The Government of England (Vol. I)

by A. Lawrence Lowell

Their Early Objects.

The primary object of the registration societies was to get the names of their partisans on to the lists, and keep those of their opponents off; and they are said to have done it with more zeal than fairness, often with unjust results, for any claim or objection, though really ill-founded, was likely to be allowed by the revising barrister if unopposed.[468:1] From registration a natural step led to canvassing at election time; that is, seeking the voters in their own homes; persuading the doubtful; when possible, converting the unbelieving; and, above all, making sure that the faithful came to the polls. This had always been done by the candidates in popular constituencies; and now the registration societies furnished a nucleus for the purpose, with a mass of information about the persons to be canvassed, already acquired in making up the voting lists. The nomination of candidates did not necessarily form any part of their functions. The old theory prevailed, of which traces may be found all through English life, that the candidate offered himself for election, or was recommended by some influential friend. The idea that he ought to be designated by the voters of his party had not arisen; nor did the local societies, which were merely self-constituted bodies, claim any right to speak for those voters. No doubt they often selected and recommended candidates; but they did so as a group of individuals whose opinions carried weight, not as a council representing the party.

The time was coming, however, when another extension of the franchise, and the growth of democratic ideas, would bring a demand for the organisation of the societies on a representative basis. The change began almost immediately after the passage of the Reform Act of 1867; and the occasion—it cannot properly be called the cause—of the movement is curious. When discussion in England was busy with Hare's plan for proportional representation, which John Stuart Mill hailed as the salvation of society, serious voices were heard to object to the scheme on the ground that it would lead to the growth of party organisations, and would place the voter in the grip of a political machine.[469:1] It is, therefore, interesting to note that the first outcry in England against actual party machinery was directed at an organisation which sprang from the minute grain of minority representation in the Act of 1867.

The Birmingham Caucus.

Its Object.

By the Reform Act of 1867 the great towns of Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds were given three members of Parliament apiece; but in order to provide some representation for the minority, the Lords inserted, and the Commons accepted, a clause that no elector in those towns should vote for more than two candidates.[469:2] Much foresight was not required to perceive that if one of those towns elected two Liberals and a Conservative, two of her members would neutralise each other on a party division, and her weight would be only one vote; while a much smaller town that chose two members of the same party in the ordinary way would count for two in a division. Such a result seemed to the Radicals of Birmingham a violation of the democratic principle, and they were determined to prevent it if possible. They had on their side more than three fifths of the voters, or more than half as many again as their opponents, and this was enough to carry all three seats if their votes were evenly distributed between three candidates. But to give to three candidates the same number of votes when each elector could vote for only two of them was not an easy thing to do, and failure might mean the loss of two seats. Very careful planning was required for success, very strict discipline among the voters, and hence a keen interest in the result among the mass of the people and perfect confidence in the party managers.

Its Formation.

To provide the machinery needed, Mr. William Harris, the Secretary of the Birmingham Liberal Association, a self-constituted election committee of the familiar type, proposed to transform that body into a representative party organisation; which was forthwith done in October, 1867. The new rules provided that every Liberal subscribing a shilling should be a member of the association, and that an annual meeting of the members should choose the officers and twenty members to serve upon an executive committee. This committee, which had charge of the general business of the association, was to consist of the four officers and twenty members already mentioned, of twenty more to be chosen by the Midland branch of the National Reform League when formed, and of three members chosen by a ward committee to be elected by the members of the association in each ward. According to a common English custom the committee had power to add to its members four more persons chosen, or, as the expression goes, coöpted, by itself. There was also a larger body, consisting of the whole executive committee and of not more than twenty-four members elected by each of the ward committees. It was officially called the general committee, but was commonly known from the approximate number of its members as "The Four Hundred." It was to have control of the policy of the association, and to nominate the three Liberal candidates for Parliament in the borough.[470:1]

The number of Liberal voters in each of the several wards was then carefully ascertained; and those in one ward were directed to vote for A and B; those of another for A and C; those of a third for B and C; and so on, in such a way that the total votes cast for each of the three candidates should be as nearly as possible the same. Protests were, of course, made against voting by dictation. It offended the sense of personal independence; but the great mass of Liberals voted as they were told, and all three of the candidates were elected.