A Victorian Free Trade Lobby W.N. Calkins The Economic History Review, New Series, Vol. 13, No. 1. (1960), pp. 90-104. Stable URL htp:/flinks.jstor-org/sicisici=0013-0117%281960%292%3A13%3A1%3C90%3AAVFTL%3E2. CO%3B2-C ‘The Economic History Review is currently published by Economie History Society. Your use of the ISTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at hup:/www,jstororglabout/terms.hml. ISTOR’s Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at hup:/www jstor.orgyjournalsichs.html. ch copy of any part of'a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the sereen or printed page of such transmission, ISTOR is an independent not-for-profit organization dedicated to creating and preserving a digital archive of scholarly journals. For more information regarding JSTOR, please contact support @ jstor.org. hupulwww jstor.org/ Sun Sep 3 06:41:10 2006A VICTORIAN FREE TRADE LOBBY By W. N. CALKINS crossroads. Fresh from a major vietory over the supporters of the Cor Laws, its leaders were casting about for new crusading goals, hoping to set fon foot another movement as vigorous and successful as the Anti-Corn Law League. But the direction to be taken was not clear; no single issue stood out upon which all Radicals could agree. Joseph Hume was about to plead in the ‘Commons for a further extension of the franchise; groups here and there called for financial reform; Richard Cobden and John Bright were looking for more strongholds of privilege to conquer. Within the year a number of promising organizations emerged; but none of them proved an adequate successor to the League. This article explores the early history of one group that tried to play suceessor to the Anti-Corn Law League, and for a short while seemed destined to do so. ‘The founding of the ‘Liverpool Financial Reform Association’ in the late spring of 1848 marked the birth of the most persistent and single-minded free trade lobby England has known.! Within a year of its establishment it had become recognized by such diverse authorities as Richard Cobden and The Tims of London as the focal point of agitation for financial reform. When Cobden decided to introduce his so-called ‘National Budget’ of 1849, calling for drastic retrenchment of governmental expenditure, he set forth his proposals in a letter to the Liverpool Financial Reform Association.® For the next sixty six years, until several months after the outbreak of the first World War, the Association enjoyed a continuous existence, publishing more or less profusely, fengaging in vigorous controversy, and dispatching missionaries into various parts of England. John and Samuel Morley, George Otto Trevelyan, Sir Charles Dilke, A. J. Mundella, W. B. Ritchie, and Henry Labouchere at times figured in its’ rosier of honorary vice presidents.® The first president of the Association was Robertson Gladstone, an elder brother of the prime minister and inheritor of Sir John Gladstone’s Liverpool firm.4 And its last president, who held the office from 1873 until the demise of the Association, was Edmund Knowles Muspratt, whose father had made a considerable fortune as one of the founders of the chemical industry in Lancashire. Despite its promising infancy, its longevity, and its illustrious sponsors, however, the Financial Reform Association was never a great success. At no time in its career, apparently, did it directly influence the financial policy of the British government. Indeed, the Association itself frequently grumbled I: the spring of 1848 English Radicalism stood eager but undecided at the 2 For details ofthe founding, sce Alexander Somerville, Mancater School of Poltial Esonomp, excerpt printed in Lisp Meer, 9 July 1850 Tres of the Liverpool Pnacal Rajon Assocation (185), Teaet No. 6; John Morley, The Life of Richa Cobden (Boston, 11), pp. 335-4 3 Financial Reform dlmanak for 1878, pli, 1879 fron leat, By, p. 4 4 John Morley, The Lf of Wilam Bari ladon, 4 vole. (190%), 239) 258% ‘Ta Memarion's on, Perl Racrds of Liver Coleriten containing any ikersing ronincencer of Local Met liverpool 1876), pp. 77-06 For Musprat' father, James Muspeatt, se Dictionary of National Bingrapy alo Edmund Knowles Muspratt, MyLiféand Werk (1917), pss 901 VICTORIAN FREE TRADE LOBBY 9 at the failure of Liberal politicians to give it either its intellectual or monetary due: *...it is seldom thought expedient’, complained the Financial Reform Abmanack for 1889, *by gentlemen of the Liberal Party to mention our work, much less acknowledge how their own inspirations have frequently been dlrawn from a Society 10 which they peradventure give no financial assistance’. And the same publication declared that the ‘subscribers to the Financial Reform Association have all along been mainly among the working class and shopkeepers of the country. We are proud of the fact, bitt nonetheless lay claim, toa more general support..." Surprisingly, there is no evidence that Robertson Gladstone carried on a systematic correspondence with his younger brother, William. Perhaps he urged his views privately, nt there is only one letter from Robertson to William catalogued by the British Museum, and that one written years before the founding of the Association.? The Gladstone Papers also include a solitary letter from E. K. Muspratt to the prime minister, written in 1882.9 Further more, despite the missionary zeal of the Financial Reform Association, it remained esentially a Liverpool organization, ‘The prominent men whose names graced the masthead of the Financial Reform Almanack as honorary vice presidents were just that: with one or two exceptions they took no active parts 1 nor was there even in London any more than a so-called “district representa tive’ to support and publicize the views of the Liverpool group.> If the Financial Reform Association has historical significance, then, it clearly does not lie in its success as a moulder of public policy, but in what we can learn about its members and, through them, about the character and composition of the Radical movement in general. An analysis of the Association’s Council, or executive committee, during its first three years shows that no one business interest predominated. Although the organization was an offshoot of the Liverpool Association for the Reduction of the Duty on Tea ® and numbered among its early Council members five tea and/or coffee brokers, there were also two iron merchants, one oF two cotton brokers, a West Indian merchant, a wool broker, a lead merchant and smelter, a distiller of alcoholic heverayes, a dealer in chemicals, another twelve members listed as simply ‘merchant” oF ‘commission merchant’ or ‘broker’, as well * Binaneial Reform Ainanack fr 9, p 6. Francis W. Hire in Glaison ar Fnanir ond Ezomanist (London, Bony 1938) acai a correspondence between William and Roberton Gladstone (phic, it stil exists, Thaw not yet been able to locate; but Hirst docs not suggest that Roberson ha sny inl ‘shatoever upon William's nancial policies as chancellor ofthe exchequc. Thi conclsion also seems to be suguested by a pasage in the nancial Reformer, Ty 23 (1 vg 1850) ‘monthly publication of the Financial Reform Awocation, an by a later passage in His, ‘het p. agr, The only suggestion 1 have found to the contrary is in Justin MeCarthy, he ‘Str of Gladstone's Life sede rex. and enlarged (New Vor, tg) 4", Ttaste common Dele in Liverpoa, and probably isthe common belil there si that Robertson Gladstone sisted his brother William in the preparation of his budgets..." and. MeCarthy bial ‘eportthiea only hearsay 8 'The Gladstone Papers (British Muscum Miss. Room). 