Joseph Chamberlain (8 July 1836 – 2 July 1914) was an influential British businessman, politician, and statesman.
In his early years Chamberlain was a radically minded Liberal Party member, a
campaigner for educational reform, and President of the Board of Trade. He later became a
Liberal Unionist in alliance with the Conservative Party and was appointed Colonial
Secretary. At the end of his career he led the tariff reform campaign. Despite never becoming Prime Minister, he is
regarded as one of the most important British politicians of the late 19th century and early 20th century, as well as a colourful
character and renowned orator.
He was the father of Sir Austen Chamberlain and future Prime Minister
Neville Chamberlain.
Early life, business career and marriage
Chamberlain was born in Camberwell in London
to a successful shoemaker and manufacturer also named
Joseph (1796–1874). He was educated at University College School (then still in Euston) between 1850 and 1852, in
which he excelled academically, achieving prizes in French and mathematics. The elder Chamberlain was not able to send all his children into higher education, and at the
age of 16, Joseph was apprenticed to the Cordwainers' Company and
worked for the family business in the making of quality leather shoes. At 18 he was sent to Birmingham to join his uncle's screwmaking business, Nettlefolds (later part of Guest, Keen and
Nettlefolds), in which his father had invested. In partnership with Joseph Nettlefold, Chamberlain was to help the
screwmaking firm, soon known as Nettlefold and Chamberlain, to become a
commercial success and by his retirement from the firm in 1874, the company was exporting its products to the United States, Europe, India,
Japan, Canada and Australia. At
the firm's height, Nettlefold and Chamberlain were producing approximately two-thirds of all metal screws made in England.
In 1860, Chamberlain met and fell in love with Harriet Kenrick, the daughter of a Unitarian
family from Birmingham who originally occupied Wynn Hall in Ruabon, Wrexham, Wales. In July 1861, the couple married and a daughter, Beatrice, was born in May 1862. In October
1863, having had a premonition that she would die in childbirth, Harriet gave birth to a son,
Joseph Austen, the future Chancellor of
the Exchequer and Foreign Secretary. Two
days after Austen's birth Harriet became ill. She died three days later. Gripped with grief, Chamberlain devoted himself to the
growing fortunes of Nettlefold and Chamberlain, while raising Beatrice and Austen with the Kenrick parents-in-law.
In 1868, Chamberlain married for the second time, wedding Harriet's cousin, Florence Kenrick.
The marriage was as successful and joyous for Chamberlain as the first, and bore four children: Arthur Neville in 1869, Ida in 1870, Hilda in 1871, and Ethel, born in 1873. On 13 February 1875, Florence gave birth to their fifth child. By the next day
both she and her child had died. Florence's sister Louisa married Joseph's brother Arthur Chamberlain- their granddaughter was
the author Elizabeth Longford and their great-granddaughter is
the Labour politician Harriet Harman.
Early political career
Calls for reform
There were strong radical and liberal traditions among shoemakers in his adopted home city of Birmingham, while Chamberlain's
Unitarian church held a long tradition of social action.[1] Chamberlain duly became involved in
Liberal politics, and the growth of Britain's urban population during the industrial
revolution led to mounting national political pressure to redistribute parliamentary seats and to enfranchise a sizeable
proportion of urban males. In 1866, Lord John
Russell's Liberal administration put a Reform Bill before the House of
Commons, aiming to create 400,000 new voters. While conservative supporters of the government, known as 'Adullamites', opposed the Bill for its disruption of the social order, Radicals criticised it on the basis
that it failed to concede the secret ballot or household suffrage. The Bill was defeated and Lord Derby formed a minority Conservative administration. On 27 August 1866, a vast demonstration for reform was held in Birmingham, in which
the Mayor marched alongside 250,000 people, one of whom was Chamberlain. John Bright
addressed the huge middle and working-class crowd, Chamberlain recalling that 'men poured into the hall, black as they were from
the factories…the people were packed together like herrings.' The Conservative government passed a Reform Bill in
1867, nearly doubling the electorate from 1,430,000 to 2,470,000 and in the 1868 General Election, the Liberal Party took power. Chamberlain was active in the
election campaign, praising Bright and George Dixon, a Birmingham Member of Parliament
(MP).
In 1867 he helped found the Birmingham Education
League with Jesse Collings. The Education League noted that of around four and a
quarter million children of school age, two million children, mostly in urban areas, did not attend school with a further million
in uninspected schools. More contentious was the government’s aid to Church of England
schools, embodying a connection between church and state that was bound to offend Nonconformist opinion. Chamberlain was enthusiastic about the requirement for the provision of free,
secular, compulsory education, stating that 'it is as much the duty of the State to see that the children are educated as to see
that they are fed.' He also pointed to the success owed by the United States and Prussia to
public education. The Birmingham Education League evolved into the National Education
League, which held its first Conference in Birmingham in 1869. The League called for a
school system supported by local rates and government grants, under local authorities
subject to government inspection. By 1870, the League had more than one hundred branches, mostly in
cities and drawing from trades unions and working men's organisations. Chamberlain was also prominent in the local campaign in
support of Gladstone's Irish Church Disestablishment Bill against the House of Lords' obstructionism. Chamberlain seconded the motion in support of disestablishment at a
debate held at Birmingham town hall, and he addressed the large, restless crowd attacking the hereditary powers of the House of
Lords. The meeting broke up amidst fighting, but Chamberlain had become a figure of prominence among Birmingham Liberals, and he
was elected to Birmingham Council for St. Paul's ward in November 1869.
