The Balfour Mission , also referred to as the Balfour Visit , was a formal diplomatic visit to the United States by the British Government during World War I , shortly after the United States declaration of war on Germany (1917) .
149-459: The mission's purpose was to promote wartime cooperation, and to assess the war-readiness of Britain's new partner. British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour , President Woodrow Wilson and Wilson's chief advisor, Colonel House , had a meeting that discussed the secret treaties which bound Britain and France to Italy and others. Members of the delegation met with many senior leaders in the national government, finance, industry and politics, to explain
298-543: A Land Bill and opposed Chief Secretary William Edward Forster 's tactics of lethal force and mass imprisonment. In April 1881, Gladstone's government introduced the Irish Land Act, but Charles Stewart Parnell encouraged tenants to withhold rents. As a result, Parnell and other leaders were imprisoned in Kilmainham Gaol on 13 October 1881. Chamberlain supported the imprisonment and used it to bargain
447-522: A Liberal Unionist after opposing home rule for Ireland, and eventually was a leading imperialist in coalition with the Conservatives . He split both major British parties in the course of his career. He was the father, by different marriages, of Nobel Peace Prize winner Austen Chamberlain and of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain . Chamberlain made his career in Birmingham , first as
596-496: A Reform Act in 1867 , nearly doubling the electorate from 1,430,000 to 2,470,000. The Liberal Party won the 1868 election . Chamberlain was active in the election campaign, praising Bright and George Dixon , a Birmingham MP. Chamberlain was also influential in the local campaign in support of the Irish Disestablishment bill. In the autumn of 1869, a deputation headed by William Harris invited him to stand for
745-690: A Second Home Rule Bill in February 1893. Although the Bill passed the House of Commons, the Lords rejected Home Rule by a huge margin. With his party divided, Gladstone prepared to dissolve Parliament on the issue of the House of Lords' veto, but was compelled to resign in March 1894 by his colleagues. He was replaced by Lord Rosebery , who neglected the topic of Home Rule. Chamberlain continued to form alliances with
894-614: A "monopoliser and a dictator" while the Liberals had campaigned against their High church Tory opponents with the slogan "The People above the Priests". The city's municipal administration was notably lax with regards to public works and many urban dwellers lived in conditions of great poverty. As mayor, Chamberlain promoted many civic improvements, promising the city would be "parked, paved, assized, marketed, gas & watered and 'improved'". The Birmingham Gas Light and Coke Company and
1043-482: A Board of Trade Bankruptcy Department for inquiring into failed business deals and subjecting patents to Board of Trade supervision. Chamberlain also sought to end the practice of over-insuring coffin ships , but despite endorsements by Tory Democrats Lord Randolph Churchill and John Eldon Gorst , the government was unwilling to grant Chamberlain its full support and the Bill was withdrawn in July 1884. As President of
1192-775: A bloc of MPs based in and around Birmingham. From the 1895 general election the Liberal Unionists were in coalition with the Conservative Party , under Chamberlain's former opponent Lord Salisbury. In that government Chamberlain promoted the Workmen's Compensation Act 1897 . He was Secretary of State for the Colonies , promoting a variety of schemes to build up the British Empire in Asia, Africa, and
1341-437: A combined sum of £1,350,000, creating Birmingham Corporation Water Department , having declared to a House of Commons Committee that "We have not the slightest intention of making profit... We shall get our profit indirectly in the comfort of the town and in the health of the inhabitants.” Despite this noticeable executive action, Chamberlain was mistrustful of central authority and bureaucracy, preferring to give local communities
1490-413: A convenient cover for his disinclination to marry; the matter cannot be conclusively proven. In later years mediums claimed to pass on messages from her – see the " Cross-Correspondences ". Balfour remained a lifelong bachelor. Margot Tennant (later Margot Asquith) wished to marry him, but Balfour said: "No, that is not so. I rather think of having a career of my own." His household
1639-471: A disagreeable irrelevance. Balfour developed a manner known to friends as the Balfourian manner . Harold Begbie , a journalist, attacked him for what Begbie considered Balfour's self-obsession: This Balfourian manner...an attitude of mind—an attitude of convinced superiority which insists in the first place on complete detachment from the enthusiasms of the human race, and in the second place on keeping
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#17327654005251788-466: A faithful supporter of his political ambitions and eased his acceptance into upper-class society in the second half of his career. They had no children. She survived Chamberlain, to later marry, in 1916, Anglican clergyman William Hartley Carnegie (1859–1936). Chamberlain became involved in Liberal politics, influenced by the strong radical and liberal traditions among Birmingham shoemakers and
1937-530: A knack for negotiation, a taste for intrigue, and care to avoid factionalism. Most importantly, he deepened his close ties with his uncle Lord Salisbury. He also maintained cordial relationships with Disraeli, Gladstone and other national leaders. Released from his duties as private secretary by the 1880 general election , he began to take more part in parliamentary affairs. He was for a time politically associated with Lord Randolph Churchill , Sir Henry Drummond Wolff and John Gorst . This quartet became known as
2086-543: A leader of the WSPU . Balfour argued that he was "not convinced the majority of women actually wanted the vote", in 1907. A rebuttal which meant extending the activist campaign for women's rights. He was reminded by Lytton of a speech he made in 1892, namely that this question "will arise again, menacing and ripe for resolution", she asked him to meet WSPU leader, Christabel Pankhurst, after a series of hunger strikes and suffering by imprisoned suffragettes in 1907. Balfour refused on
2235-484: A manufacturer of screws and then as a notable mayor of the city. He was a radical Liberal Party member and an opponent of the Elementary Education Act 1870 ( 33 & 34 Vict. c. 75) on the basis that it could result in subsidising Church of England schools with local ratepayers ' money. As a self-made businessman, he had never attended university and had contempt for the aristocracy. He entered
2384-731: A new road, ( Corporation Street ), through Birmingham's overcrowded slums. Overriding the protests of local landlords and the commissioner of the Local Government Board's inquiry into the scheme, Chamberlain gained the endorsement of the President of the Local Government Board , George Sclater-Booth . Chamberlain raised the funds for the programme, contributing £10,000 himself. However the Improvement Committee concluded that it would be too expensive to transfer slum-dwellers to municipally built accommodation, and so
2533-465: A number of Radical reforms as well. Between 1888 and 1889, democratic County councils were established. By 1891, measures for the provision of smallholdings had been made, and the free, compulsory education was extended to the entire country. Chamberlain wrote, "I have in the last five years seen more progress made with the practical application of my political programme than in all my previous life. I owe this result entirely to my former opponents, and all
2682-461: A partner with Joseph Nettlefold . During the business's most prosperous period it produced two-thirds of all metal screws made in England, and by the time of Chamberlain's retirement from business in 1874 it was exporting worldwide. In July 1861 Chamberlain married Harriet Kenrick, the daughter of holloware manufacturer Archibald Kenrick, of Berrow Court, Edgbaston , Birmingham ; they had met
2831-615: A political lightweight. In Parliament he resisted overtures to the Irish Parliamentary Party on Home Rule , which he saw as an expression of superficial or false Irish nationalism . Allied with Joseph Chamberlain 's Liberal Unionists , he encouraged Unionist activism in Ireland. Balfour also helped the poor by creating the Congested Districts Board for Ireland in 1890. Balfour downplayed
