491 



dates at some of the by-elections. Its parliamentary programme included a " Right to 

 Work " Bill which the Liberal party could no more support than the Unionist, whatever 

 individual members of either might do; and at the present moment, having successfully 

 extorted the Trade Disputes Act from parliament in 1906, it was set on obtaining from 

 the Government a bill for reversing the "Osborne judgment," 2 and freeing the employ- 

 ment of trade union funds for political purposes. The fact however that the " inde- 

 pendence " of the Labour party was dominated by reluctance to put Liberalism in a 

 minority, in so far as it stood for causes with which the Labour party also identified 

 itself, Free Trade, the Parliament Bill, Irish Home Rule and Welsh Disestablishment, 

 made its parliamentary position more or less of a sham, and one over the manoeuvring 

 of which the Government's Whips had the upper hand. The result was that the idea 

 which had begun to prevail in 1906 that the power of the Labour party in Parliament (as 

 distinct from the Labour " movement " outside) was likely to have a rapid growth was 

 considerably modified. The industrial troubles of 1911 and 1912, notably the railway 

 strike, the coal strike, and the London dock strike (see IV below), were seen to be beyond 

 their guidance or control, they were indeed largely the consequence of a widespread 

 feeling, shown in outbreaks of " syndicalism," that the Labour members in parliament 

 were impotent, because their action was subject to their maintaining the Liberal Govern- 

 ment in power. Moreover the wind was taken out of their sails by the extreme radical- 

 ism of Mr. Lloyd George and other Liberal electioneers, whose object naturally was to 

 show that Liberalism could do all that Labour wanted. On the other hand, a consider- 

 able section of the Liberal party was either apprehensive of the alliance of Labour and 

 Socialism or jealous of surrendering to the Labour party seats which were considered 

 to be within the Liberal preserve. Between the claims of Liberalism and Labour, the 

 Liberal party managers were unable to avoid friction in the constituencies as this situa- 

 tion developed; and though the Whips kept a majority for the Government together 

 against every sort of Unionist attack up to the adjournment of Parliament in August 

 1912, the possibilities of a serious breach between Liberalism and Labour were towards 

 the end of that period clearly shown in the by-election at Hanley (July i3th), where a 

 Liberal displaced a Labour member, followed by that at Crewe (July 26th), where the 

 Unionist candidate was returned in a three-cornered fight, and still further in the rivalry 

 of Labour and Liberal candidates for Midlothian (Sept. loth), resulting in a 

 Unionist victory. In this last instance the local Liberals flatly declined to accept the 

 Master of Elibank's suggestion made just when he was retiring from the post of Chief 

 Government Whip and was taking a peerage as Lord Murray, that they should sup- 

 port the Labour nominee. But this particular weakness within the Coalition majority 

 was of no advantage to the Unionists while the Parliament Bill was still under discussion. 

 For their immediate purposes in 1911 the Government had complete control of the 

 parliamentary machine when they started afresh after the general election, and they 

 went " full steam ahead." 



On February 6, 1911, the first Parliament of George V was opened, and its prelim- 

 inary stages in the way of amendments to the address were soon over. On February 

 The Paella- 9th, an Opposition Tariff Reform amendment, moved by Mr. Austen 

 meat BUI la Chamberlain, was defeated by 102 votes, and on February isth, an anti- 

 the House of Home Rule amendment was defeated by 113. On February 2ist, the Parlia- 

 mentBill 2 was reintroduced in the House of Commons, and had a first-reading 

 majority of 124 next day; and the second reading, moved on February 27th', was carried 

 by a majority of 125 on March 2d. The Committee stage lasted from April 3d, with an 

 interval for Easter from the rath to the i8th, till May 3d; on May 8th, Mr. Asquith 

 carried a motion to devote only four more parliamentary days to the Bill, and on the 

 1 5th the third reading was carried by a majority of 362 to 241, and the Bill was sent up 

 to the House of Lords. A few trivial changes had been accepted in its wording, but all 

 the substantial amendments proposed by the Opposition had been negatived; and the 

 one attempt from within the Coalition to modify the Bill a Labour party amendment 



1 E. B. xxvii, 143. " Ibid., xx, 846, 847. 



