ELECTION TO PARLIAMENT
Labour Candidate for Woolwich--Lord Charles Beresford describes
Crooks as a Fair and Square Opponent--How the Election Fund was
Raised--Crooks recommended by John Burns as "Wise on Poor
Law"--Half-loaf and Whole Loaf--"Greatest By-election Victory of
Modern Times."
On the morning of February 19th, 1903, the Press stated that
considerable excitement was created in London on the previous day by the
announcement that Lord Charles Beresford had been offered the command of
the Channel squadron, and that he was about to resign his Parliamentary
seat in Woolwich.
A few days later the genial admiral, from a public platform, was bidding
good-bye to his constituents and introducing to them the Conservative
candidate in the person of Mr. Geoffrey Drage. He took occasion to throw
out the warning that the opposition candidate was a strong man, whom he
knew to be a fair and square opponent.
The reference was to Crooks. He had been adopted as Labour candidate
some few weeks previously. The invitation sent to him by the Woolwich
Labour Representation Association was a unanimous one. It surprised him
to receive it, since his association with Woolwich--on the other side
of the Thames two miles below Poplar--was a very slight one. When he
accepted the invitation it was believed there would be at least two
years to prepare for the General Election. The Labour candidate had
barely made his _début_ before the by-election was announced.
Nobody but the little band of Labour men in the constituency believed in
Crooks's chances. The honours had fallen so easily hitherto to the
Conservatives. Lord Charles Beresford got the seat without a contest.
Sir Edwin Hughes before him was returned unopposed in 1900, while for
sixteen years previously he held the seat by majorities averaging more
than two thousand. The majority at the previous contest (which took
place in 1895) reached 2,805.
Faced with this formidable figure, Crooks entered upon the contest with
all his usual zeal and good humour. There was first the difficulty of
the election expenses. The Labour Association quickly raised £200 from
among its members. It soon became evident, however, that before the
Labour Party could get in touch with the sixteen thousand voters on the
register and meet the returning officer's fees, a sum four or five times
as large as that would be needed.
An appeal to the public was sent out by the Association, signed by S. H.
Grinling, M.A. (chairman), W. Barefoot (treasurer), and A. Hall
(secretary). The appeal was taken up by the _Daily News_, which opened a
Woolwich Election Fund. In about a fortnight that paper raised £1,000.
Contributions poured in from all classes, in every part of the kingdom,
accompanied by a chorus of well-wishes of which any public man might
indeed be proud.
As from day to day the amounts were acknowledged in the _Daily News_,
one saw side by side with the modest two shillings from "Four workers"
£10 from Lord Portsmouth. Among the shillings and sixpences from working
women and girls appeared £5 from Lady Trevelyan, and a list of
subscriptions from Father Adderley, containing one "From a lady in lieu
of a new hat." The day "Two Chalfont lads" sent "a bob each," two sums
of £50 were acknowledged from the Right Hon. Sydney Buxton and Mr.
George Cadbury. The authors of "The Heart of the Empire," with a gift of
£25, shared the same spirit with "A Leominster working-man," who
forwarded three shillings, and "Four working men of Cirencester," who
sent four shillings between them. Dr. Clifford, the Rev. Stopford
Brooke, and Canon Scott Holland swelled the list, together with old
Labour Members of Parliament like Mr. T. Burt and Mr. H. Broadhurst.
"A fellow worker of Mr. Crooks on the Asylums Board" was responsible for
£10, while colleagues of his on the London County Council contributed
about £100 between them.
From Porchester Square came a substantial cheque with an unsigned note
written in the third person, to this effect:--
The lady who sends the enclosed is nearly eighty-four, and
therefore cannot offer any help in person, but she most heartily
wishes Mr. Crooks success in his brave fight, as she has for a long
time past desired to see more Labour representatives in the House
of Commons.
The campaign went on merrily. The magnetic personality of the Labour
candidate drew to his side every Progressive section in the
constituency. It was not only that working-men threw themselves into the
fight with Herculean energy, but the temperance societies and the
churches of nearly every denomination became enthusiastic in his
support.
They seemed to share the same estimate of the candidate as Mr. Keir
Hardie, who wrote to the electors describing Crooks as "a first-class
fighting man, and the best of good fellows, who would, if returned,
bring credit and honour to the constituency."
Mr. John Burns went down to Woolwich to pay his tribute in person. With
the Labour candidate he addressed a mass meeting of over five thousand
electors in the Drill Hall, while crowds surged outside the doors,
delaying the tram traffic in the streets. Mr. Burns fell into glowing
periods in his eulogy of his old colleague:--
Woolwich has in Mr. Crooks a man who not only carries a banner
which typifies a cause, but honours the army for which he works. By
his tolerance and sweet-tempered geniality, he has united the
Progressive forces of Woolwich as they have never been united
before. In securing what is possible to-day, Mr. Crooks never
forgets his ideal, but with a brotherly love and Christian charity
pursues the line of least resistance in a way which Labour has not
always shown.
Before sitting down, Mr. Burns took occasion to tell his five thousand
hearers that among other reasons why he was there to commend their
candidate was because Crooks was "wise on Poor Law."
