ENGLISH POLITICAL HISTORY S or 



on the other hand, despite desperate oratorical efforts on Mr. Lloyd George's part and 

 assiduous lecturing by his emissaries throughout the country on its advantages to the 

 working classes, it was for the present a complete failure; and its unpopularity became 

 the most prominent feature in the political life of the country, with the result of. a 

 marked improvement in the Unionist position. During the debate on the address, 

 early in 1912, the leader (Mr. Bonar Law) of the Unionist party, being asked in debate 

 by Mr. Asquith whether he would repeal it if he came into office, hastily replied " Cer- 

 tainly " afterwards explaining that he meant "withdraw for amendment." It was 

 considered at first by the Liberal Press (and even by many Unionists at the time) that 

 he had made a, faux pas; but as a matter of fact the unpopularity of the Act was such 

 that the Liberals found it impossible to make any lasting capital out of the indiscretion. 

 Another piece of social legislation which caused considerable local irritation was 

 the Shop Act, quickly passed in the autumn session, which many shopkeepers found 



to work very inconveniently. It limited the hours of shop assistants to 60 

 Act, 191L. (with one half-holiday) a week, regulated the overtime permissible, and 



while providing for Sunday closing gave power to local authorities, with the 



approval of two-thirds of the shops affected, to decide the closing hours on other days. 



It was, however, not only the stimulus given by the antagonism of the country 



to the Insurance Act that was causing a revival of Unionist confidence after the defeat 



over the Parliament :Act. During the autumn session the Unionist party 

 resignation, & ^ a< ^ started afresh under a new leader in the House of Commons. The 



" Die-Hard " revolt had been a fresh illustration of the dissatisfaction 

 within the party at the way it had been led by Mr. Balfour for some time past. If 

 the Parliament Bill had actually been defeated in the House of Lords by the " Die- 

 Hards " it was an open secret that both Lord Lansdowne and Mr. Balfour had intended 

 to retire from their positions at the head of the party, and it was largely the dislike of 

 acting disloyally by them that confined the open revolt to a comparatively small 

 section. Exasperation at the result, however, was general; and though, when the 

 crisis was over, Unionist concentration was obviously dictated by all the circumstances, 

 Mr. Balfour's authority had been seriously shaken. He himself did his best to smooth 

 matters over, declaring in a public speech (Haddington, Oct. 7th) that the question 

 of the Peers' tactics was now a dead issue, of no more practical importance than the 

 controversy as to the identity of Junius; and the "Die-Hards," though they started a 

 Halsbury Club and kept their organisation in being, protested at the same time that 

 the differences within the party were ended with the cause of them, and that they only 

 meant to work for the common good. But after some weeks of reflection, when the 

 hubbub was all over, Mr. Balfour made up his mind that the right moment had arrived 

 for him to retire from the leadership, though not from Parliament, in view of the 

 arduous political struggles still impending, and the unlikelihood of his being strong 

 enough in health, should the Unionists again return to power, to conduct a Ministry. 

 Since 1891 he had led his party in the House of Commons, and at sixty-three it was 

 time for him to make way for others. It would be better, he thought, to get a new 

 leader into harness at once, so that he might be ready for the responsibility of office. 

 His announcement to this effect was made on November 8th, at a hastily convened 

 meeting in the City of London, and he made it clear that the step was irrevocable. For 

 a few days the question of who would succeed him was uncertain. Mr. Austen Cham- 

 berlain, not only as principal leader of the Tariff Reformers and one whose very name 

 would, on his father's account, be most representative of the Imperialist movement, but 

 as ex-Chancellor of the Exchequer and officially Mr. Balfour's deputy on the Opposition 

 Front Bench, had apparently the strongest claim; but, as a Liberal Unionist, his selec- 

 tion was opposed by many Conservatives, who considered Mr. Walter Long a better 

 choice; and Mr. Long's great popularity among all sections was much in his favour. 

 It became clear to the partisans of both that if either were proposed, and votes were 

 taken, it would only ernphasise the division of opinion and create friction between their 

 supporters, whereas unanimity was the first consideration. 



