334 



GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 



parish council or to bo elected a member, 

 and also to sit in the district council, which 

 is elected by the parish council. Leaders of the 

 labor movement, already active in the town 

 councils and the school boards, have plunged 

 into this new field of activity. Whoever is 

 elected chairman of a district council is ex ojficio 

 a county magistrate under the new law, which 

 thus changes radically the character of the 

 county bench. The parson has no official con- 

 nection with the local government, and the 

 squire, though he pay half or more of the poor 

 rale, has but a single vote, like every one of his 

 tenants, and has no more to say about the poor- 

 law administration, which, however, is still un- 

 der the oversight of the local government 

 board, whereas formerly ratepayers only had 

 the right to vote, each having one vote for every 

 .")(> that he was rated, up to the limit of 6 votes. 

 All qualifications for membership of the poor- 

 law boards are also swept away except residence, 

 and the persons who are elected to the district 

 councils serve as poor-law guardians. The bill 

 contained provisions permitting parish councils 

 to condemn and acquire land for small holdings 

 without parliamentary sanction, to hire as well 

 as to purchase land, to dispossess the Church 

 from the control of charities and trusts other 

 than ecclesiastical and of over forty years' stand- 

 ing, which the House of Lords, on the motion of 

 Lord Salisbury, struck out. He also proposed 

 to set a higher minimum limit of population be- 

 low which parishes should not be required to 

 elect councils. When the bill was sent up again 

 in its original form the Liberal Unionists, after 

 the Government had offered to permit an ap- 

 peal to the county council in regard to the com- 

 pulsory purchase or hiring of land, induced Lord 

 Salisbury to yield some concessions to the Radi- 

 cals on the other two points. Mr. Gladstone ac- 

 cepted the bill as finally amended by the Lords, 

 reserving the right to alter the amendments by 

 subsequent legislation, saying that the time had 

 ended for passing bills back and forth from one 

 house to the other : " to continue the process 

 would be a loss of dignity for both houses"; 

 but that the action of the "House of Lords re- 

 garding the bills had raised " a question of the 

 gravest character " : whether the judgment of 

 the House of Lords " is not only to modify but 

 to annihilate the whole work of the House of 

 Commons," a controversy which ' once raised 

 must go forward to its issue." 



The budget, owing to commercial and agricul- 

 tural depression, and the consequent falling 

 revenue, while adding a penny to the income 

 tax, was characterized by economy in all the 

 spending departments, especially .in the Admi- 

 ralty. Lord George Hamilton stirred up the 

 question of naval construction, and although 

 M r. Gladstone obtained a majority of 36 on a vote 

 of confidence, Sir William Ilarcourt was com- 

 pelled to alter his tone and to arrange for a much 

 larger naval expenditure in the future than he 

 had been prepared to make. 



The employers' liability bill had already been 

 killed by the action of the House of Lords. 

 When this bill came up in the House of Com- 

 mons, Walter McLaren moved that workmen 

 who had subscribed to existing insurance funds, 

 to which some of the railroad companies had 



contributed with their men, should be allowed 

 to contract themselves out of the act. His 

 amendment was supported by some Gladstoniaii 

 members, and on the division the ministerial 

 majority was only 19. When the bill went up 

 to the Lords a clause was inserted, on Lord Dud- 

 ley's motion, permitting a body of employees by 

 a two-third vote to contract themselves out of 

 the act when they are members of any existing 

 or any new insurance society with the approval 

 of the Board of Trade. This amendment was 

 stricken out by the House of Commons, and 

 when the bill went up to the House of Lords it 

 was reinserted. Mr. Asquith accepted the amend- 

 ment of Mr. Cobb, allowing members of existing 

 societies to contract out during the first three 

 years, and it was voted by a majority of 2 only. 

 When the bill went back to the Lords again this 

 compromise was refused, and it was returned 

 with Lord Dudley's proposal restored. Mr. 

 Gladstone moved that the amendments of the 

 Lords be laid aside, and when this course was de- 

 clared to be irregular he announced the' aban- 

 donment of the measure. 



The Rosebery Cabinet. Mr. Gladstone's eye- 

 sight was failing rapidly under the strain of his 

 labors, and he suffered from impaired hearing 

 and the infirmities of age, and was obliged fre- 

 quently to absent himself from the sittings of 

 the House, particularly in the night sessions, 

 leaving the leadership to Sir William Ilarcourt. 

 He had therefore resolved to resign at the close 

 of the session, and on March 8 he carried out 

 his purpose. Sir William Ilarcourt, according 

 to usage, and especially in view of the late con- 

 flict between the houses, was his natural suc- 

 cessor; but in the party, in the Cabinet, and 

 in the country, as far as its sentiment was mani- 

 fested by the press, there was a strong prefer- 

 ence for 'Lord Rosebery, whose proved military 

 and foreign policy and more complaisant ad- 

 dress and accommodating spirit commended him 

 to the old Liberals and insured the respect of 

 the Conservatives, while, owing to his known 

 social views and his achievements as president 

 of the County Council, he was more trusted even 

 by the Labor men than his brilliant and impetu- 

 ous rival. One section of the Radicals, that led 

 by Henry Labouchere, opposed him bitterly lie- 

 cause he was the chief upholder among the Lib- 

 erals of the imperial policy in Egypt, in Mata- 

 beleland, in East Africa and Uganda, and every- 

 where, and because, furthermore, he was a peer, 

 whereas now, they thought, was the time to 

 "mend or end" the House of Peers. Passing 

 over both Sir William Harcourt and Lord Kim- 

 berley, the Liberal leader in the House of Louis. 

 the Queen sent for Lord Rosebery. who recon- 

 structed the Cabinet, which was announced on 

 March 8 as follows : First Lord of the Treasury 

 and Lord President of the Council, the Earl of 

 Rosebery; Lord High Chancellor, Lord Iler- 

 schell;'Lord Privy Seal, Lord Tweedmouth ; 

 Chancellor of the Exchequer and Lender of t Ill- 

 House, Sir W. Harcourt; Secretary of State for 

 Home Affairs, Herbert Asquith; Secretary of 

 State for Foreign Affairs, the Earl of Kinibr,- 

 ley; Secretary of State for Colonial Affairs, the 

 Marquis of Ripon; Secretary of State for War. 

 H. Campbell-Bannerman; Secretary of State for 

 Indian Affairs, Harry H. Fowler ; Chancellor of 



