The Government of England (Vol. I)

by A. Lawrence Lowell

The first alterations, made in 1885, were designed merely to give the Union a broader basis, and the Council a more representative character. The most important provision was that every Conservative association should be affiliated without the need of any formal action. The Union thus came to be a really national party organisation in a way that it had never been before, the report for 1887 stating that the affiliated associations numbered 1100. The changes of 1885 did not affect seriously the structure of the Union, or its relation to the whip's office, but these questions were taken up at once by three men. One of them was Sir Albert Rollit, who drafted and carried through a new set of rules. Another was Captain Middleton, who devised the scheme on which those rules were based. He was appointed principal agent of the party in 1885, and in 1886 was made honorary secretary of the Union. He continued to hold both positions until 1903, and so far as the success of the Conservatives at the polls during the period of their ascendency was the result of political organisation, it was due to him more than to any one else. The third was Mr. Southall, who became in 1886, and has ever since remained, the secretary of the Union. His constant coöperation with Captain Middleton removed the severe friction that had existed between the Union and the whip's office, and enabled them to work in perfect harmony.

The New Organisation.

The new rules were adopted at a special conference held in May, 1886, at which more than six hundred delegates were present. Slightly modified so far as the National Union itself is concerned in 1887, and as regards the divisional unions in 1888, 1889, and 1890, they remained in force until 1906; and hence they governed the organisation of the Conservative party during the period of greatest and longest prosperity that it has known since the Reform Act of 1832. They recite that the objects of the Union are: to form a centre of united action, communication, and coöperation, among associations; to promote the organisation of associations; to spread Conservative principles; and to enable associations to give expression to Conservative feeling by petitions and resolutions. They provide that the chief association of each constituency in England and Wales shall be a member of the Union without payment, while any other association or club with fifty members may be admitted on paying one guinea a year;[558:1] and that any person may be admitted as an honorary member or vice-president on payment of a sum appropriate to those dignities.[558:2] The Conference was made to consist of the officers and honorary members, and of delegates from subscribing associations, from the ten new divisional unions, and from the chief organisations of Scotland and Ireland.[558:3] The Council was composed of the president and trustees; of one of the whips, and the principal agent of the party; of twenty-one members elected by the Conference; and of the chairman and three representatives elected by each of the divisional unions.

The Ten Divisional Unions.

Within the National Union, which included only England and Wales, there were created ten new territorial divisions; and a provincial or divisional union consisted of all the members of the National Union, whether associations or individuals, within that division. It had its annual meeting corresponding to the Conference, and its council.[559:1] In fact, it was intended to be a miniature of the National Union itself, with similar structure and functions.

The mechanism of the National Union, and its subordinate branches, looks formidable; but it has not proved in practice so complex as it appears. The principal change was the creation of the provincial or divisional unions, which were interposed between the local associations and the central Conference and Council. The object in creating them was said to be the development of local effort as essential to the success of the party. Representation, it was pointed out, thus passed by graduated steps from the individual elector, through the branch or district associations and clubs, and through the central associations in each constituency to the provincial councils, to be summed up in the Conference and Council of the whole Union.[559:2] Perhaps the words "strained" or "filtered" would, better than "passed," have signified the real intention, for the divisional unions were designed as a safeguard against popular caprice and personal ambition. They were expected to act like water-tight compartments, as it was believed that all ten divisions would not go mad at once, and that any man would find it very hard to capture enough of them, one at a time, to control the Union. They did not, however, develop any vigorous life of their own, and have not had corporate solidity enough to maintain separate deliberative bodies. The annual meetings have been little more than an occasion for an address by the president. In short, the divisions did not turn out to be of much consequence as a basis for representative party gatherings.

Concentration of Power.

Although the divisions did not prove important from a deliberative point of view, they have had a very distinct value for administrative purposes, and have been distinctly convenient as districts for the spread of Conservative doctrines. Moreover, they have furnished a means for controlling the party from headquarters, and a channel through which it could be kept in touch with the whip's office. This was darkly hinted at when, on behalf of the committee that framed the new rules, a hope was expressed that "In your local associations, in the provincial unions, and in the National Union, and with the help also of the principal whip and the principal agent of the party, you will have a chain of assistance, experience and authority, which will bind together our party." One of the whips and the principal agent of the party were, indeed, given seats ex officio not only upon the Council of the National Union itself, but both upon the Council and the Executive Committee of each of its divisions. This was, of course, part of the "chain of assistance, experience and authority which will bind together our party."

Another provision in the rules relating to the divisional unions has also proved important in this respect. It is one that contemplated the employment as divisional secretary of a sub-agent of the central office without cost. By doing this the division saved both salary and rent; while the principal agent, who represented the leaders and the whips, had in the secretary an agent selected and paid by him. The relation was the more useful because the habit of changing every year the president of the divisional union, and the chairman of its council, prevented any one from acquiring a large influence, except the secretary, who was permanent. The arrangement was made in most of the divisions. Even where it was not, the secretary acted as though he were a subordinate of Captain Middleton, and being in constant communication with the local agents, he could give information about political matters throughout his division, thus keeping the principal agent in touch with the whole organisation of the party. Personally popular and tactful, Captain Middleton was enabled by his relation to the divisional agents, by close coöperation with the National Union, with the Conservative clubs, and with other ancillary bodies, to draw all the threads of the Conservative organisation into his office without provoking jealousy, or appearing to exert more power than naturally belonged to his office. The result was that while he held the place of principal agent the Conservative organisation was a highly efficient administrative machine, working in perfect harmony with the leaders.

Resolutions on Political Questions