Thessaly Crete presented another problem. In Februarj 1897
the Cretans proclaimed the union of llicir island with the Hellenic
kingdom. The Poweis, anxious to avert a gcner.d eruption in
the Near East, intcr\cned, and wlnle reasserting the nominal
su/erainty of the Porte assured to the Cretans practical autonomy
under a European guarantee. The Greeks of the mainland
were not satisfied with this arrangement, ln^ndcd Turkc\ and
in the ‘Thirts Dajs’ War’ were licaMly defeated by the
Turks
For the Turks liad found a new friend Their spectacular
victory o\cr the Greeks was won by an armj which had been re-
organued under a German scholar-soldier — Barony on dcr Golt'/.
1899]
KAISER AND SULTAN
The Emperor Wilham II, departing from the policy of Bismarck
who ‘ never even opened the dispatches from Constantinople
paid two State visits to the Sultan Abdul Hamid (1889 and 1898).
He was quick to perceive that England and France had forfeited'
the favour of the Porte, and that there was consequently a diplo-
matic vacancy at Constantmople. He resolved to apply for it
Moreover, during the four years previous to the Kaiser’s second
visit (1898) Christendom had been resounding with the cries of
the Armenian Christians butchered in their thousands to make
a Sultan’s 'holiday. Those cries had drawn Mr Gladstone, an
old man nearing 90, out of retirement m 1897 Lord Salisbury,
then at the Foreign Oflice, was not less deeply moved than Glad-
stone by the tale of horror By the Cyprus Convention of 1878
Great Britain had assumed a peculiar responsibility for the Clins-
tian subjects of the Sultan The responsibility was not fulfilled ,
perhaps it w'as impossible of fulfilment ; for the Sultan alleged
provocation on the part of a restless population, and the truth
was hard to come bj' The Powers, led by England, sent out
commissions of inquiry, but the massacres went on In 1894-5
the victims in Armenia numbered at least 50,000 , in 1896, on a
single day, 6,000 Gregorian Armenians were butchered in Con-
stantinople” These had undoubtedly offered provocation, the
hands of England and the other Powers w'ere tied
Meanwhile, birthday presents continued to arrive from Berlm ;
m 1898 came the Kaiser himself, m 1889 the Ottoman Company
of Anatolian Railways was promoted under the auspices of two
German banks , m 1902 the convention for the construction of
a railway from Constantinople to Baghdad was concluded That
was only the last link of a long cham stretching from Hamburg,
via Buda-Pesth, Belgrade and Nish to Constantmople Some
day it was hoped to carry it on from Baghdad to Basra.
In regard to all these developments England pursued, from
1885 to 1902, a consistent pohcy IVhen in 1886 and in 1892 Lord
Rosebery took over the Foreign Office from Lord Salisbury, the
Queen impressed on lum most emphatically the importance of
maintaining unbroken contmuity. She w'as entitled to insist
Never for a moment in the course of fifty years had she ever
relaxed her ^^gllant control of the conduct of Foreign affairs She
94 ENGLAND AND HER NEIGHBOURS [1885-
had vast experience ; the young Minister had none ; and he was
her personal selection in preference both to Lord Granville and
to Lord Kimberley. Nor had Lord Rosebery any inclination to
de\nate from the paths of wisdom trodden by Lord Salisbury.
The style of both those brilhant diplomatists was, however,
cramped by the continued occupation of Egypt. But it had been
far easier to get into than to get out of it. ‘ In the long ,and
compUcated Egyptian business’, wrote Gladstone in 1888, ‘we
were for the most part, as I think, drawn on ine\atably by a
necessity of honour.’ That was the simple truth. From the
first it was announced and sincerely intended that the British
occupation should be merely temporary.
* We shall not ’, said Lord Granville in the House of Lords,
* keep our troops m Egypt any longer than is necessary ; but it
would be an act of treachery to ourselves, to Egypt, and to Europe,
if we withdrew them without having a certainty or . . . until
there is reasonable expectation, of a stable, a permanent and a
beneficial Government being established in Egypt.’ This pohcy
was announced to the Great Powers in the dispatch of 3rd Janu-
ary, 1888, which further intimated that ‘ the position in which
Her Majesty’s Government is placed towards the Khedive imposes
upon them the duty of givmg advice, with the object of securing
that the order of things to be established shall be of a satisfactory
character, and possesses the elements of stabihty and progress.*
Giving advice is, as Lord Milner grimly observed, ‘ a charming
euphemism of the best Granvilhan brand ’ , but of the sincerity
of the Government’s intentions there could be no question.
But mtentions are often overruled by circumstances The
conditions precedent to evacuation remamed for long years unful - 1
filled. In the meantime. Lord Cromer (to give him by anticipa-
tion the name by which he will to all tune be known) was doing
a work in Egypt to which even the brilhant records of the
Bntish Empire furmsh few parallels. i
Cromer’s Lord Cromer took up lus task m Egypt m September 1883.
His official position was an ambiguous one. He was merely
‘British Agent and Consul-General "mth plenipotentiary diplo-
matic rank, the junior of the other similarly accredited represen-
tatives of the Powers , but, as representative of the one Power
occupying the country in force, he was de facto to impose the
18991
EGYPT AND THE SOUDAN
95
British will’.' TheBntish ‘will’ iiieant the regeneration of Egypt.
That work ■nas accomplished m the face of difficulties almost
incredible* an empty treasury, the obstructive jealousy ol
France and other Powers , a tangle of conflicting jurisdictions ,
a financial system which impoverished the people without enrich-
ing the State ; vast extravagance on the part of the rulers , bitter
poverty the lot of the fellaheen — all these difficulties had to be
surmounted by a man whose position depended solely on per-
sonahtj’’ ‘ I had not to govern Egypt,’ he wrote, ‘ but to assist
m the government without the appearance of doing so, and with-
out any legitimate authonly over the agents with whom I had
to deal.’ Yet in less than twenty-five years the Herculean task
was accomplished. The people were reheved from the burden
of taxation so long endured, yqt the revenue rose from less than
£9,000,000 in 1883 to £18,000,000 m 1903 , large sums were in
the meantime expended out of revenue upon reproductive works ;
the fertihty of the country was marvellously increased by a scien-
tific system of irrigation , canals were cut , dramage improved ,
roads constructed, and the great Assouan Dam completed The
administration of justice was simplified and purified • the Army,
thanks to the patient labours of General Grenfell and General
Kitchener, was completely reorgamzed
By 1896 the Army was judged to be ready for the accom-
plishment of a task long contemplated. In 1885 the Bntish Soudan
Government had, as we have seen, decided to withdraw from the
Soudan, and for ten years that unhappy province was a prey to
anarchy In 1896, however, the Government of the Khedive
determined to attempt its reconquest General Kitchener,’ in
command of the Nile expedition, patiently advanced towards
the completion of his great design. Before the end of September
1896 he was in possession of Dongola , Abu Hamed was taken
m August 1897, and at the Atbara the Dervishes were scattered
(April 7, 1898) On September 2 the power of Mahdiism was
finally annihilated by the great victory of Omdurman. Two days
later the British and Egjqitian forces were paraded before the
ruined palace of ICliartum and the shattered tomb of the Mahdi,
and ’there, on the spot where Gordon had perished, a funeral
setvuce was held in solemn memory of the dead knight-errant.
* D G. Hogarth, ap DN 13 ,bv Cromer.
96 ENGLAND AND HER NEIGIffiOURS [1883-
Hardly had Kitchener reached Khartum when the diplo-
matic sky became suddenty overcast The Frencli Government
had never forgiven themselves for their withdrawal from Eg3’^pt
in 1882. For more than a decade they had impeded in every
possible way the work of financial and political reconstruction
undertaken by Great Britain m Egj'pt That task, unwillingly
assumed but patiently fulfilled, seemed now to be on the point
of final consummation
French adventurers had, meanwhile, been displaying remark-
able activity in Central Africa The Anglo-German Agreement
of 1890 had been followed by a similar attempt to delimit the
French and British spheres of influence in the neighbourhood of
Lake Chad In 1894 the Biitish, operating from the east, estab-
lished a Protectoiate over Uganda, and in the same j^ear the
French, operating in West Africa, captured the city of Timbuktu
In ]\Ia} 1801 Great Britain had also concluded an Anglo-Con-
golcse Convention, according to which England ceded to the
Congo Free State the left bank of the Upper Nile in return for
a recognition of the acquisition of the right bank by Great Britain.
In deference to French susceptibilities, the Convention w’as
annulled, and France in her turn secured from the Free State
the recognition of her rights, writh ccitain limitations, to the left
bank of the Upper Nile In March 1895, however. Sir Edw’ard
Grey declared that the dispatch of a French expedition to the
Upper Nile ivould be regarded by Great Britain as ‘ an unfriendly
act’. The situation W'as already delicate when 'in June 1896
Blajor Maichand left France to take command of the expeditionary
force in the French Congo. In the course of tw’o j^ears and in
'the face of incredible difficulties this intrepid Frencliman pushed
his w'ay from the French Congo across Central Africa JIarchand
in leading his expedition from the west was counting on a junc-
tion with another force led by French officers which was to make
its way from the cast coast by way of Abj'ssinia to the Upper
Nile With this force there was also a sprinkling of Russian
officers under a well-known figure. Count LeountiefT Conse-
quently, IMarchand, on his arrival at Fashoda, found himself
unsupported, face to face wnth General Kitchener and the British
forces
Kitchener denied Marcliand’s right to be at Fashoda as the
ISOD]
VENEZUELA
97
political representative of France, but though the victory of
Omdurman was a potent argument, Marchand refused to yield
to it The quarrel was then referred to the diplomatists Lord
Salisbury claimed for the Khedive all the lands over which the
Khalifa had borne sway, and made it clear to the French Govern-
ment that the claim would be asserted by the whole force of Great
Britain In the autumn of 1898 the two nations were on the
brink of var France, however, gave way, recalled Marchand,
and in Illarch 1899 concluded with Great Britain a comprehensive
agreement m regard to the Soudan By this treaty the rights
of Great Britain over the whole Nile Basin, from the source of
that’ nver to its mouth, were acknowledged , France was con-
firmed m possession of a great West African Empire, but the whole
of the" Egyptian Soudan was to be subject to the power which
ruled at Cairo Thus the way to the Cape was still open, un-
blocked by any other European Power From that moment
Anglo-French relations rapidly improved, until in 1904 the Anglo-
French Agreement was concluded and France agreed to give
Great Britam a free hand in Egjqit
Before that Agreement was concluded the ‘ last of the great
Victorian statesmen ’, the man who had dealt so firmly but so
tactfully with the Fashoda ensis, was dead. So also was the
Queen he had faithfully served.
Apart from the matters already dealt with in this chapter The
Lord Sahsbury, during his third tenure of the Foreign Secretary-
ship, had several diplomatic achievements to his credit, butuon
summary mention of tliem must suffice. Perhaps the most im-
portant was his masterly handhng of the Venezuela Boundary
dispute in 1895 For many years past there had been some
dispute as to the precise boundary between Venezuela and
British Gmana Lord Aberdeen had attempted to effect a settle-
ment of the question as long ago as 1844, but his suggested de-
limitation was dechned Thirty years later Venezuela professed
its willingness to accept the Aberdeen hne, but Great Britain then
refused to concede it The dispute dragged on until, in July
1895, Mr Olney, Secretary of State under President Cleveland,
suddenly interfered and called upon tlie parties to accept arbitra-
tion. The demand itself was startling, the terms m which it was
made were not far short of insolent.
98
ENGLAND AND HER NEIGHBOURS
[1885-
The United States attempted to justify their interference by
an appeal to the doctrine enunciated m 1823 m the famous mes-
sage of President Monroe. That doctrine had been for seventy
years the sheet-anchor of American diplomacy, but not until 1896
had it been invoked by the United States m a matter of serious
importance It -was now asserted m the most extreme form in
respect to a matter with wluch the concern of the United States
was remote.
England * That distance and three thousand miles of intervening ocean
USA make any permanent political union between a European and an
' American State unnatural and inexpedient w'lU hardly be demed.
. . . The States of America, south as w ell as north, by geographi-
cal proximity, by natural sympatliy, by similarity of govern-
mental constitutions, are friends and allies, commercially and
politically, of the United States . . . To-day the United States
is practically sovereign on this continent, and its fiat is law upon
the subjects to which it confines its interposition. . . . There
16 , then, a doctrine of American public law, well founded in prin-
ciple, and abundantly sanctioned by precedent, which entitles
and requires the United States to treat as an injury to itself the
forcible assumption by a European Power of pohtical control over
an American State.’ Such was the remarkable language of the
Olney Dispatch.
That dispatch unquestionably gave a wide extension to the
principle which w'as laid down by President IMonroe, hnd w'as
highly provocative in tone Fortunately Lord Salisbury declined
to be provoked. He did, indeed, refuse to accept unrestricted
arbitration : he politely questioned the apphcability of the
Monroe doctrine to the partieular dispute, and he insisted that
the United States was not entitled to affirm ‘ wnth reference to
a number of States for whose conduct it assumes no responsibility,
that its interests are necessarily concerned in w'hatever may befall
those States, simply because they are situated in the Western
hemisphere At the same time. Lord Salisbury made it clear
that he had no intention of allowing Great Britain to be drawn
into a serious quarrel with the United States. Unfortunately the
attitude of American statesmen rendered it none too easy to keep
the peace. On December 17, 1895, President Cleveland sent a
strongly worded message to Congress Had the direction of
189D]
THE USA AND WELT-POLITIK 99
Engbsh policy been in less 'wise and experienced hands, his Ian
guage might easily have led to war As it was, the message
accentuated a difficult situation and feehng began to run high m
America ‘Fortunately for us,’ wrote an American publicist,
* Lord Salisbury had a very good sense of humour and dechned
to take the matter too seriously.’^ Both Great Bntain and
Venezuela agreed to subimt the evidence for their conflictinj
claims' to a ‘ committee of mvestigation ’ appointed by the Umtet
States , and the investigation issued m a Treaty of Arbitration,
concluded nominally between the immediate disputants, but in
reality between Great Bntam and the United States The result
of the arbitration was, on the whole, to substantiate the British
claim A still more important result ensued. In January 1897
a General Arbitration Treaty between the two great English-
speaking nations was signed by Sir Julian Paunceforte and Secre-
tary Olney. The Senate, however, refused its assent, and the
treaty was not actually concluded until November 1914
In the meantime much had happened The Venezuelan affair
really brought to an end the penod of American isolation in world-
politics. * Cleveland’s policy writes an American historian, * as
to the Venezuelan boundary, announced to the world with seismic
suddenness and violence that the American democracy was of
age ’ * From the position asserted by Cleveland and Olney m
1895, their coimtrymen could not well recede, and the position
involved important coroUanes
One corollary was the war which broke out between the United Hispano-
States and Spam in 1898 The outstanding result of that war
was to bnng the United States on to the international stage as
a World-Power, with special mterests in the South Pacific. The
Philippine Islands fell to her as the result of her victory over
Spain , m the same year (1898) she annexed the Sandwich Islands
(Hawaii) , and m 1899 the Samoan group of islands vas parti-
tioned between the United States and Germany Five years later
the United States purchased fiom the Republic of Panama a
10-mile strip with the object of cutting a canal to connect the
Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans After ten years’ labour greatly
lightened, if not rendered possible, by the researches of Su: Ronald
^ Binglnm, The Monroe Dodnne, p 12
* W A. Dunmng, The Bntish Empire and the United States, p 86S.
100 ENGLAND AND HER NEIGHBOURS [1885-
Ross and other English pioneers in tropieal mcdieinc, the Canal
was completed and opened in lOl^
The point of immediate significance in relation to English
Foreign Policy is that the * expansion ’ of the United States, their
debut on the international stage, ^^as \iewed with something
more than benevolence by England Other Powers regarded
this development with more jealous eyes, and it may be that
onl\ English sea power averted m 1898 European mten'^ention
on behalf of Spam From a pohey of strict neutrality during
that brief struggle Lord Salisbury nc\ cr departed , but it w'as
made clear to other Powers that if Great Britain observed the limits
of neutiahty so also must they
Of British bcnevolenee the United Slates were not unmindful ,
and the debt thus incurred was at least paitially repaid during
the South African War For the outbreak of that war Lord
Salisbury was not directly responsible South African business
came within the sphere of the Colonial Office To the Foreign
Secretary, liowc\cr, it fell to repudiate the idea of foreign media-
tion m 1900 between Great Bntain and the Boer Republics,
though of the principle of international arbitration Lord Salisbury
was a consistent advocate.
The Truthfully it has been said of him that he above all tlie states-
llague of time possessed tiie ‘ international mind *. It w'as,
Peace therefore, appropriate that he should have been the Minister
cncc^^' responsible for the participation of Great Britain in the First
1899 Hague Conference, which met in 1899 on the invitation of the
Czar Nicholas II Lord Salisbury had cordially responded to
that invitation and had expressed the ‘ earnest desire ’ of the
British Government ‘ to promote, by all possible means, the prm-
ciple of recourse to mediation and arbitration for the prevention
of war Germany accepted the Czar’s invitation in the hope
that ‘this Peace and Disarmament idea, which under its ideal
outw'ard form, makes a real danger of war, would be wrecked on
England’s objections, without Germany having to appear in the
foreground
The Hague Conference undoubtedly stimulated interest in
the difficult problems of disarmament and arbitration; it set
up an Arbitral (Optional) Court; it evoked from the Powers a
* G. P., XV Nos. 4222 and 4217, and Spender, Fi/ly Years, p 173
1899J HAGUE PEACE CONFERENCE lOl
platonic assent to general pnnciples , but beyond that achieved
little^ It ivas, therefore, on a rather pessimistic note that, m
the sphere of diplomacy, the nineteenth century closed
That note was accentuated by a sinister coincidence The
Peace Conference at the Hague was immediately followed by the
outbreak of war between Great Britain and the Boer Repubhcs
m South Africa
* See F W IIolls T/te Peace Conference at the Ha^ue Macmillan, 1900
102 THE NEW niPERIAtlSM— THE JUBILEES [ 1884 -
A New
Era
CHAPTER VII
THE NEW IMPERIALISM— THE JUBILEES
T he last decades of the nineteenth century witnessed nothing
less than a revolution in regard to the Overseas Empire.
The revolution was at once material and spiritual a change in
conditions and a change of sentiment. Material conditions were
revolutionized by a series of remarkable inventions and discoveries,
and by their appropriation to the service of man Distance and
Time were annihilated; medical research went far to conquer
tropical diseases, and thus enabled the white man to exploit vast
territories, to supply the industrialists of Europe with the raw
materials they sorely needed, and m return to receive from
Europe services and commodities which have transformed the
life of more than one continent. Economically and commeicially
the whole world became one vast unit.
Significant as were these developments for all peoples of the
old world and the new, they possessed peculiar significance for
the greatest and most widely extended of World-Empires
England had in the past fought a hard fight against her
European neighbours for commercial and colonial ascendancy.
She had emerged from the fight victorious. The contest with
Spam was decided by the end of the sixteenth century ; with
the Dutch by the end of the seventeenth , with the French in
1815 if not in 1763. Between 1815 and 1884 we had had no
real rival in the colonial field, and not many European neigh-
bours.
In the last decades of the nmeteenth century the position
rapidly changed. New nations like Germany and Italy were
driven, partly under the pressure of economie forces, partly by
newly aroused national self-consciousness, into the colonial field.
Our Australasian Colomes, who had long been acutely conscious
1897]
A RAILWAY EMPIRE
103
of the presence of the French in New Caledonia and the New
Hebrides, were further alarmed by the advent of the Germans
and the Amencans into the Pacific But the Home Government
had not the wish, even if they had the power, to prevent this
‘intrusion*. Evidently the globe was shrinking; evidently
Europe was expandmg.
To the process both of contraction and expansion nothmg
contnbuted more than the construction of railways, the improve-
ment of steamships and the development in the art of cold storage
and refrigeration
Of the importance of these developments the British Posses- Africa
sions in Africa afford a signal illustration.
Afnca has no great inland waterways . to inland transport
the river rapids and the ‘ ranges of terraced mountains are senous
barriers ’ , * horse sickness periodically destroyed the horses
the tsetse-fly, the rinderpest and coast fever took terrible toll of
the bullocks ^ ‘ The development of the African continent
wrote Lord Lugard, ‘is impossible without railways, and has
awaited their advent A railway reduces administration expenses
in the transport of stores and m the tune of officials in reaching
their work : it saves the lives and health of officers , it reduces
the number and cost of troops required for pohcing the country
by increasmg their mobilify . it renders direct taxation possible,
by affording a market for produce and mcreasmg the wealth of
the people * it has opened up new markets for British trade ;
it has killed the slave trade, it hberates labour engaged on
transport for productive work and by proper methods of con-
struction it forms the most valuable of educational agencies for
a free labour supply. It has been calculated that one railway
train of average capacity and engine power will do the work of
13,000 carriers at one-twentieth the cost.’ ®
Except m South Africa there was little or no railway develop- South
ment m Africa until the ’nmeties Even in the south it was not
much earher. When m 1872 the Cape Government took over
the railways of the Cape Colony the total length of lines was less
* Cf Mis Knoulcs, Overseas Empire, I 17, and supra, c i
* After the lailwi} reached Kano (Nigena) ground nuts 'nhich h'ld been
sold at £3 10s a ton fetched £40 to £45 Lugard, Dual Mandate, p 298
* Ibid , p 403.
104 THE NEW IMPERIALISM— THE JUBILEES [i884-
than 64 miles. Before the dose of the century unbroken railway
connexion had been established between Cape Town, through the
(then) Republics, to Delagoa Bay. The mileage of the railways
in the Union of South Africa, merged into a single State system
in 1910, now (1933) exceeds 13,000 As late as 1890, however,
when the pioneer expedition of the Chartered Company into
Mashonaland was organized, it took from May 6th to September
16th to get, ‘ under very favourable circumstances ’, from Kim-
berley to Sahsbury. With the ’mneties railway development
began in Rhodesia. Cecil Rhodes constructed a line between
these two points, and it was subsequently extended across the
Zambesi into Northern Rhodesia and the Belgian Congo. In
1895 the great Uganda railway was started, and reached Lake
Victoria in 1903 Unlike the Rhodesian railways, which have
been constructed by private capital, the Uganda railway was bmlt
as an Imperial enterprise at the expense of the Imperial Govern-
ment. Most of the railways in East and West Africa have, how-
ever, been constructed by and at the expense of the local govern-
ments, and exceedingly costly, for obvious reasons, most of
them have been,
Australia The railway system of Australia, which now has a mileage of
some 27,000 miles, is also a Government enterprise. The several
Colonial Governments which were responsible for it showed little
foresight or prudence ; the gauge adopted for the New South
Wales hnes differed from that in Victoria and South Austraha,
and the extravagant cost of construction has imposed additional
burdens on the heavily burdened taxpayers.
Canada Canada aiffords, however, the most conspicuous example of
the pohtical importance of a railway system. Canada has m-
deed 2,700 miles of internal navigable waterways. Ocean-going
steamers can now sail without breaking bulk from the Great Lakes
to the Atlantic, and in the year 1931 carried over 16,000,000 tons
of freight. Nevertheless, it is true to say that Federated Canada
IS the creation of the railway engineers The British North America
Act was passed in 1867, yet ten years later Lord Dufferm, when
as Governor-General he visited British Columbia, had to travel
from Ottawa by, way of Chicago to San Francisco over 2,000
miles of foreign railways, and from San Francisco make a sea
voyage of 800 miles by H.M S. Amethyst to Esquimault, in Van-
1807} CANADIAN RAILWAYS 105
cou\cr Island. Little iionder that British Columbia refused to
enter the Confederation, as it did in 1871, except on condition
that it was -aithin ten years to be connected by rail with
the railway system of Canada When Lord Dufferm visited
Victoria one of the triumphal arches erected in his honour bore
the legend * Carnan^on terms or separation ’ Very properly
he refused to pass under it None the less, the legend bore
fruits
The storj' of the great enterprise which ensured fnution is one
of the great romances of Imperial history , and it belongs to the
period now under review The Maritime Provinces had also
stipulated that they should be hnked up by rail with Ottawa,
and that hne was completed and opened m 1876 But a trans-
continental hnk, running for 2,500 miles through lands mainly
uninhabited, and crossing one of the great mountain ranges of
the world, was a wholly different matter A contract was, how-
ever, concluded in 1881 between Sir Charles Tupper on behalf of
the Government and George Stephen (afterwards Lord Mount
Stephen) and six others on behalf of the Company The Govern-
ment granted a cash subsidy of 25 million dollars, and a subsidy
in land of 25 million acres ‘ Almost incredible were the diffi-
culties encountered — difficulties physical, political and financial —
but they were overcome, thante largely to the skill, the perse-
verance and indomitable pluck of a small group of men, George
Stephen, Donald Smith (Lord Strathcona), Sir Wilham Van Home
On November 7, 1885, the rail constructed fi:om the east met the
rail constructed from the west, and m the Eagle Pass in the heart
of the Rockies the last spike was driven by Donald Smith The
hne was completed six years ahead of the scheduled time
Canada now' (1938) possesses nearly 60,000 miles of railways
The commercial aspect of this development calls for no emphasis
The construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway opened up a
^ast wheat area, the product of which can be transported in a
few weeks from the prairies to Southampton or Liverpool Most
of Hie gram is carried via Montreal or Halifax Montreal, with
its superb harbour, is now — despite its five months of ice-binding
* These subsidies were greatly increased and tlic total amount of public
assislantc a ns ultimately reckoned at $228,500,925 (Report of Drajton-
x\cuorth Commission, 1017)
100 THE NEW IMPERIALISM— THE JUBILEES [I88<t-
wintcr — ^the greatest gram-exporting seaport in the world; and
handles nearly one-third of the foreign trade of the whole
Dominion But the Canadian Pacific, as its name implies, looks
west as well as cast. Vancouver, whence forty-five steamer lines
now radiate, is unquestionably destined to become the Liverpool
of the Pacific. The Prairie Provinces, especially Alberta, have
begun to look to Vancouver as a possible alternative to Montreal
and Halifax Regina is 1,312 miles nearer to Vancouver than
to Halifax, and the cutting of the Panama Canal has reduced
the distance by sea from British Columbia to England by some
6,000 miles. Whether we look eastwards or westwards the future
of Vancouver, with its magnificent harbour, is then absolutely
assured.
But the commercial aspect of Canadian railway development
is not the only one The Canadian Pacific and the Canadian
National arc great Imperial highways of immense political and
strategical significance Esquiniault, the naval station on Van-
couver Island, has a diy dock w'hich w ill hold the biggest battle-
ship afloat, and naval ratings, thanks to the great transconti-
nental raihvays, can now be reinforced from Portsmouth m a
fortnight. What that means to the position of Great Britain as
a Pacific Power, what it might mean at a crisis for Austialia and
New Zealand, need not be emphasized
One other point demands attention. Since 18SC the Canadian
railways have mostly run cast and west, and have thus deter-
mined for all time the destiny of the Dominion Before 1886
they ran mostly north and south, hnlcing up with the hnes to the
south of the international border. Had that tendency persisted,
Canada could hardly have resisted commercial if not political
absorption into the United States. True of Canada as a whole,
that w'as particularly true of the then distant and isolated Pro\ance
of British Columbia, ‘ Under the existing circumstances ’, said
Sir Charles Tupper, ‘ it had no means of advancement except by
throAvmg m its lot with the great nation to the south, with which
it had constant communication both by land and sea.’ The
Canadian Pacific saved Canada for the Empire.
Ocean The improvement of ocean commumcation w^as, m the period
nica^n's under review, hardly less important than railways as a factor
making for the integrity of the Empire. Colonial enterprise was
18071 LINKS OF EMPIRE 107
from the earliest days conditioned by the skill and hardihood of
English manners and the ingenuity of Enghsh shipbuilders. ‘ We
shall rear merchant ship both fair and tall said one, ‘ so that
nothing that swimmeth shall make them vail nor stoop, which
shall make this httle northern comer of the world the nchest
storehouse for merchandize m all Christendom.’^
To the same high qualities of skill and courage the British Links of
Empue and Imperial Commerce owe the acquisition of those
military, naval and coaling stations, by which unbroken com-
munication IS maintained between the far-flung units of the
great Sea Empue Each of the main ocean-routes is safeguarded
by one or more of these outposts, sometimes no more than coaling
stations, sometimes great naval stations Bermuda guards the
route from England to Canada On the way to India via the
Suez Canal we have Gibraltar and Malta On the latter the
Mediterranean fleet is based, as Valetta possesses not only a first-
rate fortified harbour but an aucraft station and a high-power
wireless installation. Cyprus, acquired in 1878 and formally
annexed m 1914, has no good harbour, but east of Suez we have
Aden, a naval and coaling station acquired in 1887, Perim (1859) on
the Straits of Bab el Mandeb, Sokotra (occupied by the East India
Company m 1839 and formally declared a British Protectorate
in 1886), and Zanzibar (1890) The Cape route to India is some
4,500 miles longer than by the Canal, to Melbourne, on the
other hand, it is only about 500 miles longer , but m the former
hardly less than m the latter case it rmght become once again
supremely useful Its safeguardmg is, consequently, a matter of
high Imperial significance With coaling stations at Freetown,
Ascension and St Helena, with the harbour of Table Bay, with
the Mauritius and Seychelles m the Indian Ocean, and with
Colombo, it IS admirably provided with ‘ stepping-stones ’ to
India. Proceeding southwards towards Australasia, we have
Singapore, acquued for the East India Company by Sir Stamford
Raifles in 1819, and smee developed into a magnificent port.
Sarawak vas acquired by Rajah Brooke in 1842, and his successor
placed its foreign pohey under the control of Great Britain m
1888 The British Government took over Labuan, as a base for
the suppression of piracy, in 1846 and British North Borneo m
* Quoted by Knowles, op cit , i C8.
Joint
Stock
Cupital
108 THE NEW IMPERIALISM— THE JUBILEES [ 1884 -
1881 . Fiji, as already mentioned, was taken in 1874 , and British
New Guinea in 1884 . Most of the rampart of islands (south of
the Equator) which guard Australasia are (since 1919 ) admin-
istered under mandates by the Commonwealth of Australia or
New Zealand Hong Kong, acquired from China in 1841 , similarly
acts as sentinel in the China Seas. The ocean highways are thus
well guarded.
Before passing from the material background of the new
Imperialism one other point demands notice. Railways, steam-
ships, submarine cables — ^the annihilation of space and time —
all testify to the patience and skill of the engineers and other
workers and to their assiduity in the application of Science to
industry. Yet their labours could never have been brought to
fruition except with the aid of a multitude of men and women
who by thrift and self-denial accumulated in the aggregate great
reserves of capital, and thus made possible the victory of man
over nature. In this connexion the Limited Liability Act of
1855 IS of capital importance. Its enactment marked the begin-
ning of a new epoch in the industrial organization of this country,
indeed of the cnnhzed world. The Act legalized the prmciple that
the shaieholder in a Limited Liability Company is responsible for
the debts of the Company only to the e\lent of his share in its
capital Until then the capital was pro\nded by the ‘ employer ’.
The terms capitalist and employer were, in fact, interchangeable.
After 1855 the ‘ Company ’ tended to supersede the private or
family ‘ firm The capital was subscribed on the joint stock
and limited liability principles by a number of shareholders. By
the early ’eighties 10,000 such companies had been registered in
Great Britain. Half a century later ( 1930 ) there were 113,327
Joint Stock Companies, w'lth a paid-up capital of over
£ 5 , 500 , 000 , 000 . Many of the individual holdings are small
Thus the five great Joint Stock Banks have between them more
than 275,000 shareholders; a single Steamship Company (the
Cunard) has over 27,000 shareholders, the railway companies
have 800 , 000 . This development has a twofold significance • it
means, first, that people of small means have a new inducement
to save, and a much wider field for the investment of small
sums than ever before, and, secondly, that the accumulated
wealth of the country is widely distributed. To the small
1807J THE aiiLNCIIESTER SCHOOL 109
capit ilists of the Motheiland colonial development owes no small
debt
Jlaterial development has thus been phenomenal Even more ^jonial
significant has been the revolution in mental and spiritual outlook The Man-
During the first half of the Victonan era the ‘ Manchester
School ’ dominated both pohtics and philosophy. The core of
their creed was denved from the French Phihsophes or Physiocrats
of the eighteenth century Laisser-faire — laisser-aller Govern-
ments should stand aside and let nature work It was an era of
emancipation eveiybody and everj^thing was to be free .
Tliought, Trade, Coloraes The first Empire had ended in dis-
integration • the American Colonies had won their ‘ freedom ’ ;
the Second Empire would follow a like course Had not Turgot
taught that ‘ colonies are like frmts they cling to the tree only
till they ripen ’ ? Such is the power of analogies m politics that
men of all parties began to look forward to the * ripemng ’ of
the Colomes and their eventual ‘ emancipation Cobden was
naturally an unquahfied separatist * The Colonial system he
declared, ‘with all its dazzhng appeals to the passions of the
people, can never be got nd of except by the indurect process of
Free Trade, which will gradually and imperceptibly loose the
bands which umte our Colonies to us by a mistaken notion of
self-interest The appeal, ,dazzhng or dull, was at that time
non-existent, but the passage is sigmficant alike for the end
desired and for the forecastmg of the means by which it would
be achieved More considered and more authoritative is the
following passage from Sir George Cornewall Lewis’s Government
of Dependencies (1841), the most representative work of that
penod
‘ If a dominant country understood the true nature of the
advantages arising from the supremacy and dependence of the
related communities, it would voluntarily recognize the legal
independence of each of its own dependencies as were fit for inde-
pendence , it uould, by its pohtical arrangements, study to pre-
pare for independence those w hidi were still unable to stand alone ;
and it would seek to promote colonization for the purpose of
extending its trade rather than its empire, and without mtending
* Moric}, Cobden, i 280
110 THE NEW IMPERIALISM— TIIE JUBILEES [I884r-
to maintain the dependence of its colonics beyond the time when
they need its protection.* '
Sir. Arthur Mills undoubtedly expressed the prevailing view
when in his Colonial Constitutions ( 1856 ) he wrote . “ To npen
these communities (the Colonies) to the earliest possible maturity
social, political, commercial, to qualify them by all the appliances
within the reach of the parent State for present self-government
and eventual independence is now the universally admitted aim
of our Colonial policy.’ * ‘ As to our American possessions I have
long held and often cxpicsscd the opinion that they are a sort
of damnosa haereditas.' So Sir Henry Taylor, an official at the
Colonial Office, VTote to his chief, the Duke of Newcastle (February
26 , 1864 ). Little wonder that Sir Alexander Galt, the eminent
Canadian statesman, uTote home from London in 1867 . ‘ I am
more than ever disappointed at the tone of feeling here as to
the colonies I cannot shut my eyes to the fact that they want
to get rid of us They have a servile fear of the Umted States
and would rather give us up than defend us, or incur the risk of
war with that country ’ It was true. So late, indeed, as 1872 ,
Tcnnjson was constrained to repudiate the suggestion of The
Times that the Canadians should ‘ take up then freedom as the
days of their apprenticeship were over ’ :
And that true North whereof we lately heard
A strain to shame us, keep jou to yourselves,
So loyal IS too costly I Fnends, your love
Is but a burden loose the bond and go 1
Is tins the tone of Empire ?
The tone of Empire it was not : but Tennyson’s words struck
a note which was re-echoed throughout the Empire On behalf of
Canada, Lord Duffenn, the Governor-General, wTote to thank
the Poet Laureate for the ‘ spirited denunciation ’ with which he
had ‘ branded those who ai;e seeking to dissolve the Empire and
to ahenate and to disgust the inhabitants of this most powerful
and prosperous colony ’. ‘ Your noble words ’, he added, * have
struck responsive fire through every heart ; . . . and have been
completely effectual to heal the wounds occasioned by the sense-
less language of The Times*
mpenal- The turn of the tide was, however, already perceptible. The
im '
» p 324 (ed 180Ij. • p. bax.
18971 IMPERIALISM 111
Separatist force had spent itsdf The dream of the Manchester
School %\as fading Latsser-fatre as an economic prescription was
rapidly losing its popularity and efficacy The worship of the
State was supplanting adoration of the deity of ‘ freedom
Among party leaders m England Disraeh was the first to Disraeli
preach the gospel of the new Imperialism, and to repudiate the
dogmas accepted by him in his pohtical youth In 1852 he had
predicted that ‘ these wretched Colonies \m 11 all be independent
in a few years and are a millstone round our necks ’ ^ Very dif-
ferent Has his tone Hhcn, as leader of the Conservative Paity,
he addressed a great meeting at the Crystal Palace in 1872 — on
the eve of his greatest electoral triumph To the principle of
Colonial self-government he remained faithful, but he added
‘ Self-government, m my opimon, when it h as conceded ought
to have been conceded as part of a great policy of imperial con-
solidation. It ought to have been accompanied with an imperial
tariff, by securities for the people of England for the enjoyment
of the unappropriated lands which belonged to the Sovereign as
their trustee, and by a mihlary code which should have precisely
defined the means and the responsibiUties by which the colonies
should be defended, and by which, if necessary, this country
should call for aid from the colomes themselves It ought,
further, to have been accompanied by some representative council
in the metropolis, Hliich would have brought the colomes into
constant and continuous relations with the home Government.
All this, however, was omitted, because those who advised that
policy — and I believe their convictions were sincere — looked upon
the colonies of England, looked even upon our connexion with
India, as a burden on this country, viewing everything m a
financial aspect, and totally passing by those moral and political
considerations which make nations great and by the influence of
nhich alone men are distmguished from animals ’ ^
During the next twenty years the reaction against Separatism The Ex-
made rapid headway From the middle ’seventies onwards there
was an immense output of books, pamphlets and articles ad-vo- England
eating closer union between the Mother Country and the daughter
lands The material obstacles, as we have seen, were being rapidly
overcome new spiritual links were rapidly forged Among
* Ltfe, lU 385 * Speeches (cd Kcbbcl), II 530-1.
Imperial
Federa-
tion
League
112 THE NEW IMPERIALISM— THE JUBILEES [1884-
those who contributed industriously to the change of outlook
were Lord John Russell,' Edward Jcnkin,®, F P de Labillidre,^
F Young, ^ J Stanley Little, ^ G R Paikin,® and others too
numerous to mention But it was the publication m 1883 of
Sir John Seelej^’s remarkable volume, The Expansion of England,
whieh for the first time concentrated public attention on the
Imperial problem Seeley gave to the political history of England
during the two previous centuries a new interpretation. The
loss of the first Colonial Empire was not a ‘ blessing m disguise
We lost it by the adoption of a false theory of colonial relations
The second Empire may be preserved by the promulgation of a
sound theory. England may still ‘ prove able to do what the
United States does so easily, that is hold together m a federal
umon counties very remote from each other ’. ‘ Here, too, is a
great homogeneous people, one m blood, language, religion and
laws, but dispersed over a boundless space . . If we are
disposed to doubt whether any system can be devised capable of
holding together communities so distant from each other, then
IS the time to recollect the history of the Umted States of America
They have solved this problem, why should not England also
solve it ’ ’
As a practical answer to this question the Imperial Federation
League came into being in 1884 under the auspices of statesmen
like W. E. Forster, Lord Rosebery, Edward Stanhope, W. H.
Smith, Sir Charles Tupper of Canada, and Sir Charles Gavan
Duffy and Sir Henry Parkes of Australia It attracted also the
adhesion of eminent historians like Seeley, J. A. Froude and
James (Viscount) Bryce The League was not committed to any
particular form of Federation, but while respecting the complete
autonomy of the several units of the Empire as regards local
affairs, it was pledged to work for the permanent unity of the
Empire, and to devise some organization for common defence and
co-operation in foreign pohey. ‘ The Federation w'e aim at ’, said
Lord Rosebery in 1888, ‘ is the closest possible union of the
vaiious self-governing States ruled by the British Crown, con-
^ Speeches and Dispatches, p 152
2 T/ieCotoiualandlmpenalUtn^yflSTlkandEssaysinContenip Rev (1871}
» England and her Colonics (1869), Federal Britain (1894)
« Imperial Federation (1876) ‘ A World Empire (1879)
Imperial Federation (1892).
lS 07 j niPERIAL FEDERATION 118
SiStcntly •with that free national development winch is the birth-
right of British subjects all over the world — the closest union m
sjmpathy, in external acbon and in defence.’^
The League ultimately foundered on the rock of Imperial
Preference, and was dissolved m November 1893 , but durmg
the inten'cning decade it did educational and propagandist work
of the highest value Branches were formed alike in the United
Kingdom and in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, meetings were
organized, literature distributed and great enthusiasm aroused
Nor were practical results and demonstrations lacking.
ISSl the Government appomted a Royal Commission to organize denes •
an Exhibition to illustrate the products, manufactures and art
of the Colonics and India The Pnnee of Wales became President
of the Commission, and threw himself with energy and enthusiasm
into work which reflected the rapidly developing sentiments of
his future subjects in all parts of the world Queen Victoria
opened the Exhibition m state on May 4th, 1886, in the presence
of a great and representative concourse of people, and with appro-
priate pageantiy devised by the Prince The Poet Laureate
irrote a special ode for the occasion, and it was sung to music
composed by Sir Arthur Sulhvan With incomparable fehcity
Tennyson caught the spirit of the hour
Welcome, wdcome with one voice
In >our welfare we rejoice,
Sons and brothers that have sent.
From isle and cape and continent.
Produce of >our held and flood,
Alount and nunc, and prmial wood,
Works of subtle brain and hand.
And ^Icndours of the morning land.
Gifts from every British /one,
Bntons, hold your own '
Sharers of qur glonous past
Brothers, must we part at last ?
Shall we not Uiro’ good and ill.
Cling to one another stiU 7
Britain’s m>riad voices call,
* Sons be welded each and all
One with Bntain, heart and soul 1
One life, one flag, one fleet, one throne I
Bntons, hold jour own I ’
^ Speech at Edmbutgh, October 81, 1888
U £ — 8
The
Imperial
Institute
First
Colonial
Confer-
ence,
1887
114 THE NEW IMPERIALISM— THE JUBILEES [1884-
The Queen in reply to the Pnnce-President’s address described
the Exhibition as ‘ an impressive development of the idea which
the Prince Consort had originated m 1851 The reference was
characteristic but misleading The Exhibition of 1851 was the
apotheosis of the Manchester School , it represented the exalta-
tion of internationalism The Exhibition of 1886— the ‘ Cohn-
deries ’ as it was nicknamed — ^was a family affair, reflecting the
sentiment not of internationalism but of Imperial self-conscious-
ness.
The Exhibition was an immense popular success and realized
a profit of over £80,000 In order that the enthusiasm aroused
should not be evanescent, the Prince of Wales suggested that the
Exhibition should take a permanent form in ‘ an Imperial Insti-
tute which should repiescnt the arts, manufactures and com-
merce of the Queen’s Colonial and Indian Empire
It was subsequently decided that the Institute should form
the chief national memorial of the Queen’s Jubilee. The main
part of the profits of the ‘ Cohnderies ’ was appropriated to this
purpose. Several of the Indian Prmces sent generous contri-
butions, but for some unexplained reason the project, though
earned through, never quite fulfilled the dreams of the Prince and
his co-projectors. The Queen laid the foundation stone of the
new building at South Kensmgton on July 4, 1887, and opened
it in 1898, with an earnest prayer that ‘ it may never cease to
flourish as a lasting emblem of the umty and loyalty of her
Empire Flounsh it never did , it remains an interesting
memorial of the Imperial enthusiasm characteristic of the period ;
It does valuable work, conductmg investigations and research m
the economic resources of the Empire, but since 1899 the mam
part of the building has been the central home of the University
of London.
Another result of the educational work of the Imperial Federa-
tion League was the meeting of the first Colonial Conference. In
August 1886 the League sent a strong deputation to the Prime
Mimster, to urge that an official Conference should be summoned
in connexion with the Queen’s Jubilee. The Government as-
sented to the request, and mvited the self-governing Colonies to
nommate repiesentatives to take part in a Conference for the
purpose of discussmg * certam questions of common interest
IS07] FIRST COLONIAL CONFERENCE 115
to all parts of the Empire*. The Crown Colonies were also
nvitcd
Tlie invitation was prefaced by a quotation from the Queen’s
speech on the last prorogation of Parliament ‘ I am led to the
comnction that there is on all sides a growing desire to draw
closer m every practicable way the bonds which unite the various
portions of the Empire I have authorized communications to
be entered into with the principal Colonial Governments with a
view to the fuller consideration of matters of common interest.’
The matters detailed for discussion were organization for
military defence and ‘ the promotion of commercial and social
relations by the development of postal and telegraphic communi-
cations ’. The subject of Imperial Federation was expressly
excluded from the agenda of the first Conference In their letter
of invitation the Government had expressed the opimon that ‘ it
might be detrimental to a more developed system of umted action
if a question not yet npe for practical decision were now" to be
brought to the test of a formal examination The same point
was taken by Lord Salisburj’’ m his opening address. ‘ I am not
here now ’, he said, ‘ to recommend you to indulge m any am-
bitious scheme of constitution-malang . . . That is a matter
for the future rather than for the present These are grand
aspirations . . . They are doubtless hazy now, but they are
the nebulous matter that in course of ages — very much less
than ages — ^wiU cool down and condense into material from which
many practical andbusmess-hke resolutions will very hkely come
Notwithstanding this embargo it was impossible to conceahAustta-
the dissatisfaction felt by some of the greater Colomes with the cism””**
anomahes and humihations mcidental to their existing constitu-
tional position Before the Conference met Mr. (afterwards Sir
James) Service, Premier of Victona, had given vigorous expres-
sion to the profound chagrin felt by the Australasian Colonies
about the attitude of the Home Government towards New Guinea
and Samoa Mr Service justly complained that despite the
concession of * responsible ’ government to the greater Colonies
the Impenal Government remained, as regards foreign policy, ‘ to
all intents and purposes an unqualified autocracy ’ In regard to
local government he said, * the fullest measure of Constitutional
1 Proceedings (c 5001), p 5
116 THE NEW IMPERIALISM!— THE JUBILEES [1884^
freedom and Parliamentary representation has been conceded to
the more important colonics , bul as regards the second, we have
no representation whatever m the Imperial system. . . . The
weakness of this position has at times been most disadvantageously
apparent, and its humiliation keenly felt. . . Colonial interests
arc sulTiciently important to entitle us to some defined position
in the Imperial economy, to some tangible means of asserting if
necessary our rights
At the Conference itself, Mr Alfred Dcakin, speaking on
behalf of the Australasian Colonies, gave courteous but caustic
expression to this sentiment.
‘We have observed with close interest the discussion that
has taken place m the Mother Country upon the question of a
spirited foreign policy. There are some of us who live in hopes
to sec it a vital issue in the politics of Great Britain as to whether
there shall not be a spirited Colonial policy as well , because we
find that other nations arc pursuing a policy which might fairly
be described as a spirited Colonial policy. One has only to turn
to the dispatches which have passed between this country and
the Australian Colonics upon the subject of New Guinea and the
New Hebrides, and to compare them w’lth the dispatches pub-
lished in the same Blue Book, taken from the White Book of the
German Empire, and with the extracts of dispatches issued by
the French Colonial Office, to notice the marked difference of
tone. The dispatches received from England, with reference to
English activity in these seas, exhibited only the disdain and
indifference with w'hicli English enterprise was treated in the
Colonial Office, and by contrast one was compelled to notice the
eagerness with which the French and German statesmen received
the smallest details of information as to the movements of their
traders m those particular seas, and the zeal w'lth which they
hastened to support them . . . w'e hope that from this time
forward. Colonial policy will be considered Imperial policy , and
that Colonial interests will be considered and felt to be Imperial
interests ; and that they w'lU be carefully studied, and that when
once they are understood, they will be most determinedly upheld ’ ^
The language is restrained, but the sentiment is unmistakable.
Nor was the Conference allowed to close without a more specific
* Proceedings, pp 24-5.
1807]
IMPERIAL DEFENCE
117
reference to the constitutional problem. At the concluding ses-
sion Sir Samuel Griffith, as * the oldest actual minister present ’
gave expression to a thought which on this historic occasion
was in many minds •
‘ I consider that this Conference does compnse what may
perhaps be called the rudimentary elements of a parliament , but
it has been a peculiarity of our British mstitutions that those
nhich have been found most durable are those wluch have grown
up from institutions uhich were in the first instance of a rudi-
mentary character- It is impossible to predicate now what form
future conferences should take, or in what mode some day further
effect would be given to their conclusions, but I think we may
look forward to seeing this sort of informal Council of the Empire
de> elop, until it becomes a legislative body, at any rate a con-
sultabve bodj , and some day, perhaps, a legislative body under
conditions that we cannot ]ust now foresee ’
The Conference was avowedly * consultative’, and the report
of the Proceedings attests both the volume and value of the con-
sultations Of concrete results the most important concerned
Imperial Defence The Imperial Government undertook to
maintain a strong squadron of cruisers and gunboats m the West-
ern Pacific, and the Australasian Colonies agreed to contribute
£126,000 a year (increased in 1902 to £240,000) towards the
expense of maintaining it, a general officer was to be sent to
Australia to advise on mihtary defence , Simon’s Town was to
be fortified by the Imperial Government, and the series of coaling
stations was to be strengthened The Conference also discussed
the desirability of Imperial pexmy postage, a new Australian
cable and uniformity of law in regard to merchandise marks and
patents but nothing definite was effected The Colomal Pro-
bates Act of 1892 did, however, give effect to the desire of the
Colonics for the recognition of Colonial wills, and the Colomal
Stocl^ Act of 1901 gave a welcome stimulus to Colomal credit by
authorizing trustees to invest m certain Colonial stocks Mr.
HofmejT, one of the representatives of South Africa, made the
daring suggestion that a umform tax of 2 per cent upon imports
should be imposed tliroughout the Empire and the proceeds
devoted to naval defence But notlung came of the suggestion.
If the concrete results appear disproportionately meagre the
118 THE NEW niPERIALISM — THE JUBILEES [1884-
mcre assembling of the Conference was in itself a great thing,
and marked the first step towards much greater things. For
the moment its chief value was that it enabled distinguished
statesmen from all parts of the Empire to witness and participate
in the great manifestation of loyalty and devotion to the Crown
evoked by the celebrations of Queen Victoria’s Jubilee.
The The crowning event of these celebrations was a Thanksgiving
Jubdee^ Service in Westminster Abbey. Thither on Tuesday, June 21st,
1887 the Queen proceeded through the streets of her capital, gaily
decorated, lined with troops and thronged with cheering multi-
tudes drawn from every class of her subjects, from every country
of the vast Empire over which she reigned Plaudits were
mingled with tears of gratitude and emotion as the people gazed,
many of them for the first time, on the central figure in the great
pageant — a figure perfect in dignity, perfect in simplicity.
The Queen was accompanied by her whole family : three sons,
five sons-in-law, and nine grandsons and grandsons-in-law rode
behind her carriage. Four kings, the Kings of Belgium and
Saxony, Denmark and Greece, many reigning Grand Dukes and
the Crown Princes of every throne in Europe were among the
glittering tlirong. Among the Crown Prmees, a never-to-be-
forgotten figure was the Queen’s favourite son-in-law^ already
threatened by the fell disease which twelve months later cut
short, ere it had well begun, a reign which, if prolonged to its
natural term, might well have altered the whole future course
of woild-history. Noteworthy also in the procession were Ruling
Princes of India, m gorgeous uniforms, and resplendent with
jewels. There were representatives also of all the British Colomes
and Dependencies as well as of Foreign Po-v\ ers. ‘ Queen’s
weather ’ prevailed throughout the day and blue skies and brilliant
sunshine enhanced the splendour of a spectacle unique m world-
history.
‘ Yesterday,’ wrote The Times on June 22nd, ‘ from the earliest
moment of dawn until long after night had fallen the people of
this country, of the whole Empire, and especially the population
of London, were keeping high festival in celebration of the Jubilee
of their Sovereign ’ In every town and every village m the
1 Frederick of Prussia (aftcniards the Emperor Frederick) husband of the
Princess RoyaL
189T1
THE QUEEN’S JUBILEE
119
countrj' the day -vras kept as a high and solemn feast day The
•whole nation, nay the -whole Empire, surrendered themselves to
a ‘ passion of festi-nty and thanksgiving ’ ]\Iemonals — statues,
buildings, beneficent mstitutions — followed in due course The
Queen accepted a personal gift of £75,000 subscribed by nearly
tlrrcc million of her women subjects, and devoted the greater part
of it to the foundation of a nurses’ institute to provide skilled
nursing for the sick poor in their ov,n homes. The Institute has
proved a veritable godsend
In Slay the Queen had opened the People’s Palace at Mile
End On June 22 a fete -was given to 26,000 poor school children
in Hj de Park , on July 9 the Queen laid the foundation-stone of
the Imperial Institute and during the same month reviewed the
Sletropolitan Volunteers at Buckingham Palace, the Army at
Aldershot and the Navy at Spithead What wonder that when
the end of this eventful year came, the Queen * parted with it *
(as her Journal records) ‘with great regret . . . Never, never
can I forget this brilliant year, so full of the marvellous kindness,
loyalty, and devotion of so many millions which really I could
hardly have expected ’. The touch of genuine humihty is char-
acteristic ; but it was with renewed spirit and energy that the
Queen took up the duties which still for fourteen years awaited her
The celebrations of 1887 were repeated ten years later on a
scale even more splendid, and m a spirit still more definitely
Impenalist In the meantime there had been rapid territorial
advance in Afinca, of which more must be said in the next chapter.
The interval was also marked by the meeting of a second Colonial
Conference
It met on the invitation of the Canadian Government in June
1894 at Ottawa The Earl of Jersey, a former Governor of New
South Wales (1891-3), represented the Imperial Government, and
representatives were also present from Canada, Cape Colonj^, New
Zealand, and four of the Australian Colonies The discussions,
more business-hkc than those in 1887 in London, were practically
confined to the three subjects specified in the Canadian mvita-
tioh the construction of a submarine cable from Vancouver to
Australia, the establishment of a quick mail semce between
Great Britain and Australasia -via Canada, and the trade relations
of the Colonies ■with Great Bntam and with one another It was
120 THE NEW IMPERIALISM— THE JUBILEES [1884-
suggested that for the Pacific cable there should be a neutral
landing-place in the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii), but those islands
were formally annexed in 1898 by the United States That
scheme was therefore perforce abandoned The cable was, how-
ever, ultimately laid (1902) from Vancouver to Auckland via
Norfolk Island.
On the question of inter-imperial trade the Conference re-
solved that any impediments imposed, by Treaty or otherwise, on
reciprocal tiade arrangements between the different portions of
the Empire should be removed, and recorded its belief in the
advisability of such arrangements The exceptional position of
the Mother Country in respect of external trade was frankly
recognized by Colonial speakers, but the Conference resolved
that ‘ until the Mother Countr}*^ can see her way to enter into
Customs arrangements with her Colonies it is desirable that when
empowered to do so the Colonies take steps to place each other’s
products on a more favourable Customs basis than is accorded
to the like products of foreign countries It was not long
before Canada herself made a beginning in this direction. But
before that, another Coloilial Conference had met m London, and
like the first was coincident with a great event m the history of
the Empire — ^the celebration of the completion of the sixtieth
year of the Queen’s reign
Joseph Over the Conference of 1897 Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, as
bcrlain Secretary of State, presided. Mr. Chamberlain’s accession to the
Colonial Office in 1895 must be regarded as one of the significant
pohtical events in the latter part of the nineteenth century.
Ever since his rupture with Mr. Gladstone on the Home Rule
question Mr. Chamberlain’s mind had been moving steadily
towards the project of Imperial umfication In this intellectual
evolution he was avowedly influenced by the example of Germany.
‘ We have ’, he said, speakmg at the annual dinner of the
Canada Club in 1896, ‘ a great example before us in the creation
of the German Empire How was that brought about? You
all recollect that, in the first instance, it commenced with the
union of two of the States which now form that great Empire
in a commercial Zollverein. They attracted the other States
gradually — ^ivere joined by them for commercial purposes. A
Council, or Reichsrath, was formed to deal with those commercial
16071 CIIAIIBERLAIN A2«D TIIE EMPIRE 121
questions Gradually m their discussions national objects and
political interests iiere introduced, and so, from starting as it
did on a purely commercial basis and for commercial mterests,
it developed until it became a bond of unity and the foundation
of the German Empire ’
On the same text Mr Chamberlain preached to the Congress
of Chambers of Commerce of the Empire which met m London
in 1890.
‘If ne had a commercial union throughout the Empire, of
course there uould have to be a Council of the Empire . .
Gradually, therefore, by that prudent and experimental process
by which all our greatest institutions have slowly been built up
we should, I believe, approach to a result which would belittle,
if at all, distinguished from a real federation of the Empire ’
Mr Chamberlain’s opening address at the Conference of 1897 ^
marked an epoch m the history of imperial copartnership It ^nfer-
was incomparably the boldest and frankest utterance to which ence,
Colonial statesmen had ever hstened from a responsible Minister *
of the Crown
‘ I fed ’, he said, ‘ that there is a real necessity for some better
machinery of consultation between the self-governing Colonics
and the Mother Country, and it has sometimes struck me — I
offer it now merely as a personal suggestion — ^that it might be
feasible to create a great council of the Empire to which the
Colonies would send representative plenipotentiaries — not mere
ddegates who were unable to speak m their name, without further
reference to their respective Governments, but persons w’ho by
their position in the Colonies, by their representative character,
and by their close touch with Colomal feeling, would be able
upon all subjects submitted to them to give really effective and
valuable advice - If such a council were created it would at once
assume an immense importance, and it is perfectly evident that
it might develop into something still greater It might slowly
grow to that Federal Council to which w'e must always look for-
ward as our ultimate ideal ’ ^
* Only n brief Report of tlic Proceedings was published (c 850C, 1807)
It contained a full report of the President’s opening nddress and of an address
by the First Lord of tlic Admiralty, Mr, Goschen For the rest onlj a list
of topics discussed and resolutions adopted
122 THE NEW BIPERIALISM— THE JUBDLEES [1884-
No resolution on tins subject was in fact adopted or even, as
far as we know, proposed.
The Report does indeed make it clear that among some of the
Colonial Premiers there was a feeling that the present relations
could not continue indefinitely. Nevertheless, the following
resolution was passed, with the dissent only of Mr. Seddon for
New Zealand and Sir E. Rraddon for Tasmania. ‘ The Prime
Ministers here assembled are of opinion that the present political
relations between the United Kingdom and the self-govemmg
Colonies are generally satisfactory under the existing condition
of things.’^
On the question of inter-impcrial trade the Conference re-
affirmed the request made at Ottawa for the ‘ denunciation of
any treaties that now hamper the commercial relations between
Great Britain and her Colonies *. Since 1894 the question had
been brought to a practical issue by the offer of Canada to give
a preference to the Mother Country. The Imperial Government
accordingly decided to denounce the Treaties concluded with
Belgium and the German Zollverein, in 18C2 and 3865 respec-
tively. As to defence the arrangement with Australia was con-
/ firmed and the Cape Colony offered an ‘ unconditional contnbu-
tion ’ of the cost of a first-class battleship, — a spontaneous offer
which was gratefully accepted by the Home Government. A
suggestion for the occasional interchange of military units was
approved, and among otlier matters discussed were coloured
immigration, and an Imperial Penny Post The Conference also
pressed for the removal of all restrictions on the investment of
trust funds in Colonial stock, and recommended that the Con-
ference should in future be periodically summoned. Personal
consultation at regular intervals was, henceforward, to form
a permanent part of the constitutional mechamsm of the
Empire.
On the whole it must be confessed that the tangible results
of this Conference fell short of the high hopes entertained by its
President. Yet how fine was the spirit of the British Colonies
was soon to be proved. Before the next Conference met in 1902
a great crisis in the history of the Empire had matured, and with
the effective aid of Canada and the Australasian Colonies had
*■ Proceedings o. 16.
1897] TEDE “DIAMOND” JUBILEE 123
been successfully surmounted With that crisis the next chapter
'Will deal.
Despite the rather meagre results achieved by the Conference
of 1897 the visit of the Colonial Premiers to the capital of the
Empire cannot have been otherwise than gratifying to them Two
days before the Conference opened they had been privileged to
play a conspicuous part in the great procession which formed the
central feature of the celebrations attendant on the Queen’s
Diamond Jubilee
The vibrating note of the celebrations of 1897 was, indeed, TheDia-
Imperial. Strack m the Jubilee of 1887, m 1897 it dominated jubilee
and drowned all others, except that of accentuated loyalty and
affection to the Queen herself Thus the celebration of the
Second Jubilee was no mere repetition of the first Foreign
States were fully represented as before, but no foreign kings were
present The German Emperor had expressed a wish to be
present, but the Queen felt unequal to the task of showing him
or any other Sovereign ‘ the hospitality and attention which Her
Majesty would wish that they should receive*. Thus the pro-
cession took the form of an Impenal Pageant, organized on a
superb scale, and primarily with a view to its political significance
It was officially announced that the Queen would * drive through
London for the purpose of seemg her people and receivmg their
congratulations on havmg attamed the sixtieth anniversary of
Her Majesty’s reign Through London she drove on Tuesday,
June 22 , not merely by a short route to and from Westnunster
Abbey j but for six long miles and for three long hours through
the main thoroughfares, north and south of the Thames, crossmg
London Bridge and Westmmster Bndge, and thus giving to many
milhons of her subjects, drawn from all classes, the opportumty
of participation m a ceremony without precedent or parallel in
the history of mankind. Beside the Queen’s carriage rode the
Pnnce of Wales, the Duke of Connaught, commanding the troops,
and the Duke of Cambridge All the other survivmg members
of her family were present; m the unendmg procession were
representative contingents not only of the British Navy and
Army, but of the Impenal Service Troops of India, headed by
Maharajah Sir Pertab Smgh, of the mounted troops or pohee
124 THE NEW IMPERIALISM— THE JUBILEES [1884-
from the self-governing Colonies, from Crown Colonies and De-
pendencies, little Cingalese soldiers from Ceylon, Hausas from the
Gold Coast, armed police fiom Hong Kong, and so on. Of the
Colonial contingents Lord Roberts was tactfully placed in com-
mand and on his white Arab charger was loudly acclaimed
by the populace. AH the Premiers of the Empire (with the
curious exception of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom)
were conspicuous figures in the procession The Colonial and
Indian contingents were temporarily detached from the proces-
sion after it passed St. Paul’s, m order that the Queen as she
approached the Cathedral might pass them in review and that
they, alone of the troops, might see Her Majesty In front of
the West Door of the Cathedral the Queen’s carriage stopped in
order that the Queen, without descending from it, might take
part in a short open-air service. Before leaving the Palace for
her long drive the Queen sent a telegraphic greeting to her people
in all parts of the Empire * ‘ From my heart I thank my be-
loved people May God bless them ’ Almost overwhelming, as
the Queen drove tlirough her capital, was their response.
In the evening of the 22nd every British city was illuminated,
and from eveiy headland and hill, from the Land’s End to John
o’ Groat’s House, bonfire beacons blazed
The Queen’s own comment compels quotation . * A never-to-
be-forgotten day No one ever, I believe, has met with such an
ovation as was given to me. . . . The crowds were quite inde-
scribable, and their enthusiasm truly marvellous and deeply
touching The cheering was quite deafening, and every face
seemed to be filled with real joy I was much moved and grati-
fied ’ Moved and gratified the Queen might well be. ‘ To us ’,
as Lord Rosebery wrote to her, ‘ it has been the splendid expres-
sion of a nation’s gratitude, the symbol of loyalty, deep, passionate
and steadfast, whieh has encompassed Your Majesty’s throne,
and grown year by year with Your Majesty’s life, until it has pene-
trated every remotest corner anJ subject of the Empire. No
capital in the world has ever witnessed sueh an enthusiasm of
devotion to a Sovereign.’
Bishop Creighton’s ‘ commanded ’ Memorandum also deserves
to be quoted ' ‘ The proeeedings on June 22nd were’, he wrote,
* entirely simple and absolutely personal , they had reference only
IMPERL4L UNITY
125
1807]
to the Queen . . Yet no ceremonial recorded in history vas
ever more impressive, more truly national, or expressed more
faithfully sentiments which -were deeply and universally felt.
The very fact that it was simple, personal, and unfettered by
precedent, give it an extension which was at first unforeseen
. . The occasion expanded mto a significant manifestation of
imperial greatness, and of a fundamental umty of purpose, which
came as a revelation to England and the Colonies ahke, and
awakened the respectful wonder of all Europe ’
The festivities were prolonged for a fortnight There were
garden parties at Buckingham Palace and (for members of the
House of Commons and their ladies) at Windsor , the Queen
reviewed the Colonial contmgents and all the Colonial Premiers
were sworn of the Privy Coimcil, 180 Prelates of the Anghcan
Communion, assembled for a Conference at Lambeth, were re-
ceived by the Queen, and on her behalf the Prince reviewed 178
battleships of the Home Fleet at Spitnead
Hardly, however, had the sounds of the Jubilee acclamations The Re-
died away when there fell upon the ears of the exultant nation
the solemn and sonorous swell of a great anthem — The Becessioml,
by Rudyard Kiplmg Has any poet ever interpreted with greater
insight the prevaihng but marticulate sentiment of a great people ?
The Becessional analysed wnth precision and expressed in terse
and vigorous words the feehng of all senous-minded men as to
the true bases of imperial power, and the secret source of all
success in the battles of war, of politics, and of personal life.
Like Shakespeare in his Henry V, Kipling caught, and for the
men of his day mterpreted, the sentiment of the Hebrew singer ;
* Some trust in chariots, and some m horses , but w'e will remem-
ber the name of the Lord our God ’ Non nobis Boimne.
Oh God, Thy arm was here
And not to us, but to Thy arm alone
Ascribe we all
So Shakespeare And Kiphng*
God of our fatliers, known of old.
Lord of our far-flung b ittle line,
Beneath whose awful hand -we hold
Dominion over palm and pine,
Lord God of Hosts, be with us j ct.
Lest we forget, lest we forget
128 THE NEW IMPERIALISM— THE JUBILEES 11884-1897
Tlic tumult and the shouting dies,
The captains and the kings depart,
Still stands Thine ancient saennee
An humble and a contrite heart
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget, lest we forget
The Jubilee of 1897 marked the meridian of the Victorian era.
Hardly had the tumult and the shouting died, before the pohtical
sky became overcast. On the glint and the glamour and the
glory, on the sparkle and splendour of the Imperial Jubilee there
supervened all too soon the humihations, sacrifices, and the sorrows
of the war in South Africa.
CHAPTER Vm
BRITISH DOMINION IN AFRICA— THE BOER WAR (1899-1902)—
THE DEATH OF QUEEN VICTORIA
F or many years past the relations between Britons and Cape
Dutchmen in South AJxica had been uneasy The story of Colony
those relations down to the year 1885 has been told in a previous
volume of this History, and can now be recalled only m bare
outhne. For a century and a half the Cape of Good Hope,
though discovered by the Portuguese, had been occupied by the
Dutch as a port of call for their East Indiamen In 1795, how-
ever, the Umted Provinces became a dependency of the French
Repubhc, and to save the Cape Colony from a similar fate it was,
at the suggestion of the Dutch Stadtholder (then a refugee m
England), occupied by a British force Handed back to the
Batavian Repubhc (the Umted Provinces) m 1802, the Cape
Colony was reconquered by the British in 1806, and at the Peace
of Pans (1814) it was retamed, Holland receiving £6,000,000 m
compensation
British settlers came m slowly, and the British Government The
was confronted on the one hand by Dutch fanners,
resented their mterference, especially when exercised on behalf Trek
of the^ slaves, on the other by natives who m South Africa have
always greatly outnumbered the European settlers of both races.
So great was the exasperation of the Dutch farmers at the “ grand-
motherly” attitude of the Bntish Government that between
1836 and 1840 they shook the dust of the Cape Colony off them
feet, and, taking with them their women, children and belongings,
‘trekked’ northwards and ultimately established two States
virtually independent of Great Bntain, the Transvaal and the
Orange Free State.
A handful of Enghsh colomsts had meanwhile (1824) estab- Kntal
iGER»A
tl884-
12S
1902]
SOUTH AFRICA
129
Itshcd themselves at Port Natal To save the country from the
Boers, Natal was formally proclaimed a British Colony in 1843
and down to 185C formed part of the Cape Colony In the latter
year it iias declared independent of its neighbour, and m 1893
attained to the full dignity of ‘ responsible Government
Towards the Boer Colonies in the north the British Govern-
ment pursued a pohej* irritating less on account of assertiveness
than of vacillation Now the British claimed sovereignty over
them, and now acknowledged their virtual independence The
Sand Riier Convention (1832) conceded independence to the
‘ emigrant farmers beyond the Vaal river ’ subject to two reser-
lations the Republic was to be open to all comers on equal
terms, and no slavery was to be practised or permitted Two
years later similar terms were conceded by the Bloemfontein
Convention to the Boers of the Orange Free State
For twenty years the pohey of non-intervention was consist- Federa-
entlj maintained But Sir George Grey, Governor at the Cape
from 1854-6, had the foresight to perceive that, in view of the
numerical predominance of native tnbes, and for other reasons,
there could not permanently coexist in South Africa two European
peoples, m complete independence of each other He, therefore,
urged on the Home Government to negotiate some form of
federation ‘ Had British aimisters m time past been wise enough
to follow your advice, there would imdoubtedly be to-day a British
Dominion extending from Table Bay to the Zambesi ’ So m
1893 F W Reitz, afterwards Transvaal Secretary of State, wrote
to Grey But the w'eary Titan was at that time looking forward
to the happy day when those ‘ wretched Colonies ’ would no
longer hang hke millstones around our necks, and the sagacious
advice of one of the greatest of Colonial administrators was
Ignored
In the late ’seventies Lord Carnarvon, then Secretary of State, British
revived Sir George Grey’s project, though again, unfortunately,
without success In the meantime much had happened m Soutli South
Africa In 1868 the Boers on the Orange River became mvolved
in a dispute with the Basutos to the east of them , the Basuto
chief appealed to be allowed to * rest under the large folds of the
flag of England ’. His prayer was heard , British sovereignty
* Sec Mamolt, England since IVaicrloo, c xxiv
« E — ^9
180 BRITISH DOMINION IN AFRICA [i884l-
was proclaimed over Basutoland in 1869, and during the Jubilee
celebrations of 1887 Letsie, Chief of the Basutos, wrote on behalf
of himself and other chiefs to congratulate the Queen and to
express their gratitude for the * dehverance she had granted to
[them] when [they] were on the brink of absolute ruin.’ ^
Dia-^ In 1871 Gnqualand West, a territory to the west of the Orange
and Gold State, was similarly annexed to the Crown. These annexa-
tions clearly announced that the era of masterly mactmty was
drawing to a close in South Africa, that the prophets of the Man-
chester School were no longer preaching to a listening generation.
But the annexation of Gnqualand West had a further significance.
It meant the acquisition of the Kimberley diamond-field and the
consequent mtroduction of an entirely new strain mto the Euro-
pean peoples of South Africa ‘The digger, the capitahst, the
company pronloter jostled the slow-moving Dutch farmer, and
qmckened the pace of life ’ ^
The quickening was not confined to Kimberley. In 1872
Cape Colony had attained to Responsible Government, and in
1877 Sir Bartle Frere was appointed to the Governorship of the
Colony, in the hope that he would be able to carry through Lord
Carnarvon’s federal scheme. In the previous year, however,
Carnarvon had sent out Sir TheopMus Shepstone as Special Com-
missioner to * mquire respecting certain disturbances which had
taken place in the territory adjoining the Colony of, Natal ’.
Shepstone was further authorized, at his discretion and if desired
by the mhabitants, to annex the territory.
^eZulu The territory was the Transvaal Repubhc. The Boers in
that colony were m desperate phght, and in great danger of being
‘ eaten up ’ by their native neighbours, the warhke Zulus and
Matabeles. Accordingly Shepstone, m 1877, annexed the Trans-
vaal In 1879 we found ourselves at war with the Zulus. A
Bntish force was cut to pieces at Isandhlwana, but ultimately
the power of the Zulus was broken, and Cetewayo, their Chief,
was sent as a State pnsoner to Cape Town. In the course of the
Zulu War the Prince Imperial of France, while serving as a
volunteer with the British force was, to the great grief of his
mother and of Queen Victoria, unfortunately killed Before the
close of the same year (1879) the power of Sekukini, like Cetewayo
^QV L , III. 1 842. ■ Lucas, South Africa, p 240
10021 CHARTERED COMPANIES 181
a powerful and inveterate enemy of the Boers, was also broken
by the British and he loined Cetewayo in captivity.
The Boers, saved by British intervention from annihilation,
now claimed their independence (December 1880 ) ; war ensued, ygai
and the Boers inflicted a severe defeat on an inadequate British
force at Majuba Hill (February 26, 1881) To repair this disaster
Sir Frederick Roberts was sent out with a considerable force,
but arrived m South Afnea only to find that an agreement had
been signed with the Boers, acknowledging their right to complete
self-government under the suzeramty of the Queen The subse-
quent Convention of London (1884), while acknowledging the
‘ South African Repubhc *, reserved the control of external rela-
tions, though it deleted all reference to ‘ suzeramty The pohey
of retrocession thus adopted by the Gladstone Gpvernment was
sharply criticized in England, and signally failed to achieve a
final settlement in South Afinca
The year wluch witnessed the conclusion of the Convention
of London (1884) witnessed also the beginning of that ‘ scramble
for Africa ’ already described In that ‘ scramble ’ Great Britain
participated, and in the final result did not fare worst In
1885 a Protectorate was estabhshed over Bechuanaland, partly
no doubt with a view' of preventmg too intimate relations between
the Boer Republics and the recently estabhshed German colonies
of Namaqualand and Damaraland (German South-West Africa)
In the next year a Charter was granted to the Royal Niger Chartered
Company, which estabhshed a Protectorate over the NigSr £Sti- pamra
tory on the west coast The system of Chartered Companies had,
m the seventeenth century, been a popular and successful method
of trade development. Charters granted to Companies of Mer-
chants brought to the Crown a maximum of profit with a mini-
mum of responsibihty. The vigorous criticism of Adam Smith
brought the system into ill repute. None the less, it had sohd
advantages, and in the last decades of the nineteenth century
they again became obvious The ‘ company of merchants ’ took
nsks and tried experiments ; the Crown and the nation reaped
where the Company had sown Until m the ’eighties the atten-
tion of the European Powers was concentrated on tropical Africa,
the swamps on the delta of the Niger offered no temptations to Nigcna
any Government, but the country was exploited by various
182
BRITISH DOanNION IN AERICA
[ 1884 -
traders, mainly for the sake of the pahn-oil which its forests
yielded in profusion. When the scramble began, a British Com-
pany, headed by Sir George Taubman Goldie, was successful in
estabhshing its title to possession. A charter was granted to the
Royal Niger Company m 1886, but fierce competition for posses-
sion of the Hmterland continued between the English and the
French until m 1898 their respective spheres were delimited.
Tivo years later the political jurisdiction of the Royal Niger
Company was transferred to the Crown, though the company
continued its activities as a commercial undertaking.
With the development of Nigeria, a territory about one-third
of the size of British India, two names will be iramemorially
associated. That of Sir Ronald Ross, who effected the conquest
of the mosquito, and that of Sir Frederick (now Lord) Lugard,
who has devoted some of the best years of a long life to the extir-
pation of slavery in tropical Africa. For some years he had been
engaged in that humamtarian work in East Afriea, but from
1894 until the close of the World War he was (save for an interval
of five years) employed m West Afirica. In 1897 he raised the
West African Frontier Force — a, native army under British
officers — and with their aid he did much to secure the native
chiefs of the mterior against the advances of France and Germany.
By a series of Conventions between Great Britain and France
(1890-9) the northern frontiers of Nigeria and the French sphere
of influence were dehmited, and Lugard and his West African
Frontier Force were then compelled to undertake the effective
occupation of the Moslem jSmirates (1902-3) The native chiefs
were, as far as possible, confirmed m their authority over their
tribesmen, but they had to accept British Residents, to put a
stop to slave raidmg, to contribute to the expenses of administra-
tion, to maintain order, and to execute justice Fiom 1907, to
1912 Lugard was Governor of Hong Kong, but in the latter year
returned to West Africa In 1914 he became Governor-General
of a united Nigeria, with its capital at Lagos, a former entrepot
of the slave trade, but acquired by the British Government m
1861 with a view of putting an end to that traffic.
East The European Powers were no less active on the East Coast
Africa than on the West Eastern Equatorial Africa had, until the
’eighties, come under the notice of Europe only through the
1002]
EAST AFRICA
133
devoted labours of explorers and missionaries. But the Powers
then began to occupy strategic points on or off the coast of East
Africa Great Britain had secured two stations on the opposite
sliore at Aden (183T) and at Perim (1857) Sokotra, occupied
bv the British East India Company in 1831, vas declared a
British Kotectbrate in 1886 Eritrea, with a coast line of some
700 miles alon^ the Red Sea, passed into the keeping of Italy
between 1882 and 1888, as did Italian Somahland By a series
of treaties iMth the Somah Sultans, and Agreements with Great
Britain and the rulers of Zanzibar and Abyssinia (1889-1905)
Italy obtained this latter territory, and, in 1925, Great Britam
transferred to it a portion of Kenya Colony, known as Jubaland
nitli the port of Kisroayu British Somahland, opposite Aden,
was declared a British Protectorate in 1884, and its limits were
defined by treaties with France (1888), Italy (1894), and Abys-
smia (1897) The town and territory of Obock, on the Red Sea,
opposite Aden, w ere purchased by a Frenchman in 1857, but only
in 1883 did France take formal possession of the patch of territory
now' know'n as French Somahland A French Protectorate over
Madagascar was recognized by the British Government m 1890,
but not until 1896-9 was that large island and its dependencies
brought into submission to the French Government
Meanwhile, the Germans had estabhshed themselves not only
on the west coast (Togoland and the Cameroons), but on Walfish
Bay (German South-West Africa) and also m the territory now
know’n as Tanganyika So far as there was any ‘ Sovereignty ’
in this region it belonged to the Sultan of Zanzibar, whose mde-
pendcnce was formally recognized by the British and French
Governments in 1862 In 1878 the Sultan offered to lease all his
territories on the mainland, for seventy years, to Sir William
JIackmnon (Chairman of the British India Steam Navigation
Company), well known not only as a keen and successful man of
business but as a great philanthropist and Imperiahst, The
territory comprised nearly 600,000 square miles and included the
Lakes Victoria Nyanza, Tanganyika and Nyassa The British
Government lefuscd to sanction this large addition to the Empire ;
but in 1885 the German Empire put in a claim to a considerable
slice of this territory, and the claim was conceded by the Sultan
of Zanzibar. The German and British spheres were delimited
184
BRITISH DOMINION IN AFRICA
[1884-
Bntish
East
Africa
Uganda
Rhodesia
under a series of agreements (1886-90), and m 1887, within a few
months of each other, the German Africa Company and the
British East Africa Association were formed The latter, under
the chairmanship of Maclannon, received a charter in the follow-
ing year, and m 1890 Zanzibar was taken under British Pro-
tection. In 1895 the Government bought out the territorial
rights of the company, and put the administration of the new
East Africa Protectorate under the Foreign Office Between
1896 and 1903 a railway was constructed between the important
harbour of Mombasa and Lake Victoria Nyanza. White settlers
followed m the track of the railway, but a good deal of friction
ensued between them, the natives, and the Home Government,
who were anxious to deal fairly ivith both parties In 1905 the
control of the Protectorate was transferred to the Colomal Office,
and in 1920 it became a Crown Colony vith the new title of Kenya.
North of Tanganyika, bounded on the west by the Belgian
Congo and on the east by Kenya Colony, lies the Protectorate
of Uganda The country was first revealed to Europeans by
Stanley and the missionaries in the ’seventies, and after the
acquisition of German East Africa, Germany threatened to
absorb Uganda also, and thus to obtain control of the sources of
the Nile, vital to Egypt and the Soudan The Anglo-German
Treaty of 1890, however, assigned Uganda to Great Britain, and
the Imperial British East Africa Company, having secured the
services of Lugard, sent him to Uganda to administer the terri-
tory. With most inadequate resources Lugard asserted British
claims, but the Home Government was impatient and, save for
the urgent representations of Bishop Tucker and Lugard, would
have abandoned the territory. In default the Government con-
sented to send out Sir Gerard Portal to report on the situation.
Portal reported strongly in favour of retention, and in 1894
Uganda was declared a British Protectorate Thus, as Lugard
writes, ‘ the continuous control of the Nile from its sources in the
Great Victoria and Albert Lakes was secured to the Empire
Meanwhile there were important developments m the southern
part of the great continent In 1888 Lobengula, King of the
Matabeles, whom we have seen m conflict with the Boers of the
Transvaal, was induced to accept Biitish protection In 1889
^ Dual Mandate tn Tropxcal Afnca, p 21
1002]
THE JAJEESON RAID
185
the Chartered Company of South Afri ca was incorporated and
started on its"cdhquering and cmlizmg mission, establishing its
sovereignty over the vast temtory which stretches from the
Limpopo on the south to Lake Nyassa on the east and Lake
Tanganyika on the north, — ^a temtory which recalls m its modern
name, Rhodesia, the memory of the great statesman whose
insight and imagination conceived, and whose resolute will went
far to secure, British supremacy m Africa About the same
time (1890) Portugal was induced to renounce all rights over the
hmterland which separated its possessions m the west (Angola)
from Mozambique and Portuguese East Africa. Thus, the two
Boer Republics were virtually encircled by British territory
In the Transvaal itself an event of first-rate importance had
meanwhile taken place Valuable gold' mines were discovered Bntons
m 1886 on the Witwatersrand, and the discovery attracted
crowd of adventurers The slow-movmg, mtensely eonserva'tive ynaj
Boer farmers deeply resented the intrusion of the miners and
financiers Oil would not mix with water, and the newly-founded
city of Johannesburg, with its new Chamber of Mmes, soon found
itself m conflict with Pretoria and the Volksraad The new-
comers, or XJttlanders, peremptorily demanded pohtical rights
commensurate with their contnbution to the wealth of the com-
munity The Boer Government, at that tune dominated by
President Kruger, refused to grant them. In 1895 Cecil Rhodes
became Prime Mimster of the Cape Colony, and m December of
that same year the Uitlanders of the Transvaal attempted to
take by force what had been denied to their arguments Dr. Jhe
Jameson, an intimate friend of the Premier of Cape Colony, and
himself the administrator of the British South Africa Company,
foolishly attempted to raid the Transvaal temtory at the head of
a force of 600 Chsirtered Company’s Pohee, with several Maxim
and Gardner guns The High Commissioner at Cape Town
promptly ordered Jameson to withdraw, but meanwhile he and
his companions were surrounded by the Boers at Krugersdorp,
and forced to surrender Their confederates in Johannesburg
were imprisoned , Jameson himself, and his comrades, were
handed over for trial to the British Government, andhavmg been
convicted of unlawfully taking part m a military expedition against
a friendly State, were sentenced to short terms of imprisonment.
1S6
BMTISn DOMINION IN AFRICA
[1881-
The men imprisoned in Johannesburg were tried in the Transvaal.
Four leaders of tlie UiUandcr party, including Colonel Frank
Rhodes (a brother of Cecil Rhodes), were condemned to death and
fifty-nine others were fined £2,000 each. After a strong protest
from j\Ir. Chamberlain the death sentence on the lenders was com-
muted to one of fifteen 3'cnrs* imprisonment (subsequently reduced)
and n fine in each case of £2.5,000.
Thus the Trnnsvnnl treasury s\as substantially replenished by
the fiasco of the Jameson Raid. The Raid had other important
results. Though disavowed both In* the Cape Colony Government
and b}’ the Impciial Government, it excited the contempt and
hostility of nil our rivals in Africa and our enemies in Europe,
and on January 3, 180G, the German Emperor dispatched to
President Ivnigcr his famous telegram, congratulating him on
having * preserved the independence of his country against foreign
invasion *. The Emperor's telegram, implicitly recognizing the
' independence * of the Transvaal, was bitterh' resented in England
as an impertinent and unwarrantable interference in the internal
concerns of the British Empire. The Prince of Wales felt and
(to the Queen) cx]ircsscd himself strongly about ‘ n most gratuitous
net of unfriendliness and the Queen, while not condoning the
Raid, addressed a sharp rebuke to her grandson.^ The Kaiser
offered explanations to his grandmother, and Lord Salisbury
advised her ‘ fully to accept all his explanations without inquiring
too narrowly into the truth of them It is now known that the
telegram was sent, not on the sole responsibility' of the Emperor,
but on the considered advice of the Chancellor (Prince Ilohcnlohe)
and the Foreign Ministry.^ The telegram sens immediately
followed up by an order to a German cruiser in Dclagoa Bay* to
land marines and send them up to Pretoria. The Portuguese
refused to permit the landing. Had they* nequicsccd, the position
ns between England and Germany' must at once have become
unspeakably grave.
As it was, feeling in England was.dccply aroused. Jameson’s
reckless blunder had, however, made it impossible for the British
Government to interfere on behalf of the * Uitlandcrs ’ in tlic Trnns-
voal, and their position daily became more and more desperate.
1 Q V.L., m. Hi. 7-8. • Ibid., p. SO.
■ Bnmdcnbuig, From Biamarek to the TTorld-War (Eng. tmns.), p. 81
LORD JHLNER
137
1902]
In Jlarch 1897, the Transvaal Republic concluded with the
Orange Free State a convention of ‘Friendship and Perpetual
Alliance ’ A month later the Orange Free State concluded a
Treaty of Fnendship and Commerce with Germany In view of
the rapprochement between the two Dutch Republics the signifi-
cance of this new engagement requires no demonstration.
Events were clearly hastemng towards a crisis Sir Hercules
Robinson retired m 1897, and Ulr Chamberlain selected as his
successor Sir Alfred (afterwards Viscount) Milnex Milner, after
a brilliant career at Oxford, had for a few years done journalistic
work m London, and m 1885 stood for Parliament as a Liberal
— unsuccessfully, nor did he ever stand again He cared httle
for party pohtics, but a great deal for his country and for the
Empire He had, moreover, a genius for finance. He served
ns Under-Secrctary for Finance in Egjrpt (1889-92), and in 1892
Goschen appointed him Chairman of the Board of Inland Revenue
In that capacity he gave invaluable assistance to Harcourt when
the latter was preparing his famous Budget of 1894 In 1897
Mr Chamberlain selected him for one of the most difficult posts
m the Empire Cecil Rhodes soon recogmzed in the new Governor
exactly the man who was wanted. He used to say that Milner
was one of the strongest men he had ever met. ‘ In the business
I am constantly ha^^ng to transact with him ... I find him,
once his mmd is made up, immovable ... He assumes an
attitude of perfect frankness with all parties , he denies himself
to no one who may give him any-information or throw fresh
light on the situation , to all he expresses his views, and repeats
his unalterable opinions of what is required ’ ^ Soon after
Milner’s appointment Mr Chamberlain addressed to him a dis-
patch setting forth in detail the grievances of the Uitlanders
against the Transvaal Government, and instructing him to raise
specifically tlie question of the status of the Transvaal under the
Convention of 1884 The terms of that Convention were admit- Cliam-
tedly ambiguous ; the renunciation of suzerainty was a senti-
mental blunder, and recent events rendered it imperative, if grave Milner
consequences were not to ensue, that the situation should be
cleared up Milner, most wisely, spent two years in quietly
mastering the situation He learnt Dutch He saw every one,
1 Lad> Sarah 'Wilson, Soxith African Memories, pp 50-GO
188
BRITISH DOMINION IN AFRICA
[1884-
Tlie War
OITicc
At the end of two j^cars his mind was made up. His path was
elcar before him Stony it might be • but he must tread it.
Chamberlain iias adamant against any attempt on the part of
the Dutch Republic to assert a status of complete sovereignty
and independence l^Icanwhilc, things could not remain as they
were at Johannesburg The Uitlandcrs numbered GO, 000 they
outnumbered the Dutch by six to one ^ they bore the whole
burden of taxation yet they had no representation m the legis-
lature, and for their children there was no education except in
Dutch In April 1899 Slilner forwarded to the Queen a Petition,
signed by 21,000 British subjects m the Transiaal, praying that
the Queen w’ould make inquiry into their grievances, and m
particular their exclusion from all political rights. In June a
Conference took place between President ICruger and the High
Commissioner, at wdiich the latter vainly attempted to persuade
the President to make some substantial concession to the Uit-
landers The situation became so menacing that reinforcements
were dispatched from England to the Cape, but m numbers
insufficient to assert the British claims, though more than suffi-
cient to provoke the apprehensions of the Boers. In October
1899 the two Dutch Repubhes demanded the immediate with-
drawal of the British troops, and the submission of all the questions
at issue to arbitration To concede the latter claim would have
been to acknowledge the equality and sovereign status of the
Transvaal Government On the implicit refusal of the demand,
the two Dutch Republics declared war (October 10).
England was ill-prepared for war. It may be, as soldiers
complain, that neither the Enghsh people nor their Parliament
have ever taken the Army quite seriously, except when it is called
on to fight. Fct no Department has been so often the object of
drastic reorganization as the War Office Large reforms were
initiated after the withdraival m 1895 of the Duke of Cambridge.
Lord Lansdowme became m that year Secretary of State, and,
despite the Queen’s wish for the Duke of Connaught, appointed
Lord Wolseley as Commander-in-Chief. The latter was aware
of the new conditions under which he was to serve, but bitterly
resented them. He complained that there was ‘ no one soldier
to whom the Country can look as dnrcctly responsible for the
^i.e in Johannesburg only
THE WAR OFFICE
189
1002]
military efficiency of the army while the Commander-in-Chief
had become ‘ vice-chairman of a debating society
How great was the friction between himself and his civihan
superior was revealed, after his resignation, by a debate in the
House of Lords ^ In that arena the statesman scored an easy
victory over a soldier broken m health, and, hke most soldiers,
ill-eqmpped for pubhc debate But if Wolseley had underrated
the fighting strength of the Boers, he had, while improving the
efficiency of our own Army, repeatedly warned his pohtical chief
that it was not ready for war
Ever since 1895 the Queen, whose interest m all that concerned The
her Army was m no way dimimshed by the passmg of years, had
frequently expressed her concern at the position of affairs at the Army
War Office^ During the critical summer of 1899 her anxiety
w’as intensified On September 12 the Commander-in-Chief
informed the Queen that Sir George White had been sent to
Natal, and that it was proposed to send out Major-General French
to command the cavalry and, m the event of war, to commit the
supreme command to Sir Redvers Buller. Lord Wolseley added
that ‘ if war comes we shall be obliged to send the largest force
that has ever left our shores to take part in it and, the distance
being great, it will be m all respects the most senous business
w e have ever had in hand ’ His warmng was only too completely
justified by the event In June 1899 we had only some 10,000
troops in South Afnca 5,800 in Natal, 8,500 in Cape Colony,
with 24 field gims In July, Wolseley suggested the immediate
mobilization of an Army Corps and a Cavalry Division in England
and the dispatch of 10,000 reinforcements to South Africa But
his suggestion w'as turned down by the Cabinet ; though 2,000
men were m September sent from India and the Mediterranean
stations to reinforce the gamson m Natal.
During the early autumn messages of sympathy wnth the
cause of the Uitlanders and offers of military assistance were
received from Canada, Australia and the West Indies On
August 26th Mr Chamberlam, speaking at Birmingham, solemnly
warned President Kruger that ‘the sands were runmng out’,
1 OlTidal Report for March 4 and 16, 1001, and cf Sir F Maurice and
Sir G Artliur, Life of Lord Wolseley, and Lord Newton’s Lord Lansdaame,
c. IV and v.
Boer
Prepara-
tions
The Boer
Wat
140 BRITISH DOMINION IN AFRICA [1884-
and that, should a rupture ensue, conditions would be imposed
which would, once for all, establish British paramountey in South
Afiica. To this waimng Mr. Kruger paid no heed. Accordingly,
orders were given (September 29) for the mobilization of a large
foice m Great Britain and the calling up of the Reserves.
In the Transvaal, President Kruger had for four years been
actively preparing for war. With the money derived from the
Uitlanders* fines he had built t\\ o large armoured forts at Johannes-
burg and had quietly imported field guns and Maxims, together
with vast quantities of arms and ammunition, which he distributed
not only to the burghers of the two Boer Republics but to * safe ’
men in the Cape Colony. Not until his preparations Y,ere com-
plete did he declare war.
The war opened disastrously for Great Britain. The Boer
Army amounted to forty to fifty thousand men, well mounted,
fine shots, inured to hardship, and with intimate knowledge of
the ienmn ^ Their guns had been purchased fiom Knapp and
Creusot and were manned, if not by Germans and Frenchmen,
by expert gunners trained by them. IMobihzing w'lth extreme
rapidity, the Boers took the offensive in Natal. A small British
force under General Sir George White checked their advance at
Talana Hill and Elandslaghte (October 21), but w'as compelled
to fall back on Ladysmith, where for four months it was besieged
by the Boers. Sir Redvers Buller arrived early m November,
but made the serious blunder of dividing his force into tliree
columns. One under Lord Methuen was dispatched to the relief
of Kimberley wdiere Colonel Kekewrich was beleaguered Methuen,
after tlirce successful but costly engagements at Belmont (Novem-
ber 23), at Enshn (25th) and ]\Ioddcr River (2Sth), w as defeated,
with heavy losses, at Magersfontem (December 3 1th). A second
column under General Gatiicre was heavily repulsed m a night-
attack at Stoimbcrg (December 10), while Buller himself m a
dogged but unwise attempt to relieve Ladysmith by a direct
fiontal attack, sustained a terrible defeat at Colenso (Decem-
ber 15).
iTIie Boers ultimately put some CC.OOO men, including cosmopolitan
volunteers and Cape rebels, into the field The British forces, fiom hrst to
last, numbered some 800,000 E A Walker . Htst of South Africa (1'928),
p. 480.
1002]
THE BLACK WEEK
141
Buller had gone out to South Africa with forebodings that he
was unequal to his ]ob They were too well justified, and it soon Week
became clear that his appointment nas a fatal blunder. After
Ins defeat at Colenso he telegraphed home suggesting that he
should ‘let Ladysmith go’ and advised IMiite, unless he was
prepared for a lengthy siege, to surrender at once Ladysmith
should never have been held, but to Buller’s pusillanimous
ad% ice White turned a deaf ear. He and his gallant comrades
tightened their belts, and held on to an indefensible position ;
until Iloberts’s advance relieved the pressure m Natal, and
enabled Buller to relieve them
Bad news from the front served only to stiffen the backs of
the Government and the people at home The stiffest baek of
all vas that of the aged Queen On December 18 Rlr Balfour
was sent doi\n to Windsor to reassure the Queen, but directly
he began to refer to the ala imst rumours in London and the
disasters of the ‘ black week ’ the Queen, with a determined nod
of her head, cut him short with tlie remark * Please understand
that there is no one depressed m this house , we are not interested
in the possibilities of defeat , they do not exist ’ That was m
the true Elizabethan spmt,and ]\Ir. Balfour returned to Hatfield
enthusiastically appreciative of the temper which prevailed at
Windsor ‘It had been splendid to pass from the clamorous
croakers in clubs and newspapers into the presence of this little
old lady, alone among her women at Windsor, and hear her sweep
all their vaticinations into nothingness with a nod ’ ^
Three days after Buller’s defeat at Colenso, Lord Roberts
accepted the Command-in-Chief, only stipulating that he should
have the seri'ices of Lord Kitchener as Chief of his Staff
Roberts’s prompt decision was little less than heroic Though
sound in wind and limb, he was sixty-seven years of age, and the
Colenso fight had cost him the hfe of his only son The two
Generals lai/ded at Cape Town on January 10, 1900, and the army
under their command was substantiallj'- reinforced by contingents
dispatched to South Africa from Canada, New Zealand, and
-Australia Before the war ended Australia had contributed
1 j, 502, New Zealand 0,129 and Canada 5,702, and in the final
\ ictory they played a great, perhaps a declSl^ e, part For they
> Lad) Gwendolen Cecd, Life of T^rd Salisburi/, in 191
142 BRITISH DOMINION IN AFRICA [ 1884 -
were better adapted than the town-bred troops of the Home-
land to conditions of warfare in South Africa.
With the turn of the year and the arrival of Roberts and
Kitchener, the spirit of the scene was transformed On February
16th General French at the head of a large force of cavalry
relieved Kimberley ; on February 27 (the anniversary of Majuba)
he surrounded at Paardeberg 4,000 Boers under the command
of Kron]e and compelled them to surrender
Roberts, steadily pushing his way towards Bloemfontein,
entered the capital of the Free State on l^farch 13. He halted
there for six weeks, and having re-established his transport re-
sumed his march (May 1) on the Transvaal. He forced the pas-
sage of the Sand River on May 10 and two days later occupied
Kroonstadt. On May 17 Mafeking, which since the first days
of the war had been gallantly and cheerfully defended by Colonel
(now Lord) Baden-Povell, was relieved by a mounted force under
Colonel Mahon. The fate of the little garrison had been watched
with the deepest interest in England, and news of their relief was
received with a wild enthusiasm which has added a verb to our
vocabulary.
After the occupation of Kroonstadt Roberts met with httle
resistance. He entered Johannesburg on May 31st and Pretoria
(whence Kruger had fled on May 30th) on June 6th In the
meantime Bullet, after repeated failures to relieve General White
and the sorely tried garrison of Ladysmith, at last turned the
flank of the Boers on the Tugela by the capture of Pieter’s Hill
(February 27), was able on the next day to relieve the devoted city.
A month after the surrender of Pretoria Roberts and Buller joined
hands at Vlakfontein (July 4th).
Victory seemed in sight: the Orange Free State had been
formally annexed to Her Majesty’s Dominions on May 24, and on
September 1st the Transvaal was also annexed. Mr. Chamberlain
announced m the House of Commons that the newly-annexed
'Provinces would at the earliest possible moment receive the status
of self-governing Colonies. On September 11th Mr. Kruger started
by way of Lorenzo Marques for Europe, in the hope of mducmg
one or more Great Powers to mediate on behalf of the Boers.
AtWude Continental opinion was, except in Italy, almost unanimous
Pow^ in condemnation of British pohey in South Africa and loud were
1602]
QUEEN AND KAISER
143
the exultations over the Boer victones. Still sore about Fashoda
and irritated, not unwarrantably, by the comments of the English
Press on the Drej-fus scandal, the French were especially bitter,
and the less responsible papers published outrageous attacks
with some disgusting caricatures upon the Queen and the
Prince of Wales. England, though envied and admired, has
never been greatly loved on the Continent. During the Boer War
she was at first despised and throughout detested. In sordid
pursuit of gold she was now bullying two little States which, with
great gallantry, were defending their mdependence against a
grasping neighbour. Such was the general attitude among for-
eigners So abusive were the French papers that the Pnnce of
Wales considered whether he should resign the Presidency of the
British Section of the Great Exhibition to be held m Paris in
1900, and with the Queen’s approval, he did cancel his acceptance
of an invitation to attend its inauguration The Queen hersdf
planned to i isit Bordighera instead of one of the places on the
French Riviera where for many years she had in each spring spent
some weeks. On reaching Europe Mr Kruger was received m
Pans wnth much cordiahty, but the German Emperor, who in
November 1899 had visited, after a four years’ mterval, his grand-
mother, dechned to receive him He took much credit to him-
self for this refusal, and also for refusing a request for mediation
on behalf of the Boers In answer to a pompous and sdf-nghteous
telegram, reporting her grandson’s reply to the Transvaal Govern-
ment, the Queen expressed her gratitude, but at the same time
gave the following msixuctions to her ambassador in Berlm;
‘ Please convey to the Emperor that my whole nation is with me
m a fixed determination to see this war through without inter-
vention The time for, and the terms of, peace must be left to
our decisiop, and my country which is suffering from so heavy
a sacrifice of precious hves wnll resist all interference ’ (11th March
1900) The Prince highly approved his mother’s reply and his
Secretary described ‘ the one to Lascclles ’ as ‘ w'orthy of Queen
Elizabeth’ — a compliment which, though deserved, would not
hai e commended itself to the Queen, who detested her Tudor pre-
decessor Mr Kruger gained nothing by his journey to Europe.
In England, the Press and the public were staunch in support English
of the Go\ crnment. The imtial disasters to British arms only
144
BRITISH DOanNION IN AFRICA
[1884-
Libcral
disunion
strengthened the determination of the eountiy to see the thing
tlirough. Recruits poured in, with offers of help, financial, medi-
cal, and other The Liberal Party in Parliament was not in a
position to offer effective opposition, even had they desired to
do so As a fact they were divided
The Liberal Unionists had in 1895 coalesced with the Con-
servatives Lord Rosebery’s retirement from the leadership of
the Party (1896) had been followed by that of Sir 'William Har-
court (1898) The Liberals in the House of Commons chose Sir
Henry Campbell-Bannerman, a shrewd and opulent Scot, to suc-
ceed him. Rosebery, however, had still a large following in the
Party and with Mr. Asquith, Sir Edivard Grey, Mr. Haldane, Sir
Henry Fowler, Mr Slunro Ferguson and others founded a dis-
tinct party, or sect, of Liberal Imperialists (1902). On the other
— the left — ^wing of the Paity was a small group of men w'ho
became known as Pro-Boers. Among the latter a young Welsh
solicitor, who had entered Parliament m 1890 as member for
Carnarvon, quiclcly became prominent Possessed of great cour-
age, imperturbably self-possessed, endow'ed with a gift of fiery
eloquence, and inspired wuth a genuine sympathy for the under-
dog, David Lloyd George was an aidcnt Welsh Nationalist, a
keen Temperance reformer, a Baptist in creed and a strong Radi-
cal-Socialist in politics. Though too cautious to pledge himself
to the restoration of complete independence for the Boers, he
bitterly denounced an ‘ unr4ghteous w'ar ’ and the ‘ methods of
barbarism ’ which, in its latter stages, were adopted (as he and
his fi lends alleged) by the British Generals in the field
Midway betw'een the Liberal Imperialist ‘ Right ’ and the
* Pro-Boer ’ Left w'as a group of Gladstonian Liberals wdio had
loyally accepted the leaderslup of Campbell-Bannerman. The
relative strength of the gioups may be gauged from a division
on a Pro-Boer motion m July 1900. The motion found only
31 supporters ; the Liberal Imperialists, 40 in number, voted
with the Government; Campbell-Bannerman wuth 85 of his
Party abstained from the Division The Liberal Party, then, was
hopelessly — ^and not unequally — divided, and the Government
was tactically right in dissolving Parliament and appealing to
the country for a renewal of confidence m September 1900 The
war, it was believed, had been brought to a successful conclusion ;
1002] THE COmiONW'EALTH OF AUSTRALIA 145
the Parliament elected m 1895 had evidently exhausted its man-
date, and though in some quarters the ‘kliaki’ election was
denounced as slim tactics, it was manifestly proper that the elec-
torate should decide to what Party should be confided the task
of concluding Peace
Before Parliament was prorogued the Queen gave her assent
to a Bill for the federation of the six colonies of Australia m a health
Commonw ealth The Commonwealth of Australia Act was at once of Aus-
the consummation of prolonged and laborious conferences injQQo'^’
Australia, and the culminating legislative achievement of a reign
unique in English History m respect of Imperial evolution
The final impulse to Federation was supplied by a recognition
of the vulnerability of the Impenal and Colonial position in the
Pacific The material development of the Australasian Colonies
had not kept pace with their constitutional evolution Between
1854 and 1890 all these colonies. New South Wales, Victoria,
Tasmania, South Austraha, Queensland, Western Australia, and
New Zealand — attained to the fuU dignity of responsible govern-
ment What the}' continued to lack was not government but
subjects The vast spaces of the great southern continent were
^^^tually unpeopled The total population of Austraha amounted
at that lime to no more than 4,500,000 The spirit of high pro-
tection ran not; immigration was discouraged, and Australian
democracy w as primarily concerned to keep up the price of labour
Mmgled with this motive was the laudable ambition to preserve
Australia as a wdiite-man’s country To the realization of this
and similar ambitions some closer form of political union was
essential But Federation was, in Australia, a plant of slow and
timid growth Ever since 1847 the project* had been intermit-
tently discussed, but not until 1883 did it actually begm to take
shape Several things then combined to render the problem
insistent the question as to the desirability of importmg Chinese
labour for the mmes , the escape of some French convicts from
New Caledonia into Austrahan territory , rumours that France
was intending to annex the New Hebrides , above all. Lord
Derby’s disavowal of the action of Queensland m setting up the
British flag in New Gmnca Between 1883 and 1899 many con-
ferences were held, and many schemes were discussed, and at
last m the latter year a Bill, which expressed the mind of Aus-
M E — 10
146
BRITISH DOMINION IN AFRICA
[1884-
tralia, was sent home for the approval of the Imperial Legislature.
Thanks to the tact of Mr. Chamberlain and of Mr. (afterward^
Sir Edmund) Barton, first Prime Minister of the Commonwealth,
the Bill became law, with a single amendment, as the Australian
Commonwealth Act It was the last statute of importance to
which Queen Victoria gave her Royal Assent, and in doing so
she expressed her fervent hope that ‘ the inauguration of the
Commonwealth may ensure the increased prosperity and well-
being of my loyal and beloved subjects in Australia
So it %\as done in the Presence — ^in tlie Hall of our Thousand Years,
In the face of the Five Free Nations Uiat have no peer but their peers ,
And the Young Queen out of the Soutliland kneeled doT\n at the Old Queen's
knee.
And asked for a moUicr’s blessing on tlie evcellcnt years to be
And the Old Queen stooped in the stillness when the jewelled head drooped
low —
Daughter no more but Sister and doubly Daughter so —
Motlier of many princes and cluld of the child I bore,
Vlliat good thing shall I wish thee tliat I have not ivxshed before ?
Shall I give thee delight m dominion — ^mcrc pride of thy setting forth?
Nay, we be A^omcn together, — ^we know what that is worth
Shall I give tliee my sleepless wisdom, or tlie gift of all wisdom above ?
Aye, we be women together — ^I give thee thy people’s love
Tempered, august, abiding, reluctant of prayers or vows,
Eager in face of peril as thine for tliy motlier’s house,
God requite thee, my Sister, through tlie wonderful years to be.
And make Uiy people to love thee, as thou hast loved me 1 *
Not for the first, nor for the last time did the great Imperial
singer interpret the mood and mind of all nght-thinking Britons,
at home and overseas.
The Australian Federation differed in important respects from
the system adopted in Canada. In regard to the distribution of
powers between the Commonwealth and the component States
it followed the American not the Canadian precedent, delegating
certam enumerated powers to the Commonwealth, and vestmg
1 For sketch of the federation movement in Australia and analysis of the
Commonwealth Constitution, cf Marnott, Evolution of the British Empire and
Commonwealth (1939), c’s x, xvi
^Eiudjard lOphng, The Young Queen (1900).
1002]
THE lOIAEI ELECTION
147
the residue of powers in the State Governments Agam, in con-
stituting its Second Chamber it followed the American model,
giving to each State, large or small, equal representation (six
members apiece) in the Senate Amendments to the Constitu-
tion must be passed by both Houses (or by one house twice), and
must be approved by (a) a majority of States and (6) a majority
of electors in the Commonwealth as a whole The Executive is
on the Cabinet, not as in America on the Presidential, model, and
IS responsible (as in England and Canada) to the Legislature The
Judiciary in Austraha is less federal than that of the United
States, but less unitarj' than that of Canada An appeal lies
from the State Courts to the Federal Supreme Court while the
appellate jurisdiction of the King in Council remains unimpaired.
On the last point there was considerable discussion when the
Draft Constitution was under discussion m the Impenal Parlia-
ment, but ultimately Jlr Chamberlam had his way^
A few 'months after the Royal Assent to this great measure The
Parliament was dissolved The elections held in September-
October 1900 resulted m a net gam of six seats for the Umomst
Party which returned 402 strong (the Conservatives numbering
334), agamst 268 Liberals and Nationahsts Many seats were
uncontested, and, though Mr Chamberlain tned to persuade the
electors that every vote given against the Government was a
vote given to the Boers, considerable apathy prevailed Never-
theless the final result was a substantial vote of confidence m
the Government But there was a considerable shifting of offices
after the election The most important was consequent on the
retirement of Lord Salisbury firom the Foreign Office which he
handed over to Lord Lansdowne, who was much happier there
than at the War Office, where he was succeeded by Mr. St John
Brodnek (afterwards Earl of Midleton) Mr. C. T. (afterwards
Lord) Ritchie, who had done good work as President of the Local
Government Board (1886-92) and at the Board of Trade (1895-
1900), became Home Secretary Lord Selborne, a son-in-law of
Lord Salisbury and an ardent disciple of Chamberlam, went to
the Admualty m succession to £Ir Goschen, whose retirement
was greatly regretted by the Queen Of the new appointments
* The above ls a mere outline sketch for details, cf Marriott, Evolution
of tlic British Empire and Commomccdllh, c xvi
148
BRITISH DOMINION IN AFRICA
[ 1884 -
the most interesting was that of Mr George Wyndham, the most
brilliant of Mr Balfour’s personal disciples, to the Chief Secretary-
ship for Ireland Lord Sahsbury, retaining the Premiership,
himself became Lord Pnvy Seal, in succession to Lord Cross, who
thus brought to an end a useful and honourable political career
which had begun with his election for Preston in 1857. Few
Ministers of the reign were better hked or more trusted by the
Queen, whose insistence led to his retention of office until he was
nearing 80. He died at the age of 91 m 1914.
To return to South Africa With the relief of Kimberley,
Mafekmg, and Ladysmith, with the occupation of the Boer capi-
tals, and the annexation of the two Republics to the British
Dominions, the first phase of the war ended. On 29th November
1900 Lord Roberts left Pretoria, making over the command to
Lord Kitchener, ‘ in whose judgement, discretion and valour ’ he
expressed (to the Queen) the ‘ greatest confidence ’. In Decem-
ber he embarked for England to take up the post of Commander-
in-Chief m succession to Lord Wolseley. On leaving he spoke of
the Boers in the field as ‘ a few marauding bands ’ and said .
* The war has now virtually come to an end, and my work is
finished.’
His own work as a commander m the field was, indeed, ‘ fin-
ished ’, but though he left behind him an army of 280,000 men,
it had subsequently to be mcreased to over 300,000 and even
then proved, for long months, unequal to the task of dispersmg
the ‘ few marauding bands ’ of Boers.
The On arriving in England Lord Roberts went straight to Osborne
wd?et 2) to report to the Queen, who gave him the Garter and
People told him that she intended to confer an Earldom upon him with
remainder to his daughter. She saw him agam for a short while
on Monday, the 14th, but was evidently faihng fast. On Satur-
day, the 19th, a bulletin was issued, and the pubhc for the first
time learnt that the Sovereign was seriously ill. ‘ The Queen ’,
it ran, ‘ has not lately been in her usual health, and is unable for
the present to take her customary drives The Queen during
the past year has had a great strain upon her powers, which has
rather told upon Her Majesty’s nervous system.’
Few women of her age could have endured that strain at all
1C02]
QUEEN AND PEOPLE
149
She had felt acutely the humiliation inflicted upon the country
by the defeats to her arms m South Africa, yet never did she show
herself more truly the mother of her people than in the dark days
of the Vinter 1899-1900 Despite failing health she vent m and
out among them . encouraging the fighters, with her own hands
knitting comforts, and sending out Christmas boxes to the front,
visiting and consoling the wounded, comforting the mourners,
varmng and stimulating responsible Mmisters
On March 7, 1900, the Queen vent to London, and on the
afternoons of March 8 and 9 she drove for many miles through
the streets of London to manifest her oneness with her people
m those anxious days. On the 22nd she went to the Herbert
Hospital at Woolwich to visit the wounded Deeply were her
people touched , unbounded was the enthusiasm with which they
greeted the aged Sovereign It was of her visit to London that
Lord Rosebery vTote to her (March 15, 1900).
‘ I think the visit to London far more interesting and touching
even than the Jubilees it was more simple and spontaneous
It vas as if a great vave of sympathy and devotion had passed
over the capital Your Majesty intimated as it were to London
“ I V ill come among you and rejoice v ith you , as we have shared
our anxieties and sorrows, we will share the common joys ”
Your Majesty does not much admire Queen Elizabeth, but the
visit to London vas in the Ehzabethan spint There vas, how-
ever, this difference, that with the pride that England felt in
Elizabeth there was but httle love Now the nation glows with
both ’ ^ Lord Rosebery expressed, with characteristic fehcity,
the common sentiment
Unceasing in her activities at home, the Queen followed, day
by day, hour by hour, all the efforts of her soldiers in South
Africa, and cordially commended their successes Especially did
she appreciate the gallantry of the Colomal contingents, and of
the Irish regiments The latter’s services she acknowledged with
more than vords She gave them permission to wear a sprig of
shamrock on St Patrick’s Day, and when the time came for her
spring holiday in 1900 she determined, instead of going to the
South, to devote it to Ireland In this determination there vas
perhaps a tinge of self-reproach ‘ She desired almost passion-
^ Q V L (3rd Senes), vol lu, 513.
150
BRITISH DOMINION IN AFRICA
11884-
ately so we learn from one who knew her, * to be loved by the
Irish,’ but she had done httle to win their love. Pathetically
she strove, at the last, to make amends. Her last April she
spent m Dublin, where she was enthusiastically welcomed by all
classes. But the strain of the effort was terrible, and combined
with that of the South African War undoubtedly hastened her
end.
The A few days after her last interview with Lord Roberts the
S:^the Queen became seriously ill, and at 6 30 p m on Tuesday, January
Queen 22nd, 1901, m the presence of two sons, three daughters, and her
grandson, the German Emperor, she breathed her last. She was
m her eighty-second year and had reigned sixty-three years
seven months and three days.
Her subjects, at home and throughout the Empire, were
stunned by the news that the end had come ‘ The Queen dead !
The news is benumbing to the heart and brain. The cornerstone
of our National and Imperial hfe — nay, of our individual and
family hfe — is suddenly displaced. We cannot as yet realize
what it means ; what hfe in the future wdl mean bereft of her
whose august, beloved, and venerated personahiy has been for
the greater part of a century the centre and the mamspring of
our national existence.’ ^
By the Queen’s own command her funeral was a mihtary one.
On Friday, February 1st, the royal yacht Alberta passing between
long lines of warships, which fired a last salute,® earned the Queen’s
body from Cowes to Portsmouth On February 2nd the funeral
procession passed through London A gun-camage bore the
tiny coffin King Edward VH as chief mourner rode immedi-
ately behind it, supported by the Duke of Connaught and the
German Emperor, whose unmistakable grief greatly touched the
hearts of the thousands who witnessed the procession. The
Kings of Greece and Portugal, as well as members of every Royal
Family m Europe, were among the mourners. The funeral ser-
vice was held on the same afternoon m St George’s Chapel,
Windsor, and on Monday, February 4, the Queen’s remains found
* These words from an arhcle written on January 23rd, 1901, by the
present writer, are quoted, crude though they be, simply as evidence of
contemporary feehng.
^ There was a strong south-west wind and the booming of the guns was
distmctly heard by the present wnter at Oxford.
1002]
DEATH OF THE QUEEN
151
their final resting-place side by side with those of Prince Albert
in the Iloyal Mausoleum at Frogmore
The great Queen passed to her rest cheered by Lord Roberts’s
assurance that the South African War vas virtually at an end
Unhappily his assurance was not justified Lord Kitchener had Phase
not been in supreme command for many weeks before he wrote
to ^Ir Brodrick, the new Secretary of State, expressing a fear
that he might have been disappomted ‘ at the recent development
of the war’. He estimated that there were still 20,000 Boers
out on commando and added ‘ These men are not always out
on commando, but return at intervals to their farms and live as
most peaceful inhabitants, probably supplymg the nearest British
garrison with forage, milk and eggs, until they are agam called
out . . . Just now they have apparently got them all out, with
the result that they suddenly show m considerable numbers, and
act with great boldness when they get a chance. Owing to the
vastness of the country the Boers can roam at pleasure and being
excessively mobile they are able to surprise any post not suffi-
ciently on the alert Every farm is to them an intelligence
agency, and a supply depot, so that it is almost impossible to
surround or catch them ’ ^
So for many weary months it proved to be Troops were
poured into South Africa , cavalry, moimted infantry, gunners,
engineers, and several contingents of Imperial Yeomanry, with
large supphes of heavy guns, horse and field guns, and ‘ pom-
poms But the brilliant tactics of Louis Botha, De Wet, and
Delarey, who w'aged guerrilla warfare with incomparable skill,
defied all Kitchener’s efforts Tactics and strategy as learnt in
other schools had to be unlearnt, and Kitchener had to fall back
on two combmed devices — a system of ‘ Blockliouses ’ and ‘ the
Drive ’ About the former device Sir Ian Hamilton, sent out as
Chief of the Staff m 1901, telegraphed to Lord Roberts, ‘ Although
I had read much of blockhouses I never could have imagined
such a gigantic system of fortifications, barriers, traps, and garri-
sons as actually exists This forms the principal characteristic
of the present operations . As to ‘ the Drive ’ ICitchener’s
biographer. Sir George Arthur, writes ‘ Our scheme was . . .
* Arthur, Life, i 32C-8
152
BRITISH DOailNION IN AFRICA
[1884-
Edward
VII and
'he War
to denude the entire country of all combatant Boers, herding
them more and more closely towards an enclosure formed either
by natuial features or by artiheial barriers — con ailing and round-
ing them up into an angle or pocket — forcing them, as it were,
tlirough a closed funnel into its blind end ’
These methods were, however, both slow and costly, and it
was unfortunately necessary, in order to give them even a chance
of success against so elusive an opponent, ‘ to blend them with
some administrative measures of a diastic character ’ The
country was gradually stripped and depopulated . farmsteads
destroyed ; standing-crops burnt , flocks and herds earned off ,
the women and children being mcanuhile herded into concentra-
tion camps Such were the methods of barbarism denounced
by ‘ Pio-Bocrs ’ and even by others who m Mr Brodrick’s words
u ere ‘ hot on the humanitarian tack ’ m England, and still more
in continental countries To Kitchener himself it vas a ‘ miser-
able business ’ and ns month after month passed, and no decisive
result uas achieved, it could have caused no surprise had his
courage and persistence failed But grimly he held on.
King Eduard, uho in January 1001 had succeeded to the
throne, was seriously concerned about the slow progress of the
uar, more particularly as to its effect upon the relations between
England and the European Pouers The Governments, at any
rate in France and Russia, were indeed more restrained than the
peoples The Czar refused to threaten, at the Kaiser’s suggestion,
British India ; Delcasse was already looking towards the possi-
bility of an Anglo-French Entente and gave no encouragement
to continental intrigues against England But there was no
mistaking the sticngth of anti-British feeling, as manifested in
popular caricature and other ways In June, 1001, the Czar
(doubtless under pressure) wrote to his * dearest Uncle Bertie ’
to suggest that his ‘ kind heart ’ must * yearn to put an end to
this bloodshed this ‘ war of extermination tins coercion of
‘ a small people desperately defending their country The King
was as anxious as the Czar to see the war ended though with
Lord Salisbury’s help he made a crushing rejoinder to his ‘ dearest
Nicky But Jie became increasingly uneasy and impatient at
the prolongation of the war, and severely blamed the War Office
where, as he thought and said, a coterie of ‘ muddling and ineffi-
1002]
PEACE OF ^TEBEENIGING
153
cient civilians ’ were actually hampering the efforts of the soldiers
m the field.
Kitchener’s anxiety to end the war was as keen as the King’s
Negotiations for peace had m fact been opened betw een Kitchener
and Louis Botha at the end of February 1901, but came to
nothing The Transvaal Boers wanted peace , but IVIr Steyn,
President of the Orange Free State, w'as implacable and would
listen to no terms which mvolved loss of independence Kruger,
an exile in Holland, supported Steyn Milner’s attitude, too,
<;ecmed to Kitchener, if ‘strictly just’ unnecessarily rigid In
the (English) summer of 1901, however, Milner took three months’
much-needed leave, and Kitchener was during his absence Acting
High Commissioner But neither the war nor the peace negotia-
tions made much progress Nor was the war destined to finish
without one more grievous reverse to the British forces On
March 7, 1902, a considerable force under the command of General
Lord Methuen was surprised and overwhelmed, after desperate
fighting, by General Delarey Methuen hjmself was severely
wounded and taken pnsoner, but most considerately treated by
his captor. This disaster greatly distressed King Edward and
seemed likely to prolong the war - In April 1902, however, con-
ferences between the several Boer leaders were held, and on
May IS two delegates elected by each of 82 commandos m the
field met at Vereenigmg. On May 27 a remarkable interview
took place between Lord Milner and General _J C Smuts, who in
recent months had been domg bnlhant work in the field, having
not long ago taken first-class honours in law at Cambndge At
home, King Edward was desperately anxious that Peace should
be concluded before his coronation , his ministers shared his
anxiety ; and o n May gist Peace W'as signed The Burghers laid k* ejce o f
down their arms and recogmzed King Edward VII as their lawfulV^jj^ j''
Sovereign ; mihtary government was to be speedily superseded
by civil government, and representative institutions leading up
to complete self-government were, as soon as circumstances per-
mitted, to be introduced ; English was to be the official language,
but Dutch was to be taught m the schools in the annexed Prov-
inces and allow'ed in the Courts , burghers in the field or prisoners
of war were to be repatriated as soon as possible, and nfles were
to be allowed to them, on hcence, for defen'’« ; except for certain
154
BRITISH DOMINION IN AFRICA
[1884-1902
specified acts contrary to the usages of war there was to be a
complete amnesty, no special tax to defray war expenses was
to be imposed on landed property in the annexed Provinces, and
the British Government undertook to give £3,000,000 to facilitate
and expedite the re-settlement of the burghers on their farms
The terms were marked by a generosity inspired partly by
admiration for the courage displayed by the Boers, partly by the
hope that old and septic sores would be healed, and that Boers
and Britons would henceforward hve in amity as common subjects
of the British Crown.
Thus ended a war which had involved the loss of 1,072 officers
and 20,870 men, and had cost the British taxpayers over
£222,000,000 Nearly 450,000 British troops, of whom over
250,000 were Regulars, had been engaged. On the side of the
Boers 3,700 men were said to have been killed; over 81,000
were taken prisoners, and 20,000 surrendered on the conclusion
of peace ^
On June 5 Parliament voted a w’ar gratuity of £50,000 to
Lord Kitchener. It was well deserved he had put his last
ounce into a contest from which little prestige was to be gained,
and had proved himself to be a great statesman as well as a soldier
of inexhaustible patience and resourcefulness. He left Cape Town
on June 23, and on his arrival m London on July 12 was met by
the Prince of Wales, and, as he drove from Paddington to St
James’s Palace, through streets lined with British and Colonial
troops, received a great popular welcome His Sovereign lay on
a sick bed at Buckingham Palace, but Kitchener was summoned
to receive from the King’s own hands the Order of Merit.
1 Ueport of Royal Ckinunission on War m South Africa
IBST-lSOl]
THE VICTORIAN ERA
]55
CHAPTER IX
THE CLOSE OF AN EPOCH
T HM death of Queen Victoria not only ended the longest
reign in English History, it closed an epoch of outstanding
historical importance That the end of the reign coincided so
nearly ivith the beginning of a new century may not, in reality,
have added to its significance, but undeniably it accentuated the
transition from the nmeteenth century to the twentieth, from
the splendour of the Victorian Era to the dark days that were
to come.
