Part 16 (1/2)
”Let no man think that sudden in a h with thine earliest dawn thou shouldst begin it, Scarce were it ended in thy setting sun”[60]
The spirit which created the Christian Social Union found, in the same year, an unexpected outlet in the secular sphere In the Session of 1888, the Conservative Ministry, noting the general disgust which had been aroused by the corrupt overnment of Greater London, passed the ”Local Govern other provisions, ave it a ”County Council,” and endowed that Council with far-reaching powers To social reformers this was a tre to procure so of the sort, and now it dropped down froood to be true Under the shock of the surprise, London suddenly awoke to the consciousness of a corporate life On every side ive the experiood start; to work the new machine for all it orth; and to make the administration of Greater London a model for all lesser municipalities
The Divisions of London, for the purposes of its new Council, were the same as its Parliamentary Divisions, but each constituency returned two members, and the City four Every seat (except those for St George's, Hanover Square) was contested, and there were often as many as six or seven candidates for one division It was said at the time that ”the uncertainty of the issues, the ueness of parties made it impossible to tabulate the results with the same accuracy and completeness which are possible in the case of the House of Commons” Some candidates stood professedly as Liberals, and others as Conservatives The majority, however, declared the objects, such as Better Housing of the Poor, Sanitary Reform, and the abolition of jobbery and corruption, were professed by all alike; and the main issues in dispute were the control of the Police by the Council, the reform of the Corporation of London and of the City Guilds, the abolition of dues on coal coround-rents
In such projects as these it was easy to discern the working of the new spirit Men were trying, earnestly though amid much confusion, to translate the doctrines of Social Reform into fact ”Practicable Socialis party, who styled theot the unfortunate nahly indicated by those two naht The Election took place in January, 1889 The result was that 71 candidates labelled ”Progressive” were returned, and 47 ”Moderates” The Act e 19 Alderressives, and one was a Moderate; so the total result was a ”Progressive” majority of 41
By the time of which I write I had become, by habitual residence, a Londoner; and I hope I was as keen on Social Reform as anyone in London, or outside it But, after what I said in an earlier chapter, it will surprise no one that I declined to be a candidate for the London County Council My dislike of electioneering is so intense that nothing on earth except the prospect of a seat in Parliaestions that I should stand in the Progressive interest I turned a resolutely deaf ear But, when the election was over and the Progressive majority had to choose a list of Aldermen, I saw oodwill of ressive List,” and on the 5th of February I was elected an Alderues were Lord Meath, Lord Lingen, Lord Hobhouse, Mr Quintin Hogg, Sir Thomas Farrer, and Mr Frederic Harrison Lord Meath was accepted by the Progressive party, in recognition of his devoted services to the cause of social amelioration, especially in the matter of Public Gardens and Open spaces; but, with this sole exception, the list was frankly partisan The Progressives had got a majority on the new ”Parlia it down
Before the Council was created, the governing body for Greater London had been the ”Metropolitan Board of Works,” which had its dwelling in Spring Gardens The old building had to be adapted to its new uses, and, while the reconstruction was in progress, the County Council was permitted by the Corporation to meet in the Guildhall There we assehly-diversified, and, in so coave the following results: Peers, 4; MP's and ex-MP's, 9; Clergymen, 2; Barristers, 14; Solicitors, 3; Soldiers, 4; Doctors, 5; Tutors, 2; Architects, 2; Builders, 4; Engineers, 3; Journalists, 4; Publisher, 1; Bankers, 5; Stock-Exchange men, 5; Auctioneers, 3; Brewer, 1; Clothiers, 2; Confectioner, 1; Drapers, 2; Grocers, 2; Mineral Water-maker, 1; Optician, 1; Shoee, 8; ”Unspecified,” 10 And to these ally elected and were soon unseated A current joke of the tihly-cultured Councillors saying to a colleague drawn from another rank,--”The acoustics of this Hall see, replies--”Indeed? I don't perceive anything unpleasant”
Which things were an allegory; but conveyed a true impression of our social and educational diversities
The first business which we had to transact was the election of a Chairan the most useful portion of his varied career The honorary office of Vice-Chairman was unanimously conferred on Sir John Lubbock, afterwards Lord Avebury; and for the Deputy Chairmanshi+p, a salaried post of practical importance, the Council chose Mr J F B Firth, who had made his name as an exponent of the intricacies of Metropolitan Government
To watch thestudy After s, I consider him the best chairman but one under whom I ever sat The best was Mr Leonard Courtney, now Lord Courtney of Penwith, who to the gifts of accuracy, prorace of absolute impartiality Lord Rosebery had the accuracy, the promptness, and the mastery, but he was not impartial He was inclined to add the functions of Leader of the House to those of Speaker, which were rightly his When a subject on which he felt strongly was under discussion, and opinion in the Council was closely balanced, Lord Rosebery would intervene just at the close of the debate, with a short, strong, and emphatic speech, and so influence the division in favour of his own view This practice is, in ment, inconsistent with ideal chairmanshi+p, but in the early days of the Council it was not without its uses
We had to furnish ourselves with a constitution, to distribute our various powers, to frame rules of debate, and to create an order of business To do all this in a full Council of 137 members, most of them quite unversed in public life, many of them opinionated, all articulate, and not a few vociferous, was a work of the utineered it to perfection He was suave and courteous; smoothed acrid dissensions with judicious huly, but with effect; andwhich profoundly impressed the representatives of the Great Middle Class ”By Jove, how these chaps funk Rosebery!” was the candid exclamation of Sir Howard Vincent; and his remark applied quite equally to his own ”Moderate” friends and to entry that they longed to call Lord Rosebery ”My Lord,” and ith difficulty induced to substitute ”Mr
Chairman” The one me ”funked” the Chair in the Council for studies The events of February, 1885, were still present to h the Councillor for Battersea had probably forgotten theht was extraordinary He spoke constantly and effectively, but alith , and common sense