2980-577: A programme for European Jews to settle in Palestine. However, in 1905 he supported the Aliens Act 1905 , one of whose main objectives was to control and restrict Jewish immigration from Eastern Europe. The budget was certain to show a surplus and taxation could be remitted. Yet as events proved, it was the budget that would sow dissension, override other legislative concerns and signal a new political movement. Charles Thomson Ritchie 's remission of
3129-668: A public funeral was declined, and he was buried on 22 March beside members of his family at Whittingehame in a Church of Scotland service although he also belonged to the Church of England . By special remainder , his title passed to his brother Gerald. His obituaries in The Times , The Guardian and the Daily Herald did not mention the declaration for which he is most famous outside Britain. Early in Balfour's career he
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#17327654005253278-691: A referendum on food taxes), the Unionist peers split to allow the Parliament Act to pass the House of Lords, to prevent mass creation of Liberal peers by the new King, George V. The exhausted Balfour resigned as party leader after the crisis, and was succeeded in late 1911 by Bonar Law . Balfour remained important in the party, however, and when the Unionists joined Asquith 's coalition government in May 1915, Balfour succeeded Churchill as First Lord of
3427-698: A regular tennis player. Four years previously he had been the first president of the International Lawn Tennis Club of Great Britain. At the end of 1928, most of his teeth were removed and he suffered the unremitting circulatory trouble which ended his life. Before that, he had suffered occasional phlebitis and, by late 1929, he was immobilised by it. Following a visit from Chaim Weizmann, Balfour died at his brother Gerald's home, Fishers Hill House in Hook Heath, Woking , where he had lived since January 1929, on 19 March 1930. At his request
3576-456: A reputation as a philosopher. Balfour divided his time between politics and academic pursuits. Biographer Sydney Zebel suggested that Balfour continued to appear an amateur or dabbler in public affairs, devoid of ambition and indifferent to policy issues. However, in fact he actually made a dramatic transition to a deeply involved politician. His assets, according to Zebel, included a strong ambition that he kept hidden, shrewd political judgment,
3725-528: A series of Round Table Conferences to resolve the Liberal Party's Irish policy. Chamberlain hoped an accord would enable him to claim the Liberal leadership and influence over the Conservatives. Although a preliminary agreement was made concerning land purchase, Gladstone was unwilling to compromise further, and negotiations ended by March. In August 1887, Lord Salisbury invited Chamberlain to lead
3874-442: A strong government. This was dashed when Campbell-Bannerman faced down an attempt (" The Relugas Compact ") to "kick him upstairs" to the House of Lords. The Conservatives were defeated by the Liberals at the general election the following January (in terms of MPs, a Liberal landslide), with Balfour losing his seat at Manchester East to Thomas Gardner Horridge , a solicitor and King's Counsel . Only 157 Conservatives were returned to
4023-687: A villain, shouting "Judas!" and "Traitor!" as he entered the House of Commons. Unable to associate decisively with either party, Chamberlain sought concerted action with a kindred spirit from the Conservative Party, Chancellor of the Exchequer Lord Randolph Churchill . In November 1886, Churchill announced his own programme at Dartford , borrowing much from Chamberlain's, including smallholdings for rural labourers and greater local government. The next month, Churchill resigned as Chancellor over military spending; when
4172-530: Is a great revising Chamber, the safeguard of liberty in the country." The issue was forced by the Liberals with Lloyd George's People's Budget , provoking the constitutional crisis that led to the Parliament Act 1911 , which limited the Lords to delaying bills for up to two years. After the Unionists lost the general elections of 1910 (despite softening the tariff reform policy with Balfour's promise of
4321-690: Is as much the duty of the State to see that the children are educated as to see that they are fed", and attributing the success of the US and Prussia to public education. The Birmingham Education League evolved into the National Education League , which held its first Conference in Birmingham in 1869 and proposed a school system funded by local rates and government grants, managed by local authorities subject to government inspection. By 1870,
4470-423: Is beautiful and distinguished––music, literature, philosophy, religious feeling and moral disinterestedness, aloof from all the greed and crying of common human nature. But a strange paradox as Prime Minister of a great empire! I doubt whether even foreign affairs interest him. For all economic and social questions I gather he has an utter loathing, while the machinery of government and administration would seem to him
4619-472: The 1885 general election he proposed the "Unauthorised Programme", which was not enacted, of benefits for newly enfranchised agricultural labourers, including the slogan promising "three acres and a cow". Chamberlain resigned from the Third Gladstone ministry in 1886 in opposition to Irish Home Rule . He helped to engineer a Liberal Party split and became a Liberal Unionist, a party which included
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4768-433: The Birmingham and Staffordshire Gas Light Company were locked in constant competition, in which the city's streets were continually dug up to lay mains. Chamberlain forcibly purchased the two companies on behalf of the borough for £1,953,050, even offering to purchase the companies himself if the ratepayers refused. In its first year of operations the new municipal gas scheme made a profit of £34,000. The city's water supply
4917-556: The Chief Secretary for Ireland , resigned because of illness and Salisbury appointed his nephew in his place. The selection was much criticised. It was received with contemptuous ridicule by the Irish Nationalists , for none suspected Balfour's immense strength of will, his debating power, his ability in attack and his still greater capacity to disregard criticism. Balfour surprised critics by ruthless enforcement of
5066-622: The Colonial Office and eventually appointed him President of the Local Government Board . Their personal relationship worsened after a dispute over the amount to be paid to Collings, Chamberlain's Parliamentary Secretary , although Chamberlain still hoped that he could alter or block Gladstone's Home Rule proposal in Cabinet and renew his scheme for National Councils, but the topic was never discussed. On 13 March 1886, Gladstone's proposals for Ireland were revealed. Chamberlain argued that
5215-709: The Committee of Imperial Defence , which provided better long-term coordinated planning between the Army and Navy. Austen Chamberlain said Britain would have been unprepared for the First World War without his Committee of Imperial Defence. He wrote, "It is impossible to overrate the services thus rendered by Balfour to the Country and Empire....[Without the CID] victory would have been impossible." Historians also praised
5364-626: The Crimes Act . The Mitchelstown Massacre occurred on 9 September 1887, when Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) members fired at a crowd protesting against the conviction under the Act of MP William O'Brien and another man. Three were killed by the RIC's gunfire. When Balfour defended the RIC in the Commons, O'Brien dubbed him "Bloody Balfour". His steady administration did much to dispel his reputation as
5513-581: The Entente Cordiale with France, an agreement that paved the way for improved relations between the two states and their predecessors. He cautiously embraced imperial preference as championed by Joseph Chamberlain , but resignations from the Cabinet over the abandonment of free trade left his party divided. He also suffered from public anger at the later stages of the Boer War (counter-insurgency warfare characterised as "methods of barbarism") and
5662-522: The Fortnightly Review , he coined the slogan of the "Four F's: Free Church, Free Schools, Free Land and Free Labour". In another article, "The Liberal Party and its Leaders", Chamberlain criticised Gladstone's leadership and advocated a more Radical direction for the party. In November 1873 the Liberal Party swept the municipal elections and Chamberlain was elected mayor of Birmingham. The Conservatives had denounced his Radicalism and called him