It may be well, therefore, at this point to pause awhile and
briefly consider some sahent characteristics of the period thus
abruptly ended
In the sphere of government the Victorian era witnessed the Consti-^
meridian of that typically English fonn oi: polity which is now Mon"*'
k nown to the world as * Constitutional Monarchy ’] A ‘ consti-^?«!by
tutional ’ king, according to the classic phrase of M Thiers, is a
king who ‘ reigns but does not govern Seen at its best, as it
was under Queen Victona, this system precisely fulfilled the con-
ditions laid doAvn for the ideal pohty by the greatest of pohtical
philosophers It combined the best features of Monarchy,
Aristocracy and Democracy. At the apex of the pohtical pyra-
mid vas a King (or Queen) who ‘ could do no wrong ’, since
r esponsibility for all the acts of the Sovereign was assumed b y
mmisters answerable to Parliamen t But if the Sovereign was
thus shielded from doing wrong, 'Ee' could do much, even in the
strictly pohtical sphere, that ‘,was right and useful’ The know-
ledge of affairs gamed by a Minister — even by a Jlinister with a
record of service as long as that of a Russell, a Palmerston, a
Gladstone or a Sahsbury — ^is almost necessarily discontinuous
No Mimster m Queen V ictoria’s reign held the highest office con-
ARISTOCRACY
157
WOI]
Xor did it lack those elements which are proverbially associated TIic
vith the rule of an Aristocracj’^ It is true that the Reform Act
of lS3*i had sensibly weakened that domination over the Legis- Element
lature vhich the landed aristocracy had exercised since 1688, and
^hat the Acts of 1867, ISS-l, 1918 and 1928 reduced it by stages
to trmshing point But an analysis of the Cabinets of the
Victorian era reveals the extent to ■ahicli the ‘ruling families’
of 1 he eighteenth century retained their control over the executive
•■ir’c of Grvernment, even if compelled to surrender in the legis-
Htiie sphere Of the ten Prime Ministers of the reign six were
Peers, a SCI enth was the son of a Duke, two (Peel and Gladstone)
belonged to the new aristocracy of Commerce , only one (Disraeh)
belonired to the aristocracj’ neither of birth, nor wealth nor educa-
tion. Of the Prime Ministers five were educated at Eton, three
at Harrow and one at Westminster ; five at Oxford and three at
Cambridge Exact computation in the case of other Cabinet
Ministers is difficult, but as to the predommantly aristocratic
complexion of Cabinets there is no question Except in the
Gladstonc-Roscbery administration of 1892-6 every Cabinet con-
tained a majority, most of them a very large majority, of men
vho were either Peers or closely connected with the Peerage
In Lord John Russell’s Cabinet of 1846, for example, all the
members, i\ith three exceptions, held office by the Divine Right
of hereditary IVhiggism ^
To state the facts is not to condemn the system On the
contrary, it maj’’ well be questioned whether England was, on
the whole, better governed at any penod of its long history than
during the Victorian era
If the Executive remained predominantly aristocratic the The
Legislature was in composition mcreasingly democratic At least
until 1885, perhaps until the close of the reign, county repre-
sentation remained for the most part in the hands, if not of
members of ‘ county ’ famihes, at least m those of their friends
or nominees After 1905 that ceased to be the case it had long
ceased to be true of borough representation Down indeed to
* A somcnlnt diiTcrcnt metbod of computation reichcs, with a different
purpose in mlw, conelusions closely approximate Of the 227 men who held
Cabinet office betw cen 1832 and 1905 139 were actually sons of Peers {Laski,
habim Tract 223 )
158
THE CLOSE OF AN EPOCH
[ 1837 -
1832 the boroughs were hardly less the stronghold of the terri-
torial oligarchy than the House of Lords itself After 1832
membership of the House of Commons fell increasingly into the
hands of men who had made money at the Bar or m trade. Never-
theless, until 1905 the House had still some claim to be regarded
as the ‘ best club in Europe The new class of members had for
the most part been educated at the same schools as the old class
and — apart of course from the Irish Repealers — could mingle with
the latter on equal terms. Moreover, many of the new men
found their way to the House of Lords.
The During the reign of George HI tlie House of Lords had more
Lords doubled m size. On his accession the hereditary Peers num-
bered only 200 On the accession of Queen Victoria they num-
bered 423, and at her death no fewer than 592. By the accession
of King George V the number had increased to 622 Mr Lloyd
George created nearly 100 new Peers during the six years of his
Premiership, with the result that the Second Chamber now (1945)
contains about 300 more members than the First The increase
in numbers was comcident with, and perhaps partly responsible
for, a decrease in power. The critical years for the Second
Chamber were to come under Kmg George V, but it was undeni-
ably weaker m 1901 than m 1887, even if it had not become, as
a modem writer has said, ‘ httle more than a debating Society
Nor was it devoid of significance that Gladstone, m his last speech
in the House of Commons, should have bequeathed to the Liberal
Party the task of further curtaihng its power.^
Labour Meanwhile, the House of Commons opened its doors to men
members ^omen) drawn from all classes of the com-
mumty. Of the rapid growth of Labour representation m Parlia-
ment more must be said hereafter.* It began, on a considerable
scale, only at the Election of 1906. Down to the end of Queen
Victoria’s reign the appearance of a wage-earner m the House of
Commons was regarded as something of a portent. In 1874 the
Trade Umons, for the first time, imtiated a movement for direct
representation m Parhament, and thirteen Labour candidates were
nominated at the General Election of that year. Of these two,
1 On the whole question cf Marriott, Second Chambers (revised ed., Oxford,
927 )
* Infra, c. xuL
1001]
THE LABOUR PARTY
159
Thomas Burt and Alexander Macdonald, leading officials of the
Miners’ Union, were returned and took their seats as the first
‘ Labour ’ members of the House of Commons At the Election
of 18S5 Joseph Arch, a skilled hedge-cutter, who had successfully
organized the Agricultural Labourers’ Union, was returned for
North-West Norfolk, being the first agricultural labourer to enter
Parliament These men, with five or six more Trade Union
leaders returned m 1885, acted with the Liberal Party, were
reckoned among its members, and mostly lost their seats, like
other Liberals, in 1886 In 1892, however, several of them,
including Arch, were re-elected and there came into the House at
the same time two avowed Socialists, John Burns and James Keir
Ilardie The former was an engineer who had become prominent
in connexion with unemployed demonstrations in London and in
the Dockers’ Strike He was now returned for Battersea Keir
Hardie was a Scottish miner, who had refused the offer of a safe
Liberal seat with an income of £800 a year, preferrmg to organize
the Scottish Labour Party, and to enter Parhament as a Sociahst,
pure and simple, independent of any of the existing parties. John
Burns, though professing the Sociahst creed, acted generally with
the Liberal Party, and ultimately (1906) entered a Liberal Cabinet
Keir Hardie’s first arrival at the House was heralded by a cornet,
if not a brass band, and he continued to emphasize his ‘ inde-
pendence ’ by ostentatious smgulanties of attire Yet his blaring
escort and cloth cap were not, perhaps, inappropriate They
announced the advent of a new Parhamentary Party
Whether the Legislature as a whole or the House of Commons
in particular gained or lost m power by the extension of the elec-
torate IS a much debated question That the multiplication of
the functions of the State has tended to dimmish the power of the
House of Commons as against the Executive — ^particularly in the Party
sphere of finance — ^is imdemable But that tendency, especially J^'^n*”***
as regards the permanent Executive, was less noticeable before
than after the death of Queen Victona. The mdependcnce of the
Legislature was, however, threatened m the later years of the
reign by the development of local Party organizations, and the
tightenmg of Party disciphne The ‘ Caucus ’ liad its birth in
Birmmgham m the late ’seventies, and was fathered by Mr.
Joseph Chamberlain and hir. Schnadborst. The ’ National Lib-
IGO 'rilE CLOSE OF AN EPOCH [1837-
cral Fcdcralion ’ was foimed on a similarly rcpresenialive basis
in 1877; the ‘National Union of Conseivaiivc and Constitu-
tional Associations ’ had come into being ten years earlier The
gioMth of these cxtia-Parhamcntary oiganuations, iihilc stimu-
lating popular interest m Parliamentary proceedings, also tended
to curtail the independence of members of Parliament
Nevertheless it is tiue, broadly speaking, that never is as the
equilibrium of forces, monarchical, aiistocratic and democratic,
more perfect than in England m the Victorian era. So admirably,
indeed, did the meehaiiism operate that the civilwcd voild rushed
to the conclusion that the astounding prosperity of England vas
attributable to its political institutions. Accordingly, other
nations took to copying it "What Peiiclcs proudh’- said of the
Athenian polity is even more true of the English ‘ '\Vc ha\ e a
form of government not derived from imitation of our neighbours ;
— nay, rather v c arc a pattern to others than they to us ’ That
the results of imitation have not been invariably successful is not
our fault, but the misfortune of the copyists. They vainly
imagined that a Constitution can be copied like a Pans costume,
which presupposes for cffcclnc wearing a Pans figure Pailia-
mentary Democracy presupposes for its success a prolonged
political apprenticeship That apprenticeship had m few cases
been served : the result of premature adoption is seen on all
sides to-day in the general icaction to dictatorship.
Socwil Socially, not less than politically, the Victorian Eia mani-
chnnges fasted the Virtues of the golden mean. The predominance of the
middle classes w’as, throughout the reign, unquestioned, and their
‘ moderation ’ is now’ ‘ know’n unto all men though to nothing
w’crc they more opposed than to ostentation. To the Piolctariat
all that savours ol bourgeois icspcclabihtj has become anathema,
and among all classes it has now become fashionable to despise
the characteristic viitucs, no less than to expose the shortcomings,
of Victorian Society ‘ Goodness they prized above every other
human quality ; and Victoria w’ho, at the age of twelve, had said
she would be good, had kept her word. Duty, conscience,
morality — yes I in the light of those high beacons the Queen had
alw’ays lived She had passed her days in work and not in
pleasure, in public responsibilities and family cares. . . The
middle classes, firm in the triple brass of their respectability.
1901] VICTORIAN MANNERS 161
rejoiced with a special joy over the most respectable ot Queens ’ ^
So wote Mr Strachey with a sneer characteristic of the superior
Georgian
It may be that the typical Victorian was a slave to convention, Sunday
and that a ‘ passion for propriety ’ was carried to excess , but if
he took his pleasures somewhat sadly he took them with more
regard to the comfort and peace of his neighbours, and with less
danger to the public at large than his successors Nothing is
more typical of the change that has taken place in social habits
since the Queen’s' death than the revolution in regard to the
‘ observance ’ of Sunday- Victorian Sundays may, judged by
modern standards, have been Puritanically dull, but it is at least
doubtful wheth6r any gam m gaiety can compensate for the loss
of that ‘ Sabbath calm ’ which on one day in seven regularly
settled down upon the land Almost the only place where that
calm can to-day be enjoyed in its entirety is in the City of London.
Were the fact more generally known, there would no longer be a
question about the demolition of City churches To take out the
carriage ‘ for pleasure * on a Simday was regarded m middle-class
households as not merely improper in itself but as showing
grave lack of consideration for servants Attendance at church
or chapel was almost umversal in morning and evening, the
afternoons were given up to quiet walks or quiet reading — but
not of fiction Children were taught to put away toys and ‘ week-
day ’ books on Saturday night j nor did they reappear till Monday.
There was no entertainmg . a few relations or intimate friends
might drop in to tea, or even to supper, but the supper would
alls ays be cold
Habits at the Universities may be taken as representing those
of the classes from which undergraduates were mostly drawn.
At Oxford, fifty years ago, the tall hat and morning coat were
general among self-respecting undergraduates ‘ One result of the
great relaxation of Sunday observance conspicuous in Oxford as
throughout the country is ’, writes Dr H A L Fisher, ‘ much
to be regretted In the ’eighties Sunday was the day for quiet
reading and country w’alks’ Of Cambridge Dr M R James
WTitcs ‘ On Sundays the fullness of College chapels — compulsory
— and of the galleries of St Mary’s at the sermon — voluntary —
* Queen Fieiona, p. 303.
ME — 11
Loco-
motion
102 THE CLOSE OF AN EPOCH 11887-
was notable.’ ^ At Oxford the galleries of St Slaiy’s are to-day
as full as ever, when there is a 'picaeher aceeptable to under-
graduates ; the College chapels are not.
Sunday obseivancc was not, however, the monopoly of a
single class. It was general among all classes Of the country-
side Lord Ernie w'ritcs : ‘ On that day Victorians w'ore their best
clothes, went once if not twuce to Church, ordered out no carriages,
entertained no parties, played no games in public In 1932 all
this IS reversed. Sunday has become a day of special liberties,
not of special restrictions. In their observances and attendances
Victorians expressed their convictions of an ordained progress
towards higher morality and increased material prosperity.
To-day that conviction has passed away. Nothing stands in its
place. It seems that so long as life travels faster the direction is
unimportant ’ ®
What w'as true of the countryside w'as almost equally true of
London ‘ Society ‘ Sundays svrites Sir Ian Malcolm, ‘ wrere
very strictly kept in London Dinner-parties w’erc rare and other
forms of entci taming practically unknown. Tlicre were no res-
taurants of any repute, and the night club was not then dreamed
of or desired ‘ Altogether writes another survivor of the
Victorian era, *w'e managed to amuse ourselves thoroughly well
on Sundays, all the better for the fact that m those less restless
days to many of us London was really a home ’ ^
The last words testify to another typical development In
Victorian days there was no week-end ‘habit’. Middle-class
folk made their homes in London, and left it once a year for a
month or two. Their * betters ’ lived m the country for nine
months and in London for three. Provincial folk, save for a
few weeks’ holiday in the summer, lived at home all the year
round.
The change, now' common in varying degrees to all classes,
began after the death of the Queen, and is, of course, mainly
attributable to the amazing development of facilities for loco-
motion. So rapid has been the development that it is to us almost
incredible that Queen Victona never entered a motor-car and
* Fxfiy Years, pp 88, 97. * Ibid , p 195
• Ibid , pp 39, 28-9 If ‘ Sunday observance ’ is, in the above paragraphs,
emphasized it is because it is typical of much else.
1001 ]
LOCOMOTION
163
never saw an aeroplane Not until the last years of the century
did pedal cycling become, with the introduction of pneumatic
tjres, either comfortable or general, and at the Cycle Show of
1899 the motor-cycle was inspected with curious eyes as a novelty.
Only in 1896 was the Act of 1865 repealed which had forbidden
steam traction engines to travel on the roads at a speed exceeding
four miles an hour and required that they should be preceded by
a man carrjTng a red flag There are many who regret that
Parhament was so ill-advised as to repeal it, and who cannot
deplore the fact that the late Lord Montagu of Beauheu was m
1899 prevented by the police from entering the sacred precincts
of Parhament in a motor-car. Not, then, until the turn of the
century was the motor-car, the use of which had been rapidly
developing m wicked Pans, regarded as quite respectable m vir-
tuous London. After the Queen’s death the revolution in means
of locomotion came with a rush Motor omnibuses and motor
cabs (‘ taxis ’) began to dnve the horse-drawn vehicles off the
streets of London towards the end of King Edward’s reign. Nor
have the results of scientific invention and engineering skill been
monopohzed by the richer classes Electric tramways had made
their first appearance at Leeds m 1891 , the first ‘ Tube ’ railway
was opened in London in 1890 The mobility of the Londoner
is shown by the fact that every man, woman and child makes
496 journeys in the year, 236 of them being by omnibuses and,
78 by underground trains, while no fewer than 1,100,000 passengers
arrive daily at the London termini
The number of motor vehicles annually licensed in Great The
Britain now (1933) exceeds 2,000,000 and the gross receipts bU'e”
derived from the taxation of them approaches £35,000,000 a year,
the greater part of which is spent on the construction and upkeep
of high roads On the roads over 6,600 people are annually
killed and (in 1937) 226,402 were injured.
The invention of the internal combustion engine was soon put
to uses more sinister than the propulsion of motor-cars The
submanne w’as first adopted by the Admiralty in 1901, and avia-
tion, an art in the development of which many experiments had
been tried in the last years of the Victorian era, w'as first utilized
for military purposes on a large scale during the Great 'V’tar
(1914-18)
164
THE CLOSE OF AN EPOCH
[1837-
Industry The social revolution suggested by the foregoing paragraphs
merce accompanied by changes very considerable, if less revolution-
ary, m the sphere of commerce and industry. Of some of the
inventions which contributed to those changes mention has
abeady been made.^ The invention first of the compound engine
in 1860, and the perfecting of the surface condenser about 1870,
revolutionized the conditions of ocean tiansport. Refrigeration
and cold storage brought the products of distant continents, and
particularly of British Dommions and Dependencies, into common
use m English homes. The development of telegraphy, cable and
wireless, and the invention of the telephone, have made for ease
and rapidity of commumcations, makmg it possible, for example,
for English millers to follow, from hour to hour, the course of
prices on the Winnipeg Exchange Reference was also made to
the patient researches of Sir Ronald Ross and Sir Patrick Manson
into the origin and spread of tropifcal diseases When m 1899
Major Ross defimtely established his theory of the transmission
of malaria through mosquitoes he not only conferred an immense
boon upon suffering humanily, but won for himself a permanent
place among our great Empire-biulders and commercial adven-
turers That these discoveries and inventions gave an immense
impulse to the development of overseas trade in the last years of
the Victorian era needs no elaborate demonstration.
In the resultmg prosperity all classes of the community —
except those engaged m agriculture — shared. Owing to the devel-
opment of ‘ the joint-stock ’ prmciple in industry, an immense
number of quite small capitalists were able as shareholders to
participate in profits. A still larger number benefited m the
form of higher wages.
The Shortly before his death (1884) Mark Pattison, a famous
^neirs Oxford scholar, was asked what he considered to be the most
important fact m contemporary history. Without hesitation he
replied : ‘ The fact that 5,000,000 of our population possess
nothing but their weekly wages The answer was not far from
the truth : and so far as it was true it pointed to a feature of our
social life peculiar to the Victonan era. Only m the nineteenth
century did the mass of the people become entirely dependent on
^ Supra, cs i and vu
■ The JSctgn of Queen Victoria (ed. Ward), p. 23.
icoij THE WAGE-EARNERS 165
weekly wages for their hvelihood For that dependence the
development of the Factory system and the Enclosure movement
were jointly responsible Down to the last decades of the eigh-
teenth century there was no sharp differentiation between indus-
try and agriculture. Every farmhouse had its loom, most
labourers had access to some common land, and all their wives
did some spinning and perhaps some weaving The Industrial
Revolution transformed England from a land of villages and farms
into a land of towns and factories It created a proletariat —
a large class without property That phase has passed To-day
(1015) the vast majority of the wage-earners,' probably not fewer
than 20,000,000, are small capitalists, with something to their
credit in Savings Banks and Savmg Certificates, not to speak of
a share of the assets m Benefit Societies, Trade Unions, Co-
operatn e Societies, and hke institutions ^ Large additions, ans-
ing from State subventions and gratuitous social services, are now
made to the money wages of every working-class household
These represent an mcrement, in many cases, of 50 per nent on
wages , in some cases much more But social insurance and
gratuitous services are a post-Victorian development
Wages, then, formed the all-important item on the credit side
of the w orking-class budget m Victorian days Wage-rates varied
from time to time trade was subject to cyclical fluctuations ,
boom-pcriods and depressions alternated with grievous regularity,
but on the whole the tendency ivas for wages, whether measured
in money or commodities, to_rise The mam thesis on which
Henry George reared the argumentative structure of Progress and
Poicrty w'as, as regards England, simply untrue The vast increase
of ‘ wealth ’ was not accompanied by an increase of ‘ poverty
Taking a survey of economic conditions during the first fifty years
of Queen Victoria’s reign Sir Robert Giffen showed that the
increase in money wages ranged for the most part between 50
and 100 per cent , and in some cases exceeded the latter figure
Real wages — wages as measured m purchasing power — had m-
creased in even higher ratio Statistics of consumption con-
firmed these conclusions the consumption of sugar having in
the same period increased from about 15 lb to 70 lb per head ,
'The inscstcd saMngs of the working classes almost certainly c\cced
£3,500,000,000
166 THE CLOSE OF AN EPOCH [1837-
of tea from 1 J to per head ; of tobacco from 0 86 to 1*40 lb.
per head, and so on. Nor was all the money earned in wages
immediately spent. The number of depositors m Savings Banks
increased from about 480,000 (1831) to 6,200,000 m 1887, and the
deposits from £14,000,000 to over £90,000,000^
Nor was the progress m the well-being of the working-classes
checked durmg the last decades of the reign. On the contrary,
Mr A. L. Bowley proved that during the period 1882-1902 money
wages mcreased by 30 per cent and real wages by nearly 40 per
cent and his calculations are, in the main, confirmed by Mi A. C.
Pigou, who calculated that real wages in 1901 were as 165 as
compared vnth 116 in 1881 and 100 m 1871.
If then the share of the wage-earner in the total product of
industry was, as many contended, still inadequate in the Victorian
era and still too precarious, there is no doubt that the tendency
was in the right direction.
Yet the sky was not entirely free from cloud when in 1901 the
old Queen was gathered to her fathers The problem of Briton
and Boer in South Africa was still unsolved, though the solution
was not long deferred ; there was trouble m the Far East and
presage of much greater trouble ; worst of all, dark clouds were
gathering on the European honzon. At home neither Democracy
nor Free Trade nor popular education had solved the soeial
problem. On the contrary, the political enfranchisement of the
wage-earners and improved facilities of education had, it seemed,
served only to render more acute the consciousness of economic
inequalities But these problems had barely emerged when King
Edward ascended the throne. The Victorian surface was smooth.
Too smooth, say some. England, they aver, was too smug m its
self-satisfaction A ruddy complexion was not necessarily indica-
tive of health The seeds of disease lurked m the body-politic.
Maybe. Those who look back to the Victorian era from the
midst of present-day (1933) troubles and perplexities, are perhaps
too prone to see only the bnghter side of the picture, just as the
home-coming traveller forgets the petty worries and inconvem-
ences of foreign travel and recalls only the wonders and beauties
he has beheld Yet with all its admitted shortcommgs and hmita-
» Op. cit , n, 27-9 » Statistical Studies (1904), p. 35.
1001] THE VICTORIAN ERA 167
lions tlic period which closed with the death of Queen Victoria
w ill surely stand out as the greatest and the inost progressive and
most prosperous this country has ever known Whether regard
be paid to science, to hterature, to political stability, to wealth-
production and distribution, to industry, commerce and the
general well-being of a rapidly increasing population, to the
deepemng sense of Imperial responsibility, and the awakening of
the social conscience, the guerdon of pre-eminence cannot be
withheld from the Victorian era
1001-10021
A NEW ERA
169
BOOK 11
CHAPTER X
laNG EDWARD VH— A NEW ERA
L
A Heine cst morte Vtoe le roi Continuity is the charac- Accession
tcristie note of the pohtical and social history of England Edward
There was no breach of continuity on the death of Queen Victoria VII
The old Queen died at Osborne at half-past six on January 22,
On the following morning the new King travelled up to London
and held the first Council of his reign at St James’s Palace
Tlie Duke of Devonshire, as Lord President of the Council,
formally announced the death of the Queen, and the Clerk read
the King’s proclamation announcing his accession' The Kmg
then entered the Council Chamber and took the customary oaths,
administered by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and addressed
the assembled Council Rejectmg the formal speech prepared for
him, the King, speaking without notes, and m a voice broken by
emotion, declared that it would be his constant endeavour always
to w alk in the footsteps of his beloved mother ‘ In undertaking
he proceeded, ‘ the heavy load which now devolves upon me I
am fully determined to be a Constitutional Sovereign m the
strictest sense of the word, and, as long as there is breath m my
body, to work for the good and amehoration of my people ’ He
then announced that, desirmg that the name of ‘Albert the
Good ’ ‘ should stand alone ’ he had resolved to be known by the
name of Edward which had been borne by six of his predecessors
Nothing could have been more tactful than the reference to
his ‘ great and wise father ’, and nothing more popular than his
rejection of that father’s name in favour of the good old English
name of Edward
To the King’s surprise and annoyance no reporter was present.
170
KING EDWARD VII
[1901-
His
earlier
years
but his words, no less than his demeanour, had so deeply im-
pressed the Council, that no difficulty was expenenced m pre-
paring a precise report Lord Lincolnshire, however, who assisted
in the redaction, declared that the report was ‘ nothing hke so
good as the speech which the King actually delivered ’ in which
‘ the original words were full of dignity and pathos ’ ^
On the following day the Heralds, in their splendid uniforms,
proclaimed the accession of King Edward VII from the balcony
of the Palace overlooking Friary Court, and proceeded to repeat
the Proclamation at Charmg Cross, at Temple Bar and at the
Royal Exchange. The Proclamation was made in provincial
cities by the Mayors.
Once more, then, England had a King. ,
Born on November 9, 1841, King Edward was in his sixtieth
year when he began to reign. No English Sovereign ever came
to the throne after so long a probation as Heir Apparent. Nor
had his apprentice-penod been wholly satisfactory to his mother,
to his future subjects, or to himself In regard to the education
' of their eldest son the Queen and the Prince Albert, greatly influ-
enced by Baron Stockmar, were singularly unwise That his
parents’ sole desire was to fit the lad for the high vocation to which
he was called, goes without saymg. But exemplary motives
cannot condone mistaken policy. Not until his marnage did the
Prince escape from stern disciplme and constant surveillance. He
resided for a time both at Oxford and Cambridge, but enjoyed no
freedom and hardly any compamonship save that of elderly dons
He married in 1863 Prmcess Alexandra,^ ‘the Sea-King’s
daughter from over the sea ’, and he and his beautiful Prmcess
made Marlborough House, assigned to him as a residence m 1861,
the centre of London society. In 1862 Sandringham House m
Norfolk had been purchased out of the savings accumulated
during the Prince’s minonty, from the revenues of the Duchy
of Cornwall, and there he hved the life of a country gentleman.
King Edward had no literary tastes, the disciphne.to which in
youth he was subjected had effectually crushed any disposition
towards indulgence in that weakness ; but he learnt more from
men than ever his accomplished father learnt from books. He
^ Diary, quoted, ap. Lee, Edward VIZ, II, 5
* The eldest daughter of Christian IX, King of Denmark.
EDWARD YLl '
171
11102]
was punctual, methodical , spoke French and German perfectly
and other languages passably ; he had an amazmg capacity for
picking brains, and a most retentive memory His intuitions
were both rapid and sound , nor did he lack ambition But his
mother had thwarted every effort that he made to find serious
emplojTnent Ceremonial functions — the laying of foundation-
stones, the opening of bridges, provincial town-halls and the like
— such duties she wilhngly delegated to him, but when he ex-
pressed a w ish for work which would serve as a real apprenticeslup
for his trade, the Queen, though strongly urged by her Mmisters
to meet the Prince’s wishes, consistently refused Not until 1895
did she consent to give him a key to the Cabinet ‘ boxes ’ and
tlius allow him to see the Foreign dispatches Whether her dis-
inclination to share with him any of the burdens of the Crowm
was due to the jealousy with which a Sovereign proverbially
regards an Heir Apparent, or to a genuine mistrust of his capacity
and discretion, cannot be known
The results w'ere palpable On the one hand, the Pnnee wras
driven to find an outlet for his exuberant vitality m a life of
pleasure and sport ; on the other, he acquired the habit of travel ;
he saw more of the Overseas Empire that was one day to pass under
his sceptre than any of his predecessors, he made the personal
acquaintance of nearly all the rulers and most of the statesmen
of Europe and obtained a profound and first-hand knowledge of the
mam lines and even the by-paths of European diplomacy Thus
no English King had ever come to the tlirone wnth such a perfect Appie-
mastery of Foreign Pohtics, or so intimate a knowledge of the nnny °°°
personal factors in international equations.
Nevertheless, it would be idle to deny that on his accession
there were misgivings, both as to his character and his capacity.
Wicrever he had gone he had made himself popular, and his
Princess was adored^ But he had made most of Ins intimate
* I ennnut forbeir in tins connexion to quote the partieularly graceful
words of Sir Lionel Cust * Deeply attaclicd ns the nation was to the vener-
able almost sainted flgurc of Queen Victoria, the ad\cnt of Queen Alexandra
to tlic full dignity of Queen-Consort was welcomed with genuine ntTcction
and intense interest by all clilsscs, who had for so long had so many oppor-
tunities of enjojaiig her beautiful presence and partieipating in the largesse
of afTcction which ns Princess of Walts she had bestowed on her adopted
coiintr} ’ (JTirig Ldicard VIJ and IIxs Courl, jip S-H )
172
KING EDWARD VII
[1901-
friends not among the old nobihty but among the nouveaux nches.
He was consistently friendly towards l\Ir. Gladstone, and was
intimate with Sir Charles Dilke, but with other leading statesmen
he had consorted little, save with men like the Duke of Devon-
shire and Lord Rosebery, who shared his sporting tastes. The
middle classes looked askance at a man with whose name gossip
had long been busy, and who had twice figured prominently m
a society scandal, though from the ordeal of the Mordaunt divorce
suit he emerged blameless, and was only indirectly concerned in
the Tranby Croft case. But it was felt to be indecorous that
the Heir Apparent should be even named m a divorce suit, or
should have to appear, if only as a witness, in connexion with a
‘ Baccarat Scandal ’. He could truthfully plead that he had
never pla3^ed cards for money, until invited to play whist by
Bishop Wilberforce of Oxford. But though the Nonconformist
conscience might condone episcopal whist, it could not swallow
baccarat plaj’^ed with £10 counters at Tranby Croft.
Thus the public at large had heard too much of one aspect
of the Prince’s life, and knew little or nothing about the other.
It was indeed known to a small circle that he was sedulous in
performing his duties as a trustee of the Biitish Museum, that
he had encouraged the establishment of the Royal College of
Music, and that he took a warm personal interest in the work
of voluntary hospitals. Pohticians of all parties were aware that
he had woiked hard as a member of the Royal Commission on
the Housing of the Poor and had mingled freely with his col-
leagues, including two ‘Labour’ representatives, Joseph Arch
and Henry Broadhurst ; and that he served with equal zeal on
the Old Age Pensions Commission. But knowledge of these
interests and activities was confined to the few : all the world
knew that he was an enthusiastic patron of the drama ; that he
liked good cheer, pretty women, and amusing company, and that
from the great race meetings he was rarely absent.
Consequently there was widespread apprehension lest there
should be, under the new regime, a sudden and serious lapse from
the high standards maintained by Queen Victoria.
As regards the punctual, conscientious and able discharge of
the political functions of the Crown, the apprehensions were soon
dissipated. England has had few better kings than Edward VII.
1002] THE NEW REIGN 178
Political^, lie made good from the first ; nor was there socially
the lapse so widely feared There was undoubtedly a reaction,
but it was almost universally welcomed The Court became once
more the centre of society , gaiety replaced gloom , Buckingham
Palace and Windsor Castle, where nothing had been changed
since the death of the Prmce Consort, were redecorated, refur-
nished, and brought up to modem standards, m lighting, sanita-
tion and so forth The King retained Sandringham (his real
liome) and Balmoral, for at both places he could enjoy the sport
he lo^ ed , but he made over Osborne House to the nation The
pn\ ate rooms were retamed as a museum and personal memorial
to Queen Victoria , the mam portions of the mansion were de-
voted to a college for naval cadets, and a convalescent home for
in\ alid officers Thus a difficult problem was tactfully solved
Windsor, and still more Buckingham Palace, soon began to
wear a verj’’ different aspect The latter was a ‘ sepulchre ’ (the
Pnnee’s name for it) no longer. There was dispensed, through-
out the London season, a gay, gracious and brilliant hospitality,
and for a great part of the year it was at once the King’s office
and his home The sombre afternoon Drawing-rooms were aban-
doned, and replaced by evening Courts, to wluch were added balls
and dmner parties All was on a generous, though not eirtrava-
gant scale , for the King was shrewd in business matters and
was shrewdly counselled He owed no man a penny when he
canic to the throne and wisely resolved to hve withm his income
as ICing
To settle that income was one of the first duties awaitmg
Parliament Both Houses met on January 25, but having voted
addresses of condolence and congratulation to the Kmg, imme-
diately adjourned.
On February 14 Parliament met for the first session of the
ncAv reign Despite his deep mourning the King opened it m
person. Not since 1886 had Queen Victoria performed that cere-
mony, and only sei en times m all dunng the last forty years of
the reign King Eduard wisely determmed not only to exhibit
the Crown in all the splendour of ancient ceremonial, but to assert
Msibly his legal participation m the work of the Legislature.
Firm in adherence to tradition the King was as tenacious of
the Royal Prerogative as difficult circumstances permitted. He
174
KING EDWARD VH
[1901-
repellcd, for example, a suggestion from Mr. Balfour (iiho was
shockingly casual m these matters) that, owing to the circum-
scribed space in the House of Lords, the King should open Par-
liament m Westminster Hall He personally read the Speech
from the Tlirone, but before domg so made the statutory Declara-
tion as required by the Bill of Rights of 1689. That Declaration
repudiated the doctrine of Transubstantiation and asserted that
‘the invocation or adoration of the Virgin JIary or any other
Saint and the sacrifice of the INlass as they are now used m the
Church of Rome are superstitious and idolatrous*. These and
other words the King regarded as gratuitously offensive to his
Roman Catholic subjects , he read them in an ostentatiously low
voice and msisted that for the future the wording should be
amended But the Government handled the matter clumsily,
and although King Edward expressed to Lord Sahsbury a hope
that neither he nor any of his successors might ever again ‘ have
to make such a Declaration m such crude language ’, there was
so much delay and difficulty m deciding on an alternative that
King George did, in fact, make the Declaration m the same terms
as his father. In 1910, however, a Bill was passed substitutmg
for the form of 1689 the foUowmg words : ‘ I do solemnly and
sincerely in the presence of God profess, testify and declare that
I am a faithful Protestant, and that I will according to the true
intent of the enactments to secure the Protestant succession to
the Throne of my Realm uphold and maintain such enactments
to the best of my power’
Then came the question of the Civil List. A select Committee
was appointed to consider the provision that should be made for
the maintenance of the King and the Royal family m the new
reign, and on its report, unanimous save for the opposition of
Labouchere, the new Civil List was based The King, followmg
recent precedents, relinquished on his accession the chief heredi-
tary revenues of the Crown , the Duchy of Cornwall, with rev-
enues of £60,000 a year passed to his eldest son, he himself
having succeeded to the Duchy of Lancaster, with revenues of
a like amount. The sum voted to Queen Victoria, £385,000 a
year, had proved, in the later jrears of the reign, quite inadequate,
despite the economical administration of the Household, to the
maintenance of the royal state. Wildly exaggerated statements
19021 THE HOYAL TITLES 175
^vcre from time to time made about Queen Victoria’s reputed
savings In 1889, in the debate on the grants for the children
of the Prmce of Wales, it was officially stated that her total
sa^ mgs, over a penod of half a century, amounted to £824,025,
and that she had latterly been compelled to draw on them for the
entertainment of foreign visitors and like purposes The new
Civil List vas accordingly fixed at £470,000 a year, or £85,000
in excess of that enjoyed by Queen Victoria An annuity of
£20,000 was at the same time voted to the Duke of Cornwall and
York, £10,000 to the Duchess, and £18,000 for the joint hves of
the King’s three daughters Pensions of £25,000 a year in all
were given to the late Queen’s servants, and it was provided that
in the event of Queen Alexandra surviving the King she should
receive £70,000 a year, and the Duchess of York £80,000 in a
similar contingency. The total sum amounted, therefore, to
£543,000 a year Durmg the reign of Queen Victoria the sur-
rendered hereditary revenues had, however, increased in value
from £245,000 to £452,000 a year, and since 1901 have further
increased to £1,250,000. The nation, therefore, made an exceed-
ingly good bargam with the Crown On July 2, 1901, the Civil
List Act became law.
A few weeks later the Royal Titles Act was also passed
In MOW of the rapid growth of the Empire in the nineteenth
century, still more of the new status attained by the self-governing
Dominions, and most of all of the profound change of sentiment^
it was thought proper that the Dominions no less than India
should have a legal place in the Title of the King His Majesty
vas, therefore, empowered by statute (1 Edw VH, c 15), with
a view to the recognition of theXolomal possessions, to make by
proclamation such additions to the royal style and titles then
appertaining to the Imperial Crown of the United Kingdom and
its Dependencies as to His Majesty might seem fit A proclama
tion was accordingly made on 4th November, 1901 (and pub-
lished in the London Gazette of tliat date) that the style should
henceforward be • ‘ Edward VH by the Grace of God of the
United Kingdom of Great Bntain and Ireland atid of the Bnitsh
Bomimons bajond the Seas King, Defender of tlie Faith, Emperor
of India’ The italicized words were added with the general
assent of all British parlies, a unanimity in striking contrast to
Royal
Titles
Act, 1901
176
KING EDWARD VII
[1901-
the bitter opposition offered to the addition, only twenty-five
years before, of Empress of India to the st3de of Queen Victoria.^
So fast had imperial sentiment deeiiened. Further recognition of
the same fact was afforded by the assent given by the King to
the arrangements already made for the visit of the Duke
and Duchess of Cornwall and York to Australia and other
Dominions
The Heir The primary purpose of the journey was to enable the Heir
mAus-”* Apparent to open the first Parhament of the Commonwealth of
tralia Australia The Duke and Duchess left England in the Opinr on
March 17th, and amid scenes of great enthusiasm the Duke per-
formed the opening ceremony on May 9th ^ On the return jour-
ney the Duke and Duchess visited New Zealand, South Africa
and Canada, and were welcomed back at Portsmouth by the King
on November 1st. It was not, as the King wrote, ‘ without some
natural anxiety and hesitation that I sanctioned the departure
of the Heir Apparent to my thione on a voj'age which involved
many months of separation. But it was my earnest desire to
give effect to the wishes of my late revered mother, and to the
aspirations of my loyal subjects m the Colonies of whose devotion
and patriotism I had received such signal proof in the splendid
service they had rendered to the Empire m South Africa, and I
am fully repaid by the complete success which has attended the
visit.’ The King also announced his mtention to create the
Duke Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester ‘ in consequence of the
admirable manner in which my son has earned out the arduous
duties which I confided to him’.
The The Coronation was appointed for 26th June, 1902 : and by
^orona- King’s express wish the ceremony was to be on a scale of
exceptional splendour and the congregation was to be representa-
tive of the whole Empire and of every race and interest within
it. The Court mourning for the late Queen having ended, the
first levee of the new reign was held at St James’s Palace on
11th February, 1902, the first Court at Buckingham Palace on
14th March, and on 8th June the King and Queen attended at
1 The style and title was again altered in 1927, the words ‘ of the United
Kingdom . . and’ being omitted
® Cf. D. M. Wallace, The Web of Empire (1902) (an official account of the
Tour).
1002] THE CORONATION 177
St Paul’s a Thanksgiving Service for the restoration of Peace
in South Africa
Everything vas in tram for the great event, the represen-
tatives, civil and military, of the Dominions, Colomesand Depen-
dencies, and of foreign Thrones and Courts were all assembled ;
the streets were ablaze vith decorations when on June 24 the
nation, nay the world, 1105 stunned by the news that the King
was seriously ill and that the ceremony must be postponed With
characteristic courage the King had refused, in face of oncoming
illness, to cancel his arrangements until within forty-eight hours
of the appomted daj' On June 24, however, he was operated
on for perityphitis Surgical skill combined with the King’s
courageous temperament to make recovery rapid and on August 9
the postponed ceremony took place with added emotion and
hardly diminished magnificence * The usage by an ardent yet
practical people of an archaic nte to signalize the modern splen-
dour of their Empire, the recogmtion, by a free democracy, of
an hereditary Crown, as a symbol of the world-wide domination
of their race, constitute,’ as the official chronicler of the
Coronation truly said, ‘ no mere pageant but an event of the
highest historical mterest
The Coronation was followed by a senes of functions which
emphasized its historic significance , a review of Colomal troops
on 12th August, of Indian troops on the ISth, and a Naval Review
on the 16th Among the spectators of the latter review at Spit-
hcad were three Boer Generals, Louis Botha, De Wet and Delarey,
to whom the King gave audience on 17th August.
Amid the celebrations the poor were not forgotten ; the Kmg
gave a dinner to 500,000 of the poor of London, and the Queen
entertained the general servants — an act of thoughtful considera-
tion for a httle-regarded class The institution of an Order of*
Merit for men highly distinguished mthe Army, the Naiy, Litera-
ture, Science and Art further commemorated a unique occasion.
On their return from a short holiday in the autumn the King
and Queen made a royal progress through the streets of South
London, lunched with the Lord Mayor at the Guildhall and
^ J. E C. Bodlcy, Tht Coronation of Edward the Seventh (1003), p 201.
This work, published by Ro>ai Command, contoms a detailed dcseriplion of
Uie ceremony.
ME — 12
KING EDWARD VII
Resigna-
tion and
death of
Lord
Salisbury
178
[1001-
ettended a Service of Thanksgiving for the King’s restoration
to health at St Paul’s.
In the following month the German Emperor paid a visit to
Sandringham when the King (in his own words) did his ‘ best to
make his stay as pleasant as possible and show him some sport
both with partridges and pheasants At Sandringham he met,
among others, Sir. Balfour, Loid Lansdowne and Sir. Chamber-
lain, but with the last he confessed to finding it difficult, with
all his efforts, to ‘ get on
Lord Salisbury was not among the guests. Despite fading
health he had resolved to retam office untd peace was restored
in South Africa. That he did , but was constrained to resign
(July 11th) before the postponed Coronation Little more than
a year later (August 22nd) he died at Hatfield, and was by his
own wish buried there by the side of his devoted wife.
That Lord Salisbury was a great Foreign Minister has been
demonstrated in a previous chapter. It cannot be maintained
that he ^vas a great Prime Minister “The work of the Foreign
Office was entirely congemal to ham, that of the Premiership was
not. ‘ He hates his office,’ wrote one of his sons in August 1886,
and he himself was wont to declare that it was an office ‘ of in-
finite worry but very little power’. Power depended on the
occupant. Lord Rosebery exercised very httle : but Gladstone,
Disraeh and Sir Robert Peel exercised a great deal Lord Sahs-
bury was apt, in matters that did not immediately concern his
own Depaitment, to defer too readily to the opinions of others.
‘ You must forgive me for saying that you have too much renuncia-
tion for a Prime Minister . . . The position requires your dis-
tinct lead and your just self-assertion ’ So one of has ablest
colleagues, Lord Cranbrook, wrote to him in friendly remonstrance
in November 1886. Sir Michael Hicks Beach has left on record
a similar opinion : ‘ As Prime Minister he did not exercise the
same control over his colleagues that Lord Beaconsfield did.’ It
IS fair to add thatjof lus own volition he would not have become,
certainly would not have remamed. Prime Minister. Thnce he
offered to surrender the office, once to Lord Iddesleigh and twice
to Lord Hartington. Lord Rosebery described him with charac-
teristic felicity as * a public servant of the Elizabethan type ; a
fit representative of his great Ehzabethan ancestor He served
1002] LORD SALISBURY 179
his Queen and his country from a sheer sense of duty He sought
no rcu ards for himself, and would accept none. He loathed self-
advertisement, and shrank from publicity He was happiest m
the seclusion of his hbrary or his laboratory Even the work
of the Foreign Office he did mainlj' at home, corresponding with
ambassadors largely m private letters written with his own hand
In a sense fuller than mere chronologj'^ suggests, he was the
last of the great Victorian Mimstras, he walked m the ancient
paths , it was fitting that the close of his own service should have
coincided so nearly with the death of the Queen The conditions
of w orld-pohtics changed rapidly with the opening "oT*t'&e' new
century they called for a radical change alike in the methods
and in the direction of Foreign Policy England could no longer
afford the luxury of isolation but if 3ie was to emerge from
isolation it must be not as an insular Stete but as a World-Empire.
180 FALL OF THE UNIONIST GOVEKNTMENT 11902-
CHAPTER XI
THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE UNIONIST GOVERNMENT
—THE BALFOUR MINISTRY
Balfour resignation of Lord Salisbury, the King, still on a sick-
a o bed, appointed hlr. Balfour as Prune Minister.
Balfour had made a great reputation as Chief Secretary for
Ireland (1887-91) ; he was popular with the Party and was
recognized as a parliamentary debater of the first rank — adroit,
self-possessed and fearless. But as leader of the House of Com-
mons he had obvious shortcoming, manifested still more clearly
in his tenure of the Premiership. Nevertheless m 1902 he was
the inevitable successor to his uncle. With the exception of Sir
Michael Hicks Beach, the strongest men in Lord Salisbury’s
Cabinet belonged to the Liberal Umomst wmg of the Coalition.
Whether the Conservative Party would m 1902 have accepted a
Liberal Unionist Premier is doubtful. Even m 1911 they would
not have Mr. Chamberlain’s son as leader. Lord Salisbury’s
Cabinet continued unchanged imder Mr. Balfour, with one impor-
tant exception. Sir Michael Hicks Beach msisted on retiring
with a chief whom (in his daughter’s words) ‘ he had loved and
trusted only second to Uisraeh He was succeeded as Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer by Mr. (afterwards Lord) Ritchie, a
capable administrator but not a statesman of the same cahbre
as his predecessor.
Sir M. Sir Michael was the last of the Victorian economists and his
Bea^ resignation was due to a growmg conviction that the ideals which
he had inherited from Gladstone and Peel were no longer to in-
spire financial policy. His anxiety was clearly expressed in an
elaborate memorandum on the position of national finance which
in September 1901 he submitted to Lord Sahsbury. The Prime
* Life, n. 174.
1005] sm M HICKS BEACH 181
Minister shared his apprehensions, but feared that any attempt
to stem the tide of extravagance -would break up a Ministry which
was no longer homogeneous ‘ When I saw he wrote, ‘ how
blindly the heads of our defensive departments surrendered thcm-
sch cs to the fatal guidance of their professional advisers, I realized
that v c were in face of a Jingo hurricane, and were drmng before
it under bare pol. ^ Si Michael also sent lus memorandum
to Mr Cliambci .m and Jlr Balfour and it vas subsequently
circulated to the Cabmet v here it was received with ‘ insouciance
Mr. Chamberlain aai ced that Beach had been severely tried
by Cabmet colleagut and had ‘ met unexampled demands in a
generous and self-sat 'J ung at’, but it was evident that the
nft beti^ cen the tv o statesn was -n idemng, and ultimately
Beach found hunsclf alone -n ith Sahsbiiry ‘ m defence of the old
sound standards of national economy and of freedom for mdi-
vndual effort and economic growth unshackled by State inter-
ference ’ Nevertheless in his seventh and last Budget (1902) he
had gone so far towards a fiscal change as to revive the old regis-
tration duty of 3d per cwt. on com and 5d per cwt on flour, a
duty -nliich had sumved many of Mr Gladstone’s Budgets and
■ft as only abohshed m 1809 by the least successful Finance Minister
of the century, Robert Lowe. Even this small measure was
resisted by the Opposition, though botli Su Wilham Harcourt
and Mr Jolm Morley deplored Beach’s resignation as ‘ a real
misfortune that -vnll not easily be mended ’ Had Beach possessed
Balfour’s cquabilitj* of temper or the geniality wlucli he could
so easily assume, had he been endowed with a tithe of the flexi-
bility of Disraeli he might have found a place in the select ‘ first
class ’ of Victorian statesmen But his gifts were not those of
a party-leader m a democratic age Shy, reserved and inacces-
sible he vas most highly appreciated by those who worked -with
him most closely — ^not least by the mmers, who recognized how
evenly he had held the scales of justice as arbitrator of the South
Wales coal-field Of such men no Democracy can have too many ;
it frequently fails as a form of government because it has too
few'
^ A fine appreciation by Sir Laurence Guillemnrd who served for seven
>car5 as Sir Abebad's Fnvate Secretary is printed as an Appendix to vol
U of the Lift.
The
Colonial
Confer-
ence,
1902
182 FALL OF TIIE UNIONIST GOVERNIVIENT [ 1002 -
The Coronation of King Edward was attended, as already
noted, by representatives of the Colonies. But their visit to Eng-
land in 1902 was not exclusively ceremonial ; advantage was taken
of it to hold another Colonial Conference, the fourth of a lengthen-
ing series Since the last Conference had met in 1897 much had
happened. A great crisis in the history of the Empire had
matured and been successfully surmounted. That crisis, as Mr.
Chamberlain truly said, had evoked ‘ among the greater nations
of the world ... a passionate outburst which found expression
in rejoicings at our reverses, in predictions about ultimate defeat,
and in the grossest calumnies on the honour of our statesmen
and the gallantry and humanity of our army How strongly
contrasted with these sentiments were those manifested by the
Colomcs 1 ‘ During the whole of this time we have been sup-
ported and strengthened and encouraged and assisted by the men
of our own blood and race From the first day that the struggle
began, down to the other day when the terms of surrender were
signed, we have had the affectionate regard and approval, we have
had the active assistance, we have had the moral support of our
fellow-subjects m aU the possessions and dependencies of the
British Crown.’ ' Then there was the deep chord of sympathy
and solidarity touched simultaneously throughout the Empire by
the death of Queen Victoria, by the illness and coronation of her
son. These things might -well have inspured a man of narrower
vision and less imagination than Joseph Cliamberlam They
evidently led him to hope much from Ins negotiations with the
other statesmen of the Empire.
Nor did the Conference of 1902 disappomt his hopes. In
order to give the Conference the position of a recognized Imperial
institution, it was resolved that henceforth its meeting should be
triennial. On the constitutional issue the discussions were com-
mendably frank. ‘ If you want our aid ’, said Sur Wilfrid Laurier,
Prime Minister of Canada, ‘ call us to your Councils ’ ‘ We do
want your assistance’, said ]\Ir Chamberlam, ‘ m the administra-
tion of the vast Empire which is yours. The weary Titan struggles
under the too vast orb of its fate We have borne the burden for
many years. We think it is time that our children should assist
IS to support it, and whenever you make, the request to us be
1 At tlie Grocers’ Hall August 1, 1902, Speeches (ed Boyd), II. 71.
BIPERIAL DEFENCE
1S3
lOOJ]
very sure that we shall hasten gladly to eall j^ou to our Councils
If you are prepared at any time to take any share, any propor-
tionate share in the burdens of the Empire ve are prepared to
meet jou with any proposal for giving to you a corresponding
voice in the policy of the Empire ’ Deahng with specific schemes
he ruled none out, but avowed his own preference — as a first step
— for ‘ the creation of a real Council of the Empire to which all
questions of Imperial interest might be referred ’
On the problem of Imperial Defence he showed that Naval
and ^Iilitary expenditure worked out m the United Kingdom at
£l 9^ 3d per head per annum ; in New South Wales at 8s. 5d ,
in Victona Ss. 3d ; m New Zealand 3s 4d ; in the Cape and
Natal between 2s and 8s ; m Canada 2s On this point the
Colonial response was prompt The Australasian Colonies agreed
to raise their contribution for an improved Australasian squadron
and the cstablisliment of a branch of the Royal Naval Reserve
from £120,000 to £200,000 a year ; Cape Colony and Natal offered
£50,000 and £35,000 a year respectively as an unconditional con-
tribution towards the mamtenance of the Navy ; and Newfoimd-
land undertook to provide £3,000 a year towards the branch of
the Royal Naval Reserve hitherto maintamed tliere by the
mother-country. Canada refused to participate on the ground
that it would be * an important departure from the prmciple of
Colonial Self-government but justly claimed that the value to
the Empire of the Militia, entirely maintained at their own ex-
pense, had been demonstrated m South Africa, and promised to
consider naval defence as well
An important point was raised by another resolution which
ran as follows, ‘That so far as may be consistent with the
confidential negotiation of Treaties wnth Foreign Powers, the
■views of the Colonies affected should be obtamed in order
that they may be m a better position to give adhesion to such
Treaties ’
The pnnciple was cautiously affirmed, but its significance was
enhanced rather than dimmished by the evident consideration
for the susccptibihtics of the Foreign Office and the difficulties
which surround the whole problem of Empire participation in
Foreign Pohey.
There remained, apart from such relatively minor matters as
184 FALL OF THE XJNIONIST GOVERNMENT [ 1002 -
Mail Services and Shipping Subsidies, the all-important question
of commercial relations within the Empire.
Mr. Chamberlain, emphasizing the unsatisfactory state of
things then existing, expressed himself m favour of Free Trade
within the Empire. But he was careful to add that he did not
mean ‘ the total abolition of custom duties within the Empire,*
which he recognized as impossible for countries which had to
rely mainly on indirect taxation. Canada had in 1900 increased
the preference of 25 per cent granted to British goods in 1898
to 33J per cent. But the effect of it was disappointing. Despite
the fact that the United Kingdom took 85 per cent, of Canadian
exports, the Canadian tariff still pressed with the greatest severity
upon their best customer Canada, on her part, demanded the
exemption of her wheat and flour from the registration duty
rccantly imposed by Parliament — a demand which in view of the
differences m the Cabinet Chamberlain was unable to concede.
Eventually, after long discussion, it was resolved that while Free
Trade within the Empire was not at present practicable, it w'as
desirable that the Colonies should give a preference, ‘ as far as
their circumstances permit *, to the products of the United King-
dom, and the Imperial Government should be invited to consider
reciprocal treatment for the Colonies.
Thus was a challenge defirately thrown down to the principle
which for sixty years had dominated the fiscal policy of the
mother-country. That challenge was destined before long^ to
arouse bitter controversy m domestic politics ; but for the
moment controversy, not less bitter, raged round the thorny
problem of national education.
The ‘May we hve to see the coming of a state of things more
^on Act • Throughout the country, good elementary schools,
1902 ’ taking the child to the age of thirteen , then good secondary
schools taking him to sixteen, with good classical high schools
and commercial high schools taking him on further to eighteen
or mneteen , with good technical and special schools for those
who require them parallel with the secondary and high schools
— this IS what IS to be aimed at ’
Thus had Matthew Arnold written in a survey of the educa-
tional position in 1887 ^ As regards public elementary education
» The lietgn of Queen Vtctona, p 27*'
1903]
THE “RELIGIOUS DIFFICULTY
185
the Victorian era had witnessed nothing less than a revolution
Before the close of the century every child in the country was
compelled, up to the age of twelve, to attend school, where he
might receive gratmtous instruction Yet there remamed one
great difficulty unsolved Down to the year 1870 elementary
education had been exclusively the care of the Churches, estab-
lished or non-established Nor can the debt of the commumty, in
this matter, to the Churches be overestimated In their sehools
religious instruction had naturally formed an essential part of
the curnculum That this accorded with the wishes of the great
mass of parents is mdubitable
After the passing of the Aet of 1870 there emerged the ‘ re-
ligious difficulty It -was raised, as Bishop Fraser of Manchester
truK remarked, not ‘ by the parents, but for them But raised
it was and the dilemma was not wholly imaginary The Roman
Catholics have never allowed their ehildren to attend a school
where religious teaching was not given accordmg to the tenets
of their ov n creed ; nor indeed where the * atmosphere ’ was not
Catholic To maintain this pnnciple they have made great sacri-
fices So have the Angheans Rather than allow their children
to attend schools where Anghcan doctrme was not taught by
Anglican teachers they have maintained their own * Church *
schools at their own expense As to the value of ‘ denomina-
tional ’ schools I^Iatthen Arnold, not himself a denominationahst,
bore striking testimony ‘ I prefer *, he wrote, * the management
and personal influence of a good Church School to those of a good
Board School In secular instruction I think the two kinds of
school are about equal; but I have always thought that the
Biblical instruction which the School Boards have adopted, with
some improvement from the old British Schools, was the religious
instruction fittest on the whole to meet the desires of the popu-
lation of this country and to do them good ’
With the latter part of that judgement all Catholics and many
Anglicans disagreed Protestant Dissenters, no less than Romans
and Anglicans, desired for their children religious instruction, but
were satisfied with that given in the Board Schools Save in
certain single-school areas thejr had no grievance Nor had the
secularists They were entitled to withdraw their children from
religious instruction m the Board Schools, where they received
186 FALL OF THE UNIONIST GOVERNMENT [1902-
their instruction gratuitously Yet they advanced the purely
academic objection that to other people’s children some religious
mstruction was given at public expense.
Denominationahsts, on the other hand, had a substantial
grievance, mcreasingly heavy as the cost of elementary education
mounted higher and higher. Not only were they compelled, if
true to their principles, to mamtain their own schools, but, as
taxpayers and ratepayers, to contribute an equal proportion to
maintainmg the schools of which their consciences disapproved
To meet this difficulty, and if haply to solve it, was the primary
purpose of the Education Act of 1902. '
There were others. For many years past the ancient Univer-
sities had been increasingly ahve to new conditions, social and
political, and had in a variety of ways kept abreast of them.
By them, and by the new Umversities which were rapidly multi-
plying, not only were the needs of higher education adequately
supplied, but by means of local lectures, and local and other school
exammations, important contnbutions were made by Umversities
to the improvement of secondary and popular adult education.
Technical Yet secondary and technical education remained in a chaotic
secon- condition. It was evident that m this matter England was fall-
dary edu- ing lamentably behind other progressive nations, noticeably
behind Germany. The pre-eminence of England in commerce and
industry had been so long unchallenged that Enghsh people were
startled, as the century drew to a close, to discover what rapid
headway certain foreign countries were making m competition
with their own. German chemists and German clerks were being
imported in considerable numbers, because the home-supply was
unequal to the demands of English manufacturers and merchants.
Nor was there only a deficiency in quantity : the quality of the
home product was inferior, and the price of it was higher.
In regard to techmcal and secondary education public opinion
was running rapidly ahead of legislation — a rare phenomenon in
educational matters Various attempts had been made, m patch-
work and haphazard fashion, to remedy palpable deficiencies.
The important legislation of 1889 and the lucky ■windfall of the
* whisky money ’ have been already noticed. In 1893 a special
code for, Evening Continuation Schools was published on the
instructions of Mr \rthur Acland, who was the first Education
SECONDARY EDUCATION
167
ino3]
Minister to be admitted to a Liberal Cabinet ^ The objects of
these sehools i\erc (1) to continue the general education of the
pupils and supply the deficiencies of elementary education, (2)
to prepare pupils for examinations under the Science and Art
Department, (3) to assist lectures provided by the Universities
under their ‘ Extension ’ Schemes, and by County Councils, and (4)
to help schemes for prondilig, in other -ways, secondary or higher
education This ii as a move m the right direction ; the number
of registered scholars rose from 115,582 attending 1,977 schools
in 1893 to 358,268 attending 4,226 schools m 1897. But good
as the scheme nas, so far as it -went, it vas no more than a make-
shift and m 1891 a strong Royal Commission was appointed to
consider the best methods of estabhshmg a well-organized system
of secondarj'- education m England, taking into account existing
deficiencies, and having regard to such local sources of revenue
from endowment or otherwise as were available or might be made
aiailable for this purpose Mr James (afterwards Viscount)
Brjee vas chairman, and of the seventeen members tliree were
ladies — the first of their sex ever to serve on a Royal Commission
The Commission presented their Report m five volumes m
August 1895 They recommended the creation of a separate
Education Department under a Minister of Education, and the
absorption into the new Department of the existing Committee
of the Privy Council, the Chanty Commission (so far as educa-
tional endowments were concerned), and the Science and Art ,
Department In every County and County Borough there was
to be a local education authority, appointed as to a majonty by
the Councils These authorities were to supervise all local
Secondary Schools, and themselves to make good any deficiency
there might be In addition to the grants to local Councils under
the Customs and Excise Act, 1890 (the ‘ whisky money ’) the
new authorities w ere to have the Departmental Grants for secon-
dary education, and to be empowered to levy a rate not exceed-
ing 2d in the £
A Board of Education was set up, under a responsible Minister The
in 1899, and between 1895 and the close of the century legislation Edura-°^
tion
* Ills formal status was still tint of Vice-Prcsiclcnt of the Council In
n himiHr c.ipjcit) Lord handon had been admitted to Dismch’s Cabinet
(IbTlJ
188 FALL OF THE UNIONIST GOVERNMENT [ 1002 -
was proposed to carry out other recommendations of the Bryce
Commission, but it was left to the Balfour Government to grasp
firmly the nettles, of winch there was an abundant crop in the
educational field. The Government was, indeed, compelled to
action by the action of various School Boards and other Education
Authorities in extending their activities beyond the limits pre-
scribed by law. The matter was biought to a head in 1900 when
Mr. Cockerton, an auditor of the Local Government Board, dis-
allowed the payment of certain sums out of the rates for science
and art teaching m elementary schools, and surcharged the London
School Board The School Board appealed to the Court of
Queen’s Bench which substantially sustained Mr. Cockerton’s
decision. It was even more completely eonfirmed by the Court
of Appeal.
The mtiusion of the School Board into the domain of secon-
dary education had for some time been resented by private
secondary schools, which felt rate-aided competition to be essen-
tially unfair, as well as by many ratepayers, and by a certain
section of Conservatives, who disliked the ‘ Socialistic ’ activities
of the London School Boaid.
The ‘ Cockerton Judgment ’ still further confounded the con-
fusion in which technical and secondary education was involved,
and, unless the ground gamed was to be abandoned and the
advance of pubhc secondary education to be arrested, the
Government was bound to ask Parliament to make a serious
effort to solve a difficult problem.
The Act of 1902 was by far the most important legislative
achievement of the Balfour Government, and the credit was
primarily due to the parhamentary adroitness and the persistence
of Mr. Balfour himself.
Educa- The cardinal feature of the Act was the setting up m every
locality of an authority charged with the supervision of elemen-
tary, technical and secondary education The authority was to
be a Committee of the Council of the County, County Borough
or Urban District (with more than 20,000 inhabitants), afforced
by co-opted members.
The specially elected ad hoc School Boards were abolished,
and their place taken by the new authorities, in whom was vested
the control of all secular education, both m the State (‘ provided ’)
icns] EDUCATION ACT OF 1902 189
and in the voluntaiy (‘ non-provided ’) schools All schools ■were
tn have ‘ managers In the provided schools all the managers
^ c re to bo appointed by the authority in the voluntary schools,
a minority were to be appointed bj the authority, which in all
schools was to be responsible for secular instruction, and the
majont}' were to represent the Denomination concerned In
voluntar}' schools the managers were to provide the school-houses
and maintain them to the satisfaction of the Board of Education
— an obligation which, with the nsmg standard of requirements,
proved to be exceedingly onerous The appointment, dismissal,
and qualification of teachers m all schools were to be subject to
the approval of the authority. Under an amendment kno'wn by
the name of its author — Colonel Kcnyon-Slaney — ^rehgious instruc-
tion _in y-pluntar y schools was to be ‘ m acc ordan ce ■with J:he_tenor
of the T rust-Deed * of the school, and ‘ under the control of the
managers, subject to reference to the Bishop or Denominational
Authority *- Parliament was to make grants to supplement the
produce of the rates
‘ Hig her ’ ( i e Techni cal or Secondary) E ducat ion was_to be
nrovidcd or supplemented by th e~Eocal Authority , whose duty
was to co-ord inate all forms* of edu cation. Finance was to be
prov idcd by the ‘ whisky money ’ supplemented, when necessary,
from the rates
The Act of 1902 did not apply to London, where the con-
ditions were unique, but m 1908 a measure on similar lines was
passed for London Tlie County Council, acting through a Com-
mittee, became supremely responsible for education throughout
the metropolis but the Borough Councils were to have a majority,
m each case, of the school managers
The two measures represented a courageous attempt to deal
fairly and comprehensively with a thorny problem, and, m par-
ticular, to reconcile the divergent views of dcnominationahsts
and dissenters The attempt was, however, bitterly resented by
th'' latter, wlio organired widespread resistance against the pay-
ment of rates the proceeds of which were to be applied to teach-
ing tenets of which they disapproved. To the dmded and dis
tracted Liberal Party, both in Parliament and in the country,
Balfour’s Bill was nothing less than a god-send It pro^vided
them not only with a rallying cry, but with a body of martyrs
190 FALL OF THE UNIONIST GOVERNMENT [ 1002 -
prepared to suffer the distraint of their goods, and even the loss
of personal liberty, rather than submit to ‘tyrann}’- m Church
and State The agitation, though somewhat artificial in its
inception, served its purpose in the General Election of 1906,
when the ‘ passive resisters ’ contributed not a little to the defeat
of a Government which had outstayed its welcome In the
course of time, however, the furious agitation died down. The
Act of 1902 constituted, in fact, a conspicuous landmark in the
history not merely of education but also of Local Government
in England. It laid, well and truly, the foundations of a national
system, and upon them a stately edifice has since been erected.
Mr. Willie Mr. Balfour was battling with passive-resistance at
home, his principal colleague created a Ministerial precedent by
South an official visit to South Africa. He broke lus journey by a
few days’ visit to Lord Cromer in Cairo, and having landed at
Mombasa, where he took a trip on the Uganda Railway, and
having attended a banquet given by British residents in Zanzibar,
reached Durban on December 26th, 1902.
In each of the four Colonics he made a careful survey of the
situation, and at Durban, at Maritzburg, at Pretoria, Johannes-
burg and Cape Town he delivered speeches which were among the
greatest of his career. His first public w'ords (at Durban) indi-
cated the spirit in which he had come ‘ The issue has been
decided. The British flag is, and will be, and must be, paramount
throughout South Africa. . . . Reconciliation should be easy.
We hold out our hand and we ask the Dutch to take it frankly,
and in the spirit in which it is tendcied ’ The Boer leaders, the
magnates of the Rand, and all parties m Cape Colony he treated
with cordiality, but with exemplary frankness The settlement
embodied in the Peace of Vereemging would be respected in the
spirit and in the letter by us . the Boers must do the same.
‘Henceforth we are one nation under one flag We have left
the past behind.’ That was at Pretoria At Johannesburg he
w'as mainly concerned to get a contribution from the mine-owners
towards the expenses of the war. Thej'^ piomised £30,000,000,
but bad times came, and it was never raised. On the constitu-
tional issue he pointed to federation as the ultimate solution, but
it was not to be prematurely adopted.
190:^ DIPEItlAL PREFERENCE 191
Mf. Chamberlain returned to London in March 1903, was
nnmrdirtcly received by the King, and was entertained at tlie
GuildhalL But a bitter disappointment awaited him. Duripg
bis abernce lus colleagues had decided to repeal the registration
iluty on imported wheat. The duty had produced a revenue of
£2,000.000 without affcctmg the price of bread ; but the strict
Fr e Traders were alarmed lest even so minute a duty should open
the door to a rci-n'al of Protection. Undoubtedly, the advocates
of an Intcr-Impeiial Trade Policy, both at home and in the
Colonics, did regard the la. duty with the gratitude that hopes
for more. Obgta pnneipits was the retort of the Free Traders.
Nor was Mr. Chamberliun slow to take up the challenge. In Gdonfol
a ^rcch m Birmingham (May 15) he boldly dedared himself in
f.ii our of a complete rever^l of recent fiscal policy ; of jnefier-
cnce for Colonial products, and of the imposition of rctahatoiy
duties against foreign countries whidi had erected tariff barriers
agamst British goods.
Tlius was the issue joined and the Tariff Reform campaign
inniguratcd. The Birmingham speech caused much perturba-
tinn in Parliament, in the Umonist Party, and most of all in the
Cabinet, which was hopdessly divided on the subject. Mr. Bal«
four, to aUay apprehensions, was constxamed to announce that
the fiscal question would not be dealt with in the existing Par>
liamcnt ; but strive as he might he could not avert a break up
of the Cabinet.
Mr. Chamberlain, though realmng that under existing dr^
cumstances the poUiy of Imperial Preference could not be pressed
with any hope of success, fdt that as Colonial Secretary, and
after his liaidc disclosure of his opinions to the Colonial Premiers,
he could not, even temporarily, accqit the exduaon of that item
from the programme of the Party to which he adhered. Accord-
ingly, he wrote to the Prune Minister on September 9th, 1908,
suggesting that the latter should ' limit the present pohiy of the
Government to the assertion of our freedom in the case of all
commercial relations with foreign countries ', and should at the
same time accept the resignation of the Colonial Secretary, who
would then be free to devote himsdf ' to the work of explauung and
popularasing those pnnciples of Imperial union * which in his view
were essential to the future wdfiire and proqierity of the country.
192 FALL OF THE UNIONIST GOVERNMENT [ 1002 .
To that letter Balfour did not reply until September 16. In
the meantime much had happened. The Cabinet reassembled on
September 14 Nothmg was said about Chamberlain’s proffered
resignation but Mr. Ritchie and Lord Balfour of Burleigh were
dismissed by the Prime Minister. ‘ I never wrote the Duke of
Devonshire, ‘ heard anything more summary and decisive than
the dismissal of the two Ministers.’ On the following day, Sep-
tember 15, Lord George Hamilton and the Duke of Devonshire
also resigned. On the 16th the Duke was informed by the Prune
Mmister that Chamberlain had resigned, and thereupon acceded
to his Chief’s urgent request to withdraw his resignation.^
Minis- On September 18 the newspapers announced simultaneously
re^na- resignation of Mr. Chamberlain and the three Free Trade
tions Ministers. The latter complained that they had resigned ‘ in
ignorance of Mr. Chamberlain’s resignation, and the consequent
ehmmation of all that related to preferential tariffs from the
Government programme’. The protest was justified and pro-
duced a painful impression. If they had not been formally dis-
missed they had undoubtedly been ‘ jockeyed ’ into resignation.
The pubhc were befogged. What exactly did these resigna-
tions portend ? Had the Prenuer surrendered to the Tariff Re-
formers or to the Free Traders ’ The personnel of the recon-
structed Cabmet afforded no decisive clue; Mr. Austen Cham-
berlain succeeded Mr. Ritchie as Chancellor of the Exchequer,
Mr. Victor Cavendish, heir to the Dukedom of Devonshire, became
Fmancial Secretary to the Tre^ury, while hir. Alfred Lyttelton,
on Lord Milner’s refusal to accept the office, became Colonial
Secretary.
How deeply Chamberlain felt the behaviour of his late col-
leagues may be judged from the letter which on September 21st
he addressed to the Duke of Devonshire . ‘ For my part I care
only for the great question of imperial unity. But for this I
would not have taken off my coat. . . . While I was slaving
my life out, you threw [my pohcy] over as of no importance, and
it is to this indifference to a great pohcy which you had your-
selves accepted that you owe the present situation ’
The Duke returned a soft answer and friendly relations were
^ It IS a satisfaction to me to note that my account of this complicated
episode is almost precisely confirmed in Mr. Winston Churchill's iJreat Oon-
temporaries, pp 244 f.
TARIFF REFORM
1S3
lOOS]
partially restored Nothing however could restore the Duke’s
peace of mind, and after Balfour’s speech at Sheffield (October 2),
the Duke finally resigned, only to be assailed with equal bitterness
by the Prime Minister * I have made a mess of this business.’
So the Duke wrote (October 6) to his old friend. Lord James of
Hereford He had ‘ I have he added, ‘ come out of it with
severe damage ’ His conduct was mdeed unintelligible, most of all
to himself ; but nothing could shake the confidence reposed by his
countrj’men in his sterling patriotism and transparent honesty.
No sooner was the Duke’s resignation announced than Cham- The
berlain flung himself with the energy and arddur of a young man
into a battle which — for him — ended when he was suddenly
stricken (July 1900) with illness, which compelled his withdrawal
from all pubhc work He was then only seventy, but it may be
that he had foreknowledge that his time was short and that he
pressed on the work -with a feverish haste fatal to himself and not
conducive to the success of his^cause. For the conversion of the
electorate was bound to be slow
Fabian strategy did not suit Chamberlain’s temper or methods. The
He was commced that the hour of decision had struck; that p
unless Great Britam grasped at once the hand held out by the League
Colomes, it might for ever be withdrawn Accordingly, he
founded a Tariff Reform League, on the Imes of the Anti-Com
Law League, and employed statisticians and experts to investi-
gate the position of vanous British mdustnes and provide him
with the data necessary to estabhsh his case for reform Of this
unofficial Tariff Reform Commission Mr W. A S Hewins, well
known as an Oxford University Extension Lecturer and Director
of the London School of Economics, was secretary, and under his
superintendence a series of exhaustive Reports was published.^
Upon the data thus obtamed Chamberlain based the case
wluch he expounded with amazmg energy and eloquence at a
series of meetings during the years 1903-6. Confronted with the
exceedingly cogent speeches, in which twenty years earher he had
confounded the arguments of the ‘ Fair Traders ’, lilr Chamberlam
frankly confessed himself a convert. But he msisted that smee
the earlier ’eighties the whole situation had profoundly altered.
1 Vol 1 dealt with the Iron and Steel Trades , \ol ii with the Textile
Trades and so on Cf with these Reports British and Foreign Trade and
Industry Memoranda, d c , published by the Board of Trade in 1003 and 1004
ME — 13
194 FALL OF THE UNIONIST GOVERNJIENT 11902 -
Down to that time English industry had enjoyed an unchallenged
pre-eminence, while her agriculture had continued to flourish
without the protection of the Corn laws. Since then British
manufactures had experienced severe competition from an indus-
trialized Germany, while the improvement in means of communi-
cation and refrigerating machinery was bringing the wheat of
North America and the meat of South America at cheap puces
into the English market Moreover, our commercial rivals, while
competing with us in neutral markets, and flooding the English
market, were closing their own markets against us by high tariffs
In 1846 Cobden made his famous prediction • ‘ There will
not be a tariff in Europe that will not be changed in less than five
years’ time to follow your example ’ Down to the ’seventies there
seemed a chance that his prediction might, though tardily, be ful-
filled. Since the ’seventies the teaching of Frederick List had super-
seded that of Adam Smith : the spirit of Economic nationalism
had rapidly developed
There was another phenomenon still more disquieting to Free
Traders. High tariffs had not proved mimical to the develop-
ment of external trade. On the contrary the exports of the Pro-
tective countries were increasing at a ratio far greater than our
own. Free Traders retorted that our rivals had started from
zero, while we had reached the meridian of industrial prosperity.
The retort was pertinent, but it ignored the significance of a
‘ law ’ which Economists were only beginning to formulate If
agriculture was subject, as Ricardo and his disciples had taught, to
the ‘ law of diminishing returns ’, manufacturing, under modern
conditions, was obedient to the ‘ law of increasing returns ’. The
more you made, the cheaper you could make it. The development
of Trusts and Cartels — ^new phenomena; m industry — accentuated
this tendency Protected m their home markets by high tariffs,
the steel and other Trusts of Germany and the United States
could sell their surplus products at prices actually below the cost
of production. This was the scientific explanation of ‘ dump-
ing ’. Once more Free Traders retorted that if some trades m
England suffered from dumpmg, other productive industries —
notably shipbuilding — ^reaped proportionate advantages
The argument was nicely balanced ; but it could hardly be
denied that if, as seemed hkely, the world was about to plunge
1005]
CaiAJIBERLAIN’S CAJIPAIGN
195
into an Economic war, England, so long as she ngidly adhered to
Cobdenite doctrine, was peculiarly vulnerable We had nothing
wherewith to bargain Worse than that Our Colonial friends
•were actually penalized for their loyalty. Germany’s retort to
the preferences given by Canada to Great Britain was to retaliate
by a differentiating tariff against Canada And what could we
do, unless armed v ith retaliator}’ weapons, to help our friends ?
Or to reciprocate their friendship ’ Could Canada, for example,
be reasonably expected to reject reciprocal offers from the United
States, if we refused a preference to her products in the English
market ’
That was the real crux of the problem That was the cardinal
issue raised by Jlr Chamberlam His argument was not exclu-
sively, or even primarily, economic It was his honourable
ambition to go down to posterity as the architect of a great
Impenal edifice, the creator of an Empire, united in bonds of _
interest not less than of affection ‘ You cannot ’, he argued, \
‘ weld the Empire together except by some form of commercial ‘
union’ His goal vas pohtical unity an Imperial Council, to
begin with, perhaps leading to a complete and coherent Federal
Constitution m the future. But the experience gamed from two
Colonial Conferences, combined with the recent impression of
his South African tour, had convinced him that, as in Imperial
Germany, commercial umon must precede and prepare the way
for political union
'There nas a lion in his path He had to convince the ‘ pre-
dominant partner ’ Imperial sentiment had, as we have seen,
gamed ground rapidly in England in the two preceding decades.
But had it so far permeated the mass of the British doctorate as
to countervail their appreciation of cheap food ? ‘ Your food
will cost you more ’ was the most effective weapon in the armoury
of Chamberlain’s opponents He was compelled, therefore, to
attempt the difficult feat of nding two horses simultaneously.
And the Liberal circus-masters incited the horses to gallop in
opposite directions
If ]Mr Balfour, by his Education Act, had presented a divided Chamber-
Liberal Party v ith a great opportunity for reunion, Jlr Chamber-
Jam, by his Tariff Reform proposals, did more He cemented paign
T ibcral reunion and, at the same tune, split the Unionist Party
196 FALL OF THE UNIONIST GOVERNMENT [ 1002 -
Mr. Asquith seized both opportunities, with a skill which ensured
to him the ultimate leadership of his party. The Education Bill
aroused all the traditional prejudices of the Nonconformist ; the
Liberal-Imperialist could not swallow the Protectionist pill, even
•with a coating of Imperiahst sugar. Moreover, the dilemma with
•which Asquith confronted the Tariff-Reformers was not wholly
dialectical. How can you give an advantage to the Canadian
farmer, and at the same tune lift the depression from Enghsh
agriculture ’ The only preference which would substantially
benefit Canada is a preference on its wheat. New Zealand a prefer-
ence on its mutton. How can you give these without raising the
cost of Imng for the working-class family in England ? How
can you raise the revenue you want for social reform by a tax on
foreign manufactures, and at the same time give even a modicum
of protection to the Enghsh mdustriahst’ The reply to the
argument was ‘ solvttur amhulanda ’ : other people are doing it ;
you can do it if you try
In speeches of surpassing power Mr. Chamberlain urged his
great audiences to make some small and temporary economic
sacrifice, for the sake of a great political ideal. At the same time
he assured them that no sacrifice would be demanded. He was
prepared to make concrete proposals. He boldly faced the fact
that no effective preference could be given to the Colonies without
taxes on ‘ food He proposed, therefore, to impose a duty not
exceedmg 2 j. a quarter on foreign corn, except maize, which he
w'ould exempt as being ‘ a food of some of the poorest of the popu-
lation and as raw material for the farmer A corresponding tax
on flour would ‘ give a substantial preference to the miller ’ and
so would re-establish ‘ one of our most ancient mdustries ’, increase
employment in agricultural districts, and provide offals for the
poor man’s pig. There should be a 5 per cent tax on foreign
meat and dairy produce (bacon bemg exempted), and a preference
on colomal wines and perhaps fruits. These taxes, if paid by the
consumer, would cost the agricultural labourer (so Chamberlain
reckoned) 16^ farthings a week and the artisan 19^ . but they
would be compensated by a remission of three-quarters of the
duty on tea (with correspondmg remissions on coffee and cocoa)
and half the duty on sugar. On balance, even on the assumption,
denied by Chamberlain, that the consumer would pay, the artisan
1003] BALFOUR’S POSITION 197
would be no worse off, and the rural worker would gam half a
farllnng a w'eek The Exchequer would lose £2,800,000 a year by
remissions, but would gam, by a 10 per cent (average) duty on
manufactured articles, anything from £9,000,000 to £15,000,000 a
ycar^
Concrete proposals offer a temptmg target to skilful marksmen,
and Chamberlain had to dodge the missiles both of Unionist Free
Traders and of Liberals But he had to meet a more formidable
argument than any employed by Mr Asqmth on the one hand,
or by Lord Hugh Cecil on the other Half his case rested on
trade depression trade was rapidly improving Chamberlain
was fighting what was, at the moment, a losing battle.
Meanwhile, it needed all the incomparable dexterity of Mr.
Balfour to keep together a parhamentary majority sufficient to
postpone a dissolution He may perhaps have cleared his own
mind, he certamly befogged his followers by the publication of a
characteristic pamphlet. Economic Notes on Insular Free Trade
The pamphlet did not deserve all the ridicule it evoked ; it contains
not a few reflections which are both wise and apposite but the
Party called not for the reflections of a philosopher, but for the
guidance of a leader who knew his own mind and could help them
to make up theirs Mr Balfour had got rid of his Free Trade
colleagues Was he himself a Tanff-Refomer ? con-
strained, m the course of the campaign, to^msonmoataxes
What then became of Preference ? But if PrefSrence went, was
it worth while to abandon Free Imports to save home industries,
which (if the Board of Trade returns could be trusted) stood m no
need of salvation ?
So the Unionist Party went to its doom. Apart from the
Tanff Reform Campaign and the Education Act of 1902 there
was little in the domestic history of the years 1902-5 to render
Balfour’s Premiership memorable. Mr Arnold Forster, who m
1902 had succeeded Air Brodnek (afterwards Earl of Alidleton)
at the War Office, produced m 1904 an elaborate scheme of Army
Reorganization , a Licensing Act (1904) provided for the payment
of compensation (levied on the trade itself) when, on grounds of
pubhc policy, licences were taken away, and substituted Quarter
Sessions for the local magistrates os the licensing authority in
* Cf. in porticulax SpcecAu, II 15S 0 .
Qunese
slavery
Balfour
resigns
198 FALL OF THE UNIONIST GOVERmiENT [1902-
counties, and the full bench of justices with the Recorder in
county boroughs , an important measure to restrict ahen immi-
gration and an Unemployed Workmen Act were passed in 1905 ;
but for the rest the only matter which excited hot dispute was
the issue by the British High Commissioner in South Africa (the
Earl of Selborne) of an ordinance authorizing, under stnngent
conditions, the importation of Chinese labourers for service m the
gold-fields.
Unscrupulous as was the use made by the Opposition of the
Anti-Slavery cry, it undoubtedly contributed materially to the
defeat of the Unionist Party at the General Election of 1906.
Their remarkable achievement m Ireland ^ weighed little against
the iniquity of supporting Denominational Schools out of pubhc
money, the condonation of slavery in the interests of cosmo-
pohtan financiers on the Rand, and the prospect of a tax on
the people’s food.
Mr. Chamberlain meanwhile was getting tired of procrastina-
tion and ambiguity. Another Colonial Conference was nearly
due. He insisted that it should be free to discuss every aspect
of the tariff problem To tins demand Balfour agreed only on
condition that the Conference met after the next Election, and
that any proposals it might formulate should be ratified by the
Imperial Parhament only after a second appeal to the electorate.
But for the protagonists the sands were runmng out On Novem-
ber 21 1905, Chamberlain, encouraged by an almost unanimous
vote in favour of his iiolicy at the annual meeting of the Unionist
Party at Newcastle (November 14), issued his ultimatum. In a
great speech at Bristol he insisted that the Unionist Party should
fight the next election on the fiscal question. Waverers must be
discarded. The country must vote on a clear issue.
Balfour perceived that further procrastination was impossible :
but instead of asking for a Dissolution, which Chamberlain desired,
he resigned office (December 4th, 1905) On the eve of his
resignation Balfour secured for his successor official recognition
and social precedence The Gazette of December 2 announced
that the King had been pleased to assign to ‘ Our Prime Minister *
precedence between the Archbishop of York and the premier
Duke.
I See mfra, c. six.
1605] CIjOSS of CB[A^ISFFXiAIN’S CAFFFR 199
King Ediiard accepted mth alacnty, and perhaps with some
relief, the resignation of a Prime Minister who had been at little
pains to make himsdf mtelhgible to a master with whom he had
nothing in common The long Unionist domination was ended
In the Unionist debacle which marked the ensuing election Close of
Mr. Chamberlain and his son Austen were among tlie few Umonist
leaders who survived But for Joseph Chamberlain the fight was career
all but ended On July T.'TSOBT'his seventieth birthday was
celebrated with great rejoicmg in the city of his adoption Dur-
ing the day he and Mrs Chamberlain drove (as he said) ‘ through
eighteen miles of people ’ , at night a great banquet was given
m their honour, and on Monday the 9th (the intervemng Sunday
being the actual anniversary of his birth) he addressed a vast
meeting in Bingley HaU
In a memorable speech he touched a note of high Impenal
patnotism and concluded with these words * The union of the
Empire must be preceded and accompamed, as I have said, by a
better understandmg, by a closer sympathy To secure that is
the highest object of statesmanship now at the beginnmg of the
twentieth century, and, if these were the last words that I were
permitted to utter to you, I would rejoice to utter them in your
presence and with your approval I know that the frmtion of
our hopes is certain I hope I may be able to hve to congratulate
you upon our common tnumph, but m any case I have faith m
the people I trust in the good sense, the intelligence, and the
patriotism of the majority, the vast majority of my countrymen.
I look foniard to the future with hope and confidence, and
* Others I doubt not, if not we.
The issue of our toil shall see
Those were the last words ever uttered by Joseph Chamberlain
in public Two days later he had a paralytic stroke He sur-
\’ived it for eight years, but though he retained control of his
faculties and exercised them to further, from his couch, the cause
to which he was devoted, his active career was ended He died
on July 2, 1914, deeply mourned by his fellow subjects throughout
the Empire, but happily spared the knowledge of the dark days
ahead.
THE DIPLOMATIC REVOLUTION
[ 1809 -
CHAPTER XII
THE DIPLOMATIC REVOLUTION— ENGLAND AND FOREIGN
ALLIANCES
The f S it the function of the historian to reflect popular sentiment,
Function J[^ times T\ath -which he deals, or to correct the faulty per-
Hisiory ? speciive of contemporaries ? Should he attempt to reproduce the
relative importance of events as they appeared at the time, or as
they have been revealed in retrospect to the student of affairs ?
Preceding chapters have attempted tlie former task ; but with
the result that events of still greater permanent significance were
too cursorily treated. This disproportion the present chapter
seeks to redress.
England During Lord Salisbury’s tenure of the Foreign Office his main
France preoccupations were the persistent hostility manifested towards
this country by France, and the clash of interests between Great
Britain and Russia in Central Asia and the Farther East. The
tension in Anglo-French relations reached a climax, when in 1898
General Kitchener and Llajor Marchand confronted each other at
Fashoda, but Lord Salisbury’s handling of the crisis, at once
firm and tactful, averted war, and in ^larch 1899 the two countries
concluded a comprehensive agreement France was thereby con-
firmed in possession of a West African empue, more vast m extent
than intrinsically valuable , England was to be left in undisturbed
possession of the Egyptian Soudan
From that moment official relations between the tivo countries
improved, though popular feehng in France throughout the South
African War remained bitterly hostile.
Franco- Much more rapid and, m view of subsequent events, not less
important was the improvement in the relations between France
chement and Russia. Previous to 1870 there had never been — except
during the brief alliance of Napoleon I and Alexander I — any
WU]
FRANCO-RUSSIAN ALLIANCE
201
tradition of pobtical fnendslup between the two countnes , but
the defeat of France m 1870 and the growing power of Germany
entirely altered the balance of diplomatic forces Dimly perceived
dunng the regime of Bismarck, this truth vas unmistakably
apprehended by Russia after the accession of William 11. But
the first overt indication of the new orientation of Russian pohcy
dates from the years between 1889 and 1891 The new intimacy
had a financial origin Russia, as usual, was m want of money.
Bcrhn had refused to lend, but from 1888 onwards a senes of
Russian loans were issued in Pans and very largely taken up by
French financiers
The rapprochement between France and Russia was not merely Bismarck
financial Russia was becommg alarmed by the menacing tone
adopted bj German statesmen IVhen Bismarck (1888) pubhshed
the text of the Triple Alhance, Russia was startled by the terms
of a document to which in 1884 she had almost made herself party.
In the next few years, things began to move rapidly towards
a Franco-Russian Alhance. In July 1891 a French fleet, und»
the command of Admiral Gervais, paid a ceremomal visit to
Cronstadt, and was received by the Russian authonties with the
greatest enthusiasm
Nor was the ceremonial visit empty of diplomatic consequences Franoo-
It was followed in 1892 by the signature of a mihtary convention
of a purely defensive character, and in June 1893 by a commercial
treaty The accession (1894) of Nicholas II, the husband of a
German prmcess, and an avowed admirer of the German Emperor,
was not permitted to interrupt the cordial relations between
France and his own country.
The Franco-Russian Alliance, officially acknowledged m 1896, Anglo-
rendered still more conspicuous the diplomatic isolation of Great
Britain Though menacmg, m its mception, to Germany, the
Franco-Russian Alhance might prove 'even more dangerous to
England, more particularly if the German Emperor was successful
in cffeeling an entente between the Triple Alhance and the newly
formed Dual Alliance Such a possibility seemed far from remote
when Germany joined France and Russia in compelhng Japan
to surrender the fruits of her recent victory over China Japan’s
only friend was England Was the day approaching when Eng-
land’s only friend would be Japan?
202
THE DIPLOMATIC REVOLUTION
[1809-
Lord Salisbury might profess indifference to the isolation of
England. He might even regard it as splendid ; but recent
dc^clopmcnts must have caused him some hcart-searchincr. He
had discussed the situation in some detail with the German
Foreign Secretary, Baron von.Marschall, w’hcn, in 1891, the latter
accompanied the Emperor on his visit to Queen Victoria. Con-
versations were resumed during the Kaiser’s visit to Cowes in
1895 Ilerr von Kidcrlin-Wachtcr accompanied his master, who
arrived at Cowes on August 5, and remained there until the 10th
On tlie 5th he had an interview with Lord Salisbury at which
the latter is alleged to have declared that the condition of the
Ottoman Empire was ‘ rotten and that the time had come for
liquidating the bankrupt’s estate Lord Salisbury -when ques-
tioned about the matter, some twelve months later, merely
remarked that the Kaiser’s aceount of the interview ‘ showed the
expediency of having a third person present when talking to the
Emperor, if he made it his practice to put into his interlocutor’s
mouth proposals which emanated from himself The Kaiser
put his own story on record, and its accuracy has never been
questioned in Germany even by the most sceptical of his critics
Moreover, plausibility was given to his version of the matter by
Lord Salisbury’s notorious detestation of Abdul Hamid’s per-
secutions m Armenia, and by his confession that by backing the
Turk in 1854- and 1876 England had ‘ put her money on the wrong
horse ’. Lord Sanderson, who was Permanent Under-Secretary
of State at the time, has left on record an important memorandum
on the subject ® ‘ I think it ’, he wntes, ‘ highly probable that
he (Lord Salisbury) mentioned to the Kaiser the prospect of dis-
memberment of considerable portions of the Turkish Empire as
eventuahtics to be contemplated without reluctance, though I
1 Chirol, Fifty Years, p 201
* There is nn exasperating lacuna in the Foreign OHiec Papers about this
period due doubtless to Lord Salisbury’s practice of transacting much of tlie
most important business of tlic Office by private correspondence, of which
there exists no official record All the more eagerly, therefore, must we await
the long-delayed completion of Lady Gwendolen Coed’s Life of her father.
Meanwhile, I have been permitted to see (and to quote) the important memo-
randum by Lord Sanderson The memorandum is not contemporary but
was written in September 1020 after the exposure contained m Baron von
Eckhardstem’s Recollections But Lord Sanderson’s memory was as phenom-
enal as his accuracy.
1911] ENGLAND AND GEIDIANY 203
should altogether discredit the suggestion that he proposed any
definite cut-and-dried programme ’ IVhat precisely happened at
Cowes we may never know ; but it is certain that the German
Emperor was deeply incensed against Lord Salisbury,' and for
the nevt four years his annual visit to his grandmother was
intermitted
!ilr Chamberlain w'as more impressed than his Chief by the Chamber-
danger of isolation He appreciated the world-wide difficulties
with which England was confronted A clash with the French
was imminent on the Upper Nile , the situation m South Africa
was becommg increasingly grave , war between the United States
and Spam might (and did) extend into the Pacific, and sparks
might easily fall on mflammable materials m the Far East
Regarded from the standpoint of world-politics the mterests of
England and Germany seemed to conflict less acutely than those
of any other great Powers A treaty between England and Ger-
many might secure peace for the world
In 1S99 such a treaty seemed to come within the bounds of
possibility. Towards the end of November, not long after the
outbreak of the Boer War, the Emperor William, with the Empress
and tw o of their sons, visited the Queen at Windsor and the Prince
of Wales at Sandringham The visit — the first for four years —
was seemingly intended as a broad hint to the world that the
Boers must not look for help or even sympathy to Germany.
The Emperor was accompanied by Count Bulow, his Foreign
Secretary, already, though not yet Chancellor, the most powerful
Minister m Germany Both the Emperor and his Minister were
at pains to assure the Queen that they deplored, and to the utmost
of their pow er w’cre restraining, anti-Bntish feelmg m Germany.®
Lord Salisbury, owing to Lady Sabsbury’s death, was unable to
join the party at Windsor, but iilr ChCamberlain was included in
it, as was Sir Frank Lascclles,® and the conversations were
apparently most cordial m tone
A few weeks before the Emperor’s visit Lord Salisbury, speak-
ing at the Guildhall banquet (November 9), had alluded to the
treat} with Germany by wluch Samoa w’as conceded to her. His
words were unusually emphatic ‘ This morning’, he said, ‘ you
1 On tlic unfortunate incident at Cowes, cf Q F L , III u 547.
* <2 I’ £ , 111 in 42J t. * British Ambassador at Berlm.
204
THE DIPLOLIATIC REVOLUTION
[189S>-
The Boer
Wat
have learned of the arrangement concluded between us and one
of the continental Stales with whom, more than with others, we
have for years maintained sympathetic and friendly relations.
The arrangement is, above all, interesting as an indication that
our relations with the German nation are all that we could
desire.’
Then came the ‘heart to heart’ talks at Windsor. The
Kaiser received Chamberlain on November 21st and again on the
24 th, and on the latter date Chamberlain had a long and con-
fidential talk with Bulow, who, in a scciet memorandum drafted
at the time, recorded his impression that ‘ opinion in England is
far less anti-German than opinion in Germany is anti-English
From Windsor Chamberlain went off to Leicester and there
(November 30, 1899) delivered his famous speech ‘ At bottom’,
he said, ‘ the mam character of the Teutonic race differs very
little from that of the Anglo-Saxon, and the same sentiments
winch bring us into close sympathy with the United States of
America may also be evoked to bring us into close sjunpathy and
alliance with the Empire of Germany ... If the union between
England and America is a powerftd factor in the cause of peace,
a new Triple Alliance between the Teutonic race and the two
great branches of the Anglo-Saxon race will be a still more potent
influence m the future of the world ’ ^
Cruel was the awakening from this dream. Hardly w as Bulow
back m Berlin before he delivered a speech (December 11th) on
the naval laws, in w'hich he poured scorn on Chamberlam’s pubhc
and private overtures, though profuse in his courtesies tow’ards
France and Russia. There was no further talk on Chamberlain’s
part of an Anglo-German-American treaty.^
Bulow’s speech was comcidcnt with the ‘ Black Week ’ in
South Africa.
To England’s many enemies the disastrous opening of the
war naturally offered an irresistible opportunity, and in I\Iarch
1900 Russia actually proposed to Berlin that Germany and France
should offer conceited mediation to Great Britain, and that Russia
should then 30 in them. Bulow, however, declined to commit
» Annual Register, 1890, p 227
* On tlic situation cf Brandenburg, op cit., p 130, and lus references to
Grasse Pohttk, mv. 468, 403 , xv. 422.
LORD LANSDOWNE
205
ion]
Germany to action •which -would estrange Great Britain, until he
v.n’i assured as to the attitude of France
In October 1900 the terms of an Anglo-German agreement m The
reference to China -were pubhshed In tlus so-called ‘ Yang-tse ’
Treatj’ the two Go\emments declared that it -was a matter of Treaty,’
permanent international interest that the ports on the rivers and
lilioral of China should remam free and open to trade for the
nationals of all countries •without distinction, and that they -would
uphold the same * for all Chinese territory so far as they could
exercise influence ’ , they repudiated any desire for exclusive
territorial acquisitions for themselves, and undertook to strive for
the maintenance of the territorial mtegnty of the Chmese Empire,
should it be threatened by any other Power The terms of the
Agreement were communicated to the other interested Powers ,
they were fully accepted by Japan, Austria-Hungary and Italy,
and with reservations by the United States and France At
Petersburg only did they' excite irritation ^
A change at the English Foreign Office m October 1900 im- Lord
proved the chances of an Anglo-German Agreement At Berhn Cowrie
Lord Sahsbuiy had long been regarded as the mam obstacle to
it * His successor, the Hlarquis of Lansdoivne, was not only a
born diplomatist but had enjoyed the great advantage, demed
to Jiis predecessor, of surveymg world pohtics from Ottawa and
Simla, as well as from Dowmng Street Like Mx. Chamberlam
he bebeved that the situation of England as revealed by recent
events necessitated a new diplomatic departure. Fresh over-
tures were accordmgly made both by Chamberlain and the new
Foreign Secretary to Berhn Despite the improved atmosphere
created by the Kaiser’s attitude at the time of Queen Victoria’s
death (January 1901), the overtures were decisively and roughly
rejected by Bulow. Nor is there any obscurity as to his motive.
Germany, in his -view, would under such an arrangement have
become ‘the sword of England upon the European continent’.
‘ In the event of a general conflict ’, he -writes, ‘ w e Germans would
have had to wage strenuous war on land in two directions, while
* Bnlish Documents, i S31
* See Chirol, op cit, p 29S, and Ilammann, The TTor/d Pohey of Germany
{E T) (p 109), who rtfers to Holstein’s ‘violent invccti\-cs against Lord
Salisburj s “ unbearable pcrsonalitv ”
20G THE diplomatic REVOLUTION [1890-
to England would have fallen the easier task of further extending
her Colonial Empire without much trouble.’
German So far from concluding an alliance with England Germany
sea-power bound, in Bulow’s opimon, sooner or later to fight her
* England he writes, * is the only, country with which Germany
has an account.’ The struggle might well have come during the
South African War. But the German Navy was not ready ; a
premature trial of strength might have throttled German sea-
power for ever Germany was, however, coming on apace In
1895 the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal had been completed. Linking
the North Sea with the Baltic the canal permitted the passage
of the German fleet from either sea to the other and thus at
once doubled Germany’s effective naval force In 1897 Admiral
von Tirpitz was called to the control of German naval pohcy.
In 1898 the first German Navy Law was passed, and a second,
on a far more ambitious scale, in 1900 From that time on-
wards, the Navy became not less definitely than the Army ‘ a
constituent part of our national defence ’ (Bulow) The Kaiser
had long since announced his policy m this matter. * I will never
rest ’, he said, ‘ until I have raised my Navy to a position similar
to that occupied by my Army. German colonial aims can only
be gained when Germany has become master on the ocean.’ Such
sentiments, frequently reiterated, could not fail to produce an
effect upon public opimon in England
Edward So matters stood when Queen Victoria died (January 1901).
The situation on King Edward’s accession is thus succinctly
summarized by Ins intimate fnend
‘ Germany hated and envied us , France suspected us , Russia
looked upon us as the hidden enemy, lurking by mght. When
the Kin g died all was changed I am far from saying that the
more friendly feehngs which prevailed were entirely due to his
initiation ; but I do say that without the wonderful charm which
he exerted they would not have existed He fully recognized
his limitations as a Constitutional Monarch , it was not for him
to start alhances ; but he made them possible.’ ^
The Of those alhances the first and the most dramatic was the
^panese ‘agreement’ concluded between Great Britain and Japan in
Alliance January 1902.
» Lord Redesdale, Memories, I 179.
IDll]
JAPAN AND CHINA
207
The appearance of Japan upon the stage of international
politics IS one of the most remarkable e\ cnts in modem history.
The Western European Powers had made an effort, in the six-
teenth century, to ‘ open up ’ Japan to commerce and Chris-
iiamtj, but early in the seventeenth centurj' the Japanese shut
the door to both, and from that time until the middle of the
nineteenth century they mamtained a pohey of complete isola-
tion In 1S5S, however. Conventions vere concluded between
Japan on the one side and Great Britain, France, Bussia, Por-
tugal and the Umted States on the other, by which certain ports
were to be opened to foreign trade and foreign Consuls were to
be aliened to reside there
These events announced the advent of a new era m the history
of Japan and indeed of the Pacific Ocean Yet do^vn to the
\ car ISCS Japan remained to all Intents and puiposes a purely
mediaeval and purely Asiatic State The next quarter of a
centuiy, honever, witnessed a revolution almost umque m his-
tory A brand new Constitution on Western European lines was
adopted ; representative government was mtroduced and a Par-
liament of two Houses came into being ; a system of popular
education was promoted , Universities were established , rail-
vays ncrc constructed, above aU, the military system was re-
organized on German hnes, with compulsory service as its basis,
and a Na'iy' vas constructed and manned by sailors who were
trained by British officers
The result was demonstrated m the decisive defeat inflicted S»no-
bj Japan upon China in tlie war of 1894-6 , and the completeness
of her victory was reflected m the terms of the Treaty of Shi-
nionoseki At one bound Japan had advanced to the foremost
place in the Far East
It vas a dangerous pre-eminence. Victorious Japan was now
confronted by the jealousy of Hussia, and in less degree of Ger-
man} and France, who msistcd on the rendition of Port Arthur
and the Liao-Tung Penmsula to China. Japan sullenly wth-
dren, cherishing in her heart bitter animosity against the Power
which had robbed her of the fruits of victory, and resolved to
prepare for the struggle to come
Never was pohtical cynicism more stnkmgly illustrated than European
bj the sequel to this episode. Withm a short time the Powers ,n
208
THE DIPLOaiATIC REVOLUTION
[1890-
wliich had been so 3 calous for the integrity of China were all
entrenched upon her soil . Russia at Port Arthur and Germany
at Kiaochow.
The scramble for China ha\nng thus begun. Great Britain
could hardly look on unmoved Moreover, the Chinese them-
selves intimated to Great Britain that as soon as the Japanese
evacuated Wei-Hai-Wei (still held as security for the payment
of the indemnity) Great Britain might if she chose, have a lease
of it The suggestion vas, from the Chinese point of view, a
shrew-d one , for Japan was still in possession of Wei-Hai-Wei,
and m view of the Russian and German acquisitions so flagrantly
defiant of the considerations which had prompted the demand
that Japan should surrender her acquisitions on the Chinese
mainland, Japan might be disposed to sta}' where she was.
Great Britain agreed to take Wei-Hai-Wci on lease, for so long
a period as Port Arthur should remain in the hands of Russia^
Accordingly, Wei-Hai-Wei was evacuated by the Japanese on
Jlay 24, 1898, and on the 25th it was taken over by Great
Britam.^
Nor was foreign penetration in China by any means limited
to those territorial acquisitions Russia was gradually fastening
a financial, military, and commercial grip upon the Celestial
Empire. But perhaps nothing did more to alarm the Conserva-
tive party in China than the publication of an edict by the Chinese
Government conferring, at the instance of France, considerable
privileges upon the French Catholic missions m that country.
Small wonder that these events created, in the minds of a con-
servative and suspicious people, profound resentment against
those who seemed to be bent not only upon the dismemberment
of the Empire, but also upon a transformation of its social,
religious, and industnal life Such feelings led to the explosion
The known to foreigners as the rising of the Boxers Early in 1900
Ri*smg situation became so menacing that the Foreign jMinisteis at
Pekin requested their Governments to dispatch naval squadrons
to China. In June, massacres on a large scale began m Pekin,
and on the 20th of that month the German Ambassador was
assassinated. The fleets, thereupon, attacked the Taku forts at
the end of June and captured them. ' The Chinese Government
1 Evacuated in 1030
1011 ]
ANGLO-JAPANESE TREATY
thereupon recognized the Boxers as a national force and declared
war against ‘ the foieign devils ’ Tientsin and the Pekift Lega-
tions were no-n entirely isolated, and for two months the
British Embassy, in winch the other Ministers and their suites
had taken refuge, was besieged Meanw'hile an international
relief force was organized m which Great Britain, France, Russia,
and Germany were jomed by the United States and Japan.
The relief column reached Pelan in August, and raised the siege
of the British Embassj'. Condign punishment was meted out to
the ringleaders, a large indemnity was imposed upon China, but
the territorial mtegrity of China was specifically guaranteed by
the Powers These terms were embodied in a defimtive treaty
which was signed m September 1901
Less tlian six months later it w'as revealed to an astonished
world that the island Empire of the West had emerged from the
‘ splendid isolation ’ w'hich had so long characterized its foreign
pohey only to conclude an actual treaty with the island Empire
of the Far East On January 30, 1902, the Anglo-Japanese The
Treaty was signed. ^ The action of Russia, France and Germany
in 1895 had naturally" created deep resentment in Japan. To Treaty,
England, therefore, Japan turned, not only as the European^®**®
country which had the greatest mtercst in the Orient, but as the
one great Power which had stood aloof from her neighbours when
they inflicted injury and humiliation, in her hour of victory, upon
Japan The Japanese had, as Count Hayashi ^ told Lord Lans-
downe, ‘ a strong sentimental dishke to the retention by Russia
of [Manchuria] from which they had at one time been expelled
Manchuria, however, w’as of secondary importance to Japan
Her real concern was for Korea, ‘ and sooner or later it would
have to be decided whether the country, was to fall to Russia or
not*. The Japanese ‘would certainly fight in order to prevent
it, and it must be the object of their diplomacy to isolate Russia,
XLiih Clinch Power, tf %t stood alone, they were -prepared to deal
The italicized w ords pro^^de the key to the Anglo-Japanese Treaty
from the Japanese side. ‘Japan’, as Lord Lansdovne’s biog-
rapher has said, ‘was prepared to fight Russia for Korea
* T ipincse Ambiss'idor in London For the whole matter cf Seera
Mcmuirt of Baron Ilayashi, London, 1013
' British Documents, h 80-0 ®Scc note p 220
MU — 14
210
THE DIPLOIVIATIC REVOLUTION
[1890-
single-handed, but not if other Powers such as France and
Germany were to intervene. Hence the necessity for a British
alliance ’ ^
With England the alliance was less a matter of necessity than
of convenience. She was drawn to Japan by common suspicion
of the designs of Russia and Germany in the Far East, by anxiety
to mamtain the ‘ open door ’ into China, and bji^ a desire to ease
the pressure on her naval resources in the Pacific. Moreover,
the hostihty displayed towards her, during the South African
War, by her Euiopean neighbours had opened her eyes to the
fact that her boasted ‘ isolation ’ was perhaps more splendid than
safe
The terms of the Treaty earned out precisely the objects which
the contracting parties had in view. Repudiating any ideas of
aggression aimed either at Chma or Korea, they expressed their
anxiety to maintam the status quo in both countries If either
Power should find it necessary to safeguard its interests, when
tlireatened by the aggiessive action of a third Power, or by inter-
nal disturbances, the other Party undertook to mamtain a friendly
neutrahty and endeavour to isolate the conflict. If, notwith-
standing that endeavour, one or more other Powers intervened,
the hitherto neutral ally would come in.
The significance of this Treaty can hardly be exaggerated.
At one stride Japan was admitted to terms of equality by the
greatest of the world empires, and was assured that, in the event
of an attack upon her by Russia, the British Fleet would keep
the ring, and would intercept any possible intervention on the
side of her antagonist. If Germany or France came to the
assistance of Russia, Great Britam would come in as an active
belligerent. On her part. Great Britam secured a powerful naval
ally in the Pacific, and converted into a friend a Power which
her Australasian Colonies were begmnmg to dread. The Treaty,
as Lord Lansdowne msisted, had been concluded ‘ purely as a
measure of precaution ’ ; it m no way threatened * the present
or the legitimate interests of other Powers it would * make for
the preservation of peace,’ and, if peace were unfortunately broken,
would ‘ have the effect of restnetmg the area of hostilities ’,®
^ Lord Nei\-ton, Lord Lansdowne, p 220
* Lansdowne to Sir C. Macdonald, January SO, 1902.
1011 ]
ANGLO-JAPANESE TREATY
211
The Anglo-Japanese Treaty was concluded for five years , but
before the period expired it was revised in two important par-
ticulars It was agreed that each country should come to the
assistance of the other if attacked even by a smgle Power, and
the scope of the alliance, which was officially described as aiming
at ‘ the consohdation and maintenance of general peace m the
regions of Eastern Asia and of India ’, was by these additional
i\ords significantly and defimtely extended to embrace British
India In 1911 the agreement was, at the instance of Great
Britain, again revised m order to remove any danger of England
being involved in a war between the United States and Japan
To meet this possible danger the 4th Article of the revised Treaty
of 1911 ran as follows ‘ Should either High Contracting Party
conclude a treaty of general arbitration with the third Power, it
is agreed that nothing m this agreement shall entail upon such
contracting party an obligation to go to war with the Power with
whom such treaty of arbitration is enforced ’
The news of the signature of the Treaty excited, naturally
enough, various feehngs in different European capitals Some
far-seeing Germans regretted that Germany had not been brought
m as a third party in the alliance, and King Edward was himself
favourably disposed at one tune towards her mclusion Accord-
ing to Baron Hayashi, however, the King became convinced that
‘ nothmg could be done with the Kaiser and his Ministers ’ J
Italy and Austria were cordial m their congratulations, and ex-
pressed the behef that the Treaty would make for peace in the
Far East France and Russia ‘ made httle attempt to conceal
then- disappomtment M Cambon, the French Ambassador in
London, remarked to Lord Lansdowne ‘ that there was far too
much mefiance m England as to Russian designs in various
parts of the world ’, while Count Lamsdorff, the Russian Foreign
Jlmister, declared, with an air of injured innocence, that he knew
of no Powers which had any intention of tlireatemng the status
quo in the For East®
* Eckhardstein, Memoirs, p 230 Baron von Eckhardstein was one of
those who rogrcltcd the omission of Germany ‘Germany,’ he writes
(p 227), ‘after missing this best and last opportunit} of a firm friendship with
Great Britain and Japan, \acillatcd and oscillated like a straw m the wind ’
On Ifing Edward’s attitude cf Lee, op cit., pp 142-5
* Newton, Lansdowne, pp 225-7.
212
THE DIPLOiLmC RE^^OLUTION
[1SD9-
Riisso- The Treaty had been in force less than tiso years -nhen Japan
vTar fell upon Russia, and m a war lasting barely eighteen months
brought the great colossus to its knees
The With only one incident in the %\ar vas Gical Britain directly
Fleer concerned In October 1901 the Russian Baltic Fleet, under the
and tlie command of Admiral Rodjestvenskj', sailed from tlie Baltic, and
Bank°' on the 21st of that month, finding itself in the midst of a flotilla
ineident, of British fishing smacks and tra\\lers off the Dogger bank, opened
1004 ”^’ fire upon them %Mth fatal results Tlie incident created intense
excitement m England, and might easily have led to the outbreak
of u ar. The British Government, however, behaved v ith admir-
able restraint, and the incident was referred to an international
commission. It vas estabhshed that the Russian Admiral had .
mistaken the British trai\lers for Japanese torpedo boats, and
had fired upon them in panic Russia was required to apologize
to Great Britain and to compensate the fishermen.
Hardly had Rodjestvensky’s fleet reached Japanese water
when Togo fell upon it and annihilated it m the Straits of Tsushima
(May 27, 1905) The Battle of Tsushima fimslied the war, and
Treaty of on August 23, 1905, the Treaty of Portsmouth (New Hampshire)
mouth concluded. Russia agreed to restore to Japan the Island of
Sakhalin, to surrender to Japan her lease of the Liao-Tung
Peninsula and of Port Arthur, to evacuate Manchuria, and to
recognize Korea as falling within the Japanese sphere of influence.
Five years later, Japan jiut an end to ambiguities in Korea by a
definite annexation (1910).
The Russo-Japanese War was an event of resounding signi-
ficance, and its reactions were felt throughout the whole continent
Results of Asia, and indeed wherever coloured races were in contact with
°ar*m whites In India it was craftily represented as a blow to the
Asia prestige not of Russia only, but of all the Western Powers, and
not least of England
Ha\ung emerged from isolation in order to conclude one Treaty
Great Britain had the less hesitation m concluding a second.
The The movement towards improved relations between England
FrJich France began, as already mdicated, wuth the Fashoda mci-
Agrcc- dent That result, though paradoxical, w'as not unforeseen by
Frenchmen Bulow repeats a conversation which took place
between a French ambassador — ‘ one of the best political intellects
1911 ]
ANGLO-FRENCH ENTENTE
213
of France ’ — and an Italian colleague The latter asked ‘ What
effect Fashoda %\ould have on French relations with England ’ ’
The Frenchman replied, ‘ An excellent one Once the difference
about the Soudan is settled, nothing stands in the way of a com-
plete Entente with England ’ Yet France would not so lightly
have surrendered her interests on the Nile had she not been
increasingly interested elsewhere, particularly m Morocco
Personal factors also contributed to a closer accord between
England and France In 1S98 Gabriel Hanatoux was succeeded
at the French Foreign Office by M Theophile Delcasse Delcasse,
who had alreadj*' given a great impetus to French colonial enter-
prise, took office, firmly convinced, on the one hand, that the
actmty of France should be concentrated upon the Western
Mediterranean, and, on the other, that the diplomatic inde-
pendence of his country could be estabhshed only by means of
reconciliation with Italy and with Great Britain
In 1896 Italy had formally recognized the French Protectorate
m Tunis, and, two years later, Delcasse was successful in negotia-
ting with her a treatj' of navigation and commerce Two further
conventions were signed m 1900 and 1902 under which France
definitely engaged not to frustrate the ambitions of Italy on the
side of Tripoli, while Italy assured France a free hand in Morocco
These Conventions rendered the renewal of the Triple Alliance m
1903 a hollow formahty.
Although secure in the Western Mediterranean France was
left, by Russia’s preoccupation m the Far East, m an exposed
position on the western flank of Germany. It became, therefore,
important for her to find a new ally Great Britain, on her side,
w as becoming seriously alarmed by the development of German sea-
power. This was clearly recognized m Germany; but Germany
drew a sharp distinction between the rising suspicion of England
and the deep-seated hostihty of France. ‘England’, wrote
Bulow, ‘ IS certainly seriously disquieted by our rising power at
sea, and our competition which incommodes her at many points
. . . But between such sentiments in England and the funda-
mental feeling m France there is a marked difference, which finds
corresponding expression in politics France would attack us if
she thought she was strong enough , England would do so only if she
thought she could not defend her vital, economic, and pohtical
214>
THE DIPLOaiATIC REVOLUTION
[1899-
Edward
VII and
France
interests against Germany except by force. The mainspring of
English policy towards us is national egoism ; that of French
pohcy IS national idealism He who follows his interest will,
however, mostly remain calmer than he who pursues an idea ’ *
To no Englishman did these developments give greater concern
than to King Edward. Moreover, his personal inclinations were
towards France, and in May 1903 he decided to pay an official
visit to Paris. Received on his arrival with fiigid politeness, he
succeeded m a few days’ sojourn in completely captivating his
hosts. ‘ I have known Paris he said, m a speech at the Elysee
(May 2), ‘ since my childhood. I have frequently visited it, and
I have always been full' of admiration for the umque beauty of
the city, and for the spirit of its citizens I shall never forget,
M. le President, the welcome which I have received at the hands
of youxsdf, your Government, and the people, and it is to me a
cause of happiness to beheve that my \asit will renew the bonds
of friendship, and will facilitate such a rapprochement between our
two countries as will conduce to the mterests of both ’ President
Loubet returned the King’s visit m July, and uas received with
the utmost enthusiasm in London. That these ^^slts did much
to prepare the way for the treaty is undeniable Lord Lansdowne,
writing to Sir Edmund Monson, British Ambassador in Pans
(April 8, 1904), referred to the * powerful impulse ’ thus given to
the movement, 2 and M Poincare, when he in turn visited, as
President, the City of London, used, with Gallic precision, an
identical phrase . ‘ II n’est pas \m de mes compatriotes qui ait
oublie I’heureuse impulsion donnee en cette occasion decisive par
sa Majeste le roi Edouard VII k I’ceuvre de Concorde, qui Im a
survecu.’
‘ Impulsion ’ is the precisely appropriate word. The measure
of King Edward’s personal influence upon Foreign Affairs has been
much discussed. The Earl of Balfour, writing in 1915 to Lord
Lansdowne, referred to the attribution of the Entente to King
Edward as a foolish piece of gossip, and added ‘ So far as I
remember, during the years when you and I were his Ministers, he
never made an important suggestion of any sort on large questions
of policy.’ But Balfour consistently underrated King Edward’s
intelligence - The two men were indeed temperamentally anti-
1 Op. cit., pp. 89-90. • British Documents, u. 8G4
1011 ]
EDWARD THE PEACEIilAKER^
215
pathetic The King had some reason to complain that Balfour
treated him on at least one occasion ‘ with scant courtesy ’ (Lee’s
Life, p 253), and that he was curiously indifferent to the Royal
Prerogative is, from other sources, evident On the other hand,
Balfour thought the King tiresomely insistent on matters which
seemed to the Minister of scant importance
Yet, even if Mr Balfour underrated King Edward’s intelligence
and influence, it is ’ ndiculous to suppose, as some do, that the
King initiated or planned the Entente between Great Britain and
France or that in a more general sense he * moulded the foreign
policy of his countrj' ’ ^ What King Edward did was, by his
personal magnetism, by his genial temper and never-failing tact,
to create the atmosphere m the absence of which Lord Lansdowne
and Gambon \sould have found it diflicult, if not impossible,
to imtiate negotiations Perhaps no other Englishman, King or
subject, was ever more popular with the French * Tell your King
that if ever he is tired of his job in England we will take him by
acclamation ’ So a promment French royahst once said to Lord
Redesdale ® Nor nas the sentiment confined to royalists, it
pervaded all classes.
Tlius was the soil prepared , but the happy issue of negotia-
tions, long and difficult, was due to the patience and skill of M
Paul Gambon French Ambassador in London, and Lord Lans-
downc, -who all hrough was greatly helped and encouraged by
Lord Cromer No man, indeed, was more profoundly anxious for
the success of the negotiations than the great English Proconsul,
who was charged with the admimstration of Egypt For nearly
twenty years his efforts for the regeneration of that country had
been liampered, if not ihistrated, by the persistent jealousy of
France. \Wiat it w ould have meant to his work could the Entente
have been ante-dated by ten years only those familiar with its
details can know.
At last, however, the good day had come By a scries of
Conventions and Declarations, England and France not only came
to terms in regard to Morocco and Egypt, but also cleared up a
number of outstanding points m reference to West Africa, Siam,
> Cf Lord L>>icr, The Influence of King Edward, pp 57, 50 Few men
knew the King belter or appreciated him more h!ghl> than Lord Esher
* Memories, I 177
216. THE DIPLOSIATIC REVOLUTION [isflo-
Madagascar, and the New Hebrides. French fishing rights in
Newfoundland had been a matter of dispute between England
and France ever since the Treaty of Utrecht m 1713 By mutual
concession, which left to France certam fishing rights, but deprived
her of any sort of monopoly, this tiresome question was settled,
it may be hoped, for ever. In West Africa, England made
important concessions to France on the Gambia, in Guinea, and
on the Niger. Boundary questions in Siam and tariff difficulties
in Madagascar and Zanzibar, not to mention various small points
in regard to the New Hebrides, were also mduded in the general
settlement. The central pomt of the arrangement was, however.
North Africa. France recognized for the first tune the actual
position of Great Britain m Egypt, while Great Britam recognized
the predominant claims and mterests of France m Morocco.
Both Governments declared that they had no intention of altering
the pohtical status of Egypt and Morocco respectively, but, by a
secret article attached to the Convention, it was admitted that
Great Britain and France might find themselves ‘ constramed by
force of circumstances to modify this pohcy in respect to Egypt
or Morocco ’. There was another secret article m reference to
Spanish claims m Morocco. The two Governments also acknow-
ledged the special mterests of Spam, who (by a secret clause not
revealed until 1911) was to pledge herself not to allow any of her
spheres of influence m Morocco to pass mto other hands.^ Pro-
fessor Brandenburg’s comment on the whole matter is brief but
pregnant ; ‘ With the commg of the Anglo-French Entente Ger-
many’s outwardly brilliant position between the two groups of
great Powers had passed for ever."* ^ Nor does he disgmse his
conviction that for this disaster Germany herself, and m particular
the clumsy diplomacy of Holstem and Bulow, was mainly to blame.
Germany The conclusion of the Anglo-French Entente was an event of
first-rate importance m the history of European diplomacy. ®.Had
Germany been in pacific mood, it might well have maugurated a
long period of world peace. Such was undoubtedly the mtention
of Great Britain, whose spokesmen emphasized the importance of
the Anglo-French Treaty as affordmg a model for similar agree-
1 The whole history of the negotiations is contained in vol ii of the Bntish
Documents ivith which cf German Diplomatic Documents (E T ), vol iii.
s p 203 ’ See note, p 226
1011 ]
THE KAISER
217
ments between other countnes German authorities take the
new, indeed, that the assurances given by Enghsh rmmsters that
the Entente was perfectly compatible with an amicable Anglo-
German agreement were ‘ not entirely candid and the imme-
diate effect of the Entente may be gauged from the ommous speech
of the German Emperor at the opening of a bridge at Alamz * I
wish from my heart he said, * that peace, which is necessary for
the further development of mdustry and trade, may be main-
tained in the future But I am convinced that this bndge will
prove completely adequate if it has to be used for more serious
transport purposes ’ Yet,, almost simultaneously Billow declared
m the Reichstag (April 12, 1904) that Germany had no reason to
object to the Anglo-French Entente
The busy mind of the Kaiser was, however, at work on a new The
European combination Two methods of nullifying the Anglo- Em^rot
French Entente seem to have occurred to him ‘ The first was a
secret intrigue with the Czar, which would draw Russia over mto
the orbit of German pohey , this would result either m drawmg
France also, and in estabhshmg a German-Russian-Prench com-
bination directed against England, or it would result m rupturmg
the dual alliance, and leave England and France face to face with
the old Tnple Alhance, now reinsured again as in Bismarck's day
on the Russian side . . . The second method of dislocating the
Entente Cordtale was by some diplomatic triumph over France,
backed up by a policy of force which would make patent to all
the world the essential hollowness of the Entente Cordtale, and
proclaim that important arrangements in the world still could not
be made without consultmg Germany ’ ^
In March 1905, in the course of a IVIediterranean cruise, the The
KaiSer touched at Tangier , he landed only for two hours, but
having done so, could not resist the temptation of delivermg a
menacing speech m which he ostentatiously took under his pro-
tection the independence of Morocco and the sovereignty of its
Sultan ® The Emperor’s visit to Tangier was followed by a de-
mand for the summoning of an international conference, and by a
demand that France should repudiate her Foreign Minister,
* Hiimninnn, p 145, and ci Brandenburg, op cit , p 183
* S B Fay, The Kaiser's Secret NegoUations vmth the Czar, pp 52-3
’ Imperial Germany, p 81
218
THE DIPLOMATIC REVOLUTION
I1899-
DelcassS, whom the Germans regarded as primarily responsible
for the Anglo-French Entente It was the policy of England, so
the Germans believed, to destroy the fleet of everj’’ rival, or better
still to prevent its construction ; but could the British fleet help
France ’ Let France think better of it, give up the Slimster
who had made the trouble and adopt towards Germany a loyal
and open policy such as would guarantee the peace of the world. ^
Before this arrogant threat, France, conscious that she was
not ready for immediate war, momentarily gave way. Delcasse
resigned on June 12, 1905 About the same time it was arranged
The that a Conference should meet at Algcciras in January 1906.