The Liberal government put forward proposals for an Elementary Education
Bill in January 1870. W.E. Forster, Vice-President of the Committee of
Council on Education was responsible for the Bill and came under attack from Nonconformists because of the legislation's proposal
to maintain church schools within the structure of national education and to put them on the rates. The absence of school boards
or the provision of free, compulsory education caused consternation in the National Education League, and Chamberlain arranged
for a large delegation to visit 10 Downing Street to persuade Gladstone to remove the
role of the church in national education. On 9 March 1870, the
Education League's delegation arrived to meet the Prime Minister, consisting of 400 branch members and 46 M.P.s. In this first
meeting between Gladstone and Chamberlain, the latter impressed the Prime Minister with his lucid speech, and Gladstone agreed
during the Elementary Education Bill's second reading to make amendments that took church schools from rate-payer control and
granted them support from government funds. Liberal MPs, exasperated at the compromises in the legislation, voted against the
government, and the Bill passed the House of Commons with support from the Conservatives. Chamberlain campaigned against the Act,
and in particular clause 25, which gave school boards the power to
pay the fees of poor children at voluntary schools, which theoretically allowed them to fund church schools. The Education League
even stood in several by-elections against Liberal candidates who refused to support the repeal of clause 25. In 1873 a Liberal majority was elected to the Birmingham School Board, with Chamberlain as chairman. Eventually, a
compromise was reached with the church component of the School Board agreeing to make payments from rate-payer's money only to
schools linked with industrial education.
Chamberlain broadened his campaigning to take up the cause of rural workers, promoting their enfranchisement and cheaper land
prices. This was reflected in his subsequent slogan coined in an article written for the Fortnightly Review, the four
'F's' – 'Free Church, Free Schools, Free Land and Free Labour'. In another article entitled 'The Liberal Party and its Leaders',
Chamberlain made a blistering attack on Gladstone's leadership and advocated a concerted Radical challenge to the direction of
the party. By 1873, Chamberlain had made his reputation, especially in Birmingham, as a charismatic Radical politician, and
sought to further his cause in the municipal arena.
Mayor of Birmingham
In November 1873 Chamberlain stood as a Liberal candidate for the mayoralty of Birmingham, with
the Conservatives denouncing his political Radicalism and disparaging him as a 'monopoliser and a dictator.' The Liberal Party
swept the municipal elections having campaigned under the slogan 'The People above the Priests', a clear swipe at the High
Toryism of Chamberlain’s opponents. As mayor, Chamberlain promoted many civic improvements, leaving the town (in words to
Collings) 'parked, paved, assized, marketed, gas & watered and improved'. Prior to his tenure in office, the city's
municipal administration was notably lax with regards to public works, and many urban dwellers lived in conditions of great
poverty. The city's water supply was considered a danger to public health – approximately half of the city’s population was
dependent on well water, much of which was polluted by sewage. Furthermore, piped water was only supplied three days per week,
compelling the use of unhealthy well water and water carts for the rest of the week. Two rival gas companies, the Birmingham Gas
Company and the Birmingham and Staffordshire Gas Company were locked in constant competition, in which the city's streets were
continually dug up to allow for the laying of mains. Chamberlain established a municipal gas supply by forcibly purchasing the
two companies on behalf of the borough for £1,953,050, even offering to purchase the companies himself if the ratepayers refused.
The move was a success, and in its first year of operations, the municipal gas scheme made a profit of £34,000. Deploring the
rising death rate from contagious diseases in the poorest sections of the city, in January 1876, Chamberlain forcibly purchased
Birmingham's waterworks for a combined sum of £1,350,000, having declared to a House of Commons Committee that 'We have not the
slightest intention of making profit...We shall get our profit indirectly in the comfort of the town and in the health of the
inhabitants'. Despite this noticeable executive action, Chamberlain was mistrustful of central authority and burdensome
bureaucracy, preferring to give local communities the responsibility to act on their own initiative.
With the city's gas and water supply under municipal control, Chamberlain undertook other schemes with the intention of
improving the quality of life in Birmingham. In July 1875 Chamberlain tabled an improvement plan that involved a programme of
slum clearance in Birmingham’s city centre. Chamberlain had been consulted by the Home
Secretary, R.A. Cross during the preparation of the
Artisan's and Labourers' Dwellings Improvement Act
1875, a prominent feature of the Disraeli ministry's programme of social
improvement. Chamberlain proposed to build a new road (Corporation
Street) through Birmingham's overcrowded slums, and bought 50 acres (200,000 m²) of property for such a purpose.
Overriding the protests of local landlords and the Commissioner of the Local Government Board's inquiry into the scheme,
Chamberlain appealed directly to the President of the Local Government
Board, George Sclater-Booth. Having gained the support of
central government and raised the funds for the programme, Chamberlain was able to implement the scheme, contributing £10,000 to
the cost himself. However, the Improvement Committee concluded that it would be too expensive to transfer slum-dwellers to
municipally built accommodation and so the land was let out as a business proposition on a 75 year lease. Those who had occupied
the slums were eventually rehoused in the suburbs, not in the area of their previous residence, and the scheme as a whole lost
local government £300,000. The death-rate in the newly christened Corporation Street dropped dramatically – from approximately 53
per 1,000 between 1873 and 1875 to 21 per 1,000 between 1879 and 1881.
Chamberlain's tenure in office was also notable for his promotion of cultural improvement. Public and private money was used
for the construction of libraries, municipal swimming pools and schools. The Museum & Art Gallery was enlarged and a number of new parks were opened.
