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Sir Alfred Milner and the Press, 1897–1899

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

A. N. Porter
A. N. Porter
Affiliation:
King's College, London
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Extract

All myths are, by their very nature, long-lasting, and that of the virtuous proconsular figure-typified by those heavenly twins of the British imperialist pantheon, Cromer and Milner-is scarcely an exception to the rule. In the case of Sir Alfred Milner the image was apparently confirmed in the published edition of his private South African papers, a much-praised collection upon which all subsequent historians, friend and foe alike, have relied for their picture of the High Commissioner at work. For some time indeed this was inevitable as the papers themselves remained closed to scholars, but, owing in part to the latest biography of Milner written with all the papers available, the opening of the collection seems to have prompted little new or detailed investigation of Milner's early South African years. Moreover, despite the pints of ink and acres of print devoted to expositions of British policy in South Africa, and to the passing of judgements on those thought responsible for the war of 1899, one important aspect of Milner's activity has been altogether ignored. The following article, by presenting evidence from various sources for the High Commissioner's interest in and influence on newspapers both at home and in South Africa, attempts to fill a gap in current knowledge of the period, and raises one or two further questions concerning imperial statecraft at the turn of the century.

Type
Articles
Information
The Historical Journal , Volume 16 , Issue 2 , June 1973 , pp. 323 - 339
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1973

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References

1 The Milner Papers, Headlam, C. (ed.) (2 vols., London, 1931–3).Google Scholar For permission to quote from the Milner collection, now in the Bodleian Library, I am grateful to the Warden and Fellows of New College, Oxford; for the Gell Papers, to the late Lt.-Col. P. V. W. Gell and to the Historical Manuscripts Commission; for the Grey Papers, to the Department of Palaeography and Diplomatic, University of Durham; for the Garrett and Spender Papers, to the Trustees of the British Museum; for the Printing House Square Archives, to the Editor of The Times.

2 Wrench, J. E., Alfred Lord Milner (London, 1958).Google Scholar

3 Halpérin, V., Lord Milner and the Empire: the Evolution of British Imperialism (London, 1952), p. 164.Google Scholar

4 Cromer to Milner, 27 June 1891, cit. Wrench, Milner, pp. 119–20. Journalists who were personal friends of Milner between 1895 and 1899 included G. E. Buckle (editor), C. F. Moberley Bell (assistant manager) and Flora Shaw (colonial editor), all of The Times; E. T. Cook, editor of the Daily News; H. S. Wilkinson, defence expert and foreign leader writer of the Morning Post; E. B. Iwan Miiller of the Daily Telegraph; and F. E. Garrett, editor of the Cape Times; purely ‘professional ’ acquaintances were even more numerous.

5 Diary 1897–9, Milner MSS, vols. 260, 261, 262, passim.

6 See C. Greene (British Agent at Pretoria) to Milner, 5 Aug. 1897, J. E. Evans (vice-consul at Johannesburg) to Greene, 1 Dec. 1897, Milner MSS, vol. 4, fos. 132/5, 243/4; Greene to Milner, 5 May and 29 July 1898, ibid. vol. 5, fos. 76, no, concerning Drummond Chaplin, the correspondent of The Times, who ‘has often been of great service to me in official matters ’; and Neilly, J. E. to Greene, 3 Feb. 1898,Google Scholaribid. vol. 9, fos. 217/23.

7 Cook, E. T., Edmund Garrett. A Memoir (London, 1909), p. 83.Google Scholar

8 See Mills, J. Saxon, Life of Sir Edward Cook (London, 1921),Google Scholar and Scott, J. W. R., The Story of the Pall Mall Gazette (London, 1950)Google Scholar. For specific examples, see the defence of Garrett's integrity in E. T. Cook, notes pp. 85–7; and the mutual defence and recriminations between F. R. Statham, F. E. Garrett and F. H. Hamilton in The Times, 9, 10, 12 and 13 Mar. 1897, originally prompted by accusations in Statham's book South Africa As It Is (London, 1897).