The meeting of this Conference was undoubtedly a diplomatic
cnce, triumph for Germany. It would never have been held if, on the
Jan. 1900 hand, France had been ready for war, and if, on the other,
Russia had not lately suflered her crushing defeat at the hands
of Japan Bulow professed himself as highly pleased with its
results Less partial opinion, even in Germany, inclined to the
view that the results of the Algeciras Conference marked, on the
contrary, a decided diplomatic rebuff for Germanj’, and attributed
to the failure to reach an agreement with England the dilemma
in which Germany found herself at Algeciras Either she had to
flght or to acknowledge a diplomatic defeat ° The Conference
was held with the definite mtention of destroying in the eyes of
the world the significance of the Anglo-French Entente It served
actually to demonstrate its strength, and Bulow admitted as much
m a speech m the Reichstag on November 14
The Umted States delegate to the Conference, Jlr. White, was
definitely of the same opimon : * the victor at the Conference is
England ’ Her victory was due largely to the tact of her repre-
sentative Sir Arthur Nicolson (afterwards Lord Carnock), whose
son thus aptly summarizes the results of the Conference . * She
(Germany) lost the confidence of Europe ; what was even more
important to her, she lost the confidence of America. She
obtained no compensations. She did not even succeed in humili-
atmg France. The open door remained an aspiration. Her pro-
tection of Islam appeared to be mere rhetonc. France and Spain,
England and Russia, had drawn closer together. The nakedness
of the triple alliance had, with Italy’s defection, been exposed to
^ Cf Rose, Origins of the War, p 76 • Hanunann, p 116
1011 ]
ANGLO-RUSSIAN AGREEMENT
219
public gaze, and above all the Anglo-French Entente had assumed
an entirely new character’*^
Hitherto there had been one fatal flaw m the Entente In The
1907, however, the estrangement between Russia and England
■was, at long last, composed* The foundation of the Anglo- Agrec-
Russian Entente was really laid at the Algecuras Conference Sir
Edward Grey, who had succeeded Lord Lansdowne as Foreign
Secretary at the end of 1905, threw himself ■with ardour into the
task of improving relations between the two countries ‘ ^Vhen
the interests of tw'O Powers are constantly touching and rubbing
against one another, it is hard to find a half-way house between
constant liability to friction and cordial friendship ’ So the
problem -w'as stated by Sir Edward Grey. The interests of Eng-
land and Russia had, as we have seen, been mbbmg against one
another m Central Asia for the best part of a century. During
1906 and 1907, however, there was a frank mterchange of views
between London and Petersburg, and at last on August 81, 1907,
the momentous treaty was concluded The treaty covered all the
outstanding questions between the two Powers m Central Asia,
and in particular dealt -with Thibet, Afghamstan, and Persia In (a) Thibet
regard to the first, both parties pledged themselves to respect the
integrity of Thibet, to abstam from aU interference m internal
affairs, to seek no concessions for railways, roads, telegraphs, and
mines, or other nghts m Tlnbet , not to send representatives to
Lhassa, and to deal ivith Thibet only through the intermediary of
Its suzeram, the Chinese Government As regards Afghamstan (b) Af-
a still more important arrangement was concluded Subject to
the consent of the Ameer (winch has, m fact, never been obtamed),
the Russian Government recognized Afghanistan * as outside the
sphere of Russian mflucnce , they engaged that all their pohtical
relations with Afghanistan should be conducted through the
intermediary of Great Bntam, and undertook not to send any
agents into Afghanistan’ Great Bntam, on its side, deelared
that there was no intention of changmg the pohtical status of
Afghanistan , that British mfluence would be exercised m a
pacific sense, and that no steps were contemplated, or would be
^ Harold Nicolson, Lord Carnock, pp 108-9
* The diplomatic history of the Anglo-Russian Agreement may be fol-
lowed m detail m British Documents, ■voL iv
THE DIPLOMATIC REVOLUTION
[ 1899 -
encouragcd, against Russia. Finally, iheie i\as to be complete
equality of commercial opportunity in Afghanistan for both
countries
(c) Persia Most important of all was the agreement concerning Persia.
The tno Pm\crs engaged to respect the integrity and indepen-
dence of Persia, and to keep the door open to the trade and industry
of all other nations. Persia was, however, mapped out into tliree
spheres of influence. The Russian sphere embraced the north
and centre, including the chief Persian cities of Tabriz, Teheran,
and Ispahan The British sphere was in llie south and east ; it
included the coastal district of the Persian Gulf and of the Indian
Ocean to the frontiers of Baluchistan Between the tw’o spheres
of influence w’as interposed a neutral zone, in which both Powers
were free to obtain political or commercial concessions, while
renouncing anj' such freedom in the spheres assigned respectively
to Russia and Great Britain The details of this arrangement
were sharply criticized, notably by Lord Curzon of Kedleston ^
Sir Edward Grey retorted that the treaty must be judged as a
whole , and w hile not admitting that it w^as unduly favourable
to Russia as regards Persia, pointed conclusively to the substantial
concession made by Russia to us as regards Afghanistan.
The Entenie betw een England and Russia was hardly less dis-
pleasing to Germany than that between England and France,
and the Balkan crisis of 1908-9 gave the Kaiser an opportunity
of humiliating England’s new ally.
The year 1908-9 was, indeed, fateful both for the Ottoman
Empire and for Europe at large In July 1908 the Young Turl^
initiated a revolution w'liich in 1909 w’as consummated by the
The deposition of Abdul Hamid On October 5, 1908, Prince Fer-
wsis'*" dmand proclaimed the formal independence of Bulgaria ; on the
( 1908 ) 12th the Cretan Assembly voted for the union of the island
with the kingdom of Greece. Yet, startling and significant as
The were these events, they wrere entirely eclipsed by the annexa-
tion of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Hapsburg Empire
(October 5)
Serbia The people most directly and vitally interested in that annexa-
tion were the Southern Slavs of Serbia. For many years past,
and especially since 1878, national self-consciousness had been
^ See Lord Zetland, Life of Lord Curzon.
1011 ]
THE BALKAN CRISIS
growing rapidly in that small but ancient State The growth of
that sentiment was regarded with grave concern by the Haps-
bnrgs, to whose fragile Empire it was distinctly menacing Among
the subjects of Francis Joseph the Slavs formed a large majority,
but it long had been a cardinal pnnciple of Hapsburg pohcy to
keep that majority m strict subordmation to the German-Magyar
minority The more drastic the methods applied by the Haps-
burgs to the Slavs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the more inclined
were the latter to look with sympathy and expectation upon the
propaganda emanating from their brethren in Belgrade These
feehngs were warmly reciprocated by the Serbs The formal
annexation of the two Provinces in 1908 consequently came as a
terrible shock to the southern Slavs, both within and outside the
Hapsburg Empire Bitter was the hostility manifested m Bel-
grade against the Hapsburgs, and the whole Serbian people,
headed by the Crown Pnnee, clamoured for war Feehng m
[Montenegro m'as hardly less unanimous. The Serbian Govern-
ment made a formal protest on October 7, and appealed to the
Powers
The Powers were not unsympathetic, but urged Serbia to be
patient Upon English diplomatists the high-handed action of
Austria had made a profound impression Not least upon the
Sovereign. Himself a man of transparent honesty, he felt that Edward
he had been ‘ treacherously deceived ’ by a Sovereign for whom
he had a sincere regard and with whom his relations had been
mvanably cordial
So recently as August King Edward had been with the Emperor
Francis Joseph at Ischl Nor was the meeting merely ceremonial.
The Emperor was accompanied by his pow'erful Minister, Baron
Acrenthal, the King by Sir Charles Hardmge, Permanent Secre-
tary at the Foreign Office and subsequently Viceroy of India
Tlie two Sovereigns had ‘discussed the Eastern Question with
the utmost apparent intimacy, and the King left Ischl in the full
assurance that there was no doud on the horizon *
Tlie news of the annexation came upon him, consequently, os
a terrible shock Lord Redesdale has recorded the effect pro-
duced upon him * ‘ It was the 8th of October that the King
received the news at Balmoral, and no one who was there can
forget how terribly he was upset. Never did I sec him so moved.
THE DIPLO]VIATIC REVOLUTION
[1809-
Russia
and
Germany
. . . Every word that he uttered that day has come true ’ ^
The Great War of 1914 was, m fact, unplicit m the events of 1908.
Nor was Kmg Edward the only Sovereign who was profoundly
perturbed by the news of the Bosman Crisis. ‘ A raid on Turkey • ’
So the Kaiser minuted on Bulow’s dispatch. ‘ Material for cheap
suspicions in England about the Central Powers. . . . Vienna
will mcur the reproach of double-dealing and not unjustly. They.
have deceived us abominably. . . . King Edward will now
inscribe the “ Defence of Treaties ” on his banner ... a great
score over us for Edward VIE ’ ®
But fume as the Kaiser might, he was impotent in the face of
Aerenthal’s action The Hapsburg was his only ally. He could
do no other than recognize the annexation.
It was, however, upon the attitude of Russia that the peace
of Europe, at that moment, hung.
In the Balkan question she was profoundly interested. To
her the Serbians naturally looked not merely for sympathy but
for assistance Russia, however, w:as not ready for war. She
had not regained her breath after the contest with Japan. And
the fact was well known at Potsdam and Vienna In melo-
dramatic phrase the German Emperor announced that if his
august ally were compelled to draw the sword, a knight ‘ m shining
armour’ would be found by his side. At the end of March,
Russia was plainly informed that, if she went to the assistance of
Serbia, she would have to fight not Austria-Hungary only but
G ermany as well Russia, conscious of her unpreparedness, imme-
diately gave way With that surrender the war of 1914 became
inevitable. Germany was mtoxicated by her success , Russia
was bitterly resentful The Serbs were compelled not merely to
acquiesce, but to promise to shake hands with Austria The
Powers tore up the twenty-fifth Article of the Treaty of Berlin.
Turkey accepted £2,200,000 fi:om Austria-Hungary as compen-
sation for the loss of the two provinces which, though still
theoretically under the suzeramty of the Sultan, had for thirty
^ Lord Redesdale, Memories, i 178-9 Cf also The Recollections (n 277)
of John, Viscount jSIorley, who was Minister in attendance at Balmoral at
the time, and formed a similar opinion as to tlie knowledge and shrewdness
of King Edward VII ^
^ The ICaiser's written Comments endorsed on Bulo'"’'’ Dispatches of
October 5 and 7.
1011 ]
MOROCCO
years been governed by the Hapsburgs Bulgaria compounded
for her tribute to the Porte by the payment of £5,000,000.
Thus ivere the ‘ cracks papered over ’, and the most serious
crisis vhich had threatened European peace since 1S7S was
surmounted
Tlie nett result of that cnsis was unquestionably a triumph,
even if a transitory triumph, for Pan-Germanism as against Pan-
Slavism
Yet the Central Empires felt themselves to be, and m a sense
were, encircled by the Triple Entente Professor Brandenburg’s
comment is eminently judicial * Probably ’, he writes, ‘ the truth
IS that the Entente . . was neither so dangerous as the anxious-
minded among us beheved, nor so innocent as the other side
represented ’ One thing, however, was certain. ‘ Germany had
been manoeuvred out of her central position and into that of the
head of the weaker of the two great parties In Berlin they felt
this deeply and ucre anxious about the future.’^
Confronted by the Triple Entente the Kaiser attempted in 1909-
10 to reinve the ‘ reinsurance policy ’ of Bismarck. In February
3909 he concluded with France an agreement about Morocco
and another in 1910 uith the Czar Nicholas about their respective
interests in Persia and Mesopotamia These * remsurances ’ were
clearly mtended to effect a rupture m the Triple Entente. The France
stirring events of 1911 served only to consolidate it Another M(tocco
crisis m Moroccan affairs reproduced, m that year, with redoubled
intensity the situation of 1905-6 The terms of the Act of
Algeciras were so vague as to give either France or Germany a
specious plea for divergent interpretations That France had
the nght to maintain order in Morocco was unquestionable,
equally certain uas it that the Sultan Moulay-Hafid was either
unable or unuilhng to enforce it • Consequently, m April 1911
the French landed troops m Morocco, and on May 21 the Moroccan
capital, Fez, was occupied The strictest mjunctions were given
to the French commander to abstain from any act which might
seem to menace the sovereign authonty of the Sultan or the
integrity of Ins Empire , yet with every advance of French troops,
* Op cit., pp 2G2-S CL also HimmoTin, p 17G, who like most of his
countiymcn is obsessed by the idea of King Ed« ard’s n^nrious designs against
Germany
224
THE DIPLOMATIC REVOLUTION
[1809-
Attitude
of Great
Britain
Germany became more and more suspicious. ‘ Should France
find it necessary to remain at Fez said Kiderlm-Waechter, the
German Foreign Secretary, ‘the whole Moroccan Question will
be raised afresh, and each signatory of the Act of Algeciras will
resume entire liberty of action.’ In June the French troops
commenced their retirement from Fez; but with each stage
of the retirement the attitude of Germany became more
menacing.
The action of Germany may have been precipitated by the
domestic situation both in France and England. In France every
SIX months saw a new Ministry, while industry was dislocated by
a senes of syndicalist strikes, in England the constitutional
struggle over the ‘ veto ’ of the House of Lords reached its zenith
in the summer of 1911, while a profound upheaval in the industrial
world culminated in a serious railway strike With her oppo-
nents seemingly paralysed by domestic difficulties, the oppor-
tunity seemed to Germany too good to be missed, and on July 1
the French Government was officially informed that the Panther,
a German gunboat, had been dispatched to Agadir, an open road-
stead on the west coast of Morocco, in order to protect the lives
and interests of German subjects m that disorderly country. To
a thinly veiled demand for the partition of Morocco between
Germany, France, and Spam, France hotly retorted that she was
the paramount Power behind Morocco, and had been recognized
as such ; but while willing to negotiate on details, would concede
nothing that would touch the honour of France.
England not only ranged herself sohdly behind France, but
plainly mtimated her position to the world. As the medium of
that grave intimation, the Cabinet wisely selected Mr. Lloyd
George w'ho, speaking at the Mansion House on July 21, used the
following words ‘ I am bound to say this, that I believe it is
essential in the higher interests, not merely of this countrj', but
of the world, that Britain should at all hazards maintain her
place and her prestige amongst the great Powers of the world.
If a situation were to be forced on us in which peace could only
be preserved by the surrender of the great and beneficent position
Britain has won by centuiies of heroism and achievements, by
'owing Britain to be treated, where her interests are vitally
uected, as if she were of no account in the Cabinet of Nations,
ion] THE AGADIR CRISIS 225
then I say emphatically that peace at that price would be a
humiliation intolerable for a great country hke ours to endure ’
Nor was the mtimation confined to the official spokesmen of
England Mr. Balfour, as leader of the Opposition, thought it
•Rcll to warn Germany that she could not calculate upon party
strife to paralyse England’s nght arm * If he said, ‘ there are
any vho suppose that we shall allow ourselves to be viped from
the map of Europe because we have difficulties at home, it may
be worth wlule saymg that they utterly mistake the temper of
the British people and the patriotism of the Opposition.’
The crisis was evidently acute On the 2Sth the German
Ambassador made to Sir Ed%\ard Gre}'^ a communication of so
grave a character that the latter was constrained to warn the
Admiralty that ‘ the fleet might be attacked at any moment ’ ‘
Nor was the tension relaxed until the end of September From
September S to the 22nd, so constant was the expectation of an
immediate outbreak of hostihtics that ‘ the tunnels and bridges '
on the South-Eastern Railway were being patrolled day and
night’. Only on the 22nd was the Foreign Office able to
‘give the word that a state of “■nar preparedness” might be
relaxed ' *
Fortunately the firm attitude of the British Government
checked the warlike ardour of official Germany, while it diverted
the attack of the fire-eaters from France to England lilr Lloyd
George’s speech, they declared, had revealed, as by a flashlight,
the real enemy of Germany England ivill brook no rival , she
claims to dominate the world ‘It is not by concessions that
we shall secure peace, but by the German sword ’ So spake a
Reichstag orator with tlie unconcealed approval of the Crown
Prince ‘ England ’, Avrote a German paper, ‘ poses as the arbiter
of the world It cannot go on The conflict betAveen us, so far
from being settled, is now more than eA'cr inevitable ’ ®
Meanwhile, prolonged negotiations between the two princi- Franco-
pals resulted (NoA'-ember 4, 1911) m the conclusion of a compre-
hcnsiA'c treaty, dmded into two parts ; the Accord Marocain and
* Winston Cliurclull, The World Crisis, i 48
* Nicolson, Lord Carnocl , p 347.
’The Germania (Xoa ember 20), quoted np Dcbidour, Jlisloire Dipto-
maltque, ii 170
M.L. — 16
220 THE DIPLOMATIC REVOLUTIOiv [i809-ioii
the Accord Covgolais * By the fonner Germany virtually acknow-
ledged a French Protectorate over Morocco ; by the latter France
ceded to Germany half the French Congo. So the acute crisis of
1911 was temporarily averted. The German Emperor had, at the
last moment, recoiled from the war which the Pan-Germans were
eager to provoke.
His prudence was justified, if it 11 as not inspired, by a sinister
development in the Near East. On September 29 Italy, after a
brief period of negotiation, declared war upon Turkey. But
Italy’s move on Tnpoli had more than local significance. An
important member of the Triple Alhanee had suddenly launched
an attack upon one of the sleeping partners of the same firm.
Bismarck’s laborious structure had collapsed : the diplomatic
revolution was completed.
* For the full text of tlicsc treaties, cf P. Albin, Les Grands Tratti Poll-
iqucs, pp 6G2-70.
Noics
(I) to p 209 Lord Rosebery thought the AngIo>Japancse treaty ‘ abso-
lutely right ’ See Bishop Bell, Life of Archbishop Davidson, 1, 497.
( II ) to p 210 liOrd Rosebery Tias one of the few mIio disapproved of
the Anglo-French Treaty as ‘ far more likely to lead to War than to Peace.’
See Churchill Great Contemporaries, p 27
1870-1012]
LABOUR AND POLITICS
2*27
CHAPTER Xm
TIIE LABOUR PROBLEM— TRADE UNIONS AND POLITICS
T he survey of Foreign Affairs in the last chapter brought us
to the brink of Armageddon We must now resume the
interrupted talc of domestic pohtics
The portent of the General Election of 1906 was not the The
return of a vast army of Liberals, but the advent to Parhament Advent
of a small but compact company of ‘ Labour *" members Work- Labour
mg men themselves, they were elected to represent not so much
local constituencies as an economic and social class — ^the weekly
wage-earners Hitherto Members of Parhament had represented
each a particular locahty, m many cases the town, and in even
more cases the county, with which the Member was personally
associated He was elected to represent the mterests of all classes
m the constituency. The advent of a Labour Party dealt a
serious blow to this traditional theory of English representation.
The enfranchisement of the wage-earners by the Acts of 1865
and 1884 may have rendered this devdopment inevitable. Any-
naj”, it had come
Political enfranchisement was not alone responsible Remark- Labour
able for the development of pohtical democracy the luneteenth
century was also marked by the economic emancipation of the
working-classes from legislative shackles which were part of
the legacy inherited from the medieval State, The State had
taken over from the Merchant and Craft Guilds the duty of
rcgulatmg the conditions of employment, wages and prices
By Common Law all combinations, whether of workmen or
employers, were illegal as being ‘ conspu-acies m restramt of
trade’ Legislation had consistently emphasized the doctrines
of the Common Law The eighteenth century witnessed many
attempts to escape from the restraints on combination, but so
THE LABOUR PROBLEM
[ 1870 -
Tradc
Unions
late as 1800 a particularly stringent Act reaffirmed the principle
The effect of that Act was, m the words of a great jurist, that
‘ any artisan who organized a strilce or joined a trade union was
a criminal . . . ; the strike was a cnme, the trade union was an
unlawful association
With the progress of the Industnal Revolution, and under
the influence of Benthamme philosophy, opinion began to move
in the opposite direction, and a Royal Commission m 1824 re-
ported strongly against combination laws Those laws were,
accordingly, repealed cn bloc. The immediate consequences were
alarming. The repeal was followed by an epidemic of strikes,
accompanied by much violence and the intimidation both of
employers and peaceable wage-earneis. The Benthamites were
in despair Their hopes and intentions were completely frus-
trated. Their object had been the promotion of hberty , to their
chagrin they discovered that emancipation was the prelude not
to hberty but to hcence.
Once more they had recourse to the Legislature. An Act of
1825 reaffirmed the Common Law of conspiracy, and prescribed
penalties for ‘ the use of violence, threats, intimidation, molesta-
tion or obstruction by any person for the purpose of forcing a
master to alter his mode of busmess, or a vorlonan to refuse or
leave work, or of forcing any person to belong to or conform to
the rules of any club or association But by reason of certain
exemptions the general effect of this halting piece of legislation
was that a trade umon remamed a non-lawful, though not neces-
sarily a criminal, association. Being non-lawful a trade union
could not claim the protection of the law.
This ambiguous position entailed one senous consequence .
trade unions were excluded from the protection afforded by the
legislation of 1855 to Friendly Societies j their funds were con-
sequently at the mercy of dishonest officials. Yet, notwithstand-
mg this heavy handicap, trade umons multiphed rapidly during
the second and third quarters of the nineteenth centuiy. It was,
however, the outrages committed by members of these associa-
tions m Sheffield, Manchester and other industrial centres in 1866
that first concentrated pubhc attention upon the pioblem of
trade-unionism A Royal Commission was appointed to mquire
» A. V. Dicey, Law and Pubhc Opinion, Lectures vi and vui.
1012] TRADE DISPUTES 229
into th e •vvh ole_question, and on its Report the legislation of
1871-^ was based
That legislation has been dcsenbcd as the ‘ charter of Tr ade
UniomsmV ; and the description is not inappropnate. A succes-
sion of Statutes (passed on the initiative both of Conservative
and Liberal Govenunents) not only extended to the funds of
trade unions the protection already given to those of Friendly
Societies, but reheved them (as it was supposed) from the hability
to damages for torts or civil wrongs committed by their agents
Tlie Act of JL87G (38 and 89 Vict, c 86, section 3) further miti-
gated in favour of Trade Unions the Common Law in regard to
conspiracj', by declarmg that ‘ an agreement or combination by
tno or more persons to do . . . any act m contemplation or
furtherance of a trade dispute . shall not be mdictable as a
conspiracy, if such act if done by one person would not be punish-
able as a enme The plam meanmg of this enactment is ‘ that
a combination among workmen to break a contract with theur
employer, e.g to leave his service without notice, with a view to
compelling liim to grant a nse in wages, is not a crime, whilst a
combination by tenants to break a contract “ with a landlord ”
IS a crime ’ Moreover, ‘ somethmg like legal sanction was given
to “ picketing ” in connexion with a trade dispute, so long, but
only so long, as such conduct does not involve intimidation or
violence’. Thus, in the words of another great jurist, trade
unions * became i n form pnyil egedTbqdies w i^ a special status
Nor docs it needliny efaborate argument to demonstrate liow far,
m the course of half a century, the Legislature had travelled smee
1825
Thirty years later Farhament was again impelled to le^slate Trade
on the subject of trade disputes In the interval an important
political development had taken place The Labour problem had Politica
assumed a neu aspect Down to this time the Legislature had
regarded Trade Unions, whether it imposed restrictions or con-
ferred exceptional privileges upon them, solely as factors in the
organization of industnr. After 1900 they could no longer be so
regarded. Trade Unionists, or many of them, were clearly mov-
ing towards a radical reorganization of industry on Socialist
bncs; a parliamentary party pledged to Socialism had been
* W. M Gcldnrt, The Osbomc Judgment and After, p, 18.
280
THE LABOUR PROBLEM
[187ft-
The
‘ Class
War’
Alarx and
Geoige
formed ; representatives of that party had already entered the
House of Commons, and were soon to reach it in rapidly increas-
ing numbers.
For the last forty years things had been moving in that direc-
tion As far back as 1867 the London Working Men’s Associa-
tion resolved to work for the direct representation of ‘ Labour ’
in the House of Commons, and at the General Election of 1868
three worlung men, George Howell, W. R Cremer and E. O.
Greening, stood in the Radical interest They were all defeated,
but the first two entered Parhament later on and became highly
respected members of the House. The Labour Representation
League was formed in 1869 and at the General Election of 1874
twelve working men were adopted as Radical candidates Two
were elected ; Alexander Macdonald, the founder of the Miners’
National Union, and Thomas Burt, vho continued to sit in Par-
hament for many years, and was in 1906 sworn a member of His
Majesty’s Privy Council. But men of this type merely reinforced
the left wing of the Liberal Party. They had no stomach for
the * class war ’ desired by some of the more ardent spirits in the
Trade Union movement.
The ‘ class war ’ was formally declared in 1884, when Mr.
H. M. Hyndman, a Cambndge graduate and a Sussex cncketer,
founded the Social Democratic Federation. Hyndman was a
disciple of Karl Marx, the first volume of whose famous work,
Das Kapiial — a work more Often quoted than read — ^was pub-
lished in 1867. Few working men could follow Marx’s argument,
but they could and did seize upon his main conclusions — ^that
* profits ’ represent a deduction from wages, that morally the
workman had an exclusive claim upon the product of industry,
and that consequently the capitalist was a thief, albeit in many
cases an unconscious thief. Such doctrines, particularly when
preached with the fervour of a Hyndman, could be apprehended
even by those with little trainmg in Economics, and were m fact
accepted as gospel by a considerable number of the younger
Trade Unionists. '
Even more persuasive than Marx’s Capital was Henry George’s
Pi ogress and Poverty which was published in 1879. George wrote
arrestmgly with no little rhetoncal power. Any one could
follow his argument, even if they refused to assent to his conclu-
SOCIALISM
281
1W2]
sions His main, thesis was that with the increase of wealth
among the wealthy the poverty of the poor deepened, that this
was due to land monopoly, and that the only remedy was to be
found m a single tax on the unearned increment of land The
nhole fabric of George’s argument was based upon inaccurate
assumptions which were relentlessly exploded by Economists like
Arnold Tojnbce and Alfred Marshall, but which exercised, never-
theless, an immense influence upon half-educated minds ^
For a generation had now grown to manhood who had been
taught to read, but had not learned to think and the success
of the preaching of Hyndman and others was largely due to
this fact The seed of Socialism fell upon soil uhich had been
scratched, but not ploughed It produced the appropriate crop.
Tlic neu * Labour Mm cment ’ reaped the harvest
Other uorks, less polemical than those of Marx and George,
more utopian m character, had a similar tendency Edward
Bellamy’s Looking Backward (1887) and Robert Blatchford’s
Mcrnc England nere ueU calculated to make people discontented
with things as they wer<^ and to look back or to look forward
(according to their temperament) to a * Golden Age ’ Thus, the
‘ Labour Partj ’ received manj' recruits from among people of all
classes, whose hearts were as soft as their heads, and whose
‘ Socialism ’ amounted to little more than general benevolence,
and a desire to see the lot of their poorer neighbours improved.
To such people (and indeed to others) the Fabian Essays (1889),
contributed by members of a middle-class society founded m
1884, made a considerable appeal The ‘ Fabians ’, as the name
implied, were opposed to revolutionary methods, but sought to
permeate society with coUectmst ideas, thus expelhng the virus
of Herbert Spencer’s rigid mdmdualism In that aim they largely
succeeded
Thus by many cultivators, each working m his own field, was
a large area of ground prepared
Slcanwliilc, the political Trade Unionists were moving towards Labour
their goal Q\t the General Election of 1892 eight candidates, ^n^ion
* Tlic present writer was present at a lecture delivered by Air Henry
Georpe nt Oxford in 188*, ond well rcuicmbcrs the sensation caused by the
exposure of Mr George’s ‘ nostrum ’ bj Professor Alfred Marshall and other
economists
THE LABOUR PROBLEM
[1876-
wholly independent of the existing Parties, were nominated, and
two of their numbei^ as already indicated,^ l^ecured election}
{ One of them, James Keir Hardie, the Scottish miner, was mainly
responsible for the foundation of the Independent Labour Party^
The Conference which witnessed the birth of the new Party met
in January 1893 at Bradford and was attended by 115 represen-
tatives of Trade Unions and sociahst societies. Keir Hardie was
elected chairman and among other delegates were Tom Mann,
Ben Tillett, Robert Smilhe, a Scottish miner, Bernard Shaw,
who represented the Fabians, and Robert Blatchford, at that
tune editor of an influential sociahst newspaper, The Clarion,
^he new Party was frankly sociahst, its avowed object being to
provide financial assistance for Parliamentary candidates, pledged
to complete independence of existing Parties and to ‘ secure the
collective ownership of all the means of production, distribution
and exchange’^
^Hitherto ‘ Labour ’ had been content to be, m a Parhamentary
sense, the handmaid of Liberahsm ; but Liberahsm was no longer
worthy of such service, and m January 1899 jMr. Keir Hardie
contributed to The Nineteenth Century an article which made the
position admirably clear ^ He had a collaborator — a young jour-
nalist, already well known m the Socialist Party and soon to
become the Secretary of the Labour Representation Committee
— ^Mr. James Ramsay MacDonald.
These writers ascribed the Liberal collapse not to the * squab-
bles between leaders, or the secession of independent groups or
any similar temporary cause ’ but to * the nature of things
‘ The Liberal Party they proceeded, ‘ has done its work. It
was evolved to meet the needs of past generations. Its ideas
were derived from a political philosophy and a system of Eco-
nomics that have become antiquated ; the pohtical apphcation
which it made of words of ethical import, such as “ right ” and
“ hberty ” give no guidance in solvmg present-day problems ; its
purpose was drawn from a pohtical and social state that has gone ;
its principles of propaganda, the sentiments to which it appealed,
the individual characteristics to which it was congenial, stand no
longer in the forefront of progressive forces The national life
has moved on, and has corrected, narrowing at this point and
^ Supra, p 159
238
1012] THE ILP.
widening at that, our conceptions of political methods and social
aims . Liberalism, oeeupymg the successful business man’s
standpoint, had generally assumed that the man politically en-
franchised -nould be economically free; but experience was
proving that that hope was thoroughly false, and Liberalism had
nothing to put in its place ’
The last few years had witnessed ‘ the final closing of a well-
defined epoch in political progress and the opening of a new
chapter, which is to show the operation of social principles differ-
ing verj' materially from those of the Liberal Party Arguing
from these premises the writers concluded that the time had come
for the formation of a new Party, and they proceeded to formu-
late a programme for it The House of Lords -must be abohshed •
a ‘ Second Chamber is always useless and is frequently dangerous
Parliaments must be trienmal , members must be paid ; the
franchise extended to all adults of both sexes, and the powers of
Local Authontics must "be widely extended On the economic
side the wnters advocated a legal eight-hours day, the substitu-
tion of public for pnvate ownership and enterprise, ‘ production
for use not profit the abolition of the ‘ land monopoly ’ by the
taxation of ground rents, the provision of old-age pensions by a
spccnl tax on the suoUen incomes of the rich, and, finally, a
revolution m the educational system of the country.
The article thus summarized was of special importance m
vicu of the practical steps which quickly followed on its pub-
lication
^he Trade Union Congress of 1899 resolved^ albeit in the
teeth of strong opposition from two important Unions, the textile
■workers and the miners, ^o summon a special Conference ‘■to
devise means of increasing the number of Labour members ’
(l^rom that Conference (February 1900) Sir Ramsay SlacDonald
dates the birth of the ’ Labour Parti' One hundred and twenty
delegates ■were present, representing the Trade Unions, the trades
councils, and various socialist organizations Of w orkmg-class
organizations onlj the Co-operators held aloof The Fabian
Society was represented by Mr Bernard Shaw and Sir E R
Pease — the chronicler of the Society^ — and the Independent
Labour Party by Sir SlacDonald and Sir Kcir Hardie. A Labour
‘ The History of the Fabian Society (lOlG)
THE LABOUR PROBLEM
[1876-
Representation Committee was appointed, with the object of
establishing a distinct Labour group in Parliament with its own
Whips, and its own policy, but ready to co-operate with any
Party which * for the time being may be engaged in legislation
in the direct interest of Labour Of this Committee Mr. Mac-
Donald was appointed secretary. His feet were on the first rung
of the pohtical ladder by which he was to climb to the Premier-
ship. His Committee had, however, a hard struggle to maintain
its existence. Only about 5 per cent, of the Trade Unions affi-
hated themselves to it, the Social Democratic Federation quickly
withdrew from it, the attitude of the Fabians towards it was more
than cool, the miners were definitely hostile, and continued to
run their own Liberal-Labour candidates. At the General Elec-
tion of 1900 the new Committee ran fifteen candidates, but Keir
Hardie returned to the House with only a single colleague.
It looked as though the new movement, like many of its pre-
decessors, might fizzle out, when there occurred an industrial
dispute destined to make history.
The Talf (in August 1900, while the South African War was in progress.
Vale Case occurred on the Taff Vale Railway, a short line in South
Wales,) important only because it carried much of the coal re-
quired for the Royal Navy. (’The immediate occasion of the
strike was the dismissal of a signalman, and the refusal o^^ the
Company to allow the ofiicials of the Union to rejpr^sent their
employes when the dispute occurred.^ i^The strike ’\tiis promptly
settled, but the Company claimed damages against^the Secretary
of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, who had inter-
vened in the dispute.) Mr. Justice Farwell, a judge\of the High
Court, gave judgement agamst the Society on the/^ound that
the Act of 1875 did not put the Trade Unions inythe position of
‘ bodies capable of owning great wealth and of acting by agents,
with absolutely no responsibihty for the wrong/ that they may
do to other persons by the use of that wealth /and the employ-
ment of those agents The case was taken to the Court of
Appeal which reversed the judgement of Mr Justice Farwell,
but it was upheld m the House of Lords. (The Amalgamated
Society had to pay £23,000 damages, and an almost equal amount
in costs.)
The decision of the Supreme Court of appellate jurisdiction,
1912]
THE TAFF VALE CASE
235
stated m non-techmcal language, •vras that the legislation of 1871-6,
which was supposed to have conferred complete immunity upon
Trade Umons, did not in fact extend to damages obtainable in a
cml action, and that a Trade Union was still liable to an injunc*
tion, and to the pajTnent of damages for acts of violence com-
mitted or threatened in its behalf. Thus were Trade Unions de-
clared liable for wrongs done by their agents The decision came
as a surpnse to thepubhc,and to Trade Unionists caused nothing
less than consternation Yet, after all. Trade Umons were at that
tune much more important to workmen as benefit societies than
they were as mihtant organizations During the decade 1895-
190 i the total expenditure of 100 of the most important Unions
amounted to £16,000,000 Of this 86 per cent was expended on
benefits of various kinds ; only 14 per cent on militant objects.
Prejudice was imported into the case by the fact that the final
decision on points of law rests with a tribunal, which, though
exclusively judicial m composition, is known as ‘ the House
of Lords The decision was m some quarters denounced as
' political ’. Yet an ardent friend of Labour, Professor Geldart,
has left it on record that m his opimon ‘ no fair-minded person
can dispute the substantial justice of the Taff Vale decision ’. So
strongly, however, was feehng aroused, that in 1908 another
Rojal Commission was appomted, under the chairmanship of
Lord Dunedin, to inquire into the subject of trade disputes and
combinations and as to the law affecting them, and to report on
the law applicable to the same, and the effect of any modification
ti 'rcof.
The Commission produced two Reports The majority was Trade
opposed to anj alteration of the law as laid down in the Taff Vale Art^iooo
judgement, but recommended an alteration in the law relating
to picketing and conspiracy (The Government, fresh from a
notable victory at the polls, and confronted by the new piicnom-
cnon of an independent ‘ Labour ’ Party in the House of Com-
mons, promptly introduced a Trade Disputes Bill ^ The Bill
covered four branches of the subject — conspiracy, picketing,
trade interference apart from conspiracy and * agency ’ There
remained the question whcthcractions of tort against Trade Unions
should be prohibited. As onginally introduced the Bill provided
that a Union was not to be bdd liable for the wrongful act of its
THE LABOUR PROBLEM
(1870-
agent, unless the act had been formally approved by the executive
committee of the Union, or had been done by a person or persons
specifically authorized to bmd the Umon Ijy the conduct im-
pugned The Bill was not wholly approved by the Labour mem-
bers, who, two days after the first reading of the Government
Bill, introduced a Bill of their own, which relieved the Unions of
all liability for damages sustained tlirough the conduct of their
members. The difference between the two Bills was pitluly ex-
pressed by Mr Keir Hardie, who declared that Trade Unionists
would not be satisfied with mere barbed-wire entanglements for
the protection of their funds, but would insist on their removal
out of the range of the enemies’ guns. Then arose a curious and—
comphcated parhamentary situation The Prime Minister, Sir
Henry Campbell-Bannerman, not only voted but spoke in favour
of the Labour Bill, the second reading of which was carried by
416 to 66 The essential pomt was compromised in favour of
the Labour view, and (the Government Bill, so amended, passed
into law as the Trade Disputes Act of 1906 )
The first section of the Act extended to civil responsibility
for conspiracy the immumly &om crmunal prosecution conferred
by the Conspiracy and Protection of Property Act of 1876 Hence-
forward ‘ an act done in pursuance of an agreement or combina-
tion by two or more persons ’ was not to be actionable ‘ if done
in contemplation or furtherance of a trade dispute . . . unless
the act, if done without any such agreement or combination,
would be actionable ’. The second section legalized peaceful
picketing . it declared it to be lawful for one or more persons,
acting on their own behalf or on behalf of a Trade Union or of an
mdividual employer or firm ‘ in contemplation or furtherance of
a trade dispute, to attend at or near a house or place w’here a
person resides or w'orks or carries on business or happens to be,
if they so attend merely for the purpose of peacefully obtaining
or communicating information, or of peacefully persuading any
person to work or abstam from working The third section
removed the liability for mterfering with another person’s busi-
ness, or ‘ with the right of some other person to dispose of Ins
capital or his labour as he wills ’. But again the act thus pro-
tected by the law must be ‘ m contemplation or furtherance of
a trade dispute *, Even so, most sound laivyers, to whatever
1012] THE LABOUR PARTY 237
party they might belong, have concurred in describing the im-
munity as ‘ mdcfensible ’ It was, however, around the terms of
the fourth section that controversy raged, and continued to rage
most hotly The first three sections were of general apphea-
bihty, though evidently intended prunarily for the protection
of Trade Unions The fourth section, which exempted Trade
Unions from all actions for tort, undeniably conferred a special
and exclusive privilege ujjon such associations Few unbiased
people could now be found to defend such a privilege Lord
Halcburj' denounced the whole Bill as one ‘ for legalizing tyranny
and for the purpose of taking people outside the ordinary courts
of law ’ Lord James of Hereford, a great Liberal lawyer, was
moved to wath by section 4. ‘ Sunply register yourselves as a
Trade Union , v halei er mong you may inflict, whatever destruc-
tion of property maj' be caused, we the Legislature give our bless-
ing to go forth and do it ’ If it be true that tlie expedient of
a criminal prosecution of the guilty mdividuals is, as good lawyers
hive argued, left entirely untouched by the Act of 1906, the
language of Lord James may sound extravagant, but subse-
quent events convinced the majority of thinking people that the
exceptional privilege conferred by section 4 of the Act of 1906
would need to be curtailed, if not entirely abrogated, not less m
the interests of the Trade Unions themselves than in that of the
community at large.
^For the moment, however, the Legislature had intervened,
not to reverse the decision in the Taff Vale Case — ^that even an
omnipotent Parliament cannot do — ^but to restore to the Trade
Unions the pnvileges of uluch that decision had in effect deprived
them The dcasion had, however, done more than that. It
had created the Parliamentary Labour Party In 1900 the new
Partj' could, out of fifteen candidates, secure the return of only
two members At the General Election of 1906 it ran fifty candi-
dates and returned tv enty-nme of them Nor did this measure the
real strength of ‘ Labour ’ in the new Parhament In addition
to the independent Labour representatives there were some twenty
Trade Unionists who, though accepting the Liberal Whip, were
generally to be found in the lobby with their new alhes More-
over, Labour was for the first time represented m the Cabinet m
tlic person of Air. John Burns, v ho in 1906 became President of
THE LABOUR PROBLEM
The
Osborne
Case
[1876-
the Local Government Board.^ A more level-headed and efficient
President the Local Government Board never had, but he did not,
as a Minister, endear himself to his former colleagues
Nor was John Burn? the only lion in the path of the
Parliamentary Labour Party. In the Osborne judgement they
encountered another. Once again the Trade Unions found them-
selves up against the law of the land. But between the Taff
Vale Case and the Osborne Case there was a world of difference.
It was as industrial organizations that the Trade Unions had
been hampered by the judgement in the former case ; the Osborne
judgement dealt a shattering blow at their political activities.
Mr W. V. Osborne was the Secretary of the Walthamstow
branch of the Amalgamated ^Society of Railway Servants Like
many other Trade Unionists, Liberals as well as Conservatives,
he resented the capture of the Unions by the new Socialist Party.
In particular he resisted the diversion of funds, subscribed by him
and others for industrial and benefit purposes, to the support of
members returned to Parhament to advocate views opposed to
their own. Both his own Society and the Labour Party (as
from 1906 it began to be called) had in 1906 amended their
rules
Rule XIII, Section IV, of the A S R S. ran as follows : —
‘ 1. For the maintenance of Parliamentary representation a
fund shall be established by the Society. The subsciiption to be
Is, Id. per year, per member, to be paid quarterly, and forwarded
to the head office with the quarter’s dues.
‘ 2. The objects of the fund shall be (a) to provide for repre-
sentation of railwayman m the House of Commons, as the annual
general meeting may from time to time determine All candidates
shall sign and accept the condtUons of the Labour Party and be
subject to their Whip.
‘ (6) To contribute to the Labour Representation Committee
such sums as the Executive Committee or the annual general
meeting may from time to time direct, so long as the Society
remains affihated to such Committee ’
To Mr Osborne and many hke him these rules appeared to
involve a gross mfringement of individual hberty. But the price
of resistance was heavy. ‘ Many who refused to submit to this
pohtical thraldom was driven out of membership, with loss of
1912] THE OSBORNE CASE 239
contributions and benefits After a bfe’s savings vere lost, and
in time of distress, nothing stood between the victim and the
V orkhouse ’ ^
Mr Osborne, supported by the Walthamstow Branch of the
A S R S , decided to move for an injunction to restrain the Society
from distributing money under the Rule XIII, Section IV. Judge-
ment was gn cn m the Chancery Court against him, Mr Justice
N''ville holdmg that the Rule was not ultra vires The Court of
Appeal overruled the decision of the Court below, and the House
of Lords, to which the A S RS carried an appeal, dismissed it.
The judgement was unanimous
?Ir Osborne had won a great victor}', but the A S R S retorted
by expelling him from the Society, and closing the Walthamstow
Brincli, of which he was Secretary.
Once more Osborne appealed to the Courts, claiming a declara-
tion that tlie resolution of the Executive Committee expelling him
i>j>s ultra zircs and void. But the Court of Chancery held that
the action could not lie, as the Society was an illegal organization
(a point taken by the Defendants) Osborne appealed The
Court of Appeal allowed tlie appeal with costs m both Courts,
rina’ly it v as announced that further litigation w as stayed The
case had already cost the A.S R S over £11,000
Following upon this judgement numerous injunctions were
granted to Trade Unions to prevent expenditure on political
objects
Once more the Judiciary had spread consternation among Payment
Trade Unionists and their political allies , once more the Legisla- Members
ture inten ened on behalf of Trade Unions, or rather on behalf of and tlie
the socialist members of those Societies The Liberal Party was Act
no longer independent of its allies Its own representation was
reduced by the two Elections of 1910 from 400 to 272 , the Con-
ser\*atives numbered 271 , the Nationalist members remained
constant at S4 , but in December 1910 the Labour Party, though
depicted funds had compelled them to restrict their candidates
to oC, returned 42 of them Plainly Mr Asquith’s Government
could continue to hold office only on the sufferance of Nationalists
and Socialists (Accordingly, m order to meet the immediate
difficulties of working-class members, the House of Commons, on
' Osborne, 2Iy Case (1010)
240 THE LABOUR PBOBLEM [istc-
August 10, 1911, passed a resolution for the payment of a salary
of £400 a year to all members^ On more than one account
August 10, 1911, was a memorable day in the history of the Bntish
Pailiament On that day the House of Lords passed the Parha-
ment Bill
Two years later. Parliament passed the Trade Union Act of
1913 — ^popularly kno-vvn as the Political Levy Act. By that Act
a Trade Union, so long as its prmcipal objects are those of a Trade
Union as defined by the Act of 1876, is entitled to ‘ apply the
funds of the Union for any lawful objects or purposes for the time
being authorized under its constitution ’ (section 1 (i)) The Act
contained a very wide specification (section 3 (iii)) of political
obj'ects to which a Union might contribute, including the expenses
of candidates for Parhament or local bodies, and the maintenance
of members of such bodies, the holding of political meetings, the
distribution of pohtical hterature, and so forth But such activ-
ities could not be undertaken until approval was obtained by a
ballot of the members. All payments were to be made out of a
separate political fund, and any member was to be entitled to
claim exemption from contributions to that fund. Contribution
to the fund was not to be made a condition for admission to the
Umon, nor was any exempted member to be excluded from any
benefits of the Union, or ‘ placed m any respect, either directly or
indirectly, under any disabihty or at any disadvantage as com-
pared with other members of the union (except m relation to the
control or management of the pohtical fund) by reason of his
bemg so exempt’ (section 3 (i) (&)).
The Act of 1913 was admittedly a compromise. It sought to
secure to Trade Unions the right to embark upon pohtical activ-
ities, and at the same time to secure the right of their mdividual
members to withhold support from Parties or principles to which
they were opposed, without pcnahzing their position as wage-
earners or sacrificing benefits to which their subscriptions entitled
them. Parhament had conceded to Trade Unions a position of
privilege. It was plainly boimd to msist that these privileges
should not be monopohzed by the adherents of any one pohtical
Party. In order to effect that object, it adopted the device of
‘ contractmg out But the machmery worked badly. The safe-
guards provided in the Act of 1913 proved illusory.
3012]
INDUSTRIAL UNREST
241
Apart from litigation and legislation m respect of Trade Unions Indus-
thc early j ears of the twentieth century were marked not only by
continuous unrest among the wage-earners, but by many trade
disputes, not infrequently accompanied by violence
Railways constitute, from every point of view, a * key ’ mdus- Railways
try A stoppage on the railways means a serious dislocation of
the whole economic life of the nation The capital by which
British railways have been constructed and are maintained has
been subscribed by small investors, who exceed m number the
wage-earners, and the return on their capital is small and precari-
ous On the other hand, the wage-earners enjoy the advantages
of a sheltered industry, with many substantial benefits, little fear
of unemployment, and in many cases the opportunity of supple-
menting regular earnings from other sources Yet, from 1906
onwards, there has been much agitation among them and more
than one grave conflict
A special conference of the Amalgamated Society was held at
Birmingham in November 1906 and demanded a shortening of
hours , a nine hours’ rest between jobs , special pay for overtime
and Sunday duty, and a ‘guaranteed week*. These demands
ircre submitted by the secretary of the Society to the Railway
Companies, who declined to negotiate except with theur own
employes A strike was threatened, but Mr. Lloyd George who,
in 1905, had become President of the Board of Trade, adroitly
intervened, and brought about an agreement which resulted in
the setting up of Joint Concihation Boards for each Company.
The scheme did not, however, work smoothly, and the evil day
was merely postponed
There was unrest also m the cotton mdustry On both sides Ckitton
the organization m that industry has been exceptionally eHective,
and particularly since the conclusion in 1893 of a treaty known as
the ‘ Brooklands Agreement That agreement provided maclun-
erj' for the settlement of disputes which has, on the whole, worked
exceedingly well In 1907, however, a dispute arose on a question
of ‘ demarcation ’ wluch was only settled by the tact of Sir George
(now Lord) Askwith, acting for the Board of Trade under the
Conciliation Act of 1896 Yet there was another dispute, result-
ing in a strike or lock-out, mthc autumn of 1910, a period which
was marked also by a stoppage m the shipbuilding industry and
M E — 10
242 THE LABOUR PROBLEM [isra-
a serious strike, accompanied by grave disorder, in the South
Wales coal-field.
There was worse to come The years 1911-12, already de-
scribed as ciitical in international relations, were critical also in
oui own industrial history. Early in the year there was renewed
disorder m the Welsh coal-field, and an ‘ unauthorized ’ strike on
the North-Eastern Railway, arising from the dismissal of an
engine-driver who had been convicted of drunkenness. In June
there ivas a strike organized by the National Sailors’ and Fire-
men’s Union, and in July the London dockers struck m support
of the seamen, and remained out after the latter had returned to
work. The carters and vanmen also joined m the fray, and so
serious did the situation become at Manchester that troops Jiad
to be dispatched from York and the local police to be reinforced
from London
Even more serious was the strike of the railwayman. The
trouble began with disputes about the w'orkmg ofthe Concihation
Boards set up after the strike of 1907. There were local strikes
in various parts of the coimtry, two men were killed at Llanelly,
and there was loss of life and much injury to persons and property
at Liverpool But these were only a foretaste of what was to
come. On August 15, 1911, the Amalgamated Society, acting in
conjunction with two smaller Societies, the Railway Clerks’ Associa-
tion and the Locomotive Engineers and Firemen, demanded that
the Compames should meet the Trade Union oIBcials to discuss
a revision of the Conciliation Scheme. The Compames took up
their usual attitude : with their own employes they were always
wilhng to discuss grievances, outside ollicials they declined to
meet. A general strike on all the railways was declared on
August 17, but the response was not umversal ; the Government
mtervened and promised a Royal Commission : on the 19th the
men returned to woik.
But although of short duration the railway strike of 1911 was
marked by two features of special significance. For the first time
the three railway Unions acted together and presented a umted
front to their employers ; for the first tune a general stake in a
key mdustry was planned to comcide with a crisis m international
relations which brought this ^country, nay, the whole of Europe,
to, the brink of war.
1012 ]
THE COAL MINERS
243
Yet the railway strike of 1911 sinks into insignificance as Coal
compared with the great coal strike which dislocated the whole jgjo
industrial life of the nation m the spring of 1912 For many
jears past there had been profound unrest among the colliers
it came to a head m connexion with the question of a minimum
wage, and issued in a stnke which lasted from February 26 to
April 1 1 , 191 2 So grave w as the situation that the Prime Slimstcr
(Mr Asquith) was constramed to step m, and the disputants were
onh brought into agreement after action of unprecedented signifi-
cincc on the part of Parliament Having laid before owners
and men a w cll-considered scheme, Asquith announced that the
Goicrnmcnl would embody it in a Bill, and virtually compel
acceptance bj the strong hand of the law The Minimum Wage
Bill was introduced on March 19, passed through all its stages m
ten days and received the Royal Assent on March 29 It was a
bold stroke, and it succeeded
Other disputes, of which there were plenty m the next few
3'ears, sink into comparaln e insignificance as compared with the
gigantic upheaval, involving a loss of 30,000,000 working days,
of 1912
So serious an epidemic of labour disputes seemed to suggest
the presence of a microbe poisoning the hfc-blood of the body
politic
There had been circulated pnvately in 1912 a pamphlet, Sjndical-
cntitled The Miners' Next Step ^ It emanated from South Wales, s^ahsm
where in the prciious year a campaign had been conducted by
one William D Haywood, an American agitator, who in 1905 had
founded an organization known as the Industrial Worhers of the
World (IWW) Another stormy petrel had also recently
reappeared — Tom Mann, whose activities in connexion with the
Dock Strike of 1889 base been already noticed. In 1908 he
returned from Australia, where for five or six years he had acted
as organizer of the Victoria Labour Party ]\Iann had become
deeply imbued with the pnnciples of Syndicalism, a social philo-
sopii}’’ of Galhc origin
Syndicalism is in essence the antithesis both of Democracy
and Socialism : the negation of the centrahzed action of the
State Socialism demands the nationahzation of all the mstni*
^ A cop\ IB still (1941) in my possession
244
THE LABOUR PROBLEj\I
[1870-
ments of production; of all the machinery of distribution, ex-
change, locomotion and transport. The State, being the sole
owner of the soil, of all mines and minerals, of all fixed and circu-
lating capital, becomes the sole employer of labour. All the
economic and industrial functions are to be performed by a vast
civil service directed by a multitude of State officials.
To all this the Syndicalist is diametrically opposed. He
regards the authority and interference of the centralizing State
with an abhorrence, not less genuine than that exhibited by the
old-fashioned indmduahst. Of representative government and
of parliamentary action he is frankly mistrustful The ‘ democ-
racy ’ in which he believes is direct This involves the elimination
of the ‘ representative ’ if not of the ‘ delegate *. On these points
The Miners' Next Step is lUmmnatmg.
‘ Democracy ’, we read, ‘ becomes impossible v hen officials and
leaders dominate. For this reason they are excluded from all
power on the Executive, which becomes a purely admimstrative
body, composed of men directly elected by the men for that
purpose. Agents or organizers become the servants of the men,
directly under the control of the Executive and indirectly under
the control of the men.’
Conformably with these prmciples the proposed Constitution
ordains
‘ (vi) No agent or other permanent official of the Federation
shall be ehgible to a seat on the Executive Council. . . .
(xi) Any agent who may be returned to Parliament shall be
required to rehnqmsh his mdustnal duties and position (xu) No
Member of Parliament shall be ehgible to seek for or retain a seat
on a Local or National Executive Council. . . . (xiv) On all
proposed Labour legislation conferences shall be called to discuss
same and instruct our M P.’s (xv) Any Member of Parhament,
as such under the auspices of the organization, shall at once
vacate his seat if a ballot vote of the membership so decides ’
(pp. 21, 22).
Syndicahsm, then, would make the workmen in each industrial
group pohtically and economically supreme, and ultimately com-
bine these groups into one vast working-class organization.
But it must start with each particular mdustry. ‘An ideal
organization writes Tom IVlann, ‘ would be to get all the
1912]
SYNDICAI.TSM
215
Tiorkers employed m any one industry to join into one union
of that particiilar industry, be they earpenters or blacksmiths,
boilermakers or upholsterers, engineers or labourers, skilled or
unskilled, cigar makers or shop assistants railway porters or
booking-clerks ’ ^
These working-class sjmdicates would prepare the way for the
Syndicalist kingdom winch is to come by paralysing and ruining
the CMsting industrial order As a means to the desired end there
IS to be unceasing and relentless economic war. Syndicalists are
‘ to fight against the employers m order to extract from them,
and to their hurt, ever greater ameliorations of the worker’s lot,
on the way to the complete suppression of “ exploitation ” ’.®
The Syndicalist millennium is, then, to be attained bj^ ‘ direct
action
Actual bloodshed may be avoided ‘Economic pressure’ —
Sahoia^e, the destruction of properly, Ca' Canny — may suffice to
attain the end
As to the nature of this econonuc pressure The Miners' Next
Step IS again instructive The ultimate object is ‘the taking
over of all mdustnes, by the workmen themselves ’ (p 19), and
among the immediate steps wnth a view to that end are • (i) a
mimmum wage of eight shdlmgs per day for all workmen employed
in or about the mines , (ii) a seven-hour day (p 18) Chapter V,
devoted to a summary of Policy, advises
‘ (mu) That a continual agitation be earned on in favour of
increasing the minimum wage, and shortening the hours of work,
until we have extracted the whole of the employers’ profits’
(p 2C)
‘ (xiv) That our objective be, to build up an organization that
will ultimately take over the mining industry, and carry it on in
the interest of the workers’ (p 26) The elimination of the
employer ‘ can only be accomplished gradually and in one
way. We cannot get rid of employers and slave driving in the
mining industr}' until all other industries have organized for,
and progress towards, the same objective’ (pp 28, 29)
To nationalization as a solution of the industrial problem the
SjTidicahst IS strongly opposed It would merely substitute a
^ Quoted bj ^Ir and Mrs Webb, ITAol Syndicalism Means, p 7
* ^ iclor GniTuclbcs, L' Action Syndicaliste, p 12.
246 THE LABOUR PROBLEM [187C-1012
Government Department for the employer, and the last state of
the manual worker would be worse than the first.
It may well be, as Mr. MacDonald declared in 1912, that
‘ Syndicalism in England is negligible both as a school of thought
and as an organization ’ ^ The pure milk of French philosophy
needs much dilution before it is palatable to English consumers
Organized labour, by the vote of its representative Congress,
pronounced an equally emphatic repudiation of Syndicalist doc-
trine. The ultimate objective of Syndicalism is indeed poles
asunder from that of State Socialism None the less, the two
tsms travelled along the same road for a considerable distance
before discovering that their paths must presently diverge Nor
can it be denied that both movements derived their strength from
conditions, industrial and social, which called for serious investi-
gation The microbe which was infecting Society and producing
epidemic disease was not purely economic. It was not, with the
younger worlonen, a question merely of wages, or hours, and the
like. In an electoral sense they were the equals of their em-
ployers , they had been endowed with the full status of a citizen ;
they were getting more and more education , too much, perhaps,
unless they were to get more But industry remained autocratic
m a democratic State; the world-vide extension of commerce
demanded higher and higher skill m the directors of big businesses ;
m the sphere of Government things might, in those pre-War days,
be tending towards Democracy, in that of industry they were
tending to Dictatorship. Yet the wage-earner could not but con-
trast his status as a citizen with his status as a workman. The
contrast generated that spirit of unrest which issued in industrial
strife. The solution could not, at the moment, be found, nor even
sought. Before the clash of interests could be reconciled the
whole world was involved m the clash of arms,
> Syndicalism, p 39.
1P0O-190S]
THE NEW LIBERALISM
247
CHAPTER XIV
THE NEW LIBERALISM
A fter two parenthetical chaptere we return to the point H
reached at the close of Chapter XI bcl™**
On the resignation of Mr Balfour King Edward promptly Banner-
entrusted the formation of a new Ministry to Sir Henry Campbell-
Bannerman who since 1899 had led the Liberal Party in the
House of Commons King Edward and Sw Henry had fore-
gathered at Marienbad in the preceding August, and the King had
sci/cd the opportunity to improve acquaintance wnth a man to
whom he was instinctively drawn ‘He has been extremely
friendly wrote the future Prime Mmistcr to a colleague and
‘ expressed his satisfaction at having the chance of a frank con-
versation on things abroad and at home as I must soon be m office
and very high office’
The King’s prescience was not at fault On December 5
Campbell-Bannerman accepted office as Prime Mmistcr and First
Lord of the Treasury.
The y’oungcr son of James Campbell, a wealthy business man
in Glasgow, the future Pnme Minister was born in that city m
188G He was, therefore, in his seventieth year when he formed
his Government Educated at Glasgow and Cambridge Univer-
sities, he was for ten y cars a partner in the family business but
in 1SG8 he entered the House of Commons as Jlcmber for the
Stirling Burghs, a seat which he retained until his death in 1908.
After sciwung in minor offices he became Chief Secretary to the
Lord-Lieutcnant of Ireland m 1884, m succession to Sir George
Trevelyan, and for eight months (accordmg to Tim Healy) he
‘ go\emed Ireland with Scotch yokes ’. In 1880 he entered the
Cabinet as Secretary of State for War, an office which he again
filled under Gladstone and Rosebery from 1892 to 1895.
248
THE NEW LIBERALISM
[1006-
Libcral Thenceforward, for more than ten years, the Liberal Party,
disunion dissensions political and personal, was out of ofiice. Lo’"
Rosebery resigned the leadership of the Parly in 1890, and pres-
ently formed with Asquith, Sir Edward Grey, Haldane and others,
a group of Liberal Impenahsls who were less remote in opinion
from the Unionists than from the ‘ orthodox ’ Liberals. Sir
William Harcourt withdrew in disgust from the leadership of the
Party in the House of Commons in December 1898, and a month
later Mr. John Morley declared that ‘he, too, could no longer
take an active and responsible part m the formal councils of the
heads of the Liberal Party *. Harcourt’s death m 1904, following
that of Lord Kimberley in 1902, combined •with Lord Spencer’s
serious illness (1905) to clear the path for the man who, m the
darkest hour of Liberalism (1899), had been chosen as leader of
the Parly in the House of Commons.
The Campbell-Bannerman had no difficulty in forming a strong
Government, save in respect of the key position of Foreign Secre-
Banner- tary. Lord Rosebery bemg out of the question Grey’s adhesion
fimistty ForeigJi Secretary was essential to the success, if not the forma-
tion, of the new Ministry. But for several days Grey held back.
Failing a Rosebery or an Asquith Premiership, Grey insisted that
Campbell-Bannerman should go to the House of Lords, and that
Asquith should lead the House of Commons. Campbell-Banner-
man, conscious that his health was faihng, and sternly warned by
his German doctor. Dr Ott, was not wholly disinclined to that
course The King himself approved and indeed suggested it
Asquith and Haldane agreed with Grey, though not as an absolute
condition of adhesion. Lady Campbell-Bannerman, on the con-
trary, flouted the idea of surrender to the dictation of the ‘ rebels
Her voice was decisive. The new Prime I\Iinister refused Grey’s
terms. Grey gave way, and at the last minute of the eleventh
hour consented to take office In retrospect he confessed that
the difficulties he had raised had been ‘ unnecessary ’. ‘ Things ’,
he wrote, ‘ went well enough as they were, and the differences and
divisions of opinion that had existed when the Party was in
opposition never reappeared. Campbell-Bannerman’s own per-
sonality contributed greatly to this result.’ ^
Haldane hoped to become Chancellor, but had ‘ definitely
1 Twenty-fivc Ytars, L 63-6.
SIR H. CAiyiPBELL-BANNERjMAN
249
lOOS]
decided that under no circumstances would [he] enter [the Govern-
ment] without [Grey]’*- Asqmth pressed Haldane’s claims to
the Chancellorship upon the Pnme Slimster, but in vam , that
office being assigned to Sir Robert Reid (afterwards Lord Lore-
burn), who had served as Attorney-General under Lord Rosebery
and like his Chief was a Scot of stout Radical opimons
Campbell-Bannerman (September 7) offered the Attorney-General-
ship to Haldane, who refused it, but, having persuaded Grey to
go in with him, accepted the War Office The Premier did not
like Haldane and chuckled about his choice ‘ We shall now see
how Schopenhauer gets on m the kad-yaird Closer contact,
however, brought mutual understandmg ‘ When one did suc-
ceed in securmg his confidence’, wrote Haldane m retrospect,
‘ there were few better chiefs to work for than Sir H C -B ’ ®
Unlike his two friends Asqmth made no difficulty about enter-
ing the Government as Chancellor of the Exchequer, though hke
them he urged Campbell-Bannerman to go to the Lords The
Earl of Elgin (Colonial Secretary), Sur Henry Fowler (Duchy of
Lancaster) and Lord Ripon (Lord Privy Seal), with Mr. John
Morley (India Office), represented ripe official experience ; and of
the other appointments the most interesting were those of Mr
Augustine Birrell, a bnUiant man of letters, who went to the
Board of Education, and air. Lloyd George (Board of Trade)
Jlr. John Burns, the first Labour member to attain Cabinet rank,
became President of the Local Government Board, where, to the
disgust of his Labour fnends, he proved himself an exceptionally
strong admimstrator Mr. James (afterwards Viscount) Bryce
entered the Cabinet as Chief Secretary for Ireland, an office for
which he had few qualifications He exchanged it, early in 1907,
for that of Ambassador at Washington, where his great talents
had full scope
Out of the nineteen members of the new Cabinet, no fewer
than twelve were new to Cabmet office, and five had never held
office at all Yet the team proved a strong one. Among the
junior members of the Government were several promising
‘ youngsters ’, such as Winston Churchill, Reginald MeKenna,
Walter Runciman, Herbert Samuel, and Freeman Thomas,
destined to reign at Ottawa and at Delhi as Lord Wilhngdon
» Haldane, Autobiography, p 160
Ibid , p 182
250
THE NEW LIBERALISM
[loon-
Lord Edmund Fitzmaunce returned as Under-Secretary to the
Foreign Office, where he had served under Lord Granville from
1882-5. A fine scholar and a brilliant biographer he had, like his
elder brother Lord Lansdowne, an hereditary aptitude for diplo-
macy, and his willingness to serve, if only for a short time, under
Sir Edward Grey accorded with the best traditions of public
semce and aristocratic obligation.^
General The new Premier, having formed his Ministry, immediately
1006 ^sked the King for a Dissolution. Mr. Balfour’s decision to put
his opponents in office before a Dissolution was regarded both by
them and by lus friends as characteristically clever. The result
proved that brilhant tactics are not synonymous with good pohcy.
Had Balfour dissolved instead of resigning, the result might have
been better for the Umonist Party — it could hardlj' have been
worse. The mam issue submitted to the electors was that of
Free Trade v. Tariff Reform, but the bitter feelings aroused among
Nonconformists by the Education Act of 1902 were exploited to
the fuU, and great play was also made with the cry of * Chinese
Slavery ’, in allusion not quite ingenuous, to the introduction of
a number of Chinese labourers into the South African mines,
under the Chinese Labour Convention (1004) The Unionist
Party, hopelessly divided on the Tariff question, was smitten hip
and thigh Birmingham remained staunch m its allegiance to
Chamberlain, but Arthur Balfour and lus brother Gerald, Mr
Brodrick, Mr Walter Long, Mr. Lyttelton, Lord Stanley, Mr.
Bonar Law — ^besides Sir William Hart-Dyke and Mr. Chaplin —
lost their seats, and the Unionist Party as a whole was reduced
to 157 members, of whom 132 were Conservatives. Opposed to
them were 377 Liberals and 83 Irish Nationalists, but the new
political portent was the return of 53 ‘ Labour ’ members, of whom
29 were nominees of the Labour Representation Committee, and
pledged to act as an independent party. The remaining 24 were
returned as Liberal-Labour members and accepted the Liberal
Whip. Only one ‘ Labour ’ member, Mr. John Burns, found a
place in the Cabinet, but the appearance m such strength of a
Socialist Party could hardly fail to colour the legislation even of a
Liberal Government returned on the issue of laisser-fatre. To
1 In 1906 he went to the House of Lords and in 1908 became Chancellor
of the Duchy of Lancaster.
1008]
THE NEW PARLIAIIENT
251
placate the nghtwing of Liberalism, the&xsh question had been
tacitly dropped — for the moment The production (1907) of a
measure of ‘ Devolution ’ soothed the consciences of the English
Home Rulers , its rejection by a Nationalist Council in Dublin
gne\ed nobody Mr Birrell, who succeeded Bryce as Chief
Secretary in January' 1907, had, however, the satisfaction (1908)
of establishing a really adequate and efficient Roman Catholic
University in Ireland The problem had baffled many previous
efforts , its solution removed an ancient and genmne grievance
An overwhelming majority does not necessarily make things The New
easier for the Government it sustains But it was soon made
manifest that his electoral triumph had made a new man of the
Prime Minister The misgivings of the Liberal Imperialists were
entirely dissipated in the first weeks of the new Parhament
Campbell-Bannerman proved himself more than a match for the
decimated Front Bench opposed to him — even after it was rein-
forced by the return of Mr Balfour for whom the City of London
promptly pioMded a seat
Yet the new House was not an easy one to lead It con-
tained an exceptional proportion not only of men who were new
to Parliamentary life (many of whom had stood without any
expectation of being returned, and were somewhat embarrassed
by their success) but also of zealots, more anxious for the tnumph
of some special ‘ cause ’ than for that of Liberalism in the abstract
But Campbell-Bannerman’s leadership evoked general admira-
tion he was at once firm and genial , while the Opposition soon
realized that the master of tlie big battahons would stand no
* foolery ’ from a minority contemptible m numbers, and not
conspicuous in individual ability.
Yet the Opposition was pcitmacious, and the legislative path
of the Government was not smooth The Kmg’s Speech, as was
under the cncumbtanccs natural, was a lengthy one and fore-
shadowed great activity in legislation The first place among
Bills proposed to Parliament was assigned to one for amending
at the earliest possible moment the existing law with regard to
education in England and Wales
I The Education Act of 1902 bad undoubtedly aroused great Elcmcn-
bittcrncss among the Nonconformists^ ho were largely responsible
for the great Liberal majonty of 1900^ Liberal Umonist leaders tion
262 THE NEW LIBERALISM [1906-
had predicted the debacle of their Party. To the Duke of Devon-
shire Mr. Chamberlain •wrote (2 September, 1902) • ‘ I told you
that your Education Bill -would destroy your own Party. It has
done so Our best friends are leaving us by scores and hundreds
and they will not come back. ... I wonder how much mis-
chief the Opposition will be able to do when they at last serae the
opportunity which we have so generously presented to them.’
They seized it to some purpose at the election of 1906, and
on April 9 IMr. Birrell introduced a Bill intended to redeem the
pledges given to the electorate.^
Mr. Birrell, though he came, hke most of the Radical leaders,
of Puritan stock, was no fanatic, but there were many fanatics
on the benches behind him, and some — of a different hue — on
the benches opposite. As to the root of the problem he had to
face he was under no illusion it bore * the ill-omened name of
the religious difficulty ’. ‘I know full well ’, he added, ‘ that you
have all come here expecting for to see a reed shaken by the -wind,
quivering, and trembling m [the] icy and unfeehng blasts of
sectarian bitterness.’
His BiU was a drastic one. It proposed that all the elemen-
tary schools receiving aid from rates or taxes should be con-
trolled and maintained by the Local Education Authorities as
‘Provided’ Schools. In voluntary schools transferred to the
Local Authorities denominational teaching was, if desired by the
parents, to be given on two days a week, but not by the regular
teachers, all of whom were to be appointed, without any religious
tests, by the Authorities In towns and populous places denomm-
ational schools might, on the demand of four-fifths of the parents
of the childien attending the school, continue to receive aid from
the rates The Bill contained many other proposals, but it was
around these that controversy raged most hotly. The Bill passed
its Second Reading by 410 votes to 204 on May 10, but encoun-
tered very rough weather m Committee, and only emerged after
it had been closured by compartments It was not, however,
greatly modified in Committee and on July 30 passed its Third
Reading by 369 votes to 177.
The Bill was drastically amended m the Lords ; the Commons
rejected the Lords’ Amendments en bloc ; the Lords insisted on
them, and on December 20 the Bill was withdrawn.
* See note, p. 260.
1008] EDUCATION BILLS 253
The Government made two further attempts to deal with tlie Bills of
problem m the session of 1908 The first was made by Mr
McKenna, who in January 1908 had succeeded to the Board of
Education , but the Bill calls for no detailed description since
after a Second Reading it was withdrawn Men of goodwill, both
in and out of Parliament, were m fact working hard to find a
basis of agreement and so solve a difficulty which to many of
them seemed to be anything but religious More particularly
was Mr Walter Runciman, who in April had replaced McKenna,
m close consultation with the Archbishop of Canterbury (Dr.
Dividson)
As a result Jlr Runciman, moving the Second Reading of
Bill No 2 of 1908, was able to announce (November 25) that there
appeared to be general agreement on three points the unde-
sirability of a purely secular system , the great value of simple
Bible teaching, and the possibihly, while safeguarding principles,
of adjusting differences He accordingly proposed that only
Provided Schools should receive aid from local rates, that m them
there should be no tests for teachers, but tliat in every school
the first forty-five minutes of school-time should be devoted to
non-denominational religious instruction, attendance at which
nas for all children to be voluntary. On two days a week the
leaching dunng this hour might be denominational, if desired by
the parents, and might be given by assistant-teachers (but not
by head teachers) if they volunteered for the duty and were paid
b}' the Denommations In non-smgle school areas Voluntary
Schools might under certain conditions receive State-aid, but not
rate-aid Voluntary Schools transferred to Local Authorities
were to be paid for The compromise thus outlined broke dowm
on the question of the financial terms to be given to schools which
‘contracted out’ of the national agreement, and the Govern-
ment, therefore, abandoned the Bill before it emerged from Com-
mittee
Mr. Asqiuth, now Prime Minister, described the breakdoivn
of negotiations as ‘the heanest disappointment of his public
life’ But it was not an irremediable disaster. A settlement was
reached ten years later in a very different and much more favour-
able atmosphere By that time the problem of national educa-
tion could be seen in better perspective In 1908 feelings on both
THE NEW LIBERALISM
[1900-
sides were bitter and the perspective was hopelessly distorted.
The great mass of the nation were in sober earnest well content
with things as they were Dif&culties were created on the one
side by fanatical doctrinaires, who disapproved of a State endow-
ment for rehgious teachmg, and on the other by certam High
Church clergymen in country parishes These, not content with
* Council ’ rehgious teachmg, nor with the limited opportunities
for doctrinal teachmg offered by Mr Runciman, wished to have
the whole school permeated by a * Cathohc ’ atmosphere. In the
towns, where there was a choice of schools, this demand was
reasonable, and could be conceded In country parishes, with a
smgle school, it was unfair not only to Nonconformists but to
many Churchmen, who preferred the religious mstruction as given
under the authority of the Councils to that of Anglican priests.
While the rehgious difBeulty remained unsolved two less con-
tentious measures for the benefit of school-children were placed
on the Statute Book XJnder the Education (Provision of Meals)
Act, 1906, Local Authorities were empowered to assist voluntary
agencies m the provision of meals for school-children, or even
with the consent of the Board, to provide meals themselves. An
Act of 1907 arranged for the medical inspection of all school-
children and the Board of Education set up a Medical Branch
which has done work of incalculable value.
Trade Among the factors which contnbuted to the Liberal-Labour
Ac?*'t 906 of 1906 the Taff Vale Judgement was hardly inferior m
importance to the Balfour Education Act. Accordingly, close
on the heels of the Education Bill of 1906 came the Trade Disputes
Bill. The scope of this measure has been already described^
Its passage through the House of Commons was chiefly remark-
able for the surrender of the Pnme Minister to the Labour Party.
Despite this, the Bill passed its Third Readmg without a
Division
Sir Edward Carson had suggested that the vital clause might
more simply and more accurately have been drafted thus . * T he
King can do no wron g , neither can Trades Unions .’ It was con-
fidently expected, therefore, that the great lawyers m the House
of Lords would msist on the amendment if not the rejection of
the Bill But the Conservative leaders had, with rare prescience,
* Supra, p. 235.
lOOS]
LORDS r. COMMONS
255
agreed that while the Nonconformists might be safely defied,
‘ organized labour ’ must be conciliated. Lord Lansdowne,
accordingly, advised his followers to allow the Bill to pass, not
indeed on its merits, which he was as little able as Lord Halsbui y
to discern, but because the Lords ought only to fight ‘ on favour-
able ground He regarded the BiU * as conferring dang erou s
privileg es on one claTs anfl~on one' cl as s only . . privileges
fraught with danger to the community and hkely to embitter
the industrial life of this country ’, but he thought it * useless ’
for the Lords to resist the measure
On similar grounds the Lords assented to a Bill greatly extend-
ing the scope of the Acts passed m 1880, 1897 and 1900 imposing
upon employers habihty for mjuncs to their employes
Lp'-s fortunate was the fate of the Bill to deprive electors offlural
the right of loting, though qualified by law to do so, m moreK^i*”®
than one constituency. The Bill, after a somewhat stormy pas-*^^^
sage through the House of Commons, reached the Upper House
only in December (1906) Lord St Aldivyn (Hicks-Beach) moved
an amendment declanng that the Lords ‘ while willing to consider
a complete scheme for reforming the Parhamentary franchise and
securing the fau: representation of the people *, dechned to con-
sider a measure which did * nothing to remove the most glaring
mequahties in the present distribution of electoral power ’ Lord
Lansdowne agreed that the House of Lords ought to reaffirm a
pnnciplc, to which they had in the past successfully adhered,
that when you deal with the franchise you should deal also with
the distribution of seats The amendment was earned by 143
to 43 votes and the Bill was killed
It was not to be expected that a Government and a Party Lords v
elated by a recent and remarkable victory at the Polls should
accept, without protest, the defeat or emasculation of some of
their most cherished legislative projects by the House of Lords
The Prime Minister gave expression to tlie feelings of his follow'ers
when in the House of Commons on December 20 he pronounced
the funeral oration over the deceased Education Bill ‘ Is the
General Election and its result ’, he asked, ‘ to go for notlung ?
... It IS plainlj intolerable that a Second Chamber should,'
while one Party in the State is in power, be its wnlling servant,
and when that Party has received an unmistakable and emphatic
256
THE NEW LIBERALISM
[1006-
condemnation by the country, the House of Lords should then
be able to neutralize, thwart and distort the policy which the
electors have approved . . . But the resources of the British
Constitution, the resources of the House of Commons are not
exhausted, and I say with conviction that a way must be found,
a way will be found, by which the will of the people expressed
through their electoral representatives in this House will be made
to prevail ’ ^
That declaration was received with great enthusiasm by the
Liberal and Labour Parties. Plainly it indicated the opening of
a conflict among the gravest and most momentous in the history
of the English Constitution.
Vrmy The parliamentary weather of 1907 was relatively calm as
Icform compared with the storms and tumults of the preceding year
The King’s Speech referred briefly to the Constitutional Question .
‘Serious questions affecting the working of our parliamentary
system have arisen from unfortunate differences between the two
Houses ’ ; a Licensing Bill was foreshadowed, but the Session
was, m fact, devoted mainly to the problem of national defence.
The matter was urgent. The Boer War had revealed many
deficiencies m Army organization: the Report of the Royal
Commission on the War revealed more. Nor were successive
Secretaries of State slow to mitiate reforms. Scheme had suc-
ceeded scheme — but only to disappear. Mr. Brodrick had pro-
duced in 1901 a scheme, the object of which was to organize three
Army Corps, ready at a moment’s notice to take the field, com-
plete with artillery, cavalry, medical and transport service. Each
Army Corps was under the Commander who would, if war broke
out, command it in the field. Behmd the first three Army Corps
were three others, equally complete, but only in skeleton, to be
filled up, as necessity arose, from the Reser\'es
The scheme had more critics than friends, but hardly had it
had time to demonstrate either success or failure before Brodrick
was succeeded at the War Office (1902) by Mr Arnold Forster,
who, full of ideas, produced m 1904 yet another scheme Before
its details were explained to the House of Commons the War Office
itself had been reorganized on fines recommended by a small
Committee consisting of Sir George Sydenham Clarke (afterwards
* Hansard, Dec 20, 1900, pp 1789-40.
ARMY REFORM
257
1003]
Lord Sjdcnham of Combe), Lord Esher and Admiral Sir John
Fisher. The Commander-in-Chief was to be superseded by an
Army Council constituted on the model of the Board of Admiralty.
The Council was to consist of the Secretary of State, the Under-
secretary and Financial Secretarj', and four military members.
An Inspector-General was to give unity to the four commands
(each of which was to form one Army Corps) and a Board of Sdec-
tion was set up, under the presidency of the Duke of Connaught,
to deal with the difficult matter of promotions The troops of
the Aldershot Command were to form a ‘ staking force ’ ready
for immediate service Sir Edward Ward became Secretary to
the Army Council and also to the Committee of Impenal Defence.
The latter Committee, after existing as a somewhat nebulous
body for ten years, had been reorgamzed with a small but per-
manent Secretanat and staff m 1904 The Prime Mmister
became ex-officio chairman, and the other ordinary members
w ere the Secretaries of State for Foreign Afiaurs, for the Donumons,
for the Colonies, for India, for War and for the Air, the First
Lord of the Admiralty, the First Sea Lord, the Chief of the Im-
penal General Staff, the Chief of the Air Staff, the Durectors of
the Intelligence Departments of the War Office and the Admiralty
and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Prune Minister was
expressly empowered to call for the attendance of any mihtary
or naval officers or of other persons, with administrative expen-
cnce, whether they hold official positions or not In particular
the advice is sought of representatives of the Donumons Mmutes
are taken and preserved and are available for reference by suc-
cessive Committees By a convement arrangement the Secretary
of the Cabinet (a new official called into being by the exigencies
of the Great War) acts also as Secretary to the Committee of
Impenal Defence The organization of the Committee, m the
conduct of which he took great personal interest, was the most
important piece of constructive work (always excepting Ins Edu-
cation Act of 1902) achieved during his Premiership by Mr.
Balfour ^
So matters stood when ‘ Schopenhauer ’ was mtroduced into Mr
the ‘ kale-yard ’ He got to work at once Early m the South
* For cnnxcnicncc, this paragraph describes the ultimate, not the original
composition of the Committee.
ME — 17
258
THE NEW LIBERALISM
[lOOC-
Afiican War a chance meeting with Lord Lansdowne had given
Haldane an opportumty of putting his ideas into praetiee ‘ \Vha t
we have been suffering from in the South African War is,* he sai d,
‘among other things, that we have not given proper attentio n
to our explosives; T"." ^e ought to do what the French have
done. . . . You ought to appoint the English Berthelot to be
Chairman of an Explosives Committee ’ ^ Lansdowne adopted'
Haldane’s suggestion and the latter accordingly sat for four years
on a Committee with Lord Rayleigh, Sir William Crookes, the
great chemist. Sir W. Hoberts-Austm, the metallurgist, and Sir
Andrew Noble, an artillery expert, as his colleagues. ‘ I found ’,
says Haldane, ‘ the knowledge gained of great use when I came
to the War Office ’ ^ Asked by the Army Council for some notion
of the Arm^ he had in mind ‘ Schopenhauer ’ characteristically
replied : ‘ A Hegelian Army ’. The conversation, he adds, ‘ then
fell off ’. But the Generals soon reahzed that Haldane, though
a student of Clausewitz and Von der Goltz, was no mere theonst.
The one idea of the Radical Party in Parliament vas to secure
a reduction of the Army Estimates. Haldane’s rep l y was tha t
economy and efficiency were not j ncomnatible.. t ^t he behev ed
we could obtain a finely organized Ara^^ for Jess jipney than w e
spentalreadj^^t 'fEatf a finer Army we must have, even thoug h
it^st more. He was loyally backed Sy the Prime Minister, who,
though a^typical Radical economist, was genuinely interested m
the Army, and as time went on * gamed a deep and real respect
for the colossal industry of [Haldane] and his tact and deftness
m handhng the Generals ’ ^
Haldane entirely justified the good opimon of his Chief : not
only did he reduce the estimate by £3,000,000 but, with the help
of Colonel Ellison, Sir Charles Hams, Sir Douglas (afterwards
Earl) Haig, General Ewart, and Lord Nicholson, he laid the
J^pimdations of an Army which in point of quahty was and proved
'itself to be ‘the finest Army for its size on the earth*. JChe.
proble m as stated by Hal dane himself was to provide for an
E xpediti onary Force o f six Lifantry Pillions, and a Cavalry
Divi sion of fgurJin gades, cpmnletejwith the appropriate medm^
and transp ort services Detailed plans had also to be worked
out, whereby this force ^ould be mobihzed and in position within
1 Huldane, Autoltography, p 1G4 * Spender, Life of II, 323.
1008J LORD HALDANE 259
fifteen days So perfectly, indeed, did the machinery work that
in August 1914 the Expeditionary Force was in its assigned
position in France within twelve days after the declaration of
war.
A second hne Army, absorbing the old Militia and Volunteers,
vith the old Yeomanry for cavalry, was to provide 300,000 men
organized in fourteen Infantry Divisions and fourteen Mounted
Bngades, with Artillery and Engineers for coast defence. Each
division was to be tramed, commanded m peace time by a Major-
General, and m every county there was to be a Territorial Associa-
tion under the Lord-Lieutenant, responsible for admmistration
under the general direction and supervision of the War Office.
T he old Militia Reserve was abolishe d, b ut its place was to b e
ta ken by a special contmgent to supply auxihary and sp ecial
ser vice troops on mobihzation The Territonal and Res^ e
F orces Act passed it s Third Readm e m the House of Comm ons
on Ju ne 19, 1^ 7, and came mto~opera tion on March 81, 1908.
Finally Sidd^ encouragetl tlie formation of the Officers* ^am-
mg Cor ps m th e Umversities and Pubhc Schools which, when
neeS^ose, gave the country a large supply of partially tramed
officers of lugh quality.
Such m bncf outline was the Haldane Army Scheme. Lord Haldano
Kitchener did not in 1914 make full use of the machinery which
lay ready to his hand He preferred other methods But for
the perfection of the Expeditionary Force and the immense value
of the Territorial Scheme liord Haldane is entitled to full credit.
It IS true that w'hen the contemplated occasion arose his prepara-
tions proved inadequate Ebs own reply to critics will be found
m his Before the War ^ and his Autobiography ® Briefly stated
it comes to this that he did all that was possible under the par-
hamentary and other conditions imposed upon him or any other
War Minister , and, more specifically, that his own general staff
having fully considered a scheme for compulsory service, reported
against it Haldane and his advisers were well aware that the
crisis might come at any moment how near it was in 1911 we
have already seen. To substitute for a small highly efficient
professional army an army based on compulsory service, would
have demanded several years of reorganization Between 1906
* Cassell, 1020 * Hodder &. Stoughton (1020)
260
THE NEW LIBERALISM
[1906-1908
and 1914 it was never certain that we should be allowed several
months or even weeks. ‘Had we tried to do what we are re-
proached for not having done, we must have become weaker
before we could have become stronger ... It is probable that
the result would have been failure, and it is almost certain that
we should have provoked a preventive war on the part of Ger-
many.’
To German preparations no one was more fully alive than
Haldane. With Colonel Ellison he attended the German Army
manoeuvres in 1906, and learnt a good deal, if not from the
manoeuvres, from the organization of the War Office He paid
another visit to Berlin in February 1912, and had a series of
interviews with the Emperor, with Herr von Bethmann-Holweg,
the Chancellor, with Admiral von Tirpitz and other officials He
frankly discussed the whole position w ith the Germans, told them
that Great Britain had no secret treaties, but that we were under
Treaty obhgation to go to the aid of Belgium, m case of invasion,
and that if France were attacked Germany must not count on
our neutrality. Nor could we * sit still if Germany elected to
develop her fleet to such an extent as to imperil our naval pro-
tection *. If she built more ships we should lay down twro keels
to one. He found both the Emperor and the Chancellor fiiendly.
Von Tirpitz was less fnendly, and quite immovable on the subject
of the Navy. Haldane’s general impression was, the Emperor
wished to maintain peace but ‘ was pulled at by his naval and
military advisers and by the pow'crful, if then small. Chauvinist
party in Germany On his return he reported his impressions
fully to the Cabinet.
Of that Cabinet his friend Asquith had m 1908 become the
head. But Campbell-Bannerman before his resignation in April
1908 had already accomplished what Haldane truly described as
‘ his great achievement of the grant of a healing measure of com-
plete self-government to South Africa’.
Note to p 252
On the whole subject of the Education difficulty there is an illuminating
chapter in Bell’s Life of Archbishop Damdson, I, c xxix.
1002-1009]
SOUTH AFRICA
261
CHAPTER XV
TIIE SETTLEMENT OF SOUTH AFRICA— SELF-GOVERNMENT
AND UNION
T he Peace of Vcreeniging, though it registered the victory
of British arms m South Africa, left that great country m
a condition of chaos Nothing indeed, save the generosity of
the ^^ctors, v isely directed by a great administrator, could have
saved the vanquished from the consequences of their own imwis-
dom in prolonging a hopdess struggle Yet in that unwisdom
there vas a touch of heroism which impelled to generosity. Nor
was generosity ^lacking either m the treatment of the Boers by
the British authorities m South Africa, or in the pohey of the
Imperial Government
The soldiers had done their part , the task of ‘ clearing up Recon-
thc mess ’, and of rebuilding a shattered civihzation, was left to
Lord Nilner, and a group of young Oxford men derisively known Milner,
as Ills ‘ kindergarten ’ Neither the difficulties of that task, nor
the success with which they were surmounted have ever been
adcquatelj* appreciated ‘ Imagme says a contemporary writer,
*a wilderness stripped bare, intersected by hnes of blockhouses
and barbed wire, everything m the shape of hve-stock driven
away, the veldt untilled, roads and drifts often impassable, rail-
w ays torn up, towns and houses wholly destroyed
South Africa has two great assets, minerals and pastures In
1902 the mines were in ruins, the wide pastures were bare
A month after the conclusion of Peace a Crown Colony Con-
stitution was given to each of the annexed Colonies Seats in
the Legislative Council of the Transvaal were offered to Generals
Louis Botha, Dclarey and J. C Smuts, but the offer was declined.
^ V. R Mnrkliam, The New Era tn South Afnea, p 7 — the best contem-
porai> account of the post-war situation known to me.
Chinese
labour
262 TBOE SETTLEMENT OF SOUTH AFRICA [ 1002 -
Milner, however, pushed on the work of reconstruction The first
need, if only to secure a revenue for the day-to-day expenses of
administration, was to get work restarted on the Rand. That
was done almost before^ the war ended, and a tax of 10 per cent,
on the annual net produce was imposed. The next was to re-
establish 200,000 members of the old Burgher population in their
homes — mcludmg 88,000 prisoners who were entitled under the
terms of peace to be set at hberty. Of the latter 24,000 were
in oversea-camps m India, Ceylon, Bermuda and elsewhere.
Within a year they had aU been repatriated. The civil adminis-
tration of the new Colomes had to be entirely remodelled, and the
repatriated burghers had to be provided with materials for
rebuilding farms, and with seed and stock for restarting agricul-
tural work. A free grant of £3,000,000 to the Boers for these
and other purposes was promised by the Peace terms : as a fact
£15,000,000 w^is expended m less than two years on the work
of reconstruction, in addition to a guaranteed loan of £85,000,000.
One outcome of Mr. Chamberlain’s visit in 1903^ was the
estabhshment of a Customs Umon for the four Colonies, and a
simphfication of railway rates throughout South Africa. On
these economic foundations the pohtical edifice was subsequently
built Blit the stabihty of the structure depended wholly upon
the output of the mmes. Unless they could be worked to full
capacity the new Colonies were hkely to become a heavy charge
upon the British taxpayer. Mimng operations were, however,
hampered by a shortage of labour. The mme-owners calculated
that they could profitably employ 200,000 natives ; m July 1903
they could get less than 70,000.
The Report of a Labour Commission appointed by Lord
Milner demonstrated the gravity of the problem. Only a driblet
of natives was supphed from other parts of Africa ; the Colonies
objected to the importation of Indians ; recourse was had,
therefore, to Chmese coohes Lord Milner had *no shadow of
doubt ’ as to the necessity for this expedient ; but it was strongly
opposed both at home and m South Africa — particularly in Cape
Colony. At the end of 1903, however, the Legislative Council
of the Transvaal passed an Ordmance to “ Regulate the Introduc-
tion mto the Transvaal of Unskilled Non-European Labourers ”
» Supra, p 100.
1000] CHINESE LABOUR 26S
and it received the Royal Assent on March 12, 1904! The con-
ditions imposed were very strict Licences (costing £100) were
required for the emplojunent of coolies, who were to be imported
under indentures limited to five years, and were to be repatriated,
at the expense of the hcensees, on the termination of their contract
A first hatch of about 1,000 coolies sailed from Hong Kong
on May 25, 1904, and by the end of that year 20,000 were at work
on the Rand The econonuc results of the experiment were
satisfactory ; it not only increased the output of gold but facih-
tated the emplo 3 rment of much white labour both m the mmes
and outside them On December 81, 1904, 1,817 more whites
were employed at the mmes than on June 80, and the general
trade of the Colony was greatly stimulated
By the spring of 1905 nearly 85,000 Chinese labourers were
on the Rand, but things were not working smoothly There were
strikes m some mines ; outbreaks of violence m others ; it was
found difficult to confine the Chinese to them compounds , deser-
tions •were frequent, robberies, assaults and even murders were
reported from different parts of the veldt By September the
importation of coolies had reached nearly 47,000 • of these over
2,500 had been convicted, chiefly for breach of labour regulations,
but nearly 1,000 were in jail Reports were, doubtless for pohti-
cal purposes, exaggerated, but the Boer farmers, especially m
outljnng districts, were genumely alarmed. At home the tide of
opinion, also pohtically stimulated, was nsmg against ‘ Chinese
slavery ’
Meanwhile, Lord Milner’s reign m South Africa had ended Milner’s
Durmg a short furlough m England in the autumn of 1903 he had
been pressed by Mr Balfour to take Mr Chamberlain’s place at
the Colonial Office , but though his health was seriously impaired
by the labour and anxieties of the last few years, he insisted on
returning to South Africa to complete, if it might be, the task he
had begun. The Colomal Office was assigned to Mr Alfred
Lyttelton Dunng his bnef tenure of the Office he loyally sup-
ported Milner, and was also responsible for drafting a new Con-
stitution designed to carry the Transvaal one step farther on the
road towards Responsible Government In March 1905 Lord
Milner retired His tenure of office covered the most critical
years in the history of South Africa, and he himself suffered, m
264 THE SETTLEMENT OF SOUTH AFRICA [1902-
calumny and misrepresentation, the common lot of the greatest
of our proconsuls. Milner detested the arts of the demagogue
and had httle capacity for self-justification. He preferred that
his work should be judged solely by its fruits In tune it will
be ; but the tune is not yet. Milner was no fire-eater. Coulr
the contest between Boers and Britons in South Africa have been
avoided, Milner would gladly have avoided it. He was well aware
of President Kruger’s preparations for war, well advanced before
he reached South Africa He was equally aware of our own
unpreparedness. ‘ We have a bad time before us, and the Empire
is about to support the greatest strain put upon it since the
Mutiny.’ That was the entry m his Diary on the first day of the
war. Some one had ‘ to break the crockery ’ (his own words) ;
he broke it. To shrink from that responsibility was not merely
to betray the interests of the Empire, but to postpone indefimtely
the prospects of a real settlement in South Africa. With a heavy
heart, but without hesitation, Milner accepted the responsibihty.
Similarly, in the post-war settlement Milner knew that with-
out the restoration of prospenty on the Rand the means for
reconstruction could not be obtained He accepted, therefore,
the repellent expedient of Chinese labour. The expedient was
temporary. No one knew better than Milner that the ultimate
and fundamental problem m South Africa was not the relations
between Boers and Britons, but the position of the two European
races, confronted with a coloured population which outnumbfers
them by four to one. General Smuts, though approaching the
problem from a different angle, is equally ahve to the high sig-
nificance and pecuhar difficulty of ‘ the most perplexing racial
situation which has ever been faced m the world In farewell
speeches delivered at Pretoria (March 22) and Johannesburg
(March 81) Lord Milner reviewed, with rare modesty, the eight
eventful years of his administration. There was a tinge of sad-
ness but none of regret in his retrospect. ‘ I shall hve in the
memories of men in this country, if I hve at all, in connexion with
the struggle to keep it withm the limits of the British Empire.
And certainly I engaged m that struggle with all my might,
being, from head to foot, one mass of glowing conviction of the
1 Cf. Smuts, Africa and some World Problems (Oxford, 1030), in particular
1000]
LOUD SIILNER
nghtne^j of our cause But, however inevitable, however just,
a conflict of that kind is a sad business to look back upon What
I should prefer to be remembered by is the tremendous effort
subsequent to the var, not only to repair its ravages, but to
restart those Colonies on a higher plane of civilization than they
had ever previously attained ’
That History will some day respect Milner’s preference is
certain. With Strafford, whom m some ways he resembled, he
might have said :
Vherefore not feci sure
That Time rrho m tlic tnilight comes to mend
All the fantastic day’s capnee, consign
To the Ion ground once more the ignoble Term,
And ruse the genius on his orb again, —
That Time will do me nght.’
It will.
On the eve of Milner’s departure from South Africa Mr
Lyttdton on behalf of the Government telegraphed a message
appreeiative of his great services and affirming that his ‘ arduous
and unflagging labours have laid deep and strong the foundations
upon which a United South Africa will anse to become one of
the great States of the Empire’.
Milner undoubtedly laid the foundations of a United South
Africa, but it was some years before that truth was generally
apprehended His reception at home was, on the part of the
public, cool ; on the part of a section of the Radical Party it was
crud. Some of them would gladly have seen him impeached,
and a vote of censure moved m the House of Commons was
rather evaded than resisted by the Government The House of
Lords, on the other hand, placed on record its high appreciation
of the services rendered by Lord lililner to the Crown and the
Empire
Not for the first, nor for the last time, the Lords reflected
more accuratdy than the Commons the considered judgement
of those w ho were competent to form one No fewer than 370,000
people endorsed, in an address presented to Lord Milner, the
eulogy of tlie Peers.
Lord Milner was succeeded as Governor of the Transvaal and
High Commissioner of South Africa by the Earl of Selborne The
son of a great lawyer who had twice served as Loid Chancellor
2G0 TIIE SETTLE1\IENT OF SOUTH AFRICA [ID 02 -
undcr Glndslonc, nnd son-m-law of the late Lord Salisbury, Lord
Selbornc had himself sat in the House of Commons os a Liberal
In 18SG, howc\cr, he joined the Liberal Unionist Ming, from
1893 to 1900 he Mas Under-Sccrclnry for the Colonics under Jlr.
Chamberlain, and from 1900 to 1905 did excellent service as First
Lord of the Admiralty.
Ills reign in South Africa pro\cd to be a marked success
But he Mas, at the outset, confronted by a difilcult and delicate
situation Appointed to supemse the Morking of the Lyttelton
Constitution, he found hiinself compelled to carry out the neM’
policy initialed by the Campbell-Bannerman Go\ernment.
Liberal The position of the Goeernment Mas not indeed void of
South embarrassment To denounce Chinese ‘ slavery ’ from the Oppo-
Afnea silion benches Mas one thing to cancel legal contracts vras
another. All that Cainpbcll-Banncrnian could do Mas to refuse
to alloM any further iccniitmcnt of coolies This he did in
February 190G, nnd in .Tunc 1907 the Botha Cabinet m the Trans-
vaal prohibited impoitation By Fcbniarj 1910 the last batch
of coolies Mas repatriated
McanMhilc the Ljttclton Constitution Mas suspended; a
small delimitation Commission Mas sent out to South Africa, and
on the basis of their Report Letters Patent conferring full Respon-
sible Government upon the Trans\aal Mere issued (December
190G) In June 1907 a similar Constitution for the Oningc River
Colony Mas published These Constitutions Mere on the lines of
similar Instruments dc^^scd for other sclf-go^ crning Colonies, but
they need not detain us smee thej ' m ere soon to be superseded
by a much larger experiment.
The concession of Responsible Go^crnmcnt Mas denounced
by Mr. Balfour as ‘ a dangerous, audacious and reckless experi-
ment ’, but by the Liberals m England and the Nationalists in
South Africa m’os acclaimed as a ‘ magnificent venture of faith ’.
The Government Merc, indeed, looking beyond the immediate
step then taken they had (so the covering Dispatch of the
Secretary of State declared) ‘ advised His Majesty to grant imme-
diate Responsible Goverranent to the Transvaal . . ivith the
hope that the step now taken will in due time lead to the union
of the interests of the whole of IIis Majesty’s dominions m South
Africa
267
1009] UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA
The ‘ due tune ’ was quickly accomplished In February 1907
the first election under the new Constitution was held m the
Transvaal An organization called Het VoIL (The People) secured
a majonty m a House of sixty-mne members General Louis
Botha consequently became the first (and last) Prime Minister
of the Transvaal with General Smuts as Colomal Secretary In
the Orange River Colony a Party (the Orangia Time), organized
on similar lines, secured at the election (November 1907) no fewer
than twenty-mne seats out of thirty-eight Mr A Fischer became
Premier, mth Generals Hertzog and De Wet as his prmcipal lieu-
tenants An election m the Cape Colony m 1908 put Mr. J F X.
Jlcmman m power at the head of a large majority m place of
Dr Jameson %vho had held office smee 1904 These sweepmg
^^clo^les for the Dutch parties might well have justified the mis-
givings of the Conservatives m England, had circumstances in
South Afnca not irresistibly impelled the four self-govermng
Colonics to a further step m Constitutional evolution.
‘ The war’, writes Mr Jan H Hofmeyr, * brought one obvious The
gam, for it removed the greatest of the techmeal obstacles that
Imd stood m the vay of Umon Save for the German Colony on Afnca
the west, and the Portuguese temtones on the east, all of South
Africa was now under one flag.’^ With the removal of great
obstacles iv ere combined pov erful positive incentives In Novem-
ber 1906 the Cape Mmistry, headed at that time by Dr Jameson,
appealed to Lord Selbome to ‘review tlie situation in South
Africa ’ with the view of bnngmg about ‘ a central national
Government, embracing all the Colonies and Protectorates under
South African administration’. The other Colonies concurred
in the request, and the result was the publication of a masterly
State-paper® comparable in significance with Lord Durham’s
historic Eeport on Canada
Deeply impressed bj' the inconveniences and dangers of the
existing situation Lord Sclborne insisted that there lay before
the people of South Africa ‘three choices . . . the makeshift
regime of the High Commissioner, the jarring separatism of the
States of South Amcnca, the noble umon of the States of North
Amenca ’
Four problems, m particular, confronted British statesmanship
* South Afnca, pp 110-20 ‘ Lmd 3504 (1007)
The
Native
Problem
268 TIIE SETTLEMENT OF SOUTH AFRICA [ 1002 -
m South Africa ; the position of the native population , the
problem of labour for the mmes, for industry, and for agrieulture ;
the rnilnay s 5 'stcm and railway rates, and, closely connected
with the last, the tariff question
The glaring disproportion between the European and the
aboriginal inhabitants has always been the crux of South African
politics According to the census of 1931 the Europeans number
1,859,400 as against 0,301,500 non-Europeans But presenting
itself w ith varying degrees of intensity in the several colonies the
problem has naturally not been treated on uniform lines. In
Cape Colony, where the projiortion of while inhabitants to col-
oured IS about one to four, the treatment of the natives has been
far more ‘generous’ than in Natal, where the proportion is
roughly one to ten Cape Colony has based its policy on Rhodes’s
formula ; * Equal rights for all civih/cd men ’ It has consist-
entl)’’ acted on the supposition that ‘ the problem will find its
solution in narrow mg the gulf which di\ ides the races Natives
were admitted to the franchise on prcciselj' the same terms as
whites, and, in 1903, nearly 50 per cent, of the revenue raised by
native taxation was de%'otcd to expenditure on native education
It was otheiwise in Natal and the inland colonies. The prevalent
sentiment in these colonics is in fact embodied m the blunt declara-
tion of the republican Grondwet that ‘ the people will not tolerate
equality between coloured and white inhabitants cither in Church
or State ’." Such divergence of temper and policy might seem
to have dictated a federal as opposed to a unitarj form of con-
stitution, and, but for the overwhelming force of the argument
derived from a consideration of the railway rates question and the
tariff question, a Federal S 3 'stcm might have been adopted.
Closely connected with the native problem w'as that of the
Asiatic immigrants The labour problem in South Africa was
further complicated by the caste system, which virtua% forbade
the white man to undertake unskilled labour, however small his
capacity for anything higher. But, as mdustrjr outgrew' the local
supply of coloured labour, there arose a demand for coloured
immigration. The Natal plantations and the Transvaal mines
1 The Government of South Africa, p 128 (an anonjTOous work of great
value published by tlie Central News Agency, Soutli Africa, 1908)
* Ibid., p. 187.
3009]
DEFENCE
both relied upon Asiatic labour Cape Colony never resorted,
after the British occupation, to a similar expedient, yet for
ob\ious reasons it was deeply concerned in the pohey of its neigh-
bours towards this and similar questions The interests of -nliitc
South Africa clearly demanded, therefore, a common consideration
of these persistent problems
E\ en more insistent, if not more persistent, there was also the Defence
problem of common defence Hie coast Colonies were wholly
dependent for proteetion upon the Roj^al Navy the inland col-
onics, as well as those on the coast, relied upon the English garrison
for the preservation of order amongst the native peoples, when
such a task imposed too great a strain upon local resources In
Mcw of their dependence upon the Roj^al Navy Cape Colony made
an annual contribution of £50,000, and Natal of £35,000, towards
the expense of maintainmg it, and each supported a small force of
naval i oluntccrs The inland Colomes contributed nothing. This
anomaly plainly could not survive the concession of self-govern-
ment
A scheme for common defence was drafted by a Conference
representative of the four Colomes and of Rhodesia in 1907. In
each separate Colony, however, the scheme encountered oppo-
sition so keen as to dnve home the truth that only by union could
the problem be solved That conclusion was fortified by the
palpable necessity for a common policy in regard to immigration ;
but the final and compelhng reason was the mextricable confusion
arising from the existence of four separate railway systems, each
onned and managed by a separate State
One step towards railway unification had been taken by Lord
Jlilner, who amalgamated the systems of the Transvaal and the
Orange River Colony while those Colonies were, as Crown Colonies,
under his immediate control But hlilner recognized that nothing
short of an amalgamation of the four systems w'ould furmsh a
complete solution of a problem vital to the prosperity of South
Africa ’
Amalgamation might have been achieved under a Federal
system, and in October 1908 a National Convention met at
Durban to frame a Constitution for South Africa The Con-
vention consisted of delegates from cadi of the four Parliaments,
but the more closely the delegates got to grips with the problem
Cliarac-
tcrislics
of the
Union
Constitu-
tion
(a) The
Legisla-
ture
270 THE SETTLEanSNT OF SOUTH AFRICA [looz-
the more were they convmced that the peeuhar eonditions of
South Afnea rendered a Umon preferable to a Federation. A
Bill for the union of the four Colonies was aecordingly drafted,
and submitted for the consideration of each separate Parliament
Their amendments were considered at another meeting of the
Constitutional Convention and, as amended, the Bill was again
submitted to the Legislatures in the Cape Colony, the Transvaal,
and the Orange River Colony, and to the people by referendum
in Natal By June 1909 it had been ratified by all the constituent
colonics ; it encountered no serious difiicultics in the Impcnal
Parliament, and took its place on the Britisli Statute Book as
9 Edw VII, c. 9.
Remarkable as was the aclucvcment of Federation in Canada
and in Australia, the achievement of Union in South Africa was
even more remarkable
Jlr. Balfour surcl}*^ anticipated the verdict of histor}’- when he
said m the House of Commons ; ‘ This Bill, soon I hope to become
an Act, is the most w'ondcrful issue out of all those divisions,
controversies, battles and outbreaks, the devastation and horrors
of war, the difficulties of peace. I do not believe the world shows
anything like it in its whole history.’
The outstanding characteristics of the Constitution which had
thus come to the birth demand examination.
Subject, of course, to the paramount authority of the Crown,
the Union Legislature is a sovereign body, unfettered by any
limitations imposed upon it m the interests of the provinces,
and free to amend or repeal (subject to certain temporary provi-
sions) any clause of the Constitution In brief, the South
African Parliament has not only legislative but constituent
authority. The Constitution itself is consequently not rigid but
flexible.
On the difficult question of the franchise a compromise was
reached. Each of the four Colonies w'as to follow its own existing
practice. To have attempted to prescribe a umform franchise
throughout the Union would unquestionably have wrecked the
whole scheme Neither in the Cape Colony itself, nor m England,
would pubhc opinion have permitted the disfranchisement of the
coloured voters m that Colony. No one of the other three Colonies
would have enfranchised them ; nor could Cape Colony, with its
1000]
THE SENATE
271
colour equality, have adopted the manhood suffrage on which the
Transvaal relied There was nothing for it, therefore, but to
leave these diflicult questions for the future to settle
Following the precedent of all l^nghsh-speaking communities,
the Legislature was constituted on the bicameral system, and
was to consist of a Senate and a House of Assembly
The Senate w’as, for the first ten years after the estabhshment
of the Union, to be constituted as follows (a) eight Senators to
be nominated for a term of ten j’cars, by the Governor-General m
Council , and (6) eight Senators elected by each of the four
original pro^^nces Of the eight to be nominated by the Gover-
nor-General four were to be selected ‘ on the ground mainly of
their thorough acquaintance, by reason of their official experience
or olherw ise, with the reasonable wants and wishes of the coloured
races in South Africa The eight members representing each
pronnee were to be elected, also for ten years, m a joint session
of the two Houses of the then existing Colomal Legislatures, on
the prmciple of proportional representation
These provisions were to be in force for ten years only , after
the expiration of that penod the South African Farhament might
pro'nde for the constitution of the Senate in any manner it might
see fit, or it might leave things as they were ^
The South African Senate can, like the Australian, reject, but
cannot amend, a money Bill As regards both money Bills and
ordinarj legislation the Senate possesses only a suspensive veto
If a Bill passes the House of Assembly in two successive sessions,
and IS twacc rejected by the Senate, or receives at the hands of the
Senate amendments to which the House will not agree, the Gover-
nor-General may, during the second session, convene a joint
sitting, and the Bill, if then passed by a simple majority of the
members of both Houses, shall be deemed to have been duly
passed by Parliament, and may be presented for the Royal Assent
In the case of a money Bill the procedure is even more stringent ,
for the joint sitting may be convened during Vie same session in
w Inch the Senate ‘ rejects or fails to pass such Bill
The solution thus provided for a deadlock is generally similar
to that of the Austrahan Commonwealth Act, but with this essen-
* The Senate mis diSbohcd in 1020, but in os reconstituted ou tlie same
basis
272
THE SETTLEMENT OF SOUTH AFRICA [ 1902 -
tial difrerence : the Australian Act provides for an appeal to the
electorate, in' the South African scheme there is no such pro-
vision. The difference between the two schemes may perhaps be
connected with the more democratic character of the Australian
Constitution, and stiU more directly with the fact that the South
African Parliament, unlike the Australian, is competent to amend
even the Constitution itself
The House of Assembly, as constituted by the Act, was to be
directly elected on the basis of provinces. Of the 121 original
members, 51 were allotted to the Cape of Good Hope, 36 to the
Transvaal, and to Natal and the Orange Free State 17 each. The
ultimate basis of representation was the number of European male
adults in each province, periodically readjusted after each census,
but with this provision : that while the numbers might be
increased, they could not, in the case of any Original Province
be diminished until the number reaches 150.^
(6) The The Executive is, in the English sense, parliamentary and
tave**** responsible Formally vested in the Crown, it is practically exer-
cised by an Executive Council composed of the ‘ King’s Ministers
of State for the Union *. As m Australia, ministers must, under
the Constitution, be members of one or other House of the Legis-
lature, and by custom they are allowed to sit and speak, but not
to vote, in both Houses. Their number is not to exceed ten,
exclusive, in practice, of one or two ministers ‘ without portfolio *.
Pretoria was designated as the seat of Government of the
Union. But by ‘ Government ’ was understood * Executive Gov-
ernment ’, for under section 23 Cape Town was to be the seat of
the Legislature This device, awkward and illogical, was another
significant illustration of the spirit of compromise by which the
whole Constitution is infused
Nothing more clearly demonstrates the unitary character of
the Constitution than the disappearance of the original Colonies
and States. In their place there are four Provinces, for„the
government of which elaborate provision is made in the Act. '
Generally speaking, the Provmces were placed in a position of
marked inferiority as compared with that of the Canadian Prov-
inces, and still more with that of the constituent States of the
Australian Commonwealth The authority of the Umon Parl’a-
1 The Dumbdc is now (1938) 148
THE JUDICATURE
273
lOOD]
merit is paramount, it can legislate concurrently on the same
topics as the Provincial Councils, and exercise complete control
over the legislation of the latter Absolute too is the control of
the Union Government over provincial iinance.
Xo feature of the South African Constitution is more condu- (c) The
sively indicativ’e of its Unitarian character than the position
assigned therein to the Judiciary As m England, it is the
fi'nction of the Courts merely to interpret the law, not to act as
the guardian of the Constitution. Nevertheless, the Act is
exceedingly important as making for simphcity of procedure and
uniformity of interpretation. The four independent Supreme
Courts none of which tv as bound by the decisions of the other,
were consolidated into one Supreme Court of South Africa This
Supreme Court consists of two divisions an appellate division,
vnth its headquarters at Bloemfontein, and provincial and local
divisions, exercising jurisdiction withm their respective arpas.
The Supreme Courts of the several Colomes existing at the time
of the Union were thus transformed mto provincial divisions of
the Supreme Court of South Africa From any superior court
appeals he direct to the Appellate Division From the Supreme
Court an appeal lies to the Pnvy Council only in cases m which
the Privy Council gives leav’e to appeal In this, as m other
important respects, the South Alhca Act is at variance with the
precedents afforded by Canada and Australia In Canada appeals
he bj right from every Provincial Court to the Pnvy Council, and
m the case of the Commonwealth appeals he by right and by
special leave from all the State Supreme Courts, and by special
leave from inferior courts From the Supreme Courts of the
Dominion and tlie Commonwealth appeals he to the Privy Council
only by special leave, and in the case of the Commonwealth
appeals are m certain instances prolubited save by permission of
the Court itself ^
It is significant of the economic and fiscal situation m South Finance
Africa that one of the most important chapters of the Constitu-
tion — a chapter containing no fewer than seventeen sections,
should be devoted to the joint subject of * Finance and Railways *.
Not less significant is the conjunction of the two subjects, for the
two arc interdependent
* KciUi, op cjt , pp OSp seq. ; tLc Framescorh of Union, chaps xi and ni
ME — 18
274 THE SETTLEMENT OF SOUTH AFRICA [1902-1909
The authors of the Act, thus briefly summarized, evidently
took immense pains to anticipate difficulties and to guard against
them Yet the outstanding feature of the South African Con-
.titution IS the large measure of confidence reposed in the United
Parliament. Restraints upon its ‘ competence indispensable m
1 Federal Constitution, are ha:e conspicuous by their absence.
A Parliament virtually * sovereign * was trusted to work out its
own constitutional salvation^
Resigna- The Act constituting the Umon of South Africa, though it
de^h of genesis in South Afiica, and though each one of its 152
Camp- clauses represented prolonged discussion and adjustment in the
Banner- Conventions of Durban, Cape Town and Bloemfontem, was for-
man mally enacted as a British Statute and received the Royal Assent
on September 20, 1909 Its enactment was, however, the work
not of the Campbell-Bannerman but of the Asquith Government.
In August 1906 Sir Henry had lost his devoted wife, and his own
health never recovered from that blow At the beginning of
April 1908 he resigned, and on the 22nd of the same month he died.
That Campbell-Bannerman will rank among great English
statesmen it would be idle to pretend. But he was a man of high
courage ; he won the affection of friends and (m his latter days)
the respect of opponents. As leader of the Opposition he was in
a pecuharly difficult situation,- with big battalions in front of him
and divided counsels in his own camp. As Prime Minister he
was a different man : as a debater he developed a readiness and
agility hitherto entirely imsuspected by friends or foes. Though
never autocratic m aspect he was completely master in his own
house. He listened deferentially to the opinions of colleagues,
but his was the final decision, and to it he adhered like adamant.
* Of all the men with whom I have been associated m pubhc life
I put him ’, wiote his successor, * as high as any in sense of duty,
and in both moral and intellectual courage ’ Most conspicuously
did he display it, both m opposition and office, m relation to
South Africa. With that great Domimon and with its admission
to partnership m the British Commonwealth of Nations his name
will be immemorially assCciated.
* For further details of the Constitution, cf. Marriott, Mechanism of the
Slate, 1. c X.
1003-1009]
SOCIAL REFORM
275
CHAPTER XVI
SOCIAL REFORM AND DEMOCRATIC FINANCE
O N the resignation of Campbell-Bannerman King Edward at The
once summoned Mr Asqmth to Biarritz. That the lOng
should have remained abroad during the change of government meat
evoked at the moment some ill-natured comment It was not
then known how senous was the state of the King’s own health.
Nor indeed was there any r^on for bringing the King back to
Englmd Asquith was the mevitable and predestined successor
of Campbell-Bannerman, and the ministerial changes consequent
upon lus promotion were few though not insignificant The most
important, and the least happy, was the appointment of Mr
Llo} d George to the Trcasuiy Current rumour aflirmed that the
appointment nas due not to Asquith’s will but to his weakness.
If that be true he must often have repented in dust and ashes
Lord Creue superseded Lord Elgin at the Colonial Olfice, and
Mr. JIcKcnna LordTweedmouth at the Admiralty , Mr Churchill
was brought into the Cabinet as President of the Board of Trade
and ]Mr Walter Runciman as Mimster for Education Mr John
5Iorlcy remained at the India Oflice, but not in the House of
Commons ; Jlr Henry Fowler, grehtly esteemed both by the
King and the Prune Minister, accompanied John Morley to the
House of Lords, as Viscount Wolverhampton and President of the
Council.
The new Prime Minister was well quahfied to lead a Party,
and even to govern the country, m quiet times But the days of
Asquith’s Premiership were conspicuously unquiet, and so it came
that the hmchght was concentrated on his chief lieutenant
A j oung Welsh solicitor, sprung from the people, with no Mr
traditions and little education of a formal kind, but endowed
with a magical gift of eloquence, ardent in temper, generous m
276 SOCIAL REFORM AND DEMOCRATIC FINANCE [1908-
sympathies and o£ indomitable courage, David Lloyd George had
enteied the House of Commons as Member for Carnarvon Boroughs
m 1890 and had quickly made himself a real force m pohtics
The idol of Wales, he had risked opprobrium as a champion of
the Boers , an ardent temperance advocate, he had declared war
on ‘ the Trade ’ , a strong Nonconformist, he had encouraged
passive resistance to Balfour’s Education Act of 1902. Appointed
to the Board of Trade m 1906 he had revealed unsuspected powers
of administration, and great patience m negotiation Convinced
that finance was the key to constructive Radicalism he claimed
the second place m 1908, and, though his Party was rich m abihty,
his was the driving power behmd the c'oafch during the Asqmth
Premiership (1908-16).
The new Government tv as remarkable for its large output of
social legislation An Act to facihtate, under public authority,
the provision of allotments and smallholdings for cultivating
tenants was passed m 1907. The year 1908 saw a beginning
made with a scheme for providing pensions, altogether dissociated
from Poor Relief, for persons over 70 years of age The pensions
were ‘ non-contributory ’ and were given entirely at the charge
of the State. The maximum pension was 5s a week to persons
with mcomes of not more than £21 a year or 8s. a week, and
smaller amounts on a sliding scale dovn to Is a week. Persons
whose income exceeded £31 10s. a year were excluded The Act
was estimated to cost ultimately £7 000,000 a year. It was a
grotesque underestimate. By 1909-10 the charge was £8,750,000,
but subsequent Acts have not only largely increased the maximum
pension but have also raised the amount of the disqualifying
income The charge upon the Exchequer (including pensions for
the blind at 50) now (1941) approaches £82,000,000 a year, and
the recipients number nearly two milhons. In the same year an
elaborate effort was made to deal with the sale of intoxicants, under
licence, but the Bill, hotly opposed both m Parliament and m the
country, was, after passmg through the Commons, rejected by the
Lords. An Act establishing a maximum eight-hours’ day for coal
miners was, however, passed, though not without serious misgivings
which experience has justified. The 1909 crop included a Develop-
ment Act authorizmg grants or loans from the Exchequer for
agriculture, forestry, rural transport, harbours, canals, &c., and
1009] THE PROBLEM OF PAUPERISM 277
setting up a Road Board to construct new roads or make grants
or loans to high-nay authorities A Housing and Town Planning
Act uas also passed
The latter was promoted by John Burns, who was doing excel- Housing
lent work at the Local Government Board. The Act marked,
indeed, only one stage m a legislative process which began m
1851 and is not yet (1933) closed The stage was, how'ever, an
important one The Act not only increased the powers of Local
Authorities in regard to the closmg and demolition of houses
unfit for human habitation, but encouraged them to erect new
houses , it enabled them to repair insanitary houses at the
expense of neglectful or refractory owners, and for the first time
empowered the Authorities to eonsider ‘ amemties and to acquire
land not ^ uallj' required for building purposes Every County
Council was, under tlie Act, reqmred to appoint a Medical Officer
of health It IS significant of the rapid development, especially
since the Great War, of the ‘ Housing pohey ’ that whereas m 1910
the charge to the State ivas tmder one milhon it now (1983)
exceeds thirty-two.
The year 1909 w'as m the social sphere remarkable not only Reports,
for legislation In that year were published two Reports on the poor Law
administration of the Poor Lawrs and on the condition of those
classes of the population who were dependent wholly, or in part,
on Poor Relief. The Reports issued from a Royal Commission
appointed in 1905 and presided over by Lord George Hamilton,
an ex-JIinistcr of great ability and ripe experience One of the
two Reports was signed by 14 out of the 18 Commissioners, and
the second by a minority of four, among whom were two promi-
nent Socialists, lilrs. Sidney Webb and Mr. George Lansbury.
The tiro Reports substantially agreed m their diagnosis of a gravely
disquieting situation but the majority, while insisting that the
Poor Law called for drastic amendment, held that it must be
retained both in the interests of the classes which come within
its operation, and of the nation at large , the minority desured to
sweep it away, blot out its hateful memorj, and distribute the
heterogeneous and discrepant functions then performed by it
among specialized local authorities — ^to the Education Authority
the care of all cliildrcn of school age, whether dependent on the
State or independent ; to the Health Committee tlic care of the
Social
condi-
tions
278 SOCIAL REFORM AND DEMOCRATIC FINANCE [loos-
sick, the aged infirm, and the young mothers and infants, and
so on. In a word, the minority wished to * break up ’ the Poor
Law and obhterate, as far as possible, the distinction between
pauperism and poverty, between the dependent and the inde-
pendent poor.
Neither the recommendations of the Socialist minority, nor
those of the majority, call for immediate consideration in detail,
since no attempt to give legislative effeet to them was made until
1929 1 Mueh more important was the clear and exhaustive
analysis of the existing situation, on the main features of which
there was little divergence of opimon.
For some time past there had been growing uneasiness m the
public mmd about the economic and social condition of the low-
est strata of the population. The situation appeared at once
inscrutable and paradoxical Wealth, during the previous half-
century, had increased with unexampled rapidity, and of that
increased prosperity the poorer classes had had their full share.
Sir Robert Gifien had indeed gone so far as to affirm that * the
poor have had almost all the benefit of the great material advance
of the last fifty years That conclusion reached m 1887 was in
the mam confirmed, twenty years later, by the Board of Trade
experts employed by the Commission Y et the ten years endmg m
1906, as compared with the cycle 1871-80, exhibited an ihcrease
in adult male pauperism amountmg to no less than 18 4 per cent.
Again, it had been confidently anticipated that elementary educa-
tion, compulsory and gratmtous, wouldhave diminished, if not eradi-
cated, pauperism. The, Education Acts had been m force for a full
generation, expenditure under that head had reached £20,000,000,
yet the cost of poor relief had increased from £8,007,403 m
1870-71 to £14,685,983 m 1905-6 There had, of course, been
an increase of population, but the expenditure per head of popula- '
tion had increased from 7s O^d to 85. 7jd ‘ It is very unpleasant
to record that notu'ithstanding our assumed mcS:al and material
progress, and notwithstandmg the enormous annual expenditure,
amounting to nearly sixty milhons a year, upon poor relief,
education and public health, we still have a vast army of persons
quartered upon us unable to support themselves, and an army
which m numbers has recently shown signs of increase rather
1 In Mr Neville Ghamberlam’s Local Government Act
loooj POOR RELIEF ^ 279
than decrease ’ (p 52) Thus we read in the Jlajority Report.
Not less trenchant is the indictment of the Minority ‘ The
present position is, in our opinion, as grave as that of 1834, though
'in its own way . . What the nation is confronted with to-day
is, as it was m 1834, an ever-growing expenditure from pubhc
and pnvate funds, which results, on the one hand, in a minimum
of prevention and cure, and on the other m far-reaching demoral-
ization of character and the contmuance of no small amount of
unrelieved destitution ’ (p. 799)
The reference to 1834 suggests an obvious reflection on the
Report of 1909 , it measures the distance which m the interval
between two histone Reports social theory and social practice
had alike Irai died Tlie Act of 1834 represented a conspicuous
triumph for Benthamite Liberalism The activity of the State
was to be restneted within the narrowest possible hmits; the
prmciplc of the right to work, implicit in Elizabethan legislation,
was emphatic illy repudiated ; no one was to be permitted, to die
of starvation, but pauperism was to be stigmatized as a disgrace,
and the lot of the pauper was not to be rendered m any way more
eligible than that of the mdependent labourer of the lowest class.
Thus was the nation rescued, after the dislocation caused by the
Napoleonic wars, from the social and economic disaster tlueat-
cned, nay, rendered immmcnt, by the reckless admimstration of
outdoor relief during the preceding thirty-five years The
Reports of 1909 w ould, if implemented, have removed all ‘ stigma ’
from pauperism. In place of ‘ rehef * for paupers there was to
be ' assistance ’ for the poor
Another pomt, imphcit if not explicit, obtruded in the Reports
of J 909 was the far-rcachmg significance of the Local Government
Act of 1888, and, not less, of the Education Act of 1902 The
recommendations of 1909 were based upon the foundations pro-
saded bj’ those Acts The concentration of authorities, the re-
adjustment and simplification of areas, the repudiation of the
principle of ad hoc elections, whether of School Boards or Poor Law
Guardians, above all the utilization of the sersaces of expert
ofiiaals — all these points reappear m the Reports of 1909, and
were emphasized not less by the ‘orthodox ’Majority than by
the Socialistic ^^Iinontj'
ilany years, however, were to elapse, the experience of the
2S0 SOCIAL REFOm AISTO DEMOCRATIC FINANCE [iflos-
Great War and its aftermath was to be garnered, before the Legis-
lature tackled seriously the problems presented by these Reports,
and carried out a drastic reform of Poor Law administration
Meanwhile, the diagnosis of social conditions impressed itself
upon the public conscience, and accentuated the demand for
further instalments of social legislation
Unem- Of the many forms of social disease revealed by these Reports
ployment pej-j^^ps the most puzzhng was that of unemployment, and con-
nected with, though distinct from it, the ‘new problem’ — so
styled by the Commissioners — of * chronic underemployment *.
