The Government of England (Vol. I)

by A. Lawrence Lowell

Lord Randolph Churchill supported the rider in a characteristic speech, in which he described how the Central Committee had drawn into their own hands all the powers and available resources of the party. "From that day to this," he went on, "in spite of constant efforts on the part of many members of your Council, in spite of a friction which has been going on ever since, your Council has been kept in a state of tutelage, you have been called upon year by year to elect a Council, which does not advise, and an Executive which does not administer. . . . I should like to see the control of the party organisation taken out of the hands of a self-elected body, and placed in the hands of an elected body."[544:1] He intimated that the Central Committee had used money at the last election for corrupt purposes, and declared that such practices would not cease until the party funds were managed openly. Finally, he said that the Conservative party would never gain power until it gained the confidence of the working classes, who must, therefore, be invited to take a share, and a real share, in the party government. Several men spoke on the other side, among them Lord Percy, who repudiated the charge that the Central Committee had spent money corruptly. He said that he and others had been members both of that Committee and of the Council, and that there was a constant interchange of ideas between the two bodies. He was willing, however, to accept the rider upon the understanding that the Conference was not committed to any of the modes of carrying it out that had been suggested. The rider was then adopted unanimously.[545:1]

He becomes Chairman of the Council.

Lord Randolph Churchill was elected to the Council, and so were many of his opponents. The parties were, in fact, nearly evenly balanced, but he and his friends had the great advantage of a definite, well-arranged plan. Twelve coöpted members were to be chosen, and by presenting the names of prominent men from the large towns, to whom his opponents found it hard to object, Lord Randolph secured a small but decisive majority on the Council. At the first meeting in December he procured the appointment of a committee to consider the best means of carrying into effect the rider passed at the Conference. The committee was composed mainly of his friends, and at once elected him its chairman, although according to the custom that had been followed hitherto the chairman of the Council, Lord Percy, should have presided in all the committees. Early in January, 1884, the committee had an interview with Lord Salisbury, and brought to his notice the uneasiness that prevailed about the party organisation, and the desire of the Union to obtain its legitimate share of influence in the management. Lord Salisbury took the matter under consideration. Meanwhile, on February 1, when the committee reported progress to the Council, Lord Percy protested against his exclusion from the chair, and motions were made to the effect that he ought to preside at meetings of committees; but they were rejected by close votes. Thereupon he resigned his position as chairman of the Council, and as he refused to withdraw his resignation, Lord Randolph Churchill was, on Feb. 15, chosen to succeed him by seventeen votes to fifteen for Mr. Chaplin. Lord Salisbury, however, ignoring the change of chairman, still communicated with the Council through Lord Percy, which exasperated Lord Randolph's partisans.

Lord Salisbury's Letter of Feb. 29, 1884.

On Feb. 29, Lord Salisbury, in a letter to Lord Randolph Churchill, replied, on behalf of himself and Sir Stafford Northcote, to the suggestions that had been made to him in January. He began by observing that no proposals had been put forward by the Union, beyond the representation that the Council had not opportunity of concurring largely enough in the practical organisation of the party. "It appears to us," he continued, "that that organisation is, and must remain in all its essential features, local. But there is still much work which a central body, like the Council of the National Union, can perform with great advantage to the party. It is the representative of many Associations on whom, in their respective constituencies, the work of the party greatly depends. It can superintend and stimulate their exertions; furnish them with advice, and in some measure, with funds; provide them with lecturers; aid them in the improvement and development of the local press; and help them in perfecting the machinery by which the registration is conducted, and the arrangements for providing volunteer agency at Election times. It will have special opportunity of pressing upon the local associations which it represents, the paramount duty of selecting, in time, the candidates who are to come forward at the dissolution. This field of work seems to us large—as large as the nature of the case permits." But he added that any proposal which the Council might desire to submit would receive their attentive consideration.

It is Misconstrued by Lord Randolph.

The letter was, no doubt, intended to enumerate in substance the very functions that the Council had hitherto performed; but the committee affected to receive it with joy as a complete acceptance of their plan. They prepared a report to the Council, stating that the duties which, according to Lord Salisbury's letter, ought to devolve upon the Council, were such as, with the exception of lecturers, they had not hitherto been permitted to undertake. "The Council," they went on, "will, no doubt, perceive that for the proper discharge of these duties, now imposed upon them by the leaders of the party, the provision of considerable funds becomes a matter of first-class necessity." They ought, therefore, to claim a definite sum out of the funds in the hands of the Central Committee, from which they had as yet received only irregular and uncertain contributions. The report recommended that a small executive committee be appointed with directions to carry out Lord Salisbury's scheme, to incur liability for urgent expenditure, to enter into communication with all the local associations in order to learn about their candidates, elections, funds, and agents, and to invite from those associations the "fullest and freest communication of all information bearing upon political and parliamentary questions as viewed in the localities." All questions involving large and general principles of party policy were to be reserved for the determination of the Council, but the chairman and vice-chairman were to be authorised to perform all ordinary executive acts between meetings. It is needless to point out the imitation of the National Liberal Federation as it worked at that time, or the great power that these changes would throw into the hands of Lord Randolph Churchill.

Further Correspondence.

Lord Salisbury was informed of the report, and hastened to remove any misapprehension. In a letter to Lord Randolph, on March 6, he said he had not contemplated that the Union should in any way take the place of the Central Committee, and he hoped there was no chance of their paths crossing. Lord Randolph replied that he feared that hope might be disappointed. "In a struggle between a popular body and a close corporation, the latter, I am happy to say, in these days goes to the wall."[547:1] A correspondence took place also between Lord Salisbury and Lord Percy, in the course of which the former wrote: "the Central Committee represents the leaders, by whom it is appointed. So far as those duties are concerned which attach, and always have attached, to the leaders of the party, and depend on their sanction, these can only be delegated to gentlemen whom we appoint." He said that in his opinion no change in this respect would be desirable, and that he could not think the adoption of the report would be expedient. Lord Percy laid the letter before the Council, and moved that the report should not be accepted, but his motion was rejected by a vote of nineteen to fourteen; the report was then adopted, and the committee was instructed to confer with the leaders of the party as to the best way of carrying out the plans foreshadowed in their letters.

Lord Salisbury's Letter of April 1, 1884.