Construction of the Council House was begun while the Victoria Law Courts were built in Corporation Street.
The mayoralty helped give Chamberlain stature as a figure of both local and national renown, with contemporaries commenting
upon his youthfulness and prominent dress, in which he sported 'a black velvet coat, jaunty eyeglass in eye, red neck-tie drawn
through a ring'. His contribution to the city's improvement secured political allegiance of the so-called 'Birmingham caucus' for
Chamberlain in return, a loyalty that would remain even with the shifts in his public career.
National politics
Member of Parliament and the National Liberal Federation
In the 1874 General Election, Chamberlain made his first
attempt to enter the House of Commons. The Sheffield Reform Association, an offshoot of the
Liberal Party in the city, invited Chamberlain to stand for election shortly into his tenure as Mayor of Birmingham. The campaign
was a fierce one, and Chamberlain was accused of republicanism and atheism by opponents, with
dead cats even being thrown at him on the speaking platform by angry spectators. Much to his displeasure, Chamberlain came in
third place, a failure for someone considered as a leading spokesman for urban Radicalism. During his term as Mayor of
Birmingham, Chamberlain continued to entertain the prospect of standing for Parliament, although he eventually rejected the
possibility of standing in Sheffield. Predictably, Chamberlain maintained his focus on Birmingham and when George Dixon decided
to retire from his seat in May 1876, an opportunity was presented for Chamberlain to enter the House of Commons. On
17 June 1876, Chamberlain was returned unopposed for the
Birmingham constituency, after a period of anxiety following his
nomination in which he delivered a blistering attack on the Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, accusing him of being 'a man who
never told the truth except by accident.' Chamberlain subsequently apologised publicly.
When elected, Chamberlain resigned the mayorship of Birmingham, and was introduced to the House of Commons by John Bright and
Joseph Cowen, an M.P. for Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Almost immediately, Chamberlain began to organise
the Radical component in the House of Commons in an attempt to prompt the Liberal leadership, with the intention of displacing
Whig dominance and providing a Radical opposition to the Conservatives. On
4 August 1876, Chamberlain delivered his maiden speech in the House of Commons during a debate
on elementary schools. The maintenance of clause 25 prompted Chamberlain to intervene before the busy House, in which Disraeli
was in attendance. Speaking for twenty minutes, Chamberlain utilised his experience on the Birmingham School Board to make an
impressive speech. Hereafter, Chamberlain spoke on many subjects, but concentrated on the subject of free public education and
female teachers. The issues of alcohol licensing and army discipline also occupied much of Chamberlain's time.
Early difficulties in creating a coherent group committed to Radicalism within the Liberal Party convinced Chamberlain of the
need to establish a more effective organisation for the party as a whole, especially in the localities. The controversy
surrounding Disraeli's policy during the Russo-Turkish War proved to be a
catalyst for activity, for Chamberlain viewed the agitation surrounding the Bulgarian atrocities as a means of utilising public
indignation for a Radical agenda. Chamberlain estimated that Radicalism could profit from Gladstone's increasing popularity, and
he subsequently sought to close ranks with the returned Liberal leader. With the Liberal Party active in opposition to the
Conservative government's foreign policy, it was a propitious moment to federate the country's Liberal Associations, and on
31 May 1877, Gladstone addressed approximately 30,000 people at
Bingley Hall to found the National Liberal Federation. The body was undeniably a creation
of Chamberlain's brand of Birmingham Radicalism, reflected in the dominance of Birmingham's politicians in the Federation's
administration – Chamberlain himself served as President. The Federation was designed to tighten party discipline and provide the
Liberal Party with the apparatus for fighting the Conservatives in elections, whose party organisation was undergoing effective
reform. Furthermore, the Federation subsequently engaged in numerous campaigning activities, including the enlisting of new
members, the organisation of political meetings and the publishing of posters and pamphlets. Contemporary commentators made
(often disparaging) comparisons between the techniques of the Federation and those employed in American politics. For
Chamberlain, the Federation gave him much enhanced influence within the Liberal Party as well as a nationwide platform to promote
Radicalism.
Chamberlain was largely critical of Disraeli's handling of foreign affairs, arguing that the Conservative government's forward
policy diverted attention from the requirements of domestic reform. Unlike many Liberals, Chamberlain's attitude was not fuelled
by anti-imperialism, for although he berated the government for its Eastern policy, the 1878 invasion of Afghanistan and the 1879 Zulu
War, he had previously supported Disraeli's purchase of Suez Canal Company shares in
November 1875. At this stage of his career, Chamberlain was eager to see the protection of British overseas interests, but placed
greater emphasis on a conception of justice in the pursuit of such interests. In the 1880 general election, Chamberlain joined the Liberal denunciations of the
Conservative Party’s foreign policy, and the National Liberal Federation played an important part in seeing the Liberal Party
take power. With Gladstone having returned as Prime Minister with notable assistance from the National Liberal Federation,
Chamberlain was hopeful of being rewarded with a cabinet position.
President of the Board of Trade
Despite the fact that Chamberlain had only sat in Parliament for four years, his claims to a position in the cabinet were
strong – he spoke nationally for Radicals and Nonconformists, and had a credible power base in the form of the National Liberal
Federation. Although Gladstone did not regard the Federation highly, he recognised the part it had played in taking the Liberal
Party to power, and appreciated the wisdom of not antagonising Chamberlain, who told Sir William Harcourt that he was prepared to lead a revolt and field Radical
candidates in borough elections. Eager to reconcile Radicals to the Whig-heavy cabinet and having taken the counsel of Bright,
Gladstone invited Chamberlain on 27 April 1880 to fulfil the post
of President of the Board of Trade.