5811-632: The House of Commons at 39 years of age, relatively late in life compared to politicians from more privileged backgrounds. Rising to power through his influence with the Liberal grassroots organisation, he served as President of the Board of Trade in the Second Gladstone ministry (1880–85). At the time, Chamberlain was notable for his attacks on the Conservative leader Lord Salisbury , and in
5960-622: The House of Commons , Chamberlain began to organise the Radical MPs into a coherent parliamentary group, with the intent to displace Whig dominance of the Liberal Party. Early difficulties within Parliament led Chamberlain to favor a grassroots approach instead, organising local chapters as the foundation of an effective national movement. To gain footing for the Radicals, Chamberlain sought to close ranks with Gladstone to profit from
6109-506: The House of Lords ' powers, Salisbury remarked that "Mr. Chamberlain will return from his adventure with a broken head if nothing worse." In 1885, Chamberlain sought to "utterly destroy the Whigs, and have a Radical government before many years are out." To that end, Chamberlain and Sir Charles Dilke privately presented their resignations to Gladstone on 20 May, after the Cabinet had rejected Chamberlain's proposed Irish plan and his scheme for
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6258-513: The Land Law (Ireland) Act 1881 and this was expanded by the Conservatives in the land purchase scheme of 1885 . However the depression in agriculture kept prices low. Balfour's solution was to keep selling land and in 1887 lowering rents to match the lower prices, and protected more tenants against eviction by their landlords. Balfour greatly expanded the land sales. They culminated in the final Unionist land purchase programme of 1903, when Balfour
6407-591: The Programme and used the slogan " Three Acres and a Cow " to endorse the cause of the rural labourers, offering to make smallholdings available to them by using funds from local authorities. Chamberlain's campaign attracted large crowds and enthralled the young Ramsay MacDonald and David Lloyd George , but disturbed leading Liberals like George Goschen , who called it the "Unauthorised Programme". The Conservatives denounced Chamberlain as an anarchist, with some even comparing him to Dick Turpin . In October 1885, as
6556-703: The Second Afghan War , and the Anglo-Zulu War , he supported Disraeli's purchase of Suez Canal Company shares in November 1875. At this stage of his career, Chamberlain was eager to see the protection of British overseas interests but placed greater emphasis on a conception of justice in the pursuit of such interests. On 31 May 1877, the National Liberal Federation (NLF) was founded at Bingley Hall , with Gladstone offering
6705-668: The Town Council ; and in November he was elected to represent St. Paul's Ward. Chamberlain and Jesse Collings had been among the founders of the Birmingham Education League in 1867, which noted that of about 4.25 million children of school age, 2 million children, mostly in urban areas, did not attend school, with a further 1 million in uninspected schools. The government's aid to Church of England schools offended Nonconformist opinion. Chamberlain favoured free, secular, compulsory education, stating that "it
6854-694: The Treaty of London (1915) and the Treaty of Bucharest (1913) . Cecil Spring Rice , the British ambassador to the United States, stated that the mission had created "an entirely new atmosphere in Anglo- American relations". The travelling party included: Others in the party included: Arthur Balfour Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour , ( / ˈ b æ l f ər , - f ɔːr / , 25 July 1848 – 19 March 1930),
7003-903: The University of Cambridge , where he read moral sciences at Trinity College (1866–1869), graduating with a second-class honours degree. His younger brother was the Cambridge embryologist Francis Maitland Balfour (1851–1882). Balfour met his cousin May Lyttelton in 1870 when she was 19. After her two previous serious suitors had died, Balfour is said to have declared his love for her in December 1874. She died of typhus on Palm Sunday , 21 March 1875; Balfour arranged for an emerald ring to be buried in her coffin. Lavinia Talbot, May's older sister, believed that an engagement had been imminent, but her recollections of Balfour's distress (he
7152-524: The county of Haddington . In October 1922 he, with most of the Conservative leadership, resigned with Lloyd George's government following the Carlton Club meeting , a Conservative back-bench revolt against continuance of the coalition. Bonar Law became prime minister. Like many Coalition leaders, he did not hold office in the Conservative governments of 1922–1924 , but as an elder statesman, he
7301-499: The " Fourth Party " and gained notoriety for leader Lord Randolph Churchill's free criticism of Sir Stafford Northcote , Lord Cross and other prominent members of the Conservative "old gang". In 1885, Lord Salisbury appointed Balfour President of the Local Government Board ; the following year he became Secretary for Scotland with a seat in the cabinet. These offices, while offering few opportunities for distinction, were an apprenticeship. In early 1887, Sir Michael Hicks Beach ,
7450-424: The 1884 County Franchise Bill, Chamberlain famously declared that Salisbury was "himself the spokesman of a class — a class to which he himself belongs — who toil not neither do they spin ." In response, Salisbury branded Chamberlain a "Sicilian bandit" and Stafford Northcote called him " Jack Cade ". When Chamberlain suggested that he would march on London with thousands of Birmingham constituents to protest against
7599-414: The 1920s, and died in 1930, aged 81, having spent a vast inherited fortune. He never married. Balfour trained as a philosopher – he originated an argument against believing that human reason could determine truth – and was seen as having a detached attitude to life, epitomised by a remark attributed to him: "Nothing matters very much and few things matter at all." Arthur Balfour
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#17327654005257748-629: The 23-year-old daughter of United States Secretary of War William Crowninshield Endicott , while leading a British delegation to Washington, D.C., to resolve the Newfoundland fisheries dispute in 1887. He described her as "one of the brightest and most intelligent girls I have yet met." Before he left the United States in March 1888, Chamberlain proposed, and they married at St John's Episcopal Church in New York City, wearing white violets rather than Chamberlain's trademark orchid. Mary became
7897-588: The Admiralty . When Asquith's government collapsed in December 1916, Balfour, who seemed a potential successor to the premiership, became foreign secretary in Lloyd George's new administration, but not in the small War Cabinet, and was frequently left out of inner workings of government. Balfour's service as foreign secretary was notable for the Balfour Mission , a crucial alliance-building visit to
8046-469: The Anglo-French Convention (1904), which formed the basis of the Entente Cordiale with France that proved decisive in 1914. Balfour may have been personally sympathetic to extending suffrage, with his brother Gerald , Conservative MP for Leeds Central married to women's suffrage activist Constance Lytton 's sister Betty , but he accepted the strength of the political opposition to women's suffrage, as shown in correspondence with Christabel Pankhurst ,
8195-467: The Anglo-Irish landowners. The Education Act 1902 had a major long-term impact in modernising the school system in England and Wales and provided financial support for schools operated by the Church of England and by the Catholic Church. Nonconformists were outraged and mobilised their voters, but were unable to reverse it. In foreign and defence policy, he oversaw reform of British defence policy and supported Jackie Fisher 's naval innovations. He secured
8344-512: The Board of Trade, Chamberlain took a special interest in Ireland. Chamberlain strongly opposed the Irish Home Rule movement on the belief that home rule would lead to the eventual break-up of the empire; he declared, "I cannot admit that five millions of Irishmen have any greater right to govern themselves without regard to the rest of the United Kingdom than the five million inhabitants of the metropolis ". In an effort to quiet agitation in Ireland through appeasement, Chamberlain supported calls for
