so2 ENGLISH POLITICAL HISTORY 



It was found that Mr. Austen Chamberlain and Mr. Long were both prepared to 

 stand aside in favour of Mr. Bonar Law, 1 nominally a Conservative and at the same time 

 Mr. Boaar a strong Tariff Reformer; and on their joint proposal he was quickly 

 Law, the new adopted, as leader in the House of Commons (Lord Lansdowne continuing 

 leader. to fo c i ea( j e r in the House of Lords), at a party meeting on November i3th. 



Their sacrifice of personal ambition to the party interest, and their loyal pledges of 

 co-operation with the new leader, who himself enjoyed the admiration of all sections, 

 set an example which did much to promote fresh confidence within the party; and Mr. 

 Bonar Law had no sooner become leader than there were signs of improved Unionist 

 prospects in the constituencies. In intellectual range, subtlety of exposition and 

 criticism, and political experience, Mr. Balfour had, admittedly, no rival on either 

 side, but he still remained in the fighting rank, ready to devote himself to the Unionist 

 cause as much as anybody. His retirement from the formal responsibilities of leader- 

 ship gave freer play to the respect and admiration felt for him personally as a public 

 man, while relieving the party of the accumulation of doubt as to his policy and tactics, 

 which, rightly or wrongly, had led to undercurrents of dissension. To the plain man 

 his detached and philosophical outlook on public affairs had been rather too lofty; to be 

 " had " or tricked, as the party was openly taunted by its opponents, over the Budget 

 of 1909 or the Parliament Bill of 1911, simply meant that its leader had failed in astute- 

 ness; ardent Tariff Reformers, enthusiastic for Mr. Chamberlain's policy and pining 

 for Mr. Chamberlain's aggressive tactics, felt that Mr. Balfour's balancing support of 

 their proposals was unpractical and was confined to economic generalities. He was 

 perhaps " too much of a gentleman " as well as " too little of a business man " for 

 the situation. Mr. Bonar Law, on the other hand, was more of the Chamberlain type, 

 a successful man of business, the clearest and most convincing platform exponent of 

 Tariff Reform, a speaker who was accustomed to calling a spade a spade. Though he 

 had never sat in a Cabinet he had for several years been regarded by his party as one 

 of their principal leaders. If Mr. Balfour, for his own reasons, had not decided to 

 retire, it is certain that, however vocal the malcontents were, and the National Review 

 and Morning Post had for some time been in open mutiny, the party as a whole, and 

 all his colleagues, would have remained loyal to his leadership; but as things were, it is 

 equally certain that the change was regarded on all sides as marking an epoch in the 

 fortunes of the Unionist party. With the selection of Mr. Bonar Law to lead them in 

 the House of Commons came a new spirit of hope and zeal. He made an excellent 

 start with his first public speeches after becoming leader, notably with a general attack 

 on the Government at the Albert Hall on January 26, 1912. 



At the same time the result of the Canadian elections at the end of September, and 

 the defeat of Sir Wilfrid Laurier's American Reciprocity proposals, had delighted the 

 Unionists and given them fresh confidence for the future of Imperialism. 

 Canada had shown that she meant to keep her place in the Empire, and 

 that antagonism to the prospect of becoming simply an annexe to the 

 United States was more powerful than the temptation to secure immediate commercial 

 advantages from Reciprocity. Up to the last the result of the Canadian elections had 

 been very uncertain, and the Tariff Reformers in England, who had been thoroughly 

 depressed and disheartened by the idea that, if reciprocity between Canada and the 

 United States were established, their hopes for Imperial commercial union would be 

 frustrated, had in Mr. Borden's success a legitimate triumph for their own views of 

 Imperial policy. Imperial patriotism in Canada had averted the greatest danger yet 



1 The Rt. Hon. Andrew Bonar Law was born in New Brunswick, Canada, on September 16, 

 1858, his father being a Presbyterian minister, and his mother a native of Glasgow. He was 

 sent to school in Glasgow, and went into the business of his mother's family there, William 

 Kidston & Sons, iron merchants, from which he retired with a fortune. He entered Parlia- 

 ment for the Blackfriars division of Glasgow in 1900, but did not contest the seat in 1906, 

 being then returned for Dulwich, where he sat till December 1910, when, he stood unsuccessfully 

 in Manchester. In March 1911 he was returned for Bootle. From 1902 to 1906 he was 

 Under-Secretary for Trade. 