Chamberlain's scope for manoeuvre was restricted between 1880 and 1883 by the Cabinet’s
occupancy with difficulties concerning Ireland, Transvaal and
Egypt. However, he was able to introduce the Grain Cargoes Bill, for the safer transportation of
grain, an Electric Lighting Bill which enabled municipal bodies to establish electricity supplies and a Seaman's Wages Bill,
which ensured a fairer system of payment. After 1883, Chamberlain’s period at the Board of Trade was more productive. A
Bankruptcy Bill established a Bankruptcy Department at the Board of Trade responsible for enquiring into failed business deals.
Meanwhile, a Patents Bill brought patenting under the supervision of the Board of Trade. More importantly, Chamberlain sought to
end the practice of ship owners overinsuring their vessels – 'coffin ships' – while under manning them, thereby ensuring a
healthy profit irrespective of whether the ship arrived safely or sank. Despite having the support of Tory Democrats
Lord Randolph Churchill and John Eldon
Gorst, the Liberal government was unwilling to grant Chamberlain its full support and the Bill was withdrawn in July
1884.
In Cabinet, Ireland was of special interest to Chamberlain. Representing Irish Catholic peasants, the Irish Land League pressed for fair rents, fixity of tenure and free sale in opposition to
absentee Anglo-Irish landlords. Chamberlain supported proposals that a Land Bill would be effective in countering agitation in
Ireland and Fenian outrages in the British Isles. Furthermore, he felt that a land settlement would quieten demands for Irish
Home Rule, something that Chamberlain opposed with vigour, reasoning that Ireland's
separation from the United Kingdom would lead to the eventual break up of the Empire. He
was opposed to the policy of coercion advocated by the Chief Secretary, W.E.
Forster, believing that strong arm tactics before the settlement of the land issue would provoke Irish malcontents. In April
1881, Gladstone's government introduced the Irish Land Act, but in response, Parnell, leading the Irish nationalists, encouraged tenants to withhold rents. As a result,
Parnell and other leaders, including John Dillon, were imprisoned in Kilmainham Gaol on 13 October 1881. Keen that there should be no
more concessions, Chamberlain supported their imprisonment, and used their incarceration to bargain with them in 1882 in an attempt to reconcile them to the government. In the ensuing 'Kilmainham Treaty', the government agreed
to release Parnell in return for his cooperation in making the Land Act work. Forster resigned and the new Chief Secretary,
Lord Frederick Cavendish was murdered by Irish terrorists on 6 May 1882, leaving the 'Kilmainham
Treaty' in tatters. Having brokered the agreement, many including Parnell believed that Chamberlain was to be offered the Chief
Secretaryship, however Gladstone passed him over and appointed Sir George
Trevelyan instead. With the prominence of Ireland in British politics, it is not inconceivable that Gladstone was
reluctant to appoint Chamberlain to a position that would have markedly enhanced his prestige and political cause. Nevertheless,
Chamberlain maintained an interest in Irish affairs, and proposed to the Cabinet an Irish Central
Board that would have legislative powers in land, education and communications. This was rejected by the Whigs in Cabinet
on 9 May 1885.
Chamberlain's inability to introduce more creative legislation at the Board of Trade was the cause of frustration for someone
who had proven to be so effective in municipal politics. However, Chamberlain viewed the Board of Trade as little more than a
stepping stone for the attainment for higher things, seeing the post as a platform for the promotion of Radicalism. Early into
the Gladstone ministry, Chamberlain suggested without success that the franchise should be extended, with the Prime Minister
arguing that the matter should be deferred until the end of the Parliament's lifespan. In 1884, the parliament passed a major
measure of franchise reform, the Reform Act, which gave hundreds of thousands of rural labourers the vote. This was followed by a
Redistribution Act in 1885, negotiated by Gladstone and the Conservative leader, Lord Salisbury. Chamberlain sought to capture the newly enfranchised
voters, and threw himself into a campaign of Radicalism. This took many forms, including public meetings, speeches and notably,
articles written in the Fortnightly Review by Chamberlain’s close associates, including Jesse Collings and
John Morley. Chamberlain earned a reputation for
provocative speeches during the period, especially during debate surrounding the 1884 County Franchise Bill, which was opposed by
the Whig Liberals, Lord Hartington (later the 8th
Duke of Devonshire) and George
Goschen as well as Lord Salisbury, who argued that the Bill gave the Liberals an unfair electoral advantage. The
Conservative leader was prepared to use the powers of the House of Lords in order to block the Bill, much to Chamberlain’s
dismay. At Denbigh on 20 October 1884, Chamberlain famously
declared in a speech that Salisbury was "himself the spokesman of a class – a class to which he himself belongs, who toil not
neither do they spin." In response, Salisbury branded Chamberlain a 'Sicilian bandit' and Lord Iddesleigh called him 'Jack Cade'.
