The Government of England Part 55

Their work is essential to success, but they have no hope of promotion beyond their own grade. Their position is perfectly well understood, and they tend to surround it with professional safeguards and supports.

[Sidenote: Liberal Agents in Scotland.]

In Scotland political a.s.sociations with paid agents have developed more slowly than in England; partly because a great deal of the work connected with registration, which falls upon the party agents in England, is done by the public authorities north of the Tweed; and partly because it was the old Scotch habit to have election business, like everything else, conducted for the candidate by his regular attorney. The result is that although there are many Liberal a.s.sociations in Scotland, and the agents have tended to become a cla.s.s so far as to form a society among themselves, they have as a rule much less work to do than in England, and are still usually paid almost entirely out of the candidate's own pocket. Hence, when he is defeated, and gives up the fight, the const.i.tuency is apt to lose its agent altogether, and become derelict.

[Sidenote: Conservative Local Organisations.]

Contrary to the prevailing opinion, the Conservatives have, in the matter of party organisation, been more than once the first in the field; and although their machinery has neither been so democratic nor attracted so much attention as that of the Liberals, it has been on the whole more effective. The Reform Act of 1832 was no sooner pa.s.sed than they began energetically to form registration societies; and the extension of the borough franchise in 1867 brought a renewed activity.

They tried at once to enlist the interest, and win the support, of the workingmen who had been made voters in large numbers. At the general election of the following year they worked in vain, but in a short time they succeeded so well, that at the next election, in 1874, they obtained a majority in the House of Commons for the first time since 1841. Their victory was, indeed, commonly attributed to their superior organisation, a fact which gave a powerful incentive to the adoption by their rivals of Mr. Chamberlain's plan for a National Liberal Federation.

[Sidenote: Their Growth after 1867.]

Conservative a.s.sociations of a modern type had, indeed, been formed in some places long before 1867,[484:1] but the Act of that year gave a new and vigorous impulse. It had hardly been enacted when local a.s.sociations, largely composed of workingmen, sprang up, especially in the manufacturing districts of the north. Some of them were very large, the one at Bradford, for example, had, by 1872, twenty-five hundred members, and was believed to have caused the change in the politics of the place.[485:1] The a.s.sociations increased rapidly in number. In 1871 there were two hundred and eighty-nine of them; in 1872, three hundred and forty-eight; in 1873, four hundred and seven; in 1874, four hundred and forty-seven; in 1875, four hundred and seventy-two, besides two hundred and twenty-eight branch a.s.sociations; and in 1876 the number of Conservative a.s.sociations of every kind in England and Wales was nearly eight hundred.[485:2] A considerable part of them were composed almost entirely of the artisan cla.s.s. Many societies had, indeed, been organised under the name of Conservative Working Men's a.s.sociations, and these had set up a separate national union among themselves.

[Sidenote: They Become Representative.]

The a.s.sociations formed at this time seem to have been voluntary bodies without a representative character, and in fact some of them were turned into clubs, in order to make them more attractive, or, according to the expression then used, to enable the members to obtain recreation as well as knowledge. But if the new Conservative a.s.sociations were unlike the Birmingham Caucus, the size of their membership made them also very unlike the old registration societies. The object was not now merely to see that the faithful were properly registered, but to recruit supporters, stimulate enthusiasm, and discipline a fighting force among the ma.s.ses of the people. The Conservatives are more easily led by authority than the Liberals, but the time was at hand when even among them more democratic forms were needed. After Mr. Gladstone's victory at the elections of 1880 a cry was again heard that the result was due to better organisation; in this case to the Birmingham Caucus, and curiously enough to the paid agents which it employed.[486:1] The movement among the Conservatives towards more popular forms of party machinery began with the a.s.sociations in the large towns, which felt keenly the compet.i.tion of the Liberal hundreds with their closely knit fabric of representative committees based on open meetings in the wards.

In these places the Conservatives copied the organisation of their rivals, and thence the fashion spread gradually over the country, receiving an additional impetus in 1887, when the National Union of Conservative a.s.sociations was itself remodelled upon a wider basis, with a series of representative councils.

[Sidenote: Existing Conservative Local Organisations.]