As the contest developed, Crooks found that much the same kind of thing
was being said against him as he had heard during his mayoralty in
Poplar. He told one of his public meetings:--
"Lovely ladies are already going about with lovely stories. As they
canvass for my opponent they tell the elector or his wife that the rates
will go up if a Labour candidate is elected. They say that because he is
a poor man he will have to be paid a salary of £500 a year out of the
rates. You tell these alluring ladies that Will Crooks has been in
public life for fourteen years, and has never had a penny from the rates
all the time. Tell them further that if he remains in public life
another fifty years, he will still never have a penny from the rates."
Evidently those good ladies had not read his election address. There he
stated:--
"I have no desire to enter Parliament unless it be for the opportunities
it may afford me of continuing and extending my life's work. If I can
further the well-being of my country by assisting in the developing of a
nation of self-respecting men and women, whose children shall be
educated and physically and mentally fitted to face their
responsibilities and duties, I shall be content.
"I therefore ask those of you who believe that the greatness of our
Empire rests on the happiness and prosperity of its people to consider
carefully the importance of the present election.
"I am of opinion that a strong Labour Party in the House of Commons,
comprised of men who know the sufferings and share the aspirations of
all grades of workmen, is certain to exercise greater influence for good
than the academic student."
As the day of the poll (March 11th) drew near, confident hopes of
victory began to be entertained by many outside the Labour Party. The
most telling election cry used by his supporters was innocently supplied
by the opposition candidate, Mr. Drage, a gentleman who at one time sat
with Crooks on the Asylums Board. At one of his public meetings early in
the campaign, Mr. Drage attempted to justify certain low wages paid in
the Woolwich Arsenal by remarking that half a loaf was better than no
bread.
The Labour Party seized upon the words at once. "No half-loaf policy for
us; we want the whole loaf," was their immediate retort.
From that moment the loaf became the feature of the fight. As Free Trade
and Protection were also to the front, the loaf had a double
significance. Crooks's supporters carried about the streets, on the end
of poles, loaves and half-loaves to represent the rival policies. "F. C.
G.," in one of his _Westminster Gazette_ cartoons, represented Crooks
standing firm and solid on the whole loaf, while his opponent balanced
himself with some temerity on a tottering half-loaf.
Polling day dawned hopefully. Sunshine illumined the streets, while the
Labour candidate's carriages filled them. For once a Labour man
out-classed a Conservative in the number and style of his conveyances.
Friends of Crooks sent four-in-hands, motor cars, two-horse carriages,
traps, drags, vans, coal-carts, and donkey shays. The bakers of the
district had made thousands of miniature loaves about the size of
walnuts, which were in evidence everywhere. With stalks through them,
these loaves were sold in the streets and shops for a penny. Men wore
them in their buttonholes, boys in their caps, and women on their
dresses as a symbol of the Labour man's policy of the whole loaf.
Victory had been hoped for, but victory such as that achieved was beyond
the wildest dreams. A Conservative majority of 2805 was turned by Crooks
into a Labour majority of 3229--"the greatest by-election victory of
modern times," as the _Speaker_ described it. The actual poll was:--
Crooks (Labour) 8687
Drage (Conservative) 5458
----
Majority 3229
[Illustration: WILL CROOKS ADDRESSING AN OPEN-AIR MEETING IN BERESFORD
SQUARE DURING THE WOOLWICH BYE-ELECTION IN 1903.]
To the little company of supporters of both parties assembled in the
counting room of the Town Hall, Crooks turned after the declaration of
the result, and proposed the usual vote of thanks to the returning
officer. He added:--
"May I say, now that I am elected Member for Woolwich, that it will be
my aim and desire to serve all sections of the people of Woolwich,
including, of course, those who voted for Mr. Drage, as well as those
who voted for me. So far as Mr. Drage and myself are concerned, we shall
still retain the same friendship we have had for years."
In seconding the vote, Mr. Drage congratulated Mr. Crooks on the great
victory he had won, and assured him that their friendship had not been
shaken by the campaign.
A roar from the streets told that the news had reached the waiting
crowds. The new Member with his wife and a few friends passed out of the
Town Hall into the midst of the multitude. It was only by the aid of the
police, who opened a passage through the serried ranks, that Crooks was
able to reach the market square by the Arsenal gates, where it had been
arranged he should speak.
It was then nigh on midnight, but when he mounted a cart he looked out
on a sea of faces in the glare of improvised torches and the street
lamps such as had never been witnessed at that hour in Woolwich before.
Amid the exuberant joy of this multitude, it was in vain he tried to
speak. One sentence only, sharp and clear, broke in between the
cheering:--
"To-night Woolwich has sent a message of love and hope to Labour all
over the country."
Not another word could be heard. Finally he gave up the attempt to
speak. The crowd was content to roll out its cheers. These increased in
volume when someone from the dark mass passed up a large bouquet of
flowers to Mrs. Crooks.
So the curtain fell on a great fight. Mrs. Crooks, with her presentation
bouquet, the happiest woman in England. The crowd of workers, who felt
that a workers' battle had been won and a new hope arisen. And the new
Member of Parliament, very tired, cheery, undisturbed, desirous only
that the efforts of those who had assisted should be gratefully
acknowledged and no undue credit given to the vigorous and magnetic
personality who had focussed all the enthusiasm and driven it forward
into an unprecedented victory.