When Chamberlain suggested that he would march on London with thousands of Birmingham constituents to protest at the House of
Lords' powers, Salisbury remarked that "Mr. Chamberlain will return from his adventure with a broken head if nothing worse." This
verbal altercation was characteristic of the antagonism between Chamberlain and his Radical followers on the one hand, and the
landed Conservatives and Whigs on the other. In July 1885, the Radical Programme, the first campaign handbook in British
political history was published, with the preface written by Chamberlain himself. It called for land reform, more direct taxation, free public education, the disestablishment of the Church, universal male suffrage, and more protection for trade unions. The
proposals in the Radical Programme earned the scorn of Whig Liberals and Conservatives alike, and it was on the former
that Chamberlain had set his sights, writing to Morley that with Radical solidarity 'we will utterly destroy the Whigs, and have
a Radical government before many years are out.' Seeking a contest with the Whigs, Chamberlain and Dilke presented their resignations to Gladstone on 20 May
1885, when the Cabinet rejected Chamberlain’s scheme for the creation of National Councils in England, Scotland and Wales and
when a proposed Land Purchase Bill had no provision for the reform of Irish local government. The resignations were not made
public, and the opportunity for Chamberlain to take his Radicalism to the country was only presented when the Irish Parliamentary
Party supported a Conservative amendment to the budget on 9 June, which passed by 12 votes.
Subsequently, the Gladstone ministry resigned, and Salisbury formed a minority administration.
Liberal split
In August 1885, the Salisbury ministry asked for a dissolution of Parliament. At Hull on 5 August, Chamberlain began his election campaign by
addressing an enthusiastic crowd in front of large posters declaring Chamberlain to be 'Your coming Prime Minister'. Until the
campaign's closure in October, Chamberlain launched vociferous attacks on those in opposition to the proposals of the Radical
Programme. In particular, he took up the cause of rural labourers and offered to make smallholdings available to workers via
funds from local authorities, coining the slogan 'Three Acres and a Cow'. Chamberlain's campaign proved to be immensely popular,
with large crowds gathering to listen to his espousal of the Radical Programme. In particular, the young Ramsay MacDonald and David Lloyd George were enthralled by
Chamberlain's espousal of Radical policies, and leading Liberals noted with some discomfort the threat posed by what Goschen
called the 'Unauthorised Programme'. The Conservatives denounced Chamberlain as an anarchist, with some even comparing him to
Dick Turpin. In October, Chamberlain and Gladstone sought to close ranks and eliminate a
number of differences between their respective electoral programmes in a meeting at Hawarden. The meeting, although good natured, was largely unproductive, and Gladstone
neglected to tell Chamberlain of his negotiations with Parnell over proposals to grant Home Rule to Ireland. Chamberlain
discovered the existence of such negotiations from Henry Labouchere, but unsure of the
precise nature of Gladstone's offer to Parnell, did not press the issue, although he had already stated his opposition to Home
Rule, arguing that Ireland had no more right to autonomy than London, declaring that "I cannot admit that five millions of
Irishmen have any greater right to govern themselves without regard to the rest of the United Kingdom than the five million
inhabitants of the metropolis." The Liberals won the general
election in November 1885, but fell just short of an overall majority against the Conservatives and the Irish
Nationalists, the latter holding the balance between the two parties.
On 17 December, Herbert
Gladstone revealed that his father was prepared to take office in order to carry out a programme of Irish Home Rule,
thereby flying what the press called the 'Hawarden Kite'. At first, Chamberlain was reluctant to act in accordance with the
anti-Home Rule Whigs and Conservatives, for fear of losing his Radical followers, and preferred to await the development of
events. While maintaining a low profile publicly, Chamberlain privately damned Gladstone and the concept of Home Rule to
colleagues, believing that maintaining the Conservatives in power for a further year would make the Irish question easier to
settle. In January 1886, a Radical-inspired amendment was moved by Collings in the House of Commons
which was carried by 79 votes. The Liberals took power, although tellingly, Hartington, Goschen and 18 Liberals had voted with
the Conservatives. Gladstone assembled his third administration and offered Chamberlain the Admiralty, a suggestion Chamberlain declined. Gladstone rejected Chamberlain's
preference for the Colonial Office and eventually appointed him President of the Local Government Board, a suitable post considering
Chamberlain's connections with municipal government. A row over the amount to be paid to Collings, Chamberlain's Parliamentary Secretary embittered relations between Gladstone and Chamberlain, although the
latter was still hopeful that his membership of the Cabinet could result in Gladstone's Home Rule proposal being altered or
abandoned, so that his programme of Radicalism could be given more attention. Chamberlain's renewed scheme for National Councils
was not discussed in Cabinet, and only on 13 March were Gladstone's proposals for Ireland
revealed. A Land Purchase Bill would accompany a Home Rule Bill, and Chamberlain argued that the details of the latter should be
made known in order for a fair judgment to be made on the former. When Gladstone stated his intention to give Ireland a separate
Parliament with full powers to deal with Irish affairs, Chamberlain resolved to resign, writing to inform Gladstone of his
decision two days later. In the meantime, Chamberlain consulted with Arthur Balfour,
Salisbury's nephew, over the possibility of concerted action with the Conservatives, and contemplated similar cooperation with
the Whigs. His resignation was made public on 27 March 1886.
Despite Chamberlain's liking for political combat, the prospects that he faced in the aftermath of his resignation were far
from promising. His chances of attaining the leadership of the Liberal Party in the short term had declined dramatically and in
early May, the National Liberal Federation declared its loyalty to Gladstone. On 9 April,
Chamberlain spoke against the Irish Home Rule Bill in its first reading
before attending a meeting of Liberal Unionists, summoned by Hartington, hitherto the subject of Chamberlain's anti-Whig
declarations on 14th May. From this meeting sprang the Liberal Unionist
Association, originally an ad hoc alliance to demonstrate the unity of anti-Home Rulers. Meanwhile, to distinguish
himself from the Whigs, Chamberlain founded the National Radical Union to rival the National Liberal Federation, which had since
slipped from his grasp. During its second reading on 8 June, the Home Rule Bill was defeated by
30 votes, with 93 Liberals, including Chamberlain and Hartington, voting against the government.