Despite the fact that m most of the groups of skiUed industnes
the number of men employed had, m the preceding twenty years,
increased more than proportionately to the increase m the popu-
lation as a whole, there had nevertheless not been a single year
‘ without an appreciable number of skilled and organized workers
out of employment Experts attributed this disturbmg phenom-
enon partly to seasonal fluctuations incidental to particular
trades, such as the building trade ; partly to the cyclical depres-
sions to which trade in general is, under world-conditions, mcreas-
ingly liable ; partly to the ‘ loss and lack of industrial quality on
the part of the workers themselves ’ (though why there should
be ‘ loss and lack ’ with extended and improved education is diffi-
cult to understand) ; and, most of all, to the demand for ‘ reserves
of labour ’ w'hich had m recent years become a marked feature
of modern industry. It was these phenomena of recurrent
unemployment and chrome underemployment which most strik-
ingly differentiated the task set before the Royal Commission
of 1905 from that which had confronted its predecessor m
1834.
Labour l^Ir. Lloyd George proposed to apply without delay two of the
^'nges remedies recommended by the Commission. The first was a
national system of labour exchanges Some partial experi-
ments m this direction had been made under the Unemployed
Workmen Act of 1905. Germany had tried the experiment on a
much larger scale, and wuth a much greater measure of success —
nearly every town m Germany having established a labour
exchange. Experience had, however, proved that labour bureaux,
if isolated, could do httle to assist the mobility of labour ; that
if they are to succeed they must be entirely dissociated from any
1000] SWEATING 281
relief a'jcncies ; that they must be staffed by men of organizing
ability, and must gam the eonfidenee of the trade unions The
Commissioners accordingly recommended that a national system
of labour cvehanges should be organized under the Board of
Trade, that they should be managed b5’ officers of the Board, with
the help of an advisory committee of emploj'ers, workmen and
local authorities, that they should be well advertised and popular-
ized, and should be granted various facilities, but that the use
of them should be entirely voluntary
On these lines Parhament legislated in 1909-10, and by
February 1910 sii.ty-one exchanges had been opened. By 1927
nearly 400 central and 700 branch exchanges were operatmg
In 1910 the supervision of their work was transferred from the
Board of Trade to the Ministry of Labour (constituted as a
separate department m that yaa). The designation Employment
was at the same time substituted for that of Labour, m order to
indicate tlic widened scope of the functions of the exchanges
Some 10,000 persons arc now employed locally at the exchanges,
while the keeping of records for the Unemployment Insurance
Semce necessitates a headquarters staff of over 3,000.
The initiation of another cxpermicnt m Labour legislation Trade
dates from the same year The State had, until then, been
reluctant to interfere between employers and their workpeople m VOO and
regard to wages, although they had long smee interfered in refer-
dice to hours and othor conditions of employment The social
conscience had, however, been deeply stirred by the revelation
of the horrors of sweated labour contained in a Board of Trade
Report (1890), and by the evidence taken by a Select Committee
appointed m the same year The e\nl of * sw eating ’ — ^the employ-
ment of labour at ‘ starvation ’ wages, for long hours, under bad
conditions — was attributed to many causes ; primarily to lack of
organization among the lowest classes of labour, particularly that
of women , to the extreme subdi\ision of labour m certain trades
— notably the cheap tailoring tradej to the multiplication of
middle-mcii and sub-contractor^ and not least to excessive corn-
pit ition among the lowest paid wage-earners, especially alien
iiimiigrants The 2 radc Board Ad. of 1909 represented a first
attempt to grapplr wiEir'llus' problem It ap plied only to four
trades ready-made and wholesale bespokcltailonng, paper box-
282 SOCL\L REFORM AND DEMOCRATIC FINANCE [loos-
m akmg, machine-made lace and net finishinp r. nliam-mnlf mg .
The last was the only one of the trades m winch male workers
were predominantly employed, its inclusion being due to the
painful impression created by a recent Report on the condition
of the chain-makers at Cradley Heath. A Board was to be set
up for each of these trades, and was to consist of an equal number
of employers and workpeople, with the addition of one to three
neutral or ‘ appomted ’ members The Bo ards were req uired t o
fix minimum rates of w ages for time-workers, and w ere al so
^]^wCTaS~a t "tSeir discretion to fix a general minimum rate fo r
piece-wo rlcCTS, subiect in both cases to confirmation by the
Board of Trade.
The scope of the origmal Act was greatly extended by subse-
quent legislation Under the Tiade Boards Provisional Orders
Confirmation Act of 1913 seven additional Boards were set up,
and under the Act of 1920, forty-eight and more. In all no fewer
than 3,000,000 workpeople are now (1933) covered by the opera-
tions of Trade Boards Rates of wages being fixed by them,
failure to pay wages at the legal rates is punishable by criminal
procedure, and orders made under the Statute apply to all firms
engaged in the trade.
According to a Report issued by the Ministry of Reconstruc-
tion m 1919 Trade Boards would seem to have achieved the
anticipated and desired results. ‘ The general eJEfect of the Act
has been to raise wages, to stimulate organization on the part of
employers and employed, and to improve the efficiency of industry.
It would appear that the general pohey of the Trade Boards has
been to estabhsh a mmimum wage as high as the existing circum-
stances of the trade permit, and to raise the minima as more
efficient methods and more economical organizations are intro-
duced ’ The same Report predicts that ‘ the question of wages
will never be allowed to return to the position of ten 3’-ears ago,
when the Government had no concern in it. A policy will be
pursued of stimulating production and at the same time of
securing to the worker a fair share of the product ’ But none
the less it prudently recalls the truth that ‘ wages, salaries and
incomes all depend finally on the total volume of the mtemal
and external trade of the country, and the total income derived
from it '
NATIONAL INSURANCE
IPOO]
The contnbulion made to social reform by the measures dc- National
srribcd m preceding paragraphs, important as it ivas, becomes
almost insignificant as compared n itb the great scheme of National lOii
Insurance launched in 1011 by ^Ir Lloj d George
The Act Mas in t\io parts Part I dealt mth Invalidity ;
Part I I with Unemploymen t. Already m 1000, by the Work-
men’s Compensation Act the liability of cmplojers for injuries
to persons in their employment had been extended to cover
practically all manual labourers, and indeed all cmploj ces earning
less than £2 jO a year The Act of 1011 represented an attempt on
the part of the State to assist and supplement the vork of volun-
taia- agencies in helping ■vrage-earners in times of sickness and in-
validity Much as already being done, v ith conspicuous efficiency
and success, by the great Friendly Societies, the Trade Unions
and other minor associations for mutual aid The Friendly
Societies like Trade Unions began to play an important part m
social liistoij* at the time when the poorer classes first became
dependent upon u eekl}’ uages Until the growth of the enclosure
mos craent, until, under the factory system, industry was divorced
from agriculture, the Enghsli poor had some resources other than
V ages When the wage-system began to dominate employment
the necessity for mutual aid m old age or sickness was quickly
realised The Friendly Societies stepped into the breach, and
in 1703 an Act of Parliament was passed to encourage the forma-
tion of such societies Tlie Itfcinchester Unity of Oddfellows,
which is sUlI the greatest of them, came into being towards the
close of the Napoleonic wars
But neither Friendly Societies nor Trade Unions, w ide as their
nets were spread, covered the whole field There was still a large
number of wagc-carncrs who made no provision for themselves.
By the Act of 1911 the State came to their aid.
The scheme was framed on a contributory and compulsory
basis It was to embrace all manual w'orkers between the ages
of 1C and 70, ns well as all other employed persons, such as clerks,
who'JC remuneration did not exceed £1C0 a year There were a
few exceptions, among which the most important were soldiers,
sailor*:, teachers and other pubhc cmploj es The Act also made
prosnsion for the inclusion of voluntary contnbutors whose total
incomes did not exceed ilCO a j’car , but few people have ax ailed
284 SOCIAL REFORM AND DESIOCRATIC FINANCE [loos-
themsclves of this provision. It was estimated that 15,000,000
workers would eome under the Scheme : the number now (1933)
exceeds 18,000,000
The cost of the scheme was divided in unequal proportions
between the employer, the employe and the Stale The employer
uas to contribute 3d a week for each employe, each male employe
4d. and each female 3d, and the State 2d. The pajunent of
benefit was to be at the rate of 10s a Areek for men, and 7s. 6d.
for women, during sickness , 5s. a week for men and women
during disablement, and 30s. matermty benefit Medical attend-
ance and drugs were to be free, and treatment in sanatoria was
also provided for.
The administration of the Act was, as far as possible, to be left
m experienced hands Insured persons were encouraged to enrol
m ‘ Approved Societies ’, such as Friendly Societies, Industrial
Assurance Societies, Employers’ Pro'vudent Funds and Trade
Unions Contributors uere free to select their Societies, but
faihng to do so could obtain their benefits through the Post Office.
While the insured persons -n ere to draw their benefits 'through
agencies with which they were already familiar, there was to be
set up m each County or County Borough an Insurance Com-
mittee, to supervise the administration of medical and sanatorium
benefits These committees were to be representative of different
interests — ^local and central authorities, medical practitioners and
insured persons
Thanks in the mam to the long and wide experience of the
Approved Societies the Act worked smoothly and, though amended
in 1918 and on several subsequent occasions,^ has preserved its
main features. From the first, however, there was friction
between the medical practitioners and the Insurance Committees
Insured persons were free to select their own doctors from a
panel ; the doctors were to receive 4s per patient per annum,
and drugs were to be provided out of the funds The doctors
rebelled, and the scale of remuneration was, by successive incre-
ments, increased to 9s. Gd That the Act has been of incalculable
value, to the insured persons and to the community as a whole,
can be doubted only by those who are unacquainted with the
results, direct and indirect, which it has achieved. There remains
* See tnfra, c. xxix.
icon]
UNEJrPLOYSIENT INSURANCE
a largo amount of prevcntiblc disease, but despite the ‘ hard
times ’ experienced since the Great War there has been a steady
impro\ ement in the health of the community, and a decline in
the death-rate ■nliieh can only be described as remarkable The
total dcith-ralc, 'uhich in the decade 1871-80 was 21 4 per 1,000,
is now (1033) 12 1
Part n of the Kahoml Insurance Act dealt with the problem Unem-
of unemplojTnent, so fully investigated by the Royal Commission
of 1005 The Act of 1011 only laid the foundation of a scheme ance
V inch Ins since been enlarged almost out of recognition Yet the
fund-’mcnlal principles of the onginal Act have persisted, through
nil mutations, substantially unimpaired. One is that unemploy-
ment IS, m the uorking life of cacli insured person, a temporary
ailment not a chronic disease The other is that the rate of
b''nefit should be such as would assist the worlcman to tide over
a limited period of unemployment, not to provide him with ‘ full
n'aintenance ’, still less with his accustomed wages
The Act of 1911 applied only to some 2,250,000 workers (of
whom about 10,000 were women) engaged m trades especially
liable to fluctuations, such as building, engineering, shipbuilding,
iron-founding, saw-milling and vehicle construction The cm-
Iilojers were to contribute 2id per insured person per each week
of emplojTiient, and each employfi 2ld a week. The State was
to add to the fund onc-third of the joint contributions of employers
and workpeople. UnemplojTnent benefit was to be at the rate
of 7s a week, on the basis of one week’s benefit for e%cry five
contributions, with a maximum of fifteen weeks in any one year
.\pphcants for benefit were required to prove to the Labour
Exchange ofilcials that they had been cmploj’^ed in an insured
trade for not less than twcntj’-six weeks m the preccduig five
jears, and that thej' could not obtain suitable emplojTOcnt
Associations of insured workmen were entitled under certain
conditions to undertake the paj'ment to theur own members of
uncmploj-mcnt benefit, due to them out of the Insurance Fund,
pro\Tdcd that thej added to it, out of their own funds, at least
onc-third of the statutorj’- benefit.
Tlie Act of 1911 was only a beginning. During and after the
Great y^oT the scheme was amended and expanded, until it was
^ Cf Annual Reports of Mimstij of Health.
286 SOCIAL REFORM AMD DEMOCRATIC FINANCE [isos-
Bubmerged under wave after wave of world-depression in industry
and trade The original Act was planned on a strictly actuarial
basis ; it was a genuine insurance scheme When, after 1920,
the number of the unemployed began to rise with terrifying
rapidity the original features were entirely obliterated. An
account of post-War developments must, however, be post-
poned.
Demo- Social reforms cost money. Nor is Democracy commonly
Fmance credited with prudence in pubhc finance. Mr Asquith, however,
who was responsible for the Budgets of 1906, 1907 and 1908,
had been reared m the Gladstoman tradition, and it was not imtil
after 1910 that there was any conspicuous increase m expenditure
and consequently in taxation
Budget In his first Budget (1906) Asquith inherited a realized surplus
of 1906 £3,466,000. Nevertheless he msisted that, in view of the rapid
increase in expenditure during the preceding decade, a return to
a ‘ more thrifty and economical administration was the first and
paramount duty of the Government He estimated expenditure
at nearly £142,000,000 as compared with £101,000,000 ten years
earlier. He repealed the export duty on coal at an estimated
cost to the revenue of £1,000,000 and devoted £920,000 to a
reduction of the tea duty from 6d. to 5d. He expressed agreement
with the opmion of his predecessors that an mcome tax of I 5 in
the £ m time of peace could not be justified, but mstead of reducmg
it he announced the appomtment of a select committee to inquire
into the practicabihty of graduation and of differentiation between
* permanent and precanous mcomes ’.
Budget The main feature of Asqmth’s second Budget was an attempt
to carry into effect both principles, and give some rehef to the
poorer class of income-tax payers. The general rate of tax was
retained at Is , but it was reduced to 9d. in the £ on the ‘ earned ’
portion of all mcomes not exceeding £2,000 a year. All ‘un-
earned ’ income was to be taxed at Is., and also all ineome whether
earned or unearned abo’^e the £2,000 hmit. The loss on income
tax was, however, to be compensated by a graduated inerease in
death-duties on estates over £150,000. The principles of gradua-
tion and differentiation had long ago been advocated by J, S
Mill Asquith was in Economics his loyal disciple, and he had
the satisfaction of showing as Chancellor of the Exchequer that
it>og] FINAKCB 287
be Ind learnt the lessons trhieh, as a Univeraly Extension Leo-
tiiTcr, he lud been -iront to teach.
The principles taught hy Mill and applied by Asquith are
rridentl}’ specious ; hut it is questionable whether, in practice,
tlirrc is any justification for differentiating beturcen * earned * and
* unearned* income. Differentiation between inherited and
earned wealth is one thing, and may be justified ; but * unearned *
income is, m man}* cases, no less than * earned ', the result of
personal labour and enterprise. To differentiate in suidi cases is
to penalize thrift, and encourage extrava^nt expenditure. In
normal circumstances the interests of the community would be
better served by a fiscal system which would discourage wasteM
expendilure, and appropriately reward those who contribute to
tliat capital fund out of which the wages of labour are tem-
poratilr adTunced, if not ultimatdy poid.^ Asquith would have
been the last man to ignore or deride sound ceonomic doctrine.
But Economics is one thing : Polities is another. Chancdlois of the
Exchequer arc apt to be politicians first, economists afterwards;
and in the event of a conflict of doctrines to take the line of
political least resistance.
Mr. Asquith opened the Budget of 1908, no longer as Clian-Budeet
eellor of the Exchequer, but os Prime htinister. Peri hod donc°^^^
the same. No one, however, would describe Asquith's Budget
os 'historic* in the sense justiy applied to Ped's. The new
financial year began, like its three predecessors, with a substantial
surplus— in tius case of nearly £5,000,000. This afforded a good
foundation for the great edifice which Asquith proposed to crecL
The central feature of his finandol statement was the sdicme
— already described— of non-contributory Old Age Penrions.
Thc^e were estimated to cost, m a full working year, £6,000,000.
In giving that estimate Asquith observed that the whole scheme
ought to be ' one of which we should from the first be able to
foresee— I do not say with precision but with reasonable accuracy
— ihe ultimate cost ; and thus avoid committing Parliament to
a mortgage of indefinite amount upon the future rcsourees of the
* Hie economic doctrine advanced in the text will, I am amue, be derided
lij n po«t-\Var gcnmtlon ns hopelenly * VIetorian *. Bat post-Wnr dayn
me not normal. Slioald normality ever beiotoied, ^Vletoiiun Economies'
may a£-dn couh* into their own.
288 SOCIAL REFORM AND DEMOCRATIC FINANCE [i9oa-
country Before the Finance Bill became law Mr Lloyd George
had already raised the estimate of cost to £7,000,000, and his
Chief was fam to admit that all estimates either of number or
cost were ‘ in the highest degree conjectural So it proved.
Yet few members who light-heartedly voted for the Bill in 1908
could have imagined that m a quarter of a century the scheme
thus initiated and subsequently enlarged would be costing over
£37,000,000 a year ^ Even assuming the accuracy of the original
estimate it was, surely, a singularly inopportune moment to have
remitted, at a cost to the Exchequer of over £3,500,000, more than
half the sugar duty — one of the few taxes to wluch prospective
beneficiaries under the Pension Scheme themselves made a modest
contribution
^le ^ The 3 'ear 1909-10 was one of the most momentous m the
Budget^’,* fiJiJincial, and still more m the Constitutional history of Great
1000-10 Britain. Mr. Lloj'd George was determined to show that it was
not for nothing that he had claimed the key position m the
Ministry. The Budget of 1909 unquestionably made history.
It was opened by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on April 29
in a speech of four hours’ duration ; it was under discussion for
seventy-two Parhamentarj' days, including several all-mght sit-
tings, m the House of Commons ; it passed the House of Commons
on November 4- by 879 to 149 votes, and on November 30 was
rejected m the House of Lords by 850 votes to 75.
Neither in form nor substance was it an ordinary Budget.
The dark threats that preceded it , the method and manner of
its introduction , the place accorded to it in the legislative work
of the Session , the wide range of its proposals , the almost
insoluble complexity of its details , the vagueness of its financial
forecasts — all combined to give it an exceptional, indeed an
unprecedented character, klr Lloyd George bettered the example
set by Mr. Gladstone in 1861. He combined into one con-
glomerate Bill not only all the tax Bills of the year, but virtually
all the legislative proposals of the Session, not to say all the
rejected proposals of an entire Parliament. In short, he provided
the rcduciio ad absuidum of the vicious innovation which, in order
to frustrate the tactics of the House of Lords, Jlr. Gladstone
established in ISGl.*
X Cmd 4107. * Cf Mamott, Second Chambers (2nd ed , 1027).
THE PEOPLE'S BUDGET
280
1009)
Sir. Lloyd GcoEge iras faced tv ith an actual defidt of £1,502,000,
which would have been greater but for laxge,*and as events were
to prove prudent, fbrestallnlents of dutiable eommodities. On
the existing basis of taxation, he had to contemplate a prospective
defleit of nearly £16,000,000. Evidently, unless expenditure
could be drasticall}' reduced, new sourecs of revenue would have
to be discovered. Sfr. Lloyd George was not the man to reduce
expenditure ; on the oontnizy, he looked forward to a progresdve
increase to meet * the growing demands of the sodal programme *
foreshadowed in his speech. The fulfilment of that programme
has been already described. The SGiuster made no concealment
of tiie purpose underlying his proposals. * This *, he said, * is a
war budget. It is for raising mon^ to wa^ implacable waxfiBre
against poverty and squabdness.'
Whence were the sinews of war to be obtained ? Firsts
additional taxes on the larger incomes. For incomes exceeding
£3,000 a year the rate was rais^^ib^ It. to* la. 2d., and in addition
there was imposed a super-tax^^ incomes over £5,000, leviable
on the amount of tiicic exeem over £8,000 a year. Then tbete
were heavy increas es in th e Death Dutie s. An in crease in tiie co st
o f hquor ficence s.withad 3itional taxatiemon spirits and tobacco ,
were 'estimated to produce £0,000,000, and berides ptbSuong
revenue liquor duties would avenge the defeat sufEered by tiie
Licensing Bill in the House of Lords. But the feature of the
Budget which aroused the most bitter opposition, and which
seemed to its opponents to be especially ' vindictive ’, centred <m
the proposals in regard to the valuation and taxation of land .
The * land taxes * aroused great enthusiasm among So<galists.Xand
* The Budget said one Socialist writer, * in its essential thoug^p’^^'”*
ratiier nussliapcn features is ours, and we would be unnatural
parents were wc to disown it.* 'The Budget', said another,
'consists of thin wedge-ends . . . and it is the business of
Socialists to drive them home.' Mr. (afterwords Viscount)
Snowden waxed almost lyricol in his exultation : ' There is no
other way under heaven by whidi we can make the poor better
off, except by making somebody poorer than they were. . .
Tliis is not the last tribute which the idle-ridi class of this country
will be called upon to pay fw dealing with the problem of poverty
for whicli tiicir riches arc responsible. ... We are be,pnning
290 SOCIAL REFORM AND DEMOCRATIC FINANCE [lOOS-
to see what a Budget like this is going to do to set things right.’ ^
No wonder th^t Liberals of the older School were somewhat
embarrassed by the exuberance of their allies, or that Mr. Asquith
was at pains to demonstrate that the Budget was not in fact
Socialistic.®
The proposals as regards land were briefly as follows. As an
essential preliminary there was to be a new Domesday Survey,
an exhaustive valuation of the land of the whole country, differ-
entiating between the gross value and the site value, i e between
the value of the site covered and the site cleared. Then there
was to be (i) an increment value duty, i c a tax of 20 per cent
on any increase m the site value of land accrumg after April 30,
1909, and payable on each occasion on which the property changed
hands, whether by purchase or at death , (ii) a reversion duty of
10 per cent on the benefit accrumg to lessors on the termination
of leases ; (lu) an annual tax of in the £ on the (capital) site
value of ‘ undeveloped ’ land, mainly building land which was
withheld from the market by owners in expectation of a rise in
its value , and (iv) an annual tax of Is in the £ on the rental
value of the right to work mmcrals
The fiscal value of these proposals was evidently prospective,
not immediate Their yield for the current year was estimated
by the Minister at no more than half a milhon. * An amount *,
he added with grim humour, * which must not be regarded as any
indication of the revenue they will ultimately produce*.
That increased revenue was essential unless either Naval
Defence or Social Reform, or both, were to be starved, could not
be denied by the most convinced opponents of the ‘People’s
Budget’. The land taxes would seem, however, to have com-
bined almost all the vices which any taxative impost can possess.
El-designed for purposes of revenue , grotesquely unequal and
unfair as between individuals ; uncertam in incidence ; pregnant
with possibilities of friction ; vastly complicated ; expensive to
collect; above all, only too likely to mtensify the social evil
which it was the avowed, and doubtless sincere, object of the
new duties to assuage. So the critics of the Budget asserted.
Expeiience completely justified them. Instead, for example, of
1 Hansard, 'May 5, 1909
> At Binglcy Hall, Birmingham, on September 17.
1P093 LAND TAXES 291
cncruragmg building and town planning, the new taxes had
precisely tlie opposite clfccl. From the moment the Finanee
Bill pnssed into law the speculator took alarm, private enterprise
nas arrested, and building operations ncrc suspended, mtli results
wmen were only too clearly manifested in an acute shortage of
hou'ics — a shortage which presented to the post-War politicians
one of the most difiicult problems they had to faee
Nor did the taxes produce revenue. Tlie total amount pro-
O’lccd by the Land Duties down to March 81, 1919, n as £1,087,449
The total cost of collection and of the Land Valuation was, doivn
to the same date, approximate^ £4,600,000 The ineld of the
^klincral Rights Duty was £3,026,460 In his Financial State-
ment of that 3 *car (1919)* Mr (afterwards Sir Austen) Charaber-
Liin announced that the Duties had, for a V'arietj’’ of reasons
proved unworkable, and m his Budget of 1920 he repealed them
all with the exception of the Mineral Rights Duty The rest of
the Land Valuation Duties had involved landowners in much
woTj and expense , they had created infinite friction and not u
little litigation, but bad never even paid for the expense of collec-
tion Vi ith the entire assent of their author, then Prime Minister,
Inej’ were ignominiously deleted from the Statute Book The
Land Valuation Department had, however, proved useful in the
War and was retamed.
Not often has a great financial controversy been so speedily
resolved , nor the contention of hostile cntics been so com
plctcly vindicated It should be added that the Budget intro-
duced on April 29, 1909, did not pass into law until April 29,
1910 — a 3 car later to a daj' In the mterval it had in effect been
submitted to the 3 udgemcnt of the electorate, and had not been
rejected The issue raised by it was, however, only m a second-
ary degree financial Unwittingly, or of set purpose, Sir Lloj'd
George had mvolvcd the Legislature and the Electorate in a con-
stitutional conflict more serious than any that had arisen since
1688.
* Hansard, 1010, pp 1212 and 2723
THE CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS
[1009-
The
Peers
and the
Budget
CHAPTER XVn
THE CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS— A NEW REIGN— THE
PARLIAMENT ACT
* \ have got them at last.’ Such was the exultant cry of
V V the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the morrow of the
fateful division by which the House of Lords rejected his Budget
Was it a mere momentary ebullition of high spirits on the part
of a great parliamentary pugilist ’ Or did it reflect the success-
ful achievement of a plan deliberately designed ? Lord Rose-
bery arrived at the ‘ deliberate conclusion that the Government
wishes the House of Lords to throw out the Finance Bill *.' It
matters little , the action of the House of Lords could have but
one result, to precipitate the crisis foreseen and foretold in 1894
by Mr. Gladstone. Ever smee the defeat of the second Home
Rule Bill in 1898 the conflict between the two Houses had been
impending. Whenever the Liberal Party had a majo nty in the
House of Commons, the Lords had engaged in the playful pastime
of ‘filling up the cup ’r'In"1909' it "overflowed.
The storm had long been brewing. The great authority of
Queen Victoria had averted a conflict between the two Houses
on the Irish Church Bill m 1869 and again in 1884 in regard to
the Franchise and Redistnbution Bills Mr. Gladstone’s last
words in the House of Commons were accepted by his Party as
a testament which it was their pious duty to execute. But the
opportunity tarried.
During the ten years of Unionist administration the House
of Lords naturally gave no offence to their allies in the Commons ,
but with the return of the Radicals to power in 1906 the old
battle was renewed. Bill after Bill sent up by the Commons was
rejected or emasculated by the Lords. Small wonder that Camp-
^ At Glasgow, September 10, 1009.
208
1011] THE LOHDS AND THE BDDGET
bcll-Bunncrnuui, backed as be -eras by a great majority, and fresh
from a triumphant appeal to the dcctorata, diould, as we have
seen, hare been mor^ to wrath.'
In a spcedi at Oxford (December 1) Sir. Lloyd George raised
the issue even more bluntl}*:
* If the House of Lords persisted in its present polugr, it would
be a much larger measure than the Education Bill that would
come up for consideration. It would co me upon t his issue,
whet hCT th e county was t o be g^emed By the Bong a^ ^
Pccrs,'jor^ Kihg'and the people.'
The I^liour Party dcrlar^ foT 1£e total abolition of the
Second Ciiamber, but the Government preferred * mending * to
ending *, and by a majority of 432 votes to 147 the House of
Commons, at their instance, passed the following resolution
* In order to g^ve effect to tlie will of the people as expressed
by their elected representatives, it is necessary that the power of
the other House to alter or reject Bills should be so restrained
by law as to secure that within the limits of a single Parliament
the final decision of the Commons shall prevail.'*
Undeterred by this threat the Lords rejected in 1008 a Idcens-
ing Bill, and in 1000 the issue was finally joined on the Finance
Bill.
No competent person could deny that the Lords had a /egoZ
—or as Asquith said a fea%nieol— right to reject the Bill. But
between 1688 and 1000 there was only one occasion on which the
Lords had ever questioned the exdusi-ve right of the Commons
to control taxation and expenditure. Li 1860 the Paper Du^
l^mLBni, after narrowly escaping defeat m the Commons, was
rejected % the Lords. Thereupon the Commons, at the instance
of Sir. Gladstone^ passed a scries of resolutions rcaflitming in the
most explicit terms the exclusive privileges of the Lower House
in matters of taxation.* In the following year (1861) Sb. Glad-
stone finally clinched the matter, by including all the flnandal
proposals of the year in a single finance BiU, which the Lords
were compelled to accept or reject as a whole. This practice has
since 1861 been invariably followed. Very unwilhngly did the
> Siijini. p. SSS a Uoiuard. June 27, 1907,, p. 1610.
a For text of icsolutlom and Bcnenlly on the hbtoiical aspect of the
question see Marriott, Second Clumbers, c. iv.
294
THE CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS
[1909-
General
lolection,
Jan 1910
Lords accept Harcouit’s Budget of 1894, but Lord Salisbury
warned tbem of the constitutional inconveniences, not to say
anomalies, which must arise from the exercise of their undoubted
rights in regard to the rejection of Finance Bills. * You cannot
he in effect argued, ‘reject a Money Bill, because you cannot
change the Executive ; to leave the existing Executive in poiror
and yet to deprive them of the means of carrying on the
government of the country would create a grave constitutional
situation ’ ~
So thought some of the more experienced of the Unionist
Leaders in 1909. Notably Lord St Aldwyn, who wrote to Lord
Lansdowne, * I think both the nght and wise course is to pass
the Budget as it comes to us Lord Lansdowne thought other-
wise Most people now agree that the rejection, if justified on
the merits, was a tactical blunder.
The Government took up the challenge, as Mr Asquith said,
* without a day’s delay ’ On December 2 he proposed a resolu-
tion that * the action of the House of Lords in refusing to pass
into law the financial provision made by this House for the ser-
vice of the year is a breach of the Constitution, and a usurpation
of the nghts of the Commons *. It was carried by 349 votes to
184 Parliament was forthwith prorogued and on January 10,
1910, was dissolved
The language used by Liberal Ministers left no doubt as to
the issue which they desued to submit to the electorate * We
shall not ’, said Mr Asquith (December 10, 1909), ‘ assume office,
and we shall not hold office, unless we can secure the safeguards
which experience shows to be necessary for the legislative ability
and honour of the party of progress. . We are going to ask
the coimtry to give us authority to apply an effective remedy to
these intolerable conditions What is to be done will have to
be done by Act of Parliament The time for unwritten conven-
tion has unhappily gone by’
Despite the efforts of the Radical leaders to concentrate atten-
tion on a smgle issue, it was not found easy to do so In the
background were other issues; the embryonic Socialism dis-
closed by the Budget proposals, tariff-reform and free-trade;
Irish Home Rule. Nor was the verdict free from ambiguity.
Liberals and Uniomsts were returned m almost equal numbers
1011 ]
THE HOUSE OF LORDS
295
(27 1 Liberals to 273 Conscrvati\ es) , Labour representation was
reduced to 41 , the Nationahsts numbered 82 The Irish Nation-
alists held the balance Nor did they fail to use their advantage
From the Budget controversy they had held aloof , but to the
attainment of Home Rule a co-ordinate Second Chamber offered
on insurmountable obstacle If the Nationahsts iverc to help
the. Liberals to curtail the ‘ icto ’ of the Lords, the Liberals must
pledge themsch es to use the new powers conceded to the House
of Commons to canj' Home Rule
Between the two parties there was some soreness, for at the Libcnls
election of lOOG Home Rule had been tacitly dropped out of the
Liberal programme in January 1910 the specific issue was that ists
of the Second Chamber. The Nationahsts, therefore, had some
cause for alarm, if not for suspicion, and were not prepared to
take an\ risks So ‘ exorbitant * (the word was Asquith’s) were
the demands of Mr Redmond and his followers, that some of the
Jlinistcrs were at one moment m favour of resignation ; but their
courage quickly revived, and an ‘understanding’ was arrived
at with the Nationalists.
King Edward opened the new Parliament m person on
Fcbniarv 21, 1910, and his Speech foreshadowed proposals to define
the relations between the Houses of Parliament so as to secure Second
the undivided authority of the House of Commons m Finance
and its predominance m legislation
On March 29 the Prime Mmister moved three Resolutions
Tlic first carefully defined Money Bills and declared it expedient
that the House of Lords should be disabled by law from rejecting
or amending such Bills; the second declared that if any Bill
passed the Commons m three successive sessions, and was tliricc
rejected by the Lords, it should (provided two years had elapsed
since its introduction) become law on the royal assent being
declared , the third hmitcd the duration of Parliament to fiv'e
vears
These Resolutions were, after prolonged debate and many
divisions, carried on April 14, and a Bill based upon them was
on the same night introduced by the Prime I^Iinistcr
.\lmost simultancoiislv the following Resolutions were accepted
bv the House of Lords
I That a strong and cfiicicnl Second Chamber is not merely
296
THE CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS
[1909-
an integral part of the British Constitution, but is necessary to the
well-being of the State and to the balance of Parliament.
II That such a Chamber can best be obtained by the reform
and reconstitution of the House of Lords
III. That a necessary preliminary of such reform and recon-
stitution IS the acceptance of the prmciplc that the possession
of a peerage should no longer of itself give the right to sit and
vote m the House of Lords
On the night on which the Parliament BiU was introduced
Mr. Asquith declared, in somewhat mmatory terms, that if the
Lords rejected the Bill, the Government would at once resign or
recommend the King to dissolve Parliament. * Let me he pro-
ceeded, ‘ add this, that in no case shall we recommend a Disso-
lution, except under such conditions as will secure that in the
new Parliament the judgement of the people as expressed at the
election will be carried into law.’ However veiled, this was an
unmistakable threat : the Government would not, as a Govern-
ment, appeal to the country, unless the King were prepared to
promise that, in the assumed event, he would assent to the crea-
tion of new peers in numbers sufficient to overcome the resistance
of the House of Lords.
The views of the Government were communicated to King
Edward at Biarritz, whither he had gone on the urgent advice
of his doctors, who were more senously alarmed about his health
than the public were permitted to know.
The King returned to London on April 27, greatly the better,
it seemed, for his holiday. He found himself faced by a political
impasse, demandmg the exercise of all his tact and skill. Doubt-
ful as to the attitude of the Irish Nationalists, Ministers were not
unprepared for defeat on the reintroduced Budget On the day
of the King’s return, however, it passed, substantially unamended,
through the House of Commons, and on the 29th became law.
But behind the Budget loomed the larger issue.
Ever since the advent of the Radicals to power m 1906 King
Edward had watched, with deepening concern, the development
of the quarrel between the two Houses. An attack on the heredi-
tary principle as enshrined m the House of Lords seemed to him
to menace the hereditary monarchy. The least vain or pompous
of men, King Edward had a high sense both of the dignity and the
1011 ]
DEATH OF KING EDWAED
297
uhlitj ofthe Crown, and hen as not less tenacious than his mother
of Its nghtful prerogatives Moreover he was, as Lord Esher
said of liim, ‘ not only a Peace-maker but a Peace-lover ’ He
V ould have kept the peace of Europe, if he could, and he dis-
liked, not less, the spectacle of domestic strife In October 1909
the King asked Mr. Asquith whether it would be constitutionally
correct for him to confer with the Opposition leaders on the
situation ‘ Perfectly correct ’, was the Premier’s reply. Accord-
inglj, on October 12, he summoned Lord Lansdowne and Mr
Balfour to the Palace in the hope of averting the threatened con-
flict But to his great chagrin his efforts were wholly unavailing
On the larger issue as to the future of the House of Lords the
King liad thought much, and on Januarj’’ SO, 1910, he communi-
cated to Lord Crewe, his guest at Windsor, his own plan
He would have left the composition of the House unaltered,
but have confined the right of voting to one hundred members,
nominated in equal numbers by the leaders of the two Parties
in the Upper House There was, as he shrewdly pointed out, a
great deal of independent opinion among the Peers, and he was
comnneed that even though the hundred nominees were selected
as strong partisans, there would always be among them, when
it came to a cntical division, enough moderate-minded men to
avert a conflict 'Wliatevcr be thought about the merits of the
scheme, the formulation of it showed on the part of the Kmg,
as Lord Crewe says, a ‘shrewd appreciation of the difiiculties
surrounding the creation of a new Second Chamber ’ ^
Whether, had he lived, King Edward could have influenced
the course of events in the direction he desired, is a matter of
conjecture. For the few dais after his return from Biarritz he
transacted State business, betraying no loss of grip — as for instance Drith
when he pressed for the appointment of Lord Kitchener as Viceroy
of India — but his dajs were numbered, and on May 6 he died
Utterl}’’ unprepared for the news the nation was stunned.
Tlic most careless could not fail to rcahre that, coming when it
did, the death of King Edward was a tragic and irreparable blow.
* At a most aiiMOus moment in the fortunes of the State, w c had
lost,’ WTotc Jlr Asquith, ‘ without warmng or preparation, the
1 Memorandum quated ap Ixc, Ktng Hdrard VJI, II COO
298
THE CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS
11009-
Sovereign whose npe experience, trained sagacity, equitable
judgement, and unvarying consideration counted for so much.’ ^
How well justified were the Premier’s forebodings the sequel will
show.
Europe was hardly less perturbed than England by the news
of King Edward’s death. The European situation was not less
menacing than the domestic. Europe recognized that a great
Peace-maker had been removed, and at the late King’s Funeral
on May 20 no fewer than eight foreign monarchs, mcluding the
German Emperor, were present to testify to their sense of loss
King The reign of Edward VII, though short, was far from insig-
Reign'^^'^ nificant Ahke in the affairs of Europe and m the affaus of Great
Britain it was distinguished by events of high moment Not
until he was gone did men realize how much, m those affairs, the
King’s own personality had counted Sir William Harcourt, who
was no courtier, declared that Edward VII was the greatest Kin g
of England smee Wilham the Conqueror Had he said since
Ednard I few would question his accuracy Lord Redesdalc
(lilemovrs, I. 172) tells of a red-hot Radical who came away from
his interview with King Edward saying • * That is the greatest
man that ever I had speech of.’ Nor, as he came to know him
better, did he ever alter his opinion.
The closer men were to the Bang the more they appreciated
his great qualities : his grip on affairs ; his untirmg industry ;
his moral courage, his ngid punctuality; his transparent
honesty ; his freedom from rancour or resentment , not least his
simple religious faith ‘ Le roi charmeur was Lord Rosebery’s
description of him , but his irresistible charm was due not merely
to native geniality of temper, but to a genuine interest both in
affairs and in men Balfour was too highbrow for him, and
though Asquith testified that the King treated him with ‘ gracious
frankness ’, his relations both wnth Asquith and Grey were more
polite than mtimate. Between the King and Campbell-Banner-
man there was complete cordiality, but after his death the Minis-
ters with whom the King got on best w’ere Lord Carrington, an
old friend, and Haldane, whose great abilities he recognized and
whose humour he appreciatied. Yet if intimacy was essential to
a complete understanding of the King’s character, the whole
» Fijty Years of Parliament, II. 87.
ion] CONSTITUTIONAL CONFERENCE 299
mtion instinctively felt that they had lost not merely a great
ruler but a personal fnend.
King Edward was succeeded by his only survinng son, who KmE;
was at once proclaimed King with the title of George V. Born
on June 3, 18G5, the new lung was hardly 43 w'hen he aseended
the throne Eduealed as a sailor, he had already seen much of
the world and m particular of the British Empire overseas, and
ns Prince and Pnneess of Wales he and his consort had already
firmly established Ihcmsch cs m the respect and affection of theur
future subjects alike in the homeland and the outer Empire
Rarely, however, has a new Sovereign been confronted with
a more difficult situation than that which faced King George V.
But the sudden death of a much-loved King gave pause to eager
partisans, and hushed, for the moment, political controversy.
Under an impulse common to all parties the leaders honestly
endeavoured to reach a compromise ‘ Then the nation ’, as Mr.
Asquith said, ‘ witnessed an incident unparalleled m the annals
of party warfare The two combatant forces already in battle
array, piled their arms, while the Leaders on both sides retired
for private conference ’
This conference, consisting of eight persons, met, behind Constitu-
closed doors, for the first tune on June 17. The Government
was represented by Jlr. Asquith, Lord Crewe, Mr Birrell andence
Jlr Lloyd George; Mr Balfour, Lord Lansdowne, Mr. Austen
Chamberlain and Lord Cawdor represented the Opposition On
July 29 I\fr Asquith was able to inform the House of Commons
that such progress had been made towards a settlement that the
meetings of the Conference would be resumed m the autumn
Resumed the} were, but with rapidly diminishing chances of
success A large measure of agreement had been reached on
financial procedure, on a plan for the settlement of differences
by means of a joint sitting, and on a special mode of dealing with
Constitutional questions — a point on which the Unionists, with
an c\c on Home Rule, laid great stress But how was ‘pure
finance ’ — admittedly to be under the sole control of the Com-
mons — to be defined ? And how was ‘ Constitutional ’ to be
differentiated from ‘ Ordinaiy ’ legislation, under the conditions
of an ‘Umvritlcn’ and ‘Flexible’ Constitution like our own’
These were among the difiicultics which bafllcd a Conference
800 THE CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS [inoo-
not specially competent to discuss questions of Constitutional
law No agreement on these vital questions could be reached j
on November 10 the final breakdown of the Conference was
announced, and on the 11th was personally communicated to
King George by the Prime Minister,
The King King Edward had insisted that before using the prerogative
Mmirtera swamp the House of Lords there must be another appeal to
the electorate.
On November 15 the Cabinet decided to ask for a Dissolution,
and approved the following memorandum which was laid before
the King by Mr Asquith and Lord Crewe on November 16.
‘ His Majesty’s Ministers cannot take the responsibility of
advising a dissolution, unless they may understand that, in the
event of the policy of the Government being approved by an
adequate majority m the new House of Commons, His Majesty
will be read}' to exercise his Constitutional powers, which may
involve the prerogative of creating Peers, if needed, to secure
that effect shall be given to the decision of the country. His
Majesty’s Ministers are fully alive to the importance of keeping
the name of the King out of the sphere of party and electoral
controvei'sy. They take upon themselves, as is their duty, the
entire and exclusive responsibility for the policy w'hich they
would place before the electorate. His Majesty mil probably
agree that it would be inadvisable in the interests of the State
that any communication of the intentions of the Crowm should be
made public unless and until the actual occasion should arise.’
Accordingly, on November 28 Parliament was dissolved.
Acute controversy subsequently arose as to what exactly took
place at the interview between the King and Mr. Asquith and
Lord Crewe on November 16 What advice, if any, apart from
that contained in the memorandum, was given by the Ministers
to the King ? IMr Asquith’s statement to the House of Com-
mons two days after the interview told little. The story was
told in much greater detail by the Marquess of Crew^e, in the
famous debate of August 8, 1911 ‘ Since this question of that
interview said Lord Crewe, * has been the subject of so much
comment, the King naturally desires that [the facts] should be
plainly stated ’ Lord Crewe then proceeded to state them
‘ plamly ’ : did he state them fully ? Mr. Asquith’s statement
1011] THE KING AND THE CRISIS 301
in the House of Commons on the same subject (August 7) tros
rhametenzed by The Timea^ os a suppressio veri and suggestio
falsi. Lotd Crewe's statement in the l^ids was fuller. Was it
complete? The essential passage ran as follows;
‘The effect of that inlcivieir was that we ascertained His
Majesty's view that, if the opinion of the country were clearly
nsrertained upon the Farliamint Bill, in the last resort a creation
of Peers might be the only remedy and might be the only way
of concluding the dispute. His Majesty faced the contingenqr
and entertained the suggestion as a possible one with natural,
and, if I may be permitted to use the phrase, with Iqiitimate
rductance. His Majesty, however, naturally entertained the
fcclmg— a feeling whidi we entirely shared— that if we resigned
our oHiccs, hai*ing as we had a large majority in the House of
Commons, tlic only result could be an immediate Dissolution, m
wdiidi it would be practically impossible, however anioous we
naturally should be to do it, to keep the Crown out of the con-
troversy. The ixiiinng up of the Crown in a controversy sudi as
tliat was naturally most distasteful to its illustrious wearer, . . .
but it could be scarcely more distasteful even to His Majesty
than to myself and my colleagues.'*
Lord Onm-e frankly admitted that to him the ‘ whole busi-
ness ’ was ‘ odious ' ; and we can well believe it. Lord Rosebery
pointedly referzed to something— not more predsdy specified, os
having pven ‘ an unpleasant savour to the whole of tins transac-
tion ', and Lord St. Aldwyn, speaking with knowledge^ bluntly
said (August 0) : ' We have not the whole case before us.' He
then proceeded to jmt certain questions which have never to this
day been answered : * Whether Mr. Balfour and Lord Lansdownc
were c%'cr suggested to the King by his Ministers os persons who
might be prepared to foim a Government, in the event of the King
declining to pvc the promise asked for by the Mmisters.' The
King * ought to liave had the fullest possible information and to
have beard both sides of the question. Tlie King ought to have
been told that he was at hberty to hear what Lord Lansdownc
and Mr. Balfour had to say before maldng up his nund as to
whether he would ^vc that hypothetical promise. ... If [the
* Aueu^t 14, 1011.
* OJpaal Report (Lards), August 8, 1011, pp. 83G, 837.
802
THE CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS
[1909-
Ministers] had had common generosity, they would have advised
the King to do what I have suggested. ... I go further and
say that it would have been common honesty from the advisers
of the Sovereign to the Sovereign. . . . What has been the
result? When the crisis caine near us the other day Ministers
tendered certain advice to th i Sovereign and he accepted it But
he was previously bound by his hypothetical promise. The Kmg
has been misled by his Ministers ... I believe the action of
the Government has deliberately placed him in the most cruel
position any Enghsh Sovereign has been placed m for more than
a century.’ ^
The point raised by Lord St Aldwyn touched the most subtle
spot in the delicately poised machinery of the English Constitu-
tion • the relations between the Sovereign and his confidential
advisers; between the formal and the actual executive of this
kingdom.
On this point a bitter controversy ensued.® Two conclusions
were, however, established : one was that the King, when con-
jfronted, in November 1910, by his confidential advisers with a
demand for * contingent guarantees ’ ® had a perfect right to seek
counsel from any Privy Coimcillor or any Peer. Whether the
King desired to avail himself of that right, and whether, if so,
his desire was frustrated, we know not. But we do know that
in fact he did not exercise it m respect of the leaders of the Oppo-
sition. Conversely, His Blajesty’s Ministers had, on their part,
an equal right to dechne to be responsible for the conduct of
affairs, if the King chose to exercise his rights.
The Par- One concession the Mimsters consented to make. In accord-
ance with the Kmg’s wish the Parhament Bill was presented to
the Lords the Lords, and the Second Reading was moved by Lord Crewe
on November •21. At Lord Lansdowne’s instance, however, the
debate on it was adjourned, m order that he might brmg forward
his own alternative scheme.
Lord Rosebery had aheady (on November 17) induced the
Peers ■to affirm t>vo important propositions ; firstly, that hence-
» Official Report, August 9, pp 923 scq.
* On the •whole question see Marriott, Second Chambers (2nd ed ), pp.
183-91
3 Mr Asquith always denied that ‘ guarantees * had been asked for or
given, but admitted a ‘ conditional understanding ’. Ftjly Years, II. 01
1011J SECOND CHA2IBER BEFORM 803
fonrarJ no Lord of Parliament should be allowed to sit and vote
in the ITou% of Lords merdy l^* Tirbie of hereditary right ; and,
sicondly, tlint it was desirable that the House shojuld be rdn-
forcid by new elements from the outside.
On November S3 Lord Lansdowne put his oltemativc scheme An AltcN
before the House and the eountry, in a scries of resolutions, which,
following the lines of the proposals put forward by the Unionist
members of the Constitutional Conference, affirmed that the
Parliament Bill provided no basis for a permanent settlement;
that the House of Lords must be reduced in number and recon-
stituted ; that subject to certain safeguards it would surrender
its undoubted Constitutional right to reject Money Bfils ; and
that there must be a Referendum for * Organic ' or * Constita-
tional * legislation.^ Tlic debate revealed the willingness, nay the
amdety, of the Lords to accept drostie reform ; but it was con-
ducted under the shadow of an impending Dissolurion, and,
therefore, in * an atmosphere of unreality *.* Neverthdes^ the
Lansdowne Resolutions did enable tiie Conservatives to put
before the country at the ensuing dection a concrete alternative
to the ' Veto ' Bill. In particular, the Unionist Party pinned
thdr faith to the Rrferendtm, which was put forward ns solution
not merdy of the Constitutional difficulty, but also of the TozifI
Reform oontrover^' — a suggestion greatly resented by the ardent
Tariff Reformers.
The General Election took place. It carried things no further. General
The dcctors had not changed thdr minds since January. Between
Radicals and Unionists there was a be (272 cadi) ; Labour gained to lOiol
one scat (42) and the Irish Nationalists two (84). The National-
ists therefore remained masters of the situation; nor did th^
refrain fiom the exerdse of power.
Accordingly, despite the fact that the British Electorate had
shown itsdf to be almost equally divided, on the specific issue
submitted to it, the Parliament Bill was rdntroduced in February,
was carried on Second Reading in March by 308 to 243, and on
Third Reading by a similar majority in May.
Would the House of Lords accqit it ? On the day (May IS)
on which the Commons passed the Tliird Reading of the Parlia-
* For more picrbe details see infra, p. SOL
■ Lord Newton's Loiisdoanc^ pp. 307-403.
804 TIDE CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS [1909-
ment Bill, Lord Lansdowne moved m the Lords the Second
Reading of his House of Lords Reconstitution Bill.
It was framed in the spirit of the Rosebery resolutions. The
new Second Chamber was to be only about half as large as the
existing House of Lords, and was to consist of 320 to 350 members.
Apart from Peers of the Ro 5 'al Blood, the Law Lords, the Arch-
bishops of Canterbury and York, and five Bishops elected by the
whole Episcopate, the new House was to contain three mam
elements (i) 100 hereditary Peers, elected by their Order from
among Peers quahfied by public service, ministerial, parliamen-
tary, Colonial, military, naval, or in local government ; (ii) 120
persons, elected on the principle of proportional representation
by members of the House of Commons grouped in electoral areas,
each area to be arranged with consideration for existmg con-
stituencies, community of mterests, and population, and to return
not less than three and not more than twelve Lords of Parlia-
ment , (ill) 100 persons nominated by the Crown in proportion to
the strength of parties in the House of Commons The term of
office for all three categories was to be twelve years, but one-
fourth m each class were to retire every three years. Peers not
elected to the Upper House were to be eligible for election to the
Lower, but the Crown was to be restricted m the creation of new
Peers to five a year, m addition to Cabinet or ex-Cabmet Minis-
ters Such was the admirable scheme mtended to mollify the
opponents of the hereditary Chamber ; the Bill was read a second
time on May 22 , but, amid the excitement engendered by the
Parliament Bill, made no further progress.
A similar fate awaited the Bill mtroduced in the same session
by Lord Balfour of Burleigh
The Lord Balfour was an ardent advocate of the Referendum,
provided ‘ for the Taldng of a Poll of the Parliamen-
tary Electors of the United Kingdom with Respect to certain
Bills m Parhament ’. A Poll was to be taken (o) on the demand
of either House, m the case of any Bill passed by the Commons,
but rejected or not passed by the House of Lords within forty
days after it was sent up to that House , or (i) on the demand of
not less than two hundred members of the House of Commons m
the case of a Bill passed by both Houses In either case the Bill
was to be presented for the Royal Assent if the total affirmative
vote exceeded the negative vote by not less than tiro votes per
ctntnm of the total ncgatii’c vote.
Tl»<s ingenious, perhaps over-ingenious, proposal was primarily,
though not exclusively, designed to decide disputes betivecn the
two TTouscs; but it also gave a power of ajspeal against the
decision of both Houses to a substantial minority in the House of
Commons. In the heated atmosphere of 1911 Lord Balfour’s
BSl. like Lord Lansdowne’s, had little chance of a fair considera-
tion, and, though powerfully supported, it did not receive a second
reading.
At the moment the question of ’ Powers * overshadowed not
only the question of * Composition ’, but all other (hmsritutionBl
dcvircs. Would the Peers accqit the Parliament Bill, or compd
the Govemroent to call upon the Kii^ to implement the * con-
ditional understanding ’ which had been readied in the previous
November ?
Tlie Poets were sharply divided. On the one hand, thc’Hedg-
* Hedgers *, led by Lord Lansdowne and Lord Cutson, preferred
to accept the Parliament Bill with all its oonsequenees rather en*
tlian permit the Constitution to be travestied, and expose the
Peers to the indignity of receiving into their bosom five hundred
Radical Peers pledged to a limitation of the constitutional powers
of the Order to which they had obtained admission. On the
other hand, the ' Ditdicra *, led by the veteran Earl of Holsbuty,
were rcsoh'cd if necessary to die in the lost ditch, and to compd
the Crown to choose between a refusal of the advice of his respon-
sible Ministers and the employment of a weapon as odious as it
was rusty. The ' Ditchers * bcliei'cd that the Ministerial threat
was an empty one, and tliat, at the eleventh hour. Ministers ihem-
sdves, or if not the Ministers then the King, would recoil Ixom
thcprcdiricc to which events hod led them. But the * Hedgers *
were not ready to take the risk ; tlidr opinion prevailed, and the
Parliament Bill became law. On the same day (August 10) that
the Peers (as many held) signed their own death warranty the
members of the House of Commons voted to themselves salaries
of £-100 a year.
The Parliament Act, however it be regarded, must he accounted Far*
ns one of the most signiCeant contributions ever made to a Con-
stitution which is mainly unwritten. For the first time the ligal
806 THE CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS
^ ‘ aefined bv
relations of the t\\o Houses of the Legislature wercthlce declared
statute. A preamble of unusual length and importaii^ ords as it
that it was ‘ intended to substitute for the House of i^ns.uopniaj.
at present exists a Second Chamber constituted on a \
instead of hereditary basis *. The Act itself embodied e.«bt-’ ^
the Resolutions moved by Ulr Asquith on March 29, 1910'^h-
It defined a Money Bill as ‘ a Public Bill wliich m the opinion of
the Speaker of the House of Commons contains only provisions
dealing with all or any of the following subjects, namely, the
imposition, repeal, remission, alteration, or regulation of taxation ,
the imposition for the payment of debt or other financial purposes,
of charges on the Consolidated Fund, or on money proiuded by
Parliament, or the variation or repeal of any such charges ;
supply ; the appropriation, receipt, custody, issue or audit of
accounts of public money ; the raising or guarantee of any loan
or the repayment thereof, or subordmate matters mcidental
to those subjects or any of them. In this subsection the expres-
sions ‘ taxation ’, ‘ public money and ‘ loan ’ respectively do not
include any taxation, money, or loan raised by local authorities
or bodies for local purposes ’
Every Money Bill was to be certified as such by the Speaker
(after consultation ‘ if practicable ’ with two experienced members
of the House), and the Speaker’s Certificate to be * conclusive for
all purposes * and not to ‘ be questioned in any Court of Law ’.
A Bill so certified could not be amended or rejected by the House
of Lords, and was to become law on the Royal Assent being
signified “
A Bill other than a Money BiU could be delayed by the House
of Lords for two years, but if passed by the House of Commons
m its original form, in three successive Sessions, might become
law on the Royal Assent being declared.
The duration of Parliament was limited to five instead of
seven years
As regards Money Bills no faction has, since 1911, arisen
between the two Houses, though the exclusive right of the Speaker
* Supra, p 295, and for text of the Parliament Act see Marriott, Second
Chambers (2nd ed ), pp 193 seq
2 For a list of Bills certified under the Act, 1911-26, cf Marriott, op cit.,
pp 210-2, or Commons Paper SO of 1027.
MONEY BILLS
1011 ]
to ccripfy a * SIoiK^ Bill * has been the subject of general criticism,
if not of complaint in any specific instance. The definilaon of a
Money Bill , though detailed, is not satisfactory. It has been
provccl to' be at once widely inclusive and curiously restrictive.
Bills have been certified by the Speaker though they did not grant
money to the Crown for Suj^ly Services, while of the Fmance
Bills smee the passing of the Parliament Act at least six did not
receive the Speaker’s certificate as * Money BiUs '. The fiomous
Budget of lOOO-lO would not, it seems, have come within the pto-
^isions of the Parliament AcL Had this Act^ therefore, been at
that time on the Statute Book the Lords would still have been
within thdr 1^1 rights, as they unquestionably were at the time,
in rejecting the Fmance BilL^
The intentions disclosed in the Preamble of the Parliament Act
still (1933) remain unfulfilled. Neither Mr. Asquith's BBnistxy
nor any of those, mostly Conservative in composition, lhat have
sucreeded it, have shown any eagemess to grapple with the thorny
problem.
ON TI^E BRINK OF ARMAGEDDON
[1911-
Mr Bal-
four’s
resigna-
tion
CHAPTER XVm
ON THE BRINK OF ARiMAGEDDON, 1911-14— THE WELSH CHURCH
—THE ‘MARCONI AFFAIR’— THE WOMEN’S MOVEMENT-
ADULT SUFFRAGE
T he final stage of the Parliament Bill had revealed a serious
fissure in the Unionist Party , nor did the quarrel between
‘ Hedgers ’ and ‘ Ditchers ’ lack an important personal reaction
it finally decided IMr Balfour to retire from the leadership.
Ever since Chamberlam had raised the Tariff Reform issue
and even more notably smce the debacle of 1906, the volume of
criticism against Balfour had been mounting. His defeat at
Manchester had impaired Ins personal prestige, and though the
City of London quickly restored him to the House of Commons
it was to a House strange and unsympathetic. By many of the
Radicals, newcomers to the House, Balfour was at first treated
with studied insolence, and though his superb dialectical skill
soon cowed them, he never entuely regained his old position.
He was, naturally, one of the four Unionist representatives
in the Constitutional Conference of 1910, and while it was in
progress he was approached by Mr Lloyd George with a proposal
for the formation of a coahtion ministry. In some quarters it
has been represented that the motive of this move was to super- ^
sede Asquith ^ That is not so. But in fact a campaign, excitedly
supported m some sections of the Press, was directed against
» Cf The Times, March 20, 1930 (Memoir of Lord Balfour), and Asquith’s
Life, I 287 Mr Lloyd George has been kind enough to confirm the fact
— knovn to few people at the time — of these negotiations But he makes
it clear that the motives on botli sides were purely patriotic, that the pro-
posal of a Coahtion was not duected agamst Asquith’s leadership, that he
was indeed the first to be consulted, and that the proposals were made to
Balfour with his full approval Mr. Lloyd George was willing, in order to
facilitate a Coalition, wlucli he believed to be m the national interest, him-
self to stand aside, and support il as an independent member
1014]
MR BONAR LAW
309
Balfour himself ‘BMG.’ became a fashionable slogan The
elegant and too amiable amateur must give place to a professional
bnnser, to a man who would meet opponents on their oivn ground.
Balfour’s opposition to the ‘ Ditchers ’ seemed to some of lus
Party to be a final and conclusive proof of his unfitness to lead
it in turbulent days
On November 8 his resignation was announced Despite the
prolonged Press discussions hich preceded it, the defimte announce-
ment created a great sensation Only a few of his most intimate
associates sere aware of his mtention, and to the great body of
his friends as sell as his opponents the news came as a shock
But, as he reminded his constituents, he had been in Parliament
for thirty-eight jears, and leader of his Party in the Commons
for nearly twenty, and sas anxious to be relieved of his respon-
sibilities before he could be suspected of suffering from the most
insidious of all diseases — * pdrifnclton’. During the ensuing
tnenty jears he exlubited, indeed, few symptoms of that, dis-
ease , but his mind was made up , he demanded release
To get rid of Balfour nas comparatively easy , it was diffi- Mr
cult to replace him The choice of the Party eventually fell not
on either of the tno favoured candidates, Jlr Austen Chamber-
lain and Mr Walter Long, but on Mr Andrew Bonar Law The
latter had only entered Parliament as a middle-aged and success-
ful man of business in 1900,^ and had only held minor office for
a short time But he was a complete master of the case for Tariff
Reform, and had already proved himself a debater of the first
order In the years to come he showed real grit and courage,
and justified his choice as leader ‘ The fools have blundered
upon theur best man ’ Sucli was the sardonic and characteristi-
cally shrend comment of the man with whom he nas dcstmed
to share the leadership of a Coalition Party
Bonar Lau took up the reins of leadership m days difficult Cnsis of
for his Party, and for the countiy intensely critical The Con-
stitutional crisis synchronized witli other crises, domestic and
inlcniational The bare dates are illuminating On July 1
Panther, a German gunboat, suddenly appeared off Agadir The
1 Horn in Ntii Brunswick in 1858 j son of a Presbyterian minister from
I Istcr , brouplit up in Glasgow where he made a considerable fortune os an
iron mcrcliant.
810
ON THE brine: OF ARMAGEDDON
[1911-
crisis thus provoked developed, as we have seen, rapidly ; Mr.
Lloyd George’s speech at the Mansion House was made on July
21 and on the 25th Su Edward Grey warned the Admiralty
that ‘ the fleet might be attacked at any moment ’ Not until
September 22 was the Foreign Office able ‘ to give the word that
a state of “ war preparedness ” might be relaxed
Nor was this all. At the height of the international crisis
the transport service in England was threatened with paralysis.
!In Jime seamen had come out at various ports, carters and van-
men in July, and dockers at the begmnmg of August On August
17 the worst blow fell : the three great Railway Umons came
out on strike ® The Government, as we have seen, handled the
situation with firmness and tact, but it was none the less serious.
Nor was its gravity dimimshed by the fact that France was simi-
larly and simultaneously disturbed by a succession of mmisterial
cnses, and a senes of syndicalist strikes. The German Intelh-
gence Department was well served.
Early m 1912 came the great stake which brought the coal-
mimng industry to a standstill, and threatened to bnng aU other
industries to a similar state. That was settled mainly by As-
quith’s firmness and skill , but for him there was no respite from
labour and anxiety. ^ The Insh members had sent in their
account ; it had to be paid. On April 11, 1912, the Prune Minis-
ter presented to the House of Commons the third edition of Home
Rule. That Bill did not receive the Royal Assent until Septem-
ber 18, 1914. Its parliamentary history may therefore be post-
poned.
The Ireland was not the only portion of the ‘ Celtic Frmge ’ to
^W^es anxieties of the Grovernment. The parhamentary
course of the Welsh Church Disestablishment Bill was almost
exactly parallel with that of the Home Rule Bill . but its fate
was happier and the sequel less complicated.
The Anghcan Church m Ireland had been disestablished and
partially disendowed in 1869. Almost simultaneously there had
arisen a demand for the apphcation of the same treatment to the
Church m Wales. Not that the two cases were parallel , but the
Liberatiomsts were on the war-path ; the Dissenters were still
sore about the shabby treatment they had so long received from
^ See supra, p 225 “Seesupro, p 242 See supra, p 243.
lOU] THE CHURCH IN WALES 811
the State and the State-Church, the discussions on Forster’s
Education Bill had re-aroused angry passions. Consequently m
1870 Mr "Watkin Wilhams, believing that ‘ the people had come
to the conclusion that all State establishments of religion were
wrong *, moved that the time was ripe for the separation of Church
and State m the Principality Only six Welsh members were
found to agree with him By 1886, however, opmion on the
question had so far developed that a similar motion by Mr.
DillwjTi had the support of a large majority of the Welsh
members
Mr Gladstone, ardent Churchman as he was, had by 1893 Discstab.
comnneed himself that the voice of * gallant little Wales * could and^Dis^
no longer be ignored In February, Asquith introduced a Sus-icndow- ^
pensorj' Bill to prevent the creation of any fresh vested interestsj™™*^
in the Church in Wales The Queen was greatly perturbed when)
she rcahzed that this ‘ dreadful Suspensory Bill ’ was avowedly
a stepping-stone to W’dsh Disestablishment. Mr Gladstone m
reply to the Queen’s remonstrance insisted that Establishment
was a ‘ local question ’, and that the measure was called for by
‘ the almost unanimous voice of the Welsh members (31 out of
83) as representing the overwhehmng majonly of the Welsh
people
That was indeed the main argument for the Welsh Church
Disestablishment Bill, introduced by Asquith m April, 1894
In that congested Session the Bill did not get beyond a First
Reading Reintroduced m February 1895 it was read a second
lime in Apnl, but went down with the Liberal ship m June It
was fourteen jears before it was salvaged but on Apnl 21,
1909, it was again introduced by Asquith, now Prime Minister.
Again, howc^e^, the hopes of the 'Welsh Nonconformists were
doomed to disappointment. The ‘People’s Budget’ not only
nionopohrcd the time of Parliament, but concentrated on itself
all the energies of the Radical Party 'W’alcs again had to wait.
On June 15 Asquith announced that the Bill would be dropped,
but introduced as the first and most important measure of 1910,
and passed through all its stages, ‘ m this House ’ — as he pru-
dently added Even so the fulfilment fell short of the promise
'IJiC sea of politics was disturbed by violent storms, and not until
> Q h (3id Senes), 230 f
312 ON THE BRINK OF ARMAGEDDON [ 1911 -
' two General Elections had intervened and the Parliament Bill
been passed w'as the Welsh Bill again introduced (Apnl 12, 1912).
It passed through all its stages in the Lower House in the course
of the twelve-months Session (1912-13), and at the close of it
was rejected by the House of Lords on Second Reading’^by 252
votes to 51 (February 13, 1913) Having now come under the
operation of the Parliament Act, it was again earned through the
House of Commons and again (July 22, 1918) rejected by the
Lords. Introduced (for the third succcssn'e session) m 1914 the
Bill was finally passed on Third Reading by the House of Com-
mons (May 19) by 828 votes to 251.
The Lords could delay its passage into law no longerj^ and
on September 18 the Bill received the Royal Assent But by
that time England was at war. All parties recognized the supreme
need of national unity. It was unthinkable that any Govern-
ment could so outrage the feelings of a large section, and that
not the least patriotic, of the nation as to bring into force a
measure which had aroused such bitter and prolonged opposition
and had been passed mto law only by force majetcr. By a large
minority of the people (to put it no higher), the Welsh Bill was
regarded with profound aversion ; to not a few it seemed an act
of sacrilege : not merely a enme against Churchmen, but a sm
against God. However much or little we may sympatluze with
such feehngs, they existed ; and no Government could ignore or
trample upon them, least of all under the circumstances of the
hour. Accordingly, along with the Welsh Church Bill there was
passed a Suspensory Bill, postponing its operation for a year, or
until such time (not being later than the end of the War) as might
be fixed by an Order m Council ‘ The end of the W’ar ’ was a
term which, in more than one connexion, would, later on, demand
legal definition. But between 1914 and 1918 much water was
to flow under London Bridge, and the soil of Europe was to be
saturated with blood.
In the autumn of 1918 the Parliament elected m 1910 was,
after several Prolongation Acts, at long last dissolved. Mr.
Lloyd George and Mr. Bonar Law appealed to the electorate as
the leaders of a ’ Coalition, but before accepting the ‘ coupon ’
which they offered many Conservative candidates demanded
assurances in regard to various matters. A revisidn of the finan-
101 - 1 ]
WELSH DISESTABLISIDIENT
813
cial settlement relating to the Welsh Church was among the
promises gn en by the Prime Minister Accordingly, on August
1, 1919, a Bill nas introduced by the Government ‘to continue
m nRlce the Welsh Commissioners appointed under the Welsh
Church Act, 1914, to postpone the date of Disestablishment, and
to make further provision with respe*ct to the “ Temporahties *’
of, and marriages in, the Church in Wales
The financial position had been greatly complicated, partly
by the lapse of time since the onginal Act was passed, partly by
tlic spectacular nse in the value of Tithe (from £77 to over £l30)
To meet the difliculty the Government proposed to make a grant
of £1,000,000 from the British Treasury to the Welsh Church
Commissioners Whether that sum was a ‘ donation ’ to the
disendowed Church, as the Welsh Nonconformists contended,
or to the Welsh County Councils, as English Churchmen main-
tained, was a matter of controversy . but the Bill received the
Boyal Assent on August 19, and together with the parent Act
came into operation on March 31, 1920.
Except that the year 1662 was substituted for 1703 as the
dniding line between ancient and modern endowments (thus
giving the disendowed Church an advantage of forty years) the
Act of 1910 substantially reproduced the Bill of 1894 ^
Under the Act tlirce Commissioners were appointed with very Tlio Dis*
large pow ers, administrative, judicial and actuarial The Com- f,g^cd"
missioners were Sur Henry Primrose — an experienced Treasury Church
oflicial, Sir William (afterwards Lord) Plender, an accountant of
the highest standing, and Sir J Herbert B.oberts, a Welsh M P ,
afterwards Lord Clwjd In their hands was vested temporarily,
subject to existing cliarges and interests, all the property of the
Church in Wales not specifically allocated under the Act That
property it was their duty to distribute among the ultimate
bcncficinncs, the Welsh County Councils, the Umversity of Wales,
the Burial Authorities, and the Church Representative 'Body.
Of these the last was the most important
The Act se\ cred the four Welsh dioceses and j\Ionmouthshirc
from the Province of Canterbury, and these were subsequently
erected into a new Pro\ incc under its own Archbishop (who con-
tinued to hold the see of St. Asaph) with four (presently increased
1 Sec mpra, p 05
814 ON THE BRINK OF ARMAGEDDON [ion-
to six) suffragan Bishops The Welsh Bishops ceased to sit m
the House of Lords
Constitu- Between 1916 and 1922 a committee of Welsh Churchmen
(^vcrn- continuously engaged m framing, as authorized by the Act,
meat a new Constitution for the Welsh Church Drafted with con-
summate ability, it has provided the Disestablished Church with
a scheme of government, which is operating to the general satis-
faction of Churchmen m Wales, and to the admiration of Church-
men beyond its borders. Its success has been mainly due to the
statesmanship of two great lawyers. Lord Sankey and Sir John
Eldon Bankes, and to the Bishop of St Asaph, the Most Reverend
Dr. A. G. Edwards, wdio m April 1920 was elected by his fellow-
Bishops to be first Archbishop of Wales and in June was entlironed
by Archbishop Davidson of Canterbury.
The Constitution set up two Bodies, (a) the Governing Body
and (6) the Representative Body of the Welsh Church The
Governing Body exercises supreme Legislative jurisdiction.
Originally elected by the Diocesan Conferences, it now consists
of 505 members. The 6 Bishops, 6 Deans and 12 Archdeacons
•are eas qffiao members ; 25 clencal and 50 lay members are tri-
ennially elected by each of the six Diocesan Conferences, and 10
clerics and 20 laymen are co-opted by the Governing Body, and
there are two Life Members. There are three Orders ; Bishops,
Clergy and Laity, and the assent of each is essential to legislation.^
The Governing Body has done valuable work : it has created the
new Provmce and two additional bishopncs, and a college for the
election of future bishops ; it has devised a coherent scheme of
local conferences, Diocesan, Rundecanal and Parochial , it has
passed a Cathedrals measure and a scheme of clergy pensions,
not to mention other useful measures
Not less important to the orderly administration of ecclesias-
tical affairs is the Representative Church Body. This Body was
sanctioned by the Act, and incorporated by Royal Charter in
1919 , it consists of 105 members, mainly elected (hke the Govern-
ing Body), but partly co-opted and partly nominated by the
Bishops The Act deprived the Welsh Church of all endowments
prior to 1662 — a sum estimated at over £4,000,000 as well as all,
parochial Bunal Grounds, and handed the endoumients over to
^ Only in matters purdy ^intual docs the Governing Body vote by Orders
ibi4] THE DISESTABLISHED CHURCH 815
Uic Wcl'ih Count}' Councils and the Welsh University. The
c hurdles, parsonages, and other buildings and the glebe ^ remained
to Ihe Church and vere transferred by the Commissioners, in whom
they were temporarily vested, to the Representative Body, who
also hold, in trust, all modem endowments and benefactions, the
capital sum received m commutation for tested mtercsts, and
the sums annuallj' raised by the Diocesan quota. Out of these
funds the Rcprascntative Body pays the stipends of the bishops
and clergy, it prondes for pensions, insurance, dilapidations and
for the traming of ordmonds
The Welsh Church vould seem, then, to have emerged from
its ordeal braced and invigorated by the call to personal service
and indmdual self-saciificc It vould, honever, be rash to infer
that the successful reaction of the Welsh Church to Disestablish-
ment and partial Disendowmcnt supplies any argument in favour
of legislation, on similar lines, for the English Church Nor,
indeed, is there any longer a demand for such a measure. Partly
owing to the enhanced zeal and activity of Churchmen, partly
to the decay of Nonconfonmiy, and most of all to the virtual
extinction of the Liberal Party, the Libcrationist cry has ceased
to resound Nourished on the abstract principles, long smee
discredited, of lais<icT~fairc, sustained by the practical gnevances,
long since rcnio\ cd, of Nonconformists, the agitation for Dises-
tablishment has faded out of practical politics Should it ever
be rcvi\ cd it is likely to come from a party within the Church,
more remarkable for zeal than for discretion • more concerned
for the intensive groirth of religion than for the extension of its
influence
Welsh Disestablishment was only one of the preoccupations
of the ^ksquith Government in the years immediately prccedmg
the outbreak of war.
Among its embarrassments, not the least disquieting was the The
episode, commonlj kno\vn at the time as the ‘ Marcom Scandal ’
— a description peculiarly unfair to the great inventor, who W'as
in no way conccmcd in the matter. The Imperial Conference
of 1911 had recommended the establishment of a chain of State-
owned wireless telegraph stations ivitlun the Empire The Im-
perial Government assented, and in 1912 the Postmaster-General
* Acquired since 1002
316 ON THE BRINK OF ARMAGEDDON [ 1911 -
accepted the tender pf the Marconi Company for the construction
of the stations subject to the ratification of the contract by Par-
liament
On August 8, 1912, the Postmaster-General unfolded to the
House of Commons the terms of the agreement, but consideration
of it was deferred until the autumn In the meantime Rumour
became busy and dark insinuations appeared in the Press It
was said that the Postmaster-General had coriuptly favoured a
Company, of which Mr Godfrey Isaacs, brother of the Attorne}'^-
General, was managing director, and that the latter as well as
Rlr Lloyd George and the Master of Ehbank, who until recently
had been chief Liberal Whip, were pecumarily mterested The
shares of the Company had nsen from 46^ in July 1911 to over
£8 m April 1912, when the acceptance of their tender was made
public. A rise so spectacular naturally gave additional emphasis
to the rumours aheady in circulation.
When on October 11 the Marconi contract was submitted
to the House of Commons for approval, the Government imme-
diately moved for the appomtment of a Select Committee ‘to
investigate the circumstances connected with the negotiation and
completion of the agreement . . . and to report thereupon and
whether the agreement is desirable and should be approved *.
The Select Committee, consisting of fifteen members, was set
up on October 23, 1912 The latter part of its reference, involv-
mg highly technical questions, was, on the advice of the Select
Committee, delegated to a special Advisory Committee, consist-
ing of Lord Parker of Waddmgton, a Judge of the High Court
with wide expenence of patent htigation, as chairman, and four
emin ent scientific experts The Committee was requested to
report, within three months, on the merits of long-distance wire-
less telegraphy, and m particular as to its capacity for con-
tinuous co mm unication over the distances — ^between 2,000 and
2,600 miles — ^required by the Imperial Cham
The Committee reported ^ (May 1), somewhat guardedly, that
‘ the Marconi system is at present the only system . . . capable
of fulfilhng the requirements of the Imperial Cham ’, but they
refrained (as outside their reference) from expressing any opinion
about the provisions of the agreement with the Marconi Com-
*Cd C781,ofl913.
lou] THE ‘MARCONI AFFAIR’ 317
pan\ , and explained that their approval of the Marconi system
did not imolvc the cmplojTnent of that Company as contractors
for all the work required
Much more difficult i\as the task before the mam Committee
presided o\ er by Sir 'Albert Spicer. Its proceedings were con-
ducted in an atmosphere of tense feeling, which not infrequently
found expression in Molcnt language and scenes of considerable
excitement Its Report presented to the House of Commons on
June 13, 1913, ran, with minutes of evidence, to over COO pages
of a Blue Book ^ It consisted indeed of four Reports a Majority
Report finally adopted by eight Liberal votes against six Con-
scr\ alive , a Chairman’s Draft Report, more severe than the
Report actually adopted , another Draft Report by the Liberal
member for Forfar, and a fourth by Lord Robert Cecil The
Jlajoritj Report declared that the charges made against Sir
Rufus Isaacs, Mr Lloyd George and Mr Herbert Samuel were
‘ absolutely untrue * and that * all the Ministers concerned have
acted tliroughout in the sincere belief that there was nothing m
their action which would m any way conflict with their duty as
Ministers of the Crown
In the debate on the appointment of the Committee Mr Lloyd Mr Lloyd
George and Sir Rufus Isaacs had emphatically denied that they
had ever had any interest, direct or indirect, in the English Mar- RuTus
coni Company That was true , but the truth was stated with
a regrettable economy of candour The subsequent inquiry
elicited the fact that the two IVIinistcrs had had dealings m the
shares of the American Marconi Company, but the Majority
Report found that the American Company had ‘ no interest direct
or indirect in the proposed agreement with the British Govern-
ment , or in any profits which might accrue therefrom
Lord Robert Cecil’s Report was much less tender in its treat-
ment of the Jlinislcrs Equally with the Majority Report, it
declared that they had not been deflected from the proper dis-
charge of their iniblic duties by reason of any interest in the
Marconi or other Coinjianics ; but it described their purchase of
American M ircoiii shares ns a ‘ grave impropriety ’ ; it held that
the Amcnian Company was materially, though indirectly, mter-
ested in the conclusion of the Government agreement with the
* Cd 152, of 1013 * Cd 152, pp xxxix-xliz.
The
Women’s
Move-
ment
318 ON THE BRINK OF ARMAGEDDON [loii-
English Company, and it condemned the ‘ reticence ’ of Mmisters
in regard to their investment or ‘ speculation ’ in the shares of the
American Marconi Company as ‘ a grave’ error of judgement and
as wanting m frankness and respect for the House of Commons
When the Report was discussed m the House of Commons
(June 18 and 19, 1913) IMfr. (afterwards Lord) Cave moved a Reso-
lution regrettmg ‘ the transactions of certam of His Majesty’s
Ministers m the shares of the Marconi Company of America, and
the want of frankness displayed m their commumcations on the
subject to the House Both Sir Rufus Isaacs and Mr. Lloyd
George frankly admitted that the purchase of the shares and their
failure to disclose the transaction in the debate of October 11th
were errors of judgement^ smcerely regretted by them. In the
course of the Debate IVfr. Asquith charactenstically formulated
certain rules which he divided into the two categories of Rules
of Obhgation and Rules of Prudence. From any violation of
the Rules of Obligation he completely absolved his colleagues ,
the Rules of Prudence they had not, m his opinion, fully observed
But their honour, pubhc and pnvate. he held to be ‘ absolutely
unstamed *. Eventually, after long debate, the House adopted
the amendment of a Liberal back-bencher that the House havmg
heard the statements of the Mmisters ‘ accepts their expressions
of regret that such purchases were made, and that they were not
mentioned m the debate of October 11, acquits them of acting
otherwise than m good faith, and reprobates the charges of cor-
ruption brought agamst Mimsters which have been proved to be
wholly false ’.
Thas amendment was in effect accepted by 346 votes to 268,
and the parhamentary history of ‘this wretched subject’ (Mr.
Balfour’s description) came to an end. A ‘ wretched subject * it
unquestionably was , but fortunately one of so rare a character
in the annals of English politics that it profoundly perturbed
pubhc opinion, and concentrated upon itself pubhc scrutmy at
a moment when other matters, not less gravely important, were
demandmg attention.
Prominent among the latter was the clamant demand for the
extension of the parhamentary franchise to women
The struggle for woman suffrage w'as only one aspect of a
larger movement. Throughout all the later part of the nine-
WOMEN’S EDUCATION
819
19UJ
tccnlh ccn’ury ^^omen had been advancing their claim to equahty
of status and opportunity with men but they were convinced
that the claim would be conceded only when women had obtained
an education equal to, if not identical with, that of men. They
were right Their first assault, therefore, was upon the educa-
tional fortress
The Christian Socialists were in the forefront of the movement Higher
for the higher education of women. To men hke F. D Maurice ^on^'
and Charles Kingsley, Queen’s College and Bedford College owed Women
their foundation m 1848-9. Then women attacked and carried
the outworks of the old Universities Between 1865 and 1870
Cambridge, Durham and Oxford opened their Local Examina-
tions to women In 1872 Cambndge Umversity allowed women
to enter, though unofficially and informally, for the classical and
matliematical triposes
But if the Universities might examine women, why not alsv
teach them ? The answer to that question was found m the
establishment of the system of Local or ‘ Extension * lectures,
developed with much success by Cambridge, Oxford, and London
and afterwards adopted by most, if not all, the Umversities.
To be examined, or even to be taught by the Universities,
did not, however, satisfy the ambition of women They decided
to storm the citadel itself , but they prudently advanced to the
attack by gradual stages The first foothold was residence. A
college for women, established at Bhtchin m 1869, was m 1878
rcniov cd to Cambridge and incorporated as Girton College Two
5 cars later Newnham College was opened at Cambridge. In 1879
Lady Margaret Hall and Somerville Hall were opened at Oxford,
where in a short time no fewer than four women’s Colleges were
established These Colleges were fed by a constant stream of
students, mostly from the new Secondary Schools which in tin,
last decades of the nineteenth century were established in all
jiarts of the country. Of these one of the first and greatest was
the Clicltciilmni Ladies’ College which, founded in 1854, embodied
the ideals of a great educationist. Miss Dorothea Beale
Women had, however, a long furrow to plough before they
could attain their ideal of equality, even in education London,
though it had refused admission to women in 1856, was the first
British University to concede complete equality to women, m
880
ON THE BRINE OF ARMAGEDDON
[MIX-
respect of examinations and degrees, of honours and prizes. That
•mu; done in 1878. The Victoria Univecsily, with its federated
Colleges in Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds, followed suit in
1880. Cambridge opened its Honours Examixiations to women
in 1881, and between 1884 and 1894 Oxford gradually did likewise.
But though women might be equal to men in academic attain*
ments, the guerdon of a Degree was still, except in l<ondon and
Victoria, withhdd. Li 1892, however, the Scottish UniversitieB
admitted women to all their Degrees, and in 1895 Durham also,
excqit in respect of Theology.
Before the end of the century a large number of women were
in residence both at Oxford and Cambridge. Their residence
was not indeed officially recognized, though as r^ards teaching
and examinations thdr opporlunities were scaredy if at all
inferior to those offered to men. But the *D^me* which 'meant
so much to outsiders, and so little to those who knew, was still
denied to them. In 1896 a vigorous campaign was initiated at
Oxford, but though encouraged by many leading members of the
University it ended, for the time bdng, in defeat.
In 1907 Lord Curzon of Eedleston became Chancdlor of the
Univarsity, and at once took up the question of University
Reform. Though a convinced opponent of Woman Suffrage he
strongly advocated the granting of d^;rees to women, but not
their admission to the governing bodies of the University. In a
memorable sentence he vindicated his own consistemy: *To
give a woman a degree is to enable her to obtain the reward of
her own industry or her learning. As such it is an extension of
private liberty. To give her a vote is to give her the right to
govern others, and is the imposition of a public duty.' ^ Tins
logical distanction was ignored at Oxford ; it has been rigorously
observed at 'Cambridge.
At ndther Univerrity, however, was any further progress
made until after the Great War. The effect of the War upon the
whole portion of women— social, economic and political— must
be examined later. After the concession of the parliamentaiy
finnchise to women (1918) it was obvious that the ^Universities could
no longer withhold their Degrees. Moreover, in 1919 Parliament
had given the Universities — and other people— abroad hint. On
* Prindpla and Meihodt rf Vninenity R^om (1009^ p> X09.
DEGBEES FOR WOMEN
821
1014]
Dcccmb^ 23 the Royal Assent tpos given to the Sex Disqualifi-
cation (Removal) Bill. The opening vmrds of the first danse
nn as follows : * A person shall not be disqualified 1^ sex or
marriage from the exercise of any public function, or fkom being
appointed to or holding any dvil or judidal olTice or post or from
entcrii^ or assuming or cartymg on any civil profesdon or vocop
tion. . . . Provided that, &C.* Before the Bill passed the House
of Commons the following significant clause was added to it:
' Nothing in the Statutes or Charter of any Universily diall be
deemed to predude the authoriUes of sudi Umversify from mak-
ing such provision as thqr shall think fit for the admission of
women to membership thereof, or to any degree right or privi-
lege therdn or in connexion therewith.*
The dause was not mandatory, but permissive. Oxford had,
indeed, anticipated the permission of the Legislature, and in 1919
had introduced and in 1020 passed a Statute, admitting women
not only to matriculatjon and graduation but to full member^
diip of the University.
Women are now admitted on the same terms as men to the
Governing Bodies and all Committees in tihe Univerdty, to offices
and prizes of every kind. And of all these things women have
since 1920 obtamed a full shoxe.^
Cambridge has moved, but more cautiously and, as some
tliink, more prudently, along a path, paralld for some distance,
with that followed by Oxford. Oxford had by 1932 over 700
women undergraduates, of whom some BOO were members of
Colleges and Halls— tlic remainder being *Home Students’.
Cambridge has limited the number of women students to 500,
all of whom must reside at Girton or Newnbam College. Th^
enjoy pmctically the same facilities for instruction os the men,
are admitted to the same Honour Exanunations, and receive the
appropriate ' titles of the degrees ', but not technically the degrees
which would give tlicm a share in the government of the Uni-
versity. In fine, Cambnd^^ has adopted the distinction which
in 1909 commended itself to Lord Curzon. Whether in view of
* Hic * ecsto^*' (no other word expresses the sentlracnt) of the moment
when the flist batch of women students were mntitculnted nnd Uie first
batch teccived tlielr dc|uccs, ts \i\Idly cccatled by Veta Bciltoln (who was
herself among them) in Te^menl of Youth (1033)* e. x.
— 21
Woman
Suffrage
J.S.
Mill
822 ON THE BRINK OF ARRIAGEDDON [laii-
the progress of the Women’s Movement at large Cambridge will
be able to mamtain the distmction obliterated by Oxford remains
to be seen.
To the political movement we now turn.
Not until 1905 did the question of Woman Suffrage become a
live pohtical issue. Nor was it then a Party question. On the
Bills for the enfranchisement of women, which for the last thirty
years had been regularly mtroduced and shelved, there had been
much cross-voting. On the whole the Conservatives were perhaps
more sympathetic towards the movement than the Liberals, but
after 1906 the Sociahsts showed themselves more zealous than
either of the older Parties. Early m 1906 Sir H Campbell-
Bannerman told a deputation from the Women’s Suffrage Societies
that ‘ they had made out a conclusive and irrefutable case ’.
Behmd that deputation there was a half-century’s mtcnsive
work. In 1849 an Act was passed at the mstigation of Lord
Brougham declaring that ‘ words importing the masculine gender
shall be deemed to include females unless the contrary is expressly
provided *. The Reform Act of 1832 had however introduced the
word male, and it was nearly a century before that restnction
was legally deleted.
Among pubhc men J. S Mill was among the first to bring the
women’s question mto prommence. In 1858 he published
Enfranchisement of Women, and one of the most notable passages
of his Bepreseniaiive Government (1861) contams an eloquent plea
for the principle of the pohtical equahty of the sexes. ‘ I consider
[difference of sex] to be as entirely irrelevant to pohtical nghts as
difference in height or m the colour of the hair ’.^ In 1869 he
pubhshed his famous work on the Subjection of Women. Mean-
wlule, as candidate for Westminster (1865) Mill had given Woman
Suffrage a prominent place m his election address, and con-
sistently advocated it in the House of Commons.
In 18T0 Mr. Jacob Bnght moved the Second Readmg of a
Women’s Suffrage Bill, but he could get no sympathy or support
from his brother John and stall less fromRIr. Gladstone, who voted
against Mill’s Amendment for the inclusion of women m the
Franchise Bill of 1867, and m 1884, on a similar motion, deelared
that if it were carried he would abandon the Bill. On that
1 Bepresenlahie Government, p. 290 (Dent’s ed , 1010).
1011 ]
WOMAN SUFFRAGE
323
question Gladstone -was, for once, in complete accord with his
Sovereign, who vehemently opposed the ‘emancipation’ of
women ‘ We women ’, she wrote in 1852, ‘ are not made for
go\erning — and if we arc good women we must dtshke these mas-
culine occupations ’ But that was in Prince Albert’s hfetime,
and c\ cn then she admitted (as John ICnox admitted in the case
of Queen Elirabcth) that there are exceptions to the rule
Yet, despite powerful opposition, the cause made steady pro-
gress From 1S70 onwards the question became one of the ‘ hardy
annuals ’ in the Parliamentary garden, and before the War at
least seven Bills obtained a Second Reading. Outside Parliament
the agitation was persistent The first Women’s Suffrage Societies
were founded in IManchcstcr, Edinburgh and London m 1867,
and before the War no fewer than 300 Societies were affiliated to
the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies Meanwhile,
some important points of vantage were gamed Not only were
women beginning to enter the professions, notably that of medi-
cine, but in 18^ the Mamed Women’s Property Act was passed.
This Act aboliinic^i^Ehc old system under which a woman’s property
passed, on marriage, under the husband’s control In 1892
Asquith, though a strong and consistent opponent of the suffrage,
appointed women for the first time as Factory Inspectors, and in
1 89 1 three w omen w ere for the first time appointed as Royal Com-
missioners to inquire into Secondary Education This precedent
was followed in the case of the Royal Commissions on the Poor
Lnw and tlic Marriage Laws
The j I ir 1907 w as described by Mrs Millicent Garrett Faw cett,
speaking in October, as ‘ the greatest year the women’s suffrage
movement had known’ In 1893 the Parliamentary franchise
had been gi\en to women m New Zealand, and in 1902 in the
Commonwealth of Australia, in 1907 women were for the first
tunc elected to a Legislature, nineteen being elected to the Diet of
Finland In England the same year witnessed the passing of
the Qualification of Women (County and Borough Councils) Act,
which prosnded that women should no longer be disqualified by
se\ or marriigc from being elected and acting as County or
Borough CouiiLillors or Aldermen Already over 1,000 women
were acting ns Poor Law Guardians, and over COO on Education
Commiltcts The Act of 1907, .however, marked an important
824 ON THE BRINK OF ARMAGEDDON [ 1911 -
Militant
* Suffra*
gettea ’
advance, and in 1908 Mrs Garrett Anderson was elected Mayor
of Aldeburgh — ^the first woman to serve in that capacity.
In view of this record, many of the more ardent advocates of
Women’s Suffrage were becoming exasperated by the dilatory
proceedings in Parliament. Mrs Pankhurst, the widow of a
Manchester lawyer who had more than once stood for Parliament
as a republican Socialist, had, in 1903, founded a Society destined
to fame as the Women’s Social and Political Union. Hitherto
the Suffrage movement had been mainly conducted by educated
women in the interests of educated women Mrs Pankhurst was
herself a cultivated woman of middle-class origin, but her appeal
was addressed primarily to the working women of Lancashire and
Yorkshire The agitation set on foot through her new Society
was to be unrestricted by any limitations of decorum, convention
or even law. It was to be open war upon Society in general and
m particular upon the Government of the day. Political meetings
were interrupted , demonstrations were held in Trafalgar Square ;
monster processions were organized ; Ministers were hamed from
pillar to post; women crowded the lobbies at Westminster;
they tned to gain access to a Cabinet meeting , they broke win-
dows m shops and official residences ; they kicked the shins of
patient pohcemen, and generally created as much disturbance as
they could. Large batches of women were arrested, mostly in
,the vicmity of Parhament, and on their refusal to pay the fines
imposed were sent to prison.
The ‘ Suffragettes ’, as they began to be called, in distinction
to the * Constitutional ’ suffragists, proved themselves adepts m
two modem arts : that of spectacular advertisement and that of
agitation They were immensely assisted by the popular Press,
which, though generally opposed to their aims, found good ‘ copy ’
m their proceedings. The older Suffrage Societies viewed the
new departure with horror, and with well-grounded alarm lest it
should, as it did, delay the triumph of their cause. They excluded
the militants from their Societies, and year after year passed
resolutions agamst their methods. All to no purpose.
Asquith In May 1908 Mr. Asqmth informed a deputation of Liberal
M.P s that the (Government meant to propose a large measure of
Women electoral reform, and that if a Women’s Suffrage amendment
were moved it would be left to a free vote of the House. Minis-
SUFFRAGETTE OUTRAGES
1014]
tcxs xipx in fact divided on the question : the Prime Minister,
Lord Lorebum and others trere against. Sir Edtrard Gny, Mr.
Ilaldanc and Mr. Lloyd George in favour of. Women's Suflrage.
A Bill to establish adult suffrage mis introduced in 1909, but by •
reason of the People's Budget got no farther than a Second Read-
ing. In 1010 the Suffragists decided to concentrate on a ' Con- '
cilialion Bill ', giving the franchise to all -women housdwldeis.
This Bill, which uould ha-ve cnfrandiiscd about 1,000,000 women,
was carried on Second Reading by large majorities in 1010 and
agdn m 1011. But it was a Private Member's BiU, and the
Government, with the Constitational crisis on their handi^ ooidd
give it no facilities.
The Suffragists were greatly disappointed, and in the next
three yean there was an ominous revival of militarily m view
of the fate of the Condliation Bill, which had been suspended.
Attempts were made to set fixe to post-boxes, tdegraph and
telephone wires were eut^ club and shop windows in the h«ut of
London were broken ; the Rokeby Venus and other luctuies in
the National Gallery were sloshed, porcelain was smashed at the
British Museum, and galleries and museums were in consequence
dosed to the pubUc; women suspected of intentions to bum
do-wn the country residence of hfr, Hoxcourt were detected and
arrested in the grounds of Nundiam Park; on empty house
about to be leased to ]Mr. Lloyd George at Walton Heath was
actually burnt down, as was the Pavilion at Eew Gardens, several
railway stations and Watgravc Church. A bomb was found under
the Coronation Qiair in Westminster Abbey, and another at St.
Paul’s. Li Dublin a hatchet was thrown at hfr. Asquith and hit
John Redmond. At the Derby of 1018 a tcmble inddent oc-
curred : a suffragette, who had been more than once imprisoned,
doslird out in front of the famunte;, the King's horsey as it came
round Tattenlmra Corner, thus imperilling the life of the jock^
and sacrificing her own.
In the course of these disturbances huge numbers of -women
were arrested and sent to prison ; but in prison they adopted the
device of hunger-striking. To avoid making martyrs, the hunger-
strikers were released, but in 1918 an Act, popularly known os
the 'Cat and Mouse Act', was passed. This authorized the
Home Secretary to liberate prisoners on licence which could be
826 . ON THE BRINK OF ARMAGEDDON [wii-
rcvoked, without further toal, on a repetition of the offence
The Act did little to check the volume of outrages ; the authorities
were at their, wits’ end to know how to deal with women who were
ready to sacrifice not merely liberty but life to promote the
success of a cause to which they were passionately devoted.
A crushing blow had, meanwhile, fallen on all sections of the
Women’s Suffrage Movement. In June 1912 the Government
had introduced a Franchise and Registration Bill to abolish
University representation and plural voting, and to simplify the
conditions for the registration of electors It was estimated that
the Bill would add 2,500,000 male dectors to the Register. The
Bill as drafted did not mclude women, but the Government was
pledged to give facilities for an Amendment, m that sense, and
to leave it to a free vote of the House. When the Bill reached
the committee stage the Speaker ruled the Amendment out of
order. The Government was thus placed m a cruel dilemma
To pass the Bill for males only was to break faith with the women.
The Bill was dropped.
The parliamentary tide was, indeed, turning against the
enfranchisement of women. In 1912 the Concihation Bill, which
had twice been carried on Second Reading, was at the third
attempt defeated A similar fate awaited a somewhat extended
proposal m 1918, and also a Suffrage Bill introduced in May 1914
by Lord Selborne m the House of Lords.
That the tactics of the nuhtant suffragettes had alienated
public opinion and delayed the tnumph of their cause is not open
to question
Women In 1914, however, a great opportumty was offered to them.
War^^ Magnificently they redeemed it On the outbreak of war the
militant agitation was immediately called off ; Mrs. Pankhurst
and her daughter Christabel turned their propaganda into patriotic
channels ; 27zc Suffragette became Britannia and appealed to
aU women to do their utmost m the cause of world-freedom.
The response was immediate and wellnigh universal. Militant
suffragettes and constitutional suffragists displayed equal zeal.
Early m the War the latter formed the Women’s Emergency
Corps, ready to undertake any kmd of work of national impor-
tance They soon found plenty to their hands. The record of
women’s war-work is indeed wnt large on the page of History.
1014]
WOMEN’S WAR WORK
827
Into the hoopitnis, militaiy and V.A.D., tromcn naturally
vent at once, and bcfora long thqr vei;^ in rapidly inercasing
numbers, taking the place of men, needed for the army, in all
manner of occupations : in industry and agriculture, as derks in
banks, in Govenunent and insurance offices ; as postmen, tidcet*
collectors and bus eonductors and what not. In March 1016 the
Government concluded with the Trade Unions what was known
as the ' Treasury Agreement ' l%e Unions consented to suspend
all thdr rules excluding women fh>m dolled employment, only
making the condition — scrupulously observed— that for the same
output women should reedve the some wages as men. By July
1018 no fewer than 1,660,000 women were doing work formerly
done by men : but, besides that^ thousands of women were
employed in jobs wMeh were the outcome of war emergencies.
In the metal trades there were nearly 000,000 women employed,
and over 100,000 in chemicals ; in ' Government establishments '
226,000 women were empbyed as against 2,000 in July 1014 ; m
the Civil Service 281,000 as against 66,000 ; 260,000 by lAcal
Authorities; and in * other occupations', induding transport,
&e., 1,872,000. Nor were women employed only at home.
Early in 1017 nn Army Coundl instruction was published approv-
ing the formation of a Women's Army Auxiliaxy Corps— the
members of whieh came to be familiarly known as the WJLA.C.S.
No woman was to be employed in the Corps except actually in
substitution for a soldier; and in large numbers th^ were
employed in the motor transport service in various capadtics, in
the Army Service Corps, at tiie base and on lines of communica-
tions overseas, in the tdcplionc and postal services, as cooks and
clerks, accountants and laundresses, and in many other capodties
— ^but always to rdieve a soldier for other work. What the
country owed to the WJt Jt.C.s, to the devoted nurses in military
ond auxiliary liospitals, and not least to the workers in the
munition factories, is beyond computation,
Li the face of such services there coidd no longer be any
doubt os to the admission of women to the register of parlia-
mentary electors. Woman Suffrage earner however, os part of
a larger scheme. Of the 6,000,000 men m the lighting lines some
had never been qualified to vote; others had, by cnhslmcnt and
service, lost their qualifications. Obviously, some measure had
828 ON THE BRINE OF ARHIAGEDDON [loix-
to be passed to deal with this diflieully ; but a Reform Bill, con-
taining clauses of polcnlially contentious diaraetcr, was not to
be thought of in tlic middle of the War. Mr. Walter (afterwards
Lord) Long accordingly suggested a non-party Conference which
in October 1016 was set up under the Chairmanship of the Speaker.
The Conference reported in January 1017, and among its unani-
mous recommendations was one in favour of ' some measure of
Woman Suffrage '.
Refomi The Reform Act of 1018, passed after long debate in both
Act, 1018 Houses, was based upon lliis Report. Comprehensive in char-
acter, it dealt vrith the franchise, male and female, with registra-
tion, and the redistribution of scats. As regards the last, counties
and boroughs (except the dty of London) with a population less
than 50,000 ceased to have separate representation and a member
was given for a population of 70,000 and every multiple thereof.
Under tliis scheme some ancient cities, such as York, lost one of
their two members and others, like Chester, were merged in the
adjacent counties. The registration period was shortened, sim-
pliflcd, and based (except in respect of business premises and
Universities) wholly on residence. The property qualiCcation,
and with it plural voting, was abolished. All elections were to
be held on the same day, and candidates’ expenses were limited.
The principle of the * Altcmatiirc Vote *, as well as that of Pro-
portional Representation, was rejected during the passage of the
Bill, save that the latter principle was applied to University
representation. Adult suffrage was adopted for males, and a
special franchise was conferred on those on war service, and in
the mercantile marine (even though not of full age). ’Con-
scientious objectors *, on tlie other hand, vrere disqualified from
voting during the continuance of the War and for five years after
its cessation.
The franchise was extended to all women (not legally incapaci-
tated) of thirty }'cars of age, and entitled to be registered as Local
Government clcetors in respect of the occupation of land or
premises, and to the wives of men so entitled. For Universities,
a woman, having attained the age of thirty, was to be entitled to
vote on the same terms as a man.
The differentiation of ogc between the sexes ^vos due to the
deaxe the L^islature not to put women voto^ from the
ADULT SUFFRAGE
820
1S14]
outset of Che experiment, in a majority, but to ^ve men repre-
sentation in the proportion of 3 to 2. The results justified the
calculation. The first Register contained 12,010,000 men and
6.850,403 \romcn. By an Act passed in November 1018 vrorien
became dibble for election to Parliament. In 1010 Viscountess
Astor was dcctcd for Plymouth in place of her husband on his
succession to the Feemge, and in 1021 Mrs. Wintringham was
dected, in place of her deceased husband, for Louth.
In 1028 Parliament passed an Act, described by its sponsor Equal .
as * the inevitable last chapter of a pohtacal history which began
with the diange from the representation of interests to the repre-
sentation of the people m 1832*. The._Act placed sromen in
exactly the same position as men as .regards both Parliamentary
and Loral Government dections. Addt s^mge...for men.and
women brought the electorate up to the vast total of 28,850,776.
It had been estimated that the new Act would enfrandiisc some
4,000,000 females: as a fact it cnfianchised about 7,000,000,
bringing tlic total of women dcctors up to 16,196,100 us emnpared
with 13,055,577 men.
Thus ended in eomplete and simultaneous victory the long
fight for * equal rights ', and the still longer fight, begun by the
Chartists, for adult sufirage.
,880
THE IRISH PROBLEM
[1880-
Balfour’s
Chief
Secre-
taryship,
1880-02
CHAPTER XIX
THE IRISH PROBLEJI (1880-1014)
• TV TTARRY, so there have been divers good plots devised, and
-L V X 1 S 9 counsels cast about reformation of that realm, but
they say it is the fatal destiny of that land that no purposes what-
soever which are meant for her good wnll prosper or take effect ;
which, whether it proceed from the very genius of the soil or
influence of the stars, or that God Almighty hath not yet appointed
the time of her reformation, or that He rescn'cth her in this
unquiet state, still for some secret scourge which shall by her
come into England, it is hard to be known, but yet much to be
feared ’ So Edmund Spenser, himself one of the Elizabethan
* colonists ’ m Munster, wreote, towards the close of the sixteenth
century. The words might have been ^vntten w ith equal accuracy
m the early part of the twentieth
Nevertheless, w'hen in 1905 the Unionist Party left office
Ireland was in a condition unusually tranquil and prosperous.
Twenty jears earlier Lord Salisbury had offered, in opposition to
Gladstone’s Home Rule proposals, an alternative prescription for
Irish distemper, namely, ‘ that Parhament should enable the
Government of England to govern Ireland ; apply that recipe
honestly, consistently, and resolutely for twenty years. .’
The Legislature and the electorate gave the mandate Unionist
administrators applied the recipe.
Of those administrators the greatest was Mr. Arthur Balfour.
His rule from 1887 to 1891 rested on a combination of unbending
firmness and genuine sympathy. Balfour understood Ireland as
no British statesman had understood her since the far-off days of
Sir Arthur Chichester and Lord Strafford He understood it
because, as was said of him by a contemporary, he was unaffectedly
mterested in ‘ Ireland as a country rather than a cockpit. It is
1914]
THE LAND QUESTION
831
the coni^ition of Ireland, not the gabble of parties at Westminster,
which is uppermost in his thoughts When Balfour took office
the Famellites vowed that they would break *this hothouse
flower', this 'seented popinjay* in mneh less time than they
had taken to break his predecessors. To thdr amazement and
dismay it was Bolfour who broke them. But he efld more than
break the Famellites : he succoured their unhappy dupes. In
face of a bitter agrarian agitation, in sjutc of widespread dis-
order and outrages innumerable, the supremaey of tiie law was
successfully TindicatedL* But resolute government supplied only
one ingredient in the Unionist recipe.
Nearest to the heart of every Irislunan is the question of the The
land. Tlie sheet anchor of the Unionist land pohiy, ixom first to
last, was the conversion of the Irish tenant into the owner of the
land he tilled. This was to be effected by means of British eredit
sustained by a joint Exchequer responsible to theFarliament of
a United Kingdom. A good beginning towards the adiievement
of this polity had been made under the Ashbourne Act of 1886,
but that Act, even as enlarged and amended in 1889, authorized
an advance of no more than £10,000,000 to facilitate purdiases.
This amount proved insufficient tomeettheappheations reedved,
though sales of 042,625 acres, apportioned among 25,807 holdings,
were in fact effected at a cost of £9,002,536.
It was, however, to a porticidar aspect of the land problem Act of
that 3Ir. Balfour's attention was specially directed. In the^^^
autumn of 1800 he visited the West of Ireland, andsawwith his
own eyes the condition of the people who deed out a miserable
existence on a few perches of bog. Their condition was, as he
truly said, a reproach to British statesmanship. The Land Bill
which he had introduced in 1800 and pused in 1891, was primarily
intended to deal with the problem of* the congested districts in
the counties of Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo, Roscommon, Mayo,
Galway, West Cork and Kerry, an area of some 8^ million statute
acres with a population of about half a milhon people. Under
the Act of 1891 the landlords were to be paid in a spcdal Govern-
ment Land Stock bearing interest at 2} per cent, while the tenant
was to pay 4 per cent, on the money advanced for a period of
* llurlbert, Mand under Comtm (1887), 1. SO.
•Supra, jap 60 L
THE IRISH PROBLEM
[1886-
forty-nme years. Sales under this Act were slow, and by 1896,
when an amending Act was passed, only a fraction of the amount
authorized was actually advanced It was, however, satisfactory
that of the £12,000,000 advanced to tenants imder the Acts of
1885-91, only £4,000 was m arrear. ^
The Con- Meanwhile, the Congested District Board established under
admirable work. It was endowed
Board with an income of £41,250 from the Irish Church surplus By
subsequent Acts the income of the Board was increased to
£281,000. It was expended on improving the breeds of horses,
livestock and poultry, on measures for preventing potato disease,
on improving and even building houses, constructing light rail-
ways, roads, fences and drams, on the consolidation of the
‘crofter’ holdings, and the cutting up of untenanted grazing
' land , and, later on, the purchase and re-sale of holdmgs. Co-
operative credit by means of village banks was promoted, and
encouragement was given to cottage industries, to knitting, lace,
crochet work and homespun tweeds , to framing classes in
cookery, laundry, domestic economy, carpentry and even boat-
building. Piers and boat-slips were constructed for fishermen,
steamer services were subsidized, and other means of transport
and communication were improved In these and other ways a
great work was done for the West of Ireland, though neither the
Board nor its work were exempt from criticism, not always
perhaps undeserved.
The Closely allied to the work of the Congested District Board was
I A O S. Irish Agricultural Organization Society. This Society
was brought into being mainly by the efforts of one of the best
friends of modern Ireland.
Sir Irish of the Insh by birth, devoted to his country and anxious
^ improve the lot of his countrymen, Mr. (aftervrards Sir) Horace
Plunkett founded m 1894 the Society known by its initials —
I A O S. Its operations were based on the formula ‘ better farm-
ing, better business, better living ’. Great difficulties were at
first encountered in commending the practice, if not the principle,
of co-operation to Insh farmers. Plunkett was denounced by
Nationalist speakers and journals as ‘ a monster m human shape *
and was adjured to ‘ cease his hellish work Nevertheless,
enthusiasm and hard work overcame all obstacles, and before the
1014]
SIR HORACE PLUNlvETT
333
War newly 1,000 Agricultural Co-opcralivc Societies had been
established, i^ith a membership of close on 100,000 and an annual
turnover of £2,500,000 In conjunction with the Land Purchase
Acts the I A O.S transformed the conditions of dairy-farming m
Ireland, and brought prosperity — ^as the Bank deposits proved —
to thousands of Irish farmers
Plunkett’s ambitions extended beyond agricultural co-opera- Dqiirt-
tion In 1895 he formed what was known as the Recess Com- Agncul-
miUec Plunkett himself presided o\cr this Committee, which turc and
included Irish peers, business men from Ulster, and politicians,
both Unionists and Nationalists The main result of the Com- tion, 1800
mittcc was the setting up m 1899 of a Government Department of
Agriculture and Technical Instruction. The Chief Secretary was
ex officio President, but Plunkett, as Vice-President, was the
effective head of a Department which quickly proved its value
to Ireland In 1900 Plunkett, who had sat as a Unionist for
Dublin County since 1802, lost his scat, and could no longer, as
had been intended, represent the Department in Parliament.
But his services were too valuable to be dispensed with, and he
remained at its head until 1907. 5Ir. Bryce, on becoming Chief
Sccrctaiy’, was most anxious to retain him, but with base ingrati-
tude the Nationalists drove him to resignation
Reforms in agriculture went hand in hand with the reorganiza- Local
tion of Local Government This was effected by the Act of 1898, ® “nt"**
skilfully piloted tlirough the House of Commons by Mr. Gerald Act, 1808
Balfour, who from 1895 to 1900 was Chief Secretary, and earned
on the policy, mitiatcd by his brother, of ‘ killing Home Rule
by kindness ’.
The Salisbury Government had made an effort to deal with
the problem of Irish Local Government in 1892 In 1898 the
pledges then given were redeemed
Rural Local Goternment — and Ireland, unhke England,
remains almost entirely rural — ^was mainly in the hands of two
bodies • the Grand Junes, a survival of the Protestant ascendancy’
of the eighteenth century, and still composed of the landed gentry ;
and the Boards of Guardians, which had been * captured ’ by' the
Nationalists The Act of 1898 followed closely, perhaps too
closely, the English Acts of 1888 and 1804.^ It depnved the
^ Supra, pp 40 f.
884 THE IRISH PROBLEM [1886-
Grand Juries of all fiscal functions, and established County and
District Councils on a purely democratic basis No Councils
were established in Parishes, the Parish being unknown to Ireland
as an area of local administration.
The parliamentary register was adopted for the local franchise
with the addition of peers and women. The Distnct Councillors
were to be the Poor Law Guardians for their respective areas,
and also the road authority, though, as regards expenditure, in
subordination to the County Council, which became tlie sole rating
authority m rural districts Liability both for the county cess
and the poor rate, which were collected in one consolidated
rate, was imposed upon the occupiers, who were thereby encour-
aged to economy Parhament, however, coated the pill with a
grant of £730,000, in rehef of agricultural rates As a check on
extravagance in outdoor rehef, union rating was adopted. The
people who granted rehef would, m the main, have to pay for it.
As regards the whole measure considerable powers were reserved
to the Local Government Board.
The first elections under the Act were held in the spring of
1899. In all parts of Ireland the landlords offered themselves,
but except in the six north-eastern counties were almost mvari-
ably rejected. In the whole of Munster and Connaught only
about a dozen country gentlemen were elected, and except in the
SIX counties the Nationalists were everywhere m an overwhelm-
ing majority on the new Councils The spirit in which they
entered on their new and responsible duties was mdicated by the
resolutions which, on the outbreak of the Boer War, were passed by
many Councils Cheers were given for ‘ gallant old Paul Kruger ’ ,
sympathy was expressed for the Boers, ‘ rightly struggling to be
free from the pirate Empire of the world ’, and the English
people were accused of ‘rapme, murder, pillage, and all the*
crimes that it has fallen to humanity to perpetrate against fellow
creatures ’.
Yet despite these ebullitions the work of amelioration went
Wynl- steadily on In 1900 Mr. Gerald Balfour was succeeded as Chief
ham Secretary by Mr. George Wyndham, one of the most briUiant of
the younger members of the Unionist Party. Soldier, scholar,
statesman, Wyndham was admirably qualified to carry on in a
sympathetic spirit the Irish polw^ of the brothers Balfour. Yet
191 i] LAND PURCHASE 835
Ireland* proved the premature gra\e of his reputation His only
constructive achievement was the Land Act of 1903
That Act carried a long stage farther the revolution which Lmd
transferred the ovmcrship of the soil of Ireland from the land- Act ,°1003
lords to the occupiers There was a general concurrence of
opinion among moderate men of all parties m Ireland ^ that a
final settlement of the land problem could be found only in an
exhaustive scheme of purchase ‘ upon a basis mutually agree-
able to the oivncrs and occupiers of the land ’ Wyndham’s Act
contemplated the pro\nsion of a sum of £100,000,000 (subsequently
increased to £180,000,000, to be gradually raised by annual loans of
£5,000,000 in London The Act dealt, not like pre\nous Acts, with
indi\ idual holdings but with whole estates The purehasers were
to pay 3J per cent , being £2 15s for mlcrcst and 10s. for sinking
fund, on the capital advanced bj*" the State to the vendors The
period of repayment was to be 68^ years The price was to be
settled between vendor and purchaser, but ratified by three
Estates Commissioners, and the State, m order to encourage sales,
offered to the %cndor an addition of 12 per cent on the price.
Thus was admittedly a bonus to the landlords, but Wyndham
1 indicated the soundness of the finance of the Bill by showing
that out of 78,000 tenant purchasers paying £840,000 a year to
the State only three owed eighteen months* arrears, and that m
twelve jears there had been only two irrecoverable debts The
\\j’ndliam Act was a great achievement, and the consummation
of Unionist policy in Ireland When the Party went out of office
m December 1905 the Insh land question had been solved Emc-
tions had practically ceased . * fair rents ’ had been judicially
fixed for f 80,000 holdings, with an a>eragc reduction of 20 per
cent and an aggregate reduction of £6,000,000 ; 74,000 tenants
had become owners before 1903
During the six jears which elapsed between the Act of 1908
and the fresh legislation of 1909 the number of purchase agree-
ments, lodged in respect of direct sales by landlords to tenants,
was 217,200 The addition of proposed purchasers in other
categories brought up the total of potential purchasers to close
on 250,000, imohing a sum of over £80,000,000.
‘ Cf a remarkable Report of the Insh Land Conference signed among
others b\ Lords llajo and Uunniacn, John Redmond and l\iUiam O’Dncn.
THE IRISH PROBLEM
[ 1886 >
Augus-
tine
BirrcU
Act of
1800
In 1909, however, an Act was passed which retarded the pro-
gress of this beneficent agrarian revolution. In January 1907
Mr. Augustine Birrcll, an amiable man and a brilliant essayist,
left the Board of Education, where the rule of doctrinaires is neither
uncommon nor inappropriate, to become Chief Secretary for Ire-
land. Of his success m solving the problem of University Educa-
tion in Ireland more will be said presently. Glaringly contrasted
with that success was his disastrous dealing Avith the Land Question.
The beneficent results achieved by the ameliorative measures
of the two previous decades had greatly alarmed the Separatist
politicians in Ireland In particular were they afraid lest eco-
nomic prosperity should veaken the demand for political inde-
pendence. ‘ Ireland would prefer rags and poverty rather than
surrender her national spirit* So said Mr. Redmond to an
audience at Buffalo.^ An Ireland ‘ studded with the beautiful
and happy homes of an emancipated peasantry * (the description
IS again Mr. Redmond’s) might well be less responsive to political
rhetoric than an Ireland peopled by a half-stan'cd peasantry with
no proprietary interest m the soil they tilled.
The Act of 1909 was no doubt intended to facilitate purchase,
but in fact it had the opposite effect. For the first time the
pnnciple of compulsion was adopted, and the landlords, instead
of receiving cash payments, were to be satisfied with stock issued
on a falling market The tenant’s annuity, on the other hand,
was raised from to 3]^ per cent — ^not an encouragement to
purchase. For the £12,000,000 fixed ‘ bonus ’ to the landlords
there was substituted a variable bonus wdiicli, according to Mr.
Wyndham, renew cd the attempt at ‘ defining the metaphysical
rights of the landlords and tenants ’ respectively, and revived * the
social poison of litigation of wrluch in 1903 every one but Mr.
Dillon was weary ’. The Act of 1903 was, m its author’s view,
a ‘ political treaty thenceforward to be binding on all three con-
tracting parties . landlords, tenants and the State ’. By the
Act of 1909 that ‘ solemn treaty . . .was torn up, to deck with
its tatters the triumph of Mr Dillon’s unholy alliance with the
British Treasury ’. Wyndham’s words w'ere bitter : but they
reflect the disappointment arising from the obstruction of a great
design, that of regenerating rural Ireland.
1 Septembex 27, 1810.
1014]
DEVOLUTION
837
Thq Birrcll Act, if inspired by a purpose equally bencfiecnt,
was less successful in achieving it. Agreements to purchase fell
from 217,299 in the six jears preceding the Act of 1909 to 8,992
in the t\\o years •which followed it ‘Land purchase practically
came to a standstill ’ * When the process of sale was resumed
it was under conditions \astly different
To return to the WjTidham regime Mr Wjndham’s ambi-
tions in regard to Ireland went far bejond the land question.
In 1904 he attempted to solve the problem of a National Umver-
sity , only, how c^ cr, to add one more to the many failures of
his predecessor In that field Mr BirrcU achieved the success
denied to Wjmdham.
But the final blow to Wj-ndham s admmistration came from * Devo-
the ‘ de\olutionists ’ There was m Ireland a considerable party
which, while rejcctmg ‘Home Rule’ in the GIndstonian sense,
favoured a considerable measure of financial if not legislative
autonomj' In 1903 an Association was formed, under the leader-
ship of Lord Dunraven, to promote an object, which also had the
actise sympathy of the Lord-Lieutenant, the Earl of Dudley,
and Sir Antony JIacdonnell ® The latter, a distinguished Indian
administrator, was in 1902 induced to accept the office of Under-
secretary, but on condition that he should ha\e ‘ adequate oppor-
tunity of infliiencing the pohey and acts of the Irish Admimstra-
tion ’ • The appointment of a Liberal and a Roman Catholic
lent substance to the rumour that the Unionist Go\crnmcnt was
moving towards a modified measure of Home Rule Ulster took
fright There were questions in the House of Commons In
reply j ndham described the Devolution Scheme as * inadmis-
sible and admiUcd that Macdonnell’s conduct w’as ‘indefensible’,
though * not open to the imputation of disloyalty ’ — an imputa-
tion strongly resented and repudiated, in the House of Lords,
In its leader, Lord Lansdownc*
TLhc situation was an awkward one for the Government as
a whole and in particular for the Chief Sccretarj’ It caused no
* The plirncc is Professor Alison Phillips’s — n Iiiglily competent nutlioritv
*On the ‘Dc\olulion’ quesUon cf Lord Dunrasen, The Oullooh *n Ire-
land, 1007
* Sre Hansanl for Pcbniorj 22, 1003
* Cf llnns.ird (Commons Di.batcs) Febmarj 10 and (Lords Debates)
Febni in 17, 1003.
tin . — 22
888
THE IRISH FROBLE&I
1X880-
suiprise, therefore, when (ARiTch 6, 1905) Mr. Balfour * with the
deepest regret ' announced ^Ir. Wyndham’s resignation. Wynd-
ham did not possess the tough fibre essential for success in parly
politics : he was too fine a spirit. * I am undergoing *, he wrote
in 1904, * a phase of nausea in politics, nostalgia for poetry and
a lurch in that direction.* ^ He was more at home in the study
than in the office or the market-place : he longed alwa]^ * to keep
in touch with letters . . . and so keep an escape way open from
the dustiness and fustiness of politics*. After a few months*
rest he returned to the House, and took his share in tiie work of
the Parly firom 1906 until his death : but the unfortunate episode
of 1906 virtually closed lus pohtical career. He was not fifty
when m 1918 he died.
Wyndham was succeeded as Chief Secretary by 'a robust Tory
— ^Mr. Walter Long. But before the end of the year (1905) the
Government was out. Save for the closing episode the Irish
administration of the Unionist Parly had been an almost un-
qualified success.
Mr. Bryce, who took office as Chief Secretary in December
1906, admitted that Irdand was more peaceful and more pros-
perous than it had been for six hundred years, hlr. Birrell, his
successor, endorsed that opinion, but still more remarkable was
the testimony of SL:. John Redmond. Speaking at Waterford in
1916, he said: —
* I went to Australia to make an appeal on behalf of an en-
slaved, famine-haunted, despairing people, a people in the throes
of a semi-revolution, bereft of all political liberties and engaged
in a life-and-deaili struggle with the system of a most brutal and
drastic coercion. . . . Only thirty-tlwee or thirty-four years have
passed since then, but what a revolution has occurred in the
interval 1 To-day, the people, broadly speaking, own the soil ;
to-day, the labourers live in decent habitations ; to-day, there is
absolute freedom in the local government and the local taxation
of the country ; to-day, we have the widest Parliament m the
municipal franchise; to-day, the evicted tenants, who arc the
wounded soldiers of the land war, have been restored to their
homes or to other homes as good as those from which they had
been originally driven. . . . The congested districts, the scene
^ Life and Letters of George Wyndham, pp 00-1.
UNivEnsiry education
lOU]
n*ig
of Eoire of the most awful horrots of the old famine days, hare
been tnnsfonned, the farms hare been enhu^ged, decent dwellings
hare been prorided, and a new spirit of hope and independence
is to-day amongst the people ... we hare at last won educa-
tional freedom in unirersity education for most of the youtli of
Ireland . . . to-day we hare a qrslcm of old-age pensions in
Ireland whereby ereiy old man and sroman orcr serenty is sared
from tlie workhouse, free to spend their last days in comparative
comforL tVe hare a 6\*stcm of national industrial insuiance
whicli pros ides for the health of the people. . . .'
For this happy transformation most of the credit must go to
the Goremment which had been in office all but continuously
from 1885 to 1005. But one great aehierement stands to the
credit of 3Ir. Birrcll. With the political question he hardly
attempted to deal : he did indeed mtxoduce in 1007 a ‘ Devolu-
tion’ Bill for the establishment of a Representative Central
Council in Dubhn, but the scheme received no support in any
quarter, and was unanimously rejected by a Nationalist Con-
vention in Dubhn (Slay 21). ' Devolution ’ was never heard of
again.
Mr. Birrcll was more fortunate in dealing with the knotty Unlvn^
problem of Unirersity Education in Ireland. Thus for the
problem had baffled the ingenuity of every British statesman
who had touched it. Nor was that surprising. The position was
entirely anomalous. Trinity Collt^, Dublin, dating from Eliza-
bethan days, and richly endowed, provided for the higher education
of Protestants, or rather of Anglicans. Since 1708 it hod, indeed,
admitted Catholics and Presbyterians to its degrees ; W only
in rare eases had thiy availed themselves of the pririh^ and
nrncr had Trimly College, despite its proud record of scholarship,
become a national institution.
Peel had, in 1845, provided for the endowment of three '
Queen's Colleges at Bdfast, Cork and Galway, and in 1850 tluy
were affiliated into the Queen’s University of Ireland. As'owcdly
intended to * as-oid all interference^ positive or negative, m all
matters affecting the liberty of consdcnce ’ these Colleges proved
(except in Belfast) a complete failure. Denounced as * Godless ’
by Anglicans, they were regarded by the Catholics os * dangerous
to the faith and morals of the people ’ and into the soil of Catholic
340
THE IRISH PROBLEM
[1886-
Ireland they never struck roots A Cathohc University was
estabbshed in Dublin in 1854 under the presidency of John Henry
Newman and for years was maintamed by Cathohc piety, un-
assisted by the State.
