The Government of England (Vol. I)

by A. Lawrence Lowell

To these criticisms the advocates of the system replied that the association was conducted by the men with the most public spirit, because they were willing to devote time and thought to the work; that it could not create a tyranny, because the ward meetings were open to all Liberals, who could at any time overthrow the management if they chose; that, in regard to independence, every Liberal had a right to speak freely at the ward meetings, to persuade his fellows to adopt his views if he could, and that this is the only right he ought to enjoy, because "a minority has no right to thwart a majority in determining the course of Liberal policy." They insisted that the association was simply "a method by which those who believe in human progress . . . can take counsel together; come to an agreement as to their nearest duty; and give their decisions practical effect in the legislation of their town and country." They claimed that such men "are bound to select representatives who will support the definite measures they believe to be immediately necessary for the peace and prosperity of the land."[474:1] In short the Radicals of Birmingham looked upon themselves as reformers with a mission to fulfil, and felt the impatience—perhaps one may say intolerance—which men in that position always feel for the hesitating, the wavering, and the independent members of their own party. To the Radicals the association appeared as an effective instrument for putting their ideals into practice, and seemed wholly good; while others, who had not the same faith in the end to be attained, felt keenly the evils which the organisation actually involved, and still more the abuses to which it might give rise in the future.

The Caucus and Town Politics.

In regard to the charge of bringing politics into municipal affairs the Radicals boldly justified their course, insisting that they stood for a definite progressive policy in local, as well as in national, affairs.[475:1] Under the lead of Mr. Chamberlain, who was elected mayor of Birmingham in the autumn of 1873—the same year in which the association was revived—the town council entered upon a period of great activity. It improved the ordinary public services, such as paving and sanitation; reorganised the health department; and inaugurated an efficient system of sewerage with a large filtration farm, which was, at least, a great improvement on what had gone before. It undertook also a number of public works of a class now called "municipal trading." The first of these was the supply of gas, both for lighting the streets and for private use. There were at the time two gas companies in Birmingham, and Mr. Chamberlain persuaded the council that the town could make a profit by buying their property, and conducting the business itself. A bargain was struck with the companies, and the purchase was made. It was no sooner done than a proposal was made to apply the same principle to water, which was also in the hands of a private company. In this case, however, the object was not profit, but an improvement of the supply with a view to better health, for a large part of the population still depended upon wells, many of them, of course, in a dangerous condition. Again a bargain was made with the company, and the water passed in turn under public control.

Finally an ambitious plan was adopted for improving the appearance of the town. Parliament has enacted a long series of statutes intended to secure better houses for the working classes. One of them, the Artisans and Labourers Dwellings Improvement Act of 1875,[475:2] empowered any town, if authorised by a provisional order of the Local Government Board confirmed by Parliament, to expropriate at its fair market value an unhealthy area, that is, a district where the crowding together or bad condition of the houses, and the want of light and air, were such as to be dangerous to health. The town was to prepare a scheme for laying out new streets and otherwise improving the area, and was authorised to sell or let any part of the land on condition that the purchasers should carry the scheme into effect. Now Birmingham, like many of the English manufacturing places, had grown up in a squalid way, a network of narrow streets, devoid of space or dignity; and in the centre was a great slum with a high death-rate. This last, a region of more than ninety acres in extent, was taken under the Act; a broad thoroughfare, named, in recognition of its public origin, "Corporation Street," was laid out, and the land bordering upon it let on long ground leases for commercial buildings. The original intention had been to erect new houses for the people whose dwellings had been destroyed; but this part of the plan was in the main abandoned, on the ground that houses enough were provided by private enterprise.

The management by a town of its gas and water supply, the purchase and lease of large tracts of land, are steps in the direction of what is known to-day as municipal socialism; and they provoked a difference of opinion that still exists, both upon the wisdom of the policy in general, and upon the extent to which it can be profitably carried. The problem will be discussed hereafter, but we must note here that the Radicals of Birmingham believed it to be a political issue, which justified the use of party organisation as much as the issues that arose in Parliament. They felt in the same way about the administration of the new school law. In their eyes all these things formed part of a great Radical policy of which they were the protagonists.

The Spread of Associations on the Birmingham Model.

The Birmingham Radicals had faith, not only in their political aims, but also in the means they had devised for carrying them out. They did no little missionary work in other towns, urging the Liberals to introduce local representative associations on a democratic basis after the Birmingham pattern. In spite of opposition the idea was received with such favour that by the end of 1878 about one hundred bodies of this kind existed in different places.[477:1] The movement was reënforced by the foundation, in 1877, of the National Liberal Federation, whose history will form the subject of a later chapter. This body admitted to membership only associations of a democratic character, and its influence was strongly felt. The Birmingham leaders, who controlled the Federation, naturally desired to increase its power by extending the number of affiliated bodies as much as possible; while the local associations found an advantage in joining it as soon as it became a factor in Liberal politics. Moreover, after the split in the party over the Home Rule Bill, in 1886, when the Federation took the side of Mr. Gladstone's followers against Mr. Chamberlain, the former became interested in making the organisation as widely representative and popular as possible. These various motives gave successive impulses, with the result that by 1886 the Federation comprised two hundred and fifty-five local associations, and by 1888 seven hundred and sixteen.[477:2] The rules of the Federation, under the title of the "Objects" for which it exists, still open with the words "To assist in the organisation throughout the country of Liberal Associations based on popular representation," and the rules are preceded by a statement which says, All associations, thus constituted, are eligible for affiliation. Although the statement goes on to declare that "No interference with the local independence of the Federated Associations is involved. Each association arranges the details of its own organisation, and administers its own affairs." Still it has always been assumed that the local bodies were to be popular in character. In fact the old self-appointed committees were hardly compatible with the democratic spirit brought in by the Reform Act of 1867, and in the boroughs they soon gave way to representative bodies with a popular organisation.

The process was much less rapid in the country constituencies,[478:1] for not until 1884 was the franchise in these enlarged as it had been in the boroughs in 1867, and when that had been done the traditional authority of the squire and the parson presented an obstacle that yielded slowly. Even now Conservative candidates are returned unopposed more frequently in the counties than in the boroughs, especially in the rural counties of the south. Often it was found impossible to establish a Liberal association in each parish, and a local correspondent was, and in some cases still is, a necessary substitute. But the growth of democratic ideas, the practice of popular election, the change in economic conditions caused by the decay of agricultural prosperity and the desire to live in cities, with the consequent scarcity of rural labour, have, by reducing the patriarchal influence of the landlord over his people, paved the way for representative political organisations. At the present day associations democratic in form exist in almost every parliamentary constituency, whether borough or county, where the number of Liberal voters is not so small, or the chance of success at elections is not so desperate, that the district is what is sometimes officially called derelict.

Existing Organisation of Local Liberal Associations.