At the same tiht that the Chair ought to be defied, defied it This ard, for the Chairman had no disciplinary powers, and there was no executive force to cos As far as I could observe, Mr Burns never gave way, and yet he soon ceased to enter into conflict with the Chair What was the influence which tamed hiot itself duly divided into Committees, and it was noticeable that there was an enor Committee The ”Bitter Cry of Outcast London” had not been raised in vain, and every man in the Council see an intolerable wrong The weekly Session of the Council was fixed for Tuesday afternoon, to the disgust of soressives who hankered after the more democratic hour of 7 pm The main part of the business was the discussion of the Reports brought up from the various Committees, and, when those were disposed of, abstract motions could be debated So to raise such questions as Home Rule, Land Law, Enfranchisement of Leaseholds, and other matters which lay outside the purview of the Council; and it was delightful to see Lord Rosebery da his hearers of the limits which Parliament had set to their activities Those lih, and included in their scope Housing, Asyluhways, Refore, Parks, Theatres, and Music-Halls, besides the coulated The Co with these subjects, and several others of less importance, were manned by able, zealous, and conscientious servants of the public, who gave ungrudgingly of their tiht, and labour The Council as a whole displayed a voracious appetite for work, and rendered, without fee or reward, a service to Greater London which no money could have purchased
In the autumn of this year--1889--some correspondence appeared in newspapers and reviews about as called ”The New Liberaliser content itself with the crudities of official politics, but longed to bear its part in the social regeneration of the race In an article in the _Nineteenth Century_, I commented on the insensibility of the Liberal Leaders to this new inspiration ”Who would lead our arht of Lord Rosebery as our likeliest champion; but I put the cause above the man ”Wherever our leader o on _ca ira! ca ira! Malgre les mutins, tout reussira!_ The cause of Social Service arouses that ht and cannot be resisted, and which carries in itself the pledge of victory The terrible ency of the evils hich we have to cope cannot be overstated Those who set out to fight thenorance, stupidity, prejudice, greed, cruelty, self-interest, instincts of class, cowardly distrust of popular h places' And, in the face of these opposing forces, it is cheering to think that, after long years of single-handed striving, the good cause now has its workers everywhere
And to none does it make a more direct or a more imperious appeal than to us Liberal politicians If we are worthy of the name, we must be in earnest about a cause which proth of days to those who by their daily labour of hand and head principally lo-Saxon race We must be is and unadulterated food and pure water and fresh air are er to do our part towards abolishi+ng filth and eradicating disease, and giving free scope to those beneficent laws of Nature which, if only ill obey thened to proevity ofhas equally and indefeasibly the right to be happy, weoccupation in Social Service Our aiing thousands of the hu, and then to 'add sunshi+ne to daylight by norant, the weak, the hungry, the over-worked, all call for aid; and, into their wants, the adherent of the New Liberalis the best function of the character which he professes, and dom of God”
When those words ritten, the London County Council had just begun its work I served on it till March, 1895; and during those six years it had proved in practice what a right- and sweetening hu in light and air where all had been darkness and pollution It cleared wide areas of insanitary dwellings, where only vice could thrive, and re-housed the dispossessed It broke up the iving pleasure-grounds It transfigured the Music-Halls, and showed that, by the exercise of a little firmness and common sense, the tone and character of the ”Poor Man's Theatre” could be raised to the level of ould be applauded in a drawing-roo the sale of refreshments in the auditorium, it crushed the old-fashi+oned superstition that public entertainment and alcoholic drink are inseparably connected In soe to bear a part; and, in that matter of the purification of the Music-Halls, I was proud to follow the lead of Sir John McDougall, who has since been Chair, fearlessly exposed himself to unbounded calumny, and even physical violence, in his crusade for the moral purity of popular amuseh a long time has elapsed since I left the Council, I have constantly watched its labours, and can heartily assent to the eulogy pronounced byhis Canonry at St Paul's for his Professorshi+p at Oxford:
”As for London, ressive policy on the County Council I still think that this has given London a soul; and that it has been by far theThe hope of London lies with the County Council”
Before I say goodbye to this portion of raphy,” let me record the fact that the London County Council produced a poet of its own The first Council came to an end in March, 1892, and the second, elected on the 5th of that reatly increased majority One of the newly-elected Councillors uttered his triu
”Here then you have your answer, you that thought To find our London unawakened still, A sleeping plunder for you, thought to fill The gorge of private greed, and count for naught The colorious hour, her strength of public will Grown conscious, and a civic soul to thrill The once dull ht
Lo, where the alert olden days to be, With shaded eyes beneath her arching hands Scanning the forward pathway, like a seer To whohty destiny”[61]
Moved by the desire to gratify a young areat man, who never damned with faint praise, pronounced that this was the finest thing written about London since Wordsworth's Sonnet ”Coust, 1892, Gladstone becaave me a place in his Government; and for the next three years my activities were limited to North Bedfordshi+re, which I then represented, the House of Commons, and Whitehall I was restored to liberty by the dissolution of July, 1895 In my chapter about Oxford, I spoke of the Rev E S Talbot, then Warden of Keble, and now Bishop of Winchester, as one of those whose friendshi+p I had acquired in undergraduate days
After serving for a while as Vicar of Leeds, he was appointed in 1895 to the See of Rochester, which then included South London Soon after he had entered on his neork, he said to me, ”Men of leisure are very scarce in South London Will you come across the Thames, and lend us a hand?”
FOOTNOTES:
[55] Dr Butler's Harrow Sermons Series II