8493-430: The Board of Trade. Between 1880 and 1883, the government was preoccupied with Ireland, the Transvaal , and Egypt . Chamberlain introduced bills for the safer transportation of grain, for enabling municipal corporations to establish electricity supplies, and for ensuring a fairer system of payment for seamen. After 1883, Chamberlain was more productive and expanded the scope of his authority; he introduced bills establishing
8642-496: The British delegation to resolve a fisheries dispute between the United States and Newfoundland . The visit to the United States renewed his enthusiasm for politics and enhanced his standing with respect to Gladstone. Upon his return to Britain, Chamberlain and Radicalism experienced new political success. He extracted his supporters from the Liberal Party and created the Liberal Unionist Association in 1888, associated with his National Radical Union. The Salisbury ministry implemented
8791-502: The British positions. Other meetings dealt with the supply of munitions and other exports, and the proposed Balfour Declaration . France sent a separate mission at the same time, and these were followed later in 1917 by missions from Italy, Russia, Belgium and Japan, all of whom were invited to address the US Congress. The mission left England on 11 April and arrived in Washington, on 22 April, having landed in Halifax, Nova Scotia on 20 April. Balfour addressed both houses of Congress –
8940-427: The British treasury and used them for local improvements. Balfour's introduction of Chinese coolie labour in South Africa enabled the Liberals to counterattack, charging that his measures amounted to "Chinese slavery". Likerwise Liberals energised the Nonconformists when they attacked Balfour's Licensing Act 1904 which paid pub owners to close down. In the long run it did reduce the great oversupply of pubs, while in
9089-409: The Chief Secretaryship, but Gladstone appointed Sir George Otto Trevelyan instead. Nevertheless, Chamberlain maintained an interest in Irish affairs and proposed to the Cabinet an Irish Central Board that would have legislative powers for land, education and communications, which was rejected by the Whigs in Cabinet on 9 May 1885. Early in the Gladstone ministry, Chamberlain unsuccessfully suggested
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#17327654005259238-433: The Commons, at least two-thirds followers of Chamberlain, who chaired the Conservative MPs until Balfour won a by-election for a safe seat in the City of London . According to historian Robert Ensor , Balfour can be credited with achievement in five major areas: The Education Act lasted four decades and eventually was highly praised. Eugene Rasor states, "Balfour was credited and much praised from many perspectives with
9387-475: The Conservative mainstream rallied around Salisbury, Churchill's career was effectively ended, and so too was Chamberlain's hope of creating a powerful cross-party alliance of Radicals. The appointment of George Goschen to succeed Churchill isolated Chamberlain further and symbolised the strong relationship between non-Radical Liberal Unionists and the Conservatives. In January 1887, Chamberlain, Trevelyan, Harcourt, John Morley and Lord Herschell participated in
9536-446: The Conservatives and contemplated similar co-operation with the Whigs. His resignation was made public on 27 March 1886. Immediately after his resignation from Cabinet, Chamberlain launched a ferocious campaign against Gladstone's Irish proposals. His motivations combined imperial, domestic, and personal themes: imperial because the proposal threatened to weaken Parliament's control over the United Kingdom, domestic because they downplayed
9685-432: The Conservatives. Chamberlain became concerned about the threat of socialism during this period, although the Independent Labour Party had only one MP, Keir Hardie . He sought to divert collectivist energy toward Unionism and continued to propose radical reforms to the Conservatives. In his 1893 "Memorandum of a Programme for Social Reform", Chamberlain made a number of suggestions to Salisbury, including old age pensions,
9834-419: The Council . In 1921–22 he represented the British Empire at the Washington Naval Conference and during summer 1922 stood in for the foreign secretary, Lord Curzon , who was ill. He put forward a proposal for the international settlement of war debts and reparations (the Balfour Note ), but it was not accepted. On 5 May 1922, Balfour was created Earl of Balfour and Viscount Traprain, of Whittingehame , in
9983-416: The Federation and the techniques of American political machines , with Chamberlain serving the role of a political boss . Chamberlain joined the Liberal denunciations of the government's foreign policy in the 1880 general election , and Gladstone returned as prime minister. Despite having sat in Parliament for only four years, Chamberlain hoped for a Cabinet position, and told Sir William Harcourt that he
10132-446: The Home Rule crisis, the formation of the Ulster Volunteers and Irish Volunteers, and a period of growing nationalist and unionist radicalisation that culminated in the Easter rebellion of 1916 and the subsequent War of Independence. In 1886–1892 he became one of the most effective public speakers of the age. Impressive in matter rather than delivery, his speeches were logical and convincing, and delighted an ever-wider audience. On
10281-477: The House and First Lord of the Treasury. His management of the abortive education proposals of 1896 showed a disinclination for the drudgery of parliamentary management, yet he saw the passage of a bill providing Ireland with improved local government under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 and joined in debates on foreign and domestic questions between 1895 and 1900. During the illness of Lord Salisbury in 1898, and again in Salisbury's absence abroad, Balfour
10430-427: The House of Commons after his stroke in July 1906, but he was unable to make much headway against the huge Liberal majority in the Commons. An early attempt to score a debating triumph over the government, made in Balfour's usual abstruse, theoretical style, saw Campbell-Bannerman respond with: "Enough of this foolery," to the delight of his supporters. Balfour made the controversial decision, with Lord Lansdowne , to use
10579-411: The House of Representatives on 5 May and the Senate on 8 May – becoming the first British person to do so. Balfour, Colonel Edward M. House and Wilson dined at the White House on 30 April, after which Balfour recounted the details of the secret treaties regarding Italy and the Near East to Wilson. On 18 May, Balfour sent Wilson copies of the Sykes-Picot Agreement , the Allied Notes of March–April 1915,
10728-577: The League had more than one hundred branches, mostly in cities and peopled largely by men of trades unions and working men's organisations. William Edward Forster , vice-president of the Committee of Council on Education, proposed an Elementary Education Bill in January 1870. Nonconformists opposed the proposal to fund church schools as part of the national educational system through the rates. The NEL
10877-693: The Liberal Unionist Association, an ad hoc alliance to demonstrate the unity of anti-Home Rulers. Meanwhile, to distinguish himself from the Whigs, Chamberlain founded the National Radical Union to rival the NLF. During its second reading on 8 June, the Home Rule Bill was defeated by the combined opposition of Chamberlain radicals, Conservatives, and Whigs. In all, 93 Liberals voted against Gladstone. Parliament
11026-480: The Liberal Unionist leader of the 1880s) left Balfour's Cabinet weak. By 1905 few Unionist MPs were still free traders ( Winston Churchill crossed to the Liberals in 1904 when threatened with deselection at Oldham ), but Balfour's act had drained his authority within the government. Balfour resigned as prime minister in December 1905, hoping the Liberal leader Campbell-Bannerman would be unable to form
11175-671: The Member of Parliament for Manchester East . In spring 1878, he became private secretary to his uncle Lord Salisbury . He accompanied Salisbury (then Foreign Secretary) to the Congress of Berlin and gained his first experience in international politics in connection with the settlement of the Russo-Turkish conflict . At the same time he became known in the world of letters; the academic subtlety and literary achievement of his Defence of Philosophic Doubt (1879) suggested he might make