Liberal Unionist
Parliament was dissolved, and in the ensuing general election,
the Conservatives and Liberal Unionists agreed to a defensive alliance. Chamberlain's predicament was more awkward than
Hartington's, for the former was intensely mistrusted by, and unable to influence the Conservatives, while he bore the brunt of
Gladstonian ire for voting against Home Rule. Gladstone himself observed that "There is a difference between Hartington and
Chamberlain, that the first behaves like and is a thorough gentleman. Of the other it is better not to speak." With the general
election dominated by Home Rule, Chamberlain's campaign was characterised by a combine of Radicalism and intense patriotism. This
proved to be immensely popular, and both the Conservatives and Liberal Unionists were able to benefit, taking 393 seats in the
House of Commons and a comfortable majority.
Unlike Hartington and the Whigs, Chamberlain did not enter the Unionist government, aware that the hostility to him in the
Conservative ranks meant that an agreement with them could extend merely to Ireland. Not wishing to alienate his Radical support
base, Chamberlain refrained from reaching a broader settlement. The Liberal mainstream cast Chamberlain as a villain, shouting
"Judas!" and "Traitor!" as he entered the House of Commons chamber. Unable to attach himself decisively to either party,
Chamberlain sought concerted action with a kindred spirit from the Conservative Party, Lord Randolph Churchill. In November 1886,
Churchill announced his own 'Unauthorised Programme' at Dartford, the content of which had much
in common with Chamberlain's own recent manifesto, including smallholdings for rural labourers and greater local government. Next
month, Churchill resigned as Chancellor of the Exchequer over military spending, and when the Conservative mainstream rallied
around Salisbury, Churchill's career was effectively put to an end, along with Chamberlain's hope of creating a powerful
cross-party union of Radicals. The elevation of Goschen to the Treasury symbolised the increasingly close relationship between
non-Radical Liberal Unionists and the Conservatives, thereby isolating Chamberlain further.
After January 1887, a series of Round Table Conferences took place between Chamberlain,
Trevelyan, Harcourt, Morley and Lord Herschell, in which the
participants sought to reach an agreement over the Liberal Party’s Irish policy. Chamberlain hoped that an accord would enable
him to place a claim to the future leadership of the party and recognised the potential of leverage over the Conservatives that
could result from the negotiations merely taking place. Although a preliminary agreement was reached over land purchase,
Gladstone was unwilling to compromise further, and negotiations withered by March. In August 1887,
Lord Salisbury invited Chamberlain to lead the British delegation in a Joint Commission to resolve a fisheries dispute between
the United States and Newfoundland. Chamberlain had grown increasingly
disillusioned with politics, but the trip to the United States renewed his enthusiasm, and enhanced his standing vis-à-vis
Gladstone. In November, Chamberlain met 23 year old Mary Endicott, the daughter of President
Grover Cleveland's Secretary of War, William C. Endicott, at a reception at the British legation. Before he left the United
States in March 1888, Chamberlain proposed to Mary, describing her as 'one of the brightest and
most intelligent girls I have yet met'. In November 1888, Chamberlain married Mary in Washington D.C., while wearing white
violets, as opposed to his trademark orchid. In Mary, Chamberlain found a suitable partner
and a faithful supporter of his political ambitions.
Joseph Chamberlain and Austen Chamberlain photographed in
The Caledonian
Meanwhile, the Salisbury ministry was in the process of implementing a number of reforms that satisfied Chamberlain, in that
Radicalism was making progress, surprisingly under a Conservative banner. Between 1888 and 1889,
democratic County Councils were established in Great Britain. By 1891, measures for the provision
of smallholdings had been made, and to Chamberlain's delight, the extension of free, compulsory education to the entire country.
Chamberlain wrote that 'I have in the last five years seen more progress made with the practical application of my political
programme than in all my previous life. I owe this result entirely to my former opponents, and all the opposition has come from
my former friends.' Chamberlain also endeavoured to secure his Birmingham power base, for the Liberal Association in the city
could no longer be relied upon to provide loyal support. He created the Liberal Unionist Association in 1888, associated with the
National Radical Union, having extracted his supporters from the old Liberal organisation. Chamberlain's reformation of
Birmingham's political structure was wholly successful, and in the 1892
general election, the Liberal Unionists swept the city, even making inroads into neighbouring towns in the
Black Country. By now, Chamberlain's son, Austen had also entered the House of Commons
having been returned unopposed for East Worcestershire
in March 1892. With Gladstone returned to power and singularly unwilling to see Chamberlain back with the Liberal Party and the
Liberal Unionists reduced to 47 seats nationwide, a closer relationship with the Conservatives was increasingly necessary. A step
was made in this direction when Hartington took his seat in the House of Lords as the Duke of Devonshire, allowing Chamberlain to
assume the leadership of the Liberal Unionists in the House of Commons, leading to a productive relationship with Balfour, leader
of the Conservatives in the lower house.