444796 922, ‘In the late 1870s Samuel Morley played an active nie in reineiating nearly moribunel Financial Reform Association: see wibuten to Morley in Binanral Ror Almanak Toe io, pitand 184, pit Fr further information const The Financial Reform Avail, 12-10 Filly Tear? Resnapce Ths anon ite book i the oly existing history of the Asacation, 8” The Binal Reform Amanat for tg list, just below the Cnn Dstet Representatives for: (a) London aa the South Me W-ML J Wills, National Lileral Ch, os) Midlands-Rev, JD. Alford) Novthem_ Nv FE. Grill, 1, Hackinw Hey. Liverpoe emt of the formation, prin, and abet of the Livepil Financ Refra Ansataton, 6 (The Awociation, 1849) Po98 THE ECONOMIC HISTORY REVIEW asan attorney, amember of parliament, and two Liberal newspaper publishers.t Other prominent figures in the Association's early history included a smalt manufacturer,? a silk mercer and undertaker, an_architect-surveyor, and another member of parliament who was probably Liverpool's wealthiest and best-known merchant. On the other hand, one of the eity"s most prominent industries, shipbuilding and ship-owning, was not directly represented.t Indeed curing the political agitation which preceded repeal of the Navigation Acts in 1849 powerful shipping interests in Liverpool were able to muster much larger public demonstrations against repeal than could the Free Traders on behalf of their doctrine. At such demonstrations, attended by thousands of employees on holiday for the purpose, members of the Financial Reform Association were but ineffective gadlflies, rudely swatted down. ‘Of the business pursuits represented by the Association’s early leaders, most had an obvious economic interest in the abolition of customs and excise duties; ‘on the other hand, a West Indian merchant like Robertson Gladstone, whose father was a staunch and vociferous protectionist, had nothing to gain and a ‘great deal to lose through the removal of preferential tariffs on West In¢ sugar. Was Gladstone inspired hy intellectual conviction, or was he, as his 1 The members of the original Financial Reform Council were: Roberton Gladstone (ovesiden), Ease and West Indian merchants Reward Brodebh (accetaryteasuret) tea ier (Tirodrib & Coates); Alexander Henry Wylie (Ede. Lizard & Go) Winch, tea merchant (Peck Brothers & Winch): James Hardie Macrae, cotton broker igley & Sons): Charles Holland, merchant: Charles Robertson, merchant: isis, printer, stationer, map seller, al publisher of the Liverpa! Taesy Richard Shiel (0? Sheily mmision merchant [[ichard Shiel & Ci) s Job pbs of the Livro! Morar: James Mullen fer (Hugh Mulkeneax & itor, dillers and wine fan spi merchants); John Clow, merchant (Tennant, ‘Gon)s Herm Richard Vaughan” Yate irom merchant 1 (Steaim, Rowley. & Co.) Robert Mather, lead merehant ‘George Maeolin & Ga) in ie carly years inched, Lacreace Heyworth, MP. Francie Houle, merchant (Forke & Bult); Samuel James Arnold, broker (Amol, Leet [Roseoe, & Co,); Thomas vison, attorney (vison & Prt: Heney Krebs Claypole, merchant [Claypote & Son); John Finch,’ Sr ison merchant (Joh Finch & Sone); Richard Farrer, Coffee merchant; Smith Hatrigon, wholesale tea and coifee dealer (Harriss 8 Croshield); Jarnes Mellor, coon broker (2); Robert Wilton Ronald, wool broker (Hughes & Ronald) JJnnes Ryder, merchant [Ryder & Tetley); John Peter Gronge Sait erent; and Archibald ‘G'Stewart, commision merchant (Archibald C. Stewart & Co) ‘Sources! APConqudal's sana Liverpool Divetry. Fst Publication, 1B; Gav's Dietary of Lisp ond Exton. {'Sinaltisa deeprblue gly colored with cobalt oxides wed when pulveried for painting, 5 Charles Edward Rawlins, James Redklife Jtfory, James A, Piet, and (Sit) William Brow, respetively Hoth William Brown and Robertson Gladstone owned ships but were not primarily shippers. For further information sce Henry Richaed Fox Bourne, Engh Morchetss Memos in astration of the Prazess of British Commerc. 2 Vols. (x066). Francis Boul in the o's became “uber and inthe operated shipping ies to em US. ons Ce Die 1B 1875). Note, for example, a public meting equlsitoncd by the shipowners and ewnvened hy the mayor, TB, Husa ot 26 May 10g at which several members of the Financial torn ‘sociation were om hand to propose atunterresolution in favour of pal ofthe Navigation Act (Ziel Marry 0 May 10). "The Livrpa! Timer of 22 June 1848 carried a plan published by Robertson Gladstone ‘which called for ower but differential duties on feegevoen and slayegrown coffer and sugar, Fespectvey. This hardy in Keeping with the sve He-trade ripe the Aswiciatiom and perhaps indicate a confit htoeen lactones penal eeummie seret and his tlle Priciple. On the other hand, nich of Glade ral wa ith the Esa, here he would be {let benelted byte taeA VICTORIAN FREE TRADE LOBBY 93 ‘opponents maintained, consumed with political ambition and flirting with Radicalism in the hope of obtaining a seat in the House of Commons? 1 Probably a combination of the two would be the most accurate diagnosis; but so long as a West Indian merchant, two newspaper publishers, and an attorney. fare numbered among the Financial Reformers, we cannot establish any simple ‘equation hetween direct economic benefit and advocacy of free trade.” ‘There was a greater diversity in social and economic position than in oceu- pation, Three of the charter members—Robertson Gladstone, Charles Holland, and James Hardy Macrac—left personal estates valued at £100,000 or more; ‘hile at the other end of the scale Thomas Baines left behind him only £812 8s.6d. in personal estate; Henry K. Claypole, about £1,900; and John Smith, £3,000. Charles Holland was not only the wealthiest of the original Council ‘members (his personal estate was valued at approximately £200,000) but also probably the best connected. He was first cousin of Sir Henry Holland, Bart. a physician whose son became the first Viscount Knutsford, and a first cousin ako of Mrs. Elizabeth Gaskell, the novelist, whose mother was a Holland, Swinton Colthurst Holland, a partner in the House of Baring, was Charles's uncle and got him his first job, at the age of thirteen, with the Baring firm. Charles Holland was one of the founders of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce ‘and its president in1856; he had been prominent in the Anti-Corn Law League; land he was president of the Financial Reform Association itself from 1865 until hhis death in 1870.4 Another leading Financial Reformer was Richard Vanghan Yates, third son ofa Unitarian minister, successful merchant, quondam member of the Liverpool Town Council, and benefactor of the poor. He contributed generously to the Harrington Schools in Stanhope Street, established by his father for the education of poor children