9 Hobson, J. A., The Psychology of Jingoism (London, 1901), pp. 114–15.Google Scholar

10 See Garrett's letters to Stead in Whyte, F., Life oj W. T. Stead (2 vols., London, 1925), 11, 203–4.Google Scholar

11 See Green, G. A. L., An Editor Looks Back (Cape Town, 1947), pp. 44–5,Google Scholar who, being on the Cape Times ‘staff 1894–7, stresses the freedom of Garrett's position despite Harris's majority shareholding. Other evidence suggests however that Harris was not an inactive shareholder, and might have controlled Garrett's tenure if he had so wished; see Flora Shaw to Moberley Bell, 13 Nov. 1895, The Times Archives, Printing House Square, London.

12 Lockhart, J. G. and Woodhouse, Hon. C. M., Rhodes (London, 1963), p. 285;Google Scholar E. T. Cook, p. 60. Cook's later suggestion, p. 151, that Garrett's interviews with Chamberlain helped secure the post for Milner in 1897, is incorrect.

13 Diary entries, 3 and 10 Feb. 1897, Milner MSS, vol. 260.

11 Diary entry, 10 May, ibid. Notes by P. L. Gell of a conversation with Milner dated 19 Nov. 1898, the day after Milner's arrival in England on leave, Gell MSS, Box Milner 3. W. T. Stead to Milner, 28 June 1897, Milner MSS, vol. 1 (unsorted).

15 Cit. F. Whytc, Life of Stead, 11, 194.

16 F. E. Garrett to his cousin Agnes Garrett, 9 June 1897, B.M. Add. MS 45929, fo. 43; co-operation in imperial defence was ‘the only practical scheme of Imperial unity yet on the tapis ’.

17 Milner to Selborne, 13 Oct. 1897, Headlam, 1, 100. Other parties were also realizing the importance of the press; see Selections from the Correspondence of f. X. Merriman, Lewsen, P. (ed.)(4vols., Cape Town, 1960–9), II, 299–305, III, 46–7.Google Scholar

18 Garrett, F. E. to his cousin, 26 May and 18 Aug. 1897, B.M. Add. MS 45929, fos. 40, 56.Google Scholar

19 Diary entry, 27 May 1898, Milner MSS, vol. 261, and passim.

20 F. E. Garrett to his cousin, 8 Sept. 1897, B.M. Add. MS 45929, fo. 60/4.

21 Cit. Marais, J. S., The Fall of Kruger's Republic (Oxford, 1961), p. 179.Google Scholar

22 Milner to Garrett, 1 Sept. 1897, B.M. Add. MS 45929, fo. 107/8.

23 Diary entries, 22 and 23 Feb. 1898, Milner MSS, vol. 261; F. E. Garrett, ‘Rhodes and Milner ’in The Empire and the Century, Goldmann, C. S. (ed.) (London, 1905), p. 494.Google Scholar

24 Diary entry, 1 Nov. 1898, Milner MSS, vol. 261.

25 For the takeover of the Argus Company and the Star's policy, designed, in the view of its former editor, ‘to set the heather ablaze ’ in Johannesburg, see Dormer, F. J., Vengeance as a Policy in Afrikanerland (London, 1901), pp. 19–26Google Scholar. For the political attitudes of the various mining houses on the Rand at this time, Blainey, G., ‘Lost Causes of the Jameson Raid ’ in Economic History Review, 2nd ser., vol. XVIII, no. 2 (08 1965);Google Scholar he distinguishes the profitable ‘outcrop ’ mining companies from the ‘deep-level ’ mines which were suffering economically under the Kruger regime. The chief owners of the latter were those who organized the Jameson Raid, to overthrow the Boer Government: they are also those who are here shown to be behind the press campaign and in touch with Milner.

26 Hallé, G., Mayfair to Maritzburg (London, 1933), pp. 221–2.Google Scholar Hallé was at this time on the staff of the other pro-Uitlander paper, the Johannesburg (later Transvaal) Critic, but subsequently moved to join the Star.

27 F. J. Dormer, pp. 19‐22. Attempts were made to reach sympathizers in England, by appeals to the Colonial Office (which met a cool reception), and by the editor of the similarly suppressed Johannesburg Critic, Hess, H., in an article, ‘The Newspaper Laws of the South African Republic ’, in The Newspaper Press Directory (London, 1897 edn, Supp., p. 19).Google Scholar See also J. S. Marais, pp. 129–32; Rosenthal, E., Today's News Today (Cape Town, 1956), pp. 97–104.Google Scholar

28 E. Rosenthal, p. 109.

29 A summary of these early moves appears in C. W. Boyd to Milner, 27 Dec. 1898, Milner MSS, vol. 31, pt. III, fo. 9.

30 DrEvans, Samuel to Stead, W. T., 7 July 1898,Google Scholar copy, Milner MSS, vol. 9, fos. 213/4. E. Rosenthal gives a most incomplete account of the whole search, and includes a different version of this letter, apparently from the Argus Company archives, p. 121.

31 Evans, J. E. to Fraser, E., 8 July 1898Google Scholar, enclosing S. Evans' letter to Stead, Milner MSS, vol. 9, fo. 212; Fraser to Milner, 10 July, ibid. fo. 211; Milner to British agent, 14 July, ibid. fo. 210. £1,500 was to have been the annual salary, but, Evans told Fraser, E. J. Griffiths M.P. would be able to offer a good man up to £3,000.

32 For the refusal of Norman, see Wernher to Gell, 26 Dec. 1898, Gell MSS, ‘Letters re Editor for Johannesburg Star'; of Wilkinson, Beit to Gell, 28 Nov., ibid., and Wilkinson, H. S., Thirty-Five Years 1874–1909 (London, 1933), pp. 235–6;Google Scholar of S. Low, Low to Gell, 3 Nov. 1898, Gell MSS, ibid; for Steevens's refusal and Boyd's offer, Boyd to Milner, 27 Dec, Milner MSS, vol. 31, pt. III, fo. 9; G. B. Dibblee to Mr Warden [Sir William Anson, Warden of All Souls where Dibblee was a Fellow], 15 Dec., forwarded to Gell, and Dibblee to Gell, 26 Dec., Gell MSS, ibid.; and Milner to Gell, 3 Jan. 1899, Gell MSS, Box Milner 2. Dibblee was a director of the Press Association and due to be Chairman in 1899, and Manager of the Manchester Guardian; see note by Gell, and Ayerst, D., Guardian. Biography of a Newspaper (London, 1971), ch. xxi and PP. 303–4.Google Scholar

33 Grey to Gell, 25 Nov. 1898, Gell MSS, Box Lord Grey; Gell to Grey, 3 Dec, Grey MSS; Wernher to Gell, 5 Dec, Gell MSS, ‘ Letters re Editor… ’

34 Diary entries, Milner MSS, vol. 261. Wernher to Gell, 21 and 26 Dec 1898, Gell MSS, ibid. The reference to Johannesburg concerns the disturbances over the shooting of Edgar, an Uitlander, by a Boer policeman.

35 J. L. Strachan-Davidson to Gell, 23 Dec. 1898, Gell MSS, ibid. Gell's own notes indicate the preferred possibilities as G. Mortimer, J. A. Marriott (later the noted historian), F. E. Smith (later Lord Birkenhead), Talbot Baines (then editor of the Leeds Mercury), C. G. Robertson (then Fellow of All Souls, later knight and historian, working with Marriott), C. Bailey (Fellow of Exeter College and expert on Lucretius), Belloc and St Loe Strachey (then editor of the Spectator). However, only F. E. Smith seems to have been seriously considered: see Gell to Grey, 10 Dec. 1898, Grey MSS; Milner to Gell, 3 Ian. 1899, Gell MSS, Box Milner 3.

36 Dibblee to Gell, 31 Dec. 1898, Gell MSS, ‘Letters re Editor…’ Milner to Gell, n Jan. 1899, ibid. Box Milner 3; diary entries, Jan. 1899, Milner MSS, vol. 262; Sir W. F. Butler to Milner, 11 Jan. 1899, ibid. vol. 32, fo. 5.

37 Financial details, see G. Hallé, p. 227; Moberley Bell to Monypenny, 12 Apr. 1899, Manager's Letter Book 20, fos. 739/41 and passim, Times Archives, Diary entries, Jan. 1899, Milner MSS, vol. 262.