Obliged to compromise with the Irish Nationalists, Gladstone introduced the Second Home Rule Bill in February 1893, legislation that Chamberlain opposed with predictable
vigour. During the committee stage when he chastised the Gladstonian Liberals, a fist fight broke out in which Chamberlain
remained unmoved. Although the Bill passed the House of Commons, the upper house rejected Home Rule by a huge margin. With his
party split, Gladstone prepared to dissolve Parliament on the issue of the House of Lords' veto, but was compelled to resign in
March 1894 by his colleagues, being replaced by Lord Rosebery. While Rosebery put Home Rule on ice, Chamberlain continued to
build bridges with the Conservatives, and spoke warily about socialism and the
Independent Labour Party, which had one member in the House of Commons,
Keir Hardie. Chamberlain warned of the dangers of socialism in his 1895 play The Game of Politics, characterising its proponents as the instigators of class conflict. In
response to the socialist challenge, he sought to divert the energy of collectivism and use it for the good of Unionism, and
continued to propose reforms to the Conservatives. In his 'Memorandum of a Programme for Social Reform' sent to Salisbury in
1894, Chamberlain made a number of suggestions, including old age pensions, the provision of loans to the working class for the
purchase of houses, an amendment to the Artisans' Dwellings Act to encourage street improvements, compensation for industrial
accidents, cheaper train fares for workers, tighter border controls and shorter working hours. Salisbury was generally
sympathetic to the proposals, although somewhat guarded, yet his constructive response demonstrated how far Chamberlain and the
Conservative leadership had come in settling the monumental differences that had separated them in the 1880s. On 21 June, the Liberal Government was defeated on a motion that criticised the Secretary of State for War, Henry
Campbell-Bannerman, for shortages of cordite. Salisbury was invited to form a government, and prepared to include
Chamberlain in his Cabinet.
Statesman
Colonial Secretary
Joseph Chamberlain, Colonial Secretary
Having agreed to a set of policies, the Conservatives and Liberal Unionists formed a government on 24 June 1895. Salisbury offered four Cabinet posts to Liberal Unionists, two of whom were Chamberlain and
Devonshire. The latter became Lord President of the Council, and Salisbury
and Balfour offered Chamberlain any Cabinet position with the exception of the Foreign Office or Leadership of the House of Commons. To the surprise of Salisbury and Balfour, Chamberlain
declined a post at the Treasury, unwilling to be constrained by conservative spending plans, and also refused the
Home Office. Instead, Chamberlain asked to be given the Colonial Office, a department
that traditionally held little attraction to politicians.
Amidst European competition for territory and popular sentiment surrounding imperialism, Chamberlain saw the potential of
using the Colonial Office as a platform for global prominence. Opportunities were present for the expansion of the British Empire
and the reordering of imperial trade and resources. Furthermore, the Colonial Office would provide Chamberlain with the chance of
pursuing the ambition of fostering closer relations between Britain and the settler colonies, aiming for the remoulding of the
empire on federal lines into a family of Anglo-Saxon nations. Chamberlain had always been a keen imperialist and an advocate of a
stronger empire – in 1887 while in Toronto, he declared that "I should think our patriotism was warped and stunted indeed if it
did not embrace the Greater Britain beyond the seas". Much had been proposed with regards to an imperial federation, a more
coherent system of imperial defence and preferential tariffs, yet by 1895 when Chamberlain arrived at the Colonial Office, little
had been achieved. Chamberlain felt that there was "work to be done" as Colonial Secretary, and could be assured of support from
Conservative backbenchers, traditionally keen proponents of Empire.
Chamberlain took formal charge at the Colonial Office on 1 July 1895, shortly before his
fifty-ninth birthday. With victory assured in the 1895 general
election, Chamberlain began his work in earnest. His first move was to alter the character of the Colonial Office building
itself, ordering the removal of old carpets, furniture and wallpaper, the purchasing of new maps and the installation of electric
lighting to end the department's reliance on gaslight. Having transformed the building from a dingy backwater to a worthy hub of
the colonial empire, Chamberlain left for the Pyrenees to holiday for seven weeks, before returning in October. With the empire
at its zenith, Chamberlain's responsibilities at the department were vast, governing over ten million square miles of territory
and 50 million people of exceptional diversity. Believing that positive government action could bind the empire's peoples closer
to the crown, Chamberlain stated confidently that "I believe that the British race is the greatest of the governing races that
the world has ever seen…It is not enough to occupy great spaces of the world's surface unless you can make the best of them. It
is the duty of a landlord to develop his estate." Accordingly, Chamberlain advocated investment in the tropics of Africa, the
West Indies and other underdeveloped possessions, a policy which earned him the nickname 'Joseph Africanus' among the press.