11324-556: The Prime Minister, H.H. Asquith in a 1911 delegation of the women's movements representing the Conservative and Unionist Women's Franchise Association but it was not until 1918 that (some) women were given the right to vote in elections in the United Kingdom, despite a forty-year campaign. After the general election of 1906 Balfour remained party leader, his position strengthened by Joseph Chamberlain's absence from
11473-637: The Radical programme, and personal because they weakened his own standing in the party. On 9 April, Chamberlain spoke against the Irish Home Rule Bill in its first reading. Chamberlain's chances of displacing Gladstone as party leader declined dramatically and in early May, the National Liberal Federation declared its loyalty to Gladstone. On 14 May, Chamberlain attended a meeting of Liberal Unionists , from which arose
11622-821: The US in April 1917, and the Balfour Declaration of 1917, a letter to Lord Rothschild affirming the government's support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine , then part of the Ottoman Empire . Balfour resigned as foreign secretary following the Versailles Conference in 1919, but continued in the government (and the Cabinet after normal peacetime political arrangements resumed) as Lord President of
11771-501: The United Kingdom or becoming independent. From 1891 he led the Conservative Party in the House of Commons, serving under his uncle, Lord Salisbury , whose government won large majorities in 1895 and 1900 . An esteemed debater, he was bored by the mundane tasks of party management. In July 1902, he succeeded his uncle as prime minister. In domestic policy he passed the Land Purchase (Ireland) Act 1903 , which bought out most of
11920-706: The West Indies. He had major responsibility for causing the Second Boer War (1899–1902) in South Africa and was the government minister most responsible for the war effort. He became a dominant figure in the Unionist Government's re-election at the "Khaki Election" in 1900 . In 1903, he resigned from the Cabinet to campaign for tariff reform (i.e. taxes on imports as opposed to the existing policy of free trade with no tariffs). He obtained
12069-472: The anti-Home Rule Whigs and Conservatives. While saying little about the topic publicly, Chamberlain privately damned Gladstone and Home Rule to colleagues, believing that maintaining the Conservatives in power for a further year would make the Irish question easier to settle. Chamberlain declined Gladstone's offer of the office of First Lord of the Admiralty ; Gladstone in turn rejected Chamberlain's request for
12218-480: The bill in the end but not for its progress to the Grand Committee, preventing it becoming law, and extending the activist campaigns as a result again. The following year Lytton and Annie Kenney in person after another reading of the Bill, but again it was not prioritised as government business. His sister-in-law Lady Betty Balfour spoke to Churchill that her brother was to speak for this policy, and also met
12367-405: The campaign came to a close, Chamberlain visited Gladstone at Hawarden Castle to reconcile their respective electoral programmes. The meeting, although good-natured, was largely unproductive, and Gladstone neglected to tell Chamberlain of his ongoing negotiations with Parnell over Irish Home Rule. Chamberlain was informed their existence by Henry Labouchere , but, did not press the issue, unsure of
12516-568: The city's improvement earned Chamberlain the allegiance of the so-called Birmingham caucus for the rest of his public career. His biographer states: Chamberlain was invited to stand for election as an MP by the Sheffield Reform Association, an offshoot of the Liberal Party in the city, soon after starting as mayor. Chamberlain's first Parliamentary campaign in 1874 was a fierce one; opponents accused him of republicanism and atheism and even threw dead cats at him on
12665-475: The compromises in the legislation, voted against the government, and the bill passed the House of Commons with support from the Conservatives. Chamberlain campaigned against the Act, and especially Clause 25, which gave school boards of England and Wales the power to pay the fees of poor children at voluntary schools, theoretically allowing them to fund church schools. The Education League stood in several by-elections against Liberal candidates who refused to support
12814-509: The contrary: Balfour's air of detachment was a pose. He was sincere in his conservatism, mistrusting radical political and social change and believing deeply in the Union with Ireland, the Empire and the superiority of the British race....Those who dismissed him as a languid dilettante were wide of the mark. As Chief Secretary for Ireland from 1887 to 1891 he manifested an unflinching commitment to
12963-502: The countryside dramatically declined as some 200,000 peasant proprietors owned about half the land in Ireland. However, the Irish Parliamentary Party recovered after its bitter post-Parnell split was healed and became the dominant political force in Ireland once again, eventually using its position as Westminster kingmaker to secure the passage of a Home Rule Act when the Liberals returned to power. This led in turn to
13112-523: The creation of National Councils in England, Scotland, and Wales. The resignations were not made public, but the opportunity came for Chamberlain to present his Radicalism to the country after the Gladstone budget failed on 8 June , triggering a new general election with a dramatically expanded, redistributed electorate. In July 1885, Chamberlain wrote the preface to the Radical Programme ,
13261-488: The death of W. H. Smith in 1891, Balfour became First Lord of the Treasury – the last in British history not to have been concurrently prime minister as well – and Leader of the House of Commons . After the fall of the government in 1892 he spent three years in opposition. When the Conservatives returned to power, in coalition with the Liberal Unionists, in 1895, Balfour again became Leader of
13410-433: The details of the accompanying Land Purchase Bill should be made known in order for a fair judgment on Home Rule. When Gladstone stated his intention to give Ireland a separate Parliament with full powers to deal with Irish affairs, Chamberlain resolved to resign and wrote to inform Gladstone of his decision two days later. In the meantime, Chamberlain consulted with Arthur Balfour over the possibility of concerted action with
13559-682: The dominions and the colonies, and produce a positive programme that would facilitate reelection. He was vehemently opposed by Conservative free traders who denounced the proposal as economically fallacious, and open to the charge of raising food prices in Britain. Balfour tried to forestall disruption by removing key ministers on each side, and offering a much narrower tariff programme. It was ingenious, but both sides rejected any compromise, and his party's chances for reelection were ruined. Historians generally praised Balfour's achievements in military and foreign policy. Cannon & Crowcroft 2015 stress
13708-565: The extension of the franchise; the Prime Minister deferred until 1884, when the Liberals proposed a Third Reform Bill which gave the vote to hundreds of thousands of rural labourers. Chamberlain and the Radicals campaigned to capture the new voters with public meetings, speeches and articles written in the Fortnightly Review . The Third Reform Act of 1884 was followed by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 , negotiated by Gladstone and Conservative leader Lord Salisbury . During debate on
13857-432: The factor of Irish nationalism, arguing that the real issues were economic. Regarding ownership and control of the land, he believed that once violence was suppressed and land was sold to the tenants, Irish nationalism would no longer threaten the unity of the United Kingdom. The slogan "to kill home rule with kindness" characterised Balfour's new policy toward Ireland. The Liberals had begun land sales to Irish tenants with
14006-533: The first behaves like and is a thorough gentleman. Of the other, it is better not to speak." The general election was dominated by Home Rule, and Chamberlain's campaign was both Radical and intensely patriotic. The Unionist alliance took 393 seats in the House of Commons and a comfortable majority. Chamberlain did not enter the Unionist government , aware of Conservative hostility and not wishing to alienate his Radical base. The Liberal mainstream cast Chamberlain as