of whatever religious denomination, and also to the Liverpool Mechanics’ Institution. His crowning act of generosity twas the purchase of'a considerable tract of land from the Earl of Sefton, which he had laid out and planted, and which he then presented to the city of Liver- pool as Prince's Park. Had he not undertaken this considerable philanthropy, Yatcs's personal estate might have amounted to far more than the £40,000 which he actually left. ‘The most active members of the Association tended to figure prominently in other civie and political organizations as well. For example, four of them besides Holland servedl as presidents of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce; 6 several were or had been members of the Town Council, and Robertson Gladstone had been mayor of the city in 184237 about a dozen of them were * Liver Mail» July 1840 © One could argue that newpaper publishers would directly benefit fom a repeal ofthe paper day and the ax on advertisements, Dut this was havdly'a major factor in deterraining oral py. Gala the Grant of Prat and Ltr of Adminstration Mae th Principal Regis ann the Seal Ditrit Reps: of Her Masts Coa of Prabte 100 (John Sith, 870 (Holland), tps (Macrae), 174 (Gladstone), 1884 (Haine), and 180 (Claypoe) 4 isn of he Far af Haliond af Mere and Batsford mth Coty of Chester, with Some Ascot of th Family of Holland of Uphalland & Denton in the Count of Lame Bram Materials ‘alec bythe lte Bulgar Sinton Holland, ited by William Fergusson vine (privately printed, Finburgh, 1902), pp. 36-7, 83-92. "Samuel Ashton ThompsonVates, Memorial of te Ranaly ofthe Re. Jala Yates, ee. (pivatly printed a Liverpool 1891) pp. 19-29 Charles Robertson, sgt Willian Broven, 1863; C. B. Ravin, Jr, 18675 BK. Muspratt, 1875, WA. Gibson Martin, Cory of Liseroa's Canna (Liveepoal, 195) Pi homas Bains, Mita) of he Commerce and Town of Liverpool (Loncion ae Liverpool, 852), Append, peon THE ECONOMIC HISTORY REVIEW active in such Radical groups as the Anti-Com Law League, the Liverpool Frechold Tand Society (designed to establish fortyshilling frecholds, for politcal purposes)! Joseph Hume's movernent for extension of the suftage,? find a crusade for a general system of taxcmupported secular edeaton.® ‘Men of substance and prestige, then, were responsible for founding. the Financial Reform Associaton, but men ‘who fell short of attaining national prominence, Not a single member of the original Council or ofits successors B lsted in the Dictionary of National Biography, although two presents of the Association, Robertson Gladstone and Edmund Mospratt, had each a father and one or more brothers incladed.+ Indeed, Muspratt himself might well have attained this recognition had he not lived too long for his reputation He died in the 1920's, when the free trade crusade was a very dead dick. “The Financial Reform Aswociation was conceived and brought forth in times of financial cris, Wild speculation in railway shares and wheat had produced a panic lasting from August through October of 1847. Liverpool, ery active in the wheat market, was heavily hit; and the corn merchants Jnvolved in ther own ruin the banks and financial houses with which they dealt On the 18th of October, 1847, the Royal Bank of Liverpool, one ofthe soundest and best known of Bnglish financial institutions, closed its doors. The after- effects of the panic stil Fingered on in the spring of 1848, particularly in Connexion with the liquidating of assets in the railway boom. Coupled. with the financial uneasiness of the propertied English community was their fear of Chartist violence in the early months of 1848, a fear intensified by the revolutionary upheavals on the Continent. And a third source of concern to taxpayers, especially to those sharing the pacifist convictions of Richard Cobden, was the ever larger budgets introduced by the British government, Indgets in which miktary expenditures played a conspicwoss rile. Cobden and Joseph Hume and others were vigorously protesting in the House of Commons: On ‘Tuesday, 18 April 1848 the Licnpoo! Merny, leading Liberal news: paper of that city,? ran! an editorial which, referring to disturbances at home find abroad, called for immediate financial reform. Tt went on to tell of a preliminary’ meeting the previous Friday, with Robertson Gladstone in the » Charles Holland was named president ofthe Liverpool Freehold Land Society when it wax founded in June of tBgo. Among the trustees were J.T. Crook, Francis Bolt, taward Brodeibb, GLE: Rawing, and C2 Roberton. The ‘arbitrator’ included William Brown and Jobn Smith (Cspot Mereay'25 June 1850). FWhen 4 morting was called in Liverpool on 19 June 1848 to support by petition to the Howe of Commons Jorrph Hume's motion for ‘extended household suffrage, equal electoral istics, vote by ball, and triennial Parliament, the notice advertising the meeting wat Sigued by, among other, Laurence Heyworth, Charles Roberton, C. E. Rawlins, J. Samuel ennett Jackaon, and John Smith, Among those present at the mecting were A. Hl. Wylie, Francis Houle, Wiliam Brown, John Finch, R. Farrer, and Robert Mather (Lieoal Meas). soJune 1848) a tb. q June 1050. 4 Maypiats elder brother, James Sheridan, Muspratt, ofthe ants 5 Tora brief analysis ofthe cris of 18g7, ts background and results se Elie Halévy, Te ee of Pel and Cobden, a History of the English aol, 1841-1832, te by BT. Watkin (New York, 1948), ‘, a, AoC. N. WatdePetkins in Oxford Beanie Papert (105). "Por Colbden's speeches and remarks on this ubjecy ace Hansard’s Parliamentary Debts, House of Comoons, se series, vol. 1087; vol. 97: ce 504,820, 1175; vol gh: € 1420. For Humes biol e938 05, tort 14155 vole 97 6 187-20, B02 F923, 1180-5 vol gis 1420-1 * sed upon the government's newspaper stamp returns for 1850, the Marcu calculated the weckly eireslation of Liverpool papers or 180 as allows 18 & prominent chemist and patron1 VICTORIAN FREE RADE LOBLY 95 chair, at which were drawn up the aims for an organization to be called the Financial Reform Association: Ist, A General Retrenchment in the National Expenditure nd, The Revision of the Awessed Taxes—of the Mal Tax, and ofthe Excige and Stamp Disties. [Thisubjecive wae soon after dropped, however, aston spree and lise to pre bone of contention among the member!) jr, ‘The Transfer to diert Taxation of this ipests which interfere with the nde aad Iie the subsistence ofthe people, 4th. ‘The Equitable Apporionment ofall Neral Taxation.? Al political motives were vigorously denied; indeed, in the statement of the objectives of the Association as they were finally ‘shaped, the concl paragraph insists upon the nonpartisan nature of the organization. ‘This assertion was clearly intended to broaden the appeal to the public, Bus there may have heen more immediate considerations involved. Although the great majority of the original Council members were Nonconformists and Radicals who consistently voted the Free Trade ticket,# at least one, and possibly wo of the original officers (the president, Robertson Gladstone, and the treasurer, Edward Brodribh) were, or had been, Conservatives. For whatever reason, it was not until 1879 that the Association dropped its elaim to politieal neue wwality.