Gladstone made a valiant attempt to deal with the problem
in 1873, but his Bill was, by a narrow majority, defeated m the
House of Commons, and on its defeat he resigned.^ Honestly
mtended to discover a solution acceptable to Irish Catholics and
Enghsh Nonconformists, the measure was in fact so framed as
to wound every susceptibihty and to disturb every existing insti-
tution, without satisfying a smgle grumbler and without removmg
a single grievance A much less pretentious measure passed m
mdirectly provided a considerable endowment for the
(Cathohc) Umversity College m Dubhn. Thus Disraeh effected
a beneficent purpose m ‘ such a way that it will not be under-
stood ’ (the words are his) * BirreU grasped the nettle more
firmly. He converted the Belfast College into a University
(virtually for Protestants) and established a National Universi ty,
to which are affiliated the Umversity Colleges of Dublm, Cork
and Galway Thus the Catholics got what they had always
demanded, a real Umversity, with constituent Colleges in which
the ‘ atmosphere ’ was wholly Cathohc, and the truly Enghsh
idea (always repudiated by all parties in Ireland) of divorcing
education from religion was finally discredited.
Thus, at the close of the first decade of the new century the
situation in Ireland seemed full of promise. Mr. Birrell had
solved the problem of higher education, and the Balfours had
restored order and had conferred on Ireland a system of Local
Government, as broadly democratic as that in England ; with
Wyndham’s help they had transferred the ownership of the soil
from the landlords to the cultivators, and with the help of Sir
Horace Plunkett had imtiated an era of economic prosperity
sueh as Ireland had never previously enjoyed
The ensumg decades stand out m sharp and terrible contrast
with the first Spenser’s ommous words haunt the memory.
^ Disraeli refused to take office, and Gladstone mthdrew his resignation
^ See a remarkable letter to the Spectator, December 81, 1898, from Mr
Edmund Dease.
AGRARIAN OUTRAGES
841
1014]
The 'food plots ' and * trisc counsds * once more failed of their
intended effect : the nliole edifice of peace and prospenfy built
with such patience crashed in awful ruin to tlic ground.
The crash was portended by tlic complete failure of the ' com* * Lawond
placcnt BiircU * * from the outset of his regime to maintain order.
lie cancelled the Arms Act, which had minimized outrages in
disturbed districts, and refused with lamentable results to enforce
the Crimes Act. All the famihnr features of the * Tenor ' re-
appeared : boycotting cases which in November 1005 had fallen
to 1C2 rose by January 1000 to S74 ; offences in wbidi firearms
were used quadrupled ; agrarian crime increased with appalling
rapidity, and look oh a new shape. Many of the huge grariers
liad become owners of their farms, and it was against them that
* cattle driving ' was directed. In the first half of 1008 no fewer
than 418 cattle drives were olllcially reported, and of the offenders
prosecuted rdativd}’ few were punished. Ihce to face with this
situation Birrell assumed an attitude which a friendly critic might
describe os ‘pliilosophical * It is tlic duty of the Irish people',
he said. Mo protect thdr properly in person.' And again, to
a question in the House : * I will not simply even for the sake
of getting a few more convictions . . . break up the great liberal
tradition . . . and my own hopes for the future of Breland.' ‘
Hie great Liberal tradition had, from 1805 to 1000, been
weakened if not broken by the Liberal Impcnalists. On the eve Ubenb
of the momentous Election of January 1010 it was resuscitated.
In the 1000 Parliament the Liberal Party had no need of thenlbu
hdp of the Irish Nationalists. In the imminent fight ogainst the
House of Lords it might be cssentiaL The Budget of 1000 was
dislnstcfid to the Irishmen ; but the Lords hod in 1893 dqirived
them of Home Rule; the pohtical situation in 1010 brought
them the opportunity of revenge.
In the speech at the Albert Hall (December 1000) with whidi
he opened the dcclion campaign, Asquith had rcfcircd to the
Irish question in words of high significance. ' ... the present
Parliament was disabled in advance from proposing any sudi
solution [i.c. Home Rule]. But in tlic new House of Commons
the liniids of the Liberal Govcmmciil and the Liberal majority
will be in this matter cntirdy free.'
'The plitase b Lonl Midlelonb.
Xlaiuanl, I'cbniaiy 23, 1003.
342 THE IRISH PROBLEM [1880-
Asqiuth’s prediction was falsified. The Libeial Party, so far
from being ‘ free found itself dependent for its existence on its
Irish allies. As against the Umonists its owm majority was 2 ,
the Nationahsts numbered 82 and the Labour Party 42 On the
support of the latter the Liberals could confidently rely, both to
carry the Budget and abohsh the veto of the Lords. If the
Nationalists coalesced with the Unionists to defeat the Budget
the Liberals would be out, and Asqmth was exphcitly mformed
that they would do so ‘ unless they were assured that the passing
of a Bill deahng with the veto of the House of Lords was guaran-
teed dmmg the present year*.^
Home In 1911 the Parliament Act reached the Statute Book — ^with
Bm*i0i2 willing, nay ardent, assistance of the Irish Nationahsts. The
tune had come for the Libeial Party to ‘ dehver the goods ’, or
m Redmond’s blunter phrase to ‘ toe the hue ’ The Home Rule
Bill was accordingly mtroduced by, the Prime Minister m a speech
of exemplary lucidity on Apnl 11, 1912 The Second Reading
was carried on May 9 by 372 votes to 271, and, having occupied
nearly sixty days of Parliamentary time, got its Third Reading
before the close of that protracted Session, on January 16, 1913,
by 367 to 257. On January 80 the Lords, after four days*
debate, threw out the Bill on Second Readmg by 826 to 69.
Passed over the heads of the House of Lords, the Bill received the
Royal Assent on September 18, 1914, seven weeks after the
outbreak of war and after the declaration of a truce between all
parties. Radicals and Umonists, Ulster Covenanters and National-
ists. But though placed upon the Statute Book, its passage was
accompanied by an Act which m effect suspended its operation
until the end of the War. Moreover, Asquith gave, on behalf
of the Government, a pledge that the Bill ‘ should not come into
operation until Parliament should have the fullest opportunity
by an Amending Bill of altermg, modifying or quahfjnng its pro-
visions, m such a way as to secure at any rate the general con-
sent both of Ireland and the United Kingdom ’. In the event,
the Act never came mto operation at all.
It may sufl&ce therefore to say that the third edition of Home
Rule was more federal m texture than its predecessors Avowedly
mtended, though clumsily devised, to fit into a scheme of devolu-
» Asqiulh, Lrje, I 272
1014] ULSTER 343
tion for the United Kingdom, it proposed to retain forty-two
Irish members at Westminster ^ and to secure ‘ unimpaired and
inviolate ’ tlic supremaej of the Imperial Parliament Tlic Irish
Legislature was to consist of two Houses a Senate of 40 mem-
bers nominated in the first instance (nrtuallj) by the British
I’\eeuliso, and aftcn\ irds elctlcd by the four Provinces of Ire-
land 14 bj Ulster, 11 bj Leinster, 9 bj Slunstcr and C by Con-
naught The Senate, so constituted, was to ‘ safeguard the
interests of tlic minorits ' The Lower House was to consist of
1C4 members of whom 89 (m nme three-member constituencies)
Mere to be elected bj proportional representation Certain
specified povers s.crc resented to the Imperial Parliament, but
tlie rc'nduc of poMcrs was (contrary to the Canadian precedent)
sested in the subordinate Parliament at Dublin The Irish
E\cciitivc was to be responsible to the Irish Parliament, Math
an area of authority coextensive vith that of the Legislature.
Under the cornplicatcd financial provisions Great Britain re-
innincci saddled vith large obligations, c g for land purchase and
Old Age Pensions
The Ulster Unionists under the intrepid leadership of Sir Ulster
Edward Carson, liad anticipated the passing of the Bill by setting
up a ‘ Pronsional Government ’ and orgamring an Ulster Volun-
teer Force They declared that they would ‘never m any cir-
cumstances submit to Home Rule’ In 18S6 Lord Randolph
Churchill had declared in an histone phrase ‘Ulster will fight
and Ulster w ill be right ’ Her people now prepared to do so, and
were sujiporlcd in their resolution by Mr Bonar Law and other
leaders of the Unionist Parts m England In September 1912
a ‘ Solemn Co\cnant’ was promulgated pledging its signatories,
with Carson at their head, neser to recognize the authority of
a Home Rule Parliament at Dublin
The Goscrnmciit was urged by many of their supporters to
prosecute Carson and his associates Sir Edw ard himself advnsed
t hem to do so For reasons fully set out bv Hr Asquith " they
declined to take tint course. On the conlrarj-, thc\ made great
* The ’SC Bill had proposed that no Insli memhers should sit at cst-
niin«lcr except atIicu suminonrd for special puiposcs : tin, ’m Bill proposed
to Tctnin eiphts, hut not to allow them to vole on British busiiicas
* 1 tftu Years of Parhane.t*, ii 140 f
8d4
THE IRISH PROBLEM
[188G-
efforts to meet the views of the Ulster Unionists, notably by the
proposal, made on March 9, 1914, that any Ulster county
might vote itself out of the scheme for six years This solution
Carson was prepared to accept, if the time-limit were expunged,
but, said he, ‘ We do not want sentence of death with a stay of
execution for six years.’
The sands were running out. Under the Parliament Act
Home Rule might become law m 1914. Only the assent of the
Crown was necessary, and to the Crown the Unionist leaders
began to look to ease a situation which might lead to civil war
in Ireland Advice from quartere, responsible and the reverse,
poured in upon the King ; that he should dismiss the Ministry,
and dissolve Parliament ; that he should delay the Royal Assent
until a Referendum had been taken, and much else. That the
King was profoundly anxious to find a peaceful solution goes
without saying ; and unceasingly he laboured to promote it. At
the beginning of March 1914 he brought the Party leaders very
near to a point of agreement.^
The But passions were now moimting rapidly. Early in March
lilr. Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, ordered that
the forthcoming practice of the 1st Battle Squadron, complete
with battleships, cruisers and destroyers, should take place at
Lamlash, in ommous proximily to Belfast Lough. Orders were
also given that special precautions should be taken for the guard-
ing of depots of arms and ammunition at Armagh and other
Ulster towns, and for the protection of coastguard stations.
About the same time rumours reached London of disaffection at
the Curragh. In view of possible disturbance m Ireland the War
Office took ‘ precautionary measures ’ ; officers ‘ whose homes
were actually in the province of Ulster ’ were to be allowed, if
they wished, to ‘ disappear ’ temporarily from Ireland without
prejudice to their future career. Certain other officers, perhaps
from a misunderstanding of orders, preferred to be dismissed the
Service rather than march against Ulster.
In view of events at the Curragh Colonel Seely, the War
Minister, resigned, and on March 30 Asquith decided himself to take
over the War Office The atmosphere in the House of Commons
on the mght when Asqmth announced that decision was as tense
* Asquith, Lt/e, II 39
1014]
TBE niTSH CRISIS
315
ns nt any moment during tbc War, and his announcement evoked a
wild ebullition of enthusiasm among his followers.^ Tlic tension
wns momcntanly rdaxed, but the problem of the t^vo Irelands
remained unsolved. Both were arming and drilling. Rlicn
would the explosion come?
An elc\’cnth>hour effort was made to avert it. On June 23
an Amending Bill was introduced 1^* the Government in the
House of Lords, embodydng the proposal tluit any Ulster county
should be entitled to vote itself out of Home Rule for six x'cars.
The Lords transformed it into a Bill to exclude the whole of Ulster
without any time limit. In that form it reached the House of
Commons on July 14 — a fortnight after the murder of the Arch-
duke Franz Ferdinand at Scrajevo (June 28).
In these grave drcumstanccs the King made yet another 21ie
effort to bring the Parties together. He summoned to Buckingham
Palace a Conference of right persons, Hr. Asquith and Mr. Lloyd Iigh
George to represent the Government, Lord Lansdownc and Mr.
Bonar Law (Unionists), Sir Edward Carson and Captain James
Craig (Ulster) and John Redmond and John Dillon (Nationalists).
It met under the presidency of the Speaker on July 21, and was
opened by the King with a short but solemn addrras. The only
point discussed was the area to be excluded, temporarily or per-
manently, from the operation of the Home Ride Bills, but after
four sittings it became dear that no agreement could be readied,
and on July 24 the breakdown of the Conference was announced
to Parffament.
On the same day news of the Austrian ultimatum to Serbia The
rcnchcd England. UUmn-
iuufnmiiftga'w’fRGuSU’uSH* ligEuSfiruQa'^JSradica
and on July 24 the breakdown of the Conference was announced
1011 - 1014 ]
TIIE CHEAT WAR
847
BOOKHI
CHAPTER 3CX
TBB GENESIS OF THE GREAT WAR
*’T^O the histoiy of the Great War the British Empire con-
X tnbuted on indispensable diaptcr. But the War vas
fought on so vast a seale, the issues it raised were so vital for the
whole world, that no more than a summaiy of its antecedents,
pKigress and results eon be attempted in the present work, and
that summary must deal mainly with the reaction of the War
upon the British Empire.
Moreover, materials are accumulating so rapidly that no eon-
temporaiy historian can pretend fully to have digested them,
still less presume to pass more than a preliminary judgement
upon the evidence they funush. Alrcadj’ some 85,000 documents
have been published by the Governments of States involved in
the War. Individuals liavc been os eogcr os Governments to
vindicate themselves in the eyes of posterity. Most of the promi-
nent actors in the great Drama — soldiers and saitors, statesmen,
diplomatists and publicists — have pubhshed their reminiscences,
diaries, memoirs and what not. Nor have the historians and
commentators, cither in this or other countries, been idle. Library
shelves groan under tlic burden of tomes, large and small.
Shortly before his death (1898) Bismordc was inspecUng the Orfrint
Ilamburg-Amcrican liner which was to bear his ruimc. He is
reported to have said to his host, Herr Ballin : * I shall not sec
the world-war, but you will ; and it wdl start in the Near East.*
The prediction bclmycd no particular acumen. By 1808, if not
before, Bismarck must have realized that in 1878 he liad sown
seed that uas bound before long to yidd a dcath-dcahii^ harvest.
348 THE GENESIS OF THE GREAT WAR [I9ii-
The sower was not wholly to blame. The ground had long
ago been prepared Between Romanoffs and Hajjsburgs, between
Teutons and Slavs, there was ancient rivalry in the Balkans.
The increasing weakness of the Ottoman Turks, the re-emergence
of Balkan nationalities, precipitated the inevitable struggle. At
the Congress of Berhn (1878) Bismarck had been virtually com-
pelled to choose between his two allies He chose Austria;
Russia was estranged from Germany, and ultimately turned to
France. Bismarck’s brilliant if perfidious diplomacy postponed
the crisis. He prevented any rapprochement between England
and France, between Russia and England, and between France
and Italy. Egypt availed for the first. Central Asia for the
second, Tunis for the third But after Bismarck’s fall (1890) the
conduct of German diplomacy fell into clumsy hands. ^ Russia
alhed herself with France, England reached an agreement with
France and Russia ; Italy was mcreasingly restive under the yoke
of the Triple Alliance Had Russia been in a position to take up
the challenge flung down by the ‘ Knight m shmmg armour ’ at
Potsdam the clash of arms would have come m 1909. It was
postponed for five years, but it was still the Near East that
provided, if not the cause, the occasion
The The first blood was draivn by Italy. The climax of the Italian
^imn movement had been reached in 1871. In that year * Italy entered
War, Rome ’ and the Pope imprisoned himself in the Vatican The
1911-12 haK-century that followed was, how'ever, a period of storm and
stress for the young nation. So great w’as the pressure of domestic
difi&culties that she had httle superfluous energy for the pursuit
of external ambitions. Her efforts m the Colonial field had been
almost umformly unfortunate, yet, as the new century advanced,
she saw herself m danger of being elbowed out of any share of
the North African littoral France w'as already mistress of
Algeria and Tunis, and her accord with England had given her a
free hand in Morocco England was seemingly m permanent
occupation of Egypt Only Tripoli remained.
For years past Italy had pursued a policy of economic pene-
tration m that province. Formal annexation was, it w'as gener-
ally assumed, only a matter of opportunity. But after the
1 On this cf Erich Brandenburg . From Bismarck to Vie World War
(E T , Oxford 1027), pas'nm
1014]
TIIE XEAR EAST
YoungjTurk Revolution (l‘)08) the Italian merchants, bankers,
and engineers who formed the advance-guard of the Italian
occupation, found thcmschcs thwarted at cverj' turn by newly
appointed Turkish oflicials Simullancouslj*, German archaeo-
logists and geologists manifested increased zeal in their scientific
investigations in Tnpoli Could there be any connexion between
the activities of Moslem oiRcials and those of Teutonic professors ’
Italy took alarm, demanded the Sultan’s consent to an Italian
occupation of Tnpoh (September 1911) and, without awaiting his
reply, declared war.
The Italians occupied, without much opposition, Rhode s, the
Do decanes e Archipelago, and the coast toivns of Tripoli, but made
little progress against the combined resistance of Turks and
Arabs in the intenor The war seemed hkelj' to drag on indefi-
nitely, when the Turks, threatened by a new danger, suddenly
concluded peace with Italy at Lausanne (October IS. 1912 )
Italy kept Tripoli, and, pending the ful filmen t of other condit ions.
^e Ottoman Empire was alrcadj' in\ olved m another and The
far more serious conflict A miracle had happened Greece,
Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro had combined against the lOlMS
Porte, and in a few* weeks had brought the Ottoman Empire to
its knees
Tlie Powers could not view these events without grave con-
cern Italy and Austria-Hungary were especially perturbed by
the uncxpcctcdlj rapid success of the Balkan League Sir Edward .
Grey had worked assiduously, first to avert the outbreak of ‘ -fthe
Balkan War, then to localize it, and now (Decembp-*'- 1912) to
end it. An armistice was virtually forced-,! the belligerents
on December 3, and a Confcrcnce..,mct / ondon (December
1912-January 1013) to arrange ^hen,“on January
was within sight of succor at Constanlmonlc^nHtf i
Turks ’ effected a coum^As to an abrupt conclusln o!
tlic London ncgJi-* broke up but after four r„ m l
the Conference '''a was concluded , negotiations” ^Sbting, a
second aniusticid20, and before the end of Mav PW
London on Mav only a montli The vipfnrc: * ‘
P«,cc Inslrd > <nd of June GreS ‘'■c
spo.b Bjlhoe^ ""r with Bulg™
850 ^ THE GENESIS OF THE GREAT WAR [loii-
English
policy
Roumania came in against the latter, and Bulgaria was beaten
to the earth Peace was signed at Bucharest on August 10
The German Emperor promptly telegraphed his congratulations
to his kinsman, King Carol of Roumania, upon the successful
issue of his ‘ wise and truly statesmanlike policy King Con-
stantine of Greece at the same time received from the Kaiser the
baton of a Field-Marshal m the German army.
Austria-Hungary was less well pleased at the conclusion of
peace m the Balkans, mvolvmg as it did the exaltation of Serbia.
On August 9, 1913, the Emperor Francis Joseph communicated
to his two allies his intention of taking * defensive ’ action against
Serbia, and so bring into operation the casus foederis of the Triple
Alliance. Italy very properly refused to recognize the proposed
aggression of Austna-Hungary as a casus foederis ; Berlin re-
strained the ardour of Vienna, and the attack upon Serbia was
accordingly postponed — ^but for less than twelve months. In
May 1914 the Austrian Emperor instructed his ambassador at
Constantinople that ‘ The Centa:al Powers cannot accept the
Treaty of Bucharest as defimtely setthng the Balkan question ;
nothing but a general war can bnng about a satisfactory solution.’
Bismarck’s forecast was on the eve of fulfilment. On July 23,
1914, Austria-Hungary addressed her ultimatum to Serbia.
Throughout the Balkan Crisis, as throughout the crises that
preceded it. Great Britain had stnven with all her might to main-
tain the peace of Europe. In English Foreign Policy there had,
indeed, been no breach of contmmty since the fall of the Glad-
ditu-ip Mimstry in 1885. Under Sahsbury, Rosebery, Lansdowne
sto'Aernai. Ti’- aland had consistently sought peace and ensued it.
and Grey lETqlv ...x. Vi^d naturally encountered some dangerous
English diplomacy “Hien ‘■nccessfully turned. DowntoDecem-
comers, but each had buni ^ chance of closer accord, if not
ber 1899 there had been at eas Pnnce Bulow, in a work
an actual alliance, with Ge^any. ^ describes England as
published before the out ® ’ x secret opponent
even before the close of f = ^'^tury adLoed
o£o4mtemat.onalpohcy'.> that open
the legend was mdustnonsly m_G«. V
enmity had superseded ^J^^encle Germany
in parfeular her Kmg. was endeavourmg to -
» Ifnpcrial Germany (Eng tre ), p
1DU] THE GERMAN NAVY 8S1
with a Jing of enemies. It was sheer illusion. The og neementi
with Franee and Russia were Dnre ly_dcfcn M ve. Had German}
hem aT pcaecfully disposed as England or France, and able to
restrain the rcstltssncss of her Austrian ally, the Hohcnzollcms
and the Ilapsburgs might to^ny (1033) still be occupying their
respective tlironcs, and exercising a joint control over a through
railway-line from Hamburg to Bagdad. But Germany made the
fatal psycliologieal ertnr— now admitted by responsible German
historians— that peace srith England could be maintained only
b\ intimidation. Misinterpreting the complaisant attitude of
EngLind towards German expansion in Africa and in the Pacific^
German}' had been since 1808 developing a Navy dchbemtcly
intended to trv conclusions, some day, with the British Navy.
In 1888, when TTilhom II came to the throne, Gcmuiny was The
spending only about £2,0(N},000 a year on her Navy, and did not
wish to spend more. In 1808 a new Now Law was passe d to
provide her with a Navy, no more than adequate in vi^ of the
expansion of her overseas trade and the development of a Colonial
poltc}-. In IflOO there was a further increase. ‘ Germany % so
ran the olliaal memorandum, * must have a battle fleet so strong
that even the adversary possessed of the greatest sea-powrer will
attack it only with grave risk to himself.' Or ns the Kaiser hod
himself more picturesquely expressed it: 'Neptune's trident
must be in our hands ' (ISOT). In 1006 the Dnadnou^t was
launched. Gczman}'*s retort was a Naml programme which
provided for such a rate of expannon that by 1014 Germany
might possess a supenority over Great Britain in capital ships.^
Consequently the Asquith Government mode a formal announce-
ment to Parliament that this country could not permit her naval
superiority to be challenged.
The Campbell-Bannerman Go%'cmmcnt had reduced the build-
ing programme, and bad offered to go farther if other nations
would do the same. Germany refused even to have the matter
discussed at The Hague Conference of 1007. Yet the British
Government persevered in its cndcairour to avoid competition
in armaments and to improve relations with Germany— without
result.
In the autumn of lOll the Agadir incident brought Europe to
* AaquIUi, CcMiii Ite H’er, p. TS.
852f. THE GENESIS OF THE GREAT WAR [i9ii-
the brink of war. It was, at the last hour, avoided, but so grave
was the situation that in January 1912 Sir Ernest Cassel, who
‘ knew the Emperor well and was at the same time devoted to
British interests was entrusted with a secret mission to Berlin.
He was instructed to try to mduce Germany to slow down her
naval programme, and accept British superiority at sea In
return Great Britam would offer no opposition to the Colomal
expansion of Germany and would refuse to join in any aggressive
combination against her.^ Cassel was well received, but nothmg
resulted. Consequently m February the Cabmet sent Mr. Hal-
dane to Berhn. Haldane had long conversations with Herr
von Bethmann-HoUweg, the Chancellor, with Admiral von Tirpitz,
and with the Kaiser himself. The impression he formed was
that th e Chancellor ‘ w as then as sincerely d esir ous of avoidi ng
war as I was myself , that t he Kaiser was not unfriendly, b ut
that l3otli~were ove r borne by the Adm iral who, on the sub ject
o^ayal preparation, w as adama nt Haldane told the Germans
that we had no wish to mcrease our Navy, but that if Germany
persisted m an enlarged programme we should * lay do wn tw o
keels for each one ^he laid down. . . . Germany'Vas quite free
to do as she pleased, but so were we. . . .’ The conversations
were friendly, but ‘ we plamly could not come to an agreement
with the naval advisers in their present mood
To the challenge of the German Navy Law of 1912 the British
Government was compelled to make (the phrase is Asqmth’s) a
‘ resolute response ’.
Yet one more effort was made to avert war. In March 1913
Mr. Winston Chu rchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, mvited
Germany to proclaim’ a * naval hol ida y ’. The mvitation was
dechned with derision. C olond House , the Jidi^ Achates of
Mr. Wilson, the American President, then_took a ha nd in ^e
gaine!^ WSlTtHe cordial approval of Mr. Wilson, of Mr. Walter H.
P^, the American Ambassador m London, and of the British
Government, Co lonel House m May 1914 went to Ber lin. But
though a born diplomatist, h e could do no more than Halda ne.
Von Tirpitz ‘ bristled with antagomsm at any suggestion for
1 Churchill, The World Cnsts, p 95
* Bethmann-HoUweg, Reflections, p 48
* Haldane, Autobiography, pp 240 f.
1914 ]
8S8
p<«ce or disarmonicnt or world*co>opcration Tcl House's
mission to Europe had one fortunate result : it ' convinced him
that Great Britain had had no part in bringing on the Europcant
War. and that Germany nas solely responsible
T)ic Panels \rcre running out. Yet it is sife to say that in the Tmme*
high runimer of 1914 there iras among the English people no
general iipprclicnrion of imminent war. There was, m liigh minis* dent* of
tcrial circles, gra^ e anxiety about the European situation, but m
the public mind Ireland loomed larger tl:^ Germany ; many
people were more concerned about the female militancy and
Labour unrest than about foreign affairs. But, unnotieed or not,
events were moving rapidly towards catastrophe.
So rapidly that during the months of June and July dates
speak more eloquently than words.
On June 12, 1914, tlic Ejaiscr, accompanied by Admirnl von The
Tiipitz, the head of the German Admiralty, paid a %-isit to Ebno-
P'sclit in Bohemia, the castle of the Archduke Friiim Ferdinand,
the heir to the Hapsburg Empire. The Archduke was credited
with strong anti*31agyiir and pro-Slav sentiments. liVhat passed
between the host and his visitor is still largdy a matter of eon-
jecture.* On June 28 the Kiel Canal was reopened, after a
reconstruction which, by allowing the largest battleships to pass
through it, doubled the lighting strength of the German fleet. ^
On June 28 Friinz Fetdmond, after attending the Bosnian,
inana’uvrcs os Inspcclor-Gcneral of the Army, paid a visit rrith*
iiis consort to Scrajevo, the Bosnian capital, and husband and wife
were thure assawinated. The murderers were Bosnians. That
I t was an act of political revenge for the annexarion of the Sla v
prov inces by Awtria cannot be questione d ; but apart from tliat ,
the cir cumstanc e s of the c ri me were and ate m ysterious.
Austria naturally held Sabia responsible for a ciune com-
mitted by men in touch with secret sodctics at Belgrade. On
June 30 llerr von Tsehirsefak}', German Ambassador at Vienna,
reported lo Berlin . ' Here, even serious people arc saying that
* nendrik. Life and Lrttert tf IT. 11. Page, i. SOO. For a oontni} view
evptr^wl with errat modroiUon m Bclliiiuinn-IIoIlmg^, lieJUttunu, pp. 0-S5.
■ report by Baron Tmitlrr. who wu Fiunian MlnMcr in attendance
on the Kiii«cr at Konnpbcht, is the xnoit authoiilative aoconnt we possess.
It was pulilhhctl in Deutfehe PoUtU:, of May 14, 1020. Ct also for a more
senwtional story, tV. Steed, Through Thirty I'cars.
UC. — ^23
PCOCQ
effortu of
England
864 THE GENESIS OF TEIE GREAT WAR (lUL.
accounts \nih Serbia must be settled once for all.* * Now or
never* is the Eaiser*s marginal note on this historic dispat^
On July 6 the Kaiser xecdved an autograph letter from his august
lUy the Emperor Francis Josq)h, and in xqdy assured him of
Gennany's cordial support. The rq>ly was seat after a Con-
ference, or ' War Coimcil *, at Potsdam. On the following day
the Kaiser left for a cruise in the Baltic. Was the cruise as Karl
Kautsl^ suggests, *a means to lull Europe into security*?
Anyway, on July 7 Austria-Hungary decided to send an ultima-
^ turn to Serbia. Thenote(K) Tschirschl^tde^phed on Julyl4)
would be so drawn as to exdude tlie possibility of accqptance.^
It required the Serb^ Government to acknowledge responsibUity
foTthe Serajevq usassm a nd to alli^ Austrian mtijgisbd^ to
'co^^ct d^^tr^ in Bdgi^e. On July 28 l£e uTtumatuniTW
^patchi^ to Bdgrade and gave Serbia only forty-eig^t hours
for a rqdy. Serlna made abject submission, accqitmg promptly
eight out of the ten diief points, and not actually rejecting the
other two. On July 28 Austria dedared war on Serbia. Mean-
while, the German Ambassador in London had recdved from the
Foreign Minister in Berlin a deeply significant letter : * In a few
years (wrote Herr von Jagow) . . . Russia will be ready to strike.’
Then . . . she will have built her strategic railways. ... I
desire no preventive war. But when battle offers we must not
run away.*
Immediate responsibility for the outbreak of war rests, then,
indisputably upon Austria-Hungary ; and since the War it has
been the main occupation of German historians to fix the final
responsibility upon Vienna rather than Berlin. Russia, according
to these authorities, must share it France was dragged in by
Russia, England, most rductantly, by France.*
The evidence, bewildering in its amplitude, complexity and
contradictions, has been analysed with incomparable skill and
inexorable impartiality by lib. Asquith. No statesman ever
possessed a more judicial temper, and the detached critic will
find it difficult to re^ his conclusions. Briefly his condurion is
1 Cf. OuOmdkefthe World War (Carnegie BiidimineBtE.T. of the Kantsky
Doeiimenta).
• Cf. Erldi Biandenbozg, JProm Bismardt to the World War (KT.X pasaim.
See especially a zvill and list of Getman anUiontiee theia quoted.
1014]
ENGL^WS PEACE EFFORTS
I tint, tlfflugh Austria made the dcci sn-e mov e, t he * goad * tras
npphcd'lir Gemiany. * Instead of at te mpting 'to hold Austria
Gcnnan^ncitrd and_mcpara(rrd her to Innxy fonrardT^
“ FroSlHc'day when the news of the Scrajero crime tcaeh^
linndon. the British Goremment worked ceaselessly and with
(ver^erpemng anxiety to locnlise the quarrd between Anstnn-
Bunimry and Serbia, and to maintain the peace of Europe. On
July 24 Sir Edward Giyy received the Austrian ultimatum.!
Wthoiil aiThour’s delay he suggested mediation by th e four!
disintereste d Powers— Great Britain and Germany. France a^
Italy, _ On July 27 the Kaiser returned to Potsdam, an d German y
rejected G rey’s sugg estion. On July 28 Austria refused to discuss
the BahiniTaffair srith Russia, or with other Powers. The quarrd
with Serhia was 'purely an Austrian concern*. On that same
day she declared wrar on Serbia, and next day began the bombard-
ment of Bdgnidc.
Russia could not look on unmoved at the efaasUsement of her
Serbian friends, and on the 20th announced partial mobilization.
Russia’s perturbarion had its repercussions in Paris. The grave
anxiety of France was shared by England. To th e lost hour
Grey continued to. str ive if n ot to h ope for peace. "Aslaie'as
July 29 Be telegraphed to Berim : ' Mediate was ready to come
into operation b}’ any method that Germany thought possibly if
only Germany would press the button in the interests of peace.'
Keverthdess, on tlie same day he warned the German Ambassador
in London that he did not * wrish him to be misled by the friendly
tone of [our] conversation . . . into thinking that we should
stand aside The Kaiser was inftiriatcd by the report of this
conversation and commented on the dispatch : * Aha I The low
scoundrel . . . most mean and Mcphistophelian. But genuinely
English.* On the monung of the 80th ^ey received from Berlin
the German bid for British neutrally. The proposal was that
Great Britain should * engage to stand by while . . . PVance is
beaten so long as Germany does not take French territory os dis-
lind. from Colonics *, and that wcshrald * barg ain away whatevo
obligation or interest wejiaye as r^^s the neutrality of Bel
gium *.' Both mggestions were cat^orically,11if)ugh Murlcously,
* Genas’* of the irar, p. 180. and fouSm, a. xs-xxvii.
> CoBttltd OoeuaeoU (10JS), So. 80 (p 07).
36G
THE GENESIS OF THE GREAT WAR [1911-
xejcoted.^ On the 81st Germany required Russia to counter-
mand mobilization within twdve hours, and in the absence of a
compliant answer, mobilized herself on August 1 and dedaied
WOT on Russia.
Geimini To France, also, Germany made a bid for neutralily, and in
£!!^ ~ terms even more insulting than those oRered to England. France
was to hand over, as a guarantee of her neutrality, the fortresses of
Toul and Verdun, which were to be restored to her after the con-
clusion of the war with Russia. To this insult the French rqily
was mobilization. On August 8 Germany declared war on
France.
Meanwhile, on the 2nd, Germany offered her friendly neutrality
to Belgium, on condition that Bdgium would not oppose the
.passage of German troops through her territory, in wMch case
'(Germany would pay for luiy damage thus caused, would evacuate
! Belgian territory on the conclusion of peace, and would * guarantee
the possessions and independence of the Belgian Kingdom in
full*.> Belgium refused the offer. On the same day German
troops had entered the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, and on the
4th crossed the Belgian fironticr.
And England ? As late as Monday, August 8, Germany con-
tinued to hope, and France to fear, that England might stand
aside. M. Gambon was profoimdly anxious about the British
attitude. Well he might be. France did not want war, but
b'‘1k«ed that nothing could at this stage avert it, except an
unequivocal declaration from Great Britain that she would stand
by France. He urgently pressed the Cabinet to moke it, but in
vun. Hence some *duttessing interviews* between him and
Grey.” But Grey dare not pledge the Cabinet, which lie knew
to be divided. Had they decided to abandon France he would
himself have resigned. So would Asquith, but the latter char-
acteristically summarized his own position (as late as August 2)
thus: (1) We have no obligation of anvk in d eitlier to France o r
Russi a to i^e them military or naval help_; (2) The dispatch of
HiiTExpeditionary F^co to hrip France at thb moment is out
of tiie question, and would serve no object; (8) We must not
forget the ties creat ed by our long-standing and intimate friend-
1 CoBeded Documents, No. 101. * lUd., p. 309.
■ CL WbUe PegfCTt No. 119, and Gny, op. dt., c. avL
BELGIini
1014]
ship ffilh France ; (4) It is against British interests that France
should be wiped out as alireat ro vfer ; (5) We cannrt allow Gc^
mon^ to use ihc Channel as a hostile base ; (6) We have obliga"
tnn s to Belgium to prevent it being utilized and aosorbctl
Gemiah}.*"
On Sunday, August 2, the Cabinet \ras in almost eontinuoiis
sevdon. Before it mcL the Unionist lenders intimated to Asquith
that in thrir judgement * any hesitation in our supporting France
ntiil Russia vrould be fatal to the honour and security of the
United Kingdom and th^ offered to * H.M. Government the
n'surnnec of the united support of ilie Opposition m all measures
required by England’s intcn*ention m the War Keverthdess,
the Cabin et was, according to Asquith, ' on the brink of a split '
though ‘ with some diflieulty * thqr ogreed to authorize Grey to
give an assurance to France (subje ct to the assent of Farlioment) '
tliflJLj^ tJhc G frmanJleet -eame into the Channel or through th e
North Sea t o^attack French coasts or shipping, the British flee t
w ould * giveall the proteefaon in its power *. Grey also asked the
French and Uerman G^emments for an undertaking severally to
nspccl Belgian neutrality. France promptly gave it. The'
German Government refused. John Bums at once resigned;
Lord Slorlcy followed Ids example (August 3), as did a few
minor ministers. But the violation of Belgian nentralitvby Ger -
many united the Cabinet and united the Country. So far Grey's
policy was jusciiicd. net tier an earlier and more dedsive
declaration on his part could have averted, or even pos^ned,.
war is a question on whidi, though endlessly discussed, no flnali
vcnliet is possible. His * procrasUnation * and * mdcdslon * have
inaiTTcd blame from both French and German critics.* The fact
remains tlial when war was rendered inevitable the German
invasion of Belgium Great Britain entered it ns a united nation.
More than that : behind a united nation was a uiuted Empire.
* A«iai(h, Mamria, XT. 0.
* The ctoiy wa« told bv Sir Austen Oambeilaln In The Stmiag T*mts
for Drpwntwr 1, 1PC9.
* Cf. e c. nermann Lntr £onf Cng and the irorltf-iror (HT.), p. SOn.
* Great llrltoin wn ... In oontiol of the ntuation ; lied die Imme^tel;
and clearly st.nted her position world-peaee would have been oaved. But
Sir Cdwurd Grc> bed not tbc eompetenee at a italesman. . « .*
858
TIIE GIIEAT WAR
[1014r-
3n the
ive of
War,
CHAPTER XXI
THE GREAT WAR
W AR had come. Some politicians had foreseen it; some
publicists had foretold it; the Admiralty had prepared
for it ; so, up to the limit of its slender resourees, had the War
Office Few people, however, really bcheved that war would really
come.
But war had come. The first reaction to it on the part of
the English people was one of stupefaction, almost of increduhty.
Would they not awake next morning from the horrible night-
mare, and agAm see the light of a peaceful day ? Not until
Friday, the 31st, did the public manifest any signs of apprehen-
sion. But, on that day, the Bank of England raised its discount
rate from 4 to 8 per cent., and next day (for technical reasons)
to 10 per cent. That was the week-end before Bank Holiday.
The public took fright. Money was wanted for the holidays.
The Banks were besieged; but there W’as no default, though
some Banks would cash cheques only (as they were entitled to
do) in notes and silver. On July 31 the London Stock Exchange
closed, not again to reopen until January 4, 1915 — and then only
under severe restrictions. That meant that cicdit w^as largely
frozen, that securities were unsaleable, and that many rich men
were for the time being as poor as the pooiest
On August 1 the Treasury authorized the Bank of England
to Ignore the restrictions of its Charter, and to issue notes m excess
of its statutory maximum. This suspension W'as confirmed by
Parliament on August 6, and by the same (Currency and Bank
Notes) Act the Treasury was authorized to issue Currency Notes
of £l and lOj and postal orders were temporarily made legal
tender On August 6 a general moratorium was declared, but
was hardly necessary. The Bank Holiday, which had come so
1918 ]
OUrnHEAlv OF WAR
R50
fipporl'jncl}' on August 8, had been prolonged for three da]^ ;
luit on August 7 the Banks reopened uith a plentiful supply
of the new Currency Notes— popularly known (from the signature
of the Sccrciaiy to the Treasut}*) os * Bradbuiys The Banks
took a Inrge supply of these Notes — £13,000,000 — ^firom the Troa-
siiiy ; but public confidence was so quickly restored that most
of the notes were returned, and l^*the end of the year the Banks
held only £100.000. On August 7 the Bonk Rate was reduced
to 0 per cent, and on the following day to 6 per cent, at which
it remained. Before the end of Bank Hobday week business was
* os usual *. ^Vliat England and the world owed at tliis crisis to
certain * city magnates to the calmness, the courage and wisdom
of strong men like Lord Cunblfe, the Governor of the Bank of
England, and lord Rothscliild, was suqicctcd at the time and
is now known to all men.
Great Britain went into the Wor os a nation at unity within Outbicak
itself. The first outward sign of unity was the assembling of a
great crowd outside Buckingham Fhlace on August 2. The King
and Queen were enthusiastically nednimed, and the National
Anthems of England and Fhunce were sung. Sir Edward Gny's
rreat speech on August 3 convinced the nation that every
possible effort, consistent with honour, had been made to overt
war, and that its cause was that of right.
Enctnnd. In this great light to whlcih yon go
Scraiisc, when honour calls yon, go you mnst^
Bp clad, whatcTcr comes, at least to Imow
You have your quarrel Just.*
Documents were promptly forthcoming to sustain the poet's
plea. Tlic iriiUe Paper (Cd. 1407), summarized in the preceding
eliixjtcr, wns given out on August 5. The cose was irrefutable.
The conscience of a pcacc-loimg, pencc-sccking people, was dear :
Great Britain was, indubitably, void of offence.
On August 0 Asquith moixd, and Forliamcnt agreed to, a
Vote of Credit for £100,000,000 and an increase of 500,000 men
fur the Army and 07,000 for the Navy and Coastguard. The
I'rimc Minister made it dear that we were fighting for two objects :
I'lRilly, * to fulfil a solemn international obhgation *, and, secondly,
' Owrn Seaman in Puiuh nhidi now, ns always, oraimtcly rellrrlcd th«
THE GREAT WAR
'[ 1914 -
to * vindicate the pnnciple that small nationalities are not to be
crushed, in defiance of international good faitli, by the arbitrary
will of a strong and overmastering Power ’
Belgium Undoubtedly, it was the German attack on Belgium that
brought the British Empire into the War, but candour compels
the admission that the integrity and independence of the Low
Countries has for centuries been among the most obvious of
Enghsh interests, and the pivot of English policy.^ We fought in
the Great War as the defender of Belgium and the ally of France
and Italy ; but it is c\ndcnt that in the defence of Belgium and
France British interests were deeply and inextricably mvolved
In asking for the Vote of Credit Asquith made an announce-
Lotd ment that more than anythmg else inspired the nation with con-
cner^ fidence. Lord Kitchener happened to be at home on leave from
, Egypt when the War broke out On August 8 he was actually
embarking at Dover on his return to Egypt when he was recalled
by an urgent telegram from the Prime Minister. On August 6
he became Secretary of State for War. Rumour had been busy
with the name of Lord Haldane, who might, very naturally, have
desired to put in motion the machinery which his genius had
devised. It is now known that Haldane cordially concurred in,
if he did not actually suggest. Kitchener’s appointment.
That Kitchener was in all ways well qualified for the post
thus thrust upon him it would be idle to pretend. In the ways
of Parliaments and Cabinets he was wholly unversed : politicians
were to him anathema He could not use other men’s tools ,
rather than work the machinery provided by Haldane he would
create his own afresh. He had, we have learnt, an ‘ineffable
contempt for the Territorials,” and his failure to adopt and adapt
the Territorial Scheme meant loss of time and great if temporary
confusion. He underrated the force of sentiment, and was lack-
mg in imagination and sympathy. These defects impeded re-
cruiting m Wales, ruined it m Southern Ireland, and broke tlie
generous heart of John Redmond They may have been respon-
sible, too, for his rejection of French’s scheme ^ to land the Expedi-
1 On this point cf Marriott, The European Commonwealth, c viii (Oxford,
1919 )
2 Sir John French had been appointed to command the Expeditionary
Force. '
IX)IID KITCnEKER
1P»]
SR]
tionnty Force in Bdgiuin. occtipy Antwerp, and stiffen the Bcl-
pan rntlier than the French army. Yet ecen his sercrest critic
allows tint he had * flashes of greatness *. * lie \ras % writes Lloyd
Gcorgp. * fake one of those revolving lighthouses which radiate
momrnlaiy gleams of rcvraling light far into the surrounding
ginoni. i.nd then suddenly relapse into complete darkness.' > The
image, accurate or not, is a fine one. None, howcicr, can deny
that os Minister for War Kitchener rendered an incomparable
service to hi« rountr}* He alone foresaw how prolonged and
arduous the struggle must be. The great army, raised, trained
and equipped in the next two years, iras in litcml truth, * Kitch*
cncr's Arm]' *. He had promptl}' appealed for 100,000 men to
f o be enlisted ' for four years or the duration of the War*. Thanks
laigrly to the glamour of his personality the response was over-
whelming. Haldane, who on August S had temporarily and
UKoflirislly relieved Asquith at the War Oflice had mobilized the
British Expeditionary Force on the same day, and had by Order
in Council, assumed the control of the railways. By August 4
llic General Managers were Colonels in H.M. Army,-*and under
military discipline. Eicr^'lliing had worked, aecording to plan,
without a hitch. Tlie nation unknowingly reaped what Haldane
had smm.
Where was the Expeditionary Force to opemte ? Was it to
defend the shores of England, or help the French to repel the
German .attack ? Opinion was diiddcd : but ILildane, 6n^ and
Churchill uere for the bolder course, and on August 17 the
notion learnt, to its astonishment, that four out of the rix Divi-
sions of the EvpcdiUonary Force with one cavalry Division had
safely landed in France.^
The Admiralty must share mth the War Office the credit for Ite
this remarkable achievement. Had the Navy not been ready
down to the hsl button, the British Army could not have left
tliccc shores. Fortunately the Navy, having concentrated in
mid>July for the annual maiiecus'rcs, had not been allowed to
disperse. On Salurdaj', August 1, it was mobilized on the sole
* irar Memmrs, II. 761.
* l.acli llfvMon of infiiiitiy wan rompospd of 608 ofllecni and 18,077 men,
wllli 51 fielil pins 18 •C'S Inch hnwilzcn and 4 heasy eO-poundcr pins. A
l)hi*ion of OKolrj eonsulrd of 4SS olSeen and 0,412 men with ‘M hone
nrlillciy pin*.
802
THE GREAT WAR
[1914-
The
tlicatres
of War
The
Western
Tront
responsibility of Mr. Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the
Admiralty. 1 The Naval Reserves were called up on the 2nd.
The First Fleet had already (29th) taken up its station m the
North Sea. To the Navy the country looked confidently for the
defence of its shores : in that confidence it had sent its Army
to France. Thanks to the naval shield, the Army crossed the
Channel in absolute safety, and by December 31 the Navy had
transported across the sea, without loss, 809,000 men (mcluding
wounded, prisoners, and refugees), 203,000 horses and 250,000
tons of stores — a remarkable achievement.
The Great War had begun. The detailed story of it must be
sought elsewhere. Starting with the Austrian attack on Serbia
it presently engulfed the whole world. The actual fightmg was
on no fewer than seven ‘ Fronts ’ • (i) the Western Front —
France , (ii) the Eastern Front, where Germany and Austria were
opposed to Russia , (iii) the Italian Front, where from 1915 on-
ward Italy, with the timely help of England and France, engaged
Austria , (iv) the Balkans, where the AUies, remforced (1917) by
Roumania and Greece, were opposed by Turkey and Bulgaria ;
(v) Egypt and Palestine, where as in Mesopotamia the Bntish
Empire fought the Ottoman Empire ; (vi) Africa, in which alone
there were three theatres — ^South-West, East, and West ; and (vii)
lastly, the war at sea. In all of these vast and widely distributed
theatres a large, in most a predominant, in some an exclusive,
share of the fightmg fell to tiie British Empire.
The German plan was to march through Belgium peacefully
if it might be, forcibly if necessary, to thrust rapidly at Pans,
and havmg captured Pans, and (perhaps) the Channel ports, to
impose terms on France and then to deal with Russia. The plan
was frustrated by the heroic resistance of the Belgians and by
the prompt dispatch to France of the Bntish Expeditionary Force.
The refusal of Belgium to give free passage to the German Army
brought upon it every imaginable horror at the hands of the
exasperated Germans. Liege held up the German advance for
nearly a week but surrendered on August 7 ,' the Germans
entered Brussels on the 20th and on the 24th Namur surrendered.
The British troops which landed in France on August 16 found
themselves, exactly one week later, in the firing line at Mons.
» Churchill, World Cnsts, i. 217
1918] ANTWERP 863
Hopelessly outnumbered, out of touch mth theu: aUies, the
British force was compelled to retreat. Nevertheless, its extn
cation from Mons reflected high credit on Sir John French and
his oflicers and proved to all time the heroism and endurance of
the British soldier. General Smith-Domen made a gallant stand
at Le Gateau (August 26), and von Kluck, the German Com-
mander, confessed that but for that stand he would have turned
the flank of the British Army and taken Paris ^ As it was, the
Germans forced the Aisne, captured Amiens and Laon, and, by
the end of August, were within striking distance of Pans But
at the great battle of the Marne (6th to 12th September) the tide
turned, the Germans were driven back to the Aisne , there they
dug themselves in, and for four long years the Germans and the
Allies faced each other in a series of trenches which extended
firom the Channel to the frontia: of Switzerland.
The Belgians meanwhile were m terrible phght. Antwerp Antwerp
had always been regarded by England as a point of supreme
importance to her. That Antwerp should be m friendly hands
was and remains one of the traditional maxims of British states-
manship The city was now m umnment danger from the Ger-
mans. An effort must be made to save it. On October 5 we
landed m Antwerp a miserably equipped and miscellaneous force
of some 8,000 sailors and marmes, with a large admixture of
untrained civihans ® About the same time a 7th division of the
Expeditionary Force — ^under the command of General Rawhnson
—was landed at Ostend The idea was that at all costs the enemy
must be headed off from the coasts of France and Flanders, and
for this purpose the British force was jtransferred from the Aisne
to the Lys and Yser. Antwerp, however, fell on October 9
The inhabitants, soldiers and civilians ahke, bad fled to the Dutch
frontier or the sea The Belgian Gtovernment was transferred to
Havre. A few days later the great battle began around Ypres.
It lasted until the middle of November. When it ended the
» See letter from General Bingham {The Times, December 13, 1938)
» Of this force two-thirds got away , the rest were forced against the Dutcn
frontier or captured For a brilliant defence of the Antwerp Expedition
'sec Churchill, World Crisis, i xv Mr Churchill himself went to Antiverp
and for a couple of days was m control of what remamed of Belgium and
, its Army, and offered to resign the Admiralty and become a Lieutenant-
General m the Army Cf Asqmth, Memoirs, II 42.
First
battie of
Yprcs,
Oot.-
Nov.
864 THE GREAT WAR [I9l4-
British Expeditionary Force had almost ceased to ^st, but
Ypres had been held, and the holding of Ypres denied the Ger-
mans access to the Channel ports. Had Ypres fallen, the Ger-
mans would have been withm striking distance of Dover No
words, therefore, can overestimate the debt which England and
the world owes to the heroes who laid down their lives in the
long-drawn-out battle of October and November, 1914
At the end of 1914 the position was as follows/ the Germans,
instead of dictating terms to the French m Pans, were entrenched
on the Aisne Instead of shelling Dover and Folkestone from
the Channel Ports the Germans were still pinned behind Ypres.
The Russian attack had failed, but the Serbs had repelled the
Austrians and recaptured their capital ; above all, not a single
German merchantman remained at sea.
But the broad result was a deadlock. ‘The German fleet
remained sheltered in its fortified harbours, and the British
Admiralty had discovered no way of drawing it out. . . . Ram-
parts more than 350 miles long, ceaselessly guarded by millions
of men, sustained by thousands of cannon, stretched from the
Swiss frontier to the North Sea . . . Mechanical not less than
strategic conditions had combined to produce at this early period
of the War a deadlock both on sea and land * Thus does Mr.
Churchill summarize the situation.^ Mr. Lloyd George had
simultaneously arrived at the same conclusion. So had General
Galheni. The French soldier and the British statesman were
alike appalled at the ‘ Western holocausts ’ only tolerated, says
the latter, by public opinion m the Allied countries owing to * an
elaborate system of conceahng repulses and suppressing casual-
ties Churchill’s fertile bram was, accordingly, at work on plans
for a ‘ flanking ’ movement So was Lloyd George’s. But the
two men had not the same * flank ’ in mind. Both were thmkmg
of the ‘Eastern Front’. Lloyd George would have landed a
force at Salonika. By this means W'e should, he claimed, not
only save Serbia, imminently menaced by an Austro-German
attack, but put Turkey out of action, and bring in, on the side
of the Allies, Roumania, Bulgaria and Greece It was an attrac-
tive suggestion. Churchill had two alternatives. One plan
(primarily Lord Fisher’s) was to seize Borkum, or some other
^ World Crisis, II 18,
1818] ' THE NEAR EAST 865
German island, to serve as a base for the fleet, mask Heligoland,
and then attack the Kiel* Canal K successftd, this scheme would
have thrown the Baltic open to the British fleet, have enabled
Russia to land an army within one hundred miles of Berlin, and
possibly have mduced Denmark to ]om the Allies The other
plan was to seize the Galhpoh P eninsula and pass a fleet mto the
Sea of Marmora
The second plan, as the less hazardous, was after prolonged The Near
discussion adopted Thus at the begmnmg of 1915 mterest shifts
to the Near East
The War in that theatre presents many problems and sug-
gests many questions Whether by a tundy display of force the
Turk could have been kept true to his ancient connexion with
Great Britain and France, whether by more sagacious diplo-
macy the hostihty of Bulgaria could have been averted, and the
co-operation of Greece secured ; whether by the mihtary inter-
vention of the Entente Powers the cruel blow could have been
warded off from Serbia and Montenegro , whether the Dardan-
elles expedition was faulty only m execution or imsoimd m con-
ception ; whether Roumania came m too tardily, or moved too
soon, and m a wrong direction — ^these are questions of high sig-
nificance, but more easy to ask than to answer.
It must suffice to summarize events
On the outbreak of the War the Porte declared its neutrahty
— a course which was followed m October by Greece, Roumama
and Bulgaria The Alhes gave an assurance to the Sultan that,
if he mamtamed neutrahty, the mdependence and mtegnty of
his Empire would be respected durmg the War, and provided for
at the peace settlement. That many of the most responsible
statesmen of the Porte smcerely desired the mamtenance of
neutrahty cannot be doubted, but the forces workmg m the
contrary direction were too powerful The traditional enmily
agamst Russia, the chance of recovenng Egypt and Cyprus
from Great Britain , the astute pohcy which for a quarter of a
century the Kaiser had pursued at Constantinople , the German
trainmg imparted to the Turkish army ; above all, the powerful
personahty of Enver Bey, who, early in 1914, appomted himself
Minister of War — all these thmgs impelled the Porte to embrace
the cause of the Central Empires. Nor was it long before Turkey
THE GREAT WAR
( 1014 -
Thc
llardan*
dies
(^vc iinmislnknblc indicniions of her real proelivilics.^ In the
first week of the War the German cniiscrs, the Goehm and the
Breslau, Iinviiif' eluded the pursuit of the allied fleet in the Mcdi<
terninenn and reached the Bosphoru'i, were purchased by the
Porte, and commissioned in the Turkish navy. Great Britain
and Russia refused to reco»nizc the transfer as valid, but the
Porte took no notice of t^jc protest. Meanwhile, Germony poured
money, munitions, and men into Turkey ; German oflicers were
placed in command of the forts of the Dardanelles ; a German
General, Liman von Sanders, s%’as appointed Commandcr-in>
Chief of the Turkish army, and on October 28 tlic Turkish fleet
bombarded Odessa and other unfortified ports belonging to
Russia on the Black Sen. To the protest made by the ambassa-
dors of the Allied Fouers the Porte did not reply, and on Novem-
btr 1 the ambassadors demanded tlicir passports and quitted
Constantinople. A few days Inter the Darrhincllcs forts were
bombarded by English and Prcnch ships ; Akaba iit the Red Sen
svns bombarded by II.M.S. A/iiimw. Great Britain promptly
annexed C>*pms (November 5), declared Abbas, Khedive of
Egj’pt, deposed, put the son of Ismail on the tlironc in his stead,
and proclaimed a Frotcctomtc over the countrj'. For the second
lime in histoiy Great Britain and the Ottoman Empire were at
war.*
Germany hoped that by means of the Turkish alliance she
would be able to exploit Mesopotamia, to penetrate Persia com-
mercially and politically, to deliver n powerful attack upon the
British position in ISgypt, and to thrc.'iten the hegemony of Great
Britain in India. For all these ambitious schemes Constantinople
was an indispensable base.
Nothing, therefore, would have done so much to ihistrate
German diplomacy in south-eastern Europe as a successful blow
at Constantinople. Early in Jamiaiy 1015 the Grand Duke
Nicholas, Commandcr-in-Chlcf of the Russian armies, besought
* DJenml FA«1ia admits that tqr the end of the Second Bolhaa War the
Young Turks Imd decided In favour of Germany, Memories ef a TttrlHsh
Slatesman, p. 107. Sir E. Grey was of opinion that * nothing but the assassi-
nation of Enver would keep Turkey bom Joining Russia * — TaeiUy-Pite
Years, ii. 104.
* The first was In 1800-7 when Toikqr was forced by Napoleon I into
war with England and Russia.
GALLIPOLI
fh'* AlLcs to strike it. On the 2Sth the British War Council.
Tni^rdy influenced by Kitchener's preference for the Dardanelles,
PS nffnin-t Salnnikn, n{!rccd; even though, perhaps because, the
Xis*} wuld have to bcartlic brunt of the attack. In Fcbruoiy
1!>15 an Knglish fleet, assisted by a French squadron, bombarded
the forts of the Dardanelles, and high hopes Trcrc entertained in
the al1.td ooimtries that the passage of the Straits srould be
quickly fnte(.d. But the hopes srcrc destined to disappointment.
It toon became endciit that tlic Navy alone could not achici'e
the task entrusted to it, and in the course of tlie summer armies,
totalling over 3n0.000 men, vere poured into the Gallipoli Pen-
insula. TIiq' included some magnificent troops sent Cram Aus-
tralia and Ncu Zealand (note immortalixed as Anzacs) and some
equally fine English Territorials. The troops displayed heroic
courage, and once at least the es^cdition iras iritliin sight of a
brilliant victory, vhich, if acliievcd, srould have sliortcncd the
War by at least tno 3 ‘ears. But the conditions were impossible,
and after much debate at home it was decided to abandon the
allcmpL Sir Ian Ilamilton, who had been in command smee
March, was strongly (and naturall}*} opposed to evacuation, but
in October, other work was found for him, and Sir Charles Munro
look his p^ace at Gallipoli. Before the final decision was reached
Kitchener went out to report on the whole situation (November-
Deccmlicr) and dedded on evacuation. The operation was as
difliciill as anj’ in the War, but by^ the end of December, by a
miracle nf organization, it was performed without the loss of a
single life. Kcatiy all the guns, stores, and miilcs were also
saved. Ko incident in the War produced such a painful effect
in England as tlie Gallipoli fiasco. Yet the loss of life, though
terrible, was not wholly wasted ; the old Turldsh regular army
luid been practically wiped out and thdr efforts in other theatres
of war were greatly weakened.
Serbia, inesinwhile, had, with splendid courage^ repulsed two
Austrian nttacls. But in the autumn of 1015 the crisis foreseen
by Lloyd George, Carson and other * Easterners ’ in England had
nmved.
A great Anstro-Gcrmnn army, under the command of Fidd- Tlie
Marshal von Mackensen, concentrated upon the Serbian frontier
ill September, and on the 7Ui of October crossed the Danube at Serbu
THE GREAT WAR
[1914-
five different points. Two days later Belgrade surrendered, and
for the next few weeks von Mackensen, descending upon the
devoted country in overwhelming strength, drove the Serbians '
before him, until the whole country was m the occupation of the
Austro-German forces. Down to this tune Bulgaria had waited
on events, with the prudent mtention of siding with the Powers
which proved the stronger m the Balkans
Had the western allies sent a strong force to Salomka ; had
the Russian advance been mamtamed m 1915 ; had the Dar-
danelles been forced , had pressure been put by the Entente upon
Serbia and Greece to make reasonable concessions in Macedonia,
Bulgana might not have yielded to the seductions of German
gold and to the mles of German diplomacy But why should a
German King of Bulgaria have thrown in his lot with Powers
who were apparently headmg for mihtary disaster ; whose diplo-
macy was as mept as their arms were feeble ? When the German
avalanche descended upon Serbia m the autumn of 1916, what
more natural than that Bulgana should have co-operated m the
discomfiture of a detested nval’
The Bulganans captured Nish on November 5 and effected
a ]imction with the army tmda: von Mackensen, Serbia was
annihilated ; a remnant of the Serbian army took refuge m the
mountams of Montenegro and Albania, and the survivors after
terrible sufferings reached Corfu, while numbers of deported
cmhans sought the hospitality of the Alhes On November 28
Germany officially declared the Balkan campaign to be at an end
For the time bemg Serbia had ceased to exist as a Balkan State.
What had the Alhes done to succour her? On October 5
the advance guard of an Anglo-French force, under General
Sarrail and Sir Bryan Mahon, began to disembark at Salonika
The force was miserably inadequate m numbers and equipment,
and it came too late. Its amval served only to precipitate a
cnsis m Greece.
Techmcally, the landmg of an Anglo-French force at Salonika
King was a violation of Greek neutrahty, and Vemzelos was compelled
by his master to enter a formal protest against it. But the pro-
test was followed by an aimouncement that Greece would respect
her treaty with Serbia, and would march to her assistance, if she
were attacked by Bulgaria. That announcement cost Vemzelos
ROmiANIA AND GREECE
ISIS]
lii« plale. He was promptly dismissed by Kinff Constantine,
who, flouting the terms of the Constitution, effected what was
irirtually a monarchical eoi/p (f&at.
In the autumn of lOlG, however, M. Ycnizclos, repudiating Venlsdim
the authority' of his King (Constantine), set up a provisional
Government at Salomka and joined the Allies. Roumania dc> Roii*
dared for the Allies in August, and in order to support her the
Allies conducted, from Salonika, a vigorous campaign against
Bulgaria. Before the end of the year (1016), however, the Rou>
manians were knocked out by Madeensen and Falkenhayn. On
December 6 the German armies occupied Budiarcst. Through-
out tlic year 1917 there was litUe change in tlic situation. The
Central Empires remained in occupation of Roumanian territory
up to the line of the Screth, including, therefore, the Dobrudja
and Wallochia, and from this occupied territory Austria-Hungary
obtained much-needed supplies of grain. Meanwhile, the Ru-
manian Government remained established in Jassy, and fh>m its
ancient capital the affairs of Moldavia were administered. Lito
Moldavia the Central Powers made no altcimt to penetrate^
being content to await events. Nor was it long before thdr
patience was rewarded.
The military collapse of Russia in 1017 sealed the fate of
Roumania. From no otlicr ally could succour reach her. Per-
force, therefore. Roumania was oimpdlcd to concur in the sus-
pension of hostilities, to wliidi the Russian Bolsheviks and the
Central Empires ogroed in December, 1017.
Tlic German victories in the north-cast of the peninsula Giceee
naturally reacted upon the situation in the south-west. Towards
the end of November 1016 a Serbian army, re-formed and re-
equipped, had the giatiflc.ition of turning the Bulgarians out of
Monastir, and tlic Allies still held n comer of Greek Macedonia.
For the rest, Germany and her allies were in undisputed command
of the B.alkan peninsula from Belgrade to Constantinople, from
Biichnrcst to the valley of the Vardar. Even the hold of the
Allies on Salonilm was rendered precarious by tlie increasing
hostility of Constantine and his friends at Athens. The patience
with which his vagaries were treated by the allied Governments
tended to cs'oke contempt ratlicr than gratitude in Athens. At
last the Allies resolved to take action. On June 11, 1017, King
870
THE GREAT WAR
[ 1914 -
Salonika
Mesopo-
Constantme was required to abdicate and to hand over the
government to his second son, Alexander ; Constantine and his
Prussian Queen, ^with the Crown Prmce, were deported to Swit*
zerland ; Venizelos returned to Athens, and on June 30 the
Hellenic kingdom broke off its relations with the Central Empires
and at last took its place m the Grand Alhance
The adhesion of Greece greatly improved the mihtary situa-
tion m Macedonia. The allied army at Salonika was reinforced
by the Greeks, who gained some important ground on the Vardar.
Matters still tamed, however, on the Salonika front until in June
1918 the command was taken over by General Franchet d’Es-
perey. By September his preparations were complete; m the
course of a week’s bnlhant fighting the Bulgarian army was
routed, and after a harr3ang retreat m which the Serbs played
a foremost part, Bulgaria sued for peace, and, on September 30,
barely a fortnight after the commencement of the advance, Bul-
garia made unconditional surrender and handed over her troops,
her railways, her stores, and her government into the hands of
the Allies. On October 12 the Serbians occupied their old capital,
Nish, and so cut the Berhn-Constantmople railway at one of its
most vital points. The Alhes were on the point of advancing
on Constantinople itself when the Sultan sued for peace and an
armistice was concluded (October 30, 1918).
From the Near East we pass to the Middle East. Early in
the War (November 21, 1914) Basra, at the head of the Persian
Gulf, was occupied by the 6th Indian Division. From Basra,
the force advanced up the Tigris ; Kuma, at a confluence of the
two rivers, was occupied in December, and m April 1915 a heavy
defeat was inflicted on the Turks at Shaiba Reinforced from
India, the troops agam advanced, captured Amara, and from
Amara advanced on Kut, which was taken on September 28,
1916. Agamst his own better judgement. General Townshend,
who was m command, contmued his march towards Bagdad, but
after a brilliant attack at Ctesiphon (November 22-5) was com-
pelled by lack of ammunition to withdraw with a loss of nearly
half his force to Kut. There he was besieged for five months
(December 3, 1915, to April 29, 1916). Three efforts were made
to reheve Townshend and his gallant gamson, but in vain, and,
on April 29, 1916, Kut was surrendered, and some 8,000 survivors,
1018]
ENGLAND T. TTIE TUEKS
871
of trhifin 0,000 \Fcre Indian troops, fell into the hands of tlie
Turks. The British pnsonets trerc shamefully nulticatcd, and
more than half of them died in eaptivity.
The British Government took prompt measures to ictrierc
this grave disaster. Sir Stanley Maude inis appointed to the
eommand in SIcsopotamin ; the force was reorganized and re-
equipped, and after a skilful advance Kut was recovered on
February S4, 1017. Advancing rapidly from Kut, Maude in-
flicted a crushing defeat upon the Turks, and on Mardi 11 entered
Bagdad. On April 18 the Turks suffered a further defeat, and
the British army took possession of the Bagdad Railway as far
as Samarm, nearly seventy miles north of Bagdad. In November
Maude died of cholera, but the campaign was successfully carried
on by Sir lYilIiam Marshall, who finally readied Mosul on Novem-
ber 3, 1018. By that lime, howcx’cr, the Turk had been utterly
defeated and had sued for an armistice.
Not only in the Balkans and in Mesopotamia were liritish Emt
arms sdetonous over the Turk. From the opening of the War
it was realized that of all the tltal points in our ‘ far-flung battle
line ' the most vital, perhaps, was the Suez Canal. After the
Porte had dcflnitdy thrown in its lot with the Central Empires
it was deemed wise, as already noted, to depose the SIhedive of
Egypt, Abb-as II (November 1014). Turkish sovereignty was
denounced; Egypt was declared a Brftish Fiotectomte; and
the Sultanate was conferred (December 18, 1014) on Hussdn
Kamel. In February 1015 the Turks made tlic flrst of several
attacks upon the Suez Canal, but thiy were all repulsed with
heavy loss. Stirred up by German intrigue, the Senussi gave us
some trouble in AVestem Egi^pt, though thiy were heavily punished
in several actions at the end of 1015 and the beginning of 1016.
In March 1016 another phase of tbe ATar opened : Sir Arebi- Fales-
bald Murray began his advance on the eastern side of the Canal. ]oio-i8
A patient march through the desert brought him into Palestine
at the beginning of 1017, but in April he was heavfly repulsed by
the Turks at Gaza. In the summer, Murray was rdieved of his
command and succeeded by Sir Edmund Allcnby, who, reinforced
from India and Salonika, inflicted a tremendous defeat upon the
Turks at Beersheba, which he captured on October 81. lie
stormed Gaza (November 7). Askalon a few days later, Jaffa
The
Western
Front
872 THE GREAT WAR [ioi 4 -
surrendered to him on November 16, and on December 9 a bril-
liant campaign was crowned by the capture of Jerusalem. Early
in 1918 General AUenby established communications with the
Arabs and the King of Iledjaz, whose allegiance had been secured
to us by Colonel Laivrence, and on February 21 captured Jericho.
Owing to the success of the German offensive in France he was
then compelled to dispatch his best troops to the Western Front,
and it was not until September that he was ready to make his
final assault upon the enemy opposed to him On the 19th,
however, he fell upon the Turks and broke them, turning their
seaward flank by the most brilliant cavalry operation known in
modern history. On the following day Nazareth was occupied.
Having effected his junction with the Arabs, Allcnby then ad-
vanced on Damascus, which surrendered on October 1. By the
time Damascus fell 60,000 prisoners and 300 guns had been taken.
Advancing from Damascus, Beirut was taken on October 8, and
in rapid succession Sidon, Tripoli, Homs, and Aleppo (October 26).
Tlie annihilation of the Turkish forces vas now complete, and
Palestine and Syria, like Mesopotamia, passed into English keeping.
Meanwhile much had happened m England and France.
There was fierce fighting on the Western Front in the spring
of 1915, centring around Neuve Chapelle, Ypres and Festubert
(March-May 1915). French was nov' m command of an immense
army, but despite heavy losses m men and vast expenditure of
ammunition, little, if any, advance was made. It was then that
the Germans first made use, contrary to the Hague Conventions,
of asphyxiating gases , it was then also that a bitter controversy
arose in England in regard to the supply of munitions, in par-
ticular high explosive shells, to the armies at the front. ^
In regard to men Kitchener had admittedly worked wonders.
Was he less successful m providing ammunition ? Was it easier
to make soldiers than to make shells ? Public opinion was deeply
stirred. A Press campaign against the Government, and par-
ticularly against Asquith and Kitchener, was maugurated.
Kitchener had in fact made earnest appeals to the w'orkers in
mimition factories to expedite production. Mr. Lloyd George
had lectured them on excessive drinking. ‘ We are fighting ’, he
said, ‘ Germany, Austria, and drink, and so far as I can see the
lOn this controversy cf an illuminating essay by Lord Birkenhead;
Pmnts of Vtew, Vol. I, 6
MUNITIONS
373
lOlSJ
^TfAtc^t. of the three dcndl}' foes is drink.* His lecture was
bitterly raernted ; but in April the Ein; ordered that, until the
clo^c of the War, no intoxicants were to be serred in the Royal
palaces. There were rumours, also, of impending legislation.
iVos it to be prohibition or nationalization? Lick'd George
strongly favoured the latter; Asquith was opposed to both.
But, whalcrer the reason, supplies of shells were coming in mote
slowl}' than they should.
On April 15 the Prime Minister announced tlie appointment Hunt
of a Committee, under the chairmanship of Air. Lloyd George,
to * ensure the promptest and most clficicnt appheation of all
the productive resources of the country* to the manufacture and
supply of muiiilions of war On the 20tli he visited Newcastle
and adjured the munition workers to ' Deln'cr the Goods '. At
tlie same time he denied that opemtions in the field had been
crippled for lack of ammunition or that the Government bad
been tawly in rceognudtig the importance of this factor in the
war*probIcm. Asquith's statement was based on information
supplied to him bj* Kitchener. Kitchener, rrijing in his turn
on rrcnch, wrote to Asquith (Apnl 14) : * He (French) told me
that I eould let }'OU know that with the present supply of ammu-
nition he will have as much as he will be able to use on the next
forward mo'i’cmcnt.* Frcnidi in his cati^rically denied
that he gasw Kitchener that information * ; but finch's state-
ment. oceording to Asquith, 'teems with unpardonable inao-
curariis On April 21 Mr. Lloyd George informed the House
of Commons that the output of artillery ammunition had since
September 1014/ been multiplied ninetccnfold *, and that, thanks
kirgcly to the genius and cnergs' of Lord Moulton, the production
of high explosives in this country was now ' on a footing which
rcho'cs us of nil anxiety, and enables us to supply tlie needs
of our Allies as ircll as our own
Yet with nil this the country was uneasy. Nor was it entirely
reassured when, in one of his rare and curt speeches in tiic House
of T.unK Lord Kitchener replied to critics (May 18). He em-
phasized the enormous and unprecedented demand for munitions,
but asserted that the requirements of the new armies lind, from
the early dasw of the War, been foreseen by the experts of the
* Scr in iKirticular Preface to Snd edition.
> M€iivriet and KrjIcefioM, II, 76. • llansatd (under date), p. 310.
THE GREAT WAR
[1014-
War Office, while admitting that there had been considerable
delay in meeting their requirements ^
On the folloiving day Tite Times launched a bitter attack
upon Kitchener and the War Office. On the 14th it had pub-
lished the famous telegram from Col. Repington, based on in-
formation supplied by French, * The want of an unlimited supply
of high explosives was a fatal bar to our success ’ — at Festubert.
On the 19th it wrote : * Men died in heaps upon the Aubers Ridge
ten days ago, because the field guns were short, and gravely
short, of high-explosive shells.’
Such language could not fail to create profound perturbation
in the pubhc mmd. The Opposition, whichever since the begin-
ning of the year had become mcreasingly critical of the conduct
of affairs, finally lost patience, hir. McKenna at the Home Offiee
was thought to be careless about enemy aliens and espionage.
The fire of criticism kept up on this subject by the Conservatives
IS now admitted by Mr. Lloyd George to have been justified.
‘ Subsequent events proved *, he wrote, ‘ that intelligence of great
value to the enemy percolated to Germany through the agency
of persons living unmolested in England under Mr. McKenna’s
indulgent regime. The nation wras right in thmking that this
was not the time to risk the national security on glib pleasan-
tries ’ 2 Moreover, the pubhc gradually learnt, to its dismay,
that there was acute friction between Kitchener and French,
between Lloyd George and Kitchener, and betw'cen Churchill and
Fisher. The latter had succeeded Prince Louis of Battenberg
as First Sea Lord on October 29, and to the public his appoint-
ment was as reassuring as that of Kitchener at the War Office.
But there was hardly room at the Admiralty both for Lord Fisher
and Mr. Winston Churchill. In an undated memorandum,
Fisher had demanded that he should be placed at the Admiralty
in a position exactly parallel with that of Kitchener at the War
Office — First Lord and First Sea Lord m one. Whether the
demand was ever presented to the Government is unknown . but
the paper was unearthed in 1927 by Asquith * An j way, Fisher
resigned on May 15, and, despite the entreaties of the Govern-
ment to remam at his post, disappeared into space.
* Ilnnsnrd (Ix)r(3s), Vol 18, p 1019. * War Memmrs
» Memories and Rcjleclions, II, 9J
THE HOME FRONT
875
ins]
CHAPTER XXn
THE GREAT WAR— THE HOME FRONT
'nr^WO days after the resignation of Lord Fisher Sir. Bonor Law
X and Lord Lnnsdowne informed Asquith that, unless the
Slinistiy was immediately reconstructed, they would be obliged to
raise publidy questions about Fisher’s resignation.
Churdull had, from the onset of the War crids, urged that
there should be a Coalition. At Uic end of July 1014 he had, CbaUtlon
through his friend F. E. Smith, approached the Tory leaders with
this end in view. But Bonar Law never got over his mistrust of
Churchill, and declined this method of approach. Li Slarcli 1015
feders were again put out, to no cfleet. Fisher’s zedgnation
brought matters to a aids, and on Mai’ 10 Asquith announced
that the Government would be reconstructed ' on a biooda per-
sonal and political bods ’. On the 26th the names of the new
Cabinet if^crc publidicd. Tlic Tories were adamant against the
reappointment of Lord Haldane, who, with gross ingratitude and
to the grief of Asquith and Gr^’, was deprived of oflice. Tlie
mucli-cnlieizcd hIcKcnna was promoted to the Treasury, whilo
Churdull was relegated to the lowest place in the Cabinet hicr-
arehy— the Duehy of Lancaster— in Lloyd George’s opinion -a
' cruel and unjust degradation He was replaced at the Admir-
alty by Balfour. Otha Cbnservatives brought into the Cabinet
were Lord Curzon, Bonar Law, Lord Lansdownc, Austen Cham-
licrinin and Walta Long : the Law offices went to Carson and
r. E. Smith ; A«quitli. Kitchener, Grey and Runciman retained
their places. Mr. Henderson ente^ the Cabinet as a representa-
tive of the Labour Party, Init JoKn Redmond, the tone of
uhose speech on August 4 had been loudly applauded, declined
office. For Llo^d Gcoigc a new Ministry of Munitions was
created.
Ministry
of Muni-
tions
Labour
and the
War
376 THE GREAT 'war— THE HOIIE FRONT [1914-
Of this new Ministry of Munitions Kitchener ‘completely
approved Yet neither m Home affairs nor m the conduct of
the War was the new Government conspicuously more successful
than that which it displaced. Lloyd George brought to the dis-
charge of his new duties daemomc energy, and solved, though at
enormous cost, the problem of munitions. His MumUons of War
Acty passed in 1915, was based on principles which have since
been successfully applied by Signor Mussolim to mdustrial recon-
struction m Italy No private interest was to be permitted to
obstruct the service, or imperil the safety, of the State Trade
Union regulations must be suspended ; employers’ profits must
be hmited, skilled men must fight, if not m the trenches, m the
factories; man-power must be economized by the dilution of
labour and the emplojunent of women , private factones must
pass under the control of the State, and new national factones be
set up. Results justified the new pohey : the output was pro-
digious ; the goods were at last delivered
It needed all Lloyd George’s energy and persuasive power to
achieve this miracle He was met by obstruction on every side.
The War Office was not overpleased at the intrusion of civihans
mto a job which they regarded as exclusively their own ; business
men looked upon Lloyd George as an officious amateur. But
the mam difficulty arose from the anxiety — ^not unnatural or
unmtelligible — of the manual workers, lest they should be rushed
mto the surrender of trade privileges hardly won in a long struggle
between capital and labour • the delimitation of trades and the
rigid demarcation of work; the employment of unskilled and
semi-skilled labour , the limitation of hours ; the restriction of
output and the like The employers, on their part, complained,
with some reason, of slack time keepmg, of Ca’ canny methods,
even of actual sabotage. Whether the responsibihty for a deplor-
able situation rested upon organized labour, upon the directors of
industry or upon the Government, it was clear that an ugly
temper was developing among considerable bodies of skilled work-
men. In February the engineers in the Elswick Works at New-
castle, in consequence of the employment of imskilled labour on
skilled jobs, tendered notices to cease work That dispute was
adjusted ; but a much more serious dispute occurred simul-
» Asquith, Memmes, II 78
10J8] LABOUR AND THE WAR 877
tancoiijly on the Cljdc, where many thousands of skilled workers,
upon whose steady output of munitions llicir comrades at the
front depended for their clfccti\ cncss ns figlitcrs and for their
lives, came out on strike The mcw taken by the men in the
fighting line was ngorouslv expressed in some contemporary lines
nddressed by ‘ Tommy Atkins at the Front ’ to his brother on the
Chde —
I’ve rhiickcd nwij tnc bav’nit, nn* I’m stintin’ down me ru***
Im f«i up Mill Uic l)u<:inc<^, I nm I’m furlj done
T’\c tned to work it out all riplit, ao help me Gawd, I*\c tried;
Hot's put the Ivilmsh on it is mj hrolhir on tlic Cljde
Ts srorkin’ in a fact’n, and pis ten Iwb a das,
An’ now ’cs downed ’is tools, ’o sass, an’ svants a bit more pay
D wnlcs nn* Fas*s these buQ times is jist ’is bloomin’ chance.
So Ftf downed tools tlicsc buw times— somew ’ere out 'ere hi Franco.
Ps e picked up me ole pm again ; me bit of Iron, too
I’m pst a common solder, so I’sc pot to sec it throuph
An’ if Ihcj lets us down nt ’ome, and if ’c rends I died,
H ill 'e know ’c ’clped to kill me — mj brother on the Cl\ de ? *
Bitter and juslificd as such jibes were from * Tommy Atkins %
the attitude of * Labour ’ (or a section of it) was not unintelligible.
If wages were rising quickly profits were rising still more sub-
stantially so were prices, and the Government, Labour thought,
was looking with too lenient or careless an eje on ‘ the robbery of
the poor’ The grc.it mass of the manual workers were ready
to spend themselves m the service of the State they were not
ready to sacrifice leisure and health in order to put exceptionally
high profits into the pockets of the employer and the middleman
The Go\ ernment awoke, loo tardilj , to the significance of this War
factor in the industrial problem In March 1915 they undertook
to exact from labour and capital some ‘ equality of sacnfice
The Mumiions of War Act (Julj 1915) provided for comjiulsory
arbitration in certain specified trades, and for severe penalties
upon strikers and lockers-out alike, it set up local lilumtions
Tribunals to deal with offences under the Act, and authorized the
Minister to establish ‘control’ over any establishment in which
munition work was done, and rigidly to restrict profits in such
establishments By the end of the year over 2,000 estabhsh-
* D Biclmrds, up Dmli/ Eatress
878 THE GREAT VTAR— THE HOME FRONT [ioi4-
ments were ‘ controlled The weakness of the scheme was the
absence of any mcentive to economy of production. The pnce
of munitions trebled m the course of the year.
National How was the bill to be met ? During the course of the War
Parhament passed no fewer than twenty-five Votes of Credit.
The senes began with a modest £100,000,000 voted on August 7,
1914 j it ended with £700,000,000 voted on November 13, 1918
— ^two days after the sigmng of the Armistice The total was
£8,742,000,000. The money was raised partly by loan, partly
by increased taxation Orthodox opinion inclines to the view
that too much was raised by loai^ and too httle by taxation,
especially by mdirect taxation on non-essential commodities.
The total cost of the Napoleonic war was about £881,000,000 — a
sum not greatly in excess of our own yearly expenditure to-day
(1988) Of this total £891,748,370 was actually paid out of
revenue, while over £440,000,000 was added to the debt. Owmg
to the adhference of Pitt to the * sweet simphcity ’ of 3 per cent,
the loans were issued m stock of a low denomination — an averages
of about 60 per cent, m cash for each £100 of stock issued.
Throughout the later war a different and preferable pohcy was
followed. Loans were issued at a higher rate of mterest, but at a
pnce more closely correspondmg to the market rate of money.
The total expenditure durmg the war penod (1914-19)
amounted to £11,259 nulhons. Of this vast sum no less than
£4,078 millions or 36 17 per cent, was paid out of revenue ; the
balance was met by borrowmg, which mvolved an increase in the
National Debt from £650 nulhons (March 81, 1914) to £7,882
milhons on March 81, 1920. Included in this vast sum was
nearly £2,000 milhons advanced to allies, and a smaller sum (about
£150,000,000) to Dommions and Colonies.
Loans The first of a long senes of War Loans was issued in November
1914, when £850 milhons was raised at 3J per cent , the price
of issue bemg 95. In 1916 some £600 milhons was raised at
4J per cent and m 1917 over £2,000 millions at 5 per cent, (issued
at 95) In addition to these War Loans large amounts were
raised by the issue of War Bonds, Exchequer Bonds, Treasury
Bills, etc., the rate of mterest ultimately rising to 6 per cent. ;
and about £1,000 milhons was also borrowed from the U.S.A.
In addition, the State virtually borrowed a large sum by the
1918]
.WAR FINANCE
879
issue (already mentioned) of paper money These Currency or
Treasury Notes reached the maximum (£353,638,000) m 1920
In 1916 an important experiment was imtiated A National Saimga
War Savings Committee was set up, and under its auspices Sav-
ings Certificates were issued (up to a maximum of £500) at 15s 6d
repayable in five years’ time at par This device not only served
to check the grossly extravagant expenditure of the wage-earners ;
it provided a safe and attractive mvestment for their savings and,
above all, proved itself of permanent social sigmficance Smee
January 1916 over £1,427,000,000 worth of certificates have been
issued over 190,000 Savings Associations — to facilitate the accu-
mulation of the smallest amounts — ^have been established, and m
this way a great impulse has been given to habits of thrift among all
classes and among indmduals of all ages from childhood upwards
That some such impulse was urgently called for was apparent
to all obsei^'ers The totals of expenditure — ^public and pnvate
— ^were of course largely swollen by the rapid rise of pnees during
the War ^ To this rise State extravagance and the mflation of
currency and credit were largely contributory. The middle classes,
especially those who hved on small fixed mcomes, were very
hardly hit But the increase m the earnings of individual wage-
earners, and still more of workmg-class famihes was, m industnal
districts, prodigious. So were the mcreases m industnal profits
Of wages, and still more of profits, the State claimed an ever- Taxation
increasing proportion. Indirect taxation was not only largely
mcreased but widely extended In the first War Budget (Sep-
tember 1915) Air AIcKenna made a significant departure from
tradition, by imposing on a few articles of luxury custom duties
which were defimtely though modestly protective m character.
Yet notwithstanding these duties, the proportion which mdirect
taxes yielded declined from 42 5 per cent in 1918-14 to 17 8 m
1917-18, vhile upon the payers of direct taxes a much heavier
burden was imposed The normal rate of income tax v/as raised
^ Fnccs rose steadily from August 1914 to April 1920 Taking 100 as
the norm m July 1914, wholesale prices tn general = 117 (in January 1915),
ISO (1916), 193 (1917), 225 (1918), and 823 (April 1920) food only = 828
(1920) Retail cost of living general 270 (Nov 1920), food only, 291
(1920) It will be noted that retad pnees rose rather less than wholesale.
On the whole question cf Bowley, Prices and Wages tn the IJJS. (Oxford,
1921)
880 THE GREAT WAR— THE HOME FRONT [1914^
from Is. 2d. to 6s. ; super-tax rose from 6d. to a maximum of 65.
Death duties were increased from 8 per cent, ultimately to 40 per
cent., and the special Excess Piofits tax (abeady mentioned) to
80 per cent.
This represented an heroic effort; but some critics mam-
tamed that it was still madequate, and most people agreed that
in the * confiscation ’ of war profits the Government and Parlia-
ment betrayed undue procrastination and timidity.
Parliament, indeed, could do httle, in war-tune, save register
the demands of the Executive. Least of all could it do much to
check expenditure or restrain extravagance. In 1917 the Govern-
ment did indeed consent to set up a Select Committee on National
Expenditure ^ The Committee presented a senes of Reports,
which, if not of much avail in restraimng expenditure at the
moment, did inspire with wholesome fear some of the more
extravagant Departments, and made important recommendations
as regards financial procedure m the House of Commons. Several
of these have, with good results, been adopted Looking back,
indeed, on the whole history of British War Finance the impar-
tial cntics have been more impressed by its virtues than by its
shortcomings : Dr. Kraus, a typical German critic, regards it
with envy, while Professor Gaston J^ze wntes • ‘ C’est U une
magnifique page de I’histobe financiere de I’Angleterre *. At that
we may leave it to return to the War itself
The On the Western Front no decision was reached in 1916. Of
the great battles roimd Ypres m the spring mention has already
1915-16 been made. In the result Ypres was held. In the autumn there
were terrific battles between the British and the Germans at
Loos and between the French and the Germans m Cham-
pagne The losses on both sides were terrible, but the military
results achieved were unfortunately incommensurate therewith
Meanwhile the tremendous effort directed in the autumn of 1915
by the Germans against the Russians undoubtedly weakened the
German strength on the Western Front, but notwithstandmg this
the Allies failed to break through.
Verdun The year 1916 was remarkable for the prolonged and terrific
battle waged between the Germans and the French round the
* The Comnuttee was set up at the instance of Sir Godfrey Collins and the
present writer. (Cf. Hansard, July 6, 1917.)
1018]
THE IRISH REBELLION
381
great fortress of Verdun. Opening m February, the battle lasted
almost continuously until July The greatest gallantry was dis-
plaj ed on both sides, but by July the German attack had been
definitely repulsed, and on December 15 the French won a brilliant
victorj' on that historic field
In July the Bntish, now under the command of Sir Douglas The
Haig, had, aided by the French, taken the offensive on the
Somme, with the object, duly achieved, of weakening the German
pressure on Verdim The battle raged fiercely from July until
November, but when tlie year closed, though a serious dent had
been made m the German line, the position on the Western
Front seemed to have reached stalemate
The jear 1916 was marked, on the Home Front, by a senes of The
events of high significance
Of these the first was the Sinn Fein rebellion wrhich at Easter The
1916 broke out in Ireland At the outbreak of the War, Irish
feehng was keenly aroused on behalf of the Belgian Roman
Catholics, and it seemed not impossible that the Cathohe South
might fling itself into the struggle against Germany with not less
ardour than the Protestant North Durmg 1915 that hope faded
The disloyal section of the Insh Cathohes gained the ascendant,
entered into treasonable correspondence with Germany, and,
relying upon the promised assistance of England’s enemies, raised
the standard of rebeUion m April 1916 Unhappily, the episode
was not without precedent England’s difficulty had always been
Ireland’s opportunity. But the rebellion of 1916 came as a shock
to those m England who had complacently imagined that the
passmg of a Home Rule Bill for Ireland would suffice to heal the
secular discord between the two countries An attempt was
made to land arms and ammunition, in the neighbourhood of
Tralee, by a German auxihary disguised as a neutral merchant-
man, in conjunction with a German submarme The English
Navy was alert The ‘ Norwegian merchantman ’ was challenged
by Bluebell and ordered to accompany her to Queenstown There-
upon the merchantman hoisted German colours, and her crew
— German officers and sailors — Shaving sunk the ship ivith its
cargo, took to the boats. Many prisoners were taken, among
them Sir Roger Casement, who had served in the British Consular
Service, and m 1911 had been knighted for his services Charged
>nscrip'
ton
382 THE GREAT WAR— THE IIOSIE FRONT [ioi4-
with high treason, he was convicted and sentenced to death
Some sentimentalists tried to procure his reprieve, but on
August 8, 1916 he was hanged. Meanwhile, the day after the frus-
trated landing in the West, rebellion broke out m Dublin. The
rebellion was crushed, though not without considerable blood-
shed and much damage to property in Dublin. Of those who
fought for the Crown 19 officers and 109 men were killed, 46 officers
and 326 men were wounded From the hospitals 180 civilians
were reported killed and 614 wounded. Of the casualties among
the Smn Fein troops there is no record but 8,000 rebels were
arrested, and fifteen of the leaders suffered death. Among those
who were released after a brief imprisonment was Mr. De Valera.
The Irish rebelhon, though abortive, excited bitter feelings in
Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the leniency shown to
all but a few of the rebels was not universally approved. Mr.
Birrell, the Chief Secretary for Ireland, was held to have been
primarily to blame. Nor did he seek to evade responsibihty.
He frankly owned that, although aware of Smn Fein activities,
he had entirely miscalculated their force and direction He
immediately resigned and disappeared from pubhc life. Unfor-
tunately, the evil he had permitted hved after him ^
Almost exactly simultaneous with the Sinn Fein rebelhon m
Ireland was the adoption of Compulsory Military Service in Great
Britain. Towards Compulsion things had been moving for some
tune In June 1915 a National Registraiion Act was passed, under
which all persons from 16 to 65 were compelled to register in a
variety of categones. This was followed in October by an effort
to impose universal service without resort to actual compulsion.
The Earl of Derby, a man of great influence and highly popular
with all classes, was appointed Director of Recruiting, and all men
between 18 and 41 were invited to enrol by years m 46 groups,
23 for married, 28 for unmarried men. The unmarried men — not
required for essential war service at home, were to be called up
first. By December it was clear that the Derby Scheme had
failed. The response of the unmarried men was wholly made-
quate to the nation’s needs.
In January a scheme of partial compulsion was adopted : but
the meshes of the Exemptions Tribunals which were set up under
^ Cf Report of Royal Commission on Insh Rebellion (Cmd 8279 (1016) ),
and for general account Colvin, Life of Lord Carson, Vol 8, c xvi, and
Gwynn, Life of John Bedmond, and infra, p 446
1918J
CONSCRIPTION
the Act were too wide Compulsion hnd to come It came in
the Universal Jlilitnry Service Act passed m May 1916 Every
male between the ages of 18 and tl (subsequently extended to 51)
thus became liable to service The gradual approach towards a
system regarded as appropriate only to ‘foreigners’ was char-
acteristically English and characteristicallj Asquithian Volun-
tary effort, taking the Empire as a whole, had jielded over
5,000,000 men , but it bad become all-important (m Asquith's
own words) ‘ to get nd of piecemeal treatment, and the sense
of temporal^’ injustice and mcquahty w’hicli that mode of
treatment is apt to engender’ At the same tune Asqmth was
determined tliat if the change to Compulsion was to come it should
be by * general consent ’, but he confessed that he had never had
a harder task than ‘ to secure the fulfilment of that condition
But he had secured it Only twenty-seven members voted
against the third reading of the Bill Among the twenty-seven
Liberals was Sir John Simon, who resigned office , among the ten
Socialists were Mr Ramsay MacDonald, Mr J. H Thomas and
Sir. Snowden.^ ‘Looking back’, wntes Mr. Lloyd George,
* there is no doubt at all that we should have been able to organize
the nation far more effectively in 1914, and bring the conflict to
an end far more quickly and economically, if at the very outset
we had mobilized the whole nation on a war-footing — ^its man-
power, money, matenals and brams — and bent all our resources
to the task of victory on rational and systematic lines ’ ^ But
that IS admittedly viewing the matter from the safe ground of
retrospect The opinions thus expressed were not recorded at
the time Asquith perhaps delayed too long. The fact remains
that under his guidance the nation now accepted compulsory
service without a murmur
Conscription was indeed the legal affirmation of the nation’s The
inflexible resolve, at all costs, to see the War through to a vie-
tonous end
‘ The young men shall go to the battle it is their task to con-
quer The married men shall forge arms, transport baggage and
artillery ; provide subsistence The women shall work at soldiers’
clothes, make tents, serve m the hospitals The children shall
scrape old hnen into surgeon’s hnt The aged men shall have
themselves earned into pubhc places, and there, by their words,
* Asquilb, Memones, 11 125-6. » IT’or Memotra
384
THE GREAT WAR— THE HOME FRONT [lou-
excite the courage of the young; preach hatred to Kings and
unity to the Republic ’ Such was the temper of France, as
expressed in the Report of the Committee of Public Safety, in the
early autumn of 1793. That Report issued in the famous levSe
en masse, when Carnot, in his own words, undertook ‘ to give
military organization to the popular fury The crusading
enthusiasm of the young Republic, directed and ordered by the
organizing genius of Carnot, earned all before it
In no other temper can any nation expect to emerge triumphant
from a great war. The whole people must be mobilized for
service.
The British peoples had, by 1917, reached the same conclusion
as the French Committee of Public Safety , but they had reached,
if as surely, more slowly, and by a different route Between 1798
and 1917 there was, moreover, one conspicuous contrast. The
women of England were not content to serve only as the women
of France had served during the Revolutionary wars. Claiming
equality of political rights with men, they were prepared to take
over many of their duties With what superb devotion they
served the State we have already seen ^ The whole nation was,
indeed, mobilized for war serviec. Whether mobilization was
not unduly delayed is a question often asked, but never satis-
factorily answered By 1917 it had come.
Death of Hardly had it come when the great soldier, who had reorgan-
ized the whole military system of his country and had, in the
language of the street, given his name to the new army, met his
doom amid the storms and shadows of the North Sea.
The magic of Kitchener’s name was almost as potentm Russia as
m England and the Czar Nicholas was most anxious that he should
obtain first-hand knowledge of the position of affairs in Russia,
and by his presence should put fresh courage into the Russian
army. Kitchener u as himself keen to go , and the British Gov-
ernment, Lloyd George in particular, encouraged him to do so
For the latter was convinced that we had grievously failed to
utilize Russia’s inexhaustible man-power. She had 15,000,000
men of fighting age, and (by i916) only 650,000 rifles with which
to arm them, and hardly any artillery ammunition to support
them. Before leaving London Kitchener for the first and last
* Supra, p 327,
1018]
THE PARIS PACT
time addrsssed the members of the House of Commons m secret
conclave in a Committee room By the time he had concluded
his address every critic was silenced The strong and generally
silent soldier left the politicians tongue-tied On June 5, lOiG,
he embarked at Thurso on the Hampshire His plans had been
betrayed, his ship struck a name and with almost all hands aboard
went straight to the bottom News of his death came as a
thunderclap to his fellow-eountij'men and their alhes * he had
achieved the seemingly impossible, he had transformed Great
Britain into a nation in arms , he had made the armies that won
the War.
For a month after Kitchener s death the War Office was with-
out a Chief but on July 6 Lloyd George became Minister for War,
and at the Ministry of Munibons was succeeded by one of the
ablest of the younger Liberals, E S Montagu
During the spring of 1916 Mr W M Hughes, the Labour Mr W.M
Prime Minister ot Australia, visited England, and aroused gi;cat
enthusiasm by a series of speeches pitched m the highest key of
Imperial patriotism In Fcbruati' he had been sworn of the
King’s Privy Council of Canada, and had attended a meeting of
the Cabinet in Ottawa In March he was admitted to the Privy
Council at home and (like Sir Robert Borden in 1915) was mvited
by Mr Asquith to attend a meetmg of the Imperial Cabinet He
received the Freedom of the City on ^larch 22, and in June took
part m the Economic Conference of the Allies at Paris as one of
the representatives of the Impenal Government
The sentiment which led to the summoning of the Conferenee, The
and which dominated its deliberations, was admirably expressed p“™
by Bonar Law ‘ We are standing by eaeh other now m war ,
... we have suffered together, we have died together • ... so,
if possible, we shall stand by each other during the period of
reconstruebon after the War ’ ^ The recommendations of the
Conference, which were formally and publicly adopted ‘ both by
the Bntish and French Governments, were m three parts (i) Mea-
sures for the war penod , (u) temporary measures to be adopted
dunng the period of reconstruction after the War , and (m) per-
manent measures of mutual assistanee and collaboration among
the alhes ’. For Great Britain the recommendabons marked a
* H of Commons’ Hansard, August 2, 1010
» E — 25
3S0 THE GREAT WAR— THE HOME FRONT [I9ii-
Food
supplies
Food
contiol
complete break from the laisser-faire policy whieh for the best
part of a century she had consistently followed. The ‘ McKenna
Duties ’ had aheady supplied the thin end of a Protective wedge.
But thej'- might well have been regarded as a temporary war
expedient The Pans Pact foicshadowcd a permanent reversal
of fiscal policy. The Central Powers, having {ex hypothcsi) been
defeated in v ar v ere not to be allon ed to ‘ v in the Peace ’. They
were to be confiontcd by a Fiscal Bloc designed to secure the
independence of the Allied Powers, alike in regard to ‘ their
sources of supply ’ and their ‘ financial, commercial and maritime
organization ’ ^ The Pans Conference reflected the mood of the
moment ils prescience was less conspicuous
The Pans Conference was onty one of several indications that
the Allies wcic beginning to feel the economic pincli of war.
On February 15 a blockade of the British coasts had been de-
claicd by Germany, and been to some extent enforced by her
submarines. On Slarch 1 Great Britain retorted by Orders m
Council u Inch established a blockade of the German coast , but
partly owing to a desue to avoid offence to neutrals, partly owing
to the mischievous provisions of the ‘Declaration of London*
(1908) the blockade did not become really effective until, in July
1916, the Declaration of London uas denounced Down to that
lime Germany was still getting ample supplies from and through
* neutrals ’. Two months earlier (May 31) the battle of Jutland
had driven the German High Sea Fleet into harbour, v hence it
never emerged except to suricnder.- The British Navy' had
cleared the sea of German mcichantmen
But what of British merchant-ships ? The German sub-
marine menace, though not yet at its zenith, v as talang mcreasmg
toll of them. Zeppelin raids, beginning in January 1915, had
in 1916 become increasingly' frequent and destructive. Even
stay-at-homes could no longer fail to reahzc that ve ■\^c^e at war.
Had we trusted in vam to an invincible Navy ? No longer
insular as regards external attack, were we increasingly insular
as regards supplies from oversea?
The Government, anxious to avoid panic, proceeded cau-
tiously Restrictions were imposed in the course of 1916 on
' Cd 8271 and IMarriolt, ap Ntnetecnih Centurtf ajid After, November,
1910. ‘ See, in correction, infra, p 414
1018 ]
THE SUBMARINE MENACE
3S7
imports** jf timber and tobacco, and on tbe sale of petrol Food
prices -were mounting People began to convert their flower
beds into vegetable plots, and even to plant potatoes on tennis
lawns Belts were tightened, and more and more land was taken
up for allotments
In November 191G Lord Devonport, a business man of great
ability, witb speeial knowledge, as a wholesale grocer, of food-
stuffs, was appointed Food Controller The first rcstrietions
applied only to luxurious hotels and restaurants
At the beginning of 1917 the situation became rapidly worse Sub-
On January 31 the war at sea had entered upon a new phase
German}' carried out her threat of ‘ unrestricted ’ submarme war-
fare — the sinking of unarmed merchantmen, hospital ships — ^any-
thing afloat — ^inthout warning For several months the new
method proved terribly cffeetive By April 1917 British ships
had earned, m comparative safetj , no less than 8,000,000 troops
over sea , thev had kept open the allied lines of communication
in the Channel, in the Atlantic, and the Mediterranean with the
help of French and Italian ships, and wnth Japanese in the Indian
Ocean and the Pacific , they had brought to the Allies food and
inumtions But they had accompbshed this wonderful task at
a lugh cost in lives and ships, and the strain upon them was
intense
In the early summer of 1917 the strain came perilously near
the breaking-point ‘ A year ago it was supposed that England
would be able to use the acres of the whole world, bidding with
them against the German acres To-day England sees herself
m a situafaon unparalleled in her history Her acres across sea
disappear as a result of the blockade which submarmes are daily
making most effective around England ’ These words, uttered
by Dr-- Karl Helferich, the German Secretary of the Interior, in
Fe’.i.uary 1917, were no idle boast The real facts W'ere care-
fully and properly concealed from the British and Allied peoples,
but Helferich spoke truth The losses of British, Allied and
neutral ships increased from 181 (298,000 gross tonnage) in
January, to 259 (408,000 tons) m February, 825 (500,000 tons)
in March, and 423 (849,000 tons) m April In April, -writes Mr
Churchill, ‘ the great approach to the south-west of Ireland was
becoming a -veritable cemetery of Bntish shipping, in which large
888 THE GREAT WAR— THE HOME FRONT [1914-
vessels were sxink day by day about 220 miles from land ’ ^ One
ship out of every four that left British shores never came home,
but as Mr. Churchill proudly and justly adds ‘ no voyage was
delayed for lack of resolute civilian volunteers.’
In June 1917 Lord Rhondda, another great industrialist,
succeeded Lord Devonport as Food Controller. To meet the
outcry against ‘ profiteers ’ a schedule of maximum prices was
drawn up and rapidly extended Then followed the rationing
of consumers. Food cards and queues made their appearance
Even the wealthiest could obtain only a minimum of food. In
London and the towns generally there was real scarcity. The
country districts suffered less.
Fall Meanwhile, a change of Government had taken place. Before
Asquith there was general dissatisfaction with the conduct
Coalition of the War The nation was making gigantic sacrifices; the
apparent results were disappointingly meagre. Various devices
had been adopted for the conduct of the War ; there had been
much shifting of offices, and many changes of , personnel. In
November 1914 a War Council had been set up, but the conduct
of the War was really in the hands of Asqmth, l^itchener, and
Churchill. In June 1916, after the formation o^ the Coalition
Cabinet, the conduct of the War was entrusted to the ‘ Dar-
danelles Committee A body of no fewer than eleven members
was hopelessly unwieldy, and m November 1915 Sir Edward Car-
son (who had joined the Government m June) resigned in disgust
at the incapacity displayed by his colleagues, particularly in rela-
tion to the Near East. In the same month Asquith announced
the appointment of a War Council of five members, Balfour,
Lloyd George, Bonar Law, Kitchener (who was temporarily absent
in the Near East) and himself. Churchill, resenting his exclusion,
retired altogether from the lUinistry and donned his military
uniform.
In December Sir Douglas Haig replaced French as Com-
mander-m-Chief and Sir Wilham Robertson became Chief of a
reconstituted Imperial General Staff The new War Council, how-
ever, showed very httle improvement on its various predecessors.
Where did the fault he ? Only two IVIinisters had throughout
^ op cit , IV. 862 Cf Lloyd George, Memoirs, III, where the flgurcs
very slightly vary
MR ASQUITH
IfilSj
retained their places Of these one v as Grey * ; the other Asquith.
On December I, 191C, LIo 3 d George suggested to the Prime
Minister the appointment of a War Director}' of four members,
of 'nhom Asquith 'i\as not to be one. Several dajs of hectic
intrigue folloiicd On December 1 Lloj d George resigned The
leading Conservatives agreed that the ‘ Government could not go
on as it IS and urged Asquith to resign. Asquith was prepared
to reconstruct, but not to resign On December 5, however,
having rcahzcd the impossibilit}' of reconstruction he resigned,
and refused to sen c (eg as Lord Chancellor) under Bonar Law,
whom the King had asked to form a Government Thereupon
Bonar Law abandoned the task, and on December C Lloj'd George
kissed hands as Prime Minister Asquith’s political career was
virtuallv' at an end In 191S, he vias actually rejected after
tiurty-two v'ears’ service by bis constituents in Fifcshirc He
returned to the House of Commons ns member for Paisley in
1020 , but his position there was uncomfortable not to say humilia-
ting, that of a General without an nrmj'. He was again returned
for Pai'lcv in 1922, and m December 1923, but in 1924 was
rejected by that constituency and in 1925 he went to the House
of Lords as Earl of 0.vford and Asquith He was then visibly
breaking up, and on February 15, 1928, he died
Had he succe e ded in ro amtaming the peace of Europe Asquith
would have gone down to History as a statesman of brilliant
talents brilliantly employed. Too self-controlled, too fastidious
iiT scholarship, too contemptuous of vulgar applause to evoke
enthusiasm, he reciprocated the affection and I 03 alt}' with which
he inspired colleagues and fnends. In pure literary eloquence
his onl} nv'al among contemporaries was Lord Rosebety' , os a
platform orator he was inferior to Lloyd George, and as a par-
hamentary dialectician to Balfour A gr eat Parliame ntarian, he
led the House of Commons with rare dignity, and two Sovereigns
bore witness to his loyaltj’^ He did as much perhaps as a Radical
Minister was able to prepare for a war which he could not but
foresee I^Hien w’ar came, he put England’s case before his coun-
trymen and before the wotW, with dignity and restraint, without
exaggeration, biit with unan^emble ’’force and mcomparablc
lucidity , he^ave steady support to Lord Kitchener and to the
* Sir Cdiiard Grey bad remained throughout at the Foreign Olhce
890 THE GREAT WAR— THE HOME FRONT
sailors and soldiers in the fighting hne ; he showed courage and
calmness in the face of national adversity, and when he was him-
self depnved of power he exlubited dignity, magnanimity and
restraint But with all his great qualities he lacked some w^ch
are essential to leadership m war. ' By 1916, if not before, the
liStion imperatively demanded a change in the supreme direction
of affairs From the King downwards sincere sympathy was
extended to Mr. Asquith . but the safety of the State came first
Lloyd Sir Edward (now Viscount Grey) went mtq rgtiremgnt with
Premlr- Chief, and was succeeded at “the Foreign Office by Balfour,
ship I Cfarson succeeded the latter at the Admiralty, but resigned in the
following July when he became a member of the War Directory
without portfolio. Most of Lloyd George’s principal colleagues
wer6 Conservatives, though about a dozen Liberals and three
Labour members found places in the enlarged Blinistry But
the new Premier was responsible for constitutional mnovations
of great significance. He insisted that war could not be success-
fully waged by a ‘ Sanhedrim ’ — ^by a Cabinet of the time-honoured
design. Consequently, he formed a War Directory ; he selected
as Departmental Mmisters experts rather than Parliamentarians,
and he called into being an Imperial War Cabinet
The War The ‘ Directory ’ was to consist of five members, of whom one
Cabinet ^ administrative department — ^Mr.
Bonar Law, who was to be Chancellor of the Exchequer and lead
the House of Commons. The other members were Lord Curzon
(Lord President of the Council and leader of the House of Lords),
Mr Lloyd George himself. Lord Milner and ]\Ir Henderson
(Labour), the two latter being ‘ without portfolios ’. General
Smuts, the distinguished South African statesman and soldier,
was added to the Directory m June 1917. G N Barnes suc-
ceeded Henderson as representative of the Labour Party in the
‘ Directory ’ in August 1917, The idea of this War Cabinet or
‘Directory’ was that half a dozen of the leading statesmen,
reheved of all departmental responsibihties, should be free to
give their whole time to the prosecution of the War.
In practice this idea was imperfectly reahzed much of the
time of the ‘ Directors ’ was given to the settlement of mter-
Departmental disputes
That the new War Cabmet worked hard cannot be denied.
10181 DIPERIAL WAR CABINET COl
Dunng iti, first year of existence it held more than SOO meetings.
Eiciy meeting was attended by the Foreign Secretary, by the
First Sea Lord of the Admirallj', and the Chief of the Imperial
General Staff, and m addition 218 persons, experts on Foreign,
Colonial and Indian affairs, on Finance, Education, Sliipping,
Agriculture, Railuajs, &c , ■ncrc from time to time summoned
to meetings Attached to the Cabinet iias a Secretariat of eleven
members, who kept the minutes, prepared agenda, circulated
reports and attended to correspondence
Outside the M\ar Cabinet was a body of Slmistcrs, substan-
tial!} increased in number by the creation of many<ncu olhccs
Their position was ambiguous They were summoned to Cabinet
meeting- only when the affairs of their several departments were
under discussion, and they could bring with them * any experts
either from their own deparlmenLs or outside, wliosc advice they
considered might be useful’. (Report of the War Cabinet for
1917, pp 2, 1 ) Collective responsibility, which was the essence
of the old sv stem, disappeared The new s\ stem, like that which
had always prevailed under the Presidential Constitution of the
United Stales, was frankly departmental A semblance of co-
ordination was maintained through the medium of the War Cabi-
net but the rcsponsibihty of the Heads of Departments was
rather to the Premier-President than to the W’ar Cabmet or to
each other Tlic chief Jlinislcrs outside the Director}’’ formed,
howev'cr, a quasi-cabinct for Home Affairs For Department'll
Ministers the Prime Minister, by a daring but well justified inno-
vation, went in some cases outside Parliament Thus Sir Albert
Stanley, a successful business man, became President of the Board
of Trade and Mr H A. L Fisher, a distinguished scholar. Presi-
dent of the Board of Education Scats in the House of Commons
were promptly found for them, and, later on, for Sir Eric Geddes,
an expert on transport, who, on the resignation of Sir Edward
Carson (July 1017), was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty
Of even greater significance was a tlurd innovation made by Tlie
j\Ir. Llo} d George The Prime Mimstcrs of the Dommions and
representaliv es of India were, m December 1910, invited by the Cabinet
Home Government to visit England * to attend a senes of special
and contmuous meetings of the War Cabinet, in order to consider
urgent questions affecting the prosecution of the War, the pos-
892 THE GREAT WAR— THE HOIVIE FRONT [1914-
sible conditions on which, in ogreement with our allies^ we could
assent to its termination, and the problems which will then
immediately arise The invitation was accepted ; and the
Impenal War Cabinet, consisting of the five members of the
British War Directory ; the Secretaries of State for Foreign
Affairs, India, and the Colonies , tliree representatives of Canada,
two of New Zealand, one of South Africa and one of Newfound-
land, met for the first time m March 1917. Three representatives
of India were also present to advise the Secretary of State. So
completely successful vras this experiment that Mr. Lloyd George
informed the House of Commons (May 17, 1917) that it had been
decided to hold an ‘ annual Imperial Cabinet ’ and that it was
the general hope that the institution would become an ‘ accepted
convention of the British Constitution ’. Sir Robert Borden, the
Prune Minister of Canada, expressed his conviction that ‘with
that new Cabinet a new era has dawned and a new page of history
has been written ’.
The experiment was repeated m 1918 when Austraha also was
represented : but it did not survive the Peaee Conference.
Nor was the new War Directory conspicuously more successful
than the old Cabinet in the conduct of the War. In 1917 a
strenuous and sustained effort was made to bring the war on
Tho the Western Front to a victorious end. On April 9 a temfic
of attack, launched at Arras, resulted m the capture of Vimy Ridge,
1017 and two months later a second victory not less brilliant was won
at Messines Ridge The fighting strength of the Allies would
then, it was reckoned, reach the maximum. In these great
battles the gallant Canadians, under the command of General
(now Viscount) Byng, covered themselves >vith glory. But bril-
liant as was the attack, there was no break through. A further
advance w^as timed to begin at the end of July. On the day it
began (July 31) the weather broke, and the operation was con-
ducted under impossible conditions. Some ground was gained,
but at an enormous sacrifice of life, which made the ‘ mud and
blood ’ of Paschendaale proverbial. Nor wras the objective to
break through the Ypres sabent, and thrust the Germans out of
Flanders, attained.
Events remote from the Western Front were powerfully
reactmg upon the war m France and Flanders. Of these the
10181 ITALY IN THE WAR 303
most direct ■were the outbreak of revolution in Russia (March
12) ; the intervention of the United Stales (April 6) ; and the
defeat of the Italians at Caporetto (October 2 1)
Of Italj*’s part in the Great War no mention has vet been Italy
made At the outbreak of ■war her altitude was doubtful So
lately as 1912 she had renewed the Triple Alliance, though touanls
England she had always been fnendh, and of late her relations
both with France and Russia had greatly' improved She re-
fused m July’ 191 1 to regard the Austnan quarrel nith Serbia
as a casus foederis , but there ■was a large party in favour of
neutrality. Germany did c\ cry thing to encourage it, c\ on to the
point of urging Austna to make large concessions to the Irrc~
denitef’t There v\ as, luTK ever, a considerable minority in favour
of intervention on the side of the Allies and late in 191 1 this party
rcceiv'cd a powerful impulse from the adhesion of a leading
Socialist Remto Mussolini, who founded 11 Popolo d'ltaba to
popularize his policy’ Tliat Italy could hav’c obbuned the Tren-
Imo ■without war is certain . but for the Irredentists that was not
enough Early in 1915 Italy’ made her fateful decision
By the Treaty’ of London, concluded on April 26, 1915, be- Treaty of
tween Italy, Great Britain, France and Russia, Italy undertook
to put all her strength into the War against the enemies of the
Lnicnic In return she was to obtain the district of the Tren-
tino, the Southern Tyrol up to the Brenner Pass, Trieste, the
counties of Gonna and Gradisca, tlie whole of Istna up to the
Quamero, including Volosca and the Istrian Archipelago, the
province of Dalmatia in its existing frontiers, together with most
of the islands in the Adnatic (including Lissa), and she was to
retain Valona and the Dodecanese * Italy also stipulated for a
loan of £50,000,000 on easy terms, and that the Pope should have
no say os to the final terms of peace Italy at the same time
agreed that large accessions of terntory, including Fmme, should
be assigned to Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro
Italy’ declared war agamst Austria-Hungary’ on May 24;
against Turkey on August 21, and a few weeks later, against
Bulgaria Agamst Germany Italy did not declare war until
August 27, 1916
The intervention of Italy was, both in a moral and military
*■ British and Foreign State Papers, 1010, vol oxii, pp 073 Bcq
301 THE CHEAT WAR— THE HOME FRONT [1914-
scnse, of immense advantage to the Entente , but it introduced
a considerable complication into the diplomatic situation The
Serbs were gravely perturbed by the adhesion of a Power whose
notorious ambitions threatened to frustrate the dream of a greater
Serbia Rather than see Italy established on the Dalmatian
coasts and Archipelago, the Serbs would have preferred to leave
Austria-Hungary in occupation. The Entente, however, had no
option but to pay the price demanded by Italy.
For Italy, as for other belligerents, sunshme alternated with
shadow during the next three years She more than held her
own during the campaign of 1916 , she tasted tnumph in the
summer of 1917, but in the autumn of that year it was her fate
to learn the bitterness of defeat. Neither politically nor in a
military sense could Italy present a united front to the enemy.
Not only had she to count on the hardly disguised hostility of
the Papacy, but there was a considerable pro-German party
among the upper classes, and a very strong section of ‘ inter-
nationals ’ among the Socialists. The latter party was strength-
ened by the disaster uhich overtook Italian arms when, in Octo-
ber 1917, the great Austro-German attack was launched.
War weariness or treachery opened at Caporetto a gap in the line ,
the Second Itahan army was compelled to fall back ; the retreat
became a rout , the rout of the Second Army involved the retreat
of the Third, and within tliree weeks the enemy had captured
2,800 guns and taken nearly 200,000 prisoners. The Fourth Army
then made a stand on the hne of the Piave, and on the holding
of that line the safety of Vemce, Verona and Vicenza depended.
The moment was critical, but England and France, realizmg the
danger to the common cause, promptly dispatched large rein-
forcements from the Western Front. The arrival of French and
English .troops, commanded by General Fayolle, Sir Herbert
Plumer, and Lord Cavan, stiffened the Itahan defence, and when
the Austrians again attacked, somewhat tardily, m June 1918,
they were vigorously repulsed. In October Lord Cavan in com-
mand of a mixed British and Itahan force, and General Diaz in
command of a re-cquipped Italian army, took the offensive m
their turn, and, m a bnef but brilliant campaign, forced the
passage of the Piave and chased the Austrians out of Italy.
On November 4 Austria begged for an armistice.
1018]
REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA
The assistance so promptly given to Italy by England and Tlie
France had not merely saved the military situation but had pro-
duced an excellent moral effect Unfortunately a terrible blow tion,
had in the meantime fallen upon the Grand Alliance In the
first months of the War Russia had rendered mvaluable service
to the cause of the Alhes , but her troops were badly equipped ;
she lacked guns and munitions , worst of all her efforts m the
field w ere paralysed, if not by actual treaclicrj’', at least by gross
maladministration Nevertheless, before the end of 1916 Russia
had, apparently, overcome the worst of the difficulties
It was too late In March 1917 the long-tlireatened revolu-
tion broke out The C 2 ar Nicholas was deposed, and, after being
held captive for awhile was, with his wife and all his children,
foully murdered by his captors A republic was proclaimed and
a Pro-visional Government of ‘Moderates ’ was set up But m
November the ‘ llloderates ’ were pushed aside by the Com-
munists, and the Bolshe-vuks, under Lenin and Trotsky, were
mstalled in power '
When the Bolsheaik revolution was accomplished, the Russian
sailors mutinied and murdered their officers , the soldiers flung
down their arms and raced home with aU speed to secure the
loot which the social revolution promised
On the military results of the Russian Revolution it is super-
fluous to dwell Germany was able to wathdraw great armies
from the East, and flmg them mto the hne against the Allies
on the West; Austria was free to concentrate on the Italian
Front.
Before the end of the year negotiations for peace between
Bolshevik Russia and the Central Powers was begun and in March
1918 a Treaty w'as signed at Brest-Litovsk Russia was out of
the War The Entente was broken The W’’estern Powers must
carry on the struggle as best they could
Tw'O months after the signature of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
the Quadruple Alhance also imposed peace on Roumama But,
m view of subsequent events, this treaty was waste-paper.
The defection of Bolshe-vik Russia and the peace imposed on
Roumama left the Central Empires free to concentrate their the
efforts on the W'’estern Front But almost at the moment that ’
Russia failed, a new ally, morally if not militarily worth a dozen 1917
890 THE GREAT WAR— THE HOME FRONT [1914^
Russias, had come into the field against Germany. The attitude
of the United States during the first two years of the War had
most gravely disappomted, not only the Allies, but very many
of their own citizens. President Wilson had essayed to play a
mediating part in the world-conflict. His efforts were, however,
impeded by the stupidity of German diplomacy, and by her
ruthless disregard of the conventions of war.
On May 7, 1915, German submarines torpedoed a great Atlantic
liner, the Lusitania, which sank with the loss of over a thousand
persons, of whom scores were Amencans. Had Germany’s ulti-
mate fate ever been m doubt, that cnme had sealed it. From
that moment the conscience of the Amencan people was aroused,
and it was only a matter of time how soon outraged moral feehngs
would translate themselves into effective mihtary action.
Yet not even the smkmg of the Lusitania could drive Presi-
dent Wilson from the position he had assumed But the more
doggedly he persisted in the pohcy of neutrality, the more darmg
became the German attacks upon neutral shipping. At last, on
February 1, 1917, Germany proclaimed ‘ unrestncted submanne
warfare ’ any ship trading with Great Britain was to be sunk
at sight This culminating msult was too much for the patience
of the Amencan President; on February 2 the United States
broke off diplomatic relations, and on April 6, 1917, declared war
on Germany. ‘ With the entrance of the United States into this
war, a new chapter opened m world lustory.’ So spake Lord
Bryce. ‘ The entrance of the 'United States into the War was
the greatest mental effort and spiritual reahzation of truth which
has occurred m the whole course of secular history.’ The words
are Mr. Churclull’s, and they anticipate the verdict of postenly.
That America should so far abandon her traditional pohcy, and
fling all her weight, moral and material, into the War was, in
truth, an event of solemn significance. The mihtary effect of
her intervention was not, however, felt until the closmg months
of the War, when it did much to turn the scale agamst
Germany.
The How badly her help was needed, the story of 1918 will tell.
Sensive Between March and July the Germans on the Western Front
m 1918 launched four terrific attacks. The first (March 21) opened near'
St. Quentin, and resulted m the repulse of the 5th British Army
1018] CA^IPAIGN OF 1918 897
under fir Hubert Gough ^ Six hundred thousand Germans
attacked the -vreakest point in the Anglo-French line, and b}’ tlic
mere -weight of numbers pierced it Bapaume and Peronne,
Albert, Terznier and Roi c — all the expensive fruits of the sacn*
ficcs on the Somme were lost , but m front of Amiens the German
advance was stayed The crisis was vrliantlv met Foch was
invested -with supreme command of the Allied forces; all the
available Bntish rcserv cs w ere humed across the Channt 1 troops
■were summoned from Palestine; America was urged to expedite
the dispatch of her forces
Thanks in large measure to the British Na\y, the Americans
soon began to pour across the Atlantic Over 80,000 were sent
off in March, nearly 120,000 in April, ov er 245,000 in !May, nearly
280.000 in June, over 300,000 m Jul}', over 285,000 in August,
and 257,000 m September In all, fortj-two American divisions
were landed in France Fifty-one per cent of the troops were
carried in British forty-six per cent in American vessels , and out
of the v'ast total, only two hundred men were lost through the
attacks of enemy submannes Germany was astounded at this
remarkable feat, having believed it to be impossible of accom-
plishment
Meanwhile, on April 9, Germany launched a second attack
south of Ypres The offcnsiv^e lasted for three weeks, and was
very costly both to the Germans and to the Allies, but was
stayed in front of Hazebrouck. A third attack agamst the French
front (lilay 26) brought the Germans once more on to the Marne,
but at Chatcau-Thierry their advance was stayed by Foch
(June 11). The enemy attacked again on July 16 and were
permitted by the great French soldier to cross the Marne But
on the 18th, Foch let loose his reserv es, and the Germans were
dnven back -with immense slaughter.
On August 8 the British counter-offensive began. The fierce Tlie
fightmg between that date and November 11 may be regarded
as one almost contmuous battle, m the course of which the British Aug -
armies captured nearly 200,000 prisoners and nearly 3,000 guns ,
140.000 prisoners and 2,000 guns fell to the French, 48,000
1 Thu was the official -view , but the question whether the 5th Army
was nushandled or did all that was required of it is now hotly disputed For
a spinted defence of Gough sec Lord Birkenhead, Turning Paints cf History,
London, 1030
Germany
I cracks ’
The
Price of
War
898 'THE GREAT WAH— THE HOJIE FRONT [ioi4r-
prisoners and 1,400 guns to the Americans ; while the gallant
remnant of th^ Belgian army also claimed its modest share m
the greatest battle of all reeorded history. The details of the
fightmg must be sought elsewhere. The result may be chronicled
m a sentence. The great military machine of Germany was at
last broken mto fragmeiits , the German people turned m anger
upon the dynasty, and Wilham of HohenzoUem, havmg surren-
dered the Crown of Prussia and the throne of Germany (Novem-
ber 9), fled for safety to Holland Already the terms of an armis-
tice had been agreed upon by the Alhes at Versailles (November
4), and on November 11 were accepted by the accredited envoys
of Germany. The Great War was over.