14155-426: The first campaign handbook in British political history. It endorsed land reform , more direct taxation, free public education, the disestablishment of the Church of England , universal male suffrage, and greater protection for trade unions. Chamberlain drew inspiration from his friend Frederick Maxse 's 1873 pamphlet The Causes of Social Revolt . Chamberlain's proposal to separate free education for every child from
14304-649: The future Prime Minister Neville in 1869, Ida in 1870, Hilda in 1871 and Ethel in 1873. The teaching of these four children was taken on by their elder half sister, Beatrice, who was destined to make her mark as an educationalist. On 13 February 1875 Florence gave birth to their fifth child, but she and the child died within a day. Though a Unitarian during his lifetime, the experiences Chamberlain endured with losing both wives in childbirth resulted in him losing personal faith, rejecting religious creeds and not requiring religious adherence of any of his children. Chamberlain met his third wife, Mary Crowninshield Endicott,
14453-493: The grounds of her militancy. Christabel pleaded direct to meet Balfour as Conservative party leader, on their policy manifesto for the General Election of 1909, but he refused again as women's suffrage was "not a party question and his colleagues were divided on the matter". She tried and failed again to get his open support in parliament for women's cause in the 1910 private member's Conciliation Bill . He voted for
14602-409: The heavily Unionist House of Lords as a check on the political programme and legislation of the Liberal party in the Commons. Legislation was vetoed or altered by amendments between 1906 and 1909, leading David Lloyd George to remark that the Lords was "the right hon. Gentleman's poodle. It fetches and carries for him. It barks for him. It bites anybody that he sets it on to. And we are told that this
14751-621: The hope of glory he still possesses the means of Grace ." Balfour was not initially included in Baldwin's second government in 1924, but in 1925, he returned to the Cabinet, in place of the late Lord Curzon as Lord President of the Council , until the government ended in 1929. With 28 years of government service, Balfour had one of the longest ministerial careers in modern British politics, second only to Winston Churchill. Lord Balfour had generally good health until 1928 and remained until then
14900-520: The importance of the Anglo-French Entente of 1904, and the establishment of the Committee of Imperial Defence. Rasor points to twelve historians who have examined his key role in naval and military reforms. However, there was little political payback at the time. The local Conservative campaigns in 1906 focused mostly on a few domestic issues. Balfour gave strong support for Jackie Fisher 's naval reforms. Balfour created and chaired
15049-501: The importation of Chinese labour to South Africa ("Chinese slavery"). He resigned as prime minister in December 1905 and the following month the Conservatives suffered a landslide defeat at the 1906 election , in which he lost his own seat. He soon re-entered Parliament and continued to serve as Leader of the Opposition throughout the crisis over Lloyd George's 1909 budget , the narrow loss of two further General Elections in 1910, and
15198-441: The inaugural address, Chamberlain as its president, and Birmingham politicians playing a dominant part in its organisation. The NLF enhanced Chamberlain's party influence and gave him a national platform. Through the NLF, Chamberlain tightened party discipline and campaigning, enlisted new party members, organised political meetings and published posters and pamphlets. Contemporary commentators drew often-disparaging comparisons between
15347-544: The informal Kilmainham Treaty in 1882. Under the informal agreement, the government released Parnell in return for his co-operation in implementing the Land Act. Forster resigned, but his successor, Lord Frederick Cavendish , was murdered by members of the Irish National Invincibles on 6 May 1882, leaving the treaty almost useless. Many, including Parnell, believed that Chamberlain would be offered
15496-539: The insult, creating anxiety for the Liberals, he apologised publicly. Upon his election, Chamberlain resigned as mayor and was introduced to the House of Commons by John Bright and Joseph Cowen . On 4 August 1876, Chamberlain made his maiden speech during a debate on elementary schools, using his experience on the Birmingham School Board. He spoke for twenty minutes on the maintenance of clause 25 with Disraeli present. Almost immediately upon entry to
15645-564: The land was leased as a business proposition on a 75-year lease. Slum dwellers were eventually rehoused in the suburbs and the scheme cost local government £300,000. The death rate in Corporation Street decreased dramatically – from approximately 53 per 1,000 between 1873 and 1875 to 21 per 1,000 between 1879 and 1881. During Chamberlain's tenure of office, public and private money was used to construct libraries, municipal swimming pools and schools. Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
15794-488: The leader's increasing popularity and harness popular opposition to Disraeli's aggressive foreign policy, beginning with outrage over Ottoman atrocities in Bulgaria and the resulting Russo-Turkish War . Chamberlain joined Gladstone in arguing Disraeli's policy diverted attention from domestic reform, but unlike many Liberals, Chamberlain was not an anti-imperialist; although he berated the government for its Eastern policy,
15943-490: The long tradition of social action in Chamberlain's Unitarian church . There was pressure to redistribute parliamentary seats to cities and to enfranchise a greater proportion of urban men. In 1866, Earl Russell 's Liberal administration submitted a Reform Bill to create 400,000 new voters, but the bill was opposed by the " Adullamite " Liberals for disrupting the social order, and criticised by Radicals for not conceding
16092-561: The maintenance of British authority in the face of popular protest. He combined a strong emphasis on law and order with measures aimed at reforming the landowning system and developing Ireland's backward rural economy. Churchill compared Balfour to H. H. Asquith : "The difference between Balfour and Asquith is that Arthur is wicked and moral, while Asquith is good and immoral." Balfour said of himself, "I am more or less happy when being praised, not very comfortable when being abused, but I have moments of uneasiness when being explained." Balfour
16241-498: The opposition has come from my former friends." In the 1892 general election , Gladstone returned to power with a Liberal-Irish Nationalist coalition. The Liberal Unionists did well in Birmingham and made gains in the neighbouring Black Country , and Chamberlain's son Austen entered the House of Commons unopposed for East Worcestershire . However, the Liberal Unionists were reduced to 47 seats, falling behind in an age of well-organized mass national politics, and Chamberlain's standing
16390-575: The passage of the Parliament Act 1911 . He resigned as party leader in 1911. Balfour returned as First Lord of the Admiralty in Asquith's Coalition Government (1915–1916). In December 1916, he became foreign secretary in David Lloyd George 's coalition. He was frequently left out of the inner workings of foreign policy, although the Balfour Declaration on a Jewish homeland bore his name. He continued to serve in senior positions throughout
16539-641: The political weather". Chamberlain was born on Camberwell Grove in Camberwell to Joseph Chamberlain (1796–1874), a successful shoe manufacturer, and Caroline (1806–1875), daughter of cheese (formerly beer) merchant Henry Harben. His younger brother was Richard Chamberlain , later also a Liberal politician. Raised at Highbury , a prosperous suburb of North London, he was educated at University College School 1850–1852, excelling academically and gaining prizes in French and mathematics. The elder Chamberlain
16688-448: The precise nature of Gladstone's offer. The Liberals won a plurality in November 1885 but fell just short of a majority against the Conservatives. The Irish Nationalists held the balance of power between the two parties. On 17 December, Herbert Gladstone revealed that his father, needing Nationalist support, was prepared to implement Home Rule. At first, Chamberlain was reluctant to anger his Radical followers by joining forces with