® Tt has already heen mentioned that the Financial Reform Association was the offspring of the Liverpool Association for the Reduction of the Duty on Tea. The latter organization had, since its founding in 1846, led a futile Liter Comeratize Mercury rosy Mail 2980 Journal ‘760 Gousice 250 Abo 8s Standard ni Chronicie gg) | + 25086 aan ails 1t should be pointed out, however, thatthe figure for the Maca vepesent the combined tora of papers told on Tussdays and Fridaye of each week (Lispoo! Meany, 23, September rst) bid 20 Apeit x84 2 Did, April gh, For the o tate sce Financial Reform Tras ST 4 The Pal Book forthe Elton of Mamber of Prlomet, pool, 1841); Pall a the Liverpool Elton Wednesday, Jul fn Lancshne, Cheshire, ant Geral livertier, 20 july a; Pll Bask: Gonna Election, 1857 {tiverpoal, gy). In 1857, when ony William Eseare ran on the Liberal leket ive or sie oF the Finaneial Reformers eta vote also for Thomas Horsf, presusably the mute eral ofthe ‘sto Conservative candidates the rest preferred to support only Ewart Tn ifs Roberton Gladstone had voted for the Conservative canldates for Parliament, Lord Viscount Sandon ane Creell Crenwell,aganat Palmerston and Sir Joshua Walmsley And i 1849 the Lier! Standard, protectionist paper, relerred to Gladstone a8 a gentleman ‘sho had ably advoeated for years the principles of conservatism’ (96 January 1849). But in "ise Gladstone voted for the Literal candidates, Edward Cardvell and William Ewart. He fens to. have undergone the same sort of leftward evohtion experienced. by his Tareas Younger brother, but mare rapidly, "The cae of Edward Bredsbh is obscure. In 1841 he voted for Palmerston and Walinsey: bat the only surviving record of the rsa Liverpool Pol see pra, Tuotnote 4) lis an “E Broadribt of York Tevrace as voting forthe Concervative aspirants, MacKenzie and uence Since theres na“E, Broadrib sted in Gore's Dirty for 1a, and since Edward Brod Tived at 15 York Terrace, we mist asume that thee are one-and the same gentleman. The ‘moat probable explanation ir hat the pl ist which miseplled vad name alo misplaced hisvote His ame dors not appesr inthe 1857 Poll Bork "Financial Reform Alvar orig, rot teal jective of the Associaton a Uhey were ofaly formulated the Borough of Licerpsl, 84 (Livers ris. Supplement to the Liverpool Menery96 THE ECONOMIC HISTORY REVIEW existence, Two deputations to the government, the first in company with representatives of the Liverpool East India and China Association, the Liver= pool Shipowners’ Association, the Liverpool West India Association, and Interested groups from other parts of the United Kingdom, met with no suecess; and this despite a report, which preceded the second interview, by Lord Sandon’s parliamentary committee, recommending reduction of the tea duty.! In both instances the Government's reply was a simple question: how will it affect the revenue? Since the arguments for reducing the duty on tea ‘would equally apply to wine, tobacco, and other articles burdened with heavy duties, the government could not afford to give up such important sources of revenue, unless new taxes were imposed in their place.? The lesson that emerged seemed obvious: financial reformers must cease competing against each other for the special favour of the chancellor of the exchequer; they must rather band together in support of a broad fiscal policy. ‘The result in Liverpool was the Financial Reform Association, with its n of abolishing all indirect taxes and substituting some form of direct tax- ation! A number of the men who became prominent in the Financial Reform Association had attended one or both of the early public meetings of the Association for the Reduction of the Duty on Tea: 8 Robertson Gladstone, Edward Brodribb, Laurence Heyworth, Henry Winch, William Rathbone, Sr., William Brown, James R. Jeffery, and Richard Sheil. It seems probable that Brodribb was the spark-plug of the tea duty association and the chiet engineer of the new Financial Reform Association.® ‘The Financial Reformers did not sally forth to battle on a virgin field; the ground just then being vacated by the victorious Anti-Corn Law League was alive with the stirrings of new reform movements, both financial and political In Liverpool itself there already existed a body called the National Gonfeder= ation (a grandiose title belying its local character), which was dedicated to agitation for the reform of local as well as national taxation; and the very first task of the Financial Reform Association was to conduct negotiations concerning amalgamation with the senior group. Difficulties soon developed, however: each body considered its own programme too important for any compromise, and although cordial co-operation was pledged, a thorough 4going union was declared impracticable.’ So far as their official objectives went, the Financial Reformers would concern themselves solely with national finances.* Hume's plea in parliament for extension of the franchise followed a flurry 1 Account of the Formation... of the Live! Finencial Reform Ausoation,p. 43 Livro! Moray, ay November qh; Lie! Tine, 8 Janvay 148 8 Aucunt of th Frnaton, et. 9-5 2 ‘Financial Reform: Sketch of the Liverpool Asoriation.’ (From Somerville’ Manchester Schl of Polite Erna), iserpal Merry, 9 Jay 1830. rn 5 Lion! Mercy, 27 Novernber 1845; Lie! Times, 8 January 1848 ® Beodebl in 1845 wrote a letter to che Right on Sr Robert Pel concerning the tea duties, ‘om behalf of the Liverpool Awsociation for the Reduction of the Duty on Tea (ABitrat of Later 1a the Right Hon. Sir Re Pe, te. (Liverpool, +643)). And Brodribh in & publi meeting of the Finaneal Reforin Assocation ia January 1849 wae howe to speak about the founding of the Association {Aco ofthe Formation et. P4- Litre Mai 6 Alay 184 Livro! Meranyy 5 May 188. A’ number of the individual members of the Awocation also supported the National Confederation: eg, Laurence Heyworth, John Smith, J. R. Jeffery, Charles Robertson, and William Brown, all of whom attended the Test meeting ofthe Confederation on t3 June 4 (verpoot Mercy, 16. June 148)A VICTORIAN FREE TRADE LOBBY 7 of popular agitation, at first quite uncoordinated. There gradually emerged, however, under the'leadership of Sir Joshua Walmsley, M.P. for Liverpool, fan organization called the National ‘Parliamentary and Financial Reform Association.? In letters to Robertson Gladstone and James Mulleneux, Walms- ley urged the Liverpool Reformers to join forces aind to seek political as well, as financial reform.? But Gladstone deprecated stich a mixing of objectives;? a difference of opinion concerning the desirability of extending the suffrage evidently arose within the Council; Walmsley’s suggestion was allowed to drop; and the Financial Reform Association set itself to steer an independent course, For a time it was completely overshadowed, both in membership and in financial resources, by the National Reform Association; but it long survived the latter's disappearance. ‘Among the Financial Reformers’ several media of publicity, the frst and ‘most obvious was the public meeting, a technique employed with spectacular success by the Anti-Corn Law League. No fewer than eleven such meetings were held during the first year of the Association's existence, at least three of them attended by more than a thousand people. The intention of the Council in the autumn of 1848 was to hold public meetings on the third Wednesday of every month; and beginning in November this schedule was adhered to for six months.