BALFOUR 



551 



BALKAN PENINSULA 



ARTHUR .TAMILS 

 BALFOUR 



Cabinet under the premiership of Asquith, he 

 was appointed to the important post of First 

 Lord of the Admiralty, succeeding Winston 

 Churchill. More 

 than that, he be- 

 came one of the 

 inner council of 

 the Cabinet, the 

 group directly re- 

 sponsible for the 

 prosecution of the 

 war. 



Like many 

 other Englishmen 

 who have won 

 fame in public 

 life, Balfour first 

 achieved distinction in literature, and his early 

 political career was generally regarded with 

 mingled amusement and scorn. He first sat in 

 the House of Commons in 1874, but not for a 

 decade did the House take him seriously. He 

 was an Eton and Cambridge man, also a 

 nephew of the third Marquis of Salisbury, and 

 he belonged to the class which thought of 

 membership in the House of Commons as a 

 duty, almost to be passed from one generation 

 to another, together with the family estates. 

 He was thought by many to be amusing him- 

 self with politics, and his somewhat languid 

 manner only added to the popular impression. 



Not until 1887, when Lord Salisbury ap- 

 pointed him Secretary of State for Ireland, 

 did he have opportunity to show his true worth. 

 Previously he had served his uncle as private 

 secretary, and had held the minor Cabinet 

 positions of President of the Local Government 

 Board and Secretary of State for Scotland. 

 From 1887 to 1891, in spite of the jeers of the 

 Irish Nationalists, he administered the duties 

 of the latter office with good sense, although 

 his strict enforcement of unpopular laws in 

 Ireland caused some discontent. In 1891 h< 

 was promoted to the position of First Lord 

 of the Treasury and Conservative leader in the 

 Commons. These positions he held until 1902, 

 except for the years 1892 to 1895, uh- M l 

 was leader of the opposition during the minis- 

 tries of Gladstone and Rosebery. 



As Prime Minister. On the resignation of 

 Lord Salisbury, on .Inly 11. 1902, Balfour suc- 

 ceeded him as Prime Mini>t.r. His succession 

 to power practically coincided with the end 

 of the South African War and the coronation 

 of King Edward VII. While the war left 

 many problems for the ministry, a new ques- 



tion caused its downfall after three years and 

 broke its party into two. This question was 

 whether or not Great Britain should abandon 

 its historic policy of free trade. Balfour ad- 

 mitted the desirability of protecting British 

 trade from unfair foreign competition, but he 

 was opposed to the sudden and complete adop- 

 tion of a protective policy such as was advo- 

 cated by Joseph Chamberlain. By skilful 

 parliamentary tactics Balfour held his party in 

 power, but at the end of 1905 Chamberlain 

 refused to wait any longer. Balfour resigned 

 on December 4, and was succeeded by Sir 

 Henry Campbell-Bannerman. 



Since 1906 Balfour has represented the city 

 of London in Parliament. His leadership of 

 the Conservatives and Unionists was reestab- 

 lished after his defeat, and he also proved 

 again his preeminence among parliamentarians. 

 In 1909 and 1910 he counselled submission to 

 the Liberal policy as shown in the famous 

 budget submitted by Lloyd-Geerge, an action 

 which called forth such criticism from his own 

 party that he resigned its leadership in Novem- 

 ber, 1912. He remained in Parliament, how- 

 ever, and in 1915 became the leading Conserva- 

 tive in the coalition war ministry. In 1917 he 

 headed a British war delegation on a visit to the 

 United States and the Dominion of Canada, and 

 was enthusiastically received. G.H.L. 



BALIOL, ba' le ol or bal' yol, JOHN DE (1249- 

 1315), king of Scotland from 1292 to 1296, a 

 ruler who owed his succession to the throne to 

 Edward I of England. On the death of Mar- 

 garet, granddaughter of Alexander III, Baliol 

 claimed the throne of Scotland by virtue of his 

 descent from David, earl of Huntington, 

 brother of William the Lion. Robert Bruce, a 

 descendant of David by another line, opposed 

 him. Edward I, invited to settle the dispute, 

 decided in favor of Baliol, whom he induced 

 to swear allegiance to him. Irritated by Ed- 

 ward's harsh exercise of authority, Baliol con- 

 cluded a treaty with France, then at war with 

 England, but after a crushing defeat at Dun- 

 bar in 1296 he was obliged to give up his 

 nnwn to Edward. He waa sent with Ins son 

 to tl i.-;t in 1297 obtained liberty to 



to his Norman estates, where he died. 

 His subjects called him Toom Tabard, or 

 "Empty Jacket." 



Balliol College, one of the colleges in the 

 University of Cambridge (see CAMBRIDGE, UNI- 

 VERSITY or). 



BALKAN PENINSULA, the easternmost of 

 tin peninsulas of Southern Europe, called be- 