16837-624: The previous year. Their daughter, Beatrice Chamberlain , was born in May 1862. Harriet, who had had a premonition that she would die in childbirth, became ill two days after the birth of their son, Austen , in October 1863, and died three days later. Chamberlain devoted himself to business while the children were brought up by their maternal grandparents. In 1868 Chamberlain married Harriet's cousin Florence Kenrick, daughter of Timothy Kenrick. Chamberlain and Florence had four children:
16986-479: The provision of home loans to the working class, an amendment to the Artisans' and Labourers' Dwellings Improvement Act 1875 to encourage street improvements, compensation for industrial accidents, reduced train fares for workers, tighter border controls, and shorter working hours. Salisbury was guardedly sympathetic. Chamberlain also wrote an unpublished 1895 play, The Game of Politics , characterising socialists as
17135-415: The religious question was rejected by groups on all sides, including the NLF, Nonconformists, Catholics and more generally, taxpayers. The Programme earned the scorn of Whig Liberals and Conservatives alike. Chamberlain began his election campaign at Hull on 5 August, in front of large posters declaring him to be "your coming Prime Minister." Until the campaign's end in October, he denounced opponents of
17284-422: The repeal of Clause 25. In 1873, a Liberal majority was elected to the Birmingham School Board, with Chamberlain as chairman. Eventually, a compromise was reached with the church component of the school board agreeing to make payments from rate-payer's money only to schools associated with industrial education. Chamberlain espoused enfranchisement of rural workers and a lower cost of land. In an article written for
17433-511: The responsibility to act on their own initiative. In July 1875 Chamberlain tabled an improvement plan involving slum clearance in Birmingham's city centre. Chamberlain had been consulted by the Home Secretary , Richard Assheton Cross , during the preparation of the Artisans' and Labourers' Dwellings Improvement Act 1875 , during Disraeli's social improvement programme. Chamberlain bought 50 acres (200,000 m ) of property to build
17582-423: The rift grew in the Unionist ranks. Tariff reform was popular with Unionist supporters, but the threat of higher prices for food imports made the policy an electoral albatross. Hoping to split the difference between the free traders and tariff reformers in his cabinet and party, Balfour favoured retaliatory tariffs to punish others who had tariffs against the British, in the hope of encouraging global free trade. This
17731-432: The secret ballot or household suffrage. The bill was defeated and the government fell. Chamberlain was one of the 250,000, including the mayor, who marched for Reform in Birmingham on 27 August 1866; he recalled that "men poured into the hall, black as they were from the factories...the people were packed together like herrings" to listen to a speech by John Bright . Lord Derby 's minority Conservative administration passed
17880-414: The shilling import-duty on corn led to Joseph Chamberlain 's crusade in favour of tariff reform. These were taxes on imported goods with trade preference given to the Empire, to protect British industry from competition, strengthen the Empire in the face of growing German and American economic power, and provide revenue, other than raising taxes, for the social welfare legislation. As the session proceeded,
18029-415: The short run Balfour's party was hurt. Balfour failed to solve his greatest political challenge – the debate over tariffs that ripped his party apart. Chamberlain proposed to turn the Empire into a closed trade bloc protected by high tariffs against imports from Germany and the United States. He argued that tariff reform would revive a flagging British economy, strengthen imperial ties with
18178-509: The side of votes was obvious and deterrent....Public money was thus made available for the first time to ensure properly paid teachers and a standardised level of efficiency for all children alike [including the Anglican and Catholic schools]. For most of the 19th century, the very powerful political and economic position of the Church of Ireland (Anglican) landowners opposed the political aspirations of Irish nationalists. Balfour's solution
18327-561: The speaking platform. Chamberlain came in third—a poor result for a leading urban Radical—and rejected the possibility of standing in Sheffield again. Instead, he stood unopposed for a Birmingham constituency by-election in 1876, after George Dixon resigned. Following his nomination, Chamberlain denounced Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli as "a man who never told the truth except by accident." After Chamberlain came under heavy attack for
18476-487: The success [of the 1902 education act]. His commitment to education was fundamental and strong." At the time it hurt Balfour because the Liberal party used it to rally their Noncomformist supporters. Ensor said the Act ranked: among the two or three greatest constructive measures of the twentieth century....[He did not write it] but no statesman less dominated than Balfour was by the concept of national efficiency would have taken it up and carried it through, since its cost on
18625-465: The support of most Unionist MPs for this stance, but the Unionists suffered a landslide defeat at the 1906 general election . Shortly after public celebrations of his 70th birthday in Birmingham, he was disabled by a stroke, ending his public career. Despite never becoming Prime Minister, he was one of the most important British politicians of his day, as well as a renowned orator and municipal reformer. Historian David Nicholls notes that his personality
18774-484: The suppression of obstruction, yet there was a slight revival of the criticisms of 1896. With Lord Salisbury's resignation on 11 July 1902, Balfour succeeded him as prime minister, with the approval of all the Unionist party. The new prime minister came into power practically at the same moment as the coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra and the end of the South African War . The Liberal party
18923-431: The vulgar world at arm's length....To Mr. Arthur Balfour this studied attitude of aloofness has been fatal, both to his character and to his career. He has said nothing, written nothing, done nothing, which lives in the heart of his countrymen....the charming, gracious, and cultured Mr. Balfour is the most egotistical of men, and a man who would make almost any sacrifice to remain in office. However, Graham Goodlad argued to
19072-562: Was "staggered") were not written down until thirty years later. Historian R. J. Q. Adams points out that May's letters discuss her love life in detail, but contain no evidence that she was in love with Balfour, nor that he had spoken to her of marriage. He visited her only once during her serious three-month illness, and was soon accepting social invitations again within a month of her death. Adams suggests that, although he may simply have been too shy to express his feelings fully, Balfour may also have encouraged tales of his youthful tragedy as
19221-729: Was a British statesman and Conservative Party politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. As foreign secretary in the Lloyd George ministry , he issued the Balfour Declaration of 1917 on behalf of the cabinet, which supported a "home for the Jewish people" in Palestine . Entering Parliament in 1874 , Balfour achieved prominence as Chief Secretary for Ireland , in which position he suppressed agrarian unrest whilst taking measures against absentee landlords . He opposed Irish Home Rule , saying there could be no half-way house between Ireland remaining within
19370-498: Was a sister of the 3rd Marquess , the future prime minister. Arthur's godfather was the Duke of Wellington , after whom he was named. He was the eldest son, third of eight children, and had four brothers and three sisters. Arthur Balfour was educated at Grange Preparatory School at Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire (1859–1861), and Eton College (1861–1866), where he studied with the influential master, William Johnson Cory . He then went up to
19519-468: Was accordingly weakened. Gladstone made no effort to reunite with Chamberlain, and the Liberal Unionists drew closer to the Conservatives. When Hartington took his seat in the House of Lords as the Duke of Devonshire, Chamberlain assumed leadership of the Liberal Unionists in the House of Commons, beginning a productive relationship with Arthur Balfour, Conservative leader in the Commons. Gladstone introduced