He was instrumental in recognising the need to treat the "new" tropical diseases
being brought back by travellers and sailors from the colonies. It is with his help to Patrick
Manson that the London School of Tropical
Medicine, the world's first centre for the discipline, was established in 1899 at the
Albert Dock Seamen's Hospital; which itself had opened in 1890 and would later be known as the Hospital for Tropical
Diseases that continues to this day.[2]
While in office, Chamberlain had interactions with Mohandas K. Gandhi at the beginning
of his political career. Although Chamberlain appears to have agreed with Gandhi that the treatment of the Indians was
inappropriate, he was unwilling to take direct action against discriminatory legislation. [3]
Jameson Raid
-
In November 1895, a piece of territory of strategic importance, the Pitsani Strip, part of the Bechuanaland Protectorate and bordering the Transvaal, was ceded to the British South Africa Company by the Colonial Office, overtly for the protection of a
railway running through the territory. Cecil Rhodes, the Prime Minister of the Cape Colony
and managing director of the Company was eager to bring South Africa under British
dominion, and encouraged the disenfranchised Uitlanders of the Boer republics to resist Afrikaner domination. Rhodes hoped that the
intervention of the Company's private army could spark an Uitlander uprising, leading to the overthrow of the Transvaal
government. Rhodes' forces were assembled in the Pitsani Strip for this purpose. Chamberlain informed Salisbury on
Boxing Day that an uprising was expected, and was aware that an invasion would be launched,
but was not sure when. The subsequent Jameson Raid was a debacle, leading to the invading
force's surrender. Chamberlain, at Highbury, received a secret telegram from the
Colonial Office on 31 December informing him of the beginning of the Raid. Sympathetic to
the ultimate goals of the Raid, Chamberlain was uncomfortable with the timing of the invasion and remarked that "if this succeeds
it will ruin me. I'm going up to London to crush it". He swiftly travelled by train to the Colonial Office, ordering
Sir Hercules Robinson, Governor-General of the Cape Colony, to
repudiate the actions of Jameson and warned Rhodes that the Company's Charter
would be in danger if it was discovered that the Cape Prime Minister was involved in the Raid. The prisoners were returned to
London for trial, and the Transvaal government received considerable compensation from the Company. During the trial of Jameson,
Rhodes' solicitor, Bourchier Hawksley, refused to produce cablegrams that had passed between Rhodes and his agents in London
during November and December 1895. According to Hawksley, these demonstrated that the Colonial Office 'influenced the actions of
those in South Africa' who embarked on the Raid, and even that Chamberlain had transferred control of the Pitsani Strip to
facilitate an invasion. Nine days before the Raid, Chamberlain had asked his Assistant Under-Secretary to encourage Rhodes to
'Hurry Up' because of the deteriorating Venezuelan situation.[4]
In June 1896, Chamberlain offered his resignation to Salisbury, having shown the Prime Minister
one or more of the cablegrams implicating him in the Raid's planning. Salisbury refused to accept the offer, possibly reluctant
to lose the government's most popular figure. Salisbury reacted aggressively in support of Chamberlain, supporting the Colonial
Secretary's threat to withdraw the Company's charter if the cablegrams were revealed. Accordingly, Rhodes refused to reveal the
cablegrams, and as no evidence was produced showing that Chamberlain was complicit in the Raid's planning, the Select Committee appointed to investigate the events surrounding the Raid had no
choice but to absolve Chamberlain of all responsibility.
Venezuelan boundary dispute
In July 1895, the American Secretary of State Richard Olney demanded that Britain submit a boundary dispute with Venezuela to impartial arbitration,
invoking the Monroe Doctrine. Chamberlain favoured a more belligerent stance, but
Salisbury chose to tread tentatively, and even the Prime Minister's cautious reply to the American demand provoked President
Cleveland to imply in December 1895 that war may be the result of British non-compliance. For Chamberlain, the United States'
bellicosity was an embarrassment considering his marriage to an American and his professed admiration of the United States'
system of government. Despite privately calling Cleveland a 'coarse-grained man' and a 'bully', Chamberlain gradually favoured
the pragmatic approach undertaken by Salisbury. The Prime Minister calmed fears of war by agreeing to an arbitration treaty in
February 1896, in which two American judges, two British judges and a Russian would decide the issue. Furthermore, Chamberlain
endeavoured to visit the United States in the autumn of 1896 in order to negotiate with Olney. The discussions were conducted
cordially, thereby improving Anglo-American relations, resulting in Britain's
pro-U.S. neutrality during the Spanish-American War of 1898. In October 1899, the tribunal convened to settle the Venezuelan dispute agreed
to an Award loosely based on the Schomburgk Line.
Joseph Chamberlain and Arthur Balfour, 1895
West Africa
Chamberlain believed that West Africa had huge economic potential, and shared Salisbury's suspicions of the French, who were
manifestly Britain's principal rival in the region. Demonstrating his expansionist credentials, Chamberlain sanctioned the
conquest of the Ashanti in 1895, with Colonel Sir Francis Scott successfully occupying
Kumasi and annexing the territory to the Gold
Coast. Using the emergency funds of the colonies of Lagos, Sierra Leone and the Gold Coast, he ordered the construction of a railway for the newly conquered area. The
Colonial Office's bold strategy brought it into conflict with the Royal Niger
Company, chaired by Sir George Goldie, which possessed title rights to
large stretches of the Niger. Interested in the area as an economic asset, Goldie had yet to
assume governing responsibilities, leaving the territory open to incursion by the French, who sent small garrisons to the area
with the intention of controlling it. Though Salisbury wished to subordinate the needs of West Africa to the requirement of
establishing British supremacy on the Nile, Chamberlain believed that every territory was
worth competing for. Chamberlain was dismayed to learn in 1897 that the French had expanded from Dahomey to Bussa, a town claimed by Goldie. Further French growth in the region would have cut Lagos off from
territory in the hinterland, thereby limiting its economic growth. Chamberlain therefore argued that Britain should "even at the
cost of war – to keep an adequate Hinterland for the Gold Coast, Lagos & the Niger Territories." Under pressure from
Chamberlain, Salisbury sanctioned Sir Edward Monson, leading the British delegation in Paris, to be more assertive in
negotiations. The subsequent concessions made by the French encouraged Chamberlain, who arranged for a military force, led by
Frederick Lugard, to occupy areas claimed by Britain, thereby undermining French claims
in the region. In the risky 'chequerboard' strategy, Lugard's forces occupied territories claimed by the French to counterbalance
the establishment of French garrisons in British territory. At times, French and British troops were stationed merely a few yards
from each other, heightening the risk of war. Nevertheless, Chamberlain correctly assumed that French officers in the region were
under orders to act without fighting the British, and in March 1898, the French proposed to settle the issue – Bussa was returned
to Britain, and the French were limited to the town of Bona. Chamberlain had successfully imposed British control over the Niger
and the inland territories of Sokoto, la