® But the Association evidently did not evoke the response which it hhad hoped for, and the frequency of meetings sharply decreased after April 1849.? Even in the early months large attendance may have been due to some kind of ‘outside attraction:" the September 27th gathering was graced by the speeches of Sir Joshua Walmsley and H. T. Atkinson, a London barrister, both of them identified with the glamour of the metropolis as wellas with the popular agitation for parliamentary reform;* and the December 20th meeting was marked by the first public disclosure of Cobden’s National Budget.? ‘One of the avowed purposes of the public meetings, to interest the working men of the community in financial reform, seems to have fallen flat. After the Liverpool Mercury had rather cautiously invited working men to participate in + ‘The National Patiamentary and Financial Reform Association grew out ofthe so-called Metropolitan Partamentary and Feaneal Reform Awocation (the change of name occurred derived its inital ingrtion and a good deal afi information vil in Liverpool Mary, June onal Asiocation had a0 mushroomed as to sae a confine “repreenting all pate ofthe Kingdom’ ut no branch was ever exablshed in Liverpool (i. 2 Apa 150), TFFor the’ texts of these letters ace Linn! Mere, 2 April 1848 (10 Gladstone). and 28 April 18g (to Mulleneux). Waltsley had marced Mitte Malleneax in 185 al wos {hus James Milleneu'sbrotherindaw (DNB. Lion! Mercy, 21 Ape 1848 4 Bidets August vg, + Tn tOgp the budge’ ofthe National Reform Amocation was £10,000; i national conference in Api ofthat year was atended by 190 delegate from various pat ofthe kingdom (Liverbal ‘Marry, 26 April 0) nthe vey sme month the Financial Reorm Asocationy complaining Gftan extreme shoriage of funds, reported its total income forthe preceding twelve month at ‘Laf1.9(Financlal Reform Ameiation, Antal Report Liverpos, 1850) "For the intention ofthe Counell see speech by John Finch at public mecting of 15 Novem bee 1848 (Liber! Mercury, 17 November 188) and Fiscal Reform Tia, Teact No.5 "6 Public meetings were held on 2 November 1849, 18 January and 18 April 1850, 24 February and a8 November 1lty and 16 December 18525 then there wat a long lapse tim 2 Jama 18 Tapa Srcay, 29 September 1B See Finacial fon Tras, Peat No.698 THE ECONOMIC HISTORY REVIEW the meeting of 15 November 1848,! and after those labourers who came had heen specifically’ singled out and harangued by the Mercury's editor, John Smith, the chairman gave an opportunity to ‘any person in the meeting” who ‘wished to express his views; but nobody came forward.® And the working men of Liverpool not only kept their mouths shut but evidently their purses as well; the subscription list of the Association was always a distressingly short one.? ‘As a result of all this less and less reliance was placed upon the spoken, and ‘more and more upon the written word, penned by a few devoted members of the Council, until by the spring of 1852 the Liverpool Mercury could refer with accuracy to “the silent, unostentatious labours of the Financial Reform Association.’4 Even the annual public meetings called for in the original rules (of the Association 8 sometimes were allowed to go by the board in later years. ‘The earliest form of written propaganda issued by the Financial Reformers was a series of releases called ‘sections’ which were sent out at approximately weekly intervals to the metropolitan and provincial newspapers and printed bya number of them.® Although these ‘sections’ were at first brief and vague, they became with time increasingly substantive and informed: not the least of the Council’s labours was the painstaking perusal of government ‘Blue Books’, with which their office, according to an eye-witness account of 1849, was piled high.? In August of 1848 the Council decided to consolidate and reissue the ‘sections’ in the form of pamphlets of sixteen or fewer pages, and thus ‘of a weight within the penny postage’, these pamphlets to be called ‘Financial Reform ‘Tracts’. When thirty-five tracts had been published, they were issued in 1851 as a bound volume.* ‘That the tracts should be preponderantly critical in tone was settled when the Council at one ofits earliest meetings decided to delay the formulation of a new tax structure based upon direct taxation in favour of first dealing with the question of retrenchment; and first of all, because an example to be generally followed ‘should originate in high quarters’, the Association bellicosely proposed a curtailment of the Civil List and’ other allowances to royalty.10 Although page after page of the Tracts is filled with blistering attacks upon governmental extravagances and upon the injustice and inefficiency of taxes fon commerce and industry, a lack of enthusiasm for any specific direct tax is 1 Lisupee Moray, 10 November 1848:"...and we woud suggest that respectable working sen, who ea well desibe the ects of unjst txaton, ould ke the opportunity of ating {Tey ccnmen win the limi ofthe eld of scfulnce in whlch the Aurion sega tnd, of course, abiding by the chairman's opinions arto thow imi, which must be Rly prenens fi 17 November 18,8, Weare not ok how many working men were present. 2 he Avouaton's dae! Rip for 18go has appended attr of uberis; ms Liver puddliann numbering oughly 00. Ape 1057, the Asotin had between sb and seven FRindred semen" (nent Ror Trae and sees (18a7], XXIV, 2). reMay 152 2 The lero the Amociation were formulated om 20 April 1848, by the newy-lectad Counc Rule No.5 cll for anal public mexings Finn! Reform Trac pv) {At the Associaton’ pubie meeting of 17 January rBgo the seretary reported hat the demand for the Aswciston’s publication wae outrunsing the supply, tat sympathetic ‘memages Ind heen received from the St. Luke's Reform Assocation of London and trem the London Peace Society, ae well as from the editom of the Stckprt Mercury and the Wahl ‘Exomine and that expressions ofinterest and demands for literature had come from Edinburg, Paisley, Dublin, Athlone, Limerick, Chester, Derby, Hill, Bolton, Manchester, Shetield, London, Glasgovs, nd number of other places (ean fe Farman ete 2-3) 7" Somervlle opel. quoted in Lisp Mercy, 9 July 1830, 5 Livepaa Moray, 35 August 146 5 Asccond series, containing twenty-four trace, appeared in 1838. 