Like the National Liberal Federation, the Conservative central office has issued draft rules to serve as models for local a.s.sociations, and they may be regarded as typical. In the case of a borough the ward polling district, or such other subdivision as shall be found convenient, is suggested as the primary unit. In each of these there is to be a branch a.s.sociation, composed of all the Conservatives in the district who subscribe not less than one shilling to its funds. The branch a.s.sociation, at a ma.s.s meeting of its members, is to elect a president, a chairman, an honorary secretary and a treasurer, a committee to manage its affairs, and representatives to the central committee for the borough, in the proportion of one for every two hundred voters upon the parliamentary register. The central a.s.sociation for the whole borough is to consist of the members of the various branches. It is to hold general meetings for the choice of its officers; but it is to be managed by a central committee composed of the officers and representatives of the branch a.s.sociations, together with the officers of any Conservative clubs in the borough, and representatives of the local Habitations of the Primrose League. This committee, being large, is authorised to delegate any of its powers to an executive committee, and other sub-committees, subject to ratification of their acts. In order to stimulate the necessary subscriptions, the rules provide, in accordance with a common Conservative practice, that all members who contribute not less than one guinea a year shall be styled Vice-President; but in this case they are given no power, and the t.i.tle is their sole reward. The model rules for the parliamentary division of a county are framed upon the same lines, except that, when possible, a.s.sociations are to be organised in each parish. This involves an additional wheel in the machinery, the parochial meetings electing the committee for the polling district; and the district meeting, which consists of all the members of the parish a.s.sociations, electing the central committee for the parliamentary division.

[Sidenote: A Complex Type--Bradford.]

As in the case of the Liberal party, the model rules issued by the central office are merely typical, and although the general principles of organisation in the different local bodies are the same, there are great variations in detail. The Conservative a.s.sociation of Bradford may be taken as a good example of the more complex forms. Here the geographical elements are the polling district, the ward, the three parliamentary divisions, and the borough as a whole; the committees in each of these being constructed by a combination of direct election, and of representation both of the smaller units and of clubs. Thus the polling district has a committee, composed of all the members of the party therein, which elects, besides its own officers, ten representatives to the ward a.s.sociation--of whom three are designated to serve on the ward executive--five representatives to the council for the parliamentary division, and two to the general council for the borough.

The ward a.s.sociation consists of the officers and representatives of the polling districts; of representatives of any const.i.tutional a.s.sociations within the ward; and of subscribers to the amount of five shillings a year. It has an executive committee composed of the officers for the ward, and of the officers and representatives of the polling districts.

The chief business of the ward a.s.sociation is registration, and the nomination and election of candidates for the city council, the munic.i.p.al contests in Bradford being conducted on party lines. The divisional a.s.sociation consists of all persons who subscribe a shilling, or are enrolled as members of a polling district committee. Its business is conducted by a council containing the officers and five other members chosen at the annual ma.s.s meeting, the officers of ward and polling district a.s.sociations, and representatives both from those a.s.sociations, and from Conservative clubs. It acts, however, largely by means of sub-committees.

Finally the general a.s.sociation for the borough, with a similar qualification for membership, has, besides the ordinary officers, a long list of vice-chairmen, which includes all persons subscribing two pounds a year to its funds. The general council is composed of all these officers, of representatives from the divisions, polling districts and clubs, and in addition, of all men who pay one guinea a year--another instance of giving special privileges to the larger subscribers. The executive for the borough, styled the Finance and General Purposes Committee, consists of thirty members elected by the council; of representatives of the two leading clubs; of officers of the divisional a.s.sociations; and of all the officers of the central a.s.sociation, including the vice-chairmen. Now, in 1900, the vice-chairmen formed a majority of the committee, and many of them must have acquired the position by reason of subscriptions to the funds. This is important not only because the management of the a.s.sociation as a whole is really in the hands of the General Purposes Committee, but especially because the rules require the divisional councils to invite that committee to be present for consultation at the meetings held for the selection of parliamentary candidates. The privilege so conferred is, however, merely potential, for it is almost universally the case in Conservative a.s.sociations that the nomination of candidates for the House of Commons is arranged by the executive body or by a sub-committee thereof, and is simply accepted by the council.

[Sidenote: Extent of Conservative a.s.sociations.]

[Sidenote: The Paid Agents.]

Conservative a.s.sociations of a popular character, with subordinate branches more or less fully developed, now exist in almost every parliamentary const.i.tuency in England and Wales, and in all but a few of those in Scotland, the central office of the party being engaged in a ceaseless effort to perfect the organisation wherever it remains incomplete. Unless in a very feeble state, the a.s.sociations have their professional secretaries or agents, who are paid, on the average, a little higher salaries than their Liberal rivals, and are, therefore, it is claimed, on the whole, a better grade of men. The Conservative, like the Liberal, agents have societies of their own; a mutual benevolent society, and a national a.s.sociation with subordinate branches which admits members only on examination.

[Sidenote: Similarity of Liberal and Conservative a.s.sociations.]

At the present day local party organisation has been brought to a high state of efficiency in England, each party having covered almost the whole of Great Britain with a tessellated pavement of a.s.sociations.

These are especially complete in the boroughs, for on both sides the machinery in the rural parts of counties is less fully developed. The Conservatives have done their work a little more thoroughly than the Liberals, because with more rich men in their ranks they have larger resources in money, and can maintain paid agents in more const.i.tuencies where the chance of success is small. In general character the local a.s.sociations of the two parties do not differ greatly, the most obvious contrasts being the common use of cooptation by the Liberals, and the special privileges accorded to the larger subscribers among the Conservatives. But neither of these things is universal, and in their essential features the local organisations of both parties are framed upon the same general principles. Both of them are democratic in form, admitting all adherents of the party, or all who pay a small subscription. Both are in form representative, the affairs of the a.s.sociations being managed by a series of councils and committees, composed mainly of delegates whose authority is based ultimately upon ma.s.s meetings of all the members.