The victory of the Alhes was complete. To the flnal result
the British Empire had made indisputably the largest (Contribu-
tion But the price paid for victory was terrific In all, Great
Britain and Ireland contributed to the Allied cause over 6,000,000
men , the rest of the British Empire over 3,000,000, making a
total of 9,496,370. Of these 8,266,723 were killed, wounded and
missing, and those who actually gave their lives were httle short
of a milhon The losses suffered by the Bntish mercantile marine
were relatively the highest m the War. 14,661 men of the mer-
chant service were drowned or killed, and 30,000 men were
severely woimded, while no less than 9,000,000 tons of shippmg
were destroyed The naval casualties amounted to 27,175 of
whom no fewer than 22,258 were drowned or killed. The heroism
of the men of the mercantile marme was not mfenor even to that
of the fighting forces , before the close of the War many men
had been torpedoed six or seven times, and yet there is no single
instance on record of a man havmg refused to ship
The sacrifice of wealth was on a scale parallel with that of
men Between August 3, 1914, and March 31, 1919, the Ex-'
chequer issues totalled £9,590,000,000. About £1,500,000,000
was lent to the Alhes, and the value of shippmg and cargoes lost
by enemy action was estimated at £750,000,000. It is natural
to ask whether the tremendous effort thus barely outlmed was
* worth while ’. To attempt an answer while the world is under
the influence of post-War disillusionment and reaction might be
misleadmg. The contemporary historian can only say that it
was inevitable.
CHAPTER XXin
THE OVERSEAS EMPIRE AND THE WAR AT SEA
T he Great War was not merely a European war , it engulfed
the world More particularly did it involve that large
portion of the world embraced in the British Empne.
When the King of Great Britam and Ireland declares war he The
declares it as Kmg of aU the Bntams and as Emperor of India
The King’s person is mdivisible . the British Empire vis a vis the
resl; of the world is a umt As a umt the Empire, on August 4,
1914, went to war. As a umt, on June 28, 1919, the Empire
concluded peace , but of those who signed the Treaty of Versailles
as representmg the British Empire, some signed also as repre-
senting the component nations of the British Commonwealth
Their msistence on their right to do so was of high significance.
On August 4, 1914, the many members of the Bntish Overseas
Empire were involved m war involuntarily , if not agamst their
wills, at least without their wills. No British Dommion could
have remained neutral m the War, except by renouncmg its
allegiance to the King, and formally severmg its connexion with
the Empire. But although the sole responsibihty for the declara-
tion of war rested on the Impenal Government, and although
that declaration created a state of war for the whole Empire, the
active co-operation of the Dommions was entirely voluntary.
No demand was made upon them for assistance, mihtary, naval
or financial Their autonomy was rigidly respected ^ Never-
theless, they promptly made spontaneous offers of co-operation.
The world stood amazed at this demonstration of Impenal
uni ty ; Germany was not merely astonished but deeply chagrmed
The German people had been beguiled mto a confident anticipa-
1 Keith, Sovereignty of the British Dominions, p. 311, and IFar Government
of the Bntish Dominions, p 20.
400 OVERSEAS EMPIRE AND WAR AT SEA [i9i4-
lion that 1 he first shot fired jn a great European War would be
the signal for the dissolution of England’s ‘ loosely compaeted
Empire Of all the misealculations of German diplomaey this
was in its consequenecs the most grave
South In no part of the Empire, exeept in South Afnea, was there
any hesitation to come forward with offers of assistance, still less
to evade the legal responsibility of var. Even in South Africa
the Union Ministers aeeepted as early as August 10, 1914, the
suggestion of the Impenal Government that they should promptly
attack German South-West Africa. Nor was the Legislature
slow to support the action of the Executive. The House of
Assembly, ‘ fully recognizing the obligations of the Union as a
portion of the British Empire ’, passed a humble address assunng
His Majesty of ‘ its loyal support in bringing to a successful issue
the momentous conflict nhich had been forced upon him m defence
of the principles of liberty and of international honour, and of its
wholehearted determination to take all measures necessary for
defending the interests of the Union and for co-operating with
His l\Ia]esty’s Imperial Government to maintain the security and
mlegnty of the Empire *, An amendment, proposed by General
Hert/og, declaring that an * attack on German territory m South
Africa would be in conflict w’lth the interests of the Union and of
the Empire ’ found only twelve supporters. But the Opposition
w'cre not content with verbal protest Led by Christian De Wet
and C. F. Beyers (who resigned his post as Commandant-General
of the Umon Defence Force), they raised a rebellion in October.
With splendid moral courage General Botha lumself took the field
against ‘ men who in the past have been our honoured leaders
The rebellion was sustamed by some 10,000 fighting men, but
General Hertzog, though sjunpathizing with their attitude, was
not among them. Before the end of Dec ♦^he rebellion w'as
suppressed Beyers had been drowned . the cam-
paign , De Wet was tried for treason and, though sentenced to
SIX years’ imprisonment, was after a few months released.
With his hands free from domestic disaffection, Botha m 1916
led an expedition mto German South-West Africa The cam-
paign was arduous, but after some five months’ fighting, marked
by brilhant generalship, the Germans surrendered (July 9) to
1 The phrase is General Bcrnhardi’s.
1918]
THE DOMINIONS AT WAR
401
General Botha, and the most important of their African colonics
passed to the Union of South Africa. In addition to a large
number of coloured and native troops who v ere enlisted in labour
brigades South Africa contributed some 76,000 men to the armies
of the Empire Most of these fought under General Smuts m
East Africa or in West Africa, but some 25,000 fought in Europe,
and distinguished themselves on the Western Front
Canada came into the War without an hour’s hesitation She Canada
promptly dispatched 1,000,000 bags of flour as a present to the
Impenal Government, and by October 14 no fewer than 30,000
Canadian volunteers had reached England. They were followed
by other large contingents. Conscription v as adopted — not with-
out resistance from the French Canadians of Quebec — in 1917, and
before the end of the War Canada had raised no fewer than
593,141 men Of these 62,000 laid down their lives They had
von for themselves and for the land whence they came imperish-
able fame, and had done not a httle to save the Empire. New-
foundland also sent its contingent — some 6,500 men
Austraha was not a whit behind Canada As early as August AustraUa
S Mr. Hughes cabled to the Imperial Government that the
Commonwealth was ready to dispatch a force of 20,000 men.
The first contingent actually left Australia on November 1,
1914, and during the War no fever than 829,888 splendid fighting
men were sent overseas Of these 59,802 were killed or died
All the Austrahan troops were volunteers, Hughes’s proposal of
Conscription being decisively defeated The War, including
pensions, cost the Commonwealth £660,000,000.
New Zealand was equally prompt and even more generous
in its contribution it raised 112,228 men or 19 85 (against
Austraha’s 13 48) per cent of its male population The New
Zealanders suffered more than 50,000 casualties, but of all their
number only 341 were taken prisoners Such figures, apart from
war records, would suffice to attest their gallantry. New Zealand
incurred, m the service of the Empire, a debt of £81,500,000
Never perhaps m the history of the world has voluntary effort
achieved a result so splendid as that of the Bntish Dominions
overseas If their legal imphcation m the War was mevitable,
their contnbution to it was wholly spontaneous Nor did the
Imperial Government fail to respect the autonomy of the
M E. — 20
4U2 OVKKSEAS EAIPIRE AND WAR AT SEA [1014-
Dumiiiiuns. Thus it was General Rnlha who deeided the terms
on which the German forces in South Africa laid down their
arms, nnd it was Australian and Nc%r Zealand officers respectively
who nrmnpcd the terms of the capitulation of German New
Guinea nnd Samoa. The most sensitive of Dominion statesmen
could hardly fail to be reassured by the policj* pursued by the
Imperial Government Ihroiipliout the whole course of the War
nnd during the pence negotiations.
Nevertheless, the machinery of co-operation proved itself,
during the War, to be lamentably defective. Speaking at Win-
nipeg early in the War Sir Robert Borden said : * It is impossible
to believe that the existing status, so far os it concerns the control
of foreign polie}* and cxtra-lmpcnnl relations, can remain ns it
is to-day.’ * These pregnant events he said in December 1915,
* have already given birth to a new onler. It is realized that
great policies nnd questions uhieh eoncern and govern the issues
of peace nnd war cannot in future be assumed by the people of
the British islands clone.* In language not less emphatic and
more picturesque, Mr. Doherty, the Minister of Justice, spoke to
similar purpose at Toronto : * Our recognition of this war as ours,
our participation in it, spontaneous and voluntary as it is, deter-
mines absolutely once for nil that we liara passed from the status
of the protected colony to tliat of the participating nation. The
protected colony was rightly voiceless ; the participating nation
cannot continue so.'
Australia and New Zcalond re-echoed the voice of Canada.
* Tlicrc must be a change and it mu»t be radical in its nature,'
declared Mr. Hughes. Mr. Fisher and Sir Joseph Word spoke
with similar cniphnsis, nnd the same point was driven home in
England bj' Mr. Bonar Law : * It is not a possible arrangement
that one set of men should contribute the lives and treasure of
tlicir people ond should have no voice in the way in which those
lives and that treasure arc expended. That cannot continue.
Tlierc must be a change.'
The cliange came, as we have seen, with the summoning in
1017 of the Imperial War Cabinet.
Side by side with the Imperial Cabinet there met also a special
Imperial Conference, wlucdi on April 1C adopted an historic reso-
lution. After aflinning tiiot * the readjustment of tlic Constitu-
10181
INDIA AND THE WAR
403
tional rcl'-tions of the component parts of the Empire ’ ought to
form the subject of a Special Conference to be summoned as soon
as possible after the War, the resolution proceeded .
* They deem it their duty, however, to place on record their
new that any such readjustment, nhile thoroughlj’^ preserving nil
existing powers of self-government and complete control of
domestic affairs, should be based upon a full recognition of the
Dominions as autonomous nations of an Imperial Commonwealth,
and of India as an important portion of the same, should recog-
nize the right of the Dominions and India to an adequate voice
m foreign policy and in foreign relations, and should provide
effectnc arrangements for continuous consultation in all important
matters of common Imperial concern, and for such necessary con-
certed action, founded on consultation, as the sc\eral Govern-
ments may determme*
General Smuts bluntly said that the adoption of this resolu-
tion ruled out the whole idea of Imperial Federation — an Imperial
Legislature and an Imperial Executive responsible thereto The
Conference of 1926 pro\ed his prescience
India plaj'cd a part in the War not less important than that India
of the Dominions, but its constitutional and military position yyar^****
was entirely different
The army in India has always been maintained in a state of
preparedness for war, but the military authorities, both in India
and at home, had only m view frontier campaigns or at the worst
a possible attack by Russia or her allies on the North-West Frontier
Consequently the outbreak of the world-war found India unpre-
pared for mihtary participation m distant theatres of war In
August 1914 there were, exclusive of the Indian Reserves, the
Volunteers, and the Imperial Service Forces, about 285,000 men
under arms in India 75,000 were British and 160,000 formed the
Indian army (with 2,771 Bntish officers, and 341 British non-
commissioned officers) When the call from Europe came, the
response m India was immediate, spontaneous, and superb On
August 8 orders for mobilization were sent to Meerut and Lahore,
and before the end of the month the Lahore Division had em-
barked. Owmg to the lade of transports and escorts, the embark-
ation of the rest of the expeditionary force was delayed for some
weeks. In a short time, however, all but eight of the regular
404 OVERSEAS ESIPIRE AND WAR AT SEA pLOi*-
Bntish battalions and most of the Batteries -were withdrawn from
India, and were replaced by 29 Territorial Field Batteries and 35
Territorial battalions sent out from England.
Indmn On September 8 the Imperial Legislative Council met at Simla,
Viceroy conveyed to it a message from the King-Emperor.
In reply, the Council passed, with enthusiasm and unanimity, a
resolution affirming their ‘unswerving loyalty and enthusiastic
devotion to their King-Emperor and promising ‘ unflinching
support to the British Government They expressed the opinion
that ‘ the people of India, in addition to the assistance now being
afforded by India to the Empire, would vush to share in the heavy
financial burden now imposed by the War on the United King-
dom ’. Such sentiments, while evidently sincere, were partly
due to the anxiety of India not to be behind other ‘ Dominions
‘ We aspire said one Indian representative, * to Colonial self-
government, then we ought to emulate the example of the Colonials,
and try to do what they are doing.’
The The ruling Princes were not behind the Government of British
PnncM their professions of loyalty and promises of help. On
September 8 the Viceroy telegraphed that ‘the Rulers of the
Native States in India, who number several hundred in all,, have
with one accord rallied to the defence of the Empire and offered
their personal services and the resources of their States for the
War and that from among the many Pnnees and nobles who
had volunteered for active service he had selected some half-
dozen Pnnees including the Rulers of Patiala and Bikanir, Sir
Partab Singh, and other cadets and nobles, and had accepted
many offers of native contmgents. He also reported that : ‘ The
same spirit prevailed throughout British India, Hundreds of
telegrams and letters had . . . come from commumties and
associations, religious, pohtical and social, of all classes and
creeds, also from individuals offenng their resources or askmg for
opportunity to prove their loyalty by personal service.’
In the course of the War no fewer than 600,000 combatants
(mostly Punjabis, Sikhs, Rajputs, and Gurkhas) and 474,000 non-
combatants were sent overseas, and they distinguished them-
selves in nearly all the chief theatres of the War, notably in Meso-
potamia, Palestme, Salonika, Gallipoli, and East Afnca The
Bengali contribution to war-service was negligible.
1918]
SEA POWER
405
Included m the troops sent oversea were 26,000 officers and
men of the Imperial Service Forces, and they lost in dead over
1,500 men Of the Indian forces as a whole over 53,000 were
killed or died of wounds These losses w ere, as Lord Curzon truly
•^aid ‘ shattering ’ But he added . ‘ In the face of these trials
and difficulties the cheerfulness, the lojalty, the good discipline
and intrepid courage of these demzens of another chme cannot
be too highly praised ’
The splendid contribution made by the Overseas Empire to
the common cause is the more remarkable in view of the fact
that, exceptmg Africa, no part of that Empire was directly men-
aced by Germany Protected by the British Navy, the Dominions,
Dependencies and Colonies might have pursued m security the
even tenor of their way — doubtless with a profit to themselves
relativdy as large as that reaped by the United States.
But the condition absolute of their security was British The influ-
supenority at sea Fortunatclj'^ that superiority, though gravely B^-pSwer
menaced was never lost Of the many factors contributmg to
the final result sea-power was not the least important The
gallant resistance of Lidge , the superb courage and unyieldmg
tenacity of the French armies and the French people , the dogged
endurance and the heroic sacrifices of Britons from many lands ,
the tardy but effective help of America — all these were factors
of immense significance ; but not one of them would have availed
had Great Bntam lost command of the sea
On the outbreak of war a triple task was imposed upon the British
Navj' • to protect from invasion the shores of Great Britain , to
escort the British Expeditionary Force to France ; and to keep
dear of enemy ships all the great ocean routes, m order to brmg
safely to the several theatres of war the troops from oversea,
and to guard the merchantmen On the Navy, then, depended
the economic life of Great Bntam and the fighting power of her-
self and her alhes. The best opmion holds that Great Bntam was
never in any serious danger of mvasion Had the danger become
immment, the Fleet was ready to avert it With what bnlhant
success the second task was achieved has been already told It
remains to say something of the third
In home-waters the Admiralty was prepared for war By Home
4 a m. on August 4 the whole Fleet was mobihzed and ready for
40G OVERSEAS EMPIRE AND WAR AT SEA [1914-
The
Outer
Seas
The
Pacific
action under Admiial Sir John Jellicoe At 11 pm the historic
order was issued ‘ Commence hostilities at once against Ger-
many.’ On August 5 the Kdmgin Lmse, after laying mines
off the Suffolk coast, was caught and sunk but she had done
her work , the Amphion struck one of the mines and sank with a
loss of 150 men
In the outer seas we were less prepared than Germany. The
Germans had eight fast modem cruisers on foreign stations, and
five gunboats. The Scharnhorst, the Gneisenau, the Emden, the
Nuremberg and the Leipzig were on the China Station ; the KDmgs-
berg was off East Africa ; the Dresden and the Karlsruhe in the
West Indies These cruisers inflicted great damage upon us
Admiral von Tirpitz claimed, indeed, that ‘ of enemy’s goods and
bottoms they destroyed more than double their own value ’ before
they met their inevitable fate IIis calculation was probably
accurate
Especially damaging to British merchant-shipping durmg the
first three months of the War -was the activity of the Emden m
the Pacific. Had it not been for our alliance vith Japan, the
situation m the Far East would have indeed been grave. Japan
never hesitated as to the fulfilment of her obligations, though
even apart from the Treaty the opportunity of revenge on Ger-
many for the part she played in 1895 ^ would probably have led
to her mten^ention On August 28, 1914, she declared war on
Germany, and on October 19 adhered to the Pact of London, by
which the Entente Powers had bound themselves (Sept, 6) not to
conclude separate Peace Treaties wnth the enemy.
All the German possessions in the Pacific were swept up m
the first months of the War. On August 29 German Samoa was
occupied by a force from New Zealand , in September the Bis-
marck Archipelago and German New Guinea fell to the Aus-
tralians, and the Marshall and Carohne Islands to the Japanese.
A force of 80,000 Japanese troops had meantime, with some 2,000
British troops, attacked Kiaochow, which capitulated on Novem-
ber 7. Three days later the Emden was at last hunted down and
sunlc off Cocos Island by the Australian ermser Sydney. That
was a brilliant achievement, but the naval resources of Austraha
and New Zealand were quite unequal to the task of transpoi tmg
» Supra, p. 207.
1018]
THANDATES
407
their troops to Europe Nor could we spare ships for the pur-
pose Our Grand Fleet was fully occupied in Home waters ;
we had to guard the Atlantic, and to a large extent the Mediter-
ranean It was the deliberate opinion of the statesmen both of
Great Britain and Australasia that the 1,000,000 troops from the
Pacific Dommions and India could not have been safely trans-
ported across the oceans but for the assistance of our Japanese
allies. ‘ It was ’, said Lloyd George, ‘ invaluable. It was one
of the determmmg factors of the War.’ ^
At the Peace Conference the position in the Pacific was the Peace
subject of heated debate, mainly between the Bntish and"^®'™®
Australasian representatives If Germany was to be deprived
of her former possessions m that region, to whom should they
pass ’
By Articles 118 and 119 of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany
renounced in favour of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers
all her nghts over her overseas possessions There was, however,
a strong feeling among the Allies that whatever Power should be
entrusted with the government of terntones inhabited by back-
ward peoples, the task should be undertaken, not for purposes of
pohtical aggrandizement or commercial exploitation, but in the
spirit of trusteeship An Englishman may be forgiven for saying
that the spmt which has m the mam, despite occasional back-
shding, inspired the Colonial admimstration of Great Britam was
henceforward to govern the relations between European rulers
and their non-European subjects. This intention was embodied
m Article XXn of the Covenant of the League of Nations which
laid dowm that * to those colomes and territories which as a con-
sequence of the late war have ceased to be under the Sovereignty
of the States which formerly governed them, and which are
mhabited by peoples not yet able to stand by themselves under
the strenuous conditions of the modem world, there should be
applied the principle that the well-being and development of such
peoples form a sacred trust of civilization ’ It further suggested
that the best way of givmg effect to this principle is that ‘ the
tutelage of such peoples should be entrusted to advanced nations
who by reason of their resources, their expenence, or their geo-
graphical position, can best undertake this responsibility, and
* House of Commons Ddtales, August 18, 1021, p 1704
408 OVERSEAS EMPIRE AND WAR AT SEA [loid-
who are willing to accept it, and that this tutelage should be
exercised by them as Mandatories of the League The char-
acter of the Mandate must, however, differ ‘according to the
stage of the development of the people, the geographical situation
of the territory, its economic conditions and other similar cir-
cumstances So the Powers in Conference decreed. Would the
‘ Mandate ’ principle work in the Pacific ? The Australasian
representatives were doubtful
‘ One of the most strikmg features of the Conference ’, said
Mr Hughes, the Premier of the Australian Commonwealth, ‘ was
the appalling ignorance of every nation as to the affairs of every
other nation — ^its geographical, racial, historical conditions, or
traditions ’ ^ The safety of Australia, so her sons eonsistently
maintained, demanded that the great rampart of islands stretch-
ing around the north-east of Australia should be held by the
Australian Dominion or by some Power (if there be one ?) in whom
they have absolute confidence. At Pans Mr. Hughes made a
great fight to obtam the direct control of them j worsted in that
fight by ^Ir. Wilson’s formulas, Australia was forced to accept
the principle of the Mandate, but her representatives were careful
to msist that the Mandate should be m a form consistent not
only with their national safety but with their * economic, indus-
trial, and general welfare
In plain English that meant the maintenance of a ‘White
Austraha ’ and a preferential tanff. On both points Austraha
found herself m direct conflict with Japan, but, despite the formal
protest and reservation of the latter, the Mandates for the ex-
German possessions m the Pacific were issued in the form desired
by the British Dominions ; i.e. m the same form (‘ C ’) as that
accepted for South-West Africa.
The islands north of the Equator, namely, the Marshall,
Carohne, Pelew, and Ladrone Islands went to Japan, as did
Kiaochow ; those south of the Equator to the British Empire or
its Dommions : the Bismarck Archipelago, German New Guinea,
and those of the Solomon Islands formerly belonging to Germany,
to Austraha,® German Samoa to New Zealand,® and Nauru to the
Bntish Empire * — all cases rmder Mandate.
^ Commonwealth of Australia, Parbamentary Debates, No 87, pp 12, 173
* Cmd 1201 (1021). • Ibid , 1203 * Ibid , 1202
10181 THE WAR AT SEA 409
To return to the War m other oceans. Alter Japan came in, Thts
and the German possessions m the Pacific were lost, the German
squadron made for home Off the coast of Chile (whose neutral-
ity was none too favourable to the Allies) Von Spee and his five
cruisers fell in with a weak Bntish squadron under Admiral Sir
Charles Cradock Cradock, though ■without any hope of victory,
determined to engage them (November 1). Good Hope and
Monmouth were sunk, the gallant Admiral going down with
fourteen hundred officers and men A fast but lightly armed
cruiser, the Glasgoto, •was sent off to warn the Falkland Islands,
where Canopus, a big battleship, lay
The disaster of Coronel was quickly retrieved. A squadron Tlic
was promptly sent out from England under the command of Sir
Doveton Sturdee, who, making aU possible speed, arrived off the
Falkland Isles on December 7. On the very next day Sturdee
fell in with Von Spee, and Gnetsenau, Schamhorst, Leipzig, Nur-
emhcrg were sunk after a gallant fight , only the Dresden escaped.
The British loss was only seven men killed The Dresden was
caught and sunk tliree months later
Besides her cruisers Germany was expected to send out some
forty armed merchantmen Only five of them succeeded in leav-
ing harbour Of these the largest, Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse,
was sunk by Highflyer off -the coast of Africa (August 26) , Kap
Trafalgar was sunk by Carmania off the coast of Brazil after what
has been described as ‘ the finest single-ship action of the war ’ ^
on September 14 , Karlsruhe was accidentally blown up , the
other two were mtemed Hfr Churchill, therefore, could boast
that before the end of 1914 every one of the enemy ships on the
high seas was ‘reduced to complete inactivity, sunk or pmned
in port ’ ®
The German Colonies lay at our mercy The fate of the Pacific The
islands has already been desenbed At the Peac^ South-West colrafra
Africa was Assigned by the Pnncipal Allied and Associated Powers m Africa
to His Britannic Majesty, to be administered on his behalf by
the Government of the Umon of South Africa under a Mandate
approved by ’the Council of the League of Nations
South-West Africa was mdicated together ■with the South
Pacific islands, m Article XXII of the Covenant, as one of the
» By C R L Fletcher, p 116 * World Crisis, I, p 286
410 OVERSEAS EMPIRE AND WAR AT SEA [ioi4-
temtones which ‘ owing to the sparseness of their population, or
their small size, or their remoteness from the centres of civiliza-
tion, or their geographical contiguity to the territory of the
Mandatory and other circumstances [which] can be best adminis-
tered under the laws of the Mandatory as integral portions of its
territory, subject to the safeguards above mentioned m the
interests of the indigenous population The Mandate was
accordingly issued in the form prescribed for ‘ Class C ’ territories.
It enjoins upon the Mandatory the duty of promoting to the
utmost ‘ the material and moral vrell-being and the social progress
of the inhabitants ’ , it prohibits slavery, the sale of intoxicants
to natives, the establishment of military or naval bases ; and
provides for complete freedom of conscience, and facilities for
missionaries and ministers of all creeds.
The Mandatory is further required to make an annual report
to the Council of the League, containing full information with
regard to the territory, and indicatmg the measures taken to
fulfil the obligations the Mandatory has assumed ^
West Africa gave comparatively little trouble Togoland sur-
rendered to a Franco-British force in the first month of the War,
and at the Peace was divided between the two Powers , about
one-third of the Colony (some 12,500 square miles) bordering on
the Gold Coast territories bemg assigned to Great Britain, and
the remainder to France. The Cameroons was attacked, in
August 1914, by French troops from the French Congo and by a
small British force from Nigena in the same month. Not, how-
ever, until February 1916 was it finally conquered . an area of
S3, 000 square miles (out of 191,130), extending from the coast
along the Nigerian frontier up to Lake Chad was assigned to Great
Britain, and the rest to France.
The Of the African campaigns none was so arduous or so pro-
m East^ longed as the fight for the possession of German East Africa
Africa Could Germany have held it with adequate naval as well as mili-
tary forces, she would have tlireatened the British Empire’s line
of communications at a vital pomt. Our naval supremacy
averted this danger , but Germany had made elaborate prepara-
tions to defend her own colony, and if occasion offered to attack
British East Africa ’ General von Lettow-Vorbeck commanded
^ For the terms of the Mandate see Cmd 1204 (1021).
1918]
EAST AFRICA
411
a force of 8,000 Europeans and 12,000 vrell-equipped and well-
disciplined Askaris A British attack on Tanga was repulsed in
November 1914, and not until General Smuts took over the com-
mand of the British forces at the beginning of 1916 was any
effective progress made Dar-es-salaam was captured in Sep-
tember 1916, but another fourteen months of hard fighting were
required before the Germans were cleared out of the colony
They took refuge in Portuguese East Africa, and thence in the
autumn of 1918 made their way mto Northern Rhodesia , nor
did they surrender until compelled to do so by the conclusion of
the Armistice
German East Africa fell naturally to Great Britain, but in
consequence of strong protests from Belgium was ultimately
divided between the two Powers
The British portion, now known as the Tanganyika Terntory,
lymg immediately to the south of the Kenya Colony (formerly
the British East Africa Protectorate), has a coastline of 620 miles,
extendmg from the mouth of the timba to Cape Belgado, an area
of some 384,180 square miles, and an estimated pre-War native
population of about 7,600,000. The rest of German East Africa
— ^the provinces of Rhuanda and Urandi, together with the
country round Lake Kivu — was conferred upon Belgium A strip
on the east of the Belgian portion has, however, been reserved to
Great Britain to facilitate the construction of the Cape to Cairo
Railway
East Africa, Togoland and the Cameroons are all held by their M-indatca
respective assignees under Mandate from the League of Nations
These Mandates, however, unlike that for the South-West Pro-
tectorate, belong not to Class C, hut to Class B, wluch differs m
two important respects from the former On the one hand, the
‘ mandated Colony ’ does not become an integral portion of the
territory of the Mandatory , on the other, the Mandates secure
‘ equal opportunities for the trade and commerce of other members
of the League No such provision is contained either in the
Mandate for South-West Africa or in those for the Pacific islands
The insertion of such a provision would plainly have proved too
embarrassing to the Union of South Africa on the one case , to
Australia and New Zealand m the other. Hence the necessity
for the distmctioh contamed m the Covenant The Mandates in
ArniCA ArrnR the cheat \\ar
412
1018 J PARTITION OF AFRICA 418
Class B also provide more specifically and elaborately for the pro-
tection of the natives ‘ from abuse and measures of fraud and force
by the careful supervision of labour contracts and the recruiting
of labour ’ ^
Portugal put in a claim to a share in the rc-partition of Africa,
but after careful consideration it was disallowed
The general result of the partition may be summarized as
follows out of the 12,500,000 persons who were in 1014 hving
under the German flag in Africa 42 per cent have been transferred
to the guardianship of the British Empire, 83 per cent to that of
France, and 25 per cent to Belgium * The settlement would
seem in the mam to accord with the principle laid down by Mr
Wilson, who insisted that there should be . * A free, open-minded,
and absolutely impartial adjustment of all Colonial claims, based
upon a strict observance of the principle that m determining all
such questions of sovereignty the interests of the populations
concerned must have equal weight with the equitable claims of
the Government whose title is to be determined ’ ® If there was
one pomt upon which every African native who had ever hved
under German rule was resolved, it was that imder no circum-
stances would he voluntanly remam under, or return to, it For
the protection of native interests m the future, every possible
secunty was taken m the Mandates as approved by the Council of
the League of Nations
• To resume the story of the War at sea No attempt can be
made to teU that story m detail , nor even m outhne partly
from lack of space, partly because in the history of naval warfare
the World War was umque. ‘ Barrmg a few naval actions between
surface vessels, such as the battles of Jutland and of the Falkland
Islands, the naval war was for the most part a succession of con-
tests between smgle vessels or small groups of vessels.’ * The
English victory at sea was won mainly by silent but unrelaiong
pressure in the North Sea, and by vigilant watch m the Channel,
the Mediterranean and the Eastern Atlantic
On August 28 by a happy combmation of luck and daring a
1 East Africa, Cmd 1284 , West Africa, Cmd 1350 of 1021.
* H PC II 244. • AddreS's of January 8, 1018
* Sims, The Victory at Sea, p xu
The
victory
at sea
Jutland
4.14 OVERSEAS EMPIRE AND WAR AT SEA [1014-
brilhant victory i\as won in the Bight of Ilehgoland. Three
German cruisers were sunk and three others ‘trooped home’.
No British ship was even seriously damaged, and our loss in men
was only 35 lulled and 40 wounded. Over 1,000 Germans per-
ished, and 224 were picked up and made prisoners The engage-
ment was on a small scale but the moral effect of the vietory w'as
admittedly considerable Thcnceforw’ard as far as surface craft
were concerned the German Admiralty maintained for the most
part a defensive policy.
The only action of the War in which great fleets were en-
gaged was the battle of .Jutland Of the Grand Fleet under
Admiral Sir John Jellicoe little had been heard during the first
eighteen months of the War During that time it was mostly
at sea for the simple reason that there was no defended East
Coast harbour ready for its reception After the opening of war
the defences of Rosjth, in the Firth of Forth, abandoned half-
finished in a fit of penury, and those of Scapa Flow’ in the Ork-
neys, w’ere rapidly pushed forward , before the end of the War
they had been rendered virtually impregnable against German
attacks. But not only were defended harbours lacking ; the
Germans had the supenonty m guns (save for our IS-inch guns),
m mines, in Zeppelins (incalculably useful for naval scouting),
in submarines, and in high-explosive sheUs; nor were they
markedly inferior in gunnery. Nevertheless, the Grand Fleet
was virtually unassailcd, and the German Fleet did not come out.
At last, however, it resolved to try conclusions, and on May
81, 1916, the fleets of England and Germany met in the mighty
conflict which to all time will be known as the battle of Jutland.
One hundred and forty-five British ships and 110 German ships
w’cre engaged Of Dreadnoughts w’c had 2S against 16 ; of crui-
sers of various types, 40 against 16 ; of destroyers, 77 against 72 ;
but Germany had in addition 6 pre-Dreadnought battleships.
As to the result of the battle, experts are still disputing , a lay-
man can only note the fact that the tw’o grand Fleets never
again made contact, though the German Fleet, as w’e now know,
made bold sallies m August and October '1916, and even as late
ns April 1918 came out a third lime But after the Battle of
.lutland the German Admiralty concentrated more and more on
1018]
SUBMARINE CAMPAIGN
416
the U-boat campaign and used the High Seas Fleet mainly as a
protection for their submarmcs That function could be per-
formed effectually only if the High Seas Fleet remained in being,
even if for the most part confined to harbour A great naval
expert holds that the tactics adopted by the German Admiralty
■were entirely correct'
One of the revelations of the War was indeed the effective- The sub-
ness of the submarine At the outbreak of war we had exactly ^mpaign
twice as many submarines as Germany ; but of our seventy-four
boats only eighteen were seagoing, while Germany had twenty-
eight Moreover, our insular position, our immense merchant
fleet, and our dependence on oversea troops and supplies made
us fifty times as nilnerable as the enemy.
The War was not a week old when ten German U-boats made
a sortie up the North Sea They did no damage , but one of
them was rammed by Birmingham (August 9), and a second
disappeared On September 5 a German submarine torpedoed
Pathfinder off the Forth, the first victim of the new naval weapon.
Much more scnous was tiie loss (September 22) of three cruisers,
AbouKir, Hogue and Cressy, in rapid succession by the same Ger-
man submanne, off the coast of Holland Hogue and Cressy were
torpedoed, at a dead standstill, when they were lowering their
boats to rescue the survivors of the AbouKir, an act (in Mr
Churchill’s words) of ‘ chivalrous simplicity ’, involving a total
loss of over 1,400 men On January 1 an old battleship was tor-
pedoed m the Channel -with a loss of over 600 men
Evidently the U-boats were gomg to give trouble. With the
new year came a fresh development On February 4, 1915, the
German Admiralty declared all the waters surrounding Great
Britain and Ireland to be a war zone, and gave warning that
every enemy vessel found therem would be destroyed, and that
neutral vessels would be eirposed to great danger Lord Fisher
had m 1918 foreseen tins odious development and had warned
the Admiralty. Churchill had insisted thht the sinking of mer-
chant vessels was an outrage of which ‘ no civihzed Power would
be gmity ’. Yet guilty it was, and before the War ended nearly
5,000 merchant ships, belongmg to the Alhes and neutrals, had
* SiniB, The Victory at Sea, p 98.
416 ' OVERSliiAS EMPIRE AND WAR A'l SEA [1914-
been sunk by submarines, in addition to some 500 by mines and
nearly 200 by surface craft. Among the victims of German sub-
marine warfare were several hospital ships, with sick, wounded,
and nurses aboard.
The submarine menace reached its zenith in March-April
1917, when over 1,000 British merchant ships were sunk.^
Talong the War period as a whole, shipbmlding rather more
than kept pace with destruction. But if the rate of sinking had
been maintained at the pace of the early months of 1917 the
task set to the British shipbuilders must have become impos-
sible. The facts were known m Germany, where it was calcu-
lated that the end must come m July or at latest by August 1.
It was the oflicial view of the British Admiralty that unless the
submarine peril could be countered, surrender could not be post-
poned beyond November.
The Happily for the vorld, the submarine menace was countered
by the adoption of the ‘ convoy ’ system and the advent in rapidly
Navy increasmg numbers of American destroyers “ The fiist American
flotilla of SIX destroyers reached Queenstown on !May 4, 1917 ;
by July 6 thirty-four had arrived and were at the disposal of
Admiral Sir Lewis Bayly, commanding at Queenstown. In all,
the United States contributed to the naval forces of the Alhes
some 70 destroyers, 120 submarme chasers, 20 submarines and
other small craft, besides mine-sweepers (18), mine-layers (9), and
auxiliary craft of various descriptions The aid they rendered
to the Allied cause came at a critical moment, and its value can
hardly be overestimated.
Due appreciation of the American effort must not, however,
be permitted to disguise the plain fact that the victory at sea
was, m the main, the superb achievement of the British Navy
and the British Mercantile Marme.
Zee- When all did such magnificent service it is almost invidious
brugge ^ mention particular umts or mdividual exploits ; but a French
Admiral has not hesitated to describe the raid on Zeebrugge as
‘ the finest feat of arms in all naval lustory of all times and all
countries ’.s This was the work of the ‘ Dover Patrol and was
1 See supra, p 387.
® For the success of the ‘ convoy ’ system see Naval Htslory of the War
(ofTicial), vol 5, pp 8-208.
* Quoted by Fletcher, op. cit., p. 125
1918] THE BRITISH NAVY 417
accomplished by a flotilla — mostly very light craft — of 142 ships,
under the command of Sir Roger Keyes The night selected for
this daring exploit was St George’s Day (April 28, 1918 } ; the
object of it was to seal up the most important of the German
submarine bases In the case of Zeebrugge the object was largely
attamed ; the attack on Ostend for the moment miscarried, but
on Slay 10 it was renewed with considerable though not complete
success From that moment the submanne attacks rapidly
decreased Of the 182 German submannes known to have been
sunk or captured in the course of the War, no fewer than 175 were
the victims of British seamen
The defeat of the submannes was, however, only a fraction The
of the task Bntish seamen accomplished. To have kept inviolate ment^f
(save for a few tip-and-run raids early m the War) the coasts of the
Great Bntain , to have transported across thousands of nules of Navy^
ocean millions of men from Canada, Australia, New Zealand,
India, South Afnca, the West Indies, and the United States ; to
have carried them to and from the half-dozen theatres of war ;
to have safeguarded the commercial routes, and to have kept
Great Bntam and her Allies supphed with food, with raw materials,
and munitions , to have kept open the long lines of communica-
tion in the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Indian Ocean, and the Medi-
terranean— such was the superb achievement, largely silent and
half unperceived, of the British Naval and Merchant Services
To Britain, therefore, it was fitting that the German Navy German
should, after the Armistice, be suixendered The first batch of
the surrendered submarines reached Harwich on November 19 ,
tivo da>s later the High Seas Fleet was handed over at Rosjrth.
On that day (November 21) Admiral Beatty signalled to the
Fleet ‘ The German flag mil be hauled dorni at sunset to-day,
and will not be hoisted again without permission,’ *
^ Fletchisr, op cit, p 128
Note to p 413
To the statement in regard to African natives an exception should
perhaps be made in favour of the AsLans in East Africa.
418
THE PEACE CONFERENCE
[ 1918 -
chapter XXIV
the peace conference— the treaty op VERSAILLES
G reat Britain had drawn the sword with extreme reluc-
tance, but having drawn it she had put her whole strength
into the struggle With men, money, and ships the British
Empire had made to the final victory a contribution greater than
that of any other Power It was, therefore, inevitable that the
British Empire should play a large part in determining the con-
ditions of Peace.
Nevertheless, Great Britain had less direct interest in the
terms of the Treaty than any of the European belhgerents. The
‘greatest of British interests is Peace’. So an authoritative
voice had long ago proclaimed Peace and security for herself
and the world were, consequently, the supreme objects at which
at Pans m 1919, as at Vienna m 1815, she persistently aimed and
with infinite patience sought to achieve.
President Wilson had, more than once, defined, before his
own country came into the War, the principles on which, in his
judgement, a Peace-Treaty should be based. He reiterated them
in his famous ‘ Fourteen Points ’ in January 1918. That the
‘ superior ’ and doctrinaire tone he adopted was resented by the
nations more directly and more deeply involved, it were vain to
deny. But the Allies themselves had, in January 1917, exphcitly
stated their aims, and the terms on which they woile prepared
to make peace. Save m regard to the ‘ freedom of the seas ’ —
a point jealously reserved by Great Britain, the demands of the
Allies did not essentially differ from the points formulated by
Mr. Wilson In particular they agreed that ‘ permanent Peace
must be founded on (1) the re-estabhshment of the sanctity of
treaties ; (2) a territorial settlement based on the right of self-
determination ; and (8) the creation of some mternational organi-
THE ARMISTICE
i^iPJ
419
zation to limit the burden of armaments and dimmish the prob-
ability of war
Before Germany applied for an armistiec her allies had one The
bv one fallen away from her. On October 27 Austria mformcd
the German Government that she must make a separate Peace
and on November 8 she signed an Armistice King Ferdmand
of Bulgaria had made an unconditional surrender on September
29 and a few days later abdicated On October 30 the Turks
signed the Armistice of Mudros On November 8 the German
sailors mutinied at Kiel and the ‘ Red Flag ’ was hoisted m several
German towns By the 9th the Revolution had reached Berhn.
On that day the German Emperor abdicated and with the Crown
Pnnee fled to Holland Meanwhile the Germans had apphed to
Marshal Foch for an Armistice Foch declmed parley and dic-
tated terms thej. involved complete military surrender. At 5
a m on the 11th they were accepted The Germans engaged to
evacuate all occupied territory on all Fronts, including East
Africa, within fifteen days, and to restore Alsace-Lorraine to
France, to submit to an Allied occupation of all Germany on
the west bank of the Rhine and to surrender the bridgeheads of
Cologne, Mamz and Coblenz on the nght bank , to give up 6,000
cannon, 25,000 machme-guns, 1,700 aeroplanes, 5,000 locomo-
tives, 150,000 w’agons and 5,000 lorries , to surrender their High
Seas Fleet to be mterned withm one week , to hand over all their
submarines, mine-layers, &c , withm a fortnight , and to make
reparation for the damage they had wrought Severe as the
terms were they would certainly have been at least as severe had
they been imposed by Germany upon a defeated enemy, and
m that case they would have been exacted to the uttermost
farthing ^
Monday, November 11, was m London a day of grey cloud
and contmuous drizzle But at 11 am all thoughts of climate
were dissipated , maroons aimounced the conclusion of the Armis-
tice, and, m the twinkling of an eye, streets, squares and parks
were filled with cheermg crowds Inspired by sound mstinct the
crowds massed m front of the Palace, and at 11 16 the King,
m Admiral’s uniform, the Queen and the Duke of Connaught
* The text of the Armistices are printed in Temperley, Peace Confertaiee,
I, app i\
THE PEACE CONFERENCE
[1018-
The
‘Ck)up'on
Election,
Decem-
ber 1018
appeared on the baleony Led by the Band of the Irish Guards,
the National Anthem and ‘ Buie Britannia ’ were sung by vast
crowds, stirred to the depths with loyalty and thankfulness.
The House of Commons met at 2.45 and immediately after
Prayers the Prime Minister rose and announced the conditions
of the Armistice signed that morning Having read them he
added wuth deep feeling : * This is no time for words Our hearts
are too full of a gratitude to which no tongue can give adequate
expression. I will, therefore, move “ That this House do imme-
diately adjourn . . . and that we proceed ... to St. Mar-
garet’s, to give humble and reverent thanks for the deliverance
of the world from its great peril Mr. Asquith in a few finely
chosen words assented, and the members of the House of Com-
mons forthwith proceeded with the Speaker at their head to St
Margaret’s There they were joined by the Lords, led by the
Lord Chancellor, and amid the deepening gloom of that November
afternoon rendered thanks to Almighty God in a service of the
greatest simplicity Next day the King and Queen attended a
Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s. The prevailing note there,
and throughout the land, was one less of triumph and victory
than of thankfulness that the nightmare of the War had passed,
of hopes that we might have won a peace that would be per-
manent.
Ten days later the Parliament elected in 1910 was prorogued
for the last time, and v as presently dissolved. Before the Proro-
gation both Houses voted an Address of Congratulation to the
King. He received it at their hands m the Royal Gallery of the
House of Lords, and replied to it m a speech of deep feehng and
mmgled gratitude, pride and resolution Between the signature
of the Armistice and the openmg of the Peace Conference m Pans
two months elapsed. The delay was unfortunate but inevitable
The Conference had to await the arrival from America of Presi-
dent Wilson, who, unwisely and with doubtful constitutional
propriety, decided to attend it m person. l^Ir. Lloyd George also
decided to attend it, but insisted that before doing so he must
receive a vote of confidence from the new electorate created by
the Reform Bill of 1918. Had Mr Lloyd George, instead of going
to Pans, announced on November 12 his resignation, and started
forthwith on a tour round the Empire, his place in History would
1©19]
THE COUPON ELECTION
421
be side by side ■with that of William Pitt, Lord Chatham But
for one who occupied a pinnacle in the temple of world fame sueh
as no British statesman had ever before attained, such a renun-
ciation was beyond human possibility. Not even Cincmnatus
could have made it But the jealous gods had their revenge.
Tlie General Election took place in December The Govern-
ment appealed to the country as a Coalition on the basis of a
manifesto signed jointly by Sir Lloyd George and Mr Bonar
Law They appealed for a continuance of national unity which
had ‘ been the great secret of our strength in war ’, and was essen-
tial to the solution of the post-War problems, not least to the
conclusion of a ‘ just and lasting peace ’ Tlic candidates who
accepted the programme then outlined received from the two
leaders a certificate or ‘coupon’. The Labour Party had for-
mallj^'withdra'wn its support from the Go\ ernment, and a section
of the Liberal Party, led by ilr Asquith, declined to give it
The Election, stigmatized by a distinguished publicist ^ as ‘ an
orgj' of Chaunnism resulted in an overwhelmmg victory for
the Coalition The Uniomsts returned nearly 400 strong , 136
Liberals supported the Coahtion, Labour secured some sixty
seats , but the independent or Asquithian Liberals were reduced
to a remnant of some thirty members, without a single leader of
Cabinet rank Asquith himsdf, and all his principal lieutenants,
lost their seats So also did tlie Socialist pacifists, including Mr
Ramsay MacDonald and Mr Snowden The most sinister feature
of the election was that of the eighty Lash Nationalists returned
seventy-three were Sinn Femers. The latter refused to attend
Parhament at Westminster and set up a ‘ Repubhean Conven-
tion’ m Dublin But the portent was little regarded at the
moment The Insh woe as usual ‘ playing their pranks ’. How
serious the pranks w er^ Great Bntain was presently to learn
The new Parliament was indeed a * curious assembly ‘quite The
different’ (such was Lloyd George’s impression) ‘from any other
House of Commons I have known When I was speaking I fdt, ment
as I looked in front of me, that I was addressing a Trade Union
Congress Then, when I turned round, I felt as if I were speaking
to a Chamber of Commerce ’ One among other sigmficant
changes must be noted The Socialist Party, numerically weak
^ Spender, Life of Asquith
422 THE PEACE CONFERENCE [ioi8-
though it was, claimed the right, as the second largest Party in
the House, to occupy the front Opposition Bench and to act as
the official Opposition, m fine, they posed as the Alternative
Government With a curious lack of parliamentary sense they
elected as chairman of the Party, and consequently as leader of
the Opposition, not Mr Clyncs, the most experienced and distin-
guished member of the Party, but Mr. Adamson, a Scottish miner,
who played a difficult part with native dignity if without distinc-
tion The exclusive right of the Socialists to occupation of the
Bench was disputed by the ‘ Wee-free Liberals ’, who elected as
chairman of their exiguous Party Sir Donald Maclean, who in
the previous Parliament had acted as Deputy Chairman of Com-
mittees By his geniality and courtesy Sir Donald gave to Ins
precarious position a dignity wluch vas certainly not inherent
in it
The New Some changes were made in the Ministry. Lord Finlay was
Ministry j-gpi^ced as Lord Chancellor by Lord Birkenhead (F. E Smith) ;
Lord Milnei succeeded Mr Long at the Colonial Office, when the
latter went to the Admiralty ; Sir Austen Chamberlain reheved
Mr Bonar Law (who retained the leadership of the House of
Commons as Lord Vnyy Seal) of his duties at the Treasury , and
Churchill took over the Air Ministry as veil as the War Office.
G. N. Barnes, a great Labour leader, retained his place in the
War Cabinet, together with Lloyd George, Bonar Law, Lord
Curzon, and Chamberlain Were the Secretaries of State and
other leading Ministers m the Cabinet or not That they be-
lieved themselves to be is certain ; the leader of the House de-
clared that they were not ^ Such is the interesting ambiguity
inherent m English Constitution.
The With a vast ma]ority of the electorate, with Parliament and a
ConfCT- united Mmisiry behind him, Lloyd George went off, in high glee,
ence to make peace at Pans Meanvhile, London had given an enthu-
siastic welcome to two others of the ‘ big four * (as they came to
be called), M. Clemenceau and President Wilson Even warmer
was that given to Marshal Foch, and warmest of all the welcome
that awaited Field-Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, and other com-
^ Cf for a cunous , encounter between Bonar Law and myself on this
point Hansard, Official Report for July 31, 1010, p 2277, and Marriott, Mechan-
ism of the Modem State, vol ii p 81
1010] THE ‘BIG FOUR* 428
mandcrs and the first detachments of the returning army, who
made a triumphal march through the streets of London
The Peace Conference was formally opened by M. Poincare,
President of the French Republic, on January 18, 1919. It con-
sisted, \\Iien in plenary session, of seventy members, of whom four-
teen represented the British Empire , France, Italy, Japan and
the United States each had five delegates, while twenty-two of
tlie smaller Powers had one, two or three apiece All the prin-
cipal delegates had large staffs to assist them the British delega-
tion with its staff alone numbered over GOO persons Of the clerical
staff a considerable proportion were women The treaty itself
was signed by sixt 5 --cight out of the seventy delegates, China
alone abstaining The defeated belligerents were not admitted
to the Conference Frenchmen remembered, if others did not,
what TallcjTand had done at Vienna As a fact, the ultimate
decisions were reached by four men — the principal representatives
of Great Britain, France, Italy and the United States , some of
the most important by two only — Clcmenccau and Lloyd George
The former was elected president of the Conference at its first
sitting The ‘ big four the men who made the Treaty, presented
a curious contrast Clcmenccau — ^well named the ‘ Tiger ’ — had
one object only to make his beloved country secure for all time
against the saecular enemy This was to be done by stiengthen-
ing France, and by crippling Germany, in a territorial, military
and financial sense Signor Orlando had, similarly, only one
mterest, to get for Italy all that the Allies had promised her by
the Treaties of London and St Jean de Maurienne, and as much
more as he could Lloyd George was more detached in interests ,
indispensable but not wholly trusted for the French, too pro-
German , for the Italians, too pro-Serb , for the Serbs, too loyal
to Italy , extraordmanly agile m mmd, quick in perception, but
imperfectly acquainted with the historical and geographical
foundations on which the Treaty must be built Finally, there
was President Wilson, the typical professorial doctrmaire, genu-
mely mterested in world-peace, anxious to secure it by a Covenant
never ratified by his countrymen, but hopelessly pedantic m
adherence to formulas which he had framed m the retirement of
his study, though they proved disastrously inapphcable to the
world of grim realities to which he had been suddenly introduced,
THE PEACE CONFERENCE
424
[1018-
and in which he was never at home. Such were the men in whose
hands lay the dcsUnies of Europe and the world.
For some months the machinery of the Conference creaked
ommously. More than once there seemed danger of a complete
breakdown , but the two chief representatives of Great Bntam
and France were not easily discouraged, and, with the help of
President Wilson, they hammered out the terms of a treaty vrhich
by the end of April was ready for presentation to the German
Delegation who arrived at Versailles on the 29th The details of
settlement which emerged from the Conference, as of the
dchbcrations which preceded it, belong not to English but to
European, nay to World, Historj' A mere outline must here
suffice.
France England’s position at Pans, though immensely influential, was
more detached than that of her Continental alhes Her supreme
object was so to adjust differences, and promote territorial and
other arrangements, as to secure the peace of Europe The prob-
lem of the Franco-German frontier had been a constant source
of irritation between the two peoples, and a constant menace to
European peace for three centuries The Duke of Wellington
had msisted in 1815 that Europe would never enjoy prolonged
peace if France was deprived of Alsace-Lorraine She retained
those Provinces in 1816, lost them to Germany m 1871, and
recovered them in 1919 France pressed for the Rhine frontier,
and abandoned her claim only m return for a guarantee of security
from Great Britain and the USA, which the latter subsequently
refused to implement. France did, however, obtain a strong
mihtary guarantee in regard to the Rhme frontier, secured by
temporary occupation and permanent disarmament, and the
possession of the coal-field of the Saar Volley in partial repara-
tion for the wanton destruction of her own coal-mines by the
Germany Germans in the War. Tlie future of the Saar Valley itself was
to be decided by plebiscite in 1936.^ A similar — ^though less
tardy — procedure was adopted in regard to other relatively recent
acquisitions of Germany. In deference to their declared principles
the Conference allowed Germany to retain Holstein and southern
Schleswig In central Schleswig a plebiscite decided for Ger-
1 The plebiscite in 1036 decided in favour of Germany by an overwhelming
majority
10^9]
REPARATIONS
425
many , in the northern zone for Denmark. Similarly plebiscites
n ere taken in East Prussia, ■which voted for adhesion to Germany,
and m Upper Silesia In the latter there -was a prolonged conflict
and some fighting, and not until 1921 was it dindcd bctivecn
Germany and Poland
Poland was reconstituted "with most of territories lost by her in Poland
the Partitions of the eighteenth century, but Danzic became a
Free City, with certain reservations in favour of Poland and a
‘ comdor ’ which, while necessary to connect Poland ivith the sea,
cut off East Prussia from the rest of Germany This clumsy
arrangement was adopted as the best solution of a problem,
difficult indeed, and perhaps insoluble
Belgium, besides a useful rectification of frontier, attained, m
accord with her own ambitions, ‘ complete independence and full
sovereignty Luxemburg also renounced ‘ neutrality and
ceased to be a member of the German Zollverem
On the whole Germany retained its integnty, though Prussia,
the artificial product of two centuries of aggression, suffered some
dismemberment So did Russia by the loss of Finland, Lithuania,
Latvia and Estonia, which were established as independent States.
Beyond the hmits of Europe Germany abandoned ICiaochow (to
Japan), and the rest of her oversea Possessions, the disposition
of which has been already desenbed Germany was further com-
pelled to hand over her navy (which was sunk by the crews m
Scapa Flow), to limit her army to 100,000 men, to destroy her
existing armaments, and hmit the production of munitions for the
future
Of all the difficult points which the Alhes had to settle perhaps Repara-
the most difficult was that of reparations Every one agreed that
Germany must pay for all the * damage ’ she had done . but there
was no agreement as to the connotation of the word * damage ’.
Clemenceau, with bitter memories of 1870, would have bled Ger-
many white, as she had attempted to bleed France Lloyd
George had promised the Bntish electorate that Germany should
be made to pay to the uttermost farthing , but how she could pay
■without injunng her creditors was a question he found it increas-
ingly difficult to answer AVilson was uninterested in the question
of mdemnities and reparations, though not in that (not directly
raised at Pans) of inter- Allied indebtedness Finally, it was agreed
THE PEACE CONFERENCE
[1918-
to refer the question of total reparations to a Speeial Commission,
which n as to present the final account to Germany before May 1 ,
1921. In the meantime Germany was to restore the trophies,
&c , earned off in 1870-1 as well as in 1914-1 8 : to deliver annually
to France and Belgium large quantities of coal, and to pay on
account before May 1, 1921, a sum of £1,000,000,000
These terms were imposed upon, not negotiated with, Germany.
The German delegates were summoned to Versailles to hear their
sentence, not to discuss it It was delivered by M Clcmenceau
on l^Iay 7 Between that date and June 23 notes weic exchanged
between the German Government and the Allies a few unsub-
stantial modifications were consequently made m the Treaty,
but on June 22 the Germans were informed that if, within twenty-
four hours, the Treaty was not signed, Marshal Foch would
advance at the head of the Allied Forces farther into Germany.
On the 23rd the Germans, under protest, gave way and agreed
to sign
«nie The actual signature took place on the 28th. The place
Treaty ^of selected for the brief but impressive ceremony vas the Galerie
des Glaces in the Palace of Versailles, where Wilham of Hohen-
zollern had in January 1871 been proclaimed first German
Emperor The selection was sinister, but not inappropriate
The humiliation of France was at long last avenged : the German
Empire which by ‘ blood and iron ’ Bismarck had made, had
again drawn the sword ; by the sword it perished.
Treaties complementary to the Treaty signed at Versailles
were subsequently concluded with Austria at Saint-Germain-en-
Laye (September 10, 1919), with Bulgana (Neuilly, November 27),
with Hungary (Trianon, June 4, 1920), ai^d with Turkey at Sdvres
(August 10, 1020).
The Of the three Empires affected by this wholesale reconstruction
that of the Hapsburgs suffered most severely. i Their conglomer-
ate Empire was dissolved into its constituent elements. Austria
proper was left in a pitiable plight. Reduced by the creation of
Czecho-Slovalua, by temtonal coneessions to Poland, to Italy,
to Roumania, and Jugo-Slavia, and by separation from Hungary,
to a State with only 6,000,000 people, she was cut off from terri-
torial access to the sea, and denied the possibility of union with
Germany.
» See nole, p 437.
1010] TERRITORIAL READJUSTMENTS 427
The first of the new States to arise on the ruins of Austria- Czecho-
Hungary was Czccho-SIorakia, consisting of the histone kingdom
of Bohemia, together with Moravia and Ruthenian territory to
the south of the Carpathians, -nith an aggregate population of
about fourteen millions Czecho-Slovakia proclaimed its inde-
pendence before the Armistice was actually signed, and on Novem-
ber 15, 191S, elected Dr Masaryk, a great student and a great
patnot, as its President Hungary proclaimed itself a Republic Hungary
on November 17, but m 1920, by a unanimous ^ ote of the National
Assembly, reconstituted the Kingdom But it has (up till 1945)
remained a Kingdom witliout a King Moreover, since the re-
adjustment of frontiers under the Peace treaties it represents only
a shrunken fragment of the histone kingdom In the north a large
distnct has been ceded to C7echo-Slo\ akia, another in the south to
Jugo-Slana, and a third in the east to Roumania Jugo-Slavia, Jugo-
representmg the union of the southern Slav peoples, includes, in
addition to Serbia and Montenegro, Bosnia, the Herzegovina,
Croatia-SIavonia, parts of Styria, Carintlua, Camiola, and practi-
cally the whole of Dalmatia The War had forced upon Rou- Rou-
mania a difficult, indeed, a pcnlous choice. At the Peace she™^™^
reaped the reward of her wisdom and courage. The area of the
State was doubled by the acquisition of Bessarabia from Russia,
and Transjlvania, a large part of the Bukovina and half the
Banat of Temesvar from Austna-Hungary In population she
stands, with 16,000,000 mhabitants, first among the Balkan States
But with a large Magyar and Gciman mmonty in Transylvama
she IS faced with a problem as obstinate as that which bafiled
the Hapsburgs
Bulgaria had to pay the penally of its adherence to tlieBidgana
Central Empires Strummtza and eastern (inland) Macedonia
was assigned to Jugo-SIavia , coastal Macedonia and Thrace to
Greece.
The Peace Treaty with Turkey was concluded at SfiiTcs, but Tlie
not until 1920 . nor was it ever ratified by the Sultan Under Empue"
its terms Constantinople, with a minimum of circumjacent terri-
tory, was to be left in the hands of the Sultan, while the control
of the Straits was confided to the League of Nations Syria was
assigned, imder Mandate, to France, Palestine and Mesopotamia
to Great Britain.
Greece
The '
Turkisli
National
ists
Chanak
428 THE PEACE CONFERENCE, [1918-
Greece, thanks to the powerful advocacy of Venizelos, was to
be enlarged by additions in Macedonia and Thrace, together
with Smyrna, a large strip of Asia Minor and the Dodecanese
islands — except Rhodes, which remained in possession of Italy
The Allies, and England in particular, had yet to gather the
bitter frmts of procrastination The occupation of Smyrna by
the Greeks (May 1919), supported by the warships of Great Britain,
France and the United States, aroused bitter resentment among
the Turkish ‘ Nationalists ’ — a party which was rapidly estab-
lishing its supremacy, under the vigorous leadership of Mustapha
Kemal, a brilliant soldier who had made a great popular reputa-
tion in the defence of Gallipoh. Between 1919 and 1922 Kemal
roused the Turks in the Anatolian highlands, and established at
Angora a rival Government to that of Constantinople. The
Angora Government refused to accept the terms of the Treaty of
Sdvres, despite the fact that the Greeks had, m the summer of
1920, inflicted a severe defeat on the Nationalist Turks, occupied
Brusa — ^the ancient capital of the Ottomans (July 8), made good
their position in Thrace, and entered Adrianople.
Then the tide of fortune turned. The Greeks, instead of find-
ing themselves in Constantmople, suffered a disastrous defeat m
Asia Minor at the hands of the Kemalists who refused to concede
an armistice, swept the Greeks before them into the sea, and
occupied Smj'rna which they dehvered over to fire and sword.
Greeks from all parts of Asia Minor fled panic-stricken before the
Turks ; about 1,000,000 of them -were fortunate enough to escape
on Allied and Greek ships.
Meanwhile, a serious international crisis had developed The
Kemalist Turks, flushed with their bloody victory over the hered-
itary foe, advanced on the Dardanelles, entered the neutral zone
and actually came within fightmg distance of the British garrison
which, from Chanak, held the southern shore of the Dardanelles.
France withdrew her troops ; the Italians, who hated the Greeks,
intimated that in the event of the renewal of war, no help was
to be expected from them ; Great Britain faced the Kemalists alone.
The situation was critical The British Government hurriedly
dispatched ships and men to the Dardanelles , applied for help
to the Domimons ; and told the Kemahsts that they would not
be permitted to cross mto Europe. In response to the appeal of
101 * 1 ]
TREATY OF LAUSANNE
429
the Bntisli Government New Zealand promptly promised help ;
Australia promised rather less readily , Canada asked for further
information, a replj’ from South Afnea was delaved by the
absence of General Smuts
Fortunatcl}' var was, though narrowly, averted mainly by the
admirable firmness and not less admirable patience and tact of
Sir Charles Hanngton, the Allied Commandcr-m-Chief at Con-
stantmople On October 11 an armistice was signed between the
Greeks and the Kemahsts, and on November 20 anotner Peace
Conference opened at Lausanne
If the Turk has generally managed to evade the consequences The
of defeat, it was unlikely that he would now forego the fruits of a
victory as dramatic as it was complete And at Lausanne he
held all the cards He could count on the traditional hatred of
Italy for Greece, and turn to his own adi antage the grow'ing ten«
Sion between England and France What wonder, then, that the
tone he adopted at Lausanne was lofty to the verge of insolence.
Thanks, however, to the skill and patience of Lord Curzon of
Kcdlcston who, as Foreign klmistcr, represented Great Britain,
Peace was at last signed on July 24, and a month later was ratified
by the Assembly at Angora
The Greeks had to pay the penalty for over-vaulting political
ambition and a disastrous mihtary defeat Greece lost to Turkey
Eastern Thrace with Adnanople and the islands of Imbros and
Tenedos, but retamed the rest of the Turkish islands in the
Aegean, and Western Thrace up to the Maritza Turkey gave
up all claims upon Egypt, the Sudan, Cyprus, Syria, Palestine,
Mesopotamia, and Arabia, but retained in full sovereignty Smyrna
and the remainder of the Anatolian peninsula
Egypt had been declared to be a British Protectorate m 1914 ;
Cyprus had been annexed by Great Bntam, who also accepted
Itlandatcs for Palestme and Mesopotamia Syria was assigned,
also imder IVIandate, to France
Two questions remained . the position of foreigners m Turkey,
and the control of the Straits. On both, concession was made to
Turkish susceptibihties. The ‘ Capitulations ’, which, ever smee
the sixteenth century, had afforded protection to foreigners in
Turkey, were abohshed As regards the Straits, Turkey was, m
default of any alternative tenant, permitted to remam at Con-
The
Turkish
Repubhc
J5gypt
430 THE PEACE CONFERENCE [1918-
stantinople, aiid to retain a garrison in the city, under stringent
guarantee ; but the Straits were to be neutralized ; a free passage
for foreign aircraft and ships, warships and merchantmen alike,
was to be guaranteed to all the States of the world, and on both
coasts deimhtarized zones were to be created under the guarantee
of the League of Nations.
The Treaty of Lausanne represented a conspicuous triumph
for the Ottoman Turks ; but it was not enjoyed by the Ottoman
Empue. On November 1, 1922 the Grand National Assembly
at Angora issued an edict that the office of Sultan had ceased to
exist, and on the 17th, Mohammed VI, the last of the Ottoman
Sultans, left Constantinople on board a British warship. Thus
fell the last of the Central Empues which had formed the Quad-
ruple Alhance In March 1924- the Cahphate itself was abolished
by the Grand National Assembly, and the Caliph and his family
went into exile Meanwhile, Turkey had been proclaimed a
Repubhc with Mustapha Kemal Pasha as its first President, and
Angora as its Capital (October 1928)
Events m Turkey could not fail to react powerfully upon
Egypt, once the Sultan’s greatest Dependency. The war had
evoked discontent among all classes. Upon the fellaheen, re-
deemed from bondage by Lord Cromer, it reimposed cruel con-
ditions. Middlemen grew fat on war profits while the fellaheen
were conscnpted for labour battalions, but the profiteers were as
discontented as the conscripts Among the mtelhgentsia in Egypt,
as elsewhere, nationalist aspuations were aroused. Especially
did the Egyptians resent the fact that while the prmciple of
‘ self-determination ’ was applied to Mesopotamia and Arabia, it
was not extended to a more advanced people like themselves.
Hence the insurrection of 1919. This was easily suppressed, but
it was followed by the despatch to Egypt of a mission of enquiry,
headed by Lord Miner The mission was boycotted. Lord
Milner, however, subsequently reached an agreement with Zaghlul
Pasha, the leader of the Egyptian nationahsts, and m February,
1922, the British Government declared the Protectorate to be at
an end and Egypt to be an * mdependent Sovereign State.’ On
March 16, 1922, the Sultan assumed the title of His Majesty
King Fuad and proclaimed Egypt a monaichy.
Independence was, however,, qualified by certain important
ENGLAND AND EGYPT
481
reservations winch the nationalists have from the first, and not
illogicnlly, declared to be incompatible with ‘Sovereignty*.
The Declaration reserved four matters absolutely to the discretion
of the Bnlish Government (i) The security of the communica-
ticns of the Biitish Empire in Egj^t (ii) The defence of Egypt
against all foreign aggression or interference, "direot or indirect.
(ill) The protection of foreign mtcrcsts in Ngji-pt and the protection
of minonties (iv) The status of the Soudan Pending the con-
clusion of agreements on these points the stains quo was to rcmam
mtact
Agreement has never been reached Great Britain remains
in military occupation of Egypt Despite many tragic events,
despite an infinite amount of hagghng, despite alternations of
ministries m England and consequent changes in administrative
policy, the status quo is still maintained Great Britain has
abandoned her Protectorate over Egypt, but her troops and
CimI Servants are still there.*
To return to Pans. Under the terms of the Armistice con- Italy and
eluded between Italy and Austna, the latter agreed to evacuate
not only all Italian territory, but also all the distncts assigned to
Italj’’ bj the Treaty of London Thus Italy came into immediate
possession of (and permanently retained) the Southern Tyrol,
including Bozen and Trent, Gorizia, Tneste, and Istria, together
with Zara and Lussm and other islands m the Adriatic But at
the Peace Conference she also claimed Fiume Flume was one
of the chief stumbling-blocks at the Conference, and almost broke
it up On tliat point the new tnune kingdom of Jugo-Slavia was
as immovable as Italy
Not until 1924 was that difficult question finally settled by
Signor JIussolmi Under the Pact of Rome, Fiume itself was,
with a coastal comdor, assigned to Italy, but the adjacent terri-
tory was partitioned between Italy and Jugo-Slavia Mean-
while, by the Treaty of Rapallo (1920) Zara and its adjacent
communes was, together with the islands of Cherso, Lussm,
Lagosta and Pelagoni, given to Italy , Dalmatia, with Lissa and
the rest of the islands, to Jugo-Slavia
Italy was far from satisfied wnth the position in which it was
left at the close of the War She was greatly angered by the
assignment of Smyrna (promised to her by the Treaty of St. Jean
»Sce note, p. 4S7.
432
THE PEACE CONFERENCE
[ 1918 - ,
The
League of
Nations
Tlie
Covenont
of the
League
de JIauiienne) lo Greece, and by her failure to acquire colonies.
She would, how’ever, have been in a much worse position but for
the stout opposition offered by Lloyd George and Clemeneeau
to President Wilson.
Thus w'as at last completed the diflicult and tedious work of
reconstructing the map of Europe Many problems, predomin-
antly financial, still awaited solution, but the mam work to which
in 1919 the diplomatists had set their hands at Pans was finished
The whole of the cement for the vast edifice they had erected
W'as provided b}' tlie Covenant of the League of Nations, the text
of which was prefixed to all the principal treaties concluded
between the Allied and Associated Powers and their late enemies.
That Covenant, having proclaimed that the purpose of the
High Contracting Parties was * to promote international co-opera-
tion, and to achieve international peace and security by the
acceptance of obligations not to resort to war ’, proceeded to lay
down rules as to the membership, the government, and the pro-
cedure of the League Membership was to be open to any fully
self-governing State, Dominion, or Colony, which was prepared
to give effective guarantees for adherence to the principles and
observance of the rules of the League, provided two-thirds of the
Assembly agreed to its admission The government of the League
was to be vested in an Assembly and a Council, and the admin-
istration of its affairs provided for by the establishment of a
permanent Secretanat
The primary function of the League was to maintain peace
among its owm members ; its second, to maintain it m the world
at large. This purpose it hoped to achieve by a limitation of
armaments, a mutual guarantee of territorial integrity and inde-
pendence, a mutual Agreement not to resort to arms until an
attempt to settle a dispute by peaceful means had been made,
by the provision of machinery for facilitating such peaceful settle-
ment, of sanctions for the breach of the Agreement mentioned
above, and for settling disputes in which States, non-members of
the League, might be concerned No member of the League
might make war upon another member without subnuttmg the
dispute either to arbitration or to the Council, or without waiting
for three months after the award, or m defiance of the award,
1010 ]
LEAGUE OF NATIONS
provided all the members of the Couneil, not parties to the dis-
pute, assented to it Should any State break this essential artiele
of the Covenant all the other members were pledged to break off
all relations, meluding trade and financial relations, with the
offending State, and resort, if necessary, to armed force How
precisely that force nas to be supphed remained one of the
problems to be solved
All treaties -nere henceforward to be (1) public , (2) liable to
reconsideration at the instance of the Assembly, and (3) con-
sonant with the terms of the Covenant The members of the
League further pledged themselves to secure, both in their own
countries and in all countries with whom they have dcahngs, ‘ fair
and humane conditions of labour for men, women, and children ’,
and also ]ust treatment of the native inhabitants of territories
under their control , to entrust the League with the supervision
over the execution of Agreements m regard to the traffic in w’omen
and children, in opium and other dangerous drugs, and m arms
and ammunition , and, finally, to take steps m the matter of
international hygiene, to maintain equitable treatment for the
commerce of all members, and to secure freedom of commumca-
tions and transit
The most important work accomplished by the League was
the creation of a Permanent Court of International Justice
The Court is composed of eleven judges and four deputy-judges
holding office for nine years, and sits annually at The Hague
The Assembly has also set up various technical organizations to
deal with Economics and Finance, with Transit and International
Hygiene, besides several Advisory Commissions of which the
most important (except the Mandates Commission) is that for the
reduction of armaments ^
To the Mandates assigned by the League m respect of the
ex-German colonies m Afnca and the Pacific islands reference
has been already made
The Turkish vilayets of Palestine, Mesopotamia and Syria
were, evidently, m a very different position from the colonies
^ For an account of the work done since 1019 by the League of Nitions,
cf T P Comvcll-Evans, The League Council in Action, Oxford, 1029 ,
Viscount Cecil, A Great Experiment (1941), and Marriott, Federalism
and the Problem of the Small State (1042)
ME — 28
4SS
lOJOJ PALESTINE AND IRAQ
taken from Germany m Afeica They were communities which
(in the words of the Covenant) had ‘ reached a stage of develop-
ment where their existence as independent nations can be pro-
visionally recognized, sub3ect to the rendering of administrative
advice and assistance by a Mandatory until such time as they are
able to stand alone
Moreover, a few days after the conclusion of the armistice
with Turkey the British and French Governments had issued a
joint declaration stating their aim to be ‘ the complete and final
enfranchisement of the peoples so long oppressed by the Turks,
and the establishment of national governments and administra-
tions drawing their authority from the initiative and free choice
of native populations The Mandates were accordmgly issued
m a form (‘ A ’) m accordance with these principles
Conquered by British forces dunng the War, Palestme re- Palestine
mained in their occupation until July 1 , 1920 , as from that
date the country passed imder the rule of a British High Com-
missioner, Su: Herbert Samud Under the Treaty of Sivres,
Turkey renounced all rights and title over the country in favour
of the Principal Alhed Powers, who conferred the Mandate upon
Great Britam In accordance with Mr Balfour’s declaration of
November 2, 1917, Great Bntain undertook to place the country
under such conditions, pohtical, administrative, and economic, as
would secure the establishment of ‘ a national home for the Jewish
people’, develop self-governing mstitutions, and safeguard the
civil and religious nghts of all the inhabitants of Palestine, irre-
spective of race and religion. English, Arabic, and Hebrew were
to be the official languages of Palestme, and the most stringent
precautions were taken for secunng freedom of conscience and
equality of commercial privileges. ^
In Mesopotamia or Iraq the situation was complicated by the Iraq
delays mterposed by the events m the Near East already related.
In May 1920 the British Government announced their acceptance
of a Mandate from the League of Nations over Iraq In October
Sir Percy Cox reached Basra as Ebgh Commissioner, and a Pro-
visional Council of State was appointed In 1921 the Emur Faisal,
son of Hussem, the ex-Kmg of the Hedjaz, was elected Kmg of
Iraq, and an Arab Administration was set up. In 1924 a Con-
*Cmd 1500(1021)
436
THE PEACE CONFERENCE
[1918-
stituent Assembly drafted a Constitution. This provided for a
Limited Monarchy, a Legislature of two Houses — a Senate of
twenty nominated members and a Lower “House of eighty-eight
elected deputies, with an Executive responsible to the Legislature
With the State thus newly constituted the British Government
concluded a Treaty, which was to remain in force only until Iraq
was admitted as an independent Sovereign State to membership
of the League of Nations. To secure that admission the Bntish
Government undertook to use its good offices. The treaty
embodied the obligations of the Covenant and was ratified by the
Council of the League. The path of the Mandatory Power was •
not a smooth one The Turks made trouble on the north-eastern
frontier and it was not until 1926 that by a Treaty concluded at
Angora the Turks agreed to the mclusion of vilayet of Mosul m
Iraq, subject to a share m the royalties on Mosul oil ^ There
were troubles also on the Arabian frontier, and difficulties not a
few to be encountered in Iraq itseK Gradually, however, under
the strong and patient admmistration of Sir Percy Cox, High
Commissioner (1920-8), and Sir Henry Dobbs (High Commis-
sioner and Consul-General 1923-9), order was evolved out of
chaos. An Iraqui Civil Service was orgamzed, an efficient
pohce force set up , commumcations by rail, road and air were
unproved , the natural resources of the country developed, and
schools and hospitals provided. The work done by Bntish
officials m Iraq is not indeed unworthy of comparison with that
accomplished, under Lord Cromer, in Egjqit The work was
consummated when in 1932 the Mandate was determined, and
Iraq admitted as an independent State to. membership in the
League of Nations. The new State was, however, required as a
condition of the withdrawal of the Mandate to enter into certain
guarantees for the protection of foreigners and minorities, and
the like.®
Alan- The Mandatory was required, whatever the form of the Man-
dates date, to make an annual report to the Council of the League of
Sion Nations, which exercised supervision over all the Mandatories bj*^
means of a Permanent Mandates Commission. This Commission
1 Te\± of Treaty in Cmd 2672 of 1926 , and see note, p 437
s Cf League of Nations Publications, A 17, 1932, vu. The important
question of the Nestonan Community, still unsolved, bad not yet arisen
1019]
THE MANDATES COMMISSION
437
consisted of ten members representing the three Mandatory and
seven Non-SIandatory States Its functions were, therefore, of
a peculiarly delicate character, though they are purely advisory,
and the Commission can rely on no sanction save the force of
international public opinion '
Tlie}’ were not more delicate than those of the League from
•which it derived its authority And that authority ■was never
Itself unchallenged It offered an easy target for the arrows of
the cynic and the pessimist But the critic may be mvited to
formulate his alternative Is there, indeed, any alternative, save
that the nations should be crushed under the burden of armaments,
and that when the burden can no longer be endured, civilization
itself should perish irrecoverably under a senes of devastating
•nars?
^ For the Alnndatc System, cf Lord Lugard, ap Edinburgh Revteio, vol
238, pp 3D8-408, and the same wntcr, ap Encycl Bnt , new vols ii
\otes
To p 420 The Peace Conference and Treaties did not partitaon the
cX'Hapsburg Empire That bad been already done by the Component
States themselves before the Peace Conference met The Treaties merely
conOrmed the fait accompli and defined the frontiers of the ^ Succession
States ’ Cf Marriott, The Trr^edy of Europe (1011), pp 17-18
To p. 431 For the sequel cf Mamott, History of Europe, 181B-1937,
p 000
To p 430 For the unwitting impulse given to the Anglo-Turkish accord
bj Mussohm in connection wiUi the Mosul affair, cf Temperlcy, Whispering
Gallery of Europe, pp 32-38
THE AFTERMATH OF WAR
[1019-
Tlie
Peace
Treaty
t^HAPTER XXV
THE AFTERMATH OF WAR
T he day after the Treat)^ was signed Mr Lloyd George
returned from Pans ‘ much aged ‘ tired and worn but
triumphant The King and Cabinet met him at Victona, where
a great popular reception awaited him He had brought a Treaty
with him Had he brought Peace and Honour ’ England’s
honour, at least7 'v\as untamted ; whether Europe had secured the
Peace she sorely needed only the future could tell
The Treaty was of immense dimensions. The Treaty of
Vienna contained 121 articles, and was signed by 17 plenipoten-
tianes , the Treaty of Versailles contains no fewer than 441, and
bore 70 signatures. Durmg the twenty years that elapsed
after it was concluded the Treaty was a target for violent
criticism But every great settlement made by English states-
men has been similarly assailed. The authors of the Treaty of
Utrecht (1713) were impeached The Treaty of Paris (1763) was
even more advantageous to tlus country than the Treaty of
Utrecht But its authors were not spared, and the Treaty itself,
hke its predecessor, was, in Lecky’s words, ‘ forced through Par-
hament amid a storm of unpopularity, and bj’- corruption and
intimidation of the w^orst kind In neither of these cases did
the terms of Peace adequately compensate for the sacrifices made
by Great Britam m the war. Even more emphatically was that
true of the Treaty of Versailles. But can it ever be otherwise ?
To avert defeat is mdeed worth any sacrifice but victory may
well be too dearly bought ^ If the Great War succeeded in endmg
war, no sorrowing mother or ^fe would have grudged the sacrifice
she had been compelled to make. The hope of such a consumma-
tion was not, until the peace was actually broken, abandoned.
iTIus IS Lord Riddell’s description Eng., m 44.
11122 ]
WILSON FORMULAS
4S9
But many illusions were in tlie meantime dissipated, and the
greatest of all was destined to be shattered
For this the negotiators of the peace cannot wholly escape President
responsibility In partieular it rests on Mr Wilson He
brought Tilth him to Pans not, perhaps, too exalted an ideal,
but certainly too rigid formulas, and too many embarrassing
aphorisms The world was to be made safe for Democracy , minor-
ities must be protected , territonal readjustments must conform
to the pnnciple of sclf-determmation, and so on The pnnci-
ples were unassailable the difficulty lay m appljnng them.
Democracy proved singularly mept m avaihng itself of the safety
offered to it by the War ; to appease the gnevanccs of one minor-
ity proved to be almost impossible ■without imposmg a "wrong
upon another , while, as for ‘ self-determination ’, the whole difii-
cultj’’ lay in selecting the umt Was Poland the appropnate unit
or Silesia ? Ireland or Ulster, Jugo-Slana or Croatia ?
It followed that the Peace Treaties left all the belligerents in
various degrees dissatisfied. Great Bntam least, because she had
expected least France had made heroic sacrifices to obtain
secunty As a guarantee of security Foch wanted the Rhine
frontier it was demed to him. Failmg that, Germany must be
permanently disarmed she has never disarmed, and was believed
to be re-arming The German delegates left Versailles under the
impression, possibly mistaken but certainly sincere, that Ger-
many’s disarmament Tvas only to be the prelude to general dis-
armament Alone among the Great Powers Great Britain
showed practical zeal for disarmament
The fin ancial lia bility of Germany was ultimately (1921) fixed
by the Reparation Commission at £6,600,0 00,00 0, ~to be paid in
quarterly instalments at the rat^f £150,000,000 a year, partly
in cash, partly in kind It was a fantastic sum
Yet Germany made a bcginnmg m payments A consider- Problem
able amount of coal Tvas, under this award, sent to France and pactions
Belgium, but of payments m cash the creditors have received
little The mark gave way. By the end of 1921 the mark had
fallen to 1020 to the pound sterlmg In 1922 Germany was declared
by the Reparation Commission to be in default In January
1923 the French army occupied the great mdustnal district
known as the Ruhr By that time the mark had fallen to 80,000
440
THE AFTERMATH OF WAR
[1910-
Unrcst in
England
to the £ ; on September 80, 1923, it stood at nineteen billions In
that month the German Government called off the passive resist-
ance it had, since January, maintained m the Ruhr. Passive
resistance had, according to a German estimate, cost the German
Government a sum which would have sufficed to pay reparations
down to 1928.*' Thus M. Poincare’s policy had given German
finance the final blow. A fresh committee of experts was then
appomted, under the chairmanship of an American, General
Dawes The Dawes Committee recommended greatly reduced
payments" to begin m 1926-7, and "until 1929 these were made,
but virtually entirely out of loans advanced by their creditors.
When the creditors refused to make further loans the ‘ Dawes ’
plan collapsed, and m J anua ry 1930 was superseded by the
‘ Young plan ’, which m turn collapsed, until in July 1932 under
the Lausanne Agreement, Germany was reheved of all habilily
subject to a final capital payment of £150,000,000 The mter-
AUied obligations still, however, remained The complete failure
to ‘ make Germany pay for the War ’ was only one of many dis-
illusionments following on the Peace.
It had been fondly hoped that the comradeship arismg from
community of service in war would be maintained and strength-
ened between men and women of all classes in peace. This hope
also was destmed to disappointment Even m war-time the
comradeship of the trenches had not_extended to mines and
factories. Peace brought no alleviation of the bad spirit between
employes and employed.
If England was restless, Reland was rebellious; India was
uneasily expectant ; and even the D^inions gave evidence of a
temper which, though loyal to the Imperial Croivn, was impatient
of any interference on the part of the Imperial Parliament, or
even the Impeiial Executive.
Plamly, the situation confronting the Coalition Mmistry and
the ‘ Coupon ’ Parliament was not easy, and demanded from the
drivers of the State Coach exceptional alertness of mind and
steadiness of hand From men so fagged out as Lloyd George
and Bonar Law, as Lord Milner and Lord Curzon, it was unreason-
able to look for these quahties. Balfour had seemmgly renewed
his youth , but theForeign Office m 1919 was beset with problems
^ Maximilian Harden, ap These Eventful Years, II 67.
1023]
INDUSTRY AND LABOUR
4H
e^ cn more difficult than was tlie Irish Office in 1887 Tlie task
tliat'ftwaited Sir Austen Chamherlain at the Treasury might have
baffled a Gladstone or a Peel , but it is safe to say that neither of
those great financiers would have permitted the war-time extrava-
gance to continue unchecked. 'VVliitchall end's!; James’s Park
would have been much more rapidly cleared of swollen staffs and
superfluous offices , tliere uould have been less expenditure of
time, money and ink on schemes of ‘ reconstruction never des-
tined to emerge from pigeon-holes , and more encouragement for
those members of Parliament who worked hard but vainly to
restrict expenditure, behevmg such restriction to be the most
hopeful contribution they could make to national recovery
Old-fashioned economists, the men of affairs no less than the Indusirj
theorists, were laughed out of court The War had indeed belied Labour
every anticipation and falsified every prophecy On the out- m war-
break of wai It had been apprehended that there would be general
distress and much unemployment Oh August 4, 1914, a .com-
mittee w’as appointed to deal with the prevention and relief of
distress Almost simultaneously a National Relief Fund, to
which the Prince of Wales lent his name, was inaugurated, and
rapidly attained very large proportions Rehcf committees were
set up m more than three hundred localities counties, boroughs,
and urban distnots. Local authorities were urged to initiate or
accelerate improvement schemes, and so proAude employment.
Representatives of the Development Commission, of the Light
Railways Commission, and the Road Board were called mto con-
sultation by the Committee. In a word, every preparation which
experience or foresight could suggest was made for dealmg with
distress wluch might be expected to arise from the collapse of
credit and the dislocation of industry
And wisely. For m the first days of war it seemed probable
that the War would administer a very severe shock both to credit
and industry. A financial crisis was, as we have seen, happily
averted, and during the autumn of 1914 there was an almost
complete cessation of trade disputes Organized labour showed
itself as apprehensive of an industrial debacle as did the employers
and the Govempient Durmg the autumn the rate of unem-
ployment was in fact abnormally high, but after January 1915
the abnormahty was in the other direction, and after twelve
442
THE APTERMATH OF WAR
[1019-
months of war the percentage of unemployment sank to the lowest
point ever recorded The rapid rise m prices (already indicated)
inflicted much suffenng on aged persons living on small fixed
incomes, and on others whose remuneration did not keep pace
with mounting prices. But these classes were relatively small
Unfortunately, all the prospenty-sharers in all classes, em-
ployers and employed alike, assumed that the piping-times
of war would be indefinitely prolonged, that Peace would bring
in her train even more than the proverbial prosperity. As a fact,
the economic momentum of the War lasted for about two years
after the Armistice. Towards the end of 1920 there were ominous
signs that Peace and prosperity were not invariably associated
The number of paupers, which in 1919 had fallen to the nadir
point (about 500,000 for England and Wales) rose in 1921 to
about 1,400,000. Unemployment figures also steadily rose during
the same penod But to these matters more detailed reference
must be made presently.
The The War involved dislocation in constitutional no less than
ery*of”" i^^dustrial machinery Inter arma silent leges. Both Houses of
Govern- Parliament were denuded of many of their members, and the
death-roll among them was heavy. Those who did not fight
were mcreasingly employed m administrative offices. The ener-
gies of Parhament were rightly concentrated on the War, but the
Legislature had still to sustam the Executive, and, as we have
seen, it brought about a change of Government in ]\Iay 1916, and
m December 1916 acquiesced m another change even more drastic.
The Cabinet system was virtually superseded from the latter date
and was not restored until the autumn of 1919.
The During the War, and especially in its later stages, the Prime
System Minister assumed, almost inevitably, Presidential if not Dicta-
torial functions, a development mtensified by the creation of a
Cabinet Secretariat.
In its origin the Cabinet Secretariat was a development of
the Committee of Imperial Defence, an organization which was
mitiated to co-ordinate the work of the Army and the Navy, and
to envisage as a whole the problem of defence not merely for the
United Kingdom but for the Empire First set up in 1895 the
Committee of Imperial Defence, after ten years of a somewhat
nebulous existence, was in 1904, on the initiative of l^Ir Balfour,
CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES
443
192 ::]
* reorganized with a small Secretariat and a modest staff ’ ^
Even Jiefore the War the old Cabinet system was evidently break-
ing do-wn under the increasing weight of numbers, the increasing
volume of business, and the entire lack of business methods
There vas no agenda, there were no regular minutes, the only
record of business transacted was contained in the letter wTitten
after each meeting by the Prime IVIinirter to the Sovereign , none
of his colleagues ever 'saw' this letter and it was contrary to con-
vention for individual members even to make a note-of decisions
JLnisters were, indeed, often left in doubt as to whether any
decision had been taken, and if so w'hat it w'as -
All this was changed, and changed as a result of the War The
There is a permanent Secretariat, and the Secretary is present at
all meetings of the Cabinet Before each meeting a paper con-
taining the agenda is prepared under the instructions of the Prime
Alinister, and is circulated with all relevant papers and memoranda
to all Cabinet Mimsters All decisions are recorded by the Secre-
tary w'lth a precis of the considerations which led to them, but
without (as a rule) any record of the views of individuals These
mmutes are circulated to Mmistcrs, and on them are based the
mstructions given by Mmisters to then: several Departments *
Another change of some significance was effected by the 7?e-. Re-elec-
clection of Mimsters ^^of 1919_and 19M Under a statute of
1707 Jlmisters accepting certain offices vacated their seats m the
House of Commons, but it left them eligible for re-election, and
re-elected they generally (though not mvariably) were ^e Act
of 1919 exempted from the necessity of re-election Mim^eirs
accepting those offices withm nme months of the summoning of
a new Parhamentl^ The Art of 1926 abolished' the necessity of
reflection altogether, provideiTthat’tbe'office was notone involv-
mg disqualification from membership of the House of Commons.
The“old system had ob-«ous mconveniences it imposed addi-
tional expense on Mmistcrs , it restricted the choice of the Prime
Mmister to members with ‘ safe ’ seats, and it sometimes involved
* In 1904-5 the estimate for the Cabinet Seeretanat was £2,900
* Cf Lord Lansdonne in House of Lords (Report, June 20, 1018) and
Lord Cuizon {Report, June 19, 1919)
* The orderly development and workmg of the new system uas mamly
due to a civil servant of remarkable ability, tact and discretion — ^Lieut -Col
Sir Maurice (nou Lord) Hankey, G C B
THE AFTERJL4TH OF WAR
[1919-
tlie exclusion of important Ministers from Parliament for a con-
siderable period. j\Ir. Goschen, for instance, though appointed
Chancellor of the Exchequer m December 18S6, did not secure
a seat in Parliament until February 1SS7 On the other hand,
the repeal of the old statute has rendered the Executive still more
independent of the electorate, if not of the Legislature, and has
contributed to the increasmg autocracy of Ministers — a develop-
ment regarded mth suspicion by constitutionalists of the old scliool.
En- The Executive has also gamed power at the expense of the
Legislature, and has encroached upon the liberty of the subject
cracy in other ways, notably by the change m the form of legislation,
by the immense increase m the functions of Government, by the
multiphcation of Administrative Departments, and by the mcrease
m the number of officials, armed, in many cases, \Mth extensive
powers not merely executive but even judicial. ^ Many modem
statutes are mere Cadies^ giving no adequate indication of their
ultimate scope. They lay down general principles, and leave it
to the Executive to give substance to the legislative skeleton, by
the issue of Statutory Rules and Orders This is, m effect, to
transfer the legislative function to the Bureaucracy, who under
powers conferred upon them by Parhamcnt not infrequently
perform, like the absolute monarchs of olden tune, the threefold
function of legislator, executor and judge. How' far Parhament
has gone towards the abdication of its primary function may be
judged from the fact that the legislative output of Parhament
is to-day httle more than half what it was in mid-Victorian days,
when It sat for half as long. The average number of Pubhc
General Acts passed m the decade 1866-75 was 112 : in the
decade 1920-9 it was 58.® The statutes in the earlier period were
far more detailed than m the latter, and not less technical and
comprehensive
Elector- To the successive changes in the composition of the electorate
Lef>^a- reference has already been made. Those changes are naturally
tura reflected in the composition of the Legislature ‘ As the polypus
' On tins important subject to which only brief reference can be made in
the teKt cf Lord Hewart, The New Despotism (1929) , Marriott, The Cnsis
of English Liberty (Oxford, 1930) , G E Robinson, Pi.bhc Authorities and
Legal Liabilities (1925) , F J Port, Administrative Law, 1929 , C. J Allen,
Bureaucracy Triumphant (1931).
» Allen, op cit., pp 145-6.
1022]
PASLIAIHENT
445
takes its colour from the rock to which it affixes itself, so do the
members of this House take their character from their constit-
uencies If you lower the character of the constituencies, you
lower that of the representatives ’ Mr Robert Lowe’s observa-
tion IS certainty not less true to-day than it was m 1866 The
House of Lords has nearly doubled in size since the accession
of Queen Victoria, and is far more representative of varied inter-
ests and classes than it uas even at her death In 1837 it con-
sisted almost wholly of landowners , to-day it is not exclusively
representative of wealth Even more conspicuous is the trans-
formation in the texture of the Lower House A large minority
of the House of Commons is now d^a^vn from the wage-earning
class , the landownmg class is not entirety unrepresented, but the
majority of members belong to the middle classes, lawyers, jour-
nalists, busmess men and so forth All members have since 1911
received a salary of £400 a year, and also (since 1931) travelling
allowances between their constituencies and Westminster Many
of the Labour members also receive considerable salaries as liade
Umon officials
Parhament lost m gower^s wcU as in prestige ? The
question is often aske3, but cannot b^ conclusively answered
That It is no longer the ‘ best club m Europe ’ is evident ; that
it has delegated much of its legislative work to subordinate bodies
has been already shown , nor can it be questioned that it is far
more subservient than formerly both to outside Party organiza-
tions and to the Executive But it still possesses, and could if
it so willed exercise, the power of the purse, and, subject to an
appeal to the electorate, it can stiU withdraw its confidence from,
and so destroy, the Executive On the other hand, the Executive
can, subject to the same appeal, dismiss a House of Commons
Under modern conditions both parties shrink from the appeal to
Caesar, and as long as possible defer the decisive day.
THE IRISH REBELLION AND AlFTER [1916-
U6
CHAPTER XXVI
THE IRISH REBELLION AND AFTER
The ''T^HE Armistice with Gennany was signed on November 11,
1918, but not until three years later was England per-
mitted to sheathe the sword. That sword was directed no longer
agamst Germany but against those of the King’s Irish subjects
who tliroughout the War were the friends, and desired to be the
alhes, of Germany.
To the outbreak of the Irish rebellion in April 1916 reference
has already been made.1 The rebelhon, except m Dublin abor-
tive, was suppressed without difficulty, but not without cost.
By all the best friends of Ireland the rebelhon was deplored, and
condemned as cnminal folly.
Criminal it unquestionably was, but was it ‘ folly ’ ? Was it
a ‘ dismal failure ’, a ‘ cnme against Ireland * ? The answer to
these questions depends upon the view taken ofcthe Anglo-Insh
problem as a whole. If Ireland is a * nation and as such entitled
to * self-determination ’, to sovereign mdependence, the rebelhon
of 1916 was no folly pr failure, but the first in a series of steps
leading to the desired goal — an Independent Irish Repubhc. The
Redmondites and moderate Home Rulers regarded the rebelhon
as the death-blow to their hopes. The Home Rule Bill had,
despite the Party * truce been placed upon the Statute-Book
m September 1914 Carson described the action of the Govern-
ment as one ‘ of unparalleled, treachery and betrayal Bonar
Law’s comment was even more bitter. ‘They said to them-
selves, “ Whatever we may do, they (the Unionists) are bound
in a cnsis like this to help their country. Whatever injustice
we may inflict upon them we can count upon them.” It is not
a pretty calculation^ but ... it is a correct calculation. They
can count on us.’ The operation of the Home Rule Act was,
* Supra, p 381
10S2]
SINN FEIN
447
however, by statute suspended until after the end of the War
Was it possible, after the rebellion of 1916, that it could ever
cdme into operation ’
In May 1916 Mr Asquith himself visited Dublin and inter- Sum Fein
viewed the prisoners in gaol and hospital On his return to
Westminster he announced (May 25), to the amazement of the
Insh members, that negotiations with the Unionist and Nationalist
leaders were to begin at once with a view, not to the repeal of
the Home Rule Act, hut to bnnging it, with certain amendments,
mto immediate operation. The negotiations broke down on the
question of Ulster, and in November Sir John Mav\iell was re-
called, and six hundred Sinn Fern prisoners were released.
Maxwell was a fine soldier who in April had been sent over to
quell the rebellion By mingled tact and firmness he was carrying
a difficult task through to a successful issue when, under pressure
from the Nationalists at Westminster, he was recalled
His recall was a fatal blunder It w’as nghtly interpreted in
Ireland as a sign of English instabihty, and m 1917 the Sinn Fcin
agitation was resumed, both in Ireland and m the United States.
In Ireland it made little progress Farmers and labourers were
alike enjoj'ing unusual prosperity and were, for the moment, too
busy for political agitation But the lull was only momentary.
In July 1917 Mr de Valera was returned for East Clare m the
room of Wilham Redmond who had been killed in action, and m
the following October, at a Sinn Fein convention, was elected
President in opposition to Mr Arthur Griffith The movement
thus passed under the control of avow'ed and out-and-out repub-
licans
The death of John Redmond m March 1918 was a further The
blow to the ‘ Moderates ’ and m April the Irish Convention re- [Snven-
ported its failure to agree This Convention had been called tion
together in July 1917 by Mr Lloyd George, who promised to give
effect to its recommendations, if a substantial measure of agree-
ment could be reached Representatives of all parties, except
the Sinn Femers, sat for mne months under the chairmanship of
Sir Horace Plunkett, and worked hard to reach agreement They
failed The principle of self-determmation works both ways
If it w'as to be apphed to Southern Ireland, why not also to Ulster ’
But if 'Ulster were cut off, what was to become of the unfor-
448 THE IRISH REBELLION AND AFTER [i9ic-
tunate Unionists in Southern Ireland ? On the horns of this dil-
emma the Convention was impaled. It could never disengage itself.
The Report meant that in the darkest hour of the War the
right aim of England was siiU weakened by Ireland. The new
Military Service Bill passed in that dark hour, and applying con-
scription in the most drastic form in Great Britain, gave the
Executive power to extend it, for the first time, to Ireland. It
soon became evident that the number of recruits thus obtained
would be small in proportion to the soldiers required to enforce
the order It was useless therefore to apply conscription to a
hostile population.
Agitation Meanwhile, Sir John French had succeeded (May 1918) Lord
Ireland Wimborne as Viceroy, and Sir James Campbell, a stout Uniomst,
became Lord Chancellor Sinn Fern was proclaimed, the admin-
istiation of the law was stiffened, and de Valera was reimpns-
oned. It may be that these measures anticipated and averted
a second insurrection
Election But the Franchise Act of 1918, like that of 1884, provided
of 1918 ^th a fresh weapon agamst England. At the General
Election (December 1918) the old Nationalist Party shared the
fate of the Liberals m England. Scvcnty-tliree of their seats
were captured by Sinn Feiners. But the latter refused to sit at
Westnimsicr, set up a Parliament of their oivn m Dublin with
an Executive responsible thereto, and proclaimed an Irish Repub-
hc (January 1919). In the course of the next eighteen months
all the Sinn Fein members, except seven nho were abroad, found
themselves in prison In Febiiiary 1919, honever, de Valera
made his escape from Lincoln Gaol, fled to the United States, and
raised a fund of $6,000,000 for the sustenance of the Irish Re-
pubhe. An attempt was made to mduce President Wilson to
bring Ireland’s case before the Peace Conference m Pans, but
the American delegates refused to receive the Irish envoys.
The The Lish repubheans were perfectly candid . ‘ Our national-
mTpnrty*®™ founded upon gnevances. We are opposed not to
English misgovernment, but to English government m Ireland.*
So ran the memorandum from ‘ The Provisional Government of
the Insh Republic ’ to President Wilson. It had been well had
the English people and the Enghsh Government taken these ele-
mentary truths to heart. But no true Enghshman could com-
IRISH OUTRAGES
449
J932J
prehend such contrariness What better than English govern-
ment can any rational being desire ? ‘ We come said Cromwell
m ihis Declaration from Youghal (January 1650), ‘ by the assist-
ance of God, to hold forth and mamtain the lustre and glory of
English liberty in a nation nhere we have an undoubted right to
do it , V herein the people of Ireland (if they listen not to such
seducers as you are) may equally participate in all benefits ; to
use liberty and fortune equally with Englishmen, if they keep
out of arms ’
Cromn ell’s words express with precision the attitude of Eng-
land towards the Irish — and all other ‘ inferior races ’ — ^through-
out the ages ‘ Rebellion is as the sm of witchcraft ’ Keep out
of arms and all the blessings of English government shall be
jours
The Sinn Femers refused to ‘ keep out of arms On the Outrages
contrarj’, between Maj' 1910 and September 1919 over 1,209 out-
rages nere perpetrated During the ensuing twelve months
things n ent rapidly from bad to worse In the course of a single
month (April 1920) no fewer than 277 Royal Irish Constabulary
Barracks vere destroj’cd or badly damaged , raids for arms and
money were made on post-offices and private residences , post-
bags were rifled , revenue officers attacked and records destroyed ,
landowners and farmers, large and small, were terrorized into
the surrender of their firearms, and of the ruffians responsible
for the murder of policemen, soldiers and other Government
emplojes not one was in the course of eighteen months con-
victed In September 1919 Sinn Fern (Ddil Eireann) was pro-
claimed as a ‘ dangerous association yet it constituted the only
effective Government in Ireland The King’s Writ virtually
ceased to run , Sinn Fein made the laws, set up tribunals to
enforce them , it and it alone provided sanctions for its decrees
Nor nas the tale of outrages m Ireland anywise abated by
the enactment (1920) of a Bill for the better government of Ire- Home
land Under this fourth edition of Home Rule, two Single-Cham-
ber Parliaments, with Executives responsible thereto, ivere to be Edition,
established in Dubhn and Belfast respectively, and each Parha-
ment was to contribute twenty members to an all-Ireland Council,
which it was hoped might, m time, develop into an all-Ireland
Parhament. Ireland was to continue to be represented in the
u B. — 29
450
THE IRISH REBELLION AND AFTER [loio-
Ulster
Imperial Parliament by forty-six members. But the Nationalists
would have none of * partition * , the Sinn Femers demanded an
independent all-Ireland Republic In Southern Ireland the scheme
was virtually stillborn ; Ulster accepted and worked it as at
least a prefeiable alternative to the Act of 1914< which it repealed,
and which, but for the Act of 1920, was due to come into operation
at the ‘ end of the War
Meanwhile the social condition of Southern Ireland became
steadily worse In July General Macready was appointed to the
command of the troops — ^now numbering some 60,000 — ^in Ireland.
But the British Government applied methods of repression with
a half-heartedncss which was cruel to all parties and calamitous
in its effects Soldiers and Police ‘ Auxiliaries ’ and ‘ Black and
Tans ’ 1 sacrificed their lives in support of a Government unworthy
of their devotion. At the Guildhall Banquet on November 9
Mr Lloyd George declared dramatically that we ‘ had murder by
the throat ’. On November 21 twenty-one English officers were
dragged from their beds in Dublm hotels and murdered before
the eyes of their wives On December 23 the Royal Assent was
given to the Bill ‘ for the better government of Ireland
It was grim tragedy with a ghastly admixture of broad farce .
coercion and concession hand m hand. Almost all the members
tf Ddil Eircann were in gaol ; civil war was being waged m the
country. By the middle of 1921 no fewer than 395 police, to say
nothing of soldiers, had been murdered, and the destruction of
property was on a calamitous scale.
Nevertheless the elections under the 1920 Act were held in
May 1921. In the six Ulster counties the Unionists won 40 out
of the 52 seats : m Southern Ireland the Sinn Femers carried
without opposition all the 128 seats, save the four assigned to
Trinity College. But the Sinn Femers never took their seats in
Parliament, which was attended by only 15 out of 64 Senators and
by 4 out of 128 members of the Lower House.
Ulster, however, played the game On June 22, 1921, the
King and Queen visited Belfast to open the Northern Parliament.
In an historic speech King George appealed to ‘ all Irishmen to
stretch out the hand of forbearance and conciliation, to forgive
1 The nickname given to the npecially enhsted troops ivlio wore khaki
with the dark R I C caps.
1932 ]
THE TkEATY
451
and forget, and join m making for the land which you all love a
new era of peace and contentment and goodwill*.
The appeal could not be disregarded The British (Jovem- Peace
ment invited Sir James Craig, the Ulster Premier, and Mr de
Valera, the republican leader, to a conference m London The
former promptly accepted the invitation , the latter with hesita-
tion and conditionally On July 11 a truce was proclaimed m
Ireland , all the members of Ddil Eireann — ^the revolutionary
convention — ^were released, and on July 14 de Valera and his
colleagues arrived m London After lengthy negotiations the
British Government offered, under certain conditions, * Dominion
Status ’ to Southern Ireland General Smuts, who during this
summer had been indefatigable in his efforts to promote Insh
peace, wrote to de Valera sirongly urging his acceptance Never-
theless on August 10, after consultation with Dail Eireann, the
offer was refused by de Valera. The Dominion Status offered
was, he declared, illusory , nothing less than ‘ complete detach-
ment ’ would satisfy Ireland Of independence the British
Government would not hear But the wiser sort in Ireland were
weary of anarchy, and after prolonged manoeuvring for position
de Valera at last consented to a further conference He himself
remained m Dublin, but -was represented m London by Michael
Collins, the young but ever-resourceful Commander-in-Chief of
the repubhean army, by Arthur Griffith and three others The
seven representatives of the Bnbsh Government mcluded the
Prime Mimster, Sir Austen Chamberlain, Lord Birkenhead and
Mr Churchill Much tune was wasted by constant references to
de Valera in Dublin , more than once deadlock seemed to have
been reached ' but at midnight on December 6 an Agreement
—ominously described as a ‘Treaty’ — was signed by all the
delegates
The Treaty gave Ireland, under certain conditions, the full The
Domimon Status of Canada under the style of the Irish Free
State but Northern Ireland was to have the right to contract
out of it That right was, at the first opportumfy, exercised
On December 14 the King opened in person a special session of
the Imperial Parliament which on the 16th voted an address
approvmg of the Treaty. In the foUowmg session a Bill unple-
mentmg the Treaty received the Royal Assent (March 31, 19221
THE IRISH REBELLION AND AFTER
[lOlC-
4';2
Meanwhile, the Treaty was vehemently debated in Ddil
Eireann, but was at length approved (January 7, 1922) by a
narrow majority (64 to 57) De Valera, to whom none can deny
the merit of consistency, passionately protested against accept-
ance, and declared that the fight for complete independence
would go determinedly on. He has kept his word. To this day
(1945) the fight has never ceased. After the vote of Dail Eireann
de Valera immediately resigned, and on January 10 Mr. Arthur
Grifiith was elected President of Dail Eireann and on the 14th
the ‘ Treaty ’ was unanimously approved The British army
evacuated Ireland, the Royal Irish Constabulary were disbanded,
and the last vestiges of the British Government were removed
from Dublin Castle.
The The Free State (Piovisional) Government had still, however,
Free establish its authority in Ireland The Republicans with de
State Valera at their head repudiated it, maintained their army, carried
on guerrilla war, inflicting immense damage upon the country and
cruel suffering upon the people Speaking m the Dail on May
19 Mr Griffith declared that the Republicans w'ere on the level
of the worst traitors m Irish history, and did not represent two per
cent of the people of Ireland Yet that percentage was sufficient
to impose upon the whole of Southern Ireland and part of the
North a reign of terror. ‘ The progress of disorder, of lawless-
ness, of social degeneration, had been so rapid and extensive in
the twenty-six counties smce the departure of the British troops
and the disbandment of the Royal Irish Constabulary, that the
Provisional Government could not possibly guarantee the ordinary
security of life and properly ... As a consequence of this
insecurity prosperity has been seriously affected Banking and
busmess are curtailed , industry and agriculture are languishmg ,
revenue is only coming in with mcreasingly laggard steps , credit
is drying up , railways are slowing down ; stagnation and im-
poverishment are overtaking the productive life of Ireland ; the
inexorable shadow of famine is already cast on some of its poorer
districts.’^ Such was the terrible picture presented to the House
of Commons by Mi Chuichill on May 31, 1922 But the most
serious feature of the situation was, as he said, that ten days
earlier a compact had been made between the Provisional Govern-
* Hansard, May 31, 1922
1932]
IRISH REPUBLICANS
453
merit and the Republicans that m the coming election the Repub-
licnns should have fiftj'-seven seats assigned to them as against
si\t} -four for the supporters of the Treaty and four places out
of nine in the Cabinet Tins compact was justly denounced by
Jlr. Churchill, as virtually a breach of faith on the part of the
signatories of the Treaty', and an attempt to stifle an expression
of the authentic voice of the Irish electorate As a fact it was
not completely stifled A General Election w'as held in June,
and onlj thirtj'-six Repubheans were returned ; thirty-four non-
panel candidates were elected The Treaty was safe
But the virulence of the Repubheans was not abated On Rcpubli
June 22 Sir Henry Wilson, who, after the close of the War, had “^ 03 ***^
been acting as the military adviser of Ulster, was murdered m
broad daj light on the doorstep of his house m London ^ On
August 12 Arthur Griffith, the head of the Provisional Govern-
ment, died with suspicious suddenness in Dublin Ten days
later Michael Collins was ambushed and shot m Co Cork Collins
was a most attractive personality, the hero of a hundred fights
and a hundred miraculous escapes, adored by the young man-
hood and womanhood of Ireland, and his death was deeply
mourned.
In September 1922 the Southern Parliament met and elected
Mr. Cosgrave President and Chairman of the Provisional Govern-
ment, with a Cabinet of nme members' The new Government
was confiontcd by two immediate tasks the restoration of order
and the drafting of a Constitution The latter was the less diffi-
cult Largely with the aid of Kevin O’Higgins a Constitution
was drafted, approved by the Irish Parliament and passed through
its final stage m the Impenal Parliament on December 5, withm
twenty-four hours of the tune named for the expiration of the
Treaty.
On the Treaty the Irish Free State Constitution is based, Tlie
and any revision or amendment of the Constitution that is re-
pugnant to the terms of the Treaty is null and void The Instru- tion
* The outrage came home very dosely and painfully to mo But for the
fact that I was not lunching at home that day I must myself have witnessed,
perhaps been invohed m, the tragedy I regularly walked past my col-
league’s residence on my ivay to the House of Commons at a particular time
every day That was the very moment at which Sir Henry Wilson was
murdered
454. THE IRISH REBELLION AND AFTER [loift-
ment provides for a Legislature consisting of the King and two
Houses, a Senate of sixty members, and a Chamber of Deputies
Both Chambers are elective, but the Senate is elected from a
limited panel drawn up by the Legislature The Executive is
responsible to the Legislature The Governor-General is ap-
pointed by the Crown on the nomination of the Free State Execu-
tive On December 7 IVIr Timothy Healy, for many years one
of the most biilliant debaters m the Imperial Parliament, was
sworn in as Governor-General and retained that office until
December 1927
The enforcement of order was a task of almost superhuman
difficulty, but it was courageously tackled by Mr Cosgrave. An
army, ultimately consisting of 40,000 men, was enrolled to sup-
poit the efforts of the Civic Guards (police) ; and by the end of
the year fifty Repubheans — among them Erskine Childers, an
English convert — suffered the death penaltj^ and 10,000 were im-
prisoned Besides innumerable murders and outrages they had
destroyed property of the estimated value of £25,000,000. But
the courage of the new Executive liad its reward By the early
summer of 1923 the republican resistance was broken, and de
Valera, himself a fugitive, had called off hostilities. For nearly
a decade Cosgrave remained m power, and the land enjoyed com-
parative repose In February 1982, however, his party was
defeated at a General Election, and de Valera succeeded him as
President of the Executive Council
□Ister Within tlie prescribed month after the enactment of the Free
State Constitution Ulster exercised its i iglit to contract out, and ■
remains, therefore, under the Constitution of 1920 Between
that date and 1922 the condition of Ulster, particularly on the
boundary, was only less serious than that of Southern Ireland
The Belfast shipyards too were the scene of frequent fighting
between Protestants and Catholics and not a little bloodshed
De Valera did all in his power to make trouble in the northern
counties and nith no small measure of success. On March 30,
1922, however, as the result of a conference between Sir James
Craig, the first Premier of Ulster, Mr Aithur Griffith, Mr Churclull
other representatives of the three Governments, an Agree-
^^as concluded and the teims of it were on that day com-
PRESIDENT DE VALERA
455
municated by Mr Churchill to the House of Commons ^ The
two Insh Governments undertook ‘ to co-operate in every way
in their pover vnth a view to the restoration of peace in the
unsettled areas By the middle of 1922 Sir James Craig had
got the situation well under control There remained, however,
the difficulty of defining the frontier between the six counties
and the Free State Not until December 1925 was an agreement
reached between the Bnbsh Government, Ulster and the Free
State But between the two Irelands there has been erected a
formidable Customs barrier • the less likely to be lowered since
the Free State has passed under the control of the Repubhean
Party
De Valera, a consistent and unyielding Republican, was hardly President
installed in power ( 1932 ) before he made it plam that he meant to
abrogate the Treaty to which, mdeed, he had never subscribed
The legal connexion between a Dominion and the United King-
dom now depends only on the appellate jurisdiction of the English
Privy Council and on common allegiance to the Crown The
Irish Free State has now ( 1933 ) formally abohshed appeals , and
has also abohshed the oath of allegiance, which members of the
Legislature and the Executive are required to take to the Croivn
It has also withheld the payment of the annuities due to Great
Bntam from the purchasers, under the Land Acts, of Insh land,
and has thereby invited economic war That war, meonvement
to England, is bnnging rum upon Southern Ireland
The Enghsh Government has shown infinite forbearance in Economic
deahng with a rebelhous Dommion, m the hope that its mental
derangement (as Englishmen regard it) will prove to be tem-
porary They have, however, made it clear to de Valera that
if the Free State repudiates the obhgations, few and slight as
they are, incidental to membership m the British Commonwealth
of Nations, it cannot hope to contmue to share m its privileges
The ‘ Treaty ’ of 1922 is not a imilateral document Jt can be
modified or abrogated only wnth the consent of both parties.
That there is, and always has been, in Southern Ireland a large
party m favour of secession, of complete independence, is one of
the ugly truths to which English pohticians have for the most
part 'shut their eyes. Those who kept them partially open
* Hansard, March 80, 1922, pp lCOO-2
450 THE IRISH REBELLION AND AFTER [loic-
clung to the hope tliat the Irish Republicans represented only a
small minority of the people, and that even they would be ap-
peased by the coneession, if not-of Gladstonian Home Rule, at
least of Dominion Status Tliej'^ never believed that Parnell
meant what he said when he accepted the Home Rule Bill as an
‘ instalment ’, but lefuscd ‘ to set limits to the march of a nation
‘ Dominion Status ’ is a further instalment to sincere Repub-
licans it cannot be the final goal
10021
STJATENBVND OR BVNDESSTAAT’f
4'»7
CHAPTER XXVH
THE BRITISH COMMOmi-EALTH OF NATIONS—
OR BVNDFSSTAATl
T he first reaction of the Empire to the War was undeniably The
centripctel In 1917 there came into existence, as wc and the
have seen, an Imperial ‘ Cabinet ’ So cordial w'cre the rdations ''Vat
established, so successful the expenment, that it was unanimously
decided to incorporate the Imperial Cabinet permanently m the
constitutional machinery of the Empire
Yet the Dominions trod dehcately The experiment was
repeated m 1918, and the machine was m 1919 transferred to
Pans But at the Conference ccntnfugal tendencies were plainly Cabinet
in evidence and from the Conference the Dominions emerged as
* nations ’, entitled to separate membership in the League of
Nations In 1927 Canada was elected to one of the elective
places on the Council of the League
Heanwhilc, the Imperial Conference of 1917 had repudiated, Fedcrnl-
to the great disappointment of ardent Imperialists, any idea of djatc”^**'
Federation ^ The Imperial Conference of 1921 barred and bolted
the door that had been closed by its predecessor A curious but
^ See supra, p 403 I may be allowed to refer, as some evidence of con-
temporary opinion, to two articles contnbuted by me to The Nineteenth
Century and After In the issue of January 1017 I wrote ‘ Should we fail
to solve it [tlie problem of the Commonwealth] we shall emerge from the
present conflict a discomfited and defeated people beaten, not by the
supenor strength and skill of our opponents, but by our oivn lack of
vision, by our own ossified conservatism, by our own inability to redeem
the time and buy up the opportumty ’ In September of the same year I
wrote British Federalism A Vanished Dream ? supporting, as strongly as
I could, the view of the ‘ Hamiltonians ’ or Federalists such as Lord Milner
and Mr F S Oliver Mcanwlule Sir Herbert Samuel had in the March issue
{The Organization of the Empire) made a similar suggestion, and Sir Sidney
Low had m August {The Imperial Constitution) emphasized tlic pessimistic
significance of the Conference resolution
458 THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS [loic-
Tlie
Imperial
Confer-
ence of
1021
enlightening eontroversy arose as to the precise status, and even
the official designation, of this Assembly. Was it a ‘ Cabinet
or a ‘ Conference or neither ? The Dominions were, in fact,
invited to take part, in accordance with resolutions previously
adopted, in an Imperial * Cabinet Since 1918, however, sus-
picion of that term had deepened in the Dominions. Were the
overseas statesmen, then, merely to take part in a * Conference ’
of the pre-War type ? After all that had happened since 1914'
that was plainly unthinkable Yet a ‘ Cabinet ’ seemed to imply
responsibihl}^ for executive decision To whom, then, were the
members of the Cabinet to be responsible ’ The responsibility
of one was to the Imperial Parliament, of another to the Canadian,
of a third to the Australian Parliament, and so on. There was,
therefore, some constitutional force in the objection taken to the
term ‘ Cabinet ’. The difficulty of terminology w'as shelved
rather than solved by the official report which w'as given out as
A Summary of the Proceedings at a Conference of Prime Ministers
and Representatives of the United Kingdom, the Dominions and
India The larger constitutional question was, how'cvcr, squarely
faced, w’lth the result that the following Resolution was adopted .
‘ The Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom and the Dominions,
having carefully considered the recommendation of the Imperial
War Conference of 1917, that a special Imperial Conference should
be summoned as soon as possible after the War to consider the
constitutional relations of the component parts of the Empire,
have reached the following conclusions :
‘ (a) Continuous consultation, to which the Prime Ministers
attach no less importance than the Imperial War Conference of
1917, can only be secured by a substantial improvement in the
communications betw’een the component parts of the Empire
Havmg regard to the constitutional developments since 1917, no
advantage is to be gamed by holding a constitutional Conference.
‘ (6) The Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom and the
Dominions and the Representatives of India should aim at
meeting annually, or at such longer intervals as may prove
feasible
‘ (c) The existing practice of direct communication between
the Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom and the Dominions,
as w'dl as the right of the latter to nominate Cabinet Ministers
1932] IMPERIAL CONFERENCE (1921) 459
to represent them in consultation with the Prime Minister of
the United Kingdom, are maintained ’ *
To ardent Imperialists of tiie older school this Resolution
caused considerable disappointment Yet it is clear from the
published utterances of the leading statesmen of the Dominions,
not less than from the speech dehvered by the English Prime
Minister in the House of Commons on August 18, 1921, not only
that the Resolution was reached with unanimify, but that its
acceptance was in no degree held to have impaired the constitu-
tional significance of the recent meeting ‘ The general feeling
was said Mr Lloyd George, * that it would be a mistake to lay
down any rules or to embark upon definitions as to what the
British Empire meant You are defining life itself when
jou are defining the British Empire. You cannot do it, and
therefore . . we came to the conclusion that we would have
no constitutional conference * ® Mr Hughes was even more
explicit * ‘ It IS now admitted that a Constitutional Conference
IS not necessary, and that any attempt to set out in writing what
are or should be the constitutional relations betn een the Domimons
and the Mother Country would be fraught with very great danger
to the Empire The question of a Constitutional Conference, or
any attempt at reduction of the Constitution to writing, may be
therefore regarded as having been finally disposed of.’ ‘No
^vntten Constitution ’, said Mr Massey, ‘ is required ’ Yet Mr.
Massey made it clear, as have other Premiers, that, in his opimon,
the recent meeting was * a long way the most important wjuch
has yet been held ’, and for this reason That it was ‘ the first
Conference where the representatives of the overseas Dommions
had been called upon to take part m matters connected ivith the
management of the Empire as a whole ’. Nor can it be doubted,
whatever technical name be given to the meeting, that it did aet,
m effect, as an Empire Cabmet It not merely discussed, but
decided, questions of supreme moment to the Empire and to the
world, and its decisions, like those of a British Cabinet, were
reported immediately to the King Perhaps, then, Mr Lloyd
George did not exaggerate when, m the speedh quoted above, he
said . ‘ The whole course of human affairs has been altered because
^ Summary of Proceedings and Documents, p 9
* House of Commons, Hansard, August 18, 1921.
460 THE BRITISH COJIMONWEALTH OF NATIONS [i9i6-
the British Empire has been proved to be a fact, and not, what
a good many people who knew nothing about it imagined, a fic-
tion. . . . There is no doubt at all that the events of the last
few years have consolidated the Empue m a way which prob-
ably generations would not have done otheru ise ’
Of the discussions at the Assembly of 1921 the most important
were concerned with the foreign policy 'of the Empire. That
policy was becoming more and more focussed upon the Pacific ;
the Anglo- Japanese Alliance, the position of Canada on the one
hand and of Australasia upon the other m regard to Japanese
immigration; the relations between our American friends and
our Japanese allies , and other problems which, if subsidiary, are
by no means without significance These topics, discussed m
detail at the Conference of Pnme Ministers in Whitehall, were
again discussed, from a somewhat different angle, at the Con-
ference at Washington (November 1921-Fcbruary 1922)
The The Conference opened on November 12, 1921, and closed on
ton Oon-* February 6, 1922 Mr Balfour represented both the United
Terence Kingdom and (at the request of General Smuts) the Umon of
South Africa. Canada, Austraha, New Zealand, and India (which
like the Dominions had been admitted to separate membership
of the League of Nations) were all represented by their own dele-
gates ; but the Dominion delegates (as at the Peace Conference)
also formed part, with the delegates from the United Kingdom,
of the British Empire delegation The object of the Conference,
which had been summoned by the U S.A , was to arrest the race
of competition in armaments Its result was to terminate the
Anglo-Japanese alliance, which had always, though groundlessly,
been an object of suspicion, and had lately become a matter of
* deep concern ’ to America. Since 1902 the situation m the
Pacific had been completely changed. The Anglo-Japanese alli-
ance had been originally concluded to safeguard the Alhes against
Russia and Germany. All danger from those quarters was now
dissipated. ‘ For what purpose asked the U.S A , ‘ is it now
maintained ? ’ Great Britam was in a difficult position. Anxious
to be on the best possible terms with the USA, she had no wish
to show mgiatitude to Japan for the great services rendered by
her m the War.^ The Anglo-Japanese alliance was, however,
»Cf. p 40T.
1932] WASHINGTON TREATIES 461
superseded by a Four-Rower Treaty m which the USA and
France joined with Great Bntain and Japan to guarantee peace
in tlie Pacific Tins Treaty was signed within a month of the
meeting of the Conference, and was an essential preliminary to
any agreement on armaments The latter was confined to sea-
power and was embodied in a Five-Power Treaty, in which Italy
joined the parties to the Four-Power Pact It fixed the propor-
tion of capital ships at 5 5 3 for Great Britain, the USA and
Japan respectively, and IJ for France and Italy, and about the
same for aircraft-camers The latter Powers bluntly refused any
agreement about submarines Japan also agreed to evacuate
Shantung
Peace seemed to be assured in the Far East. It was seriously Tlic
tlireatened before the close of the year in the Near East It
needs not to recall the sequence of ev'ents which led up to the
Chanak crisis.^ But the bearing of the incident upon the rela-
tions between the Imperial Government and the Dominions was
significant, and demands attention At the height of the crisis
(September 15) the British Government telegraphed in hot
haste to the Dominions, ‘ placmg them m possession of the facts,
and imating them to be represented by contingents in the defence
of interests for which they have already made enormous sacri-
fices, and of soil which is hallowed by immortal memories of tlie
Anzacs ’ The clever appeal to the Anzacs evoked an immediate
response from New Zealand, who promised a contingent, while
the Australian Government also notified Mr Lloyd George that
it ‘ desired to associate itself with His Majesty’s Government m
Great Bntam in whatever action might be deemed necessary to
ensure the freedom of the Straits and the sanctity of the Gallipoh
Peninsula, and that it was prepared, if circumstances required
it, to send a contingent of Austrahan troops ’ But Mr Hughes
intimated to Mr Lloyd George that the matter would be sub-
mitted to the Australian Parhament The reply from South
Africa was delayed, ownng to the absence of General Smuts, until
the cnsis was over and ‘ there was no longer any call for the inter-
vention of the Umon ’ The Canadian Cabmet asked for further
mformation, and for permission (which was not given) to lay the
mattei before a special session of the Dominion Parhament.
»Cf. p 428
402 THE BRITISH COIBIONT^TSALTH OF NATIONS [loio-
The
Lausanne
Ojnfcr-
The Chanak incident though closed by the conclusion of Peace
at Lausanne (Juty 1923) had important reactions, especiall}’^ in
Canada. At the Lausanne Conference the Dominions were not
indmdually represented. This departure from the precedents
created at Pans and Washington was understood to have been
due to pressure from France ; but it was none the less regrettable,
especially in view of the alarms which had been aroused in the
Dominions by the Chanak mcident.
