The King's power reached its greatest height between 1770 and 1782.
He made most disastrous use of it, not only at home but abroad. He
insisted that the English colonists in America should pay taxes,
without representation in Parliament, even of that imperfect kind
which then existed in Great Britain. This determination brought on
the American Revolution--called in England the "King's War" (SS549-
552). The war, in spite of its ardent support by the "King's
Friends," roused a powerful opposition in Parliament. Chatham, Burke,
Fox, and other able men protested against the King's arbitrary
course. inally, Dunning moved and carried this resolution (1780) in
the Commons: "Resolved, that the power of the Crown has increased, is
increasing, and ought to be diminished" (S548). This vigorous
proposition came too late to affect the conduct of the war, and
England lost the most valuable of her colonial possessions. The
struggle, which ended successfully for the patriots in America, was in
reality part of the same battle fought in England by other patriots in
the halls of Parliament. On the western side of the Atlantic it
resulted in the establishment of national independence; on the eastern
side, in the final overthrow of royal tyranny and the triumph of the
constitution. It furthermore laid the foundation of that just and
generous policy on the part of England toward Canada and her other
colonies which has made her mistress of the largest and most
prosperous empire on the globe.[1]
[1] The area of the British Empire in 1911 was nearly 12,000,000
square miles.
30. John Wilkes and the Middlesex Elections; Publication of
Parliamentary Debates.
Meanwhile John Wilkes (S556), a member of the House of Commons, had
gained the recognition of a most important principle. He was a coarse
and violent opponent of the royal policy, and had been expelled from
the House on account of his bitter personal attack on the King.[2]
Several years later (1768) he was reelected to Parliament, but was
again expelled for seditious libel;[3] he was three times reelected by
the people of London and Middlesex, who looked upon him as the
champion of their cause; each time the House refused to permit him to
take his seat, but at the fourth election he was successful. A few
years later (1782) he induced the House to strike out from its journal
the resolution there recorded against him.[4] Thus Wilkes, by his
indomitable persistency, succeeded in establishing the right of the
people to elect the candidate of their choice to Parliament. During
the same period the people gained another great victory over
Parliament. That body had utterly refused to permit the debates to be
reported in the newspaperes. But the redoubtable Wilkes was
determined to obtain and publish such reports; rather than have
another prolonged battle with him, Parliament conceded the privilege
(1771) (S556). The result was that the public then, for the first
time, began to know what business Parliament actually transactaed, and
how it was done. This fact, of course, rendered the members of both
Houses far more directly responsible to the will of the people than
they had ever been before.[1]
[2] In No. 45 of the _North Briton_ (1763) Wilkes rudely accused the
King of having deliberately uttered a falsehood in his speech to
Parliament.
[3] The libel was contained in a letter written to the newspapers by
Wilkes.
[4] The resolution was finally stricken out, on the ground that it was
"subversive of the rights of the whole body of electors."
[1] The publication of Division Lists (equivalent to Yeas and Nays) by
the House of Commons in 1836 and by the Lords in 1857 completed this
work. Since then the public have known how each member of Parliament
votes on every important question.
31. The Reform Bills of 1832, 1867, 1884; Demand for "Manhood
Suffrage."
But notwithstanding this decided political progress, still the
greatest reform of all--that of the system of electing members of
Parliament--still remained to be accomplished. Cromwell had attempted
it (1654), but the Restoration put an end to the work which the
Protector had so wisely begun. Lord Chatham felt the necessity so
strongly that he had not hesitated to declare (1766) that the system
of representation--or rather misrepresentation--which then existed was
the "rotten part of the constitution." "If it does not drop," said he,
"it must be amputated." Later (1770), he became so alarmed at the
prospect that he declared that "before the end of the century either
the Parliament will reform itself from within, or be reformed from
without with a vengeance" (S578).
But the excitement caused by the French Revolution and the wars with
Napoleon not only prevented any general movement of reform, but made
it possible to enact the Six Acts and other stringent laws against
agitation in that direction (S571). Finally, however, the
unrepresented classes rose in their might (SS580-582), and by terrible
riots made it evident that it would be dangerous for Parliament to
postpone action on their demands. The Reform Bill--the "Great Charter
of 1832"--swept away the "rotten boroughs," which had disgraced the
country. It granted the right of election to many large towns which
had hitherto been unable to send members to Parliament, and it placed
representation on a broader, healthier, and more equuitable basis than
had ever existed before (S582). It was a significant fact that when
the first reformed Parliament met, composed largely of Liberals, it
showed its true spirit by abolishing slavery in the West Indies. It
was followed by the Municipal Reform Act of 1835 (S599). Later
(1848), the Chartists advocated further reforms (S591), most of which
have since been adopted.