1 Led Merry, 16 June 1848.A VICTORIAN FREE TRADE LOBBY 99 readily discernible. The only significant exception to this generalization is the Association's frequent and enthusiastic demand that the probate and legacy duties, at that time impinging only on movable property, be extended 0 landed property as well! “The main topics covered in the frst volume of tracts were these: eriticism of Royal Household ‘extravagances' (based, according to The Times, upon ‘seurrilous’” anonymous pamphlet entitled ‘Sketches of Her Majesty's Houschold’); criticism of the pension list, of the armed forces, and of various other departments of government for extravagant spending and the mainte- nance of aristocratic ‘drones’; a survey of England's indireet taxes, particu larly customs and excise duties, with a view to showing that they were expensive twcollect, detrimental to British busines, and conducive to extensive smuggling; a review of various plans of direct taxation, but adoption of none; and finally, 3 historical review of the fiscal system, purporting to show that landed pro- prietors had weaseled their way out of their fair share of the nation's tax burden. The adherence of the Financial Reformers to Manchester School doctrine is obvious. Here, certainly, is the fundamental ant-avistocratie bias fof the middle class, Nonconformist business man. The Timer put the matter succinctly in commenting upon one of the Association's public meetings: ‘According to the gentlemen who met at Liverpool last week, the terrible evil of the councry ists taxation, Its taxation is due to its wars and its army, and its wars and its army to its aristocracy. This seems a fair surnmary of all that th stated there, or are likely to state anywhere else. ...'2 “The most promising aspect of the Association's early history was its con- nexion with Richard Cobden, Cobden had close friends in Liverpool and had from the beginning expressed an interest in the activities of the Financial Reformers.2 Early in December 1848 he paid a visit to his friend, James Mellor, and met the remaining members of the Financial Reform Council at their Council Board. “They seem [he wrote to Mrs. Cobden) to be earnest rmen, but Idid not exactly see the man capable of directing so great an wnder- taking." Despite misgivings about the calibre of Gladstone and his associates, Gabden evidently hoped to build upon the Liverpool organization an elaborate and far-flung movement which would “imitate the redoubtable achievements of the League.» He was convinced of the wisdom of the Association's decision to Keep entirely separate the isucs of financial reform and parliamentary reform; and he believed that financial reform was the more important isswe of the two. Indeed, he was quite sanguine at the end of 1848 concerning the prospects of the Financial Reform Association: in his opinion it already had “far more hold upon the public mind than we [the League] had even after three years agitation’ # Coben's proposal for a ‘National Budge’, set forth in a letter of December 18, 1848, to the Financial Reform Association, was read at a public meeting of December 20 and was published in fall as a part of Financial Reform Tract ® See, for example, the programme tentatively proposed by the Council at the second sseeral meting of the Association un 10 May 1848 (Lierpo! Mera, 12 May 1848) EThe Times. 21 Novernber 1848, 8 On 15 May 1848 Alesander Wylie recived a letter from Coben in regard to the work of the Finantial Reform Counc, Cobden advised: I would go for a yeduction of at leat ten rilions, the amount saved to be applied in the diminntion ofthe excise and customs dice (Muh Beane 23 May’ 1848). «Letter dated "Manchester, Bec. 8 quoted in Morley, Lif of Coben, p-392- 8 id p33 Lecter to Bright dated 23 December 148; quoted in ii p. 996100 THE ECONOMIC HISTORY REVIEW No, 6. 1t concentrated upon a drastic reduction of governmental expenditure to the level of the year 1835, But the other abjective of the Association, namely, substitution of direct for indirect taxation, Cobden did not undertake to enclorse; he considered it a much more difficult task and one considerably less likely to succeed. The only new tax he proposed was an extension of the probate and legacy duties to real property, which for half'a century had enjoyed an exemption ‘disgraceful to the character of the British people any longer to tolerate! A” successful programme of financial reform, Cobden told the Association, must be above all things simple: this was the prime requisite of any public agitation. Secondly, one must choose the taxes to be reduced or Abolished, not on the basis of logic or personal preference, but in order to appeal to the interests of as many groups and classes in the community as posible? Following the reading of Cobden’s leter, the Financial Reformers wan mously endorsed a resolution thanking and supporting its author. Francis Boule emphatically asserted, however, that Cobden's budget did not by hall satisfy the Aswociation’s ultimate goal, which would be realized only when “the [customs] building at the bottom of South Castlestrect, which prevented shipping from coming into the port, was shut up, or turned to some better purpose’, Boult’s remarks were reportedly greeted with loud cheering? Whether or not Cobden's ‘National Budget’ was a feasible and states. manlike proposal, it was at least a comprehensive and consistent financial scheme that could be seriously debated in the House of Commons.4 Unlike the sgeater part of the speeches and writings of the Liverpool reformers, it presented a clear, simple, and positive programme to the public. Indeed, at least two prominent newspapers took the view that Cobden had rescued the blundering ‘Association, ‘groping about, like men blind and benighted, in the mazes of economical statistics, and had held up for them a bright light, by which they could at once discern their proper objectives and how to set about obtaining them. Whether the Liverpool Reformers would follow Cobden’s lead soon became fan academic question; Cobden, yielding to the pleas of John Bright, agreed lo work with him in a dual campaign for parliamentary and financial reform. This decision meant that Cobden would soon become identified with the National Parliamentary and Financial Reform Association, that the centre of agitation would be Manchester and London, rather than Liverpool, and that the single-minded Financial Reform Association would find itselfin aside eddy, once again let to find its own way through mountains of “Blue Books’ and ‘mazes of economical statistics’, while bombarded by hostile criticism in press and parliament. ‘The Association was not entirely without friends in the newspaper world, however, since its views appealed strongly to Radical editors. Staunchest of the Financial Reformers’ friends was the Liverpool Mercury, which from 1842 until the end of 1849 was owned and managed by Thomas Rogerson, John Smith, and Charles B. Macqueen, with the widow of Egerton Smith, the founder, retaining a small financial share as a dormant partner.® Not only was 5 Facial Reform Trt No.6. 2p. 10 2 hb + Cobden’ propo! was defeated inthe Commons on 26 February 1849, 2 Moring Chronic (London) 29 December 10,8 The Ties of same. © After 34 December ro the Sfrary became the soe propetyof Mrs Egerion Sith, See Lista! Mercy, 4 December #849,A VICTORIAN FREE TRADE LOBBY 101 _Jobn Smith a charter member of the Financial Reform Council, but Macqueen Tater became the Association’s most dedicated secretary, serving in that capacity for more than twenty-five years, and dying in harness.! Indeed, the views of this paper can be generally taken in 148 and 1849 as those of the nancial Reformers, the only significant exception being the Mercury's open and enthusiastic espousal of an extended parliamentary franchise.