FOSTER, WILLIAM EDWARD. 



351 



Gladstone formed his Cabinet, he intrusted 

 Forster with the task of preparing the edu- 

 cational legislation by making him Vice-Presi- 

 dent of the Council. In February, 1870, he 

 introduced his education bill, which estab- 

 lishes universal and compulsory primary edu- 

 cation, but provides public schools only where 

 churches and private individuals did not main- 

 tain schools from motives of charity or relig- 

 ious proselytism. His purpose was to furnish 

 the rudiments of education to the 25 per cent, 

 of the people of England who were growing 

 up in complete ignorance, without adding ap- 

 preciably to the burden of taxation, and with- 

 out assuming any state control, except to see 

 that a certain low standard was kept up. The 

 task of maintaining the public schools was 

 delegated to new local bodies, called school 

 boards. The slight supervision assumed by the 

 Government was to be compensated by subsi- 

 dies from the treasury both to the board 

 schools and the voluntary schools. Education 

 was to be compulsory, but not gratuitous, for 

 parents were compelled to pay school fees, 

 unless they were remitted on the ground of 

 pauperism. The school boards, were left free 

 to decide what religious instruction should be 

 given, were to be elected by the town coun- 

 cils or vestrits, and were empowered to pay 

 the fees of needy children in the voluntary 

 church schools out of the rates. The Dissent- 

 ers raised a storm of protests against the whole 

 bill, and especially against these last provi>ions, 

 which they defeated, making the school boards 

 elective by universal suffrage. They still con- 

 sidered the school system an engine for spread- 

 ing the doctrines of the Church of England by 

 the aid of public money, and for strengthening 

 the connection between church and state, just 

 after the disestablishment of the Irish Church 

 had been carried. After carrying through the 

 education bill, Former's next important task 

 was to secure the passage of the ballot bill, 

 which was passed by the House of Commons 

 in 1871, but was rejected by the House of 

 Lords, and was again carried by his skillful 

 tactics through the Commons in 1872, after 

 three months of discussion, and finally enacted. 

 In 1874 Mr. Forster was again returned for 

 Bradford, in spite of the opposition of the 

 Nonconformists. During the Conservative ad- 

 ministration he practically led the Opposi- 

 tion in the debates, though on the retirement 

 of Mr. Gladstone from the leadership of the 

 Liberal party in 1875, the Marquis of Hart- 

 ington was chosen for the post, with the sup- 

 port of the Radical section, while Mr. Forster 

 was the choice of the aristocratic Whigs. He 

 was elected rector of Aberdeen University in 

 1876, and delivered there an interesting ad- 

 dress. In the autumn of that year he visited 

 Servia and Turkey, and on his return he de- 

 livered a speech to his constituents, in which, 

 and in the debates on the Eastern question in 

 the House of Commons, he upheld the ideas 

 of vigorous foreign action and an imperialistic 



policy, though without expressing approbation 

 of the details of the Tory policy. In foreign, 

 and especially colonial questions, he held dif- 

 ferent views from the bulk of the Liberal party. 

 He was one of the first advocates of imperial 

 federation, but in a form in which England 

 would regain a controlling influence over the 

 colonies. In South Africa he endeavored to 

 persuade the Liberals to pursue the policy of 

 interference and coercion adopted by the Tory 

 party, advancing as a motive the duty of pro- 

 tecting the natives, as well as that of preserv- 

 ing the English supremacy. After the acces- 

 sion of the Liberals to power in 1880, he was 

 appointed to the post of Chief Secretary for 

 Ireland. The compensation -for -disturbance 

 bill was carried in the House of Commons, 

 but rejected by the peers. Agrarian crimes 

 increased, and troops were sent to Ireland. 

 Members of the Land League were brought to 

 trial, and more and more vigorous measures 

 were taken by the Irish Secretary to suppress 

 disorder. On Jan. 24, 1881, he introduced a 

 bill to give the executive extraordinary pow- 

 ers, which was passed after a stubborn contest 

 v, ith the Irish obstructionists. In a short time 

 over nine hundred suspects were imprisoned 

 without trial, among them leaders of the Irish 

 parliamentary party. Forster, who had gone 

 tc Ireland as the representative of a policy of 

 conciliation and land reform, became the most 

 odious Irish Secretary that was ever sent to 

 Dublin. For giving directions for the troops 

 to disperse threatening gatherings with shot, 

 he was given the nickname of "Buckshot 

 Forster." The Irish members attacked him 

 incessantly in Parliament. After the close of 

 the session he had Parnell, Sexton, Quinn, 

 O'Kelly, O'Brien, and other prominent mem- 

 bers of the Irish party, arrested and impris- 

 oned as suspects, and on Oct. 20, 1881, sup- 

 pressed the Land League by proclamation, on 

 the ground that it was a treasonable associa- 

 tion. In the spring of 1882 he demanded fresh 

 powers, but instead of that the majority of the 

 Cabinet decided that the Irish leaders should be 

 released from jail. In consequence of this de- 

 cision he resigned, with Lord Cowper, the Lord 

 Lieutenant, on May 2, 1882. The murder of 

 Lord Frederick Cavendish, his successor, justi- 

 fied Mr. Forster in the eyes of all who ap- 

 proved of a vigorous Irish policy. It after- 

 ward came out that the same band of Fenians 

 had laid a plot more than once to take Fors- 

 ter's own life. Thenceforth he acted with the 

 Tory party on the Irish question, endeavoring 

 to fasten the guilt of this murder and other 

 crimes on the Irish leaders, and to bring odium 

 upon the Government for obtaining the prom- 

 ise from Mr. Parnell, known as the "Treaty of 

 Kilmainham." He published a pamphlet called 

 "The Truth about Ireland," and in the next 

 session of Parliament delivered an attack on 

 the Parnellites, in which he repeated the accu- 

 sations contained in the pamphlet. When he 

 charged Parnell with having " connived at out- 