Mr Mackenzie King, Prime Minister of Canada, while pro-
fessing that his Dommion did not resent exclusion from the Con-
ference, argued that, having been excluded, the ‘ extent to which
Canada may be held to be bound by the proceedings of the Con-
ference or by the provisions of anj^ treaty arising therefrom, must
be a question for the decision of the Canadian Parliament*.
Despite this chilhng reply the Home Government persisted in
the ‘ assumption that the Canadian Government would wash to
follow procedure adopted m case of peace treaties with Germany,
Austria and Bulgaria’ !Mr. King retorted, with unanswerable
force, that the procedure adopted at Lausanne had not follow'ed
the precedent of Pans, and that consequently Canada could not
be expected to sign the Treaty of Lausanne, nor to give parha-
mentary sanction to it, though she was prepared, if the British
Government recommended the ratification of the Treaty so far
as Canada was concerned, that that ratification should bind her.
The governing considerations were set forth wath admirable
lucidity by Sir King in the Canadian House of Commons (June
9, 1924). ‘There is (he said) a distinction to be dra^vn between
the purely legal and teclmical position in which this Doimnion
may be placed, and the moral obligations which arise under
treaties . . . Legally and techmcally Canada will be bound by
the ratification of tins treaty; in other words, speaking inter-
nationally, the whole Bntish Empire in relation to the rest of
the world will stand as one when this treaty is ratified. But as
respects the obligations ansmg out of the treaty itself, spdaking
now of inter-Imperial obhgations, this Parhament, if regard is
to be had to the repiesentations wduch from the outset we have
made to the British Government, will m no way be bound by any
obligation, beyond that whidi Parhament of its own volition
recogmzcs as ansmg out of the situation.*
EMPIRE FOREIGN POLICY
463
This statement reaffirms and applies to Imperial diplomacy
the distinction between ‘active’ and ‘passive’ responsibility
already accepted m reference to war The legal state of belli-
gerency accruing from the British declaration of ivar in August
1914 did not necessarily involve the Dominions m active par-
ticipation.i Nevertheless ‘passive belhgerency’ would almost
certainly have entailed inconvenient consequences Could they
be avoided m tlie case of diplomatic passivity ’
The Locarno Pact illustrates the dilemma The Pact clearly The
contemplates circumstances which might mvolve the Empire in
war The Dominions were not represented at Locarno, cither
independently or as a part of the British Delegation, and Article 9
expressly prondes that the Treaty shall impose no obligation
upon any of the Bntish Dominions, or upon India, ‘ unless the
Government of such Domimon, or of India, signifies its acceptance
thereof’. That exemption does not, however, touch the point
as to ‘ legal ’ belligerency Should Great Bntain, under the terms
of Locarno, be unhappily mvolved in war for the defence of
Germany against France, France would undeniably be entitled,
whatever may be the attitude of Canada, to bombard Hahfax
or Vancouver
Meanwhile, a different but hardly less significant point was Tl»e
raised by the conclusion between Canada and the U S A of a
Treat}' designed to protect the halibut fishenes ofi their coasts Treaty of
(March 2, 1923) The signatories were Mr Hughes, who as U S
Secretary of State had played a dominating part at the Wash-
ington Conference, and IMr Lapomte, the Canadian Minister of
Marme and Fisheries
The circumstances attendant on the conclusion of tins Treaty
were, from the standpomt of Imperial relations, of crucial sig-
nificance. The British Ambassador at Washington claimed to
act as a co-signatory with the special envoy of the Canadian
Government, and m his claim was at first supported by the Secre-
tary of State in Whitehall, who instructed the Ambassador at
Washington ‘ to sign tlie treaty in association with Mr Lapomte ’.
^ Article 40 of the Constitution of the Irish Free State reduces to legal
form the accepted Convention ‘ Save in the case of actual invasion the
I F S shall not be committed to active participation in any war inthout the
assent of the Oireachtas (Legislature) ’
464 THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS [i9io-
Moreover, the assent of the U.S Senate to ratification was given
subject to the Treaty being signed ‘ between the United States
and Great Britain
The Canadian Government, however, stuck to its guns. The
Treaty was one between Canada and the U S and should be
signed, on behalf of Canada only, by the Canadian Plenipotentiary,
to whom the King issued full powers In eonsequcnce of the
teehnical points involved ratifications were delayed until Octo-
ber 21, 1924.1 The Treaty was registered with the League of
Nations on 2 February 1925.
The The Halibut Treaty figured prominently in the discussions at
Confra-*^^ tlie Imperial Conference of 1923. That Conference was indeed
ence, largely concerned with the procedure to be observed m the
‘negotiation, signature and ratification of international agree-
ments In the result the Conference specifically recognized the
right of any Domimon to negotiate a treaty, but it affirmed the
principle that no treaty should be negotiated by any one Govern-
ment of the Empue without regard to its possible effect on other
parts of the Empire, or the Empire as a ^^hole, and that there
should be a full interchange of views, before and during negotia-
tions, between all the Dommions Bilateral Treaties unposmg
obligations on one part of the Empire only were to be signed by
its representative in other cases by the representatives of aU
the Dommions concerned* This decision was undoubtedly a
concession to Dominion Nationalism , it emphasized ‘ m the
highest degree the separate character of the Dommions ’ ® One
link with the Imperial Executive only remained The full powers
and the instruments of ratification were still issued with the Kmg’s
signature affixed on the strength of a warrant countersigned by
the British Secretary of State In March 1931, however, this
link was snapped at the instance of the Irish Free State, which
secured the Kmg’s assent to a new procedure whereby the neces-
sary documents were to be issued by him solely on the advice
of the Free State Blimster, and sealed only with tlie special seal
1 On the whole question cf J A R Marriott, Empire Foreign Policy, ap
Forlmghily Eemew (May 1923), and Keith, Responsible Government in the
Dominions, pp 897 f , and Cmd 2377
= Cmd 1987 (1923)
* Keith, Constitutional Law of the British Dominions, p 51.
COLONIAL NATIONALISM
19321
465
of Ireland — a Dominion which was admitted m 1928 for the first
time into an Imperial Conference
Closely connected nith the question of Treaty-making nasDiplo-
that of separate diplomatic representation at Foreign Courts Repte-
In this matter also the Irish Free State created a precedent by Bcntation
securing in 1924 separate diplomatic representation at Washing-
ton In notifying the new departure to the U S Government Courts
the British Government emphasized the point that it did * not
denote any departure from the prmeiple of the diplomatic unity
of the Empire That is as it may be Canada followed suit
by appomtmg Ministers to Washington in 1926, to Paris in 1928
and to Tokyo in 1929 In the latter year the Union of South
Afnca appointed Ministers to Washington, The Hague and Rome.
Australia and New Zealand have frowned upon the new depar-
ture, nghtly regarding it as a menace, though not as yet a serious
one to Imperial unit}’’
The constitutional evolution of the self-governing Dominions The
reached a climax at the Impenal Conference of 1926, and in the
attempt to put the recommendations of that Conference mto cnee,
legislative form in the Statute of Westminster (1931) Of the
whole senes of Conferences this was the most significant It was
exceptionally strong m personnel Among the representatives
of the United Kingdom -nere hir. Baldwin, the Earl of Balfour
and Sir Austen Chamberlain ; Mr Mackenzie King was the prin-
cipal representative of Canada, Air. S.AI Bruce of Australia, Air.
Coates of New Zealand General Hertzog came, as Prime Alinis-
ter, from South Africa, Lord Birkenhead, as Secretary of State,
and the Alaharaja of Burdwan represented India. The Lash Free
State was also represented.
Early in the proceedmgs the Conference appointed a Com-
mittee ‘ to investigate all the questions on the agenda affecting
inter-Impenal Relations ’ The Report of that Committee has
taken its place among the classical documents m the history of
the Brjtish Empire The Report opens with this significant
statement ‘ The Committee are of opimon that nothing would
be gained by attempting to lay down a Constitution for the
Bntish Empire . . . There is, however,’ it proceeds, ‘ one most
important element in it which, from a strictly constitutional point'
of view, has now, as regards all vital matters, reached its full
UE. — 80
466 THE BRITISH COMMON\\TLALTH OF NATIONS [loic-
dcvelopment — we refer to the group of self-governing communities
composed of Great Britain and the Dominions Their position
and mutual relation may be readily defined. They are autonomous
CommumUcs xuthin the Bttiish Einpi7c, equal in status, in no way
suboidmatc one to another in any aspect of then domeshe or external
affairs, though united by a 'common allegiance to the Crown and
freely as&oeiatcd as inembets of the British Commonwealth of Nations
. Equahtj’’ of status, so far as Britain and the Dominions
are concerned, is thus the root principle governing our inter-
Imperial relations ’
There follows a sentence which seems to demand an Athanasius
for its interpretation. ‘ But the principles of equality and simi-
larity*, appropriate to status, do not universally extend to func-
tion. Here we icquire sometliing more than immutable dogmas.’
Of the specific recommendations of the Report the first con-
cerns the Royal title, wdiicli was, in due course, amended to run
as follow’s ; ‘ George V, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain,
Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, De-
fender of the Faith, Emperor of India '
The Report next proceeds to deal with the position of the
Governors-Gcneral.
‘ In our opinion it runs, * it is an essential consequence of
the cquahty of status cxistmg among the members of the British
Commonwealth of Nations that the Governor-General of a
Dominion is the representative of the Crown, holding m all essen-
tial respects the same position m relation to the administration
ol public affairs in the Dominion as is held by His Majesty the
King m Great Britain, and that he is not the representative or
agent of His Majesty’s Government m Great Britain or of any
department of that Government. It seemed to us to follow that
the practice, whereby the Governor-General is the formal official
channel of communication betwreen His Majesty’s Government m
Great Bntam and his Governments m the Dominions, might be
regarded as no longer wholly in accordance with the constitu-
tional position of the Governor-General It was thought that
the recognized official chaimcl of communication should be, m
future, betw'ccn Government and Government direct ’
On this important paragraph several questions arise. The
first, clearly, is as to the facts. Asked m the House of Coimnons
IM2] IMPERIAL CONFERENCE (192G) 467
(June 29, 1927) A\ltctlicr m fact there had been, since the Confer-
ence, anj' change m the status of the Govcrnors-General, or in
their relation cither to the Dominion Ministers or to the Imperial
Ministers, Mr Amery, the Secretary of State, replied
* No, the change in the status of tlie Go\ ernor-General from
an agent and instrument of the British Government to the repre-
sentatne of the Crov/n in a Doimnion, and nothing else, was a
change nhich, hkc the w'hole of the changes in our constitutional
evolution, has taken place gradually over a long period of years,
and was in substance the consummation of many years before
the present Conference took place All that the late Conference
did was to suggest that the purely historic survival by which
communication from the British Government to its partner
Governments went t-id the Governor-General’s office — as it had
done in the old days when the Governor-General still was, as the
Governor of a Crown Colony is, the agent and instrument of the
British Government — should be ehminated and the positibn
brought up to date with present-day facts ’ (Official Report,
June 29, col 540 )
But the matter plamly could not rest there.
If the Governor-General of a self-governing Dominion was no
longer to be the representative or agent of His Majesty’s Govern-
ment in Great Bntam, or * of any department of that Govern-
ment the question naturally arose : On whose advice was the
Kang to act in appomtmg him ? That question was answered
as regards Australia by the following announcement issued, on
December 2, 1930, not from Downmg Street but from Austraha
House ‘ His Majesty the Emg on the recommendation of the
Right Hon J. H Sculhn, Prime Mmister of Austraha, has ap-
pomted the Right Hon Six Isaac Alfred Isaacs to the office of
Governor-General for the Commonwealth of Australia ’ This
announcement strikmgly illustrated the constitutional change
effected by a mere resolution of the Imperial Conference — a body
devoid of legislative competence An Austrahan paper desenbed
the incident as an ‘opportumty to sever the nexus with the
British Government The precedent set by Mr Sculhn was
followed by de Valera, but the experiment is not hkely to be
repeated, except by a Domimon Government aiming, at ultimate
secession from the Empire.
468 THE BRITISH COMONWEALTH OF NATIONS [loio-
The next questions to which the Report referred were con-
nected with the operation of Dominion legislation m partieular
His Majesty’s ‘ powers of disallowance ’ of the enactments of
Dominion legislature; the reservation of Dominion legislation
for the signification of His Majesty’s pleasure , and the legislative
competence of the Imperial Parhament (‘The Parliament at
Westminster ’, as the Report significantly termed it) and the
Dominion Parliaments respectively The Conference wisely
concluded in reference to these matters that ‘the issues m-
volved were so complex that ... it would be necessary to
obtain expert guidance as a preliminary to further considera-
tion by His Majesty’s Governments in Great Britain and the
Dominions ’.
That expert guidance was obtained from a Conference which^
consisting mainly of lawj^ers and permanent officials from the
United Kingdom and the Dominions, sat from October 8, 1929,
until December 4, 1929.^
The matters referred to the expert Conference were (1) the
existing provisions by which the assent of the Crown is required
for certain Dominion legislation ; (2) the extra-territorial legisla-
tion of the Dominions ; (8) the position of the Colonial Laws
Validity Act, and (4) merchant shipping legislation,
o^WeS> recommendations of the (Jonference formed the basis of
nimster the Statute of Westminster enacted in 1981, and may, therefore,
be conveniently considered m connexion with that brief but
exceedingly important Statute
In regard to ‘ disallowance ’, or the right of the Crown, on the
advice of Ministers of the Umted Kingdom, to annul an Act
passed by a Dominion Legislature, the Conference agreed that it
could no longer be exercised The right had, in fact, not been
exercised in relation to Canada smee 1878, to New Zealand since
1867, and never to the Commonwealth of Australia or the Union
of South Africa Nevertheless, for certain technical reasons, the
Conference did not recommend the specific abolition of the right.
The Imperial Parhament concurred m the agreement of the Con-
ference, and the Statute of Westminster consequently contains
no direct reference to this nght, nor to the power hitherto exer-
cised by Colonial Governors of ‘ reserving ’ assent to Bills passed
iCmd 3479.^
1032] STATUTE OF WESTMINSTER 4C9
by their several Legislatures, until they had consulted and re-
ceived instructions from Whitehall.
^luch more didieult and obscure, and at the same time more
practically important, was the problem of extra-territorial legis-
lation In this matter the Statute of Westminster, following the
cautious and non-committal recommendation of the Report,
simply ‘ declared and enacted that the Parliament of a Dominion
has full pouer to make laws having extra-temtorial operation ’
(section 3)
The Statute (by sections 5 and G) removed all doubts as to
the unfettered power of a Dominion Legislature to make laws
in relation to merchant shipping, and also repealed, though only
as regards future enactments, the Colonial Laws Validity Act of
1865 That Act affirmed the principle that an Act of a Colonial
Legislature w as not void, although repugnant to the law of England
unless it contravened an Act of the Imperial Parliament made directly
applicable to the Colony m question The italicized words were
held to impair equality of status affirmed by the Statute of West-
minster. So the Act was repealed.
Equality was even more specifically affirmed by the repudia-
tion of the right of the Imperial Parliament to legislate for a
Dominion ‘ otherwise than at the request and with the consent
of that Dominion (Preamble and section 4) But the expert
Conference of 1929 was not allow'ed to forget, and the Impenal
Conference of 1930 reminded Whitehall, that there are self-govern-
mg States in the Commonwealth of Australia ; and that even the
Canadian Provinces have rights which cannot be ignored The
rights of these units, as well as those of New Zealand, w'crc accord-
ingly safeguarded by sections 7, 8 and 9 of the Act
Reference has been repeatedly made in preceding paragraphs
to ‘ Dominions ’ and ‘ Dommion Status But what is a ‘ Do-
minion ’ ’ To tliat important question the only answer vouch-
safed by the Statute of Westminster is that in future Acts of Par-
liament the term ‘ Colony ’ ‘ shall not include a Dominion or any
Province or State forming part of a Dominion ’ (§ 11) and that
a Dommion is one of the existing six Dominions (§ 1) Tins is
m truth definition per enumerationem, and it may well cause
embarrassment to a legal tribunal, such as the Permanent Court
of International Justice, which now has jurisdiction m the case
470 THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS [lOiG-
of a dispute bcl^^rcn a ‘ Dominion ’ and a ‘ Dominion or between
n ‘ Dominion ’ and Ihc United Kingdom ^
W'hnt remnant of Impcnnl unity sunuves tlic Act of 3931 ’
Tlic only survival would seem to be indicated by a paragraph in
the rrcamblc. It runs thus*
‘ Innsnuicli ns the Crown is the sjnnbol of the free association
of the members of the British Commonwealth of Nations, and
as they arc united by a common nllegiance to the Crown, it would
be m accord with the established constitutional position of all
the members of the Commonwealth m relation to one another
that any alteiation in the law touching the Succession to the
'J'lironc or the Royal Style and Titles shall hereafter require the
assent as w ell of the Parliaments of all the Dominions as of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Crow n, then, is the only legal link that binds together the
Biilish Commonwealth. But golden though it be, it is liable to
snap. It snapped when in 1770 the English Colonies m North
America attcmplcd to distinguish between ‘ a common Executive
Sovereign,’ whose prerogative was acknowledged in each of the
seceding Colonies, and the Imperial Parliament whose jurisdiction
they repudiated. Slorcovcr, it cannot escape notice that the
sj'mbohc Crown is worn by a Constitutional King, who is advised
by responsible Ministers W^iat if the ad^^cc tendered by his
Ministers in Dublin contradicts the ad\ncc given by his Ministers
in Ottawa, or the advice given at Canberra involves executive
action at \nriancc with that nd\iscd by Dowming Street ’ Take
the vital quest ion ns to the right of secession The skilful phrasing
of the paragraph m the Preamble ‘ neither aflirms nor denies ’,
as Dr Jenks has pointed out, ‘ the disputed right of secession
But what if South African Ministers were to ad^^sc in favour of,
and Downing Street against, secession?
A single Executive responsible to half a dozen different Legis-
latures manifestly involves a condition of very unstable equili-
brium. Tlic only hope is that so precarious a structure may
not be subjected to a rigorous test.
In view' of these developments it is not surprising that atten-
tion should have been diverted since the W^ar from the problem
> See note (1), p 477. » See note (2), p 477.
* Quarlerly IIcvicw, Jul> 1032.
10!J2I
BIPERIAL PREFERENCE
471
of consliliitional relations to that of mter-Imperial Trade, from Econo-
Polilies to Economics The Prussian Zollvercm preceded, and un?ty
unquestionably prepared the way for, the achievement of political the
unity in Germany Is it possible that the adoption of Joseph
Chamberlain’s polici’ in 1006 might have neutralized the opera-
tioii of those centrifugal forces ■nhicli found legal e\pression in
the Siatuie of Westminster ’ Be that as it may, there has been
m recent years, parallel with the centrifugal mo^ ement in politics,
a ccntnpctal tendency in trade Against the Statute of Tl’csi-
minstcr we may set the Tariff legislation of 1031-2, the Protec-
tionist Budget of 1932, and the Ottawa Conference
Paradoxically the two movements, though divergent in goal,
had a common origin in the AVar
In September 1915 Sir. McKenna imposed new duties, pro- The
tective in effect, if not m mtenlion, on various commodities p“™
imported from all countries, within as well as without the Empire.
Amendments designed to give preferences to the Empire were
defeated A Conference between the Allied Governments was
held in Pans (June 191G) for tlic purpose of establishing a ‘ com-
mon economic front * At that time it seemed unthinkable that
the peoples who had fought and suffered and died m a common
cause should not stand together after the AVar The outcome of
the Conference was the ‘ Pact of Pans The Pact dealt with
(1) measures for the war penod; (2) temporary measures deal-
ing with shipping, agnculture, industry and commerce to be
adopted during the period of reconstruction after the AVar , and
(8) permanent measures of mutual assistance and collaboration
among the Alhes
It was the hour of high hopes and generous emotions, destined
to rapid evaporation when the common danger had passed But
the Pact of Paris, even more than the McKenna duties, was
important as marking for Great Britain a defimte breach witli the
fiscal tradition of the recent past
The Pans Pact was immediately followed (July 1916) by the
appointment of a Committee on Commercial and Industrial
Pohey, under the chairmanship of Lord Balfour of Burleigh, to
consider the pohey to be adopted after the War In February
1917, on the eve of the mcetmg of the Impenal AVar Conference,
the Committee, in an interim Report, recommended (1) ‘ special
472 Tins BRITISH COaAn\rONWEALTIT OF NATIONS [lOJC-
slcps ’ -to slimulnlc procliiclion withui the Empire ; (2) the
dccloiaiion by the Bntisli Government of its adlicsion to the
policy of Impcnnl Prclcrence; (3) the establishment in the
British taiiff of ‘ a wider range of ciistoins diiiics ’ to ‘ be remitted
or icdiiccd on the products and manufactures of the Empire ’ and
to ‘ form the basis of commercial treaties v\ it h Allied and neutral
Powers
The Imperial War Conference of 1917 unanimously adopted
the principle that each part of the Empire, having due regard to
the interests of our Allies, should ‘give specially favourable
treatment and facilities to the produce and manufactures of other
pai Is of the Emjiirc ’ ; and called for concerted action wnth regard
to (1) the production of an adequate food supply and arrange-
ments for its transjioitalion ; (2) the control of natural icsourccs
available within the Empire, and (3) the economical utilization
of such national resources through processes of manufacture
earned on within the Empiie
The Imperial Conference ol 1918 cndoiscd the recommenda-
tions of the Balfour Committee, and, on July 29 Bonar Law
staled m the House of Commons ‘This Government has put
itself into line with the other Governments of the Dominions in
accepting tins principle [of picferencc] ’ *
The clcctoial progiammc on which Lloyd George and Bonar
Law appealed to the country m December 1918 included the
policy of Impciial Preference and the Safeguarding of Industry,
and the ‘ Coupon ’ Parliament proceeded to give effect to it
Most appropi lately it fell to the eldest son of Joseph Chamber-
lain to announce, in his Budget of 1919, the incorporation of the
principle of Imperial Preference m the fiscal system of Great
Britain. It was cautiously and tactfully introduced With the
exception of the duty on spirits the preference was given by remit-
ting existing rates in favour of Empire products, and not by
imposing higher duties on foreign goods Still, it was a beginning,
and was cordially w'cleomed by the Dominions. Reciprocal
action was, indeed, long overdue. It was twenty-two years since
Canada — the first Colony to impose (1Sj9) duties on British
produce — had taken the lust step tow aids the recognition of the
fiscal unity of the Empire Within the next ten years New
» Hansard, July 29, 1018, p d'J
1032]
BIPEBm CO-OPERATION
173
Zealand, South Africa, and Australia followed the lead of Canada.
Now, at long last, the Mother-land, mindful of the superb effort
made by the Dominions m the War, and inspired by a nesv con-
ception of Empire, had come tardily and timidly, into hne
The ‘Preference Budget* of 1919 was followed by the Safe- Safe-
guarding of Industries Act of 1921 Part I of the Act imposed an S«arding
ad valorem duty of 33j per cent on certain imported articles
which were the product of essential or ‘ key’ industries, except
where those articles were consigned from and grown, produced
or manufactured in the British Empire The new duty applied
to 0,000 articles coming within the scope of nme key industries
Part II of the Act gave power to the Board of Trade to impose a
similar duty on ‘ dumped ’ goods (other than articles of food or
drink), that is, on goods sold in the United Kingdom below the
cost of production ‘ Anti-Dumping ’ Orders of the Board of
Trade were, how'ever, subject to confirmation by Parliament
One of the first steps taken by Mr Bonar Law after he became The
Prune Jlinistcr (1922) was to invite the representatives of all parts
of the Empire to attend an Imperial Economic Conference It mie Con-
met m London in 1928, and passed a scries of important resolu-
tions Their general purpose was to develop Imperial resources
by an extension of preference, and by financial co-operation
between different parts of the Empire, to improve Imperial
commumcations and to promote Empire settlement under the
Act passed with that object m 1922 Moreover, the Conference
recommended (Canada dissentmg) the appointment of an Imperial
Economic Committee to facihtate, dunng the intervals between
Imperial Conferences, the carrymg out of the general pohey there
agreed upon The defeat of the Conservative Government m
January 1924 delayed action on many of the resolutions adopted
at the Economic Conference of 1928, and led to the repeal by the
MacDonald Government of all Imperial Preferences and even of
the McKenna duties Mr Baldwin, how'ever, returned to office
m November, and almost his first act was to set up an Imperial
Economic Committee, consistmg of members, -with practical
experience, nominated not only by the Home Government but
all the Domimons, the India Office, the Colonial Office and
Southern Rhodesia The Committee was charged to consider
‘ the methods of preparing for market and marketing within the
474 THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS [loio-
United Kingdom the food products of the overseas parts of the
Empire, with a view to increasing the consumption of such pro-
ducts in the United Kingdom m preference to imports from foreign
countries and to promote the interests both of producers and
consumers £1,000,000 a year was allocated for the purposes of
the Committee, which produced a number of exceedingly valuable
Reports Further emphasis was given to this policy by the
appointment m May 1926 of the Empire Marketing Board. The
purpose of the Board was to improve the marketing and stimulate
the consumption in this country firstly of home produce and
secondly of the produce of the Empire overseas This was done
by an elaborate publicity and educational campaign , by making
grants to appropriate bodies for scientific research into problems
of production and marketing, and by other methods of a similar
kmd.i The Board did a considerable amount of good, but, as
some thought, at disproportionate expense, and under the eco-
nomic stress of 1932 it was dissolved.
The Baldwm Government, which remamed m office from 1924
to 1929, restored the McKenna duties, %vith the accompanying
Preferences, and considerably extended both the amount and the
range of the preference given to Empire products. It also passed
(1925) a new Safeguarding of Lidustiics Act, under which duties
of a definitely protective character ucrc imposed on a consider-
able range of articles. In every case preference was given to
Empire products as against those of foreign origin These
measures, it was claimed, besides producing a substantial revenue,
had gieatly assisted home manufacturers, without raising prices
to the consumer. Best of all, so far from retarding they had
actually stimulated the export of the ‘ safeguarded ’ commodities.
The new fiscal policy was still, however, regarded with hos-
tihty both by the Liberal and the Labour Party. The latter,
though not commanding an absolute paihamcntary majority,
were again, as the largest single party, entrusted uith office in
1929 and Mr. Snowden, an imcompromising Free Trader, became
Chancellor of the Exchequer. To his bitter chagrin he dare not
sacrifice the £10,000,000 which the McKenna Duties and the Silk
Duties were bringing mto the revenue, but the Safeguarding
Duties were allov'/*d to lapse. He also expressed the hope that
^ Cmd 2808 (p 102).
1932] niPERIAL CONFERENCE (1930) 475
"before he left office he would have swept away aU the preferences
tliat remained ^
It vas under these depressing circumstances that the Imperial Imperial
Conference met m October 1930 Tlie most promment figure at
this Conference nas Mr R- B Bennett, Prime Slmister of Canada 1930
and an ardent advocate of the economic unity of the Empire
To promote that unity was, mdeed, the primary purpose which
had brought the delegates of the Dominions together The
Dominions, like the United Rjngdom, were in the throes of an
economic and financial crisis, and saw no hope of emergmg there-
from except by closer co-operalion mthm the Empire Mr
Bennett, in particular, insisted on the urgent necessity of putting
mto effective and immediate operation a large scheme of Empire
Preference ‘The day’, he said, *is now at hand when the
peoples of the Empire must decide, once for all, whether our wel-
fare lies in closer economic umon or nhether it does not . . ,
Delay is hazardous . The time for action has come.’ “
Other representatives of the Dominions expressed similar views
m language hardly less vigorous But their views made no
impression on the Socialist Government The tariff solution was
definitely turned down, and the Conference was saved from com-
plete fiasco only by adoptmg the suggestion of Mr Bennett that
* the Economic Section of the Conference be adjourned to meet
at Ottawa . withm the next twelve months ’ ®
The crisis of 1981 necessitated a further adjournment, but m
July 1932 an Imperial Economic Conference was opened at Ottawa
In the meantime important political changes had taken place. Crisis of
the general effect of them being to bring into power imnistries
more favourable than those which they displaced to the economic
umty of the Empire. The formation of a National Government
m England (August 1931) and the striking vote of confidence given
to it by the electorate (October), cleared the way not merely for
negotiations at Ottawa, but for a radical reversal of tlie fiscal
policy of the United Kingdom. Mr MacDonald, as head of the
National Government, had virtually asked for a ‘free hand’
to deal with a great national emergency, untrammdled by
pledges and without regard to the traditions or prejudices of any
1 Hansard, July 9, 1929 * October 8, 1930.
»Cmd 8717 (p 44).
47G THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS [ 1910 -
Party, in the State. The results of the mandate were quickly
apparent
Abnor- A Bill to deal with the abnormal importation of ‘ dumped ’
articles was introduced on November 17, and three days later had
tions received the Royal Assent. On the same day the Board of Trade
exercised the powers conferred upon it by the Act and issued a
list of twenty-three classes of commodities to be subject from
November 25 to a duty of 50 per ‘cent That was an emergency
measure.
The On February 4'j 1932, Mr. Neville Chamberlain, as Chancellor
Dutic? of the Exchequer, proposed to the House of Commons a measure
Act, 1932 comparable m importance with those carried by Sir Robert Peel
between 1841 and 1846 The Import Duties Bill was deliberately
intended to effect a fiscal revolution, and its Second Reading was
passed (February 16) by 451 votes to 73. The objects of the Bill
were to correct the adverse balance of trade, no longer corrected
by shipping profits, and the interest on foreign investments , to
maintain the value of the £ sterling, and ensure consumers against
a rise m the cost of living ; to provide further revenue , to stimu-
late home industry and reduce unemployment; to provide a
basis for negotiation with foreign countries ; and, above all, to
facilitate the granting of preferences to the other units of the
Empire. These objects it was hoped to attain 'by imposing a
basic duty of 10 per cent upon all imported goods not specifically
exempted, and, if so advised by an Import Duties Advisory Com-
mittee to be set up under the Bill, an additional duty upon other
commodities , The BiU received the Royal Assent on February 29,
and on the following day the general tariff came into force No
duties were to be levied on Empire goods until after the Ottawa
Conference at eaihest.
Ottawa The way was now clear for that Conference. It opened on
ence*^*^* more intricate task ever confronted a body of
1932 statesmen than that which awaited IVIr. Baldwin, Mr. Bennett
and their colleagues at Ottawa Discussions were inevitably
keen, sometimes acrimonious, but the determination of Mr.
Bennett at length prevailed, and Agreements, subsequently
endorsed by the several Dommions, were before the end of August
concluded
To estimate the results actually attained is a task for the
1032] THE OTTAWA CONFERENCE 477
future lustonan But it can now (1933) be said that liile Otta^ a
undeniably disappointed those who ■ncnt there, in body or m
spirit, with high expectations, 3’et every part of the Empire is
to-day in a less distressful condition than it was before the Con-
ference How far the Ottana Agreements contributed to the
improvement it is too soon to say. Yet this may nith confidence
be affirmed, that Ottawa did arrest the centrifugal tendencies
winch had been operative, m the political sphere, from the day
nhen the Amustice was signed The Sfatiile of Westminster dis-
sipated the dream of a Bundcsstaat, Ottawa revived tlic hope
of a Siaatenbnnd.
Notes to p 470
(1) On September 1920 Great Britain signed ‘ 'ITie Optional Clause ’ of
the General Act, but mtli reservations Of these the most important referred
to Inter-Impenal Disputes which were withheld from the junsdiction of the
Hague Court. See Marriott, Commonwealth or Anarchy (1040), pp 100-200,
and Cmd 3803 (1031)
(2) The importance of this reference to an alteration of the law touching
the succession to the Throne was stnkingh illustrated at the time of the
‘Abdication Crisis' m December 1036 See Mamott, Evolutiort of the
British Empire and CommomLcalth (1030), p 810
478
EXPECTANT INDIA
tiaso-
CHAPTER XXVIII
EXPECTANT INDIA— THE CROWN AND THE PEOPLES— THE
CROWN AND THE PRINCES
India, not less manifestly than for the Dommions, the
War and Great War marked the partmg of the ways. In August 1917
India the Government made an historic announeement to the Imperial
Parliament, pledging it to the ‘ gradual development of self-
governmg mstitutions m India’. In 1918 was pubhshed'the
Montagu-Chelmsford Report; the Government^ of Indta Act was
passed in 1919 In 1980 the Statutory (Simon) Commission made
its Report. In November 1930 the Round Table Conference
began its sessions in London.
Nihtl per salium natura fecit. The sequence of events has
been more rapid and more sigmficant m the fifteen years 1917-32
than in the preceding half-century, but though the pace quickened
there was no diversion in the direction of the journey.
The The estabhshment and development of British power in India
E.I.C. work of a company of merchants, which received its
Charter from Queen Elizabeth.^ Originally started with no other
obj’ect than trade, this Company was drawn by uncontrollable cir-
cumstances into politics, and m the course of a century (1757-
1857) became the paramount power m India The political career
of the Company was abruptly ended by the Mutiny, and India
passed m legal theory, as it had long been in fact, under the direct
rule of the Enghsh Crown In 1876 Queen Victoria assumed,
India under the Royal Titles Act passed at the instance of Disraeli, the
Ciown*^* Style and title of Empress of India On January 1, 1877, a great
^ The whole stoiy is told in some detail in my English in India (Oxford,
1032), and more briefly in my England since Waterloo (10th ed , 1938, Methuen)
But in the latter work the story is only earned down to the Mutiny The
present chapter may be read as a sequel to Chapters XIV and XV of tlie
latter work, and as a summary of Chapters XII-XVHI of the former
1932J SUZERAIN AND PRINCES 479
Durbar was held to proclaim to the peoples and princes of India
the assumption of the new title by the Queen-Empress De-
nounced by the English Liberals as * bizarre as the character-
istic work of a political charlatan, the Royal 2'iflcs Act gave formal
expiession to a change -nhich had already taken place, and it was
entirely .in accord with Indian if not with English sentiment ICaisar-l-
f The Princes and nations of India know said Disraeli, ‘ what
this Bill means, and they know that what it means they wish ’
A senes of ceremonial visits paid by members of the Royal House
to India, beginnmg with the visit of the Prince of Wales (after-
wards Kmg Edward VII) in 1875-G, and cuhmnatmg in that of
the King-Emperor and Queen-Empress m 1911, have given sub-
stance to the assumption of the Imperial title
Over nearly two-thirds of the sub-contment of India Queen Rojal
Victoria became, in 1858. Sovereign ; over the native princes,
who still ruled the rest of India, she became Suzeram To her 1858
immediate subjects, and to the Feudatory Pnnees, she addressed a
Proclamation, which not only imunciated admirable sentiments
but contained passages which have been construed — ^and rightly
— as solemn pledges Among these passages two possess special
significance After disclaimmg the intention to mterfere with the
religious faith or observances of the Indian peoples and promising
‘ to all ahke the equal and impartial protection of the law the
Queen’s Proclamation proceeded ‘ It is our further will that, so
far as may be, our subjects of whatever class or creed be fully and
freely admitted to any offices the duties of which they may be
qualified by their education, abilities and mtegrity duly to dis-
charge ’ Those words made an impression upon the minds of
I educated natives which nothmg will efface
Even more specific was the pledge to the Princes • The
‘ We desire no extension of our present temtonal possessions ,
' and while we will permit no aggression upon our dommions or Princes
our nghts to be attempted with impunity, we shall sanction no
encroachment on those of others We shall respect the rights,
dignity, and honour of native pnnees as our own , and we desire
that they, as well as our own subjects, should enjoy that pros-
perity and that social advancement which can only be secured by
mternal peace and good government ’
Both m the letter and m the spint that promise was scrupu-
4S0
EXPECTANT INDIA
[ 1859 -
lously fulfilled Nothing could, indeed, have been more satis-
factory than the relations which have on the whole subsisted
between the Suzerain and the Feudatory Princes. The Princes
quickly came to understand that the Queen meant what she said :
that the period of conquest and expansion was at an end ; that
the chiefs might look forward to a period of stabilization and
tranquillity ; that if they were no longer permitted to engage m
their wonted occupation and attack their neighbours, their
neighbours would no longer be allowed to attack them. The
Sovereign Power, while prolubitmg attack, was bound to accept
the responsibility for defence. In fine, it imposed on all alike the
Pax Bntanmca. But if we guaranteed the thrones of the Princes,
we were bound also to secure the well-being of their subjects
Rights involve duties , privileges must not be enjoyed at the
expense of subjects deprived of the only effective check upon
despotism. This was the * fundamental postulate ’ of the new
order, and its implications were gradually realized by the Feuda-
tones, ^though not until they had been brought home by one or
two cases in which persistent misgovemment was punished by
deprivation ; deprivation was not, however, followed (as m the
days of John Company) by annexation The sceptre was invari-
ably restored to a native successor.
The promises to the natives of British India were implemented
not less scrupulously than those made to the Princes. ' The fulfil-
ment of pronuses assumed many forms, but three stand out
conspicuously • increased facihties for education ; the admission
of natives to the Civil Service ; and a series of steps m the direction
of self-government.
Educa- The foundations of an educational policy were laid by Macaulay
in his famous Minute of 1835. He insisted that English must be
the medium of all higher education m India, and his whole scheme
was based on the idea that the Indian peoples would be reached
by a process of infiltration from above His hopes were dis-
appointed, and the scheme miscarried. In 1854 Sir Charles Wood,
as President of the Board of Control, drafted a comprehensive
scheme of education ; and Lord Dalhousie gave effect to it. At
that time there were only 129 students m all the Government
colleges m Bengal, Bihar and Orissa Wood’s scheme provided
for the organization of an Education Department m each Presi-
1032]
EDUCATION
4S1
clcHcy and Lieutenant-Governorship, and for a University m
each of the capitals, but he laid special sticss upon the need of
primarj’ education, and upon the use of the vernacular languages
as the only media for unpartmg it But the results were again
disappointing By 1870 the total number of elementary schools,
conducted, aided or recognized b}' the State m British India,
numbered onlj' 16,500 and the pupils therein about half a million
Lord Mayo (Viceroy 1S69-72) did much to improve matters
He derided Macaulay’s idea of infiltration , its only result was to
educate a few hundred Babus for Government employment
Mayo’s policy was on broader lines, yet by 1902 there were only
98,000 pubhc primary schools, with some 8,200,000 scholars, in
the whole of British India It was resen’'ed for Lord Curzon
(1895-1903) to make an heroic effort to correct the initial blunder
of Macaulay, and to devise a scheme of education better suited to
the needs of the peoples for whom it was intended Yet the
results were still disappointmgly meagre Primary education is
still so backward that out of the 320 millions of people in all India
(mdudmg the Indian States and Burma) 296,000,000 are * illiter-
ate i e cannot write or read a letter in the vernacular
The Sadler Commission (1919) made important recommenda-
tions for the improvement of University education, particularly
in Bengal , but the Simon Commission (1930) was constrained to
emphasize its inherent weaknesses The Universities are now
overcrowded with men who ‘ are not profitmg either intellectually
or materially by their Umversity training; many, too easily
admitted, fall by the way, havmg wasted precious years of youth ;
many succeed in obtaining the coveted B A. degree, only to find
that the careers for w hich alone it fits them are hopelessly con-
gested Many of these half-educated and wholly disillusioned
youths consequently remam unemployed, with results upon the
pohtical and social life of the country too obvious to call for
emphasis A handful of Indian youths complete their education
not m India, but at the Inns of Court or the Universities in Eng-
land Of these some attam to distinguished positions in the
Cml Semce and in the legal profession As to the effect of
residence in England upon the others opinions widely differ ’
It must, then, be admitted that the efforts of English adnun-
istrators to promote education m India have not been successfuL
The Civil
Scmce
482 EXPECTANT INDIA [1859-
Yet tlie failure has not been due to lack of zeal or of benevolence.
The English rulers of India have been genuinely anxious to
implement the promises of Queen Victoria, to open to her Indian
subjects every avenue for advancement, and to fit them by
education for the dischaige of the duties incidental thereto.
Of those avenues the Civil Service was the most obvious.
The Charter Act of 1833 had opened the Service to Indians, but
httle came of the opening until m 1853 the system of open com-
petition was adopted. The conditions of service were revised by
the Civil Service Act of 1801, and an Act of 1870, having recited
tliai * it is expedient that additional facilities should be given for
the employment of natives m India, of proved merit and ability,
in the Civil Service ’ of India, authorized the Government of
India, with the approval of the Secretary of State, to frame rules
for the appointment of Indians, without requiring them to pass
the examination m London. But httle came of this Act until in
1879 Lord Lytton’s government framed a scries of rules for a
Statutory Civil Service
Under this scheme one-sixth of the * reserved * posts, in addi-
tion to some of the most important posts in the uncovenanted
service, were to be filled by natives of India, appointed under
carefully made rules. In order to give reality to the concession,
the number of appointments made after examination in England
was, in 1880, reduced by one-sixth, but the scheme failed to
attract the higher classes of Indians, and only about sixty
Indians had been appointed when, in 1891, the system was agam
changed.
The Civil Service was henceforward to consist of three
branches ; (i) the Imperial Indian Civil Service, to be recruited,
as formerly, by open competition m England, though equally open
to Indians and Englishmen; (u) a Provincial Service, to be
recruited by the Local Government in each Province by direct
nomination, by competitive examination, or by promotion from
the Subordinate Service , (lu) the ‘ Subordinate Service ’, con-
sisting of the lower-grade appomtments of the old uncovenanted
class . ' The two latter classes had been recruited almost entirety
from Indians , the first class, comprising all the most important
posts, continued to fee mainly filled by Englishmen, though there
was a giadually increasing mfusion of Indians, a laige proportion
1032] INDIANIZATION 4Sn
of -whom -were educated at British Um\crsitics, and all of -nhom
sat for cxammation m London.
Indians -were still far from satisfied with these changes They
complained that m the Impenal Service the progress made m
‘ Indiamzation ’ — ^as it began to be called — -nas lamentably slow
Nor can it be denied that there -was substance m the complaint
Despite all the authontative declarations of policy, despite the
recommendations of one Ro>al Commission after another, all the
posts in the Public Service which carried a salary of £800 a year
or upwards were still, pnor to the World War, with the exception
of ninety, filled by Englishmen
Dunng the War recruiting m England was suspended, and
no sooner did the War come to an end than the Indian Govern-
ment Act of 1919 revolutionized the -whole position. But that
Act, so far from satisfymg Indian aspirations, served rather to
stimulate anti-Bntish agitation in India; the impression was
given that the Enghsh -were * packing-up ’, and that within a
measurable distance of time there would not be an Enghsh soldier
or an English cmlian left m India The impression was strength-
ened by the permission given to All-India Service officers to retire,
before they had completed tiac normal penod of service, on a
proportionate pension
Discouraged by the prospect opened out by the legislation
of 1919, officers, particularly m the Ci-vil Service and the Pohee,
availed themselves m large numbers of this permission. By 1924
the number had nsen to 845, and the Government was suddenly
deprived of the services of a large proportion of its most valuable
and most expenenced officers This was an exceedingly serious
matter- Moreover, recruitmg, suspended durmg the War, was
not resumed after its close Oxford was for sixty years one of
the pnncipal recrmting centres for the ‘ Indian Ci-vil ’. Dunng
the five years before the War it contnbuted nearly 120 recruits
to that service During the years 1921-8 the aggregate was only
ten So it was at Cambndge and elsewhere
To meet this serious situation, another Royal Commission
was, m 1928, appomted, under the chairmanship of Lord Lee
of Farebam. The recommendations of the Lee Commission
adhered closely to the prmciple of the Act of 1919 They meant
in effect, that m the ‘transferred’ sphere of the Provincial
484
EXPECTANT INDIA
[18S0-
Constitu-
tional
Evolu-
tion
Indicm
Counala
4a, 18G1
Governments, the -whole administration -would be staffed by
Indians ; that in the superior posts of the Cml Service the pro-
portion of Indians and Enghshmen would, by a gradual process
of ‘ Indianization ’, become (by 1939), 50 to 50, as against the
existing (January 1, 1929) proportion of 894 Englishmen against
367 Indians ; while in the Pohce the English would be reduced
from 564 to 484, and the Indians be increased from 128 to 251.
This meant that under normal conditions for entrants there
would be less than 1,200 Enghshmen in the two ‘ Security ’ Services
to deal with a population of 250 million people
The Lee Commission also dealt in a way ‘ generally accepted
as adequate ’ (according -to the Simon Commission) with the
grievances and apprehensions of the Enghsh members of the
great Indian Services, with the result that British recruitment
IS now m a ‘ more healthy condition ’, and the rate of retirement
on proportionate pension has diminished.
To the position of the Ci-vul Service justly desenbed by Mr.
Lloyd George as * the steel frame of the whole structure the
Simon Commission naturally gave close attention, but the adop-
tion of their recommendations must necessanly depend on' the
course taken by constitutional evolution. The transference of
British India to the Cro-wn was followed by a series of measures
which, by their progressive and cumulative effect, have gone far
to transfer pohtical responsibihty from the Imperial Crown and
Parliament to the Indian peoples.
Of these measures the first was the Indian Councils Ad of
1861. That Act modified the composition of the Governor-
General’s Council, or Executive, and remodelled the legislative
system of British India A fifth ‘ordmary’ member was
added to the Council, and for purposes of legislation it was
reinforced by the addition of not less than six or more than
twelve members, to be nonunated by the Governor-General for
a term of two years. Not less than half the ‘ additional ’ mem-
bers were to be non-official.
Since 1861 Executive busmess has been more and more
departmentalized, each of the chief departments, such as Finance
and Education, being placed under the special direction of a
member of Council, assisted by one of the secretaries to the
Government of Lidia. The Governor-General himself retamed
1082] CONSTITUTIONAL REFORJIS 485
immed'ate control of Foreign Affairs The Council is sometimes
spoken of as a ‘ Cabinet ’ ; but, though resembling the Presi-
dential executive of Amenca, it lacks the pecuhar and distinctive
charactenstic of an Enghsh Cabinet in that it is not dependent
upon or responsible to an elected Legislature Such ‘ responsi-
bility ’ is one of the objects at hich the Congress Party are
definitely aiming
The Act of 18G1 restored the right of legislation to the Presi-
dency Councils of Madras and Bombay. Similarly reinforced by
additional members it directed the Governor-General to cstabhsh
by proclamation a Legislative Council for Bengal, and gave him
power to establish such Councils elsewhere Thus Bengal ob-
tained a Council in 18C2, the North-West Provinces and Oudh
in 1886, the Punjab m 1897, and Burma and various other prov-
inces m due course
The year 1861 was further memorable, in a constitutional The Judi-
sense, for the passing of the Indian High Courts Ad, w Inch abol-
ished the old Sadr Adalal (Courts generally inherited by the Com-
pany from them native predecessors), and set up new High Courts
of Judicature m Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay. Each Court
was to consist of a Chief Justice and not more than fifteen judges.
All the judges were to be appointed by, and hold office at the
pleasure of, the Croivn.
In the sphere of central government there is no important Local
development to Tecord between the measure of 1861 and the
legislation dei ised by Lord Dufferm, and carried into effect by
Lord Lansdowne as Viceroy, and Lord Cross (as Secretary of
State), m 1892 The viceroyalty of Lord Ripon (1880-4) was,
however, memorable both for what he achieved in the sphere of
local government, and still more for the agitation aroused by
proposals which he failed to carry Lord Ripon began by repeal-
ing the Vernacular Press Ad, which had been passed in 1868 to
curb the seditious and anarchical tendencies of some portions of
the native press, and re-enacted during the World War m more
stnngent form.
More important was Lord Ripon’s reform of local government,
A full generation of Indians had by this tune enjoyed the advan-
tages of a ‘ Western ’ education , not a few Indians had studied
the working of Enghsh pohtical mstitutions at first hand , many
486
EXPECTANT INDIA
[1850-
Indian
National
Congress
of them had imbibed the pohtical philosophy of Mill, and had
come to share the Englishman’s conviction that ‘ hberty ’ was
inseparable from parhamentary government Indians were seek-
ing and finding employment m the Pubhc Services, and at the
Bar, and had been promoted to the Bench. Among these Eng-
lish-educated Indians there was generated a not unnatural ambi-
tion to obtain for the people of their own races a larger measure
of self-government With this ambition Lord Ripon and his
legal member of Coimcil, Mr (afterwards Sir C ) Ubert, were in
complete sympathy But they wisely began with local govern-
ment. Between 1883 and 1885 a series of Acts was passed to
establish District Boards, and subordmate bodies, and to extend
the powers of municipal corporations So far as possible an
elective and non-olficial element was to be introduced, but wide
discretionary powers were conferred upon the local authorities in
order that they might apply the general prmciple with some
regard to local conditions and necessities. Lord Ripon was imder
no illusions as to the probable effect of his reforms. ‘ It is not ’,
he confessed, ‘ primarily with a new to improvements in admmis-
tration that tius measure is brought forward It is chiefly
desirable as a measure of political and popular education.’ ’ Edu-
cative ’ it may have proved, but the municipahties are, not seldom,
both mefficient and corrupt.
Both in India and at home these measures were regarded ‘
with not a httle apprehension ; but the opposition to them was
negligible compared with that aroused by a Bill, generally known
as the Rbert Bill, which proposed to remove from the Code of
Criminal Procedure ‘ at once and completely every judicial dis-
qualification based merely on race distmctions ’. Racial feehngs
were bitterly aroused, especially among the non-official classes,
by the suggestion that Europeans should be put at the mercy of
native judges Racial prejudices on one side embittered those
on the other, and m face of the agitation which sprang up, the
Government withdrew th** Bill A compromise was, however,
reached m 1884, by which Europeans charged before a District
Magistrate or Sessions Judge might claim a mixed jury, not less
than half the members of which were to be Europeans or Americans
Amid the angry tumult which raged round the Rbert Bill a
more important event was almost ignored, partly' perhaps be-
1932]
INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS
487
cause, before it actually happened. Lord Ripon had been replaced
by a Viceroy who enjoyed almost umversal confidence and popu-
larity, Lord Dufferin
In the first months of Lord Duffenn’s viceroyalty there met
for the first tune at Bombay (December 1SS5) a National Con-
gress representing the most advanced section of educated Indian
opinion How far the Congress was, or is, representative of any
class, except that to which we had ourselves given a quasi-national
character by the common use of the Enghsh tongue, it is difficult
to say. Certain it is, however, that from its first meeting m 1885
down to the present day, the Congress has gathered a rapidly
mcreasmg number of adherents, who with ever-increasmg vehe-
mence have demanded the concession of sc Constitution framed
on the model of Western democracy, with a representative and
elected Legislature and an Executive responsible thereto
Lord Dufferm, w hile determmed to suppress incendiary agita- Lord
tion, declared lumself m favour of giving ‘ a wader share in the viccri^'
administration of public affairs to such Indian gentlemen as by 1884-8
their influence, their acquirements, and the confidence they mspire
in their fellow-countrymen are marked out as fitted to assist with
their counsels the responsible rulers of the country ’ He ex-
pressly disclaimed any idea of estabhshing a parliamentary sys-
tem for British India He described his scheme as * a plan for
the enlargement of our provmcial councils, for the enhancement
of their status, the multiphcation of their functions, the partial
introduction mto them of the elective prmciple and the hberaliza-
tion of their general character as pohtical institutions ’ But the
elective element must always remain in a mmority, and the para-
mount control of policy always be left in the hands of each pro-
vmcial government
The prmciples were frankly tliough cautiously apphed in the Indtan
Act of 1892 The Legislative Councils, both impenal and pro-
\mcial, were by that measure considerably enlarged. In the
Imperial Coimcil the additional members were to number not
fewer than ten, or more than sixteen , not more than six were
to be officials, and the Govemor-General-m-Council was em-
powered to make such regulations as would secure representation
to vanous interests and classes The Legislative Councils of
Madras and Bombay were each enlarged by twenty additional
488
EXPECTANT INDIA
[1869-.
members, and. of these not more than nine were to be officials.
An official majority was retamed, but as regards the unofficial
minority the principle of election was virtually admitted, though
the term itself was carefully avoided.
Not less noteworthy than the enlargement of the Councils
and the extension of their representative character, was the
widemng of their functions An annual budget was to be laid
before them and they were entrusted with the right of discussing,
though not of voting upon it. The right of interpellatmg the
Executive members, denied to the Councils in 1861, was now
conferred upon them.
The advance thus registered was substantial ; but it failed,
of course, to satisfy the more ardent spirits m the Congress party,
who maintained a more or less continuous agitation until larger,
though still cautious, concessions were embodied in the Morley-
Mmto reform of 1909. ‘ A wave of political unrest ’, to use Lord
Morley’s own words, ‘vas indeed slowly sweeping over India.
Revolutionary voices, some moderate, others extreme, grew
articulate and slirill, and claims or aspirations for extending the
share of the people m their own government took more orgamzed
shape.’
* Unrest ’ ‘ Pohtical unrest ’ is one of those pohtical euphemisms under
“* which IS concealed a multitude of ambiguities For nearly half
a century the British Ra] has been confronted with an agitation
whose precise character is not easily determmed. Were India a
‘ nation ’, it would be accurate to describe it as a * national *
movement, and that there is m it an element of nationahsm it
were affectation to deny. Yet it is equally true that any element
of ‘ pationalism ’ which it possesses must be ascribed wholly to
the pohey consistently pursued by Great Britam m the govern-
ment of India Hand m hand with the process of unification has
gone a policy of pohtical evolution — the mtroduction into India
of the political institutions famihar to Englishmen m their Euro-
pean home. More and more of political responsibility has been
devolved upon the shoulders of Indians The policy has been
embodied m Acts of Parliament, and has been repeatedly recom-
mended ,m Official Proclamations, not least emphatically m
those directly addressed to the Princes and Peoples of India by
successive sovereigns.
1932] LORD CURZON’S VICEROYALTY 489
Wholly benevolent as were the motives that inspired this
policy it undoubtedly diffused a sense of instability in India.
That feehng -vsas stimulated by events outside India The re-
verses suffered by the Itahans in Abyssmia in 1887 and 1893
caused some excitement in the Indian bazaars The defeats
inflicted upon British forces m the earher stages of the South
African War caused much more. If a handful of Dutch farmers,
‘rightly strugghng to be free’, could thus defy the Imperial
might of Britain, "nhat might not be achieved by 250 millions
of people in India? But far the most important of all such
events vas the defeat of Russia at the hands of Japan (1904-5)
The repercussion of that momentous war was felt throughout
the whole contment of Asia, and, indeed, in all parts of the world
where coloured races were in contact with whites Most of all
was it felt in India, where the Japanese victory was craftily
represented as a blow to the prestige not of Russia only, but
of all the W^cstem peoples, not cxceptmg, of course, the
English.
The Russo-Japanese War comcidcd with the closmg year of Lord
Lord Cuxzon’s viceroyalty That statesman’s career m India
had in it an element of tragedy No Viceroy ever entered upon 1890-
his high office with more complete equipment or more generous
hopes No man ever devoted himself to a task, great or humble,
with more tireless mdustry He was rarely free from pam, and
it was amazmg what, in spite of it, he accomplished There was
indeed hardly any sphere of admimstration into which he did
not penetrate ; hardly any feature of Indian life on which he did
not leave the impress of his own mdividuality defence and
frontier pohey ; education, agriculture, irrigation, finance, and
industry , art, archaeology, and architecture , game preserva-
tion and the conservation of historical monuments , sanitation,
precautions against famme and plague, and what not But the
detailed story of these activities must be read elsewhere ^ Am-
bitious Curzon undoubtedly was, and autocratic , but the main-
spring of his multifarious activities was zeal for the public service,
and genuine love for the people he ruled Deep, especially, was
his sohcitudc for the well-being of those patient, kindly, inar-
^ e g in The India IFe Served (London, 1928), by Sir W R Lawrence, who
was Cnrron’s Private Secretary; or Lord Zetland’s Life (1028)
490
EXPECTANT INDIA
[18S0-
ticulate millions who drew their scanty subsistence from the
cultivation of the soil Towards the ‘ national ’ aspirations of
the ‘ politicians ’ he was less sympathetic ; yet he welcomed and
encouraged their co-operation. *We are ordained to walk here
m the same track together for many a long day to come You
cannot do without us. We should be impotent without you
Let the Englishman and the Indian accept the consecration of
a union that is so mysterious as to have in it something of the
Divine, and let our common ideal be a united country and a
happier people.* These words, spoken at Calcutta in 1902, ex-
pressed his innermost conviction. Yet he left India a deeply
disillusioned man His educational pohey and his scheme for
the partition of Bengal were ahke regarded as reflections upon
Bengah character, and the latter pohey was reversed m 1911.
But even more damaging to the prestige, both of Curzon and of
British power in India, were the circumstances which led to his
resignation (November 1905) Whether he was nght m thinking
that to combine in one person the offices of Commander-in-Chief
and Military Member of Council mvolved an undue subordination
of the civil to the military power ; whether Lord Kitchener, as
Commander-m-Chief, was right m insisting upon the combma-
tion ; and whether the India Office were nght in supportmg the
soldier against the Viceroy — ^these are stiU matters of contro-
versy. What IS certain is that the supersession of Lord Curzon,
the strongest and proudest of recent Viceroys, dealt a serious
blow at the prestige of his office, and sensibly diimnished the
respect due to the King-Emperor whom he represented.
The Hardly had Lord Curzon been succeeded as Viceroy by Lord
when the advent of a Badical mmistry with Lord Morley
rfigime at the India Office, gave fresh hope to the ‘ nationahsts ’ m India
A rehgious revival among the Hmdus stimulated and sanctified
preparations for armed insurrection. A campaign of violence
and assassination was launched, and many mnocent victims paid
with their lives for the weak benevolence of the new regime
Neither the visit m the wmter of 1905-6 of the then Prince and
Princess of Wales, who were received with immense enthusiasm,
nor the fact that the new Viceroy and the new Secretary of State
were known to be contemplating a further instalment of consti-
tutional reform, seriously mterrupted the campaign of violence.
1C32] ROYAL PROCLAMATION (1908) 491
To get rid of the foreign government by anj* means effectual for
the purpose was inculcated as a religious duty
The Government vas senousl}'- alarmed In 1907 legislation
was passed on the hnes familiar m Insh ‘ Coercion ’ Acts Local
Governments were empowered to proclaim certain districts, with
a new to the stricter control of public meetings and to deport
offenders These precautions were followed in 1908 by Acts
making it a felony to manufacture or to be in possession of explo-
sives, or to incite to murder in the Press, while a third Act, passed
at a single sitting of the Legislative Council, conferred upon the
Courts in cases of seditious nolence summary jurisdiction In
the same year Bal Gangadhar Tilak, a Poona Brahman, who
stood forth as the leader of the mrtremists, openly justified the
weapon of assassination, and mvoked blessings on the heads of
the murderers, was tried and sentenced to six years’ imprisonment
Such was the atmosphere m which the constitutional reforms
known as the Morley-Minto reforms were launched
Meannhile, on November 2, 1908, being the fiftieth anniver- Procla-
sary of the assumption of the government of India by the Crown, K^ng°Ed^
the King-Emperor took the opportunity of addressmg to the ward VII
Prmces and Peoples of India a Proclamation (1008)
The King-Emperor, looking back on the ‘ labours of the past
half-centurj* with clear gaze and good conscience *, noted the
splendid fight against the * calamities of Nature drought and
plague , the wonderful matcnal advance that India had made ;
the impartial administration of law , and the unsw emng loyalty
of the Feudatory Pnnees and Ruling Chiefs whose * rights and
privileges have been respected, preserved, and guarded ’ He
referred to the paramount duty of repressing ‘ with a stem arm
guilty conspiracies that have no just cause and no serious aim ’
and are abhorrent to the great mass of the Indian peoples, and
declared that such conspiracies would not be sufiiered to inter-
rupt the task of * building up the fabric of secunty and order
' ‘ From the first,’ he added, ‘ the principle of representative
mstitutions began to be gradually mtroduced, and the time has
come when . . that principle may be prudently extended.
Important classes among you, representing ideas that have been
fostered and encouraged by British rule, claim equahty of citizen-
ship, and a greater share m legislation and government. The
492
EXPECTANT INDIA
Morlcy-
Minto
Bcfonns
Indian
Councils
Act, 1909
politic satisfaction of such a claim will strengthen, not impair,
existing authority and power. Administration will be all the
more efficient, if the officers who conduct it have greater oppor-
tunities of contact with those whom it affects and with those
who influence and reflect common opinion about it.’ ^
Lord Morley and Loid Minto were in complete accord both
as to the necessity of protecting ‘ peaceful and harmless people,
both Indian and European, from the bloodstamed havoe of
anarchic conspiracy ’, and also in the determination not to be
deterred by such havoc from pressing on with ameliorative
reform
Accordingly, after long consultation between Viceroy and
Sccrctaiy of State, the latter moved the Second Reading of the
Indian Councils Bill on Febiuary 23, 1909. Lord Morley dis-
claimed vitli emphasis any idea of setting up parliamentary
government in India, yet his Act has generally been regarded as
a step in that direction
Under the Act and the Regulations made under its authority •
(i) All the Legislative Councils, both Central and Provincial, were
increased in size, and the principle of election was mtroduced
alongside that of nomination Ilcnccforth every Council was to
be composed of three classes of members (c) nommated official
members , (i) nominated non-official members • (c) elected mem-
bers Separate representation was also guaranteed to Moham-
medans (ii) Not only the size but the functions of the Councils
wcic enlarged. They were invested with power to move, and to
vote on, resolutions, not only on the budget, but on any matter
of general public interest , but the Executive Government was
not bound to act on such resolutions The right to interpellate
ministers W’as also extended by pei mission to put supplementary
questions, (m) As rcgaids the Executive Councils, the maximum
number of ordinary members in Madras and Bombay was raised
fiom two to four In 1910 the Secretary of State appointed a
Hindu barrister, Mr (afterwards Lord) Sinha, as legal member
of the Viceroy’s Council, and, on his lesignation, a Mohammedan
gentleman, Mr. Syed Ah Imam. Two Indian gentlemen had in
1907 been appointed members of the Couneil of India
^ Proclamation of tlic Kmg-Emperor to the Pnnccs and Peoples of India
(November 2, 1008).
DELHI DUKBx\R
4n3
Lord Morley claimed for his measures that they marked the
* opening of a very important chapter in the history of Great
Britain and India ’ , but whither, if not to-n ards the parliamentary
government he deprecated, did that chapter tend ’
That was a question for the future to answer. For the moment, The
the operation of the Morlcy-Minto reforms was overshadowed by
the \nsit to India of the King-Emperor, George V, and his con- Durbar,
sort, and hj* the superb ceremonial of the Coronation Durbar,
and the dramatic announcements made thereat On December
7, 1911, Their Majesties made their State entry into the capital
of the Mogul Emperors and, on the 12th, with statel}’- and superb
ceremonial the great Coronation Durbar was held The King-
Emperor announced a senes of administrative changes conse-
quential upon the ‘ modification * of Lord Curzon’s partition of
Bengal; the creation of a Governor-in-Council for the freshly
delimited Province of Bengal , a Lieutenant-Governorship for the
new Province of Bihar, Onssa, and Chota Nagpur, vith a capital
at Patna ; and a Chief Commissionship for Assam But these
were matters of relativelj’' small importance Great was the
sensation when the Kmg-Emperor announced that the capital of
the Indian Empire was presently to be transferred from Calcutta
to Delhi, and that the supreme Government was to be cstabhshed
m a new city planned (and now built) on a scale of dazzling
magmficcncc. As to the wisdom of the transference of the seat
of government, opinion was and is sharply divided Was the
change due to the promptmgs of an histone imagination ? Or
to strategical considerations’ Or to a desire to punish the
seditious and anarchical Hindus of Bengal, and to grati^ the
more loyal Mohammedans ?
These questions could not but obtrude themselves though
they were temporarily smothered by the dazzhng splendour of
the spectacle at Delhi
Three years after the King-Emperor's announcements the
whole Impenal fabnc of which he is the corner-stone was shaken
to its foundations by the shock of world-war.
Of the contribution made by India to the war effort of the
Empire mention has already been made The contnbution was
the more significant in view of the fact that the mihtary orgaraza-
tion of India was planned to mamtain internal peace, and to meet
494.
EXPECTANT INDIA
1185 ®-
tnbal outbreaks on the frontier, and to repel a continental inva-
sion For such purposes, and as was frequently proved, the
organization was admirable
Defence The transference of British India to the Crown closed the
period of conquest and expansion characteristic of the Company’s
rule It remained to stabilize the situation, to make our con-
quests secure. The map of British India to-day is (excluding
Burma) the map finally drawn by Lord Dalhousie, except for
certain North-West Frontier patches, and notably the lodgement
at Quetta, giving us command of the Bolan pass The army
in India has not lacked experience of actual warfare, but with
the exception of the second Afghan War (1878-80), precipitated
by the headstrong policy of Lord Lytton, and memorable for
Lord Roberts’s march to Kandahar , of the third Burmese War
in 1885, and of the Tirah campaign in 1897-8, military operations
have been of a minor character, and mostly directed against the
fierce tribesmen on the North-West Frontier. Of these latter
expeditions there were between 1850 and 1922 no fewer than
seventy-two For participation m a European war, however,
India was not prepared, and deserves the more credit for the
ready response made to the demands of the Imperial Government
Unfortunately the splendid spint manifested in India m the
early days of the War was not maintained until its close.
* The War ’, as Sir Valentine Chirol has said, ‘ lasted too long
and was too remote from [the Indian people]. . . . The sick and
wounded from Mesopotamia brought home too often tales of
mismanagement and defeat, starthngly corroborated by the
thunderbolt of the Kut surrender. ... H England had been
reluctant at first to credit Kitchener’s prophecy that the War
would last three years, Indians were still more at a loss to under-
stand why victory should be so slow to come to Great Britam
and her powerful alhes, and they began to doubt whether it
would come at all.’
Agitation Such doubts were sedulously disseminated by the disaffected
m India Bengal who had contributed nothing of personal service
to the war effort ; the revolutionary agitation was renewed ,
the anarchical elements once more came to the front
During the first two years of War there had been an almost
complete cessation of outrages or even disorder. The exception,
1932] UNREST IN INDIA 4.95
curiously^ enough, "wns provided bj' the Punjab, whose peasants
supplied half the combatants in the expeditionary forces The
immediate cause of the outbreak was the return to India of some
400 Sikhs and fiflj" to sixty Punjabi Moslems who, contrarj’^ to the
immigration orders had attempted to land at Vancouver, and
had been refused admission by the Canadian authorities In-
flamed by propaganda hterature circulated by Indian rcvolu-
tionarj' societies in the Umted States, these Punjabis returned to
India, bent upon making trouble for the British Government
For some ten months (October 191i-August 1915) the Punjab
was the scene of a senous revolutionary outbreak, eventually
quelled by the courage and resource of the Lieutenant-Governor,
Sir Michael O’Dwj'er, loyally supported by the great majonty of
the inhabitants, as w ell as by tlie Rulers of the native States in
the Punjab In the suppression of the disorders in the Punjab,
as well as others which, later m the War, broke out elsewhere,
the Government was materially assisted, on the one hand by the
passing (March 1915) of a Criminal Law Amendment Act, con-
ferring upon the Executive m India powers similar to those con-
ferred upon it m England by the Defence of the Realm Regula-
tions ; on the other by the * correct ’ attitude of the Indian Con-
gress and the Moslem League.
But the lull was temporary and delusive In 1914 B G.
Tdak, a Poona Brahman, who from the early ’nmetics onwards
had been the powerful and acknowledged leader of the Hindu
extremists, was released on the expiration of his sentence of six
years’ imprisonment In the following year the Congress meeting
at Cawnpore endorsed the demand formulated by Tilak and Mrs.
Annie Besant for ‘ Home Rule within the Empire ’, and in 1917
elected Mrs. Besant to the Presidential chair
This was the moment chosen by the British Government for Dedara-
the histone announcement made to Parhament on August 20
‘ The policy of His Majesly’s Government so the Declaration 20 , lOiT
ran, ‘ with which the Government of India are m complete accord,
is that of the increasing association of Indians m every branch
of the admmistration, and the gradual development of self-
governing mstitutions with a view to the progressive realization
of responsible government m India as an mtegral part of the
British Empire, They have decided that substantial steps m this
EXPECTANT INDIA
[ 1850 -
Tlie
Montagu
Chelms-
ford Re-
por^
direction should be taken as soon as possible. ... I would
add that progress in this pohey can only be achieved by suc-
cessive stages The Biitish Government and the Government
of India, on whom the responsibility lies for the welfare and
advancement of the Indian peoples, must be 3 udges of the time
and measure of such advance, and they must be guided by the
co-operation received from those upon whom new opportunities
of service will thus be conferred, and by the extent to which it
IS found that confidence can be reposed in their sense of responsi-
bility.’
As was only to be expected, pubhc attention fastened upon
the first paragraph, and m particular upon the crucial words
‘responsible government’, wdiile the second and conditioning
paiagraph was at the time and subsequently too often ignored.
The Declaration was made to the House of Commons by Mr.
E. S. Montagu, who had only just succeeded Sir Austen Chamber-
lain as Secretary of State for India ; but, since he was not 'a
member of the War Cabinet, his responsibility for the Declara-
tion was less than that of Lord Curzon, who was a member and
whose pen had drafted the critical words Yet except for the
words ‘ responsible government now used oflicially for the first
time in relation to India, the resolution differed little in wording
from that of successive Statutes and Proclamations from 1838
onwards The resolution came, however, at a moment when the
whole British Empire w'as fain to acknowledge a deep debt of
gratitude to the fighting peoples of India Unfortunately, it was
mterpreted in India not as a graceful acknowledgement of the
loyal co-opcration, but as a concession to the Congress pohticians,
to whom the Empire ow'ed and meant less than nothing
That interpretation was accentuated by the pubhcation (April
1918) of the Report made to Parliament bj' the Viceroy ’and the
Secretary of State who had visited India in the preceding wnter
The Report contamed a number of detailed recommendations
for the future government of India, subsequently embodied m
the Act of 1919. One sentence, almost parenthetical, revealed
the spirit in which the Report was drafted
‘ We beheve profound^ that . . . nationhood within the
Empire represents something better than anything India has
hitherto attained , that the placid pathetic contentment of the
AMRITSAR
497
lo-a]
inasscb IS not the soil on vihich Indian nationhood will grow, and
that m deliberately disturbing it we are working for her highest
good ’
It might ha%c been antieipated that a Report designed to
disturb contentment would at least placate the extremists It
did nothing of the land On the contrar}-, the Congress Party
declared that the Montagu-Chelmsford scheme meant for India
‘ perpetual slavery which can only be broken by a revolution ’
They proceeded to break it Meanwhile, ominously coinci-
dent with the publication of the Montagu-Clielmsford Report was
that of Mr Justice Rowlatt’s Committee i^hich had been ap
pointed in December 1917 to investigate the genesis and char-
acter of the recent outrages The Rowlatt Report revealed a
dangerous and widespread conspiracy designed, by means of
bomb-outrages, by murder and assassination of police officers and
other officials, bj' gang-robberies recalling the ‘ dacoities ’ of old
days, and by other serious crimes, to paralyse, and ultimately
by force to extinguish, British rule in India The Committee
recommended that emergency powers should be conferred by
legislation upon the Executive The Rowlatt Act was passed to
carry out the recommendations, but was never put into force
Nevertheless, the passing of the Rowlatt Act evoked a storm
of mdignant protest and led to a persistent agitation which gave
to one of the most remarkable and most inscrutable personahties
who have ever appeared m India a welcome opportumty. Mr.
Gandhi seized it with consummate ability
In February 1919 he launched his Civil Disobedience Cam-
paign — an advance upon passive resistance, and this was followed,
almost immediately, by renewed outbreaks at Delhi, Ahmcdabad,
Amntsar, and other places At Amritsar, near Lahore, a for-
midable rising was quelled by the drastic action taken by General
Dyer. The Amntsar incident was (m Carlyle’s phrase) no ‘ rose-
water surgery but it may be that, though it cost hundreds of
hves, it saved thousands , that even if General Dyer temporarily
lost his head and finally his job, he saved a Province Anyway,
the scale of the disturbances may be judged by the fact that m
connexion with the outrages m Lahore and .^ntsar no fewer
than 2,500 persons were brought to tnal, and 1,800 were con-
victed With the help of martial law order was gradually restored
The Rov-
latt Re-
port
Mr
Gandlu
EXPECTANT INDIA
[1859-
Govem- Meanwhile, the Imperial Parliament proceeded to embody m
Governvient of India Act (1919) the recommendations of
Act, 1919 the Montagu-Chelmsford Report. The most important changes
Provm- affected only the Provincial Governments In the nine Governor’s
Govern government was henceforward to be based on the
ment principle of Dyarchy, or a division of the functions of government
into two sections. Certam subjects — such as police and the
administration of justice, and irrigation and land revenue — ^were
reserved for the exclusive junsdiction of the Governor and his
Executive Councillors, some Indian and some British, who,
though official members of the provincial legislature, were respon-
sible, not to it but solely to the Goverhment. Other subjects,
such as education, pubhc health, agriculture, local government,
pubhc works, and like matters, were transferred to the control
of ministers chosen from and responsible to the local legislature,
or Legislative Council The Legislative Councils were to con-
tain at least 70 per cent, of elected members For the due per-
formance of his functions m respect of the reserved subjects the
Governor could, in the last resort, make financial and legislative
provision against the will of the Legislature It was, however,
contemplated that if the new system worked satisfactorily the
range of transferred subjects should be extended, until ultimately
the whole administration should be handed over to responsible
ministers
Central The changes effected m the Supreme Government were rela-
ment™' unimportant. The prmciple of Dyarchy was not extended
to the Supreme Government, to which” forty-seven * central ’
subjects, such as Defence, Foreign Relations, Relations with the
Indian States, Customs, Coinage and Currency, Communications,
Police and Civil and Cnmmal law, were by the Act reserved.
Executive authority is still vested m the Viceroy and his Execu-
tive Council, consisting of seven heads of Departments, appomted
by and responsible to the Crown
The Central Legislature consists of two Houses — ^the Council
of State and the Legislative Assembly or Lower House. The
Council of State consists of 60 members, of whom 34 are elected
on a very restricted franchise the rest are nommated, and not
more than 20 of, them may be officials.
The Assembly contains a much larger majority of elected
10821
DYARCHY
members — 104 out of 144 They are directly elected by con-
stituencies Trhich, though enormouslj* big, contain onl3* million
electors — considerably less than a quarter of tlie electorate of the
United Kingdom The right of legislation, including supply, is
■vested ordinarily in the Legislature, but, m order to prevent a
deadlock m admmistration, the Viceroy is empowered, when
necessary, -to ovemde the will of the Legislature both in regard
to grants of supply and ordmary legislation E'^erience has
proved the necessity for this regrettable but essential precau-
tionary pro^^LSlon. The Supreme Gov’cmment as a whole has
powers of superintendence, direction, and control over the Pro-
vmcial Governments m respect of all the reserved subjects
There has also been established an Indian Fnvy Council * as
a means of honouring and employing npe wisdom and mentonous
servnee ’
The scheme further provided for a Chamber of Princes to
form a hnk between the Indian States and the British Govern-
ment Of the Ruhng Prmces 108 are entitled to sit m the Cham-
ber m their own right 127 of the smaller States are represented
by 12 members.
The new constitution was formalty inaugurated on February
21, 1921, at Delhi by H R H the Duke of Connaught, on behalf
of the King-Emperor
The persistent agitation m British India naturally caused The
some disqmetude among the Rulers of the Indian States In
the whole Empire there is no more loyal element than these Com-
Rulers, but the efforts of the Montagu-Chelmsford Report to
disturb the contentment of the Indian peasantry, even if only
partially successful, mevitably reacted upon the subjects of the
native Prmces. Accordingly, at them request, a small Committee
was, m 1927, appomted (i) to report upon the relationship between
■the Paramount Power and the Indian States, and (u) to inquire
mto the financial and economic relations between British India
and the States and to . . make ‘recommendations ... for
their adjustment’.
The Report, published m 1929, did not, m regard to certam
techmeal matters, give complete satisfaction to the Prmces , but
it was made clear that the Prmces would contmue to enjoy com-
plete autonomy, ‘ so long as they governed their people well ’, and
The
Statulorj
Coinmis-
bion
General
Prmei-
plcs
Recom*
menda-
tioas
600 EXPECTANT INDIA [ 1859 -
they would not be handed over to a new Indian ‘ Dominion ’
without their own consent. This was the vital point
Almost simultaneously with the appointment of the Indian
States Committee, the Royal Commission, provided for in the
Act of 1919, was appointed, under the chairmanship of Sir John
Simon — a distinguished lawyer and former Home Secretary — ^to
inquire ‘ into the working of the system of government, the growth
of education, and the development of representative institutions
in Biitish India ’, and to report ‘ as to whether and to what extent
it is desirable to establish the principle of responsible govern-
ment, or to extend, modify, or icstnct the degree of responsible
government then existing therein ’
The Simon Commission after two prolonged visits to India
laid their Report before Parliament in June 1980, in two parts.
Part I (Cmd 35G8) contained a survey, historical and analyti-
cal, of conditions in British India It laid bare certain ‘ stubborn
facts which no amount of rhetoric or appeal to abstract principles
can alter Nor could there be any two opinions as to the value
of this sur\’ey. The reception accorded to vol i of the Report
was, consequently, remarkable for its unanimity and cordiahty.
It was otherwise in regard to Part II (Cmd. 8569) which
began by explaining the gencial principles upon which the Com-
missioners based their proposals. The first was that ‘Indian
nationalism is a phenomenon w'hich cannot be disregarded by
the rulers either of British India or of the Indian States ’. A
second affirmed that it is ‘ only under a federal system that the
sentiment underl 5 ang the [nationahstj movement can be given
effective expression The ultimate Constitution must, there-
fore, have regard to ‘a future development, when India as a
whole, not merely British India, will take her place among the
constituent States of the Commonw'calth of Nations united under
the Cro^vn Any new Constitution should, moreover, avoid
rigidity and ‘ should as far as possible contain within itself pro-
vision for its oivn development ’. Nor should it necessarily be
too slavishly imitative of the Engh&h Constitution.
The specific recommendations as regards Provincial Govern-
ments were .
(i) The abohtion of ‘ dj^archy ’ ; (ii) the introduction of ‘ Re-
sponsible Government’, with Cabinets designed on the British
SIMON REPORT
501
IS-Ji]
model, but with a reservation, of emergency powers to the Gover-
nor , (ill) an extended franchise for the Pro^^ncIal Legislatures
but a continuance of Communal Electorates for the protection
of important mmoritics, ‘unless and until agreement can be
reached upon a better method , and (iv) a provision for consti-
tutional re^^slon by the Legislatures, subject aluaj's to the pro-
tection of the nghts of mmonties
‘ Responsibihtj- ’ thus fully and frankly conceded to the Pro-
vmcial Governments vas not to extend to the Central Executive
which was to remain m the hands of the Viceroy and of ministers
responsible to him
The Central Legislature was to consist of tw’o Houses • (i)
the Legislative Assembly to be henceforth styled the ‘Federal
Assembly and to be reconstituted on the basis of the represen-
tation of the Pro\nnces and other areas m British India accordmg
to population.
The Upper House or ‘ Council of State ’ was to retain its title
and functions, and to consist of nominated members and members
elected by a process of mdirect election by the Provmcial Second
Chambers.
The constitutional structure was to be crowned by a Council
for Greater India, endowed with ‘ consultative and deliberative
functions ’ in regard to a scheduled list of ‘ matters of common
concern’ to the States and British India This Council was
designed as a step towards the Federation of Greater India
In the course of their mvestigations the Commissioners had,
in truth, become more and more ‘ impressed by the impossibihty
of considering the constitutional problems of British India without
‘taking into account the relations between Bntish India and the
Indian States They, accordmgly, suggested the ‘ settmg up of
some sort of Conference, after the Reports of the Statutory Com-
mission and the Indian Central Committee have been made, con-
sidered, and published . . and that in this Conference His
]\Ia]esty’s Government should meet both representatives of British
India and representatives of the States
Mr. Ramsay MacDonald, havmg consulted the leaders of the
other parties, concurred , and, on November 12, 1930, the King-
Emperor maugurated the Round Table Conference
The Conference was not many hours old before the question
602 EXPECTANT INDIA fiS' '
of an All-India Federation overshadowed all others. It con-
tinued to do so until, on January 19, 1931, the first session closed.
Agreement had by that time been reached on two fundamental
points that an All-India Federation should, as soon as possible,
be created, with a Central Executive responsible to a Central
Legislature, and that certain powers should be ‘ reserved ’ to the
British Government, to ensure the maintenance of order, the pro-
tection of minorities, and the fulfilment of India’s obligations to
the outside w’orld
The second session of the Conference opened in London on
September 8. Early m March Lord Irwm (Viceroy 1926-81) had
concluded with Gandhi the ‘ Delhi Pact ’. The ‘ civil disobedi-
ence ’ movement inaugurated by Gandlu m 1930, was, on certam
conditions, conceded by the Viceroy, to be discontinued, and the
Congress Party w'as to participate, as it had not done dunng the
first session, in the Round Table Conference. Accordingly,
Gandhi himself attended it, but though it sat until December no
solution was reached on the crucial problem of the representation
and protection of religious mmorities On this ‘ communal
problem * deadlock had been reached.
The Under these circumstances the British Government, now re-
Paper, constructed on a nationa), non-party basis, decided to assume
1031 responsibility for drafting a constitution. The mam lines of the
Government policy were accordmgly embodied in a \Mute Paper. ^
Three small Committees went to India in 1982 to investigate and
report upon the three subjects of the Franchise, Finance, and the
Indian States." A third session of the Round Table Conference
to focus the w'ork of the precedmg sessions w'as held m London
in Novcmber-December 1932, and m March 1933 the definite
proposals of the Government were submitted to Parhament m a
second White Paper.® A Joint Select Comimttee of Lords and
Commons, ‘ w'lth power to call into consultation representatives
of the Indian States and British India ’, was appointed ‘ to con-
sider the future government of India and, in particular, to exanune
and report upon the proposals in the said Command Paper ’.
‘ In thinking of her work in India, Great Britain may look
back proudly, but she must also anxiously look forward.’ Of her
1 Cmd 8072 of 1031. < Report, Cmd 4008, 4060 and 4103 of 1032.
* Cmd 4208.
1032] past and FDTDEE 503
]ust pnde in the achievements of the past nothing can deprive
her , the anxiety expressed by Sir William Hunter in 1898 has
been mtensihed by the events of the intcrv'cning years India
has been gravely tlireatened by, but has happily repelled, an
invasion by a powerful State, flushed by striking imtial victories.
Internally many generous experiments have been tried and have
failed , racial and communal animosities are not appeased ,
elections are frequently a mere farce As a result, the anxiety
felt by men of good will, though not unmingled with hope, is
to-day more acute than at any moment since India passed under
the dormmon of the Crown.
''OA UNRESITUL ENGLAjS[D— POST-WAR YEARS [lois-
CHAPTER XXIX
UNRESTFUL ENGLAND— THE POST-WAR YEARS
P RECEDING chapters have detained us, for the most part,
overseas. It remams to take a brief survey of events in the
home-land, durmg the years that followed the conclusion of the
War.
Causes of The condition of England was, durmg the period, eminently
Unrest unrestful The spirit of unrest manifested itself not only m
politics, but m every sphere of human activity. These varied
manifestations were partly due to temporary causes, the imme-
diate consequences of the sudden transition from a war which
had engrossed the activities not merely of the fighting services
but of the whole nation. But there were also operative causes
which went much deeper— changes m the mental, spiritual, social,
and economic outlook of great masses of the British people.
Tlic In the striking speech delivered m the House of Commons
‘fever of on July 3, 1919, he expounded the Provisions of the Peace
Treaty, l\Ir Lloyd George besought his countrymen not to ‘ de-
mobilize the spirit of patriotism in tins country ’. * The losses
of the War ’, he truly said, ‘ will take a deal of repainng . . .
We must each and all give such instalments of strength, of good
w'lll, of co-operation, and of intelligence, as ive can command .
The strength, the power of every land has been drained and
exhausted by this tcriible War to an extent we can hardly realize
The nations have bled at every vein, and this restlessness which
you get everywhere to-day is the fever of anaemia.’ ^
Demo- The fever of anaemia it w'as Only the spirit of true patriotism
bilization ^ould avert the fatal consequences of a relapse But gravely
uttered, the Premier’s warning was only partially heeded the
whole people was tired , nerves w'ere frayed , tempers were short.
> Hansard, vol 117, p 1281.
1932]
SOVIET RUSSIA
505
Many of the symptoms arose merely from temporary irritation
caused by the proi’ess of demobilization, from dissatisfaction about
war gratuities, pensions and other sequelae of the War Wives,
parents, employers, all anxious to get those m whom they were
severally mterested out of khaki, were perplexed and angered by
the apparent lack of any principle of selection a disgruntled
mother could not understand why her neighbour’s Tom was
released from the colours, while her Jim was retained Nor
was it easy for the harassed M P , to whom every constituent
turned for explanation and satisfaction, either to satisfy or to
explain.
These delays and apparent inequities contnbuted not a little
to the pre\ ailing diseontcnt The continued operations of British
troops m Russia contributed more The Armistice had brought Russia
about a cessation of arms m western and central Europe, but not
m the east Russia was still m the throes of civil war — of several
eml wars Bntish participation m those wars, however limited
its scale, lent itself readily to misrepresental ion In Northern
Russia, where the Navy plajed an important part, the Allied
Force consisted mamly of Bntish troops ^ General Sir A Knox
and Colonel John Ward, the Labour M P for Stoke, were giving
valued support to Admiral Koltchak in Sibena, and General
Denikin’s volunteers held the Black Sea Coast But mtervention
in Russia became increasingly unpopular among the Western
Alhes, not least m England, where, m certain circles, the mere
mention of * Russia ’ evoked howls of execration agamst ‘ bour-
geois prejudice ’ and ‘ capitalist greed ’ Meanwhile, the Soviet
Government m Moscow gradually established itself against all its
enemies, mtemal and external The ex-Czar, his wife and children
had been murdered m July 1918 , Omsk, the capital of the anti-
Bolshevist Government, was taken m November 1919, Admiral
Roltchak was captured and shot m Februaiy 1920, and m the
course of that year the Poles were driven off, Poland was itself
mvaded and w'as saved only by the timely intervention of the
French By the end of 1920 the Bolshevik regime was definitely
established , England and Europe had perforce to accept the
accomplished fact
^ In March 1010 there were 18,100 Bntish out of 28,000 Allied troops (ex-
cluding 11,770 Russians)
‘ Recon-
struction
Educa-
tion Act,
1018
IVhitlcy
Councils
606 UNRESTFUL ENGLAND— POST-WAR YEARS [lois-
The successful establishment of a Communist Republic m
Russia unquestionably had its repercussions in Great Britain but
the great body of wage-earners in Britain is neither republican nor
communist. Yet * labour unrest ’ was the dominatmg feature of
post- War pohtics. The unrest was due, m part, to the disappoint-
ment of exaggerated expectations raised by loudly advertised
‘ reconstruction of ‘ homes fit for heroes to live in and so on
Despite, or because of, lavish subsidies, the homes did not material-
ize so quickly as was hoped. The high wages of the war period
had set up a new standard of comfort, but one element of comfort
— ^better housing conditions — ^was lamentably lacking. Two im-
portant contributions had, however, been made towards real re-
construction The first was the Education Act of 1918 This Act
prohibited the employment of child-labour under the age of 12, and
restricted it under 14 It raised the compulsory age of school
attendance to 14, and provided for compulsory part-time day con-
tinuation schools up to the age of 16, and, after the lapse of seven
years, of 18 It abolished, unnecessarily and unwisely, as many
thought, all fees in public elementary sehools, and contained pro-
visions for nursery schools, medical inspection and treatment,
special schools for defectives, hohday camps, physical trammg
centres, and so forth Financial stringency compelled the
abandonment or suspension of several of the more ambitious
features of this ‘ Fisher ’ Act But the £8,000,000, allocated to
enable ex-Service men to go to Universities did bear fruit Some
27,000 men (mostly from poor homes) took advantage of the
grants then provided ^
More directly bearing upon the industrial problems were the
schemes recommended by the Committee which sat under the
chairmanship of l^Ir. J. H Whitley — afterwards Speaker of the
House of Commons ^ Of their recommendations the most impor-
tant was the establishment for each of the principal industries of a
triple form of organization, representative of employers and em-
ployed, consisting of Joint Industrial Councils, Joint District Coun-
cils and Works Comimttees These bodies w'ere to advise upon all.
matters connected with the conduct of the several industries, and
m particular to give to the wage-earners therein ‘ a definite and
enlarged share m the discussion and settlement of industrial mat-
ters ’. By 1921 some seventy-three Councils had been set up, for
» Fisher, Autobiography, pp 89-122 * Final Report, Cmd 0163 of 1018,
1032] INDUSTRIAL UNREST 507
industries cmplojnng nearlj* 1,000,000 wage-earners There was
also passed in 1919 the Industrial Courts Act under which a per-
manent Court of Arbitration to which disputes can, mth the con-
sent of both parties, and after all means of conciliation existing m
the trade have been cxiiaustcd be referred. That Court alTords,
in the judgement of its first President, ‘ a more rational and con-
venient means of settling differences than has ever heretofore been
devised ^
Yet the painful fact remains that despite these and many other Trade
well-densed schemes, despite the elaboration of machinery, and a Disputes
lavish outpouring of pubhc money m the form of subsidies to par-
ticular industnes, industrial peace was not secured On the con-
trarj* the penod between the Armistice and the General Strike of
192G vas marked by an epidemic of disputes, invohmg heavy
losses both to the industries immediately concerned and to the
community at large Nearly 3,000 disputes occurted in the two
\ears 1919-20 alone. In each mdividual case assigned the pal-
pable cause of dispute was wages, hours, conditions of work. Or
‘ victimization But strikes were merely the outward manifesta-
tion of a deep-rooted spirit of unrest Tlie dcmocrabzation of
industry had not kept pace with the democratization of politics
Men who had been admitted to a share in the government of the
State thought it incongruous that they should be excluded from
any part in the control of the industrj’^ on which their livelihood
depended Moreover, they suspected that theu livelihood was in
many cases imperilled by inefficiency of management. In some
cases it was But the essential wealoiess of the position taken up
by the wage-earners was that they refused to put their theories to
the only practical test The mdustnal field was open to them,
they possessed, m the aggregate, large capital resources, and could
easily have commanded more but the investment of capital in
industrj' involves great nsks — a truth frequently ignored — and,
instead of challenging capitalist mdustry by competition, the wage-
earners prudently preferred to agitate immediately for higher
wages and shorter hours, and ultimately for the State management
and control of industry
The economic momentum of the War lasted for quite tw'o The
years after the conclusion of the Armistice But the sense of pros- oepres”^
perity tlius diffused was delusive. Before the end of 1920 there sion, 1020
*■ Lord Amulrcc, Induslnal ArbitTation %n Great Bntain, Oxford, 1930
SOS UNRESTFUL ENGLAND— POST-WAR YEARS [ 1918 -
were ominous signs that the seed caielessly soivn in the precedmg
years was about to yield an abundant crop of tiouble Exports
began to shnnk , the demand for industrial capital slackened ,
agrieultural prices fell sharply Tenants who had been glad to pur-
chase their farms, even at high piiccs, dunng the boom, were hard
hit Labour became a drug m the market, and the Labour Ex-
changes were tlironged by crowds of men unable to find work
Uncm- After 1920 unemployment was for years the most distressing
plojment most obstinate of the many pioblems with which statesman-
ship was confronted. During the War there was virtually no
unemployment, and down to the autumn of 1920, although
4,000,000 men were demobilized, less than 3 per cent, of trade
unionists were out of work But by March 1921 the trade union
percentage had risen to 10 7, and by June to 23 9, being especially
severe m the metal, engineering and shipbuilding trades In
June 1921 there were 2,580,000 people out of work Things were
better in 1922 and for the next seven years the figures hovered
between about 1,100,000 and 1,250,000. By the end of 1930,
however, the numbers leapt up to 2,500,000 and by the beginmng
of 1933 were close op 3,000,000.
The root cause ofithis unprecedented phenomenon was to be
found in the complete!^ dislocation of the economic hfe of the world
durmg and after the War The demands made upon Germany for
indemnities and reparations , the chaos of currencies ; the wild
fluctuations in the rates of international exchanges , the fall m the
price of piimary commodities, and the consequent mabihty of the
producers of those commodities to purchase the goods, on the sale
of which the people of Great Britain depend for subsistence — all
these and other causes contributed to the prevailing disorder
The Legislature, the Government Departments, the Local
Authorities, and many voluntary agencies did all m their power to
alleviate the resulting distress
The Ministry of Laboiu has three Departments dealmg with
Insurance, Transitional Payments and Employment, and Train-
mg respectively. In every town it has its Employment Exchanges
vmrking at fever heat
Jnem- The whole scheme of Unemployment Insurance was over-
hauled by the Act of 1920 , between that date and 1927 np fewer
ance than fourteen Unemployment Acts were placed on the Statute
UNEAIPLOYMENT
30-12]
509
Book, and since then hardlv a rear has passed without one or more
amending Acts i
But no scheme based on sound Insurance principles could cope
with such an avalanche of unemployment as that experienced in
recent years By 1931 the Insurance Fund was £115,000,000 in
debt to the Exchequer, and threatened the State itself \Mth bank-
ruptes.
E\ cry expedient had been tned in the hope of reduemg the Relief
dimensions of the problem Unemployment Insurance proper was
supplemented not only by Poor Relief, which in 1927 amounted to
over £}5,000,000 but by a variety of ‘ doles ’ in the shape of ‘ un-
covenanted ’ and ‘ transitional * benefit The favourite prescrip-
tion of the Labour Party, and of a section of the Liberal Party, was
Public Works Very large sums were, m fact, expended on
‘ works of public utilily with little utility and less alleviation of
unemplojTnent A more allunng scheme was that of ‘ settlmg’
on the land es-semee men and others The experiment cost
the State nearl}- £20,000,000, but proved an almost complete
fiasco and after a few j ears was abandoned Under normal con-
dihons, migration should have done much to relieve the pressure
Between 1900 and 1918 the volume of emigration aggregated Empire
6 303,054 Of the emigrants rather more than half went to the
United States, but Canada alone took 1,625,054, and the other
Dominions as many more In order to stimulate migration Par-
liament passed in 1922 the Empire Settlement Act, allocatmg for
that purpose a maximum of £3,000,000 a year That maximum
was never reached or approached The effect of the Act was dis-
appomtmgly meagre Between 1919 and 1928 the aggregate num-
ber of emigrants from this country to the overseas Empire was only
about 1,800,000, and by 1982 the balance of immigrants from the
Empne to Great Bntam actually exceeded the emigrants by
88,020 For this disastrous turn in the tide there were many
reasons ® It must suffice to say that had the pre-War balance
been mamtained there would be no unemployment problem m this
countiy.
> A consolidating and amending BiU, of great promise, is passing through
Farhamcnt as tins volume goes to Press
* Sec Reports (annual) of the Overseas Settlement Committee and on the
whole question cf Marriott, Empire Settlement, Oxford, 1927
510 UXRESTFUL ENGLAND— POST-WAR YEARS [lois-
Coal That problem, though not caused, was mdubitably accentuated
and^ by the persistent unrest among the wage-earners, unrest which
Radways issued in perpetual stoppages m one industry after another
Ckial That the wage-earners would, on the conclusion of Peace, revert
Strikes -y^ti^out a struggle to pre-War wages and conditions it was vain to
suppose, especially m view of the fact that prices were still soaring.
In January 1919 there were strikes m the boilermakers’ trade,
among the shipyard workers m Glasgow and London, among the
dockers in Manchester and municipal employes in Belfast. But
throughout the post-War period the mam centres of unrest were
the coal-mines and the railways Both industries remamed under
Government ‘ control ’ until 1921 and in both conditions were
exceptionally favourable for the wage-earners. The ultimate
object of the agitation was not merely or mainly to mamtain
those conditions, but to compel the State to nationalize the
mdustries. But the goal was not nationahzation of the old
pattern. The leaders frankly confessed that under the State
as an employer conditions tor labour w'ould be no better, and
might be worse, than imder private enterprise ‘The Mines
for the Nation ’, ‘ The Railways for the people ’ were mere
slogans The real c^jcctive was the owmership and control of
those mdustries by those engaged in them Not nationaliza-
tion but some form pf Guild soeiahsm or syndicalism was the
goal.
In January 1919 the nuners put forw'ard a series of demands
for higher wages and shorter hours, as a preliminary to nationaliza-
tion. Only under a pronuse from the Government to set up a
Royal Commission with mstructions to report by March 20 did the
miners consent to defer a strike until March 22.
Tnple By March 1919 the situation was grave There were mutinous
riots in the camps at home and abioad. Five persons were killed
and more than twenty mjured in a not in the Canadians’ camp at
Kinmel Park. The Metropolitan Police were restless and demand-
mg, among other things, the recognition of their ‘ union ’. That
demand was firmly refused by the Government (March 17) But
the most serious threat came from the ‘ Triple Alliance ’ — an alli-
ance between the National Union of Railwaymen, the Miners’
Federation and the National Transport Workers’ Federation This
alliance, ori^nally negotiated m 1913, was ratified in 1915, and
19';2]
THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE
611
pHyed the leading part m the revolutionary agitation which per-
sisted almost continuously from 1919 to 1920
On March 20 the Coal Commission, set up under the chairman- The
slup of Sir Justice (now Viscount) Sankey, presented a sheaf of
Interim Reports,^ recommending an immediate increase of wages sion
and shortening of hours These recommendations the Govern-
ment accepted, and so purchased temporary peace In June the
Commission presented four Reports, of v hich one was signed only
by tne chairman, and another by the Labour representatives
These recommended nationahzation, but tins was an issue which,
as Mr Lloyd George said, could be settled only by the nation and
not at the dictation of a sectional industry. The Government did,
hovever, accept the principle of the State acqmsition of mmmg
royalties, and other recommendations affectmg the mtcmal or-
ganization of the industry
In ilarch 1919 the Government had purchased a truce with the The
railwajmen with concessions which were to cost the State (still in
possession of the railways) an additional £10,000,000 a year. The
truce was temporary The railway men demanded an all-grades
minimum wage of £3 a week, and after negotiations with the Prune
Minister and his colleagues preapitated a strike on September 26.
The Government promptly organized a service of motors, lomes
and aeroplanes, and on October 5 an agreement was reached The
week s stoppage, even though partial, was estimated to have cost
the country £50,000,000
Nor was permanent peace secured An elaborate wage agree- Direct
meat was concluded m March 1920, but subsequent events proved
that among certam sections, if not the bulk, of Trade-Umonists,
questions of wages and hours were subsidiary to much wider pohti-
cal ambitions In 1920 Poland, as we have seen, was at war with
the Russian Soviet cml war was raging in Ireland In May
certain railu aymen m Ireland refused to handle cases of munitions
mtended for the use of soldiers or police in Ireland In June some
of the employes on the Great Northern Railway (England) simi-
larly refused to handle packages addressed ‘ War Supply Depart-
ment, Re\al ’ and m excuse pleaded that they were acting imder
instructions from their Umon which had * decided that, m the
mterests of the workers of Europe, effective steps must be taken
^Cmd 84,85, and 86 of 1010
612 UNRESTFUL ENGLAND— POST-WAR YEARS [1918-
to compel the capitalists of Europe to cease their attacks on the
Soviet of Russia On complaint to the Union from the Company
the ‘ instructions ’ were withdraivn, and the incident terminated.
But the real point at issue was emphasized by ]\Ir Lloyd George.
Heading a deputation to the Prime Mimster from the N.U R. IVIr.
J. H. Thomas, their Secretary, while not endorsing the action of
the Irish strikers, ‘ recognized that to support these men would
mean a declaration of war on the Government ’. ‘ Not on the
Government,’ was the Premier’s swift retort, ‘ but on government,
which IS a much more senous thing ’ That was the real issue .
Was Great Britain to remain a Parhamentary Democracy, or to
become a Soviet Repubhc ? Was Parliament to rule, or was the
Triple Alliance to dictate the pohey of the country ’
Mining In order to secure peace in the coal-field Parliament in 1920
Act)* Passed The Mtmng Industry Act The Act provided for the crea-
tion of a Mines Department and for the reorganization of the coal
industry, giving to the colliers a greater voice m controlling it by
means of Pit and District Committees, and Area and National
Boards Nevertheless, there was a strike in the industry which
lasted from October 18 to November 4, 1920, and a much more
serious and prolonged one m the summer of 1921. Government
control ended on March 31, 1921, and from April 1 to July 4 there
was a complete stoppage of work, ended only by an Agreement
concluded between the Mmmg Association and the Miners’ Federa-
tion ^ and by a further State subsidy of £7,000,000 to sustain
wages
Emer- In April the countiy had been threatened by something more
Ivmra serious even than a coal stoppage Late in 1920 Parhament had
Act, 1920 passed an Act, the Emergency Powers Act, designed to ‘ make ex-
ceptional provision for the protection of the community in cases of
emergency’. On Apnl 1, 1921, a ‘state of emergency’ was, under
the terms of that Act, declared The Triple Alhance then threat-
ened a general strike m support of the miners, to take effect on
April 15. The position was grave. Negotiations between the
Government and the Trade Umon leaders broke down , but on
Thursday, April 14, two very remarkable meetings took place m
a Committee Room of the House of Commons. At the first the
coal-owners placed their case before the members of the House un
Foe the terms see Cmd 1387 of 1921.
‘BLACK FRIDAY’
618
W32]
a private meeting arranged there at the oivners’ request , at the
second the inmers’ representatives were m\nted to do the same.
The result nas reported at midnight to the Prime Minister, and he
invited the owners and the miners to meet him next morning.
Only eleven hours remained before the deelaration of war was to
take effect The owners obeyed the summons the miners did
not. They refused to discuss even a temporarj’’ settlement, unless
two prmeiples were as a preliminary conceded, a National Wages
Board and a National Pool
Their allies were less stubborn ; and on Friday, Apnl 15, the * Black
sjTnpathetic strike was, at the eleventh hour, called off Though
christened by the Socialists * Black Friday ’, the day brought great
rebef to the country as a whole The hour of revolution was at
any rate postponed The credit for this result was generally
attributed to the House of Commons, whose mtcrvention seemed
to have succeeded where the Executive Government had failed
The contemporary Press teemed with references to the ‘ renascence
of Parliament ’, and so on No doubt the severe cross-examina-
tion to which Mr. Hodges, the Secretarj’^ of the Miners’ Federation
was subjected by members of Parhament did extort from him ai
admission to which he honourably adhered , but the intervention
of Parhament was fortuitous, and the happy issue of the meetings
was unforeseen ^ The private members who arranged the meet-
ings had no idea of ‘ buttmg m ’ upon the functions of the Execu-
tive, or queering the pitch either for the combatants or for the
Government. Like the country at large, they ardently sought
peace, but how to ensue it they knew not.
In the result, however, the Tnple Alliance was broken, though
not until the end of June did the owners and miners reach an
agreement Parhament voted a subsidy of £10,000,000 to ease
the wage difficulties after the withdrawal of control but that was
only a fraction of the cost of the stoppage to the State. This
amounted in all to no less than £250,000,000
* The present wnter has re^n to know the facts , for he it was who at
the request of the coal-owners ananged, at two hoars’ notice, the first meeting,
and presided over it. He also, at the request of the Trade-Unionists, presided
at tlie second and was deputed, dose on midnight, to convey to the Pnme
Ministerarcportoftheproceecbngsandmparticulirof the admission made bv
Mr Hodges Mr Lloyd Geoige was preparing for bed after a very hard da> ,
but consented to see the intruder and thought the matter sufficiently impor-
tant to justify the action recorded m the text.
ME — 33
Railways
Agiicul-
tuie
National
Expen*
dilute
611 UNRESTFUL ENGLAND— POST-WAR YEARS [lois-
The State was also called upon to pay £61,000,000 to the Rail-
ways, when, in August 1021, State-control ended. But this was
not a * subsidy ’ ; it was only a moderate compensation for ser-
vices rendered. De-control was accompanied by the passing of an
important Railways Act, providing for the amalgamation of no
fewer than nmety-three Railway Companies m four large groups,
and for setting up a Railway Rates Tribunal to decide questions at
issue between the railways and their customers, and a series of
Boards, culminating in a National Wages Board to decide wages
questions The Act was a compromise between Nationahzation
and private enterprise. It worked fairly well os regards rates
and wages, but failed to restore any measure of prosperity to
a great industry which had ployed an important port m the
War.
The repeal (1921) of the Corn Production Act involved a fur-
ther measure of de-control The Agricultural Wages Board, which
for the previous four years had secured for the labourers a share in
the prosperity of the industry, was abolished It was restored by
the Socialist Government in 1921 but has not been able to avert,
though it certainly retarded, the downward trend of wages.
Wages, however, did not fall nearly so rapidly as prices ; many
farmers were ruined, and thousands of labourers were mevitably
dismissed to swell the ranks of the unemployed.
The rapid decline of trade, industry and agriculture naturally
enhanced the growing anxiety ih regard to the cruslung weight of
taxation and the high rate of national expenditure. The expendi-
ture for 1919-20 exceeded £1,600,000,000 ; and for the next two
years was still over £1,000 millions. Sir Austen Chamberlain and
his successor (1920), Sir Robert Horne, seemed powerless to reduce
it. In August 1921, however, the latter appointed a small Com-
mittee, with Sir Eric Geddes as chairman, to make recommenda-
tions for an immediate reduction of National Expenditure. The
Committee reported promptly. They recommended the abolition
of three new Departments (Transport, Overseas Trade and Mines),
.that the remaining Departments should be ‘ rationed ’, i.e. that to
each a maximum sum should be assigned, with instructions to do
the best they could with it, and that detailed reductions amount-
ing to £86,000,000 should be made forthwith Ultimately the
Government adopted the recommendations only as to £52,000,000.
REPARATIONS
613
1P12]
An Economj Bill wns, indeed, introduced in July 1922 but it
never readied the Statute Book.
The sands of the ‘Coupon* Parliament and the Coalition
>Iinistiy iverc by that time running out Parhament had reached
its penultimate scss«on and the future of the Coalition was uncer-
tain The Consenatives were the predominant partner, and a
la'-ge section of them were becommg mereasmgly restive under
ilr Lloyd George’s leadership The * surrender ’ to nationalism m
Ircl md, and m India, and in Egypt (1922), the heavy load of taxa-
tion the almost continuous industnal strife, the depression in
trade and agnculture, the mcrease of unemplojTnent — for all these
things prime responsibilitj- was attributed to a Prime Minister who
had assumed semi-dictatonal powers Much of the Premier’s Go\em-
attcntion had, in fact, been devoted to Foreign Affairs, but there
was no success m that sphere to compensate for failure to solve cnees
domestic problems Smee 1919 there had been a succession of
inter-Allicd or mtemational Conferences , several in London, some
at Fans, others at San Remo, Spa, and Genoa In 1921 alone
there were no fewer than six Conferences The mam questions
under discussion w ere inter-Alhed debts, the failure of Germany to
meet the bill for reparations, and disarmament The aggregate
result of this immense expenditure of energy, time and money,
was precisely nothing. The Treaty of Versailles had stipulated that
Germany should pay by May 1, 1921, 20,000,000,000 gold marks
(£1,000,000,000) m goods or gold She did pay about £284,000,000
mainly in goods, the dehvery of which upset international trade.
Before the end of 1922 Germany was declared to be in default , on
January 8, 1923, France began to occupy the Ruhr.
By that time Mr Lloyd George was no longer m power The Fall of
Conservative rank and file had revolted, and on October 19, 1922,
had resolved, after a meetmg in the Carlton Club, where bitter ment,
words passed, 1 ‘ to fight the next election as an independent parly
w ith its own leader and with its own programme ’. Mr Lloyd
George at once resigned, and nearly all his Conservative colleagues
went with lum mto the wilderness Several of them returned,
and were included m IVIr Baldwin’s second ministry m 1924
Not so Mr, Lloyd George himself. The year 1922 virtually
marked the close of one of the most remarkable careers m British
* llic iinter was present
51G TJNRESTFUL ENGLAND— POST-WAR YEARS [lois-
pohtics Tlie detested pro-Boer of 1899 became the ardent
Social reformer of 190G-14, and m 1914 devoted himself whole-
heartedly, as Asquith’s prineipal lieutenant, to the prosecution
of the war against Germany Displacing Asquith as Prime
Minister in 191G, he became for a brief space the idol of the nation,
and exercised on world affairs an influence greater than any
presnous statesman m our history. Ills energy and undaunted
courage, his unfailing confidence in himself and m the people he
led, made a notable contribution to the victory achieved in 1918.
That in the plenitude of pover he should have laid aside his
armour was more than could have been expected of a mere mortal.
Had he done so, however, he would have gone down to history as
one of the greatest of British statesmen But (to use Swift’s
biting analogue) he lingered on the stage until he was compelled
to quit it, if not amid the hisses of his audience, without applause.
Though retaining his seat for Carnarvon, he reappeared in the
House of Commons only at longer and longer intervals, but from
his retirement he indited a senes of bulky volumes which con-
stitute in clTcci an apologia pro vita men, and, if used with dis-
crimination, will prove invaluable primary authorities for the
historian of the future. In 1945 he surprised the world by
accepting an Earldom.
Jlr. Bonar Law, who had retired on grounds of health in
March 1921, now% reluctantly and solely at the call of duty,
returned to the political battlefield and as Prime Minister formed
a purely Conservative Ministry. The new Government was
derided as a ‘ Second Eleven team,’ but an appeal to the country
(November) confirmed it m pfficc wnth a majority of seventy
over all other Parties combined. The Lloyd Georgian and the
Asquithian Liberals were returned m equal numbers (60), but
the portent of the Election was the increase in the Labour-Socialist
representation from 73 to 159 Bonar Law, already a stricken
man when he took office, was compelled to resign in May 1923 and
died in the followang October. As Mr Lloyd George’s lieutenant
he had played a fine and imselfish part in the War, and in the
difficult years that followed it, but~his tenure of the first place
was too brief to show whether or not he could fill it with
distinction
Bonor Law was succceddi as Bnme Minister, to the great and
19o2]
THE ZmOVIEFF LETTER
517
natural disappointment of Lord Curzon, by Sir Stanley Baldwin,
ho had played a prominent part in the Conservative revolt and
had become Chancellor of the Exchequer in the ‘ Seeond Eleven ’
Ministry
The times were still out of joint Sir Bald^vin had indeed
succeeded in negotiating {January 1923) a settlement of the
British debt to the United States, but on terms which involved
an annual payment of £34,000,000, at the existing rate of ex-
change. The French remained m the Ruhr Peace had not yet
been made with Turkey , unemplojnnent was a standing menace
to national recovery; there was continued unrest among the
wage-earners, and a significant strike among farm labourers in
Norfolk.
Confronted by these difficulties, convinced that economic con- Election
ditions in England called for a drastic change in fiscal policy, and
urged thereto by the Imp^al Conference of 1923,* Mr Baldwin
decided to ask the country for a mandate for Preference and Pro-
tection The response (December 1923) was unfavourable The
Conservatives, though still the largest single Party m the House,
were reduced from 347 to 259 , the Liberal groups, temporarily
reconciled, returned 158 strong, and the Labour-Socialists num-
bered 191. Mr. Asquith combmed with the Socialists to turn out
the Government, and Sir SlacDonald, combining, like Lord Sahs-
buiy, the Premiership and the Foreign Office, became head of the
first Sociabst Ministry m the history of England
It was a Government on stiiferance, and the sufferance lasted The Fust
only nme months Mr MacDonald drafted the Geneva Protocol
for the pacific settlement of International Disputes and it was meat,
adopted by the Assembly of the League of Nations m October
1924 ^ , he negotiated an Agreement on Reparations,^ and two
treaties with Soviet Russia
Russia brought the Government down It was defeated m the The
House of Commons on a Liberal motion calling for a Select Com-
mittee to mquire into the handling of a Communist prosecution
(October 8) Parliament was immediately dissolved, and five days
before the poll the Foreign Office pubhshed a protest against a
letter alleged to have been addressed, on September 15, by Zino-
vieff, the head of the Third International at Moscow', to the British
» Supra, p 4C4 * Cmd. 2273 (1924) » Cmd 2239.
The
Baldwin
Ministry,
1024r-0
Derating
Act
518 UNRESTFUL ENGLAND— POST-WAR YEARS [lois-
Communists, inslrucUng them to ‘ work for the violent overthrow
of existing institutions m this country and for the subversion of
His Majesty’s Forces as a means to that end The Zinovieff letter
itself was published with this protest, and entirely bore out the
official description of its contents
The Red Letter destroyed any chance the Socialists might have
had of success at the polls. They secured only 151 seats ; the
Conservatives secured 4<13 ; but the outstanding and somewhat
paradoxical feature of the election was the rout of the Liberals, who
lost 118 seats. They counted only forty in the new House, Asquith
himself being defeated at Paisle}'.^ MacDonald at once resigned,
and Baldwin again became Piime Minister. Rightly interpreting
the vcidict of the country as a call for the union of all Constitu-
tionalists against the forces of disruption and revolution, he in-
cluded in his new Ministry not only those Conservatives who like
Sir Austen Chambeilam (Foreign Secretary in place of Lord Cur-
zon), and Lord Birkenhead (Secretary for India), had resigned
ivith Lloj'd George, but Winston Churchill, for whom Neville
Chamberlain (transferred to the Ministry of Health) made way
at the Treasury. i
The new Parhament reimposed the IMeKenna duties, gave sub-
stantial Preferences to Empire products, imposed further Safe-
guarding duties, restored the Gold (Exchange) Standard, amended
the Unemployment Insurance Scheme, and passed a comprehen-
sive measure for contributory pensions, for the widows and orphans
of men insured under the National Health Insurance Scheme It
also passed a Rating and Valuation Act, in order to simphfy the
ratmg system generally, and m particular to relieve the burdens
on agriculture and productive industry Agricultural land and
buildings were under the Act of 1928 derated altogether, and all
factories were relieved of 75 per cent of their rates. '
The burden was necessaiily transferred to the national ex-
chequer, which could ill bear it for taxation still remained,
throughout the period of Conservative administration (1924-9),
grievously heavy.
Heavy taxation was one of many causes retarding the hoped-
for recovery in trade but the most potent of them was unques-
tionably industrial strife ‘ Nothing ’, wrote a Labour M P , * has
had a more potent effect upon our trade than the endless disruption
1032]
THE GENERAL STRIKE
519
and loss occasioned by the strike ’ ^ Reviewing the quarter of a
century ending m 1925, the same writer estimated the number of
working days lost to the community, as the direct and indirect
influence of the strike, at 654,000,000 and the money loss at
over £1,000,000,000 — ^just about as much as the total cost of
the War
Of the many industries affected the most important, and the Coil
most continuously disturbed, was that of coal The coal strike of
1920 involved to the State a dtred. loss of £8,000,000 , to the
miners (in wages) of £15,000,000, and in coal output of £26,500,000,
besides putting 850,000 persons m other industries out of employ-
ment Of the stake of 1921 tihie direct cost to the State was over
£38,000,000
In the summer of 1925 another stoppage was threatened As Coal
to the merits of the dispute opinions were widely divided, but it
was agreed that, at that stage, the dispute was purely industrial
and involved no challenge to the au,thonfy of the State The rail-
waymen and transport workers again threatened ‘ sympathetic
stakes,’ but solely to avert a general reduction of wages
Accordmgly the Government asked Parhament for a subsidy of
£10,000,000 (ultimately mcreased to £2 i, 000, 000) to fill the gap for
an estimated period of nine months between the existing wage level
and the level to w-hich the nune owners proposed to reduce wages.
At the same tune tlicy decided to appoint a Royal Commission of
four persons, with Sir Herbert Samuel as chairman, to report upon
the whole position of the coal mdustry The Government was
evidently playing for time They got it, and they used it in effec-
tive preparation for the gnm struggle ahead. ‘ If the time should
come when the community has to protect itself, with the full
strength of the Government behind it, the community will do so,
and the response of the commumty will astonish the forces of
anarchy throughout the world ’
Those words were spoken by jVIt Baldwin in proposing the
subvention to the coal-minmg industry on August 6, 1925 ‘ In
May 1926 the prediction was fulfilled
The Coal Commission appointed in September 1925 reported The
on March 6, 1§26,® against nationalization (except of mmeral
‘ F H Rose , ap Dmlff Mail Year Booh, 1926
* Hansard (5th senes), voL 187, p 1592.
Cmd 2000
520 UNRESTFUL ENGLAND— POST-WAR YEARS [ioi8-
rights) but in favour of drastic changes tending -to unification.
The subsidy, they held, ‘ should stop at the end of its authorized
term, and should never be repeated ’ The subsidy ceased on April
30 Meanwhile, the Government had informed the owners and the
miners that the Government would give effect to the recommenda-
tions of the Commission, provided the two parties to the dispute
would agree to accept them. The parties could not agree, and on
April 27 the oivners m some districts posted the new wages terms
The miners refused to accept them, and on May 1 the General
Council of the Trades Umon Congress announced that a General
Strike would begin at midnight on Monday, May 3. The Council
offered, however, to organize milk and food distribution
The offer was superfluous. The Government were prepared.
On April 30 an Order in Council issued, under the terms of the
Emergency Powers Act, 1920, a series of Emergency Regulations
They were at once put m force, though the Government continu-
ously carried on negotiations to avert the cnsis Those negotia-
tions finally broke down after midnight on Sunday, May 2. The
immediate occasion was the refusal of the pnnters to print for
the Daily Mail of May 8 a leading article calling upon ‘ all law-
abiding men and women to hold themselves at the service of King
and Country The paper did not appear , but the adjuration was
obeyed. The country at large realized that this was no mere
mdustrial dispute, but a challenge to the Constitution, an attack on
the root pnnciple of Representative Democracy. From the first,
therefore, the nation was behind the Government. Plans to meet
an emergency had been carefully matured and worked like clock-
work. Almost embarrassmg in volume were the offers of help
from volunteers, and the volunteers did admirable service in
alleviatmg inconvenience due mainly to the stoppage of the trans-
port services Suffering there was none . the orgamzation for the
distribution of food supphes worked admirably, and a milk-pool
in Hyde Park relieved London of all anxiety about that necessity
of child-life. Private motors conveyed to and from work many
women workers ; buses were driven and conducted by under-
graduates , underground stations were manned by Peers and mem-
bers of Parliament Before the first week of the strike was over
the railways had over 3,600 trains lunning From May 5 until the
typescript of the article is before me as I write.
1032 ] sm JOHN SniON’S speech * 621
strike ended the Government issued daily the British Gazette, a
iieus-shcet to keep the public informed about the progress of
events The Times and other papers issued type-ivritlcn sheets,
presently to be replaced by amateurish printing The Trade
Unions retorted vith the British Worler
3Iean\ihile, Sir John Simon, acting in close concert with Lord
Oxford and Asquith, had thrown a bombshell into the ranks of
Labour by a deeply-impressive speech in the House of Commons
(May 6) ^ He declared that the General Strike u as illegal , that
the funds of the Umons taking part m it were not exempt from
attachment under the Act of 1906 , that every man v orking under
contract who ]oined in it was bable to be sued for damages, and
that ever}'- leader ‘ n ho advised and promoted that course of action
IN as liable in damages to the uttermost farthing of his personal
possessions ’ The effect of this speech upon Ins auditors was
mstantaneous and profound Sir John Simon’s opinion was not
indeed unchallenged, but it was substantially confirmed by a
judgement given on Slay 11 by Sir Justice Astbury On the
following day the Trades Union Council attended on the Prime
Slinister, and informed him that the General Strike would be called
off fortlmith. The surrender was unconditional, but Sir Baldwin
declared that the Government would endeavour to bring about a
resumption of negotiations m reference to the coal dispute.
The railu aymen remained out until Slay 14, and were remstated
only after a formal admission by the three Railway Unions that
the strike was ‘ a -wrongful act *, and a promise not to call another
stake without previous negotiation with the Companies The
stake cost the Railway Unions £1,000,000 “ The direct cost of the
General Stake to the Exchequer was under half a million, but the
loss to the community was estimated by Sir Runciman at nearly
£150,000,000.
The collapse of the General Stake did not end the war in the
coal-fields, but in the course of the autumn the miners gradually
drifted back to work, although it was not until the beginning of
December that agreements -were concluded in all the districts
^ To the profound effect of this speech, I can personally testify as I was
in my place in the House when it was dehvered The speech, witli two others
on the same subject, was republished (Macmillan, 102C)
* So stated by C T Cramp, an ofHcial of the N U R ^
522 TJNRESTFUT. ENGLAND— POST-WAR YEARS [lois-
The Emergency Regulations were revoked. The seven months’
stoppage was ended. The terms on whieh the miners resumed
were less good on the whole than those which they had rejected
in March Their loss m wages was reckoned at over £60,000,000,
and they had put out of work some 500,000 workers m other
indusbics
Coal Two Bills, arising out of the coal-war, were placed on the
Acts* Statute Book m 1926 The Coal Mines Act (c 17) permitted, but
did not compel, eight hours’ work below ground on every working
day for a period of five years The Mining Industry Act (c ,28)
was a comprehensive measure designed to carry out such of the
recommendations of the Samuel Commission as seemed immedi-
ately practicable. It facilitated voluntary and, with safeguards,
even compulsory amalgamation , it removed existing obstacles to
the w'orking of minerals, and made provision for pithead baths,
w clfare schemes for miners, and so on Nothing short of nationali-
zation, which the Samuel Commission did not recommend, would
have satisfied the Labour Party, but the Act of 1926 was a useful,
if unambitious, piece of legislation.
Elec- Much more ambitious was the scheme based on the recom-
Aotf 1020 niendations of a Commission of 1925, and embodied in the Elec-
tricity (Supply) Act passed into law in 1926 Great Britain was
notoriously behind many other countries in the supply and con-
sumption of electrical power and light * The Act, like others
passed in the post- War period, represented a compromise between
public control and private enterprise A central Electricity Board
was set up and charged with three mam functions to construct
main transmission lines — the grid ’ — throughout Great Britain ;
to enforce a standardization of frequency, and to purchase elec-
tricity from the most efficient (‘ selected ’) stations, and distribute
it in bulk to ‘ authorized undertakers ’. The Board is author-
ized to borrow up to £70,000,000 and has already (1945) borrow'ed
£53,500,000, but the State assumed no direct financial' liability
Between 1925 and 1945 the electrical output in Great Britain
increased from some six million to nearly thirty-seven million
units, and the ‘ grid ’ now covers almost the whole country except
the north of Scotland.