* Liverpool's other papers, although not exhibiting the voluble exuberance of the Mercury, nonetheless extended a uniformly friendly hand to the infant Association in the spring of 1848. One might expect such a reception from a Liberal publi- cation lke the fourspage, weekly Liverpoo! Tims, expecially in view of the fact that its proprietor, Thomas Baines, was a member of the Associa council But the leading protectionist papers of the city, the Liverpo! Mail andl the Literpol Standard, also greeted the Financial Reformers with cautious Courtesy, presumably because of the loudly proclaimed non-political character of the latter’ aims, and the leading réle of the respectable and supposedly Conservative Robertson Gladstone. When, however, the Reformers utterances Jewrayed an unmistakably Radical tone, the Mail and the Standard ook up the cudgels to bludgeon these seifstyled financiers into disrepate.t ‘A sampling of newspaper reaction in Manchester and in London reveals a pattern similar to that observed in Liverpool. The Daily News of London, a paper of Radical sympathies,® gave prominent play to the meetings of the Liverpool Reformers, as well as to those of parliamentary reformers, and printed excerpts from the ‘sections’. Tt promptly jumped to the defense of the ‘Association against attacks by The Ties, but, on the other hand, it urged upon the Liverpool group the “intimate connexion that exists between electoral reform and financial reform’ The Mortine Chronicle of London, formerly Palmerstonian, but after February 1848 a Peelite organ,? at first evinced mild interest inthe Finaneial Reform Association, but soon adopted a tone of severe reproach for the Reformers allegedly irresponsible attitude towards England’ national debt, their ‘udicrously absurd’ propositions regarding the exclusively auistocratic origin of England’s wars, and their ‘presumptuous ineapacity” in matters financial and economie.* 1 Macqucen became secretary ofthe Asocation in 1855; he died on 9 May 1892. 2 Even inthis respect the Marcu difered from the Astociation’s oficial policy on from the personal views of ost of ts leading ights- Roberton Gladstone hinelf dee the suffrage mut be extended ava prior condion to nancial veform (Lief! Meer, 30 June ro. Ser suis fonenote p92. 1. Bven Baines paper however did not diaplay whole-hearted support Te only rarely ran a supporting editorial, and politically it was well tothe eight of the Association's foremost figures. 1 opposed extension ofthe franchise, drastie cutting ofthe armed forces and repeal of the Navigation Acts. And it expresed serious doubts about substing Alivet taxation (which i envisaged in the form of «15 or 20 per een Income tax) forthe es fon commodities (4g issue of 26 April 1849), ig Lierbe Mai 20 April July 9 December 1848 Livro! Standard, 3 October 1840, ® in s0y8 Bye Evans Crowe was the editor, and Charles Wentworth Dilke the manager, af the Daly Neus while one of the original proprietors was Sie Joshua Walley, On all domestic ‘question’, Saye a weiter on te Vietorian pees "Crowe war at one with the Manchester Radicals, and about most of che foreign questions thateame to the font in these years [ntl ga] the diferenoes between them were not great (HL. Re Fox Bosmme, xglisk Nesspes, 2 vols (1887), 1,141,150) Daily ews, 90 September 1048; se also issues of #1, 15 May, 1 26 June, 13529 July 16 August, 29 September, 4 6, 16, 28 Ocwober, 2 3, 8, 10, 16,17 November ofthe same year "On ar February 10g8 the Morning Choice was purchased by the Duke of Neweastley the sil of Lineal, Sidney Herbert, and other influential Peeltes, eho controlled ite policy unt 184, The new editor was John Douglas Cook (Fox Bourne, Bali Newpaper, I, 13-8). orig Chrvide, 18 Novernber 18485 21 Apa 1849102 THE bi NOMIC HISTORY RE Rather surprisingly, the Manchester papers paid considerably less attention to their neighbouring Financial Reformers in Liverpool than did the London press. The Manchester Guardian took uneasy notice of the Association's proposal {o abolish several hereditary pensions immediately," but then editorially ignored the Reformers until it devoted two leading articles to critical comment upon Cobden's ‘National Budget in particular and amateur chanecllors of the exchequer in general.? Both the Manchester Guardian and its Radical rival, the Manchester Examiner, evinced much more interest in the agitation for parliamentary reform, which initially centred in Manchester and Birmingham, than in the Liverpuddlian agitation for financial reform, Especially in the Examiner, which seems to rellect the views of John Bright, every parliamentary reform meeting down to the ward level i given prominent play.# On the other hand, the Financial Reform Asociation's major meetings of 31 May and 27 September 1848, are studiously ignored: there may have been a convietion that the Liverpool organization was a serious rival of Bright's “new movement’ twas only late in November that the Manchester Examiner came wholeheartedly to the support of the Assoeiation in a controversy with The Tines:* peshaps swe can sce inthis change a foreshaclowing ofthe compromise soon to be reached by Cobden and Bright in their decision to combine into one grand agitation the distinet issues of parliamentary and financial reform. Needles o say, the reactions ofall these newspapers tothe Financial Reform Association pale’ into comparative insignificance beside chat of Europe's leading journal, The Tine whose cireslation was almost thrice that of all its London rivals combined.8 Noted for the vigour ofits opinions, The Tines soon rose in anger to cross swords with the Liverpool Reformers. The somewhat heavy-handed duel that followed was not a tilt between diametsially opposed points of views indeed, The Times was even then calling forthe reform of certain buses attacked by the Association. What annoyed The Tims was less the Substance than the manner of the Financial Reformers’ utterances: the Virulently antiaristocratic bias that coloured every speech and pamphlet, the carping, penny-pinching approach to the Civil List, and the attacks on the amy. However critical the attitude of The Times towards the Financial Reformers, it undeniably gave to their views a widespread publicity and a national prominence which could hardly have been attained so quiekly in any other way. The fact that the chancellor of the exchequer and other ministers felt obliged to notice in the House of Commons the Association's attacks on the army was no doubt largely due to the controversy in The Times between Sir William Napier and Robertson Gladstone.” For a short time the Financial Reformers seemed to be launched upon a career, as Cobden hoped, more 2 Manchester Guardian, 5 July 1848, Short accounts ofthe Astocation’s activites may be Found inissues of 1, 24 May, 3 June 184 2d. 29 December 18g; 3 January 1849 3 Note, for example, an arent in the Menchster Examiner of ag April x8yB ofa meeting of xchange Ward at which some 4o or jo burgess were present "Manchester Examiner and Times (atalgamation of g November +048), 25 November 1By0. 