19668-526: Was angered by the absence of school commissions or of free, compulsory education. Chamberlain arranged for a delegation of 400 branch members and 46 MPs to visit the prime minister William Ewart Gladstone at 10 Downing Street on 9 March 1870, the first time the two men had met. Chamberlain impressed the Prime Minister with his lucid speech, and during the bill's second reading Gladstone agreed to make amendments that removed church schools from rate-payer control and granted them funding. Liberal MPs, exasperated at
19817-480: Was born at Whittingehame House , East Lothian, Scotland, the eldest son of James Maitland Balfour and Lady Blanche Gascoyne-Cecil. His father was a Scottish MP, as was his grandfather James ; his mother, a member of the Cecil family descended from Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury , was the daughter of the 2nd Marquess of Salisbury and his first wife, Mary Frances Gascoyne (born 1802; m. 1821; died 1839), and she
19966-448: Was considered a danger to public health – approximately half of the city's population was dependent on well water, much of which was polluted by sewage. Piped water was supplied on only three days per week, compelling the use of well water and water carts for the rest of the week. Deploring the rising death rate from contagious diseases in the poorest parts of the city, in January 1876 Chamberlain forcibly purchased Birmingham's waterworks for
20115-646: Was consulted by the King in the choice of Stanley Baldwin as Bonar Law's successor as Conservative leader in May 1923. His advice was strongly in favour of Baldwin, ostensibly due to Baldwin's being an MP but in reality motivated by his personal dislike of Curzon. Later that evening, he met a mutual friend who asked 'Will dear George be chosen?' to which he replied with "feline Balfourian satisfaction," "No, dear George will not." His hostess replied, "Oh, I am so sorry to hear that. He will be terribly disappointed." Balfour retorted, "Oh, I don't know. After all, even if he has lost
20264-558: Was dissolved, and in the July 1886 general election , the Conservatives and Liberal Unionists, led by Lord Salisbury and Lord Hartington , agreed to an alliance. Chamberlain's position in the alliance was awkward; unlike Hartington, he was intensely mistrusted by and unable to influence the Conservatives, and he was also despised by the Gladstonians. Gladstone himself observed, "There is a difference between Hartington and Chamberlain, that
20413-549: Was enlarged and a number of new parks were opened. Construction of the Council House was begun, while the Victoria Law Courts were built on Corporation Street. The mayoralty helped make Chamberlain a national as well as local figure, with contemporaries commenting upon his youthfulness and dress, including "a black velvet coat, jaunty eyeglass in eye, red neck-tie drawn through a ring". His contribution to
20562-433: Was homosexual, or, in view of a time during the Boer War when he was seen as he replied to a message while drying himself after his bath, Lord Beaverbrook 's claim that he was "a hermaphrodite " whom no-one saw naked. Balfour was a leading member of the social and intellectual group The Souls . In 1874 Balfour was elected Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Hertford until 1885. From 1885 to 1906 he served as
20711-601: Was in charge of the Foreign Office , and he conducted negotiations with Russia on the question of railways in North China. As a member of the cabinet responsible for the Transvaal negotiations in 1899, he bore his share of controversy and, when the Second Boer War began disastrously, he was first to realise the need to use the country's full military strength. His leadership of the House was marked by firmness in
20860-473: Was interested in the study of dialects and donated money to Joseph Wright 's work on The English Dialect Dictionary . Wright wrote in the preface to the first volume that the project would have been "in vain" had he not received the donation from Balfour. Joseph Chamberlain Joseph Chamberlain (8 July 1836 – 2 July 1914) was a British statesman who was first a radical Liberal , then
21009-550: Was maintained by his also unmarried sister, Alice. In middle age, Balfour had a 40-year friendship with Mary Charteris (née Wyndham), Lady Elcho , later Countess of Wemyss and March . Although one biographer writes that "it is difficult to say how far the relationship went", her letters suggest they may have become lovers in 1887 and may have engaged in sado-masochism , a claim echoed by A. N. Wilson . Another biographer believes they had "no direct physical relationship", although he dismisses as "unlikely" suggestions that Balfour
21158-558: Was not able to provide advanced education for all his children, and at the age of 16 Joseph was apprenticed to the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers and worked for the family business (their warehouse having been at Milk Street, London , for three generations) making quality leather shoes. At 18 he joined his uncle's screw-making business, Nettlefolds of Birmingham , in which his father had invested. The company became known as Nettlefold and Chamberlain when Chamberlain became
21307-582: Was not attractive: he was arrogant and ruthless and much hated. He never succeeded in his grand ambitions. However, he was a highly proficient grassroots organiser of democratic instincts, and played the central role in winning the Second Boer War. He is most famous for setting the agenda of British colonial, foreign, tariff and municipal policies, and for deeply splitting both major political parties. Future Prime Minister Winston Churchill remarked that despite never being prime minister, Chamberlain "made
21456-466: Was not sufficient for either the free traders or the extreme tariff reformers in government. With Balfour's agreement, Chamberlain resigned from the Cabinet in late 1903 to campaign for tariff reform. At the same time, Balfour tried to balance the two factions by accepting the resignation of three free-trading ministers, including Chancellor Ritchie, but the almost simultaneous resignation of the free-trader Duke of Devonshire (who as Lord Hartington had been
21605-439: Was prepared to lead a revolt and field Radical candidates in borough elections. Although Gladstone did not hold the NLF in high regard, he was eager to reconcile Chamberlain and other Radicals to the mainly Whig cabinet, and he invited Chamberlain to become President of the Board of Trade on 27 April 1880. After his success in municipal politics, Chamberlain was frustrated at his inability to introduce more creative legislation at
21754-412: Was prime minister and George Wyndham was the Irish secretary. It encouraged landlords to sell by means of a 12% cash bonus. Tenants were encouraged to buy with a low interest rate, and payments drawn out over 68 years. In 1909, Liberal legislation required compulsory sales in certain cases. As the landlords sold out, they relocated to Great Britain , giving up their political power in Ireland. Tensions in
21903-836: Was still disorganised over the Boers. In foreign affairs, Balfour and his foreign secretary, Lord Lansdowne , improved relations with France, culminating in the Entente Cordiale of 1904. The period also saw the Russo-Japanese War , when Britain, an ally of the Japanese, came close to war with Russia after the Dogger Bank incident . On the whole, Balfour left the conduct of foreign policy to Lansdowne, being busy himself with domestic problems. Balfour, who had known Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann since 1906, opposed Russian mistreatment of Jews and increasingly supported Zionism as
22052-409: Was thought to be merely amusing himself with politics, and it was regarded as doubtful whether his health could withstand the severity of English winters. He was considered a dilettante by his colleagues; regardless, Lord Salisbury gave increasingly powerful posts in his government to his nephew. Beatrice Webb wrote in her diary: A man of extraordinary grace of mind and body, delighting in all that
22201-453: Was to buy them out, not by compulsion, but by offering the owners a full immediate payment and a 12% bonus on the sales price. The British government purchased 13 million acres (53,000 km2) by 1920, and sold farms to the tenants at low payments spread over seven decades. It would cost money, but all sides proved amenable. Starting in 1923 the Irish government bought out most of the remaining landowners, and in 1933 diverted payments being made to
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