1 In 1026 occupied the seventh place with 3,724,000,000 units, in 1032
the tliird with 11,604,000,000
ECONOMIC BLIZZARD
528
The General Strike had an important legislative repercussion in Trade
1927 A large section of the Party in pon cr had long been anxious
to amend the Trade Vmon Ad (1913), ^hich legalized, subject to a Trade
claim for exemption, a levy for political purposes_ To ‘ contract Act°l027
out ’ of the political levj- demanded more courage than could be
expected from eg a Conservative collier living in an isolated
mining village to pay the lev'y meant subscription to a cause
opposed to his convictions The Act of 1927 reversed the process
and placed the onus of ‘ contracting in ’ upon those who wisEed
to subscribe Much more than that, the Act, while carefully safe-
guarding the * right to strike ’ m furtherance of a trade dispute,
declared illegal a General Strike, i e a strike calculated to coerce
the Government,' directly or indirectly , further, while not inter-
fermg with peacefully persuasive picketmg, it declared intimida-
tion illegal Finally, it made it clear that Trade Unions in the
Cml Service, though permitted to contmue, must keep clear 'of
party politics As a result the seven Civil Service Unions ceased
to be affiliated to the Trades Union Congress Apart from that,
Trade Union membership, which between 1900 and 1920 had quad-
rupled, steadily declined In 1920 it reached 8,884,862, or about
half the wage-earning population, in 1981 it was 4,611,000,
or about one-quarter The Labour Government attempted in
1981 to reverse the legislation of 1927, but in view of a wrecking
amendment moved in Committee by the Liberals, abandoned
the Bill
More controversial even than the Trade Union Act (1927) was
a measure, mtroduced at the instance of the Church Assembly, to Revision
revise the Book of Common Prayer The agitation, carried on in
the country with immense activiiy by both sides, was reflected m
the debates in both Houses Largely through the influence of
Archbishop Davidson the Lords passed the measure by 241 to 88,
but the Commons rejected it by 288 to 205 The measure, slightly
amended, was reintroduced mto the House of Commons m 1928 but
rejected by 265 to 220 The opponents of the measure regarded
it, rightly or wrongly, as a ‘ step towards Rome ’, and its rejection
reflected the stout Protestantism of the country at large
The Parliament of 1924 was now approaching its legal time,
but before its dissolution m 1929 three Acts of great importance
were placed upon the Statute Book. To the Equal Franclme^ct
524 UNRESTFUL ENGLAND— POST-WAR YEARS [1918-
(1928) reference has already been madd \ The other two effected
drastic reforms m Local Taxation and Local Government
The Local Government Act (1929) effected the most important
changes in local administration since Mr Balfour’s Education Act
of 1902. Preceded by the passing m 1928 of a Rating and Valuation
Act, the Act of 1929 gave effect to many of the more important
recommendations made in the t^vo Reports (majority and minority)
of the Poor Law Commission (1909) Those recommendations
the Act of 1929 proposed to carry out by the adjustment and
simplification of local Government areas, by the abolition of
ad hoc authorities and by the concentration of their functions in
the County Councils
The Act also provided for the periodical readjustment of areas
and boundanes as local conditions and circumstances may
necessitate ; for the transfer to County. Councilsjjf responsibihty
for the maintenance of all loads m rural areas and of ‘ classified *
roads in urban areas; for the complete exempting from local
rales of agricultural land and buildings (other than farmhouses),
and for exempting industrial and freight transport hereditaments
from 75 per cent of the rates But the most important provision
of the Act was the drastic change it made in the^relations between
national and local expenditure by substituting for the* existing
Exchequer Grants a consolidated or ‘ bloc ’ grant so distnbuted
as to give the laiger propoition of relief to the localities which
most needed it, instead of (as formerly) to the districts which by
virtue of their own greater resources could ‘ earn ’ proportionately
larger grants from the Exchequer In particular, the sponsors of
the Act held out the expectation that the reforms effected would
promote not only efficiency but economy, Robert Lowe, when
recommending the new Education Code to the House of Commons
was more cautious if not more Rank ‘ I- cannot promise you
either efficiency or cheapness but if the system is not efficient
it will be cheap , if it is not cheap it will be efficient ’ Whether,
on balance, the Act of 1929 has promoted efficiency is a matter
of dispute the hope that it would diminish local expenditure
has been lamentably disappointed.
Previous to 1888 Local Government had been, in Lord
Goschen’s words, * a chaos of authorities, a chaos of jurisdictions,
1 See supra, p 829
1032] PUBLIC ASSISTANCE 526
a chaos worst of all of areas This chaotic condition had largely
arisen from a prolonged course of piecemeal legislation Each
Act that was passed involved new administrative functions and
imposed them on new autliorities created ad hoc The Acts of
1888, 1894, and 1902 uent far to reduce chaos to order The
Act of 1929 was designed to go farther m the same direction
More particularly m r^ard to Poor Law administration, the
Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, though never popular, had
brought great benefits m its tram It had restored to the working
classes their self-respect, it had reduced rates and diminished
pauperism But its adimnistration, though efficient and eco-
nomical, was increasing^ resented by enfranclused citizens and
condemned by social reformers The Reports of 1009 proposed
drastic reforms, but for twenty years no effect uas given to
them by legislation, though administration became more ‘ S3m-
pathetic ’
The Act of 19 29. deprived the-Rural Di_stnct Councils of_tiieir
functions as Guardians of the Poor, and transfCTred~tfie~whole
administration of ‘Pubhc Assistance’ (as Poor Relief is now
termed) to the County Councils But m order to retain some
measure of contmuity and to secure the advantage of local know-
ledge, the County Councils were empowered to appoint for the
different localities Guardians’ Committees, consisting partly of
Rural Distnct Councillors The hope was that the new Pubhc
Assistance Committees would act m close co-operation with the
other Committees oflthe.Countx Council deahng.withJEducation,
Pubhc Health, Milk Supply, Mental Deficiency, as well as with
pubhc or private schemes for Child Welfare, Maternity Benefit,
and so forth But co-ordmation is still far from complete Some
overlappmg has, perhaps, been avoided, but much of the intimate
local knowledge, invaluable in such work as poor relief, has been
sacrificed Moreover, the scope of ‘ Pubhc Assistance ’ has been
greatly curtailed by the mcreasmg activity and importance of
Departments of the Central Government, notably the Ministry of
Health (formerly the Local Government Board) and the' Mimstry
of Labour, which only came mto being m 1917. The Ministry of
Labour and National Service became responsible not only for the
prevention and settlement of labour disputes, but for nearly all
matters affecting employment and unemployment, for the traming
526 UNRESTFUL ENGLAND— POST-WAR YEARS [lois-
and 'bfansfercnce of juveniles, as well as for the operation of the
National Service (including military service) schemes
That the Act of 1929 has* made for administrative ‘ simplifica-
tion ’ there can be no question. Previous to 1888 there were no
fewer than 27,069 independent local authonties in England and
Wales, and they taxed the ratepayer by eighteen different kinds
of rates. By the Acts of 1888, 1894, and 1929 this ‘ jungle of
jurisdictions ’ was to a great extent cleared This ought to have
made for economy , but it did not. The burden of the rates on
agriculture and industry has indeed been transferred to the
taxpayer, but the promise of diminished burdens for the local
ratepayer made in 1929 remams lamentably unfulfilled. In the
llurty years between 1875 and 1905 local rates increased from
£19,000,000 to £58,000,000 In 1938-9 they were £189,000,000,
as against £160,466,000 m 1928-9. The Reforms of 1929 have
also thrown an immense amount of additional work upon already
overworked County Councillors, with the result that more and
more w'ork and responsibility has devolved upon officials and
their constantly increasing staffs. That the increase in the number
of officials has been accompanied by a great improvement in
their competency is, however, unquestionable.
The development of a vast local bureaucracy is one of the
most noticeable features of these post-war years. It is naturally
w'clcomed by those who would transfer to public owmerslup all
land and capital and w'ould substitute collective control of industry
for private enterprise That one result of the Hitler war will be
to give a further and perhaps powerful impulse to these tendencies,
is, probable But it is unlikely that the transition will be abrupt
It has hitheito been deemed wuse to advance along the path of
social and economic reconstruction without undue haste, if without
rest The Railways Ad of 1921, the Eledncity Ad (1926) and the
London Transport Ad (1933) represented a compromise between
the principles of public control and private enterprise Similar
experiments may m the near future be made in the spheres of
industrial production and commercial exchange and finance.
The passing of the Local Government Act was the prelude to
the dissolution (May 10) of the Parliament which, in 1929, had
almost exhausted its legal term The Conservative party fondly
imagined that the newly enfranchised electors — mostly young
1932] SECOND LABOUR MINISTRY, 1929-31 527
Momen irreverently designated as ‘flappers’ — vould manifest
their gratitude towards the authors of their political being
Gnei’ously were the Conservatives disillusioned Neither Mr
Baidu in nor any of Ins lieutenants could arouse any enthusiasm
for a party which had plainly e-vliausted an> popularity it had
dern ed from the blunders of its opponents, had alienated a large
bod\ of trade unionists bj the Act of 1927 , and had earned
no gratitude by its extension of the parliamentary franchise m
1929
For the first time that verdict was delivered bj' the whole
election
adult population of Great Britain The electorate had increased ofl 020
from 1,000,000 in 1832 to 28,830,000 m 1929, and of this vast
electorate over 80 per cent went to the polls In the industnal
districts of the North the Conservative Party was routed, but
maintained its position m the South, yet the Socialists who
obtained 287 scats against 260 Conserv'ativ'e, 59 Liberal and 9
Independent, won a victory far from decisive
Mr Baldwin at once resigned and Mr MaeDonald for the second
time became Prime Minister, though again without a clear Parlia-
mentary majority
From the first the new Ministry, with a precarious hold on the Se roM
House of Commons, was dogged by misfortunes Before it had
been in oflice many months the economic blizzard swept through 19S9-31
the world, completely dislocating all international trade, flinging
into chaos national currencies and reducing international exchange
to a gamble In Great Bntam the unemployment figures mounted
steadily towards the 3,000,000 mark, and the debt on the Insur-
ance Fund reached, as already noted, £115,000,000 Conse-
quently, the problem of national finance overshadowed all others
Each successive Government smee the War had shirked its plain
duty m this matter A group of private members in the House of
Commons had pressed the problem upon the attention of the
Government , but with little effect The simple truth is that
economy, popular m the abstract, is m the concrete exceedingly
unpopular Mr. Churchill had, in 1926, made an attempt, m the
Economy Act, to deal with the question, but it was half-hearted
and ineffective By 1931 the time for palliatives had passed ;
the case called for the surgeon’s knife , or maybe for the wood-
man s axe.
528 UNRESTFUL ENGLAND— POST-WAR YEARS [1918-
Financial A Committee on Finance and Industry appointed in November
ioIjT’ ^*^29 under the chairmanship of Lord Macmillan, an eminent
lawyer, reported m July 1931.
The Macmillan Report was carefully drafted and may some
day become a classic on monetary policy ; but m July 1931 the
rush of events was too rapid to permit a study of its arguments,
or the application of the remedies it proposed.
The Treasury were well aware of the impending catastrophe.
In January 1931 Sir Richaid Hopkins, the permanent Secretary,
had presented to the Royal Commission on Unemployment Insur-
ance a memorandum, aulhoii7ed by the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer, Mr Snowden, and containing a grave warning •
‘ Continual State borrow ing on the present vast scale, with-
out adequate provision for repayment by the Fund, would
quickly call in question the stability of the British financial
system ’
Foreigners who had large credits and deposits in London took
alarm. In February the Government set up an Economy Com-
mittee under Sir George May, and ]\Ir Snowden took the oppor-
tunity to emphasize the w'arning uttered in January by his official •
‘ I say, with all the seriousness I can command, that the national
position is grave , that drastic and disagreeable measures w ill have
to be taken if the Budget equilibrium is to be mamtained and
industrial recovery is to be made.’ No statement so grave had
fallen from the lips of a Chancellor of the Exchequer w'lthm
living memory , but his supporters only scoffed and complacently
demanded fresh expenditure. Nor did ]\Ir. Snowden’s Budget,
presented on April 27, face up to the ‘ disagreeable ’ facts.
Described by its opponents as frankly ‘ dishonest ’, it was un-
deniably speculative, estimates of revenue being based on hopes
little likely to be fulfilled.
The rude awakening was not long delayed. On June 4 the
Insurance Unemployment Commission issued an Interim Report
revealing a position of extreme gravity and recommending econo-
mies which though obviously inadequate raised a howd of execra-
tion from the parliamentary supporters of the Government The
Report of the Macmillan Committee (July 13) did nothing to relieve
the anxiety felt by all thoughtful men. On July 31 came the
bombshell of the May Report.
19321
NATIONAL CRISIS
Thf t Report made it dear that on the nevt Budget there would
be a deficieney of no less than £120,000,000, which could be made
good only by new taxation or drastic economies, or both De-
tailed economies of 96^ millions were recommended The Report
caused grave alarm both at home and abroad Great Britain was
manifestly heading for bankruptcy A serious financial crisis
ensued Foreigners called m their credits and w ithdrcw' their gold
To meet immediate necessities the Bank of England borrow cd
£50,000,000 from the Banks of France and the United States
(August 11) The Prime Minister was recalled from his Scottish
holiday to confer with the Bankers and the Cabinet (August 11),
and on the following day Mr Baldwin and Mr. Neville Chamber-
lain were, w ith Sir Herbert Samuel, fhe acting leader of the Liberal
Party, called into consultation.
A national cnsis had developed On August 19 the Cabinet National
sat for 11^ hours, and agreed, not without dissentients, on drastic
economies On the 20th the proposals of the Government were
communicated to certain Labour leaders and the Council of the
Trade Union Congress, who refused to accept them
The prospect was one of unreheved gloom when on August 22
the nation learnt with a sense of gratitude and rehef that the King
had mterrupted his holiday, hardly begun, m the Higlilands, had
returned-to London and had personally taken control of a danger-
ous and cntical situation The King immediately called into
conference the leaders of the three Parties , the Labour Cabmet
resigned on the 24th, and the King entrusted to Mr MacDonald
the formation of a National Government He formed an emer-
gency Cabinet of ten members, four Conservatives, four Socialists
andjtwo Liberals Most of his former colleagues, headed by Mr,
Henderson, went, with the great bulk of his Party, into opposi-
tion The new Government met Parhament on September 8, and
two days later a Supplementary Budget was introduced, showing
an estimated deficiency for the current year of £T4,679,000 and
for the ensumg year (1932-S) of no less than £170,000,000 The
deficit was to be met and the Budget balanced by additional taxa-
tion of £40,500,000 for the current and £81,500,000 for the ensuing
year, by economies of £22,000,000 and £70,000,000 respectively,
and by savings on amortization of debt The Budget w^ bal-
anced , the first phase of tiie cnsis was over On August 28 the
580 UNRESTFUL ENGLAND— POST-WAR YEARS [I9i8-1982
The
Nntional
Govern-
ment
Bank borrowed a further £80,000,000 running for one year, in
equal amounts fiom Pans and New York ; but by September 19
these Cl edits were cxliaustcd On the 20th the Bank Rate was
raised to G per cent, and on the 21st the Cabinet decided to suspend
gold payments, and a Bill to authorize that momentous step was
hastily passed thiough Pailiament On Octobei 7 Parliament was
dissolved and of the 615 members of the new House no fewer than
554 were pledged to support the National Government The
Opposition Socialists were reduced from 265 to 52 and lost prac-
tically all their leaders ^ The Cabinet was enlarged to twenty
members, and the Ministry was re-formed, a disproportionate share
of offices being prudently assigned to Liberals and Socialists.
With the accession to power of a National Government, sup-
ported by three-fourths of the House of Commons and by all but
a fragment of the House of Lords, a new era opened in the histor}-^
of England
^By the General Election of 1935 the Go\emmcnt supporters were
reduced from 554 to 431, of whom 317 were Conservatives Only eight
members were returned ns Labour followrers of Mr Ramsay MacDonald
The Opposition Socialists numbered 154
Shortly before the Election, Mr MacDonald, already in faihng health,
had resigned the Frcmicrship, to which Mr Baldwin succeeded, Mr MacDonald
remaining in the Cabinet as Lord President of the Council, while Sir Samuel
Hoarc became Foreign Secretary in place of Sir John Simon, who returned
to the Home OIIicc, which he had left in 1915.
lfllO-1939]
TOWARDS THE ABYSS
531
CHAPTER XXX
TOWARDS THE ABYSS
T he Era that opened •with the crisis of 1931 has not yet fallen National^
into histoncal perspective The interpretation of events
IS still the subject of controversy. Those events must, conse-
quently, be narrated m bare summary and ivith a minimum of
comment They seem, however, to suggest that the whole period
was dominated by a conflict — or perhaps, rather, the interaction —
of pnnciples m the domestic sphere, between collectivism and
private enterprise , m world affairs, between the ebullient spirit
of nationalism and mternational co-operation
The spirit of nationalism has been ^ not least obtrusive m Egypt
countries directly or indirectly subject to British rule Take
Egypt Egypt has never been technically incorporated in the
British Empire The Protectorate declared m 1914 was termm-
ated m 1922, but, as already explained, complete mdependence
was qualified by important reservations ^ The situation thus
created did not satisfy Egyptian nationalists , agitation continued
more or less persistently, though between 1925 and 1929 it
. was held in check by Lord Lloyd, who in 1925 succeeded Lord
Allenby as High Commissioner A surreptitious attempt (1927)
to transfer the control of the army m the Sudan from the Surdar
to the Egyptian War Office was frustrated by a stiff note from
the High Commissioner, backed up by the presence of some
Bntish warships, dispatched to Alexandna ‘ to exercise ’, m the
words of Sir Austen Chamberlam,® ‘ a restrainmg influence on
the disorderly elements and to prevent the possibility of untoward
incidents which could not but react to the disadvantage of Egypt
The disorderly elements were further weakened by the death
(1927) of Zaghul Pasha, the able, if unscrupulous, leader of the
Wafd or Nationalist party On the other hand, those elements
were encouraged by the return of the Socialist party to ofiice m
England, and by the recall of Lord Lloyd (1929) A Treaty con-
ceding everythmg short of complete mdependence was at the same
time offered to Egypt, although not until 1986 was it accepted
^ Supra, p 431 * Foreign Secretary, 1925-9
TOWARDS THE ABYSS
India
[lOlO-
Egypt wns then recognized as a Sovereign Slate, bul a coasidcr-
ablc British force rcninincd in the country to protect the Suez
Canal and (virtually) to guarantee Egypt against foreign aggres-
sion. The value of tliat guarantee was decisively demonstrated
(1010-1) by the brilliant campaign conducted against Italy by
the Imperial forces under the conunnnd of General Wavcll. How
recent events will react upon Anglo-Egyptian relations it is still,
however, loo early to surmise.
General Wa\'cll*s force wos assembled in Palestine, where a
very embarrassing situation was notably eased by the out-
break of the Hitler War. A mandate for Palestine had been
ncocplcd (1020) by Great Britain mainly in the hope of providing
a * national home * for the Jews and to safeguard the rights of
all the inhabitants, irrespective of race and religion. The path
of the peacemaker in Palestine has proved to be thorny beyond all
expectation. Subiermnean influences have been at work to
exacerbate the troubles, but the cause of them is deeply rooted
in the persistent hostility between the conservative Arabs and the
progressive and prosperous Jews. Every expedient had been tried
to abate it. Commission after Commission has been appointed,
only to have their recommendations rejected by one or both
disputants, or by the adjudicator. An impassr had apparently
been reached when in 1030 the problem was shelved by the
outbreak of the war. Since then hostility between Jews and
Arabs has seemingly ^ven place to co-operation in support of the
Allied cause.
More menacing to British power and prestige than racial and
religious antagonism in Palestine, m than Egyptian nationalism,
has been the operation of similar forces in India.
Indian nationalism is cxdusivdy the product of the beneficent
policy consistently pursued, for more than half a century, by
the British Raj. It now supplies the main obstruction to further
constitutioiuil reform. The progress adiicvcd in that direction
down to 1038 has already been described.^ Upon the Report of
the Joint Sdcct Committee was based the Gooemmeni of India
Ati of 1035. Under that Act the whole of the vast sub-continent
— British India and the Feudatory States alike — was to be in-
duded in a Single Federal State. Of that State the Provinces,
* Suftta, pp. 408-50113.
1939]
INDIA
endo^^ed with almost complete autonomy, form the component
units. Both in the Central Government and in the Provinces
‘Responsibility’ •was to be accompanied by certain safeguards
vested respectively in the Viceroy and the Provincial Governors.
As in all effective Federations, a large measure of authonty was
vested in a Supreme Court of Judicature, which has already
come into being and is fimctioning successfully That is not the
case with the other parts of the scheme The non Provmcial
Governments came mto bemg in 1937, but in many of them
tliere has been serious fnction between the Governor and his
‘ responsible advisers The result is that in seven out of eleven
Provinces the Governor has had to assume and exercise the
poners provisionally vested in him by the Act In fact those
Provnnees are still under autocracy Despite the utmost patience
and persistence exlubited by the Viceroy, there is at present (1945)
a complete deadlock m respect of the All-India Federation
Nothmg was left undone by Lord Linlithgow ^ to expedite the
adoption of the scheme for which, as chairman of the Joint
Select Committee, he had naturally a parental affection, but
all his efforts were unhappily frustrated For this obstruction
the intransigence of the extreme party, which will accept nothing
short of the complete independence of India, is mainly responsible.
But some of the ruhng Pnnees, whose adhesion is essential to the
Federation, have also shown a natural reluctance to surrender
any portion of their sovereignly, except under conditions which
will safeguard the remnant of it Those conditions have not m
all cases been satisfied The deadlock consequently contmues,
and the constitution of 1935 remams a mere torso It is, however,
satisfactory to know that India as a whole is in complete sym-
pathy with the rest of the Empire as regards Hitler’s assault
upon the root principles of liberty and justice The Princes
and tlie fightmg races of India have shown themselves as ready
now as in 1914 to share the liurden of defending the Empire
against the attack of the Dictators.
Not so Southern Ireland Ever since the ‘ Treaty ’ of 1921 Southern
the situation of that country has been completely anomalous,^ ”
1 Viceroy, 1935-43
* Tn opening the first Ulster Parliament, in 1021, King George V made a
touebmg appeal for unit} — ^unliappil} m vam
B84,
TOWARDS THE ABYSS
£1019-
and in large measure ambiguous. About Northern Iielana tnere
IS no ambiguiiy.i Availing itself of the option provided in the
Act of 1922 , it ‘ contracted out ’ of the Dommion Status conferred
upon Ireland, and remains an integral part of the Umted Kingdom,
retainmg under the Act of 1920 its representation in the House
of Commons at Westminster, and also its own bicameral legis-
lature (with an Executive dependent thereto) at Belfast Northern
Ireland has accepted its full share of Imperial responsibilities and
fulfils all the duties consequent thereon.
Southern Ireland, on the contrary, performs no duties towards
the Empire, though shanng some of its pnvileges — ^notably the
protection of its navy. Whether, indeed, it can still be regarded
as m any real sense a member of the British Commonwealth
is doubtful. It has shown itself persistently disrespectful towards
the Crown which now forms the most important link between
the several member States of the Commonwealth. The Governor-
General, who was the representative of the King-Emperor, has
been superseded by a President elected by direct vote of the
people All real power iSj however, in the hands of the Prime
Minister, who is nommated by Parliament and is virtually Presi-
dent of the ‘Sovereign, mdependcnt, democratic State’ which
Ireland m 1987 declared itself to be In the Coronation ceremony
in 1937 Southern Ireland took no official part, and was self-
excluded (quite logically) from the Imperial Conference held in
the same year. As the Conference was concerned mainly with
problems of Imperial Defence, the presence of a representative of
Southern Ireland would, indeed, have been inconvenient. In
1938 , m a futile effort at appeasement. Southern Ireland was
relieved of the obligation to pay over the annuities receivable
from the purchasers of land, and the British taxpayer accepted
an additional (capital) burden of over £ 109 , 000,000 This merely
represented a handspme present to the Dublm Exchequer, as
no correspondmg relief was given to the purchasers At the
same time it was agreed that the ports reserved under the Treaty
of 1921 for the use of the British Navy m time of war should be
surrendered., For that vain and stupid surrender the British
Empire paid heavily during the war in the lives of gallant
seamen and in the loss of British ships and their invaluable cargoes.
* See supra, pp. 451 f.
A COUNCIL OF STATE
5S5
The vrtnds used by Lccs-Smith, acting-leader of the Socialist
Opposition m flie House of Commons (August 21, 1040), were
in this connexion as significant as thi^* irare strong. ‘Hie
world,* he said, * should rcahzc what we pay for our prindplcs.
Scores of sliips are being sunk to-day, and thousands of seamen
drowned, because we cannot, even within our own Commonwealth,
use ports fbr our Navy, which without that Navy would share
the fate of Holland and Norway On the declaration of war
between the British Empire ond (Germany in September 1030,
Ireland dedaied its neutrality, and, deqiite some iirovDcation
from Germany, maintiiined it to the great disadvantage of the
AUies.
During these eritieol days, and mdeed for a long time past;
Ireland has been treated by what Lord Rosdbery once described
as the * predominant partner’ with a degree of patience and
generosity which we like to think is charactciistio of British pdliey
os a whole.
Smee 1081 the Par^ system has, indeed, been to a large A Conndl
extent in abeyance: Fariiament has virtaaUy resolved itsdf **^^*"*”
into a * Council of State ’, the more effectivdy to deal vdth a
series of national emergencies. After the General Election of 1081,
at which 664 members were returned to support a ‘National*
Government, Mr. MacDonald retamed the Premiership, though it
was the great Conservative majority that sustained him in oflScc
end predominantly influenced the pohiy of the Government.
This truth was more clearly manifested when, after a few
months of office, Mr. Snowden, Sir Herbert Somud, and Lord
Crewe resigned, to be rqilaced by Mr. Nevdle Chamberlain
(Exchequer), Sir John Gihnour (Home Secretary) and Lord
TTnilgTiAwi (War Office).
Nor did policy ^ to corxeqpond with personnd. The
Socialists when m office in 1024 and 1020 had shown themsdves
implacably opposed to anything savouring of 'Protection* or
even * PrdiBrenee *. In 1982, however (as already indicated),
Chamberiain effected a fiscal revolution comparable in com-
prdhensiveness with Ped’s fiscal refirams (1841-6). The results
were qiuddy reflected in the Custonu zeedpts.
Protection flailed, however, to solve the obdurate problem of Unem-
unemployment. An Act passed in 1984 was, however, a step, Pl^Tmeat
536
TOWARDS THE ABYSS
[ 1919 -
nay a stride, in the right direction. The administration of the
Unemployment Insurance Fund was taken out of the sphere of
politics and transferred to an Unemployment Assistance Board
under a permanent, non-political chairman The Fund quickly
became actuarially solvent, contributions were reduced and bene-
fits increased Large classes, notably agricultural workers and
outdoor * domestic servants ’, were brought into the scope of
insurance, which now included practically all persons (except
.servants in private employment), all manual workers, as well
as (since 1940) non-manual workers earning less than £420 a
year About 16,000,000 persons are now (1945) covered by the
scheme
A parallel scheme of National Health Insurance also initiated
in 1911 covers more than 19,000,000 persons, while more than
20,000,000 persons are included in the scheme initiated in 1925
to piovide contributory pensions for widows, orphans and the
aged Non-contributory Old Age Pensions continue under the
scheme (frequently amended) of 190^ to be paid to aged folk of
both sexes Of the whole population over 70 years of age it is
estimated that four out of five now draw pensions, towards the
cost of which two-thirds themselves contribute In addition,
about 1,500,000 persons were (1940) in receipt of poor-rehef,
involving over £50,000,000 a year, to which local rates contributed
some £46,000,000.
Social Nor IS this all. Large sums are found by the taxpayer for
Services services of various kinds . maternity welfare, housing
subsidies, subsidies to this trade and that, and above all for
education, which already costs the taxpayer and ratepayer over
£100,000,000 a year and will soon cost much more In all, ‘ Social
Services ’ which m the last year of Victoria cost about £86,000,000
are to-day taking well over £500,000,000 a year out of the pockets
of our citizens to provide gratuitous benefits for the poorer (if not
actually the ‘ poor ’) among them.
Bureau- And there is another aspect of this matter. The multiplica-
cracy public activities has necessarily involved the creation of
a vast army of officials, central and local. This development was
naturally welcomed by those who would transfer to public owner-
ship all land and capital and would substitute collective control
of industry for pnvate enterpnse. That one result of the Hitlei
1030]
COLLECTIVE CONTROL OF INDUSTRY
337
’war will be to give a further and perhaps powerful impulse to the
tendencies operating in this direction since the Great War, is
probable But it is unlikely that the transition will be abiupt
It has hitherto been deemed wise to advance along the path of
social and economic reconstruction without undue haste, if w ithout
rest The Railways Act of 1921, the Electricity Act (1926), and the
London Transport Act (1033), represented a compromise belw cen
the principles of public control and private enterprise ^ Similar
experiments may in the near future be made in the spheres of
industrial production and commercial exchange and finance.
But it IS one thing to deal with semi-monopolistic utilities ;
it is another to interfere wnth the production and exchange
of commodities Even socialists admit that the time is not
yet ripe for the complete elimmation of the p^oflt-motl^e m
trade
The expenditure on the social services — Education, Housing,
Poor Relief, Pensions, UnemplojTnent, and so forth — now amounts
to the vast total of over £500,000,000 a year, or more than double
the whole national expenditure on the eve of the Great War It
is alternatively regarded as an ‘ insurance ’ against Socialism and
a step towards it Whatever the motive of such expenditure,
the fact IS one of the most momentous m the recent history of
Great Britain
The steady persistence in the work of social reconstruction at Foreign
home is not unconnected with the other dominating feature of
British policy.
Ever smee the close of the Great War, Great Britain has Disirmi
neglected no opportumty of promoting peace among the nations
That end was to be attained by the disarmament of Germany,
which had long been the chief disturber of European peace, by
the all-round reduction of armaments, by the extension of the
practice of international arbitration and the strengthening of the
Hague Court, and above all by the operation of the League of
Nations Under the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was to be
completely disarmed, the process being supervised by an Allied
Commission But the supavision was ineffective, Germany
surreptitiously rearmed, and, when the truth could no longer be
concealed, justified her action by the failure of the other Powers
^ Supra, pp 514, 521
TOWARDS THE ABYSS
[1010
to fulfil engagements whieh Germany eontended were mutual ^
Be this as it may, the fact remains that of the Great Powers
Great Britain alone made effective reduction m her armed
foices
It has, indeed, been plausibly argued that this unilateral dis-
armament made not for peace but for war As a German writer
has said ‘ No one can deny that the English themselves set a good
example by disarming to an extent that endangered the defence
of the country Nevertheless, instead of inducing others to
follow its example, England simply weakened its own influence
and thereby crippled the strongest force at work in Europe in
the service of international co-operation ’ “ Yet as to the smcere
and wholehearted devotion of the Bntish people to peace there
can be no question Their devotion was emphasized by the
vote given on the ‘ Peace Ballot ’ m 1935 That vote deterred
English ministers from their obvious duty to rearm, and misled
Germany and Italy into the belief that under no circumstances
would England fight That impression was accentuated by
England’s attitude in supme acqmescence of the aggressive
conduct of Japan, Italy and Germany
Man- In 1981 Japan attacked and conquered the great Chinese
chuna Province of Manchuria. China appealed to the League of Nations
of which she, like Japan, was a member. The League, actmg on
the Report of a Commission sent out under the chairmanship of
the Earl of Lytton, condemned the action of Japan, which there-
upon withdrew from the League, and proceeded with its attack
upon China The League, to the disappointment of its votaries,
took no action Its maction was generally condemned, most
loudly by the smaller Powers upon whom no part of the burden
of giving effect to the verdict of the League would have fallen.
‘ Action ’ would in fact have meant war between Great Britain,
single-handed and ill-prepared for it, and Japan.
The The prestige of the League suffered severely, but it is grossly
Dictator- ^^.y the blame for its decline exclusively upon Great
ship Britain. Japan’s withdrawal was soon followed (1988) by that
^On this higlily controversial qncstion, sec Marnott, Commomoealth or
Anarchy f, pp 205 f , Marriott, Europe Since 1815, p 577 , and Temperley,
Whispering Oallcry of Eu'/ope, p 47
* Kurt von Stutterheim, Those English (E T }, p 200
THE HITLER DICTATORSHIP
of Germany In January 1933 President Hindeiiburg was com-
pelled to admit Adolf Hitler to office as Chancellor, and on the
President’s death m 1934 Herr Hitler succeeded him and,
as Fuhrer, was invested with dictatonal powers Those powers
were not allowed to rust Under the Enabling Act (1933) the
whole of Germany was virtually incorporated in Prussia Thus
did Herr Hitler, ex-corporal and formerly house-painter, put the
copmg stone upon the edifice erected by the ‘ Iron Chancellor *,
Prmce von Bismarck In January 1985 the valuable Saar dis-
tnet, which since 1920 had been administered by the League of
Nations, rc-united with Germany Tlie plebiscite in favour of The
reunion with Germany was taken under the terms of the Treaty plebiscite
of Versailles, and undoubtedlj'^ represented the genuine, if not
imprompted, wishes of the inhabitants of the district
Nevertheless, Great Bntam, hke France and Italy, was becom- Hearma-
ing uneasy at the rapid progress of Germany under atler Great
Bntam embarked on a rearmament programme in March 1935 ;
France extended the term of service with the colours about the
same time, and m May concluded a Fact with Soviet Russia
Meanwhile, Germany had announced her intention (March 16)
to reintroduce conscription, and m Apnl Mr MacDonald and
Sir John Simon and M Laval, the French Foreign Minister, had
met Signor Mussohm, and established what was known as the
‘ Stresa Front ’, an agreement directed exclusively agamst Ger-
many Whatever that agreement was worth, a fatal breach m
it was caused by the conclusion, without the knowledge and
greatly to the suipnse of France and Italy, of a Naval agreement
between Great Britain and Germany m June 1985
Before the Stresa meeting the attitude of Italy towards
Abyssinia had become so menacmg that Haile Selassie, the '
Emperor, had applied to the League of Nations to intervene,
under Article XV of the Covenant, m a ‘ dispute likely to lead to
a rupture between two members of the League ’ (March 16) The
League took no action, but m June Great Bntam offered a strip
of Somaliland to Abyssima on condition that the latter should
cede some terntory to Italy Nothmg came of this offer The
Italian Duce was after biggCT game, and, convinced by the silence
mamtamed at Stresa that neither England nor France was really
interested in Abyssima, went on his way unheeding. When in
TOWARDS TiTE ABYSS
[1 bio-
510
Seplctnbcr, the League dirl consider intervention, Signor Mus-
solini refused to tolerate it. To a strong speech delivered at
Gcnc\a by Sir Samuel Iloaic, Sir John Simon’s successor at the
Foicign Oflicc, the Ducc paid no heed, nor to tlie proposals of the
League Council On October 2 he invaded Abjssinia
Sanctions On October 7 the Council dcclaicd Italy to be the aggressor,
and in November ‘ siinctions ’ against lialj came into operation
Itah s progress in Abj ssinia A\as slow, and m December Sir Samuel
Hoarc* agreed Mith M Laval to propose to the combatants terms
which ^^ould lia\c left Ilaile Selassie in possession of part of his
lerntoiy, and given to Italy enough of the remainder to enable
her to \Mthdran Irom a dangerous adventure, if not completely
satisfied, without loss of self-respect
A disclosuic (prematme and inconvenient for England, though
obviously designed in Fiance) of the IIoarc-Laval plan aroused
a storm of indignation in England Mr. Baldwin bowed to the
storm, disavowed the plan, sacrificed his Foreign Minister, and
appointed in his place Mr. Eden, an able and ardent v'otarj’’ of the
League of Nations
But M Laval had prepared the way foi Mussolini’s triumph
in Abjssima The Negus was chased from his capital; King
Victor Emmanuel v\as proclaimed Emperor of Abyssinia . the
whole country v>as annexed to the Italian Empire (Mav). and
in July ‘sanctions’ were formally lifted by the League
Ithinc- Mcanw bile, Germany had taken advantage of the preoccupation
reimli- Western Democracies to rcoccupy and rearm the demili-
inrizcd tarizcd zone in the Rhineland (March 1935) It is now knov^n
that had England and France opposed this move. Hitler would
hav^e withdrawn. To the surprise of the German General Staff,
w'ho did not approv'e of the march into the Rhineland, no opposi-
tion was oficrod. The Pact of Locarno was contemptuously
torn up , the sting of the Treaty w Inch France had concluded
with Sovuct Russia (May 1035) was diaw'ii. Germany concluded
an Anti-Comintern Pact with Japan m March 1936, and, by the
adhesion of Italy in November 1936, the new Triple alliance was
completed.
StraiLs In stiiking contrast with the violent methods of Hitler v^ as the
entirely ‘ correct ’ procedure followed by Kcmal Ataturk to secure
the revision of the Treaty of Lausanne. In Apiil 1936 Turkey
193D] THE BRITISH EJIPIRE 541
formally applied to the League of Nations and to the signatories
of the Treaty for its revision A Conference nas accordingly
held at Montreux, and by the Convention concluded there on July
20, 193G, Turkey regained the right to fortify the narrow Straits
and for the first time smce 1833 became complete mistress in
her own house England and Russia also — but only after a
controversy so acute as at one tunc to threaten a deadlock —
came to terms m regard to the use of that valuable waterway ^
Mcanwlule m Great Bntam a burst of sunshine had been The
followed by gloom In May 1935 the whole British Empire had Empli,
demonstrated its lojalty and affection to King George V and
Queen Mary, and had participated m the modest but impressive The
celebrations which marked the conclusion of twenty-five years of
a notable reign In the following January the greatly loved
Sovereign passed away Better known throughout the Empire Oeotij
than any of lus ' predecessors on the throne, King George had Kmg
year by year strengthened his hold on its affection and respect
Though the central figures in a splendid Court, the Kmg and
Queen had lived personal lives of unaffected simplicity without
detriment to the dignity of the throne Innumerable acts of
sjTnpathy and consideration had endeared the Rang to his peoples,
and they mourned his loss as that of a father
High hopes were entertained of his successor who was per-
sonally known to all the people of his Empire as the most popular
Prince that ever played the difiScult rdle of Heir-Apparent The
hopes were not fulfilled Before King Edward VIII had reigned
a year, and some months before the date fixed for his crowning,
he intimated to the Prime Minister his mtention to contract a
mamage which it was certam that Parliament w ould not approve
At the King’s biddmg the Governments of the self-governmg
Dommions were consulted They unanimously supported the
view taken by the Imperial Government Refusing to listen
to the advice and entreaties of his mother, his brethren and his
ministers, the King insisted that if he could not marry the lady
of his choice and make her Queen, he would surrender the crown Abdica-
of the greatest Empire the world has ever known The painful Edward
alternative was perforce accepted The Abdicaiion Bill passed Vlll
1 For details abouUhe Treaty of 1833, and for a full account of the proceed-
ings at AIontreu\, sec Marriott, Eastern Question, pp 285 f and 560 f
542
TOWARDS THE ABYSS
[ 1010 -
Coron. 1 -
tion of
King
George
VI
through, all its stages on December 11 King Edward ceased
to reign, and immediately left the country. On December 12
his brother, the Duke of York, was proclaimed King ns George YI
These events had a profound constitutional significance
The SiaUite of WcstminstcTt under which the legal proceedmgs
were taken, had left the Crown as the mam, if not the sole, effective
link in the chain of the Empire. Would the link hold ’ Could
the unity of the Commonwealth of Nations survive a crisis such
as that which suddenly faced it in December 1936 ’ The ansv cr
to these questions ivas not ambiguous In the words of a Canadian
statesman, the unanimity of the Commonwealth demonstrated
to the world ‘the granite strength of the British Constitution
enslirmed as it is in the British Throne
King George VI and Queen Elizabeth were crowned in West-
minster Abbey on May 12, 1937. The changes necessitated by the
Statute of Westimnster m th<i "actual words of the service, no less
than the ofiicial presence of representatives of the whole Empire,
gave to the ceremony a new significance The croivn worn by
King George VI is liturgically, as well as legally. Imperial
The presence of the Empire statesmen at the Coronation gave
an opportunity for the holding of another Imperial Conference.
Providentially • since the discussions — highly confidential in
character — were mainly concerned with the problem of Imperial
Defence
The year 1937 was further marked by several measures of
considerable constitutional significance. The members of the
House of Commons voted for themselves an mcrease of 50 per cent,
in salaries. This raised the salary nommally to £600 a year, but
owing to free railway travelhng between Westmmster and their
respective constituencies and to deductions in respect of mcome
tax, the salary was considerably in excess of £600 and was another
step towards the creation of a body of ‘ professional politicians ’
That the House of Commons should be recruited from young men
with brains but little money is all to the good that it should
come to consist predominantly of ‘ professionals ’ instead of
‘ amateurs ’ would be to alter its whole character, very decide '
for the worse. ^ the
» The -whole episode is more fully treated m IMamott, bt citsh JF'ecure
Comvtanwcallk (Nicholson & Watson, 1030), Chapter XX Turkey
548
10J9] THE REGENCY ACT (1937)
By the Ministers of the Crown Act (1987) the positions of the
Prime Minister and of the Cabinet wiie for the first time legalized •
a salary of £10,000 a year -was attached to the office of Prime
Jlinister, the salanes of some other Cabinet Ministers weie
equalized and a salary of £2,000 a 3 ear was assigned to the post —
now for the first time legally' recognized— of Leader of the
Opposition; a maximum limit was placed on the number of
Jlmisters who might sit in the House of Commons, and a minimum
limit on those nho must sit m the House of Lords Hitherto the
Prime Minister had received onl3' the salary (£5,000) of
the First Lordship of the Treasury, the Foreign Secretaryship, or
Avhatever other office he had held to enable him to sit m his own
Cabinet.
The Regency Ad (1937) was also constitutionall3' noteworthy.
Many a time from the thirteenth centuiy onwards it had been
necessary to make temporary provision for the minont3-,
incapacity or the absence of the Sovereign But not until 1937
was any permanent machinery provided by Parliament to operate
in any of these contmgencies Henceforward, in case of a
minonty or total incapacity the regency will vest in the next
adult heir, and m case of illness, not involving total mcapacity,
and of mtended absence abroad, the Sovereign is authorized to
delegate certain of the royal functions to Counsellors of State
In deference, however, to the Statute of Westminster the Act is
not to operate in the Dommions The functions of the Regent
are, moreover, divorced from the guardianship of an infant
Sovereign which is by the Act reserved to his or her mother,
if she be living
Another mcident of 1937, of personal though hardly of pohtical,
still less of constitutional, sigmficance was Mr Baldnm’s resigna-
tion of the Premiership Dunng the General Strike of 1926 and
during the ‘ Abdication Crisis ’ of 1986 he had exhibited con-
spicuous courage, calmness and tact, and is entitled to the highest
credit for his leadership on these cntical occasions, but though he
held office m the aggregate for more than seven years his record
01 ' on the whole undistmguished He was regarded with respect
alternwection in the House of Commons , and with the soul of a
iFonCould rise at moments to somethmg near eloquence, but
mgs at Mougreat power of popular appeal, and he lacked both the
541-
TOWARDS THE ABYSS
[1919-
ClVll
^Va^ in
Spam
Hitler’s
Annexa-
tions
Austria
tiainmg and the tcmperamenL for dealing with foreign affaiis al
a time when foreign policy was becoming daily more important.
Unfortunately, his successor m Downing Street suffered from a
similai limitation l\Ir NcmIIc Chamberlain, a good finaneier
and admirable domestic admimstiatoi, was, unlike his brother,
ill-equipped for dealing with the crises which rapidly developed
on the continent.
The outbreak of civil war in Spam [July 10.30), which dragged
on for nearly three years, would prob.ably have precipitated a
general conflagration but for the patient persistence of Great
Biilain m a polie}’^ of non-intervention The republican party m
Spain was actively supported by Soviet Russia , the ‘ nationalist ’
party, led by General Franco, leant heavily on the help lavishly
provided by Ital}' and m less degree b}^ Germany The French
Communists sent all the help they could to the Spanish republicans,
who had the entire sympathy also of the English Socialists. But
the French Government, under IVI Blum, gave loj al support to
the clTorts of the British Government to circumscribe the area of
conflict
Jlr Chamberlain and Lord Halifax, who had succeeded
IMr Eden at the Foreign Office in February 1938, exhausted
eveiy means to avert Armageddon, but the task became
increasingly difficult France w'as particularly sensitive on the
question of Austrian independence, and m 1931 had been mainly
instrumental m frustrating the attempt to 'negotiate a Customs
Union between Austria and Germany England had in 1934
made a foimal declaration in favour of Austrian ‘ independence
and integrity ’ Until 1935 the maintenance of that independence
was one of the mam pivots of Italian poliey. But l\Iussolim’s
attack on Abyssinia in 1935 had alienated Great Britain , in 1936
the Rome-Berlm ‘Axis’ came into being, and Mussolini was
ready to desert Austria and tlirow in his lot with the aggressor.
In March 193S Hitler marched into Vienna and w’lthout opposition
from Italy or anv other foreign pow'er annexed Austria to the
German Jtcich Prior to the establishment of the Nazi regime
the Austrians themselves would have weleomed an Anschliis^^'^ ,
but any sentiment in favour of union wnth Geimany was
extinguished by the grim realities of Nazi rule
The annexation of Austria opened the door to a
German
1039 ]
GERMAN AGGRESSION
543
attack on Czecho-Slovakia France and Russia were both bound
by treaties to defend Czecho-Slovakia England was under no
such engagement, but was deeply engaged to the support of
French policy Mr Chamberlain and Lord Halifax desired at
almost any price to avoid a European nar, and, though profoundly
perturbed by the preparations of Herr Hiller, contented them-
selves by uttering grave •narmngs to Germany, and by sending
Lord Runciman, in the summer of 1938, on an ‘ unofficial ’ mission
to Prague to discover a means of escape from the impending
tragedy Lord Runciman’s mission was fruitless In the dis-
content of a large, though not compact, body of Germans in
Bohemia, Herr Hitler had a specious excuse for interference.
England was well-nigh unammous in believing that some satis-
fachon should be given to these ‘ Sudeten ’ Germans At
the eleventh hour Mr Chamberlam made an heroic effort to
avert war, flew to Munich, and with Signor Mussolmi and
M Daladier, the French Premier, concluded an agreement with
Herr Hitler Zone after zone of Bohemian territory was to be
annexed by Germany, but on that basis ‘ peace ’ was secured.
The relief expressed in England was profound and umversal.
No Such welcome as awaited Mr Chamberlam on September 80,
19SS, has been given to an English statesman since Lord Beacons-
field in 1878 brought back ‘Peace -with Honour’ from Berlin
The United States, not a few Germans, nay, the whole world,
hailed Neville Chamberlam as the Great Peacemaker
But with startling and not too creditable rapidity the mood
in England changed The Labour Party in Parliament, who had
cheered Chamberlam to the echo in September, denounced him
in November as a poltroon Even IVIr Churchill, while paying a
warm tribute to Chamberlam’s conspicuous courage and pure
motives, expressed, in prophetic words, his misgivmgs ‘ By this
time next year we shall know whether the policy of appeasement
has appeased or whether it has only stunulated more ferocious
appetite. All we can do m the meantime is to gather together
the forces of resistance and defence ’
That we did A ‘ national register ’ was compiled , precau-
tions were taken against air-attack, evacuation plans were
prepared ; a Ministry of Supply was set up , and in April 1939
conscnption was introduced.
546 TOWARDS THE ABYSS [1919-1039
A month earlier Hitler had thrown away the last portion of
his mask. On March 15 he had marched into Prague and had
annexed Bohemia and Moravia. On the 23rd he occupied Memel ;
on April 7 an Italian army occupied Albania, the Crown of ivhich
was a few days later accepted by King Victor Emmanuel
Against these indefensible proceedings the British Cabinet
addressed to Rome a strong protest, the more ineffectual since
Chambeilain refused, while announcing the promise of aid to
Greece and Roumania, to denounce the Anglo-Itahan Agreement.
Hitler, on the contrary, did not hesitate to denounce the Polish-
German Non-aggrcssion Pact of 1934 and the Anglo-German
Naval Agreement of 1935
Ro>al There was, however, one gleam of sunshine befoie the storm
^nada Despite the grave mternational situation. King George
and Queen Elizabeth made a triumphal progress through Canada
in May and June 1939, paid a short visit to the United States, and
before leainng for home delighted their loyal but sorely stricken
subjects in Newfoundland by a visit to the ‘ oldest British Colony
The tour was an unqualified success. By their simplicity and
friendly accessibility the King and Queen won the hearts of all
ivith whom they came in contact They were themselves en-
chanted by the charm, spaciousness, and beauty of the Great
Dominion, and undoubted^ did much by their contagious happi-
ness and b)"^ their gracious kindliness to confirm the devotion of
their Canadian subjects to the Throne and its occupants.
Jzccho- It was a gnm and menacing situation that confronted their
Slovakia return to Europe Herr Hitler had cjmi-
cally broken the agreement concluded at Munich less than six
months earhei, had lorn up the scrap of paper to which, with
Ml Chamberlain, he had afiixed his signature, and had marched
into and annexed Czecho-Slovakia (Llarch 15). Less than a
vreek later he had occupied Memel. To avert a similar disaster
to Poland, Great Britain and France had (March 31) given an
unconditional pledge of assistance to that country, and in April
had extendedi the pledge to Roumania and Gieece.
1030-104S1
THE SECOND WORLD-WAR
647
CHAPTER XXXI
THE SECOND WORLD-WAR
T he actual outbreak of hostilities found us, though not The
unprepared, ill-equippcd for waging war against a great
military power IVIr Chamberlain at once set up a War-Cabinet
of nme members, bringing m Sir Churchill as First Lord of the
Admirally and Lord Hankey as ]\Imister wthout portfolio , With
great rapidity a war-time regime was imposed Under the
Emergency Powers Act (1939), Defence Regulations of the most
stringent character were made by Order-m-Council Thanks
to the Conscnption Act a recruiting campaign was not, as m
1914, necessary, liabihly for service was extended, and the hst
of reserved occupations curtailed. But, though the military
machine rapidly gatliered strength, we could do notlung to save
Poland. Within three weeks it was conquered by the Germans, Poland
who mercilessly massacred and tortured its people On September
7 the Russians marched mto Poland from the east, and occupied
n area about equal to that occupied by the Germans, though
nth only 13,000,000 as against 22,000,000 mhabitants >
Latvia, Lithuania and Esthoma submitted to Russia Finland Finland
did not, and looked to England and France for help Though
eager to afford it, these Powers could not give it in view of Sweden’s
refusal to allow the passage of an Anglo-French force But for
that refusal we should have been at war with Russia As it was,
the Finns, after a gallant resistance, were compelled to accept
the terms imposed upon them by Russia (March 13, 1940) But
Hitler’s attack on Russia (1941) offered the Fmns a temptation
they could not resist, they refused to heed the warnings of
England and the USA. agamst persistence m the war against
Russia, and only when the Alhes dominated the situation did tb'
548 THE SECOND WORLD-WAR [1030
Finns accept an armistice dictated to them by Russia (Septembe
19, 1944). Its terms, though severe, did not deny to a brav
people the boon of independence and the hope of recovery.
With Finland and Poland in the toils, Hitler was free, afte
six months of ‘ phoney ’ war, to begin his serious attack upo
France and England. First, however, he cleared the flanks.
On April 9, 1940, Denmaik ivas occupied without resistance.
Noiway, on the contrary, fought the German invaders with
splendid courage , but the prevailing opinion in England was
that Hitler's invasion of Norway was, in IMr Churchiirs words,
‘ a strategic and political error * In fact, the German occupation
of all the Noiwegian poits rendered the position of the small
Anglo-French foice which had been sent to Norway precarious,
and compelled it to evacuate the country. This withdrawal,
though slulfully effected from Nanik (I\Iay 2), seiiously damaged
British prestige and brought down Jlr. Chamberlain’s Ministiy.
On May 30 Mr Churchill replaced Mr Chamberlain as Prime
Minister, though he retained Mr. Chamberlain in a Wai Cabinet
of five members, and also included in it Mr Attlee and ilr Grecn-
w ood to represent the Labour Party, which, as a w'holc, cordially
supported the Government. Otlier Socialist and Liberal leaders
accepted Cabinet or Ministerial office in an Administration which
could truly be described as national
The Nothing less was needed to confront an emergency as grave
and grim as any m our history. On the day that Mr Churchill
meat became Prime Minister the Germans had mvaded the Low’
Countries, m overwhelming force, by land and air Holland and
Belgium surrendered on May 15 and 27 respectively, nor could
the French withstand the German invasion. Over the bridges
crossing the Meuse, carelessly or traitorously left open, the
‘ Panzer ’ divisions poured m unending succession, hosts of tanks
and diving aeroplanes flung the French troops into confusion,
and their letreat, terribly impeded by evacuating civilians, became
a rout. Nothing could arrest the German advance Especially
menacing to England was the German occupation of the ports :
Flushing, Antiverp, Osiend and Boulogne were in German hands
by the end of May. Meanwhile the capitulation of King Leopold
of Belgium had rendered the position of his allies untenable Thus
isolated, they fought an heroic rearguard action to enable them
1945]
COLLAPSE OF FRANCE
549
to reach the Coast at Dunkirk On Maj’' 30th the historic evacua-
tion irora Dunkirk began No fewer than 386,000 men were, by
a miracle of organization and fortitude, re-embarked, and on
1,000 vessels of the Royal Navy, and a flotilla of voluntary craft,
large and small, were by June 4 safely landed in England In
this vast and hazardous operation only one British transport,
SIX destroyers and some twenty-five smaller craft were lost.
One after another the Channel ports were, meanwhile, falling
into German hands On May 27 Calais surrendered after an
heroic resistance which had made possible the ‘miracle’ of
Dunkirk Dieppe, Havre, Cherbourg and Brest all fell to the
enemy before the end of June
Much had happened m the meantime The French Govern-
ment had left Pans, which the Germans occupied without resistance
on June 14. Tlie British Government urged the French to adopt
any alternative preferably to surrender, and Mr Churclull actually
offered the ‘ Union ’ of France with England Nevertheless, on
June 22, Marshal Petain, who had succeeded M. Reynaud as
Prime Minister, concluded an Annistice with the Germans, and
on the 24th with the Italians, who on June 10 had treacherously
declared war
On the next day General de Gaulle announced m London the
formation of the French National Committee. Over it he presided
until by the superb effort of the British Empire and the USA,
France, after its long travail, had in 1944 been frped of Germans,
and de Gaulle was able to estabhsh a Provisional Government in
Paris
Of intervemng events a bare summary must suffice.
For more than a year the Bntish Empire faced victonous The
Germany, its satellites and Italy alone Few foreigners thought Empire
in the summer of 1940 that it could escape the fate of France ilone
That It did escape was due to the loyal support of the Overseas
Empire, to the mtrepid leadership of IMr Churchill, and above
all to ^e valour and vigilance of the British Navy, and of a
young, small, but splendidly courageous and finely tramed Air
Force.
To the last belongs the honour of victory in the ‘ Battle of
Britain ’ Had that battle been lost our fate had been sealed Britain
In fiercest intensity it lasted from August 1940 to May 1941.
550
THE SECOND WORLD-WAR
[1<)89
London suffered the first onslaught, being raided on 82 out of 8
consecutive nights in the autumn and winter of 1 940-1 A similar,
if less sustained, ordeal awaited Portsmouth, Coventry, Liverpool,
Bristol, Hull, Southampton, and othei cities. Over 40,000
civilians were killed and over 50,000 seriously injured down to
the end of 1941 But Britain was not dismayed, and the British
Empire survived. ‘ Never,’ as klr. Churchill said in a phrase
already assured of immortality, ‘ m the field of human conflict
was so much owed by so many to so few.’
Bnst Once the Battle of Britain was won attention began to be
concentrated upon the Mediterranean and Africa. Though we
were compelled to evacuate British Somaliland early in August,
an Italian attack upon Kenya was warded off by South African
troops reinforced by a force from Nigeria and the Gold Coast
Regiment.
Nor did the triumph of the Italians last long Early in 1941
they were driven not merely out of Somaliland, but of Abyssinia
Haile Selassie was restored to his throne, and before April was a
week old Mussolmi’s East African Empire had fallen
The Much more prolonged was the struggle in the Mediterranean
ronca”* North Africa. Thanks to the bnlhant seamanship of
Admiral Sir Andiew Cunningham, the British Navy maintained
Its superiority m the Slediterranean The Italian Navy avoided
contact as far as possible, but on November 11-12, 19 10, it suffered
a shattering defeat when sheltering in its stionghold at Taranto.
Greece Nowhere was the news of that great victory more enthusiasti-
cally acclaimed than in Greece On October 20, 1940, Mussolini,
in a hurry to emulate Hitler’s triumphs, made without provocation
an attack upon the Greeks, who repelled it with astonishing success
We weakened our own Force in EgjTit to give the Greeks all the
help we could, and the support of the British Navy was invaluable
to them But early in April 1941, the Germans intervened to
extricate their Italian allies from their difficulties in Greece ; on
tlie 23rd the Greek forces in the Epirus and Macedonia were
compelled to surrender ; on the 27th the Germans entered Athens ;
the British Imperial Forces, consisting largely of Anzacs of the
finest quality, were evacuated to Crete, not without serious loss
in men and equipment, and to the Navy All five hospital slups
weie sunk by the enemy.
10451
SEE-SAW IN NORTH AFRICA, 1940-2
551
Crete proved indefensible against the wonderfully co-ordinated Crete
German attack by aeroplanes, gliders and troop-earners. Our
navy inflicted heavy losses on the enemy, but itself suffered
severel}* By June 2, 1940, however, the evacuation was almost
complete The Cretan disaster cost us and our Greek allies some
15,000 men, much war matenal and many ships The German
losses were perhaps as heavy, but whilst they had emerged from the
holocaust victorious, we had sufiered an appalling defeat
Generously, if perhaps unwisdy, we had drawn upon our See-Saw
scanty forces in Egypt to succour the Greelcs Our generosity
seemed likely to cost us dear On September 18, 1940, the Itahans 1040-2
under Marshal Graziam began their advance towards Alexandria,
but having taken Solium and Sidi-Barrani they halted on Eg3rptian
soil On December 11th, General Wavell, Commander-in-Chief
Middle East, having been heavily reinforced, laimched his counter-
attack A finely co-ordmated movement by sea, land and air
was rewarded by a brilliant victory at Sidi-Barrani , the Italian
threat to Egypt was averted
From Sidi-Barrani the Army of the Nile continued its brilhant Simslimc
and rapid advance Bardia, Tobruk, Derna and Benghazi all shadow
surrendered between January 5-February 7 The Italian defeat 1041
was complete and catastrophic Marshal Graziam, having lost
an army, was recalled, leavmg 138,000 pnsoners, 1,800 guns, and
immense booty m our hands
Our triumph was dismally shortlived The Germans under
General von' Rommel succoured their miserable Italian allies in
Afnca as they had in Greece. At the beginning of Apnl they
launched their offensive m Cyrenaica m a few weeks aU the
territory we had gained during the wmter campaign was lost
On July 1, General Wavell exchanged Commands with General
Auchmleek, Commander-m-Chief m Lidia, and on November 18,
the latter, strongly reinforced from home, struck hjs blow for the
rerconquest of Libya, which by the end of the year 1941 was
cleared of the enemy
In the new year, however, von Rommel, with an army re-
orgamzed and re-eqmpped, took the offensive, and after a rapid
advance, checked only by the heroic resistance of Tobruk,
believed himself to be withm 48 hours of the occupation of
Alexandna
THE SECOND WORLD- WAR
[19SD-
At El Alamein, however, the British forces stood and denied
to the Germans that great piize Rommell’s advance was halted
In August, Lieut -Geheral Montgomery took over the command of
the Eighth Army under General Alexander, who became Com-
mnnder-m-Chief Middle East Largely reinforced with men and
greatly supciior tanks, Montgomery was ready by Septcmbei to
take the offensive. Rommel began to withdraw in Scptembei,
and in the last days of October a terrific tank battle w'as fought
at El Alamein. That was the turning-point of the campaign
By November 2 the enemy w'as definitely in retreat, Sidi-Barrani,
Tobiuk, and Benghazi w'cie retaken (November 10-20).
Before then we had got new allies On June 22, 1941, the
Russia Geimans had treachciously invaded Russia m force On that
same night Mr Churchill swept away all misgivings by an em-
phatic declaration that no political differences w'ould be permitted
to stand in the way of complete and cordial co-operation between
England and Russia the enemies of Nazism were the friends and
allies of Great Britain, and to them every possible support would
be given Never for a day has he been diverted from that purpose.
President Roosevelt also promised that the generous help the
USA was already giving to the British Empire would be extended
to Soviet Russia
Allinnco Before the year 1941 closed the USA. also had become not
u's\ merely our fiiend but our ally. On December 7, Japan, with
treachery comparable to Hitler’s, launched an attack by sea-borne
uii craft upon Pearl Harbour, the principal base of the American
Pacific Fleet. On the following day the U S.A and Great Biitain
declared w'ar upon Japan The Japanese made brilliant use of
the initiative they had treacherously obtained They bombed
and sank the two great ships. Repulse and Prince of Wales, intended
as the mainstay of our fleet m the Far East That stunning blow
lost us the command of the Pacific, and opened our Far Eastern
Tlic For Empire to Japanese attack Hong-Kong, after an heroic but
hopeless defence, surrendered on Christmas Day, 1041, and before
the close of the year Penang Island wras occupied Our allies
also suffered heavily ; the Americans lost Guam and Wake Islands,
and m January 1942 the Japanese invaded the Netherlands East
Indies Nothing could stop the progress of the Power which held
command of the sea. Singapore was unconditionally surrendered
1945]
CONFERENCE AT CASABLANCA
558
on February 15 , Rangoon, Java and the Andaman Islands were
occupied m March Mandalay was evacuated m May and Sydney
was attacked by midget submarines in June 1942 But American
troops had already begun to reach Australia before the end of
March (1942) The Australians, under Mr Curtin’s leadership,
manfully set to work to defend themselves to the last ditch, and a
notable naval victory off the Solomons in November greatly eased
the situation, and gradually forced the Japanese to the defensive
Heavy losses were inflicted on their shipping, notably by a disaster
m Bismarck Straits on March 2, 1943
As the year 1948 advanced the successes of the Allies became
more frequent and more marked, and though Calcutta had suffered
an air raid in December 1942, the year 1943 closed without the
expected invasion of India In all parts of the Pacific, notably in
the Aleutian islands and New Guinea, tlie Allies continued to make
headway
Even more emphatic was the success of our Russian allies Russia
The earlier phase of the war had been one of almost unbroken
tnumph for the Germans, who senously threatened both Lenin-
grad and Moscow But in November 1942 the Russians launched
their counter-attack, which was cro^vned, after several months of
continuous fighting, by the final surrender of the last German
forces at Stalmgrad (February 2, 1943). Few surrenders m tbe
history of warfare have been more gigantic m scale or more
conclusive m results The threat to Leningrad and Moscow was
averted
The Russians harped with more bitterness than justice upon the
failure of the Alhes to open a ‘ Second Front ’, a failure which was
emphasized by a noisy and ignorant section of the Bntish pubhc
To take the sting out of the Russian reproaches, and to relieve, Confer-
as far as they could, the pressure upon the Russian armies, was
the declared object of the Anglo-American campaign of 1943 m blanca
North Africa. That campaign was carefully planned and ‘ the
entire field of war was surveyed ’ when m mid-January 1948
President Roosevelt and Mr Churchill, together with a large
staff of their professional advisers, met at Casablanca At the
close of the Conference Mr Roosevelt formally announced that
the Allies had resolved to fight all three Axis Powers to ‘ com-
plete surrender
554,
THE SECOND WORLD-WAR
[1939-
Afriran Preliminary 1o the campaign of 1943 a great Anglo-American
Campaign army, under the supreme command of the American General
Eisenhower, had by a combined naval, military and air operation
been landed at various key points m Algeria and Morocco
Planned in absolute secrecy, this vast operation was, between
November 4 and 11, 1942, carried out with slight loss and complete
success.
That success was greatly facilitated by the surrender, after a
brief resistance, of the French Colomes in North and West Africa
as well as by the adhesion of Admiral Darlan, the French High
Commissioner. Actually, Darlan’s conduct had throughout been
highly equivocal, and the motive of his assassination by a young
Frenchman, on December 24, remains obscure. He was succeeded
by General Giraud
Meanwhile the dismay of the Germans at the turn of events
, was not mitigated when (November 27, 1942) the 72 vessels of the
Freneh Fleet were scuttled by their crews in Toulon harbour.
Nevertheless, great efforts were made by the Axis, not without
success, to reinforce from Sicily their forces in North Africa and
hold up the advance of the British First Army in the early months
of 1943 towards Tunisia
Tunisia was the goal also of the Eighth Army which, imder
Jlontgomery’s brilliant leadership, had (January 23, 1943) crowned
its wonderful campaign by the occupation of Tripoli In three
months that army had traversed some 1,350 miles, mostly of ‘food-
less and waterless desert, had inflicted a loss of fully 80,000 men
killed, captured or disabled upon the Italo-German forces, had
taken or destroyed more than 500 tanks, 1,000 guns, many
thousands of lorries, and over 1,600 aircraft ’ ^ On February 8
the Eighth Army crossed ihe Tunisian border, and in a series of
battles (March 6-27) Montgomery inflicted a crushing and final
defeat upon Rommel, who retired, on the plea of ill-health, to
Germany. Von Arnim, his successor, did his best to prevent the
junction of the Eighth, advancing westwards, and First Armies,
advancing eastwards, but in vam. Tunis and Bizerto fell to the
latter on May 7 ; on the 12th Von Arnim was captured, and a
day later the whole of the Axis forces in North Africa surrendered.
About 340,000 prisoners (three-fifths of them were Germans) were
* Graves (ed.). Quarterly Iteeord of the War, xiv, 24
1043]
INVASION OF EUROPE
555
taken and vast quantities of weapons and supplies fell into
the hands of the Allies
That was the triumphant end of the North-Afncan Campaign, invnsion
conducted at first entirely by the land, sea, and air forces of the of Europe
British, greatly assisted m the final stages by their American and
French allies The whole of the southern coast of the Mediter-
ranean, as well as the Atlantic seaboard, was now open to
them
On May 31 the French Fleet at Alexandria, which had been
neutralized since 1940, jomed the Allies, and on June 3 Generals
de Gaulle and Giraud, the rival leaders of Fighting France, at last
came to terms and a Committee of National Liberation was formed
to conduct French co-operation with the Allies
Not, however, until July 10 did the Alhes invade Sicily The
way for this was prepared by the capture in June of the islets
in the Straits — Pantellena, Lampedusa and Lmosa The attack
upon Sicily, displa3nng an entirely novel technique m amphibious
warfare, was accomplished with astonishing ease, and tliough the
Germans held up the advance of the Allies for some weeks, the
occupation of Messina (August 17) marked the end of hostihties
in the island. The Germans succeeded, however, m getting most
of their troops over to the mainland, though they evacuated
Sardmia, while the Fighting French captured Corsica
In Italy the political situation developed rapidly Mussolmi, Italy
having sought help in vain from Hitler, was compelled (July 24)
to resign and was placed under arrest, but was presently rescued,
for the time being, by the Germans Marshal Badoglio
took office as chief minister of the Croivn, dissolved the Fascist
party, dismissed all the Fascist officials and (September 3) con-
cluded an armistice with the Allies The whole of the Italian
armed forces surrendered unconditionally On the same day
General Montgomery landed with the Eighth Army on <the toe of
Italy and moved north without meeting resistance The Fifth
Army, on the contrary (half American and half British), after
landing (September 9) in the Bay of Salerno, were for a week m
grave penl of being ^iven back mto the sea by a strong German
force They were saved only by the guns of the AUied warships
and the timely amval of Montgomery and the Eighth Army.
The latter, havmg made their supphes secure by the capture
THE SECOND WORLD-WAR
55fi
[103D-
of Taranto, Ban, and Brindisi, rcachod their colleagues of the
Fifth Army, by forced marches, on September 17. The Allied
ofiensivc was presently resumed, the Fifth Armj' occupied a
devastated Naples on October 3, the Eiglith Army advanced
slow ly along the Adriatic const Italj'' declared svar on Germany
on Octobci 13 and W'as accepted by the Allies as a co-belligcient ,
but the close of the year saw Gcimany still in control of two-
thirds of Italy, including the capital and all the industrial cities
The failure of the Allies to take the Dodecanese, due to culpable
miS'handhng, to the pusiUaiuinily of the large Italian gairison,
and not least to an effective German couiitcrstroke, was also a
definite reverse Thus — despite the splendid Russian victories,
the brilliant ending of the Afiican campaign, the recapture of
New’ Guinea and a steady improvement in the Far Eastern situa-
tion, the success achieved against the U-boat packs in the
Atlantic, the crippling of the I'upiiz (September) and the sinking
of the Schomhonl (December) — ^the year 1913 closed with some
sense of frustiation and disajipointment
^aftr** ^ notable incident in the winter of 19*13-3 was the senes of
tnce conferences between the leading statesmen of the Allied countries
One obstacle to cordial co-operation had been removed when
Jlarshal Stalin announced the formal dissolution of the Comintern
or Thud Communist International. The Comintern had for some
time been politically sigmficant, but its dissolution was welcomed
abroad as indicating a change of outlook in Russia
In this clarified atmosphere the confcience of the Foreign
Ministers of Great Britain, the U.S A. and the U S S.R was held
at SIoscow’ (October-November 1913). The resulting agreement
W'as embodied in five documents and w’as promptly published
Pleasures w ere to be taken to shorten the w ar, to promote economic
co-opcration, and to devise a permanent organization for the
maintenance of w’orld peace, to punish war ciiminals, to set up a
European Advisory Council m London, to restore the independence
of Austria, and make Italy safe for democracy.
Cairo and At the end of November Mr. Churchill himself conferred for
c icran Cairo W’lth President Roosevelt and General Chiang
Kai-shek to concert measures for bringing ‘ unrelenting pressure ’
against Japan. It w'as agreed that Japan should be stripped of
all the territories seized by violence, and that China should recover
THE WAR IN 1944
1915]
557
all' that she had lost, while Korea should become free and
independent
From Cairo the President and Prime Minister flew to Teheran
to confer n ith Marshal Stalin At Teheran complete plans, precis
as to tinung and direction, were concerted for the destruction of
the German forces Recogmzing also ‘ their supreme respon-
sibihty for an enduring peace in a future untouched by tyranny
the three statesmen made plans for their co-operation in the task
of mamtammg in the world ‘orderly progress and continuing
peace
On returmng from Teheran to Cairo, President Roosevelt and
Jlr. Churchill met M Ismet Inonu, President of the Turkish
Republic, and reached important conclusions as to the ‘ joint and
several interests of the countries represented ’
The .year 1943 definite^ marked the turn of the tide If in
1944 the main inflood encountered formidable rocks and did not
rise quite so lugh as had seemed probable, it closed with an
assurance of final victory
The Russian advance, though temporarily checked at Warsaw,
was lrresIstlble^ Russia, cleared of Germans, established her
supremacy both on the Baltic and in the Balkans, and is advancing
rapidly (January 1945) m East Prussia
In Italy the Allies made progress, but both before and after
the taking of Rome (June 4) it was so disappointingly slow, as to
react upon British prestige m Yugoslavia and perhaps in Greece.
In Yugoslavia, Marshal Tito, an able guerrilla leader, with the aid
of his guerrilla bands and a Russian force, cleared Yugoslavia,
and with the sanction of Great Bntam, where liing Peter had
taken refuge, established a Provisional Government Continental
Greece was also cleared of Germans, partly by guerrilla operations
But once Greece was freed, the guerrillas turned upon tlieir English
benefactors who had supphed them with arms and were trying to
supply their cquntrymen with food. A British force had con-
sequently to fight to restore order m Atliens, and to set up a
Regency under Archbishop Damaskinos In the Far East remark-
able progress was made m 1944, notably in northern Burma and
in the Philippines Naval success in the Pacific, predominantly
American, was, however, entirdy eclipsed, as mdeed were all
otlier operations on land or sea, by the marvellous achievement of
658
THE SECOND WORLD-WAR
[1030-
Clearance
of France
the Allied Armies, Navies and Aar Forces, not to add of British
engineers, in effecting a landmg in force m Normandy (June 6-6)
In this operation, achieved tnumphantly and at a cost which, if
heavy, was less than expected, 4,000 ships (mcludmg minesweepers,
who did their difficult job with splendid courage and amazing
punctuality) and 11,000 aircraft took part The 'result of this
wonderful example of co-ordmation was the assembling of the
greatest army ever seen on French soil, where General (now
Field-Marshal) Montgomery’s great strategic plan gradually
became clear While the mam German army was attracted to
Caen, the Americans, havmg taken Cherbourg (June 27) and
cleared the Cotentm, overran Brittany, and advanced by the
Loire on Pans, but leaving, to our embarrassment, strong German
garrisons m the Atlantic ports On August 21 the Americans
crossed the Seine at Mantes, and on the 25th occupied Pans with
General de Gaulle, whose Free French forces had already almost
cleared their capital of Germans
Meanwhile, Caen was, after heavy fighting, taken by Mont-
gomery on July 9, and Rommell’s counter-offensive was definitely
defeated when (August 17) Falaise was taken by the Canadians
The defeat at Falaise was decisive : the German retreat became
almost a rout.
In mid-August a diversion was caused by the invasion of
Southern France An American army quickly and easily occupied
Marseilles, Cannes, Grasse and Toulon, and cleared, with the help
of Free Frenchmen, all Southern France In the north Rouen and
Dieppe fell to the Canadians, Amiens and Arras to the British
(August 31-September 1), who, on September 3, liberated Brussels
During the next few days the takmg of Antwerp, Lille, Louvam,
Ghent and other towns completed the liberation of Belgium and
Luxemburg Zeebrugge was captured by the Canadians on the
10th, Le Havre by the British on the 12th Not, however, until
November was the Scheldt cleared by a British expedition to
Flushing and Waldheren Island, or Antwerp opened to traffic.
A gallant attempt had, m the meantime (September 17), been
made by a British Airborne Division to seize and hold the crossmgs
over the Maas, the Waal and the Lower Rhme The attempt
only ]ust failed to achieve brilliant success, but, at the cost of
heavy losses in killed, prisoners and equipment, was defeated, and
1945]
CLEAEANCE OP FRANCE
the remnant of a gallant force had to be withdrawn (September
25-26) More senous was the counter-offence launched in force
by the Gcimans under von Runstedt against a weakly-held sector
of the Allied line on the Belgian-Luxemburg frontiers (December
16) Breaking through on a wide front, the Germans gravely
threatened the communications of the Allies, destroyed stores
accumulated for our advance, and inflicted upon the Allies, at even
heavier losses to themselves, heavy losses of men and equipment.
Before the year ended, however, Runstedt’s advance was halted ;
the salient he had established was gradually flattened out, and
in the new year his forces were steadily pushed back to the
point whence they had started
The year 1945 opened, accordingly, with high hopes of complete
if not inunediate victory on widely distributed honts.
fiGO
THE HOME FRONT
[10311-
CHAFTER XXXn
THE HOME FRONT
Domestic ^ I 'HE course of domcslic affairs since 1039 has followed two
AfTiiirs directions, roughly in cluronological succession.
During the first years of tlic war attention was necessarily con-
centrated upon national defence and the maintenance of the war
effort. Since peace came, however distantly, into view, the mind
of the nation and of the Government lias turned towards the
preparation of schemes for social and economic reconstruction as
soon as the attainment of victory permits.
Only a mere summary, and tliat incomplete, of events can
here be attempted.
The first anxiety of the Government was to protect persons
and property against enemy action and to npglcct no means of
giving maximum effect to every measure for carrying the war to a
completely successful issue.
Tlie War A comprehensive summary of the measures taken to that end
Effort ^ven in a White Paper ^ presented to FarUament at the end of
November 1944, when it was reasonable to assume that the
measures taken had effected thdr purpose. Th^ are sinnmarized
under five heads : hlan Power, Home Production, Shipping and
Foreign Trade, Civilian Consumption and Finance. To these
and kindred topics only a brief reference is possible.
Man Practically the whole popidation between adolescence and old
age have been brought into some form of national or essential
service. Of 16,010,000 males between the ages of 14 and 64 only
71,000 remained in 1944 unemployed ; there were less than one
million students, invalids, &c., while 4| millions (excluding
prisoners and missing) were in the armed forces, in addition to
If millions in the Home Guard (instituted on a voluntary batis in
1040, but afterwards conscript^) ; 226,000 were enlisted in
»Cmd. 6504.
1945]
ADMINISTBATION
561
whole tune Civil Defence for National Fire Brigade duty, ARP.
services, Casualty service and regular and auxiliary pohce , in
Part-time Cml Defence services were nearly two milhon others.
Women also have taken a notable part m the war effort Out
of 16,020,000 females between the ages of 14 and 59, over seven
millions -were in the Auxiliary services, whole-time Cml Defence
or industry, besides a large number m part-time service
Of casualties due to enemy action there were no fewer than
136,116, including 57,298 killed (down to August SI, 1944)
As a precaution against possible mvasion or complete derange- Admims-
ment m the Capital, a considerable measure of administrative
decentralization was at the outset of the war carried out The
whole country was divided up into seventeen regions, each under
a Commissioner, and in each the hlimstry of Health has its own
.Administrative Staff Some Government offices have been
removed from the Capital, and many firms and institutions have,
in part or wholly, followed the example
Factones, notably those engaged on the production of mum- Industry
tions and other necessities for war, have been dispersed, but a
large number have also been closed and their activities concen-
trated What the effect of these processes will be on the ultimate
location of industry it is premature to discuss It may well prove,
in some cases, to be permanent and decisive, if so, it must needs
affect substantially the housing problem, and may have an
important repercussion upon tbe reorganization of Local Govern-
ment But these matters belong to the future.
The war years have witnessed a truly wonderful expansion in
the production not only of * ground mumtions ’, such as arms,
guns, tanks, &c , but also m naval and aircraft construction and
merchant shipbuilding, as well as mumtions proper. Of these,
four-fifths have been supplied from British Commonwealth and
Empire resources and the rest by the Umted States
No department of State has operated with more success than Agn-
the control of food. Thanks to the organizing gemus of Lord ^d*]^od
Woolton, none has gone short of necessaries and few have enjoyed
luxuries Rationing has meant something approaching to
equality To this result Bntish agriculture has made a notable
conti ibution The yield of the land has been increased by plough-
ing up grassland and mproved methods, and the imports of food
JIB. — 36
THE HOME FRONT
[ 1939 -
Ration*
uig
Evacua-
tion
Finance
(to the relief of shipping) have been reduced by 50 per cent.
Allotments have largely increased, as has the garden area devoted
to vegetables. But ‘ labour * has been a problem for farmers, and
would have been insoluble had not 80,000 women enrolled for
agricultural work, and done much to supply the places of 100,000
regular male workers required for military service.
In the total result restnehons upon personal consumption
have played their part.
Nor has restriction been confined to food. Clothing has
been severely rationed, while of that available much has been
produced under ‘ utility ’ conditions imposed by, the State upon
producers — conditions extended to household furniture, caipets,
and hardware.
High prices also have restricted consumption Bread and
potatoes 'have been heavily subsidized by the State to the tunc of
nearly 200 millions. Nevertheless, there has been an admitted
rise in the cost of living, while common experience has con-
tradicted the tale of official optimism.
Personal expenditure has been curtailed in other directions
Except for business, railway travel is generally avoided ; omnibus
services have been cut dowm, while licences for private motor-cars
have fallen from 2,000,000 to 700,000 and the supply of motor
spirit by seven-eighths
Purchases of furmture and furnishings have dropped by
77 per cent m volume , of hardware, 07 per cent Of footw'ear for
cmhans, the production has declined by diper cent. ; of cutlery,
by 85 per cent. , of armchairs and sofas, by more than 95 per cent.
. Nothing, however, has done more to enforce the realization of
war than the dislocation of population. From the danger areas,
and especially from the congested districts of London, a large
number of women and cluldren have been evacuated and billeted
—in some cases compulsonly— upon householders in country
districts. That this should cause friction on both sides was
inevitable, and a considerable number of evacuees have returned
to their homes. It speaks well for * neighbourliness ’ that the
friction was not greater. The condition of evacuated slum
children has sometimes hoinfied self-respecting villagers, and has
also acted as an eye-opener among social and hygienic reformers.
There remains to be noticed the problem of war-finance, which
SOCIAL REFORM
563
IWS]
has in fact, though never allowed to restnct, inevitably affected
the activities enumerated above
Expenditure on the war has exceeded £25,000,000,000 This
has been met by the sale of oversea investments (over £1,000
millions), by oversea borrowing of £2,800,000,000, by domestic
loans, and by a tcmfic increase m taxation
To domestic loans — over £10,000 miUions — ‘ small savings *
have made the amazingly large contribution of about
£2,500,000,000 Altogether, personal savmgs were estimated to
have increased ninefold between 1938 and 1943, from about
Sj per cent to about 20 per cent of personal incomes.
Apart from borrowing, taxes have provided roughly 50 per
cent of war expenditure, bemg equally provided by indirect and
direct taxation Income tax has been so widened in scope that
over 10\ million people now pay it as against 3,800,000 in 1938
In the pockets of the richest class it leaves less than 1/- in the£,
out of which has also to be paid a share of indirect taxes If the
* conscnption ’ of wealth has not in theory been adopted, in
practice it falls little short of it
Nor IS there any indication that even now the limit has been Social
reached On the contrary, social reforms have been passed or
designed, most of which must add much to the financial sacnfices
already imposed Some time ago Mr Churchill declared that the
Government ‘ have shaped or earned out within the last two years
a programme of reform or social progress which might well have
occupied a whole Parhament under ordinary conditions of peace
He understated the facts. He promised for the future that all
should have ‘ food, work, hom^ His promise is m process of
redemption.
The first item to reach the Statute Book is a comprehensive Educa-
scheme for the complete reorganization of national education,
the mam part of which was actually timed to come into effect on
Apnl 1, 1945 The local control of education is vested solely m
the County and County Borough Councils, which will thus displace
169 Local Education Authorities The Coimcils are required to
devise divisional areas, each with its divisional executive, and to
delegate certam powers to them or to such of the larger Borough
or Urban District Councils as may daim to act as Divisional Areas
or be selected for that purpose by the Mmistry.
504
THE HOME FRONT
[ 1030 -
That is the architcoltiral slniclurc of the new scheme, nnd it
mny possibly pro\’idc a model for tlic reconstniction of Local
Government. For all grades of education — nursery, primary,
secondary and tcehnicnl schools, nnd for County Colleges for adults
— these Councils become responsible, in part directly, in i>art
indirectly. The wliolc-fimc school age is raised to 15, srith the
prospect of raising it to 10, but bc 3 'oiid this there is provision for
secondary, technical, vocalionol and adult education. For all
3 ’oiing persons up to 18, part-time education is to be compulsory
and grotiiitous. In all schools, religious instruction is to be
provided ; in voluntary schools according to the tenets of the
Denomination cnnccmcd.
Toirnnml Thaiiks to much preliminary discussion and negotiation, the
PJnniimg ^»Llcr Education Act was almost an agreed measure. The
Ton*ii nnd County Planning Act aroused, on the contrary, bitter
op])osition. Tlic Act confers upon Local Authorities wide powers
for purchasing compulsorily land required for the reconstruction
of areas damoged by enemy action. Opposition, ultimately
compromised, was mainl}* concentrated on the methods and
assessment of compensation payable to dispossessed owners.
Pro- For other instalments in the task of reconstruction, the
Government has prepared the woy by the issue of 'IVliitc
^strue- Papers ’ which invite discussion by interested parties of the policy
proposed by the Government nnd tcnlnlively outlined by the
Departments concerned. Health, EmplojTncnt, Export ^ade,
and Social Insurance .*irc among the problems to which special
attention has been drawn.
All these schemes have this in common ; all raise the highly
controversial problem of State action ns opposed to individual
initiative nnd enterprise. Shall the ^tatc, acting on behalf of
the whole community, make itself responsible for the maintenance
in health and tlic care in sickness of every citizen, or shall these
matters be left primarily in the hands of * private * practitioners
and voluntary hospitals and similar agencies, leaving to tlic State
only the duly of filling obvious gaps 7 Or shall voluntary agencies
and agents merely supplement public action? Is the medical
profession to become in cfTcct a branch of the Civil Service, ‘or
to be employed according to the preference of, andrcmunctnicd
by, individuals?
APPENDIX
660
-ooks —
ladia Jinlaamca (csDccialh 11th Edition wiJ»_npw_iol«imi>.^
SOCML INSURANCE 565
Is the Slate to make itself r^ponsiblc for finding reasonably
remunerated uork for all its citizens, in fulfilment of a ‘Full
I Employment ’ policy ’ Or is emplojTiicnt to remain on a com-
I mercial basis, regulated by the demands of the market, and wages
fixed by bargaming between employ ers and the combinations of
employees ’
That emplojTnent must ultimately depend upon the condition
of industry and trade is axiomatic, and for a country situated as
Britain is the mere sustenance of mdmduals, not to mention their
emplojment, depends largely upon our ability to produce goods
•which will find a market abroad, and will thus provide the means
of purchasing the raw materials and so much of our food as we
„^nnot produce at home A Bill has accordingly been introduced
'io authorize the Board of Trade to raise from £75,000,000 to
£200,000,000 the amount available for guarantcemg in appropnate
cases payment for e^qiort trade transactions The existing amount
has been employed WTithout loss to the Esichequer and with con-
siderable advantage to our export trade which, since 1988, fell
from £471,000,000 to £232,000,000 (1943)
All these plans and proposals are, however, relatively m- Social
significant as compared with the great scheme for National Insur- •
ance put out by the Government m November 1944 Neaily two
years had then passed smee the publication of the Report based
by Sir William Bevendge upon * a survey of the existing schemes
of Social Insurance and allied services, including workmen’s com-
pensation, undertaken as instructed, ‘ with special reference to
the interrelation of the Schemes The Report was generallj^
acclaimed as almost ‘ inspired ’ , the Government was persistentljn
pressed to accept it immediately and in ioto Wisely, however, (
tliey declined to do more than give to it a general approval and
promise to devote mtensive study to the ‘ giant evils ’ with which
the Report is mainly concerned. These evils are physical want,
disease, squalor and ignorance Nor, as already indicated, ha*
the Government failed, despite its preoccupation with the wa
to redeem, in a remarlcable degree, its promise
The culmination of its effort is represented by its Plan for
Social Security
A spirited attack has been dehvered upon the giant evil of
Ignorance by the Butler Education Act, and a more direct an
WE IIOl^IE FRONT
300 THE HOME FRONT [1939- lais
comprehensive step towards reconstruction has been taken by the
appointment of a Minister and the setting up of a Department of
Social Insurance But only llic most courageous can contemplate
with confidence the great mass of intricate legislation which imU
be needed to deal with health, workmen's compensation, unem-
ployment, public assistance, pensions, childien’s allowances, and
all other matters comprehensively included m the term Social
Insurance On the vital question of cosl, Sir John Anderson
has given reassurances which, if conditions are fulfilled, may give
comfort to the timid. The one governing condition is that the
ivhole nation must be prepared to work iii the years of peace
as it has woikcd throughout the critical months of war. That.j
condition is inipcraln c unless it be fulfilled a terrible disillusiorcn
ment aw’aits the optimists and notlung can avert a disaste** fitin
a colossal magnitude.
Faith can still remove mountains Nothing less could have
availed to encourage the British Empire to embark in 1040 on a
grim struggle for existence Nothing less can sustain the British
nation in an endeavour to overcome the * giant evils and to give
to all classes an assurance of security and a reassured basis for
contentment After a century of prosperity without parallel.
Great Bntain has m these latter days been savagely attacked and
has sulTercd severely m life and property , but if battered, she
still stands erect. Her daughter lands, if now established m their
owm homes, and all other units in licr heterogeneous and far-flung
Jmpirc, have proved by valiant deeds their loyalty and aficction
towards the Motherland and their conviction that the cause for
w'hich, side by side with her and wuth each other, they have
'fought, is the cause of freedom, justice and righteousness The
United Stales has not only given invaluable assistance to us and
to our Russian ally, but has herself taken a full share in the actual
fight.
Thus the ancient structure, though bcanng many and honour-
ble scars, still stands — a proud monument of stability and
cadfastness, the citadel of a city set high upon a lull.
APPENDIX
AUTHORITIES
The follo'ning list' of books is not intended as a scientific or critical
Bibliography, but simply as (i) a gcneril acknoulejigcmcnt of the author's
^^indebtedness to published works -*ind (n) a rough indication of tlic sources
j^^pf ipf'>rnntion to uhich students may go for further elucidation of Subjects
treated w Hi un^woid-ble ^adequacy or brevity in the tevt.
A Sources (i) OiRcial
For the history of the last half-century the * sources ’ are ovcnvhelming
in bulk and variety Since the conclusion of the European War some 40,000
documents have been published by various Governments Confining our-
selves to the Iiistory of Great Bntain and the British Empire and excluding
Documents on the Ongins of the War (see Section C), \rc may note among
other official materials — Pubhe General Acts (i c Statutes of the Realm),
published by Authority by tlic Stationery Ofllce (H M S O ) , Journals of
the Houses of Lords and Commbns , Official Bgiorts of Parliamentary Debates,
which, since 1000, have been published separately for Lords and Commons
(frequently quoted m notes simply as ‘ Hansard ’) , ' Blue Books * (i e Re-
ports Of Royal Commissions, Ac ) , Accounts and Papers (i c Reports, Ac-
counts and Estimates of Public Departments, Ac ) , ‘ Command Paw \
(i e Returns and Reports laid before Parliament) The Treaty Senes L an [
important senes of these Command Papers, containmg the texts of Treaties J
concluded by His Majesty with Foreign Powers The Bntish and Foreign
State Papers contam, e g , such Reports from and Correspondence with Britisn
Ambassadors and Mimstcrs m foreign coimtnes as are * laid ’ before Park^
liament for the information of the Legislature Vols 77-140 cover the
penod 1885-1020 and form an mvaluable source of information on Foreign
Afiairs The London Gazette is the sole official source of information for the
acts of the Crown — appointments, etc (A useful Index thereto is periodi-
cally published ) The Foreign Office and other Public Departments publisl
an annual List which is useful '
(ii) In addition to oBicial and other formal sources such publications
The Annual Begister, The Statesman's Year Book, Whitaker’s Almanack, 1
Daily Mail Year Book, are very useful, as also are the files of The Times
(with its Official Index), and oUier daily and weekly Newspapers My
oini library also contams a large collection of Pamphlets, including much
propagandist 'literature', to be used, of course, with great caution bu
nevertheless valuable as evidence of contemporary opinion
56T
MODERN ENGLAND
[18
B DonictUc 4JfaiTv
For olliciil <>ourccs of infonnntion see Section A
(i) OITicnl (see also Section A) —
[A \altMbIc Catalonue of Parbamcntani Papert, 1801-^1920, is piililish
by P S Kiri/i A Co Furtlier Lists are periodically published by them at
also by II M S O ]
Among the most valuable of these papers for Domestic Affairs in th
period 1SS5-10;)2 arc —
AGiiit-trLTunn Reports of Ro>al Commissions (1880-2), (1895-7), (1910)
(1025), Wheni Stipphc’t (1921) , Sir If Re\s licporl on Decline o
Agricultural Population, 1 $81-1906 , Committee on Small Holdings
1906 , Land Settlement for Soldiers and Sailori, 1916 , Agncultura
Policy (Min of Rccoiislniclion, lOlS, Cmd. 9079) , Pood Supply (1016)
Education* Reiiorts of R C ’s on Technical (18S2-4) , Elementary (1880-8) ,
Secondary (1803) , Adult (Min of Rcconslruclion Report, 1919, Cmd
321) , Uniieriitics (London, 1010) , Oiford and Cambridge (1922)
Tkadi and In*dustky R C (IBS'?) , Coiiimiltcc (R Ifour) (1920-9)
COAI Min-i,s R C ’s (1903-'>) , 1010 (SnnUcy) , 102S-C (Samuel)
IIoosiNO RC (1883), Committee (1002) , Committee (Mojne) (1033)
CuimnNCT R C , Gold and Silver, 1888 (Cmd 5512) ; Comnuttcc on After-
War Currency and Foreign ENchanges, lOlS-10 (Cmd 0182’and 461)
MuNJcrpAL Thadinc Select Committee (1000 (303))
Taxation*, Financi , Ac R C Local Taxation, 1808 ; Committee, 101 1
(Cmd 7315) , R C Income Tax (Colw-ym), 1020 (Cmd 015, Ac ) ; Reports
(annual) of National War Samngs (First Report, 1017 [Cmd 8510]) ,
Committee, Increase of TJ'ar Wealth (1020) ; National Expenditure Com-
mittee, 1917-10 , National Ddit and Taxation (1027) (Cmd 2800),
Poon La5s, PrvsiONS, UNi^MPtoyMcvr, sic RC Aged Poor {1895) , Com-
mittee on Unemployment (1805) , R C (1001-0) Labour Exchanges Com-
mittee (1021) , Public Assi<tlancc Administration (1021) (Cmd 2011) }
O A P Committees (1885-7) (1010) , Industrial Transference (1028)
(Cmd 3331)
LABOun • Trade Unions, Ac Reports on Sweating, 1888 , Nail Makers
(1888) Cost of Living (1907 and 1912), Jnduslnal {Whitlc},) Councils,
1018 , Industrial Unrest Reports (1918) ; Trade Boards (1022) (Cmd
1045) , R C Trade Disputes (1000) , Annual Reports to Board of
Trade on Trade Unions ; Washington Labour Conference (1020) (Cmd
OOG)
Census Reports, 1801-1031 Census of Production Return under Act
of 1906
{Annual) ReporLs of Ministries of Agriculture, Edueahon, Health {Local
Governmenf), Trade, Inland Revenue, Customs and Excise ^ Statistical
Abstract, Labour Statistics ; Trade of U K , Reports of Chief Inspectors
of Factories, Education, Clucf Medical Oniccr {Health, Education) j
Registrar-General , Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies
Irclamd * Government of Ireland Act (1020), Irish Free State Const At I
(1022), Correspondence between the Government and the Government of
IPS andNI (Cmd 2155 and 2100 of 1024)
APPENDIX
JiSX books • —
itadia Bntanmca (especially lHh Edtiion -niih new volumes),
,J}
jtry of Xat)onal Btography (GG \oIs)
oncisc DUB (1 vol , OvToid, 1020), containing an epitome of the
nain work, 1001-11, foims with DNB, 1912-21 (Ovford, 1027), an
n\nluable work of reference
Vard and others) Cambndge Modern Htslary, vol xii (1910-)
aul Modem England, vol 5 (1900)
Grelton A Modern History of the English People (1920)
nl^^•^ A History of the English People in 1895-1905 (1020)
iter The Groieth of Modern England (Part V) (1032)
Stratford The Vtclonan Tragedy (1030)
The Victorian Aftermath (1033)
libclius England (E T 1030)
t Inge England (ne 1934)
C Hcamshaw and others Eduardtan England (1033)
egfried England’s Crisis (1931)
Times) Fifty Years (1882-1932) (1932)
Biographies, Memoirs, Lclteri, Speeches, &e —
Buckle) Letters of Queen Viaona, Third Scries, 8 vols (1030, Ac ).
rachey Queen Pirfona (1021)
ljTjCC Queen Victoria (r c 1004)
i^mg Eduard Vll, 2 vols (1025, 1027)
rurois King Edioard and His Times (1083)
Benson King Edward VH (1033)
Wortham A Delightful Profession (1031).
Edward Vll (1038)
Esher Influence of Edward Vll {TfflS).
Cust King Edward and His Court
Arthur King George V (1929)
re King George V (1941)
otTV E Gladstone, S vols (Morley) , Lord Salisbury, 4 vols (onfimshed,
«dy G Cecil) , Lard Camamon, 3 tols (Sir A Hnrdinge) , Sir M
Xicks-Beach, 2 vols (l.ady V Hicks-Beach) , Lord liosebery, 2 vols
^rd Crewe), 1 vol (E T Haymond) , Earl of Balfour (Sir I Mal-
3lm) (JIrs L Dugdale), 2 vols , Lord Randolph Churchill, 2 vols
iV Churchill), 1 vol (Lord Rosebery) , Lord Cromer (Lord Zetland) ,
ord Curzon, 3 vols (Lord Zetland), Ctirzon the Last Phase , Lord
ansdowne (lord Newton) , Joseph Chamberlain, 8 vols (unfinished,
L Garvin) , Lord Camock (H Nicolson) , Duke of Devonshire, 2 vols
1 Holland), Fiscount GoscAcn, 2 vols (A D Elliott), Sir S Northeote
L Lang) , Sir W Harcourt, 2 vols (A G Gardiner) , Asquith (J A
sender and C Asquith) , Sir H Campbell-Bannerman (J A Spender) ,
iscount Motley (J H Morgan) , Lord Wolseley (Sir F Maurice and
rG Arthur), Lord Kitchener, 8 vols (SirG Artliur) , George Wyndham
I Wyndham and J W Mackail) , General Gordon (D C Boulger) ,
•xrd Duffenn (Sir A Lyall) , Sir C Xhlke, 2 vols (S Gwynn and G
ickwell). Lord Cave (Sir C Mallet), Lord Birkenhead, {2nd Lord
irkenhead), C S Parnell, 2 vols (B O’Bnen) and (K O’Shea), Cecil
todte (B Williams) , Sir Austen Chamberlain (Sir C. Petne) , Viscount
mg of Wraxall (Sir C Petne)
570
MODERN ENGLAND
[1885-
Spccchcs of W E Gladstone (cd A T Bassett, 1917), of Lv
2 vols (ed Jennings), of J Cliambcrlain, 2 vols (ed Boj
kenhead
A J Balfour Chapter’s of Autobiography (1930)
R B Haldane An Autobiography (1 020)
Lord Grej of Tallodon Tucnty-five Years, 2 vols (1925).
Sir R Temple Life m Parhanient, 1886-92 (1803)
AST Griffith-Boscauen Fourteen Years in Parliament, 189
(1907)
Jlargot Asqmth Autobiography (1920)
H H Asquith Memories and Reflections, 2 vols (1928)
Fifty Years in Parliament (192G)
Lord George Hanulton Parliamentary Reminiscences and Reflections,
(1910, 1922)
S Gwynn Letters and Friendships of Sir C Spring-Riee, 2 vols (1929
I’lscount Morlcy Recollections, 2 vols (1917)
Memorandum on Resignation (1928)
Viscoimt IVolseley The Story of a Soldier's Life, 2 vols (1003)
W A S Hewins The Apologia of an Imperialist, 2 vols (1929)
G N Barnes From Workshop to War Cabinet (1925)
Sir A IVest Recollections (1899)
Sir H New bolt My World as in My Time (1933)
Lord Rcnnell of Rodd Social and Diplomatic Memories, 3 vols
1922-j)
J A Spender Life Journalism and Politics, 2 vols (1927)
(iv) Social and Economic —
S and B Webb Industrial Democracy (1807)
History of Trade Unionism (1894)
J. IL Clapham The Economic History of Modern Britain, 8 vols.
P Cohen The British System of Social Insurance (1932)
Sir W H Bevendge Unemployment, a Problem of Industry (1909)
C Booth. The Aged Poor {189^)
C. S Loch Pauperism and Old Age Pensions (1895)
G. Slater ; Poverty and the State (1030)
H Clay ; The Post-War Unemployment Problem (1929)
D Ivnoop : Municipal Trading (1912)
A M Carr Saunders and D C Jones Social Str^'cture o/ England and
(1927)
A L BoiUey The Division of the Product of Industry (1910)
Distribution of the National Income (1920)
Wages in the United Kingdom (1900)
G H D Cole . Short History of the Working-class Movement, esp vol ii
L T Hobhouse The Labour Movement (1906)
J R MacDonald Syndicalism (1912)
Sir H Clay Syndicalism and Labour (1912)
Sir L MacassCy Labour Policy False and True (1922)
Lord Askwith • Industrial Problems and Disputes (1920)
F J C Heamshaw . Democracy at the Cross-mays (1018;.
Democracy and Labour (1924)
R M Rayner : Trade Unionism (1920)
Sir J Simon : The General Strike (1926)
571
J04S]
P E Ckirbet
O D Skelf
Zif
APPENDIX
History and Economics of Transport (1018)
(iv) > StSi-Ways of the Empire (1018)
Aust^^^fy^f^B Wje World (1020)
2^ea L'ioolution des moycns de transport (1010)
(n' Life and Labour in the Nineteenth Century (1020)
^partnership in Industry (1018)
<pp^ative Wholesale Society's Annual (annual)
i^'jiutage Smith The Free Trade Movement (1003)
J Ashley The Tariff Problem (1003)
I Smart . Tne Betum to F otection (1004)
f A S Hewms Empire teslored (1027)
~ Alilner Questions of the Hour (1023)
B Mallet British Budgets, 1887-1933, 3 vo\a (1018-83)
L Bowley Prices and Wages in the United Kingdom, 1914-20 (1021)
W Hirst and J E Allen British War Budgets (1020)
H Middleton Food Production in War (1023)
J C Peel Horn We Lived Then (1014-18) (1027)
W H Beiendge BnltsA Pood Control (1028)
A Shaw Currency Credit and the Exchanges (1014-20) (1027)
A W Kirkald} ) Labour Finance and the (1010)
— Cred t Industry and the ITar (1015)
iL Bowley and Stamp The National Income (1011 and 1024) (1027).
( Benn Account Rendered (1000-80) (1080)
j J6ze The TFor Finance of France (Yale, 1027)
' — Britain's Industrial Future (Liberal Enqmry) (1028)
jf Withers War and Lombard StreeH^91S)
1 H. Brand War and National Finance (1022)
2 H D Cole Labour in War Time (1015)
Lord Ernie English Farming, Past and Present (n e 1027)
A D Hall Pilgrimage of British Farming (1013)
Agriculture after the War (1014)
C Tumor The Land and its Problems (102l)
C S Orwin and W R Ped The Tenure of AgneuUural Land (1025)
J S Nicholson Agriculture (1006)
F E Green The Awakening of England (1012)
L Jebb The Small Holdings of England (1007)
H Rider Haggard Rural England (1002)
'j, A R Marriott The English Land System (1014)
Liberal Land Committee Report- The Land and the Nation (1025)
'J A Venn Foundations of Agricultural Economics (1023)
IW Hasbach The English AgneuUural Labourer (E T , 1008)
& Leonard English Agncullurod Wages (1014)
« ') Constitutional —
W Bagehot (with introd by Earl of Balfour) The English Constitution
(Oicford, 1028)
J A. R Mamott Mechanism of the Modem State (with full Bibhographyl,
2vols (Oxford, 1027)
English Political Institutions (revised ed , 1025)
Second Chambers (revised ed , 1027)
The Onsis of English Liberty (1030)
S Low. The Governance of England (iwa).
572
MODERN ENGLAND
R Muir Hffw Britain ts Gmerned(WSO) [1885-
A W Huimhrj*. History of Labour lieprcsentalion (1912). , ofl*
M G Fa\\cjtt II omen’s SiijGTrage (1912) (ed Boj
S. McK.clmit The Neso Democracy and the ConstitutiorP^
The li form of the House of Lords (190*))
Lord Hewart The Hew Despotism (1929)
Report of Committee on Ministers’ Powers (Cmd 40G0, 1932) (1929).
F J Port Administrative Laio (1929)
W A Robson Justice and Administrative Lam (1928) enf, JS92-
C K Allen Bureaucracy Triumphant (1931)
Sir C Ilbert * Legislative Methods and Forms (1901)
H B Lees Smith Second Chambers (1923)
R Muir Peers and Bureaucrats (1920)
C T Carr Delegated Legislation (1921) Reflections, 2 vo
Lord Haldane and others The Development of the Chtnl Service (1922)
Sir H Samuel • The War and Liberty (1917) vols (1929).
P Ashley Local and Central Government (190G).
R A Glen Local Government Act, 1929 (1929).
H Finer The British Civil Service (1928) 1903)*
(1929).
<7. Foreign Affairs
See Sections A, ‘ Sources ’. oOlcial, and lists of books appended to Cha
ters Xin and XVII of Mamott, History of Europe (1815-1937) (3rd et . ng
1938), and to G P Goodi's Recent Iteoclations of European Diplomacy {3 les, 3 '
» d , 1928) '
(i) Documents and General Works * —
(ed. Gooch and Temperlej) British Documents on the Origin of the War
HMSO (11 vols)
(cd. A Mcndel<!sohn-Bartholdy and others) Die Grosse Pohtik der Euro-'
paischcn Eabinette, 1871-1914 (Berhn, 1925), <S,c 8 voIb
(E\tracts from tius monumental work are translated into English (ed E T. S i)
Dugdale), 4 >ols (1928-31) rj/
Documents Diplomatiques frangais (1871-1914) (1929, etc )
Oslerrcich-Ungarns Aussenpohtik (1908-14), 9 vols (Vienna, 1930)
E Laloj Les Documents Secrets publies par les Bolsheviks (abridged French
translation), 1919
(ed R Marchnnd) Materials for the History of Franco-Riissian Relations^
(in Russian, 1922) ^ England ana
(ed J B Scott) Diplomatic Documents relaUng to Outbreak of War (Oxford,
1910) (1919)
A F Pribram Secret Treaties of Austna-IIungary (N Y , 1025) , Austrian
Foreign Policy (1908-18) (1923) , England and the International Polie
of the Great Powers, 1871-1914 (Oxford, 1931) P -.cnt, esp vol
E Brandenburg From Bismarck to the World War (E T , O-vford, 1027)
II Lutz Lord Grey and the World War (E T , 1928)
O Ilmimann World Policy of Germany (E T , 1927)
R B. Mom at The Concert of Europe (1890-1912) (1930)
E 7U Re\enlloa Deutschland’s Auswariige Pohtik (1888-1914) (1016)
V Becker . Filrst Balow und England (1897-1009) (1029)
E Meinccke . Gcschichte dcs deutsch-englischen BUnnisproblemfs (1890-1901)
(1927)
APPENDIX
3945 ]
P E Corbett and H. A Smith Canada and World Polihes (1928)
O D Skelton Zafe and Letters of Sir W Lattrier, 2 vols (1921)
Life and Times of Sir A Galt (1920)
(iv) Australasia —
Australian Commonaealth Year Book (Annual) (Official)
Nao Zealand Official Year Book (Annual)
(ed F Watson) Histoneal Becords of Australia (1014r-2t)
(ed J H Rose) Carpbndge Htstorff of the British Empire, vol vii (1933).
A W Jose History of Australasia (1021)
T A Coghlon Progress of Australasia in the XIXth Century (1908)
E Jenks . A History of the Australasian Colonies (1012)
C E Lyne Life of Sir H Parkes (1807)
W P Reeves Slate Experiments in Australia and Nao Zealand (1002)
E Levnn The Commomoeallh of Australia (1017)
Sir C G Wade Australia (1018)
W H Moore The Constitution of the Commonicealth (1010)
Sit J. Quick and R R Ganan Annotated Conilitution of the Commonueallh
(1901)
Sir J Quick Legislative Powers of Commonwealth and States (1010)
A P Canaway The Failure of Federalism in A (1030)
Sir J Kirwan * An Empty lAnd ’ (1034)
Sir R Stout New Zealand (1011)
J Hight and J D Bamtord The Constitutional History and Law tf New
Zealand (1014)
Sir Ian Hamilton Gallipoli Diary, 2 >ol8 (1020)
(ed C P Lucas) The Empire at War, vol iii (1021-b)
Sit j Monasb The Australians in France (1028)
A P Wavell The Palestine Campaign (1028)
(ed Bean) Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-18 (Sydnej,
1021-) , Official History of New Zealand's Effort in the Great War, 4 vols
(Wellington, 1010-)
(v) South Afnca —
Year Book of the Union of S A (Annual)
J H Hofmeyr South Afnca (1931)
J C Smuts Afnca and Some World Problems (1930)
V R Markham South Africa Past and Present (1900) , The New Era in
South Afnca (1904)
Lord Carnarvon Speeches on the Affairs of West and South Africa (1003)
Lord Buxton General Botha (1924)
B Williams- Cecil Jihodes (1221)
Sir L Michel Life of Bhodes, 2 vols (1910)
W B Worsfold The Union of South Afnca (1912)
Lord Methuen’s Work in Soidh Afnca (1917)
The Goiemment of South Afnca (Central News Agencit, South Africa),
2 vols (1908)
L Curtis The Frame Work of Union (1008)
Earl of Selbome Memorandum on Federation (a State Paper of the first,
importance) (Cmd 3564, 1007)
R H Brand The Union of South Afnca (1900)
' M Nathan The South Afnean Commonwealth (1910)
580 MODERN ENGLAND 11886-
(vi) Partition of Africa ; —
B Banning Lc portage politique de I'Afnque (1885-8)
J. S Keltic • The Partition of Africa (1895).
V Dcville • Portage de VAfnqtie (1898)
G Hanotaux • Le Portage de VAfnque (1890-8)
H. A Gibbons The Neoj Map of Africa (1890-8)
Lord Lugard The Dual Mandate in Africa
F M Anderson and A S Hetshey Handbook for the Diplomatic History
of Africa, 1870-1914
E Le\\in . The Germans and Africa Lond (1015)
(vii) Egypt —
(See also Section on Foreign Affairs )
EgjTJt No 1 (1021) Milner Mission Report (Cmd 1131) , No 4 (1021) (Cmd
1555) , No 1 (1922) (Cmd 1592) , No 1 (1024) (Cmd 2269) , No 1
(1028) (Cmd 3050)
Deports by H M High Commissioner
Papers (1882), (1884-5), (1807) on Egypt and the Soudan (Annual, H M S O )
Lord Cromer Annual Deports in Blue BooItS , Modem Egifpt (1908) , Abbas
11 (1915)
Lord Milner England in Egypt (1892).
D A Cameron Egypt in the Nineteenth Century (1898)
Lord Fitzmauricc Life of Lord Granmlle (1605)
Sir A Cohan The Making of Modern Egypt (1006)
E Dicey The Story of the Khedivate (1902)
Sir R Wngatc Mahdism and the Egyptian Soudan (1801)
A E Hake Gordon's Journals at Khartoum (1885)
G W Steevens With Kitchener to Khartoum (1898)
Sir D M Wallace ■ Egypt and the Egyptian Question (1883)
JAR Marnott England since Waterloo, 11th edition, 1936 (1013)
A History of Europe, 1815-1937, 8rd edition (1988)
Lord Morley Gladstone, vol 3 (1903)
G Buckle Disraeli, ^ols v and vi (1920)
Lord Zetland Lord Cromer (1932)
Lord Lloyd • Egypt since Cromer, 2 vols (1038-4)
Sir I Malcolm * The Suez Canal (1921)
Sir A Wilson The Suez Canal (1031)
Sir W Hayter Decent Constitutional Developments in Egypt (1924)
E W P New-man Great Britain in Egypt (1928)
P India
(i) Recent Reports, &c • —
The Moral and Material Progress of India (Annual)
India Office List (Annual)
Monlagu-Chclmsford Deport, Cd 9109 (1918)
Ciml Services in India, Cmd 2128 (1924)
Indian States Committees (H Butler), Cmd 3302 (1929)
Statutory Commission (Simon), Cmd 8508, 3509 (1929)
Dound Table Conference, Cmd 3772 (1931)
Dound Table Conference, Cmd 3972 (1931)
Proposals for Indian Constitutional Deform, Cmd 4268 (1933)
(ed A B Keith) • Speeches and Documents on Indian Policy, 2 vqls, (1922)
W45]
APPEND!?
581
Viscount Morley Indian Speeches (1000)
Recollections, 2 vols (1017)
(ed Sir T Raleigh) Lord Carzon in India (Speeches) (1000)
(ii) History, Biography, Commentaries, &c —
J. A R Mamott The English in India (1032)
The British Crown and the Indian Slates, P S ICing (1820)
Sir C Ilbert The Government cf India (1015)
Sir W W Hunter The India of the Queen (1003)
Life of Lord Mayo (1885)
Sir A Lyall Life of the Marquess of Ditjfenn, 2 vols (1005),
Lord Zetland Life of Lard Curson, 3 vols (1028)
Lord Neivton Lord Lansdowne (1020)
Sir R Craddock The Dilemma in India (1020)
Sir T B Sapru The Indian Constitution (1020)
M E Darling Rusticus Loquitur (1980)
A Duncan India in Crisis (1031)
Sir H Butler India Insistent (1031)
Sir V Lovell History of the Indian National Movement (1020)
India (1028)
Sir V Chirol Indian Unrest (1010)
— India Old and New (1026)
Sir W Lawrence : The India We Served (1029),
INDEX
A
Abdul Hamid, Sultan, 220
Acland, A H D , 186
Aden, 107
Adnatic Question, the, 431
Aeicntbal, Baron, 221
Aeroplanes, 103
Afghanistan, 82, 210
Africa, partition of, 00
— railways in, 103 '
— East, 80, 133 f , 410 f , SSO
— South, 88, 127, 400
and Great War, 400
Native problems, 268
Umon of, 207 f
— South-West, 88, 400
— West, 80, 410
— See-Saw in North, 1940-2, 551
Agadir, 224, 300
Agricultural Wages, 514
Agriculture, 85, 561
Alexandra, Queen, 170
Alge 9 iras Conference, 218
Allenby, F M , 1st Viscount, 871 f.
Alsace-Lorraine, 424
Ameiy, L S,467
Amntsar, 497
Anderson, Mrs Garrett, 324
Anglo- Japanese Alliance, 206 f , 460 L
Antwerp, 363
Arabi Fasha, 80
Arch, Joseph, 88, 159
Aristocracy, the English, 157
Armenia, 93
Armistices, the, 410
Army, Reform of, 256
Arnold, Matthew, 185
Asquith, H H , 1st Earl of Oxford
and, 58, 66, 08 f , 248, 253 f,
275 f, 388 f ,447
Astor, Viscountess, 320
Attlee, C , 548
Auclunlcch, General, 551
Australia, 141
— and Grcht War, 401
— Commonwealtli of, 145 f
— railways in, 104
Austria, 420, 544
Austria-Hungary, 354 f
Automobile, the, 163
Aviation, 103
Badcn-Powcll, 1st Baron, 142
Bagdad Railway, the, 03
Baldwin, Stanley, 473 f , 516 f , 548
Balfour, A. J , 1st Earl of, 15,
48 f , 180 f , 107 f , 225, 308, 330,
390
Balfour of Burleigh, 6th Baron, 304,
471
Basutpland, 120
Balkans, the (1012-13), 840
Barnes, G N , 890
Barton, Sir Edmund, 146
Battcnberg, Pnnee Alexander of, 91
Battle of Britam, 549
Battles
Colcnso, 140
Boer War (1809-1002), Chap VIII
European War (1014-18), Chaps
XX-XXIII
Isandlwana, 180
LadysmitI}, 140
Magersfontein, 140
Majuba Hill, 131
Omdurman, 05
Faardeberg, 142
Stormberg, 140
Tel-el-Kebir, 80
Tsushima, 212
MODERN ENGLAND
[1885-
Beacli, Sir M Hicks, 1st Viscount St
Aldiii-j-n, 15, 20, 28, 180
Bcalc, Dorothcn, 310
Bcattj, Admiral Earl, 417
Bcchtianaland, 131
Belgium, 350, 425
Bennett, R B , 475 f.
Besanl, Mrs . 405
Bessemer, Sir Henrv, 1
Bctlimann-Hollwcg, Herr \on, 260-
332
Beecndge, Sir H illiam, 563
Biggar, Jo'jcph, 51
Birrcll, Augustine, 240, 336 382
Bismarck, Prince von, 83 f, 201,
347 f
' Black Friday 513
Blatcliford, Robert, 231
Boer Vt ar, the, 138 f
Bosnia, 220
Botha, General Louis, 151, 177, 261,
207, 400
Boxers, the, 208
Bryce, lames, 1st Viscount, 187, 249
Budget (1804), 72
Budgets (lOOG-8), 286
— (1009-10), 288 f
Bulgaria, 91, 220
Bulgaria, Prince Ferdinand of, 92
Buller, Sir Red'vcrs, 31, 139
Bulow, Count von, 203
Bureaucracy, 8, 444, 336
Bums, John, 35, 69, 150, 237, 249,
277, 337
Burt, Thomas, 230
Butt, Isaac, 31
Bjng, F M , Ist Viscount, 392
C
Cabinet, The IVar, 390
— system, the, 442 f
— Sccrctanat, 443 f
Cables, submarine, 3
Cambon, Monsieur, 211
Cambridge, George, 2nd Duke of, 74,
138
Cambndge, University of, 161
Cameroons, the, 89, 410
Campbell-Bannerman, Sir Heniy, 73,
144, 236, 247, 274
Canada, 141
— and Great IVar, 401
Canada, railways in, 104 f
— Royal visit, 546
Capitalists, small, 108, 165
Carnarvon, 4th Earl of, 16, 10 f
Carson, 1st Baron, 348, 390 f.
Casablanca, Conference, 553
Casement, Sir Roger, 381
Caucus, the, 150
Cavan, F M , Earl of, 304
Cbiang Kai-Shck, General, 556
Chamberlain, Sir Austen, 192, 441,
514
Chamberlain, Joseph, 18 f , 22 f , 26,
28, 34, 75, 146, 159, 190 f., 105 f ,
208 f '
Chamberlain, Neville, 476, 544
Chanak,428,461
Chaplin, Henry, Ist Viscoimt, 47
Chartered Companies, 131
Childers, Erskine, 454
China, 207 f
Chinese Labour, 250, 262
Churchill, Lord Randolph, 15, 17, 30,
82
Churchill, Winston, 34 352, 361,
875, 388, 527, 548, 530, 557, 563
Civil List, the, 174
Clemcnccau, M , 422 f
Cleveland, President, 98
Clynes, J H , 422
Coal Miners* Stakes, 518 f
Coal Mines, 70, 510
Cobden, Ridiard, 7, 109
Cockerton Judgment, 188
Collings, Jesse, 25
Collins, Michael, 458
Colonial Nationahsm, 457 f
Colonies, German, 88
Commons, House of, 157 f
Conference, Impenal, see Imperial
Conferences, Post-War, 515
Congested Distnct Board, 332
Congo, the, 89, 96
Conscription, 383 f
Constantine, King, 869 f
Constitutional Conference (1910), 209
Coronation, the (1002), 176
Cosgrave, F , President, 453
Cov, Sir Percy, 483
Craddock, Admiral Sir Charles, 409
Craig, Sir James (1st Viscount Craig-
avon), 451, 454 f.
INDEX
585
1S4^
po, 551
e^r , Ist Marquis of, 300 f
Smer, 1st Earl of, 79, 81, 04 f , 215,
480
Js, R A , 1st Viscount, 15, 148
tningham. Admiral Sir Andrerr,
{550
\pn of Kedlcston, 1st Marquis,
yO, 390, 420, 480 f
)h, the, 344
fe, 107
O-Slovakia, 427, 548
D
lais. Admiral, 554
iadie't^ President, 545
Oamaskinos, Archbishop, 557
Oavitt, Midiael, 51
fence, Impenal, 188
Icassd, Monsieur Thdophilc, 213
Jhi Durbar, the, 403
Jerby, 17th Earl of, 882
<>volution, 337
;(ionshire, 8th Duke of, 102
Ike, Sir Charles, 17, 172
lUon, John, 32
iisannament, 537
hsraeh, Benjamin, 70, 111
)pbbs. Sir H , 430
pminions, diplomatic representa-
tion of, 465
uffenn and Ava, Ist, Marquis of,
' 82, 104, 110
lonraven, 4th Earl of, 837
yarchy, Indian, 408 f
fer. General, 407
E
St India Company, 478
iucation, 44, 68, 184 f , 568
* Acts, 278 f
Bills (1008), 252 f
fflgher, 186 f
'ward VII, Kmg, 150, 152 f.
Chap X, 214, 221, 247, 296 f,
470, 491
[ward VIII, 541
wards. Archbishop A G , 314
bt, 77 f , 94 f , 215, 366, 871, 420,
43^ 531
lum. General (1885), 24 , (1802),
58, (1805), 75, (1900), 147,
234 , (1006), 250 , (1010), 204,
303 , (1018), 421 , (1922), 516 ,
(1923), 516, (1024), 517; (1020),
523, (1031), 526
Ebzabetli, Queen, 542
Empire Foreign Policy, 463 f
— Marketing Board, 474
— Settlement, 500
England and Germany, 85, 201 f.
— and Italy, 85
— and U S A , 08
Ernie, 1st Baron, 162
Esquimaiilt, 106
European War (1014-18), Chaps XX
to XXIII
Evacuation, 562
F
Fabian Society, the, 231
Fashoda, 06
Fawcett, Mrs M G , 828
Federation, Imperial, 112
Feisal, King of Iraq, 485
Ferdmand, King of Bulgana, 220
Finance, 563
Financial Crisis (1031), 528
Fisher, Admiral, 1st Baron, 374
Fisher, H A L , 301
Finland, 547
, Foch, Marshal, 422, 426
Food Control, 386 f
Foreign Policy, English, Chap XII
France, 83 f
— Collapse of, 549
— Clearance of, 558
— and Russia, 84
' Francis Joseph, Emperor, 221, 350
Franco-Russian Alliance, the, 201
Franz Ferdmand, Ardidukc, 353
French, F M , 1st Viscount, 142, 860,
378
Frere, Sur Bartle, 130
Fuad, King of Egypt, 430
G
'Galhpoh, 867
Gandhi, Mr , 497
Gaulle, General dc, 540
Geddes, Sir E , 391, 514
General Election (1000), 147
MODERN ENGLAND
General Election (IIOG), 250
— Elections, see Elections
— Stnke, the, 510 T
George V, King, 7(5, 200, JI5, 119,
' 493, 511
George VI, King, 512
George, Ilenrj , 230
German Nai v, 20fi, 351
Gibraltar, 107
Gibson, Ednard, IslLord Ashbourne,
15
Giraud, Gcneril, 555
Gladstone, W E., 14, 21, 55 f, 15C,
172
Gold Paj meats Suspension, 520
Gordon, General Charles, 81
Goschen, G J , 1st Viscount, 25, g8,
33, 44 , 75
Gough, General Sir II , 397
Grins ille, 2nd Earl of, 20, 91
Grariani, Marshal, 551
Greece, 92, 308 f , 428 f , 550
Greenssood, Arthur, 519
Grey, Sir Edssard, 1st Viscount, 218,
’349, 350 f
Grej , Sir George, 129
Grifllth, Arthur, 1 17, ‘149
Griqualand, Most, 130
H
Hague, The, Peace Conference, 100
Hug, F M , 1st Earl, 381, 388, 422
Hass an, 99
Haldane, 1st Viscount, 218 f, 257 f ,
352, 300, 375
Halsbuiy', 1st Earl of, 305
Hamilton, Lord George, 15, 102
Hamilton, Sir Ian, 307
Hanotoux, I^Ionsicur Gabriel, 213
Hapsburg Empire, 221
Harcourt, Sir l^illiam, 63 f, 72 f,
144, 248
Hardic, James Kcir, 09, 150, 232
Harington, Gen Sir C , 429
Hart-Dyke, Sir William, 4 1
Hartington, Alarquis of, 20, 28, 30,
33, 75 , and see Devonshire
Health Insurance, 283
Hcaty, Timothy, 454
Heligoland, 90
Henderson, Arthur, 375
Herat, 81
Hertrog, General, 400
Hess art, 1st Baron, 8
Hessins, WAS, 193
Hiller, Adolf, 539, 54 J
Iloarc, Sir Samuel, 540
Hodges, F , 513
Home Rule, 342 , and see Ircl u
Hong Kong, 108
House, Colonel, 352
Housing, 277
Hughes, W M , 383, 401-2, 408
Hungary, 427
Ilj-ndman, H M , 230
I
ILP,Thc, 232
Imperial Communications, 107
— Conference (1887), 114 , (Otta’ ,
1801), 119, (1897), 121 , (19,
182 , (1917, War), 403 , (19 1
458 f , (1923), 404, 473 , (1£ .
465 f , (1930), 475 ; (19
Ottana), 476
— Defence, Committee of, 257
— Fcdcmtion, 112
— Institute, 114
— Preference, 103, 472
— War Cabinet, 301
Imperialism, Chaps VII, XJtl
XXVII
InOnu, M Ismet, 557
India, Chap XX’nil
— and Great War, 403
— Cn il Service, 482
— Declaration on (1017), 495 f
— Education in, 480 f
— Montagu-Chclmsford Report, 4
— Nationalism in, 480 f , 532
^ — Nativ e Princes, 404, 470, 499, 5
' — Round Table Conferences, 603
— Unrest in, 494 f
— see also Statutes
Industrial Unrest, 241, 507
Ireland, Chaps II, XIX, XXV
10 f , 31 f , 50 f _ 109
— Agrarian Outrages, 50, 52, ‘
440
— -IFS Constitution, 454
— Land Question, 331 mU
— Rebellion (1910), 381, 446 :raig-
— Republican Party, 448
— Southern, 533