9 Fox Bourne, English Newpajern, I, 224. In #855 The Times had an average circulation of bout 60,000. Fg. The Times of 27 July, 2 August, a September and ao September t8y8 for ertcims of the Atm, the Navy, the Ordnance Department, and tse Department of Woods and Fore 1 "The controversy concerned the profits made by eolonels in the purchase of uniforms and ‘ther regimental supplies. See The Te of 29 December 1848, 10, 16,35 Janary #049, Tor apices eters; of 6, go January 1849, or Gladstone's replies; and of 6 and 7 January 1849, for editorial comment See also Financial Ryfrm Tat Nos 7 for the Association's version of theA VICTORIAN FREE TRADE LOBBY 103 brilliant than that of the Anti-Com Law League. But the Association’s initial splash as it entered the oubled waters of political agitation proved to be among the most resounding of all its sixty-six years of existence. Contrary to the fond expectations of its founders, financial reform failed to become a powerful political rallying point. By 1852 the labours of the Association had become ‘silent’ and “unostentatious’ 1 and the reckless, jingoistic atmosphere of the Crimean War years applied the quietus to the first phase of the Associ- ation’s history. Space permits only the briefest sketch of the subsequent activities of the Financial Reformers. New life was injected into the organization when the industrious and devoted Charles Edward Macqueen was appointed secretary in January 1855, During the next twenty-five years the activities and publi- cations of the Association steadily increased. In 1858 Macqueen read a paper at the Liverpool meeting of the newly formed National Association for the Promotion of Social Science,? and a lively controversy with the president, Lord Brougham, ensued.® Early in the same year a second volume of Financial Reform Tracts was issued, but it was announced at the annual meeting that this ‘method of propaganda would henceforth be discontinued in favour of a regular ‘monthly periodical. ‘The first issue of the Financial Reformer appeared in June 1858 and continued to appear until the demise of the Association, In 163 a sheet Almanack was published as a supplement to the Financial Reformer, and Deginning in 1865 the Financial Reform Almanack appeared annually in book form, at first very slim but growing into a substantial volume by the late 1870". Meanwhile, the Finaticial Reformers with considerable selfsatistaction were attributing to their own propaganda the sweeping financial reforms of William Ewart Gladstone during the 1860's! But, in the era of rejuvenated imperialism and extraordinary military expenditures, the Association once again found its position precarious. It rallied, however, with the help of Samuel ‘Morley, to pursue a vigorous course during the early 1880s, when its prestige, measured by the number of M.P.’s on its roll of honorary vice presidents, reached a high water mark.® From then on the path of the Association i downward, despite the continued devoted and vigorous service of the active nucleus in Liverpool. The split in the Liberal Party over the Home Rule issue, combined with a brash and incompletely substantiated attack by the Association upon the financial skulduggery of the aristocracy, produced the resignation of a considerable number of M.P.’s from the ranks of the Financial Reformers.? But more serious still was the increasing military expenditure of ‘entire incident, The Tine tll had no use fr the system of perquisites (se editorial of 2 Sep- {ember 1848), but it abhorred an attack upon the integty of Beith oficers. See also House ‘of Commons Debates of 26 February, 19 March and 23 March 184 ¥'Seeabove, p98; however, in 1852 James Redelife Jeffery appeared asa representative of the Financial Reform Auociation bere the Houre of Commons Select Committee onthe Income and Property Tax (Jereph Hume, chairman), upon the request of the committee (Parlinentry Poprr Ne. sro (13, IX, Seond Report ffm the Select Comat othe Tae aad Property Tex, Minutes of Evidence, pp. 379-380 (879-80), 2°G. E. Macqueen, “Indirect Taxation? its bearing on the Social Condition of the People’ Transactions ofthe National Asiltion forthe Promai ef Social Sen ((858), pp 672-68 8 Mid. pp. 701704. 4 The Finacial Reform Asoiton, 188-1898, 09 2 tnd. peg. * In iia the number of M.P/s listed among the sixty-ode Honorary Viee-Presidents was Lbiey (Pinal Reform Almanac or 1889, pi) 1 By to the numberof Vice-President who are M.D. has dropped to veventeen, Meanwhile,104 THE ECONOMIC HI the British government, particularly after 1900 in the naval race against Germany. As late as 1910 a financial reform rally could pack Sun Hall in Liverpool to its capacity of more than 3000 people;! but this was a cwilight stand, as the Association itself recognized when it gave up the ghost a few ‘months after the outbreak of the first World War.2 Several reasons come readily to mind for the failure of the Financial Reform, Association to ‘imitate the redoubtable achievements’ of the Anti-Corn Law League: Ieaders who, however earnest and devoted, lacked national reputation and stature; a negative programme which failed to develop any specific plan of direct taxation; propaganda lacking in subtlety and too often petty or fer or brash; competition from organizations agitating for parliamentary reform—an issue that at mid-century clearly commanded more popular support than did a strictly financial agitation. But more important than any of these over the years was the striking action of successive British governments in the field of financial reform. The work of such men as Gladstone and Har- court at the exchequer was ofa character to take the wind out of the Finan Reformers’ sails and to leave them only a radical fringe of supporters who were satisfied with nothing less than complete free trade. The Financial Reform Association might take crediit for the Gladstonian reforms, but the record shows that Gladstone arrived at his convictions quite independently of the Liverpool group and probably of his brother Robertson. TORY REVIEW Wabash Callege, Indiana kind ofnlation has taken place i Ihunded and fiteen! {0b ge, pp. 4-5) For one ofthe more violent attacks om the Asociation ring the late 18o's, sec Thomas Melding, The Six P', Pert, Pesos, Pai, Party, Pose, Pauper; o the Moder Polical Pecan: Being an examination int te Polis, Falwchonds and Fables of ‘hat cariou caption called "The Financol Reform Anand, thre The Radial Polite! Bibles fe, (Manchester, John Heywood, 1887) "The only surviving member of the Financial Reform Council, W. Lyon Blease, Esq. of iverpoo}, who ras one ofthe Financial Relorm “misionariy’ during the eletons of 110, supplied this information fa 1954. 2 Musprat, op. ip 213. 2 Aller io The Toner of 29 March 1849 had a ay tine with Financial for Trac entitle “Section L— Direct Taxation’, bit which “did not contain one syllable post favour of direct taxation, or calculated to give ws the lear snight into the dlivet taxation secommende the list of Honorary Vice-Presidents, who now number to iy in sic form of