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Sir Edward W. Hamilton and Tariff Reform, 1903-1905: A Study of Conscience vs. Policy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 July 2014

Joseph W. Lipchitz
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Extract

It is a commonplace to assume that in any given Government members of the civil service and other non-elected employees will be loyal to the elected officials of the Government and will carry out the policies determined by these officials. But what happens when a policy is at odds with a man's conscience? Recently we have seen one solution in the release of the Pentagon Papers. Other solutions include burial of one's personal beliefs in commitment to duty, quiet resignation from the Government, or dedication to serve the country's best interests according to one's conscience while remaining within the Government. An example of such dedication, which exceeded partisan considerations, was that displayed by Sir Edward Walter Hamilton, permanent financial secretary to the British Treasury, during the 1903-1905 campaign for tariff reform.

From his birth in 1847, Hamilton was destined to be a free trader. His father, Walter Kerr Hamilton, was the Bishop of Salisbury and a close friend of William E. Gladstone. In 1870, Hamilton entered the temple of free trade, the Treasury Department. (Britain had been a free trade nation since midcentury, and permanent members of the Treasury Department had come to consider the fiscal policies of Peel, Gladstone, and Sir Robert Lowe as their own.) He served as private secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir Robert Lowe, from 1872 to 1873, to Prime Minister Gladstone for the remaining months of his first administration (1873-1874), and again to the Prime Minister during Gladstone's second administration (1880-1885), becoming imbued with his mentor's ideas. Hamilton worked his way up the ranks of the Treasury Department and in 1902 became permanent financial secretary and joint permanent secretary with Sir George Murray. Although not brilliant, Hamilton was a capable civil servant, and in general, gained the confidence of the chancellors whom he served; this close association with the great men of the moment became important to his social ego.

Type
Research Article
Information
Albion , Volume 4 , Issue 4 , Winter 1972 , pp. 219 - 230
Copyright
Copyright © North American Conference on British Studies 1972

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References

Notes

1 Ashworth, William, An Economic Histoiy of England, 1870-1939 (London, 1963), pp. 145–146.Google Scholar

2 Cecil, , Confidential Memo on Fiscal Retaliation, May 22, 1901Google Scholar, in Great Britain, Public Record Office, Cab. 37/57. No. 48, printed June 15, 1901.

3 Great Britain, Parliamentary Debates (House of Commons), 4th ser., XLIX (1897), p. 954.Google Scholar

4 Ibid., p. 994.

5 Ibid., p. 1012.

6 Ibid., LXVIII (1899), pp. 986-987.

7 Ensor, Robert C. K., England, 1870-1914 (London, 1960), p. 349.Google Scholar

8 The Hamilton Diary, Oct. 5, 1900, The Sir Edward Walter Hamilton Papers, London, British Museum, Add. Ms. 48677, fol. 23.

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10 Salisbury to Victoria, Mar. 26, 1901, in Cab. 41/26/7.

11 Parliamentary Debates (House of Commons), 4th ser., LXIII (1901), p. 55.Google Scholar

12 Ibid., XCII (1901), p. 735.

13 Ibid., CXIII (1901), pp. 784-799.

14 Ibid., XCV (1901), p. 1455.

15 Beach to Salisbury, Sept. 13, 1901, The Arthur J. Balfour Papers, British Museum, Add. Ms. 49695, fols. 127-131.

16 Ibid.

17 Unsigned Cabinet Memorandum, “The Extension of the Basis of Indirect Taxation,” Oct., 1901, in Cab. 37/58/93.Google ScholarPubMed

18 Ibid.

19 Hamilton Diary, Jan. 26, 1902, Hamilton Papers, British Museum, Add. Ms. 48679.

20 The Brussels Conference, made up of representatives of several European nations, convened to decide upon how to combat the bounties being given to certain continental beet sugar producers, particularly German. The Conference's solution was to impose retaliatory duties on beet sugar equal to the original bounty.

21 Hamilton Diary, Feb. 5, 1901 [1902], Hamilton Papers, British Museum, Add. Ms. 48679.

22 Ibid., Feb. 13, 1902.

23 Ibid., Apr. 20, 1902.

24 Ibid., May 25, 1902.

25 Parliamentary Debates (House of Commons), 4th ser., CIX (1902), p. 162.Google Scholar

26 Hamilton Diary, Oct. 16, 1902, Hamilton Papers, British Museum, Add. Ms. 48680, fols. 36-37.

27 Balfour to Edward VII, Oct. 21, 1902, in Cab. 41/27, No. 3.

28 Hamilton Diary, Oct. 27, 1902, Hamilton Papers, British Museum, Add. Ms. 48680, fols. 41-42.

29 Ibid.

30 Cabinet Memorandum, Nov. 15, 1902, in Cab. 37/63, No. 155.

31 Hamilton Diary, Nov. 10, 1902, Hamilton Papers, British Museum, Add. Ms. 48680, fols. 47-48.

32 Ibid., fols. 50-51. The Treary of Vereeniging, signed May 31, 1902, ended the South African War. This brought extraordinary military expenditures to an end and created a surplus in the Exchequer accounts.

33 Ibid.

34 Balfour to Edward VII, Nov. 19, 1902, in Cab. 41/27, No. 34.

35 Hamilton Diary, Nov. 20, 1902, Hamilton Papers, British Museum, Add. Ms. 48680, fols. 54-55.

36 Confidential Cabinet Minute, “Our Financial Position,” Feb. 21, 1903, in Cab. 1/4/2.Google ScholarPubMed

37 Hamilton Diary, Feb. 23, 1903, Hamilton Papers, British Museum, Add. Ms. 48680, fol. 82.

38 Ibid., Feb. 26, 1903, fols. 85-86.

39 The Times (London), Mar. 16, 1903, p. 12.Google ScholarPubMed

40 Hamilton Diary, Mar. 17, 1903, Hamilton Papers, British Museum, Add. Ms. 48680, fols. 97-98.

41 Ibid., Mar. 18, 1903, fols. 98-99.

42 Ibid., Mar. 23, 1903, fols. 100-101.

43 Ibid., Mar. 31, 1903, fols. 105-106.

44 See Askwith, George R. A., Lord James of Hereford (London, 1930), p. 274.Google Scholar

45 Chamberlain, Joseph, Mr. Chamberlain's Speeches, ed. by Boyd, Charles W., 2 Vols. (London, 1914), V II, 129.Google Scholar

46 Hamilton Diary, May 16, 1903, Hamilton Papers, British Museum, Add. Ms. 48680, fol. 131.

47 Ibid.

48 Mowatt to Ritchie, n.d. (probably late May 1903), The Charles T. Ritchie Papers, British Museum, Add. Ms. 53780.

49 Hamilton Diary, July 14, 1903, Hamilton Papers, British Museum, Add. Ms. 48681, fol. 25.

50 SirHamilton, Edward W., “The Fiscal Problem,” in Cab. 37/66, No. 55.Google Scholar

51 Ibid.

52 Ibid.

53 Garvin, J. L. and Amery, Julian, The Life of Joseph Chamberlain, 6 Vols. (London, 1969), V V, 275.Google Scholar

54 Hamilton Diary, Sept. 19, 1903, Hamilton Papers, British Museum, Add. Ms. 49681, fol. 53.

55 Ibid., Sept. 6, 1900, British Museum, Add. Ms. 48677, fol. 7.

56 Ibid., Nov. 8, 1904, British Museum, Add. Ms. 48682, fol. 106.