FOOTNOTES:

[466:1] Bulwer, "Life of Palmerston," I., 23-24.

[466:2] _Cf._ Wallas, "Life of Francis Place," Chs. ii., v.

[467:1] By 1837 Conservative registration societies had become common throughout the country. (Publications of the National Union of Conservative a.s.sociations, 1868, No. 4.)

By far the best, and in fact the only comprehensive, work on the party organisations in Great Britain is Ostrogorski's "Democracy and the Organisation of Political Parties," Vol. I. His description is very complete, but, while accurate, is likely to mislead a superficial reader, who might easily get an impression that the extreme cases were typical, although the writer takes pains not to say so. Mr. Bryce's caution in the preface should, therefore, be borne in mind. Mr.

Ostrogorski appears to look on democracy, and on party machinery in particular, from the outside, as something artificial and weird, rather than the natural result of human conduct under the existing conditions.

He does not seem to put himself quite in the shoes of Mr. Chamberlain, Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Schnadhorst, Lord Randolph Churchill, Lord Salisbury, Captain Middleton, or other men who have come into contact with the party organisations, and ask what he himself would, or might, have done in the same position. Hence his a.n.a.lysis has a slight air of unreality, and does not wholly approve itself as a study of ordinary political motives. But apart from this criticism, the work is admirably done, and is an invaluable contribution to political science.

[468:1] Ostrogorski, I., 156-58.

[469:1] Trevelyan, "A Few Remarks on Mr. Hare's Scheme of Representation." _Macmillan_, April, 1862; Bagehot, "English Const.i.tution," 1 Ed., 188-94; and see Hans. 3 Ser. CLx.x.xIX., 458. See also Leslie Stephen, "The Value of Political Machinery," _Fortnightly_, December, 1875.

[469:2] The provision was applied also to the county const.i.tuencies returning three members, which some of them did under the Reform Act of 1832. In the city of London, which had four seats, an elector was to vote for only three candidates. 30-31 Vic., c. 102, ---- 9, 10, 18.

[470:1] Ostrogorski, "The Introduction of the Caucus into England,"

_Political Science Quarterly_, June, 1893, p. 287. Langford, "Modern Birmingham," II., 362-63.

[472:1] H. W. Crosskey, "The Liberal a.s.sociation--the 600--of Birmingham." _Macmillan_, February, 1877.

[472:2] H. W. Crosskey, _ut supra_.

[473:1] Ostrogorski, I., 166-67.

[474:1] H. W. Crosskey, "The Birmingham Liberal a.s.sociation and its a.s.sailants." _Macmillan_, December, 1878.

[475:1] _Cf._ Chamberlain, "The Caucus." _Fortnightly_, November, 1878; and the two articles by H. W. Crosskey already cited.

[475:2] 38-39 Vic., c. 36.

[477:1] H. W. Crosskey. _Macmillan_, December, 1878.

[477:2] Proc. Ann. Meeting, 1888, p. 14.

[478:1] _Cf._ Ostrogorski, "Democracy," I., Part III., Ch. i., Ser.

viii.

[484:1] In Liverpool, for example, a Conservative a.s.sociation originally formed in 1832, was replaced in 1848 by a new Const.i.tutional a.s.sociation upon a broader foundation. Among the objects the latter aimed "To promote by all legal means the Election of Members of Parliament for the Borough who subscribe to, and uphold the principles of the a.s.sociation.

. . . To promote by all legal means the Election of such Candidates for the Town Council as are Members of this a.s.sociation." It contained at the outset a couple of hundred members; and it had in part a representative character with the wards as a basis, for its affairs were managed by a general committee, composed of thirty members chosen by the a.s.sociation, together with the chairman and secretary of each ward committee _ex officio_. (Fiftieth Rep. Liverpool Const. a.s.soc., 1898.)

[485:1] Speech of Mr. Taylor, in the Report of the Conference of the National Union in 1872.

[485:2] Reports of Council at Conferences of the National Union in 1875 and 1876.

[486:1] In his remarks at the Conference in 1880, the Chairman of the Council of the National Union of Conservative a.s.sociations said: "It was not at all satisfactory to find that in a number of const.i.tuencies gentlemen who practically knew nothing of election matters undertook the management merely as a professional duty in their capacity as lawyers. .

. . The Birmingham Radicals had made a point for many years of training a number of men to election work, and of giving them experience by employing them in munic.i.p.al contests, and he recommended their example to the attention of the meeting." Report of the Conference of 1880.

CHAPTER XXVIII

ACTION OF LOCAL ORGANISATIONS