In 1867 an act (S599), scarcely less important than that of 1832,
broadened representation still further; and in 1884 the franchise was
again extended (S599). A little later (1888) the County Council Act
reconstructed the local self-government of the country in great
measure.[2] It was supplemented in 1894 by the Parish Council Act
(S600). The cry is now for unrestricted "manhood suffrage," on the
principle of "one man one vote";[1] woman suffrage in a limited degree
has existed since 1869 (S599).
[2] The "Local Government" Act: this gives to counties the management
of their local affairs and secures uniformity of method and of
administration.
[1] That is, the abolition of certain franchise privileges springing
from the possession of landed property in different counties or
parliamentary districts by which the owner of such property is
entitled to cast more than one vote for a candidate for Parliament.
32. Extension of Religious Liberty; Admission of Catholics and Jews to
Parliament, Free Trade.
Meanwhile immense progress was made in extending the principles of
religious liberty to all bodies of believers. After nearly three
hundred years (or since the Second Act of Supremacy, 1559), Catholics
were admitted in 1829 to the House of Commons (S573);and in the next
generation, 1858, Jews were likewise admitted (S599). The Oaths Act
of 1888 makes it impossible to exclude any one on account of his
religious belief or unbelief (S599).
Commercially the nation has made equal progress. The barbarous Corn
Laws (SS592, 594) were repealed in 1848, the narrow protective policy
of centuries abandoned; and since that period England has practically
taken its stand on unlimited free trade with all countries.
33. Condition of Ireland; Reform in the Land and the Church Laws;
Civil-Service Reform; Education.
In one direction, however, there had been no advance. Following the
example of Scotland (S513), Ireland was politically united to Great
Britain (S562); at the beginning of the century when the first
Imperial Parliament met (1801), but long after the Irish Catholics had
obtained the right of representation in Parliament, they were
compelled to submit to unjust land laws, and also to contribute to the
support of the Established (Protestant) Church in Ireland. Finally,
through the efforts of Mr. Gladstone and others, this branch of the
Church was disestablished (1869) (S601); later (1870, 1881, 1903),
important reforms were effected in th eIrish land laws (SS603, 605,
620).
To supplement the great electoral reforms which had so widely extended
the power of the popular vote, two other measures were now carried.
One was that of Civil-Service Reform, 1870, which opened all
clerkships and similar positions in the gift of the government to the
free competition of candidates, without regard to their political
opinions (S609). This did away with most of that demoralizing system
of favoritism which makes government offices the spoils by which
successful political parties reward "little men for little services."
The "secret ballot," another measure of great importance, followed
(1872) (S609).
The same year, 1870, England, chiefly through Mr. Forster's efforts,
took up the second measure, the question of national education. The
conviction gained ground that if the working classes are to vote, then
they must not be allowed to remain in ignorance; the nation declared
"we must educate our future masters." In this spirit a system of
elementary government schools was established, which gives instruction
to tens of thousands of children who hitherto were forced to grow up
without its advantages (S602). These schools are not yet entirely
free, although the legislation of 1891-1894 practically puts most of
them on that basis.
England now has a strong and broad foundation of national education
and of political suffrage.
34. Imperial Federation; Labor enters Parliament; Old Age Pensions;
Budget of 1910; Veto Power of the Lords.
The defeat of the Boers in the Great Boer War (1899-1902) led to the
completion of the scheme of Imperial Federation, by the establishment
of the Union of South Africa (1910) as the fourth of the self-
governing colonies, of which Australia, New Zealand, and Canada are
the other three.
In 1906, in the reign of Edward VII, organized Labor secured for the
first time adequate representation in Parliament, through the
overwhelming victory gained at the elections by the combined Liberal
and Labor parties (S628). The "Laborites," as they are popularly
called, claim that their influence obtained the passage of the Old Age
Pensions Act of 1908.
Two years later the Liberal Government compelled the Lords to accept a
Budget calling for an enormous increase of taxes imposed in large
measure on land and incomes and levied partly for the purpose of
paying the new pensions (SS629, 630).
The death of Edward VII, in the spring of 1910, brought George V to
the throne. He came at a critical time. Mr. Asquith, the Liberal
Prime Minister, was then demanding that the veto power of the House of
Lords should be limited or practically abolished so that in future the
House of Commons should be distinctly recognized as the dominant
factor in the government (S631).
In the summer of 1911 Mr. Asquith succeeded in passing his Veto Bill
restricting the power of the House of Lords, and making it impossible
for that body to resist any measures the Commons should resolutely
resolve to carry. He also passed the Salary Bill, by which members of
the House of Commons are paid 400 pounds annually. Later, in 1911, he
passed the Workmen's Compulsory Insurance Bill against sickness and
unemployment. The worker contributes a small sum weekly, his employer
does the same, and the Government gives the rest. The law applies to
many millions of people and it is expected to do great good.
These facts show that while England remains a monarchy in name, it has
now become a republic in fact. A sovereign reigns, but the People
rule. The future is in their hands.