38 Milner to Fiddes, 23 Dec. 1898, Headlam, 1, 299.

39 Fitzpatrick to Wernher, Feb. 1898, cit. Wallis, J. P. R., Fitz: the story of Sir Percy Fitzpatrick (London, 1955), p. 69.Google Scholar

40 Hobson, J. A.. The War in South Africa (London, 1900), pp. 207–29.Google Scholar

41 Monypenny saw Milner for dinner and a ‘long talk ’ on 24 Feb. 1899, diary, Milner MSS, vol. 262. Greene to Milner, 10 Mar., ibid. vol. 13, fo. 131.

42 G. E. Buckle to A. F. Walter, 12 July 1894, Times Archives. F. J. Dormer, p. 127.

43 Monypenny to Moberley Bell, 20 Mar. 1899, Times Archives; cf. O. Walrond [Milner's private secretary] to F. Graham, 30 Aug., ‘The Boers are like the Arabs and Turks. They have a large strain of Kaffir in them ’, CO. 417/266, fo. 227.

44 G. Hallé, p. 226. Wernher to Gell, 8 Apr. 1899, Gell MSS, ‘ Letters re Editor …’; Grey to Gell, 6 May, ibid. Earl Grey Correspondence.

45 Diary, Milner MSS, vol. 262. J. A. Hobson, The War in South Africa, p. 210, The Psychology of Jingoism, p. 112; E. Rosenthal, p. 105.

46 Fiddes to Milner, 7 Apr. 1899, Milner MSS, vol. 12, fos. 6/8; Headlam, 1, 346–7 quotes only another extract from this letter.

47 Milner to Chamberlain, 26 Apr. 1899 and minute by Graham, 2 May, CO. 417/260, fo. 780. Diary entries, e.g. 10 Apr. 1899, Milner MSS, vol. 262. J. S. Marais, p. 264.

48 Monypenny to Moberley Bell, 2 May 1899, Times Archives. Monypenny to Walrond, 14 and 19 May, Milner MSS, vol. 12, fos. 30/2; Headlam refers to the first of these letters, but omits the quotation given here, 1, 344, 377—8.

49 Garrett to Spender, 3 May, 5 July 1899, B.M. Add. MS 46391, fos. 31, 36. Milner to Garrett, 17 July 1899, Milner MSS, vol. 8, fos. 4/5. On 3 Aug., Milner wrote ‘I miss an occasional chat with you fearfully ’, ibid. fo. 6.

50 Milner to Gell, 21 June 1899, Gell MSS, Box Milner 4; quotation from Gell to W. T. Stead, 21 July 1899, ibid. Box Milner 3.

51 Milner to Strachey, 24 Aug. 1899, Strachey MSS, Beaverbrook Library London. F. Grigg, ‘Obituary of L. J. Maxse ’ in the National Review (Feb. 1932), p. 140.

52 See e.g. Spender, J. A. to Garrett, 12 July 1899,Google Scholar B.M. Add. MS 46391, fos. 37/8, criticizing Milner's ‘Helot ’ dispatch of 4 May, published in C. 9345 on 14 June.

53 Monypenny to Moberley Bell, 12 June 1899, Times Archives.

54 Blunt, W. S., 15 06 1899, My Diaries - being a Personal Narrative of Events 1888–1914 (2 vols., New York, 1922), 1, 325.Google Scholar

55 Spender, J. A., Life, Journalism and Politics (2 vols., London, 1927), 1, 86;Google ScholarWebber, H. O'K., The Grip of Gold (London, 1936), p. 95, pp. 102–3.Google Scholar

56 Bryce to Campbell-Bannerman, 11 Nov. 1899, cit. Porter, Bernard, Critics of Empire. British Radical attitudes to colonialism in Africa 1895–1914 (London, 1968), p. 62.Google Scholar

57 Hobson, J. A., ‘The Proconsulate of Milner’ in The Contemporary Review (Oct. 1900), p. 552.Google Scholar

58 Parliamentary Debates, 4th ser., vol. LXXV, cols. 728—36.Google Scholar

59 For further discussion, see my unpublished thesis, British Imperialism and Its Public: Chamberlain, Milner and South Africa 1895—1899 (Cambridge, 1971).Google Scholar