Laying the Foundation Stone, Vyrnwy Dam
Laying the Foundation Stone, Vyrnwy Dam,by the Earl of Powis, 1881.
When it was decided to seek for a new watershed our attention was first directed to the moors round about Bleasdale, some ten miles north of Preston, but the prospective supply was not sufficiently large. We then turned our attention to Hawes Water, in Cumberland, the property of Lord Lonsdale, and appointed a deputation to inspect this lake. We dined and stayed all night at Lowther Castle, and drove to the lake next morning. We came away much impressed with the quality of the water and the cleanness of the watershed, as there were no peat mosses or boggy lands to discolour the water.
Mr. Deacon, our young water engineer, had however a more ambitious scheme in view; he proposed to impound the head waters of the Severn in the valley of the Vyrnwy. The battle of the watersheds, Hawes Waterversusthe Vyrnwy, was waged furiously for several years. The committee made many visits to the Vyrnwy, taking up its abode at the Eynant Shooting Lodge, a very picturesque spot (now submerged) standing at the western end of the lake. Mr. Wilson and Mr. Anthony Bower, the chairman and deputy-chairman of the committee, were strongly in favour of the Vyrnwy scheme.
Alderman Bennett continued to be the persistent advocate of obtaining additional supplies from the wells, and his opposition to every other scheme was only set at rest by the Council authorising Mather and Platt to put a bore-hole down at Bootle at a point which he selected; with the result that no water was found. During all this period Mr. J. H. Wilson had a very arduous task, demanding great patience and endurance, and to him and to Mr. Deacon belong the credit of ultimately securing the adoption of the Vyrnwy scheme.
I led the section of the committee in favour of the Hawes Water scheme. There was no question as to the Vyrnwy yielding an abundant supply, but the opposition contended that it was brown peaty water, and would remain brownish after being treated by filtration, and the cost would greatly exceed that of Hawes Water. I spent days on the moors at Vyrnwy collecting samples of water. My samples were brown and bad; the samples collected by Mr. Deacon, on the contrary, were clear and translucent. The committee were divided as to the relative merits of the two schemes, and the Council were equally divided.
When the question came for the ultimate decision of the Council the debate lasted two days, and I spoke for one hour and a half. We thought the Hawes Water scheme was winning, when the Mayor, Mr. Thomas Royden, rose and spoke for half an hour all in favour of the Vyrnwy. His speech turnedmany waverers, and the Council voted in favour of the Vyrnwy by a small majority of three.
It was a great debate, perhaps the most important we have had in the Council, certainly in my time. Mr. Royden (now Sir Thomas Royden, Bart.) was an effective speaker, both in the Council and on the platform; his voice and his genial smile were a valuable asset of the Conservative party.
I was greatly assisted in drawing up a pamphlet in favour of Hawes Water, and in conducting the opposition, by the town clerk, Mr. Joseph Rayner. Mr. Rayner was an exceedingly able man, but unfortunately died comparatively young.
It fell to my lot, as Mayor in 1881, to take the Council to lay the foundation stone of the great Vyrnwy dam. It was on a very hot day in July; the stone was laid by the Earl of Powis, who made a very eloquent and poetical address, comparing the Vyrnwy with the fountain of Arethusa which would spring up and fructify the valley, and convey untold blessings to the great community in the far-off city of Liverpool.
The building of the dam, and the laying out of the banks of the lake, called for many charming visits to the Vyrnwy; and although I was not in favour of the adoption of this scheme I now believe on the whole the Council did the wisest thing, as there can be no question of the abundance of the supplies secured by the city.
For twelve years I was chairman of this committee, and had much interesting work to carry through Parliament. The widening of St. Nicholas' Place and the throwing of part of St. Nicholas' churchyard into the street was a great improvement, relieving the congestion of traffic at this point.
We also endeavoured, during my term of office, to extend the boundaries of the city. We had a fierce fight in the House of Commons. The local boards of the districts we intended to absorb assailed us with a perfect torrent of abuse, and criticised severely our system of local government. We failed to carry our bill, the chairman of the committee remarking that Parliament would not grant any extension of city boundaries when it was objected to by the districts to be absorbed; but he added, "We are quite satisfied from the evidence you have given that Liverpool is excellently governed in every department." We made a mistake in pushing forward this bill on "merits" only, we should have done some missionary work beforehand, and arranged terms and conditions with our neighbours. My successor in the chair of this committee, Sir Thomas Hughes, profited by our experience, and succeeded where we failed.
We were greatly assisted in our Parliamentary work by Mr. Harcourt E. Clare, who was most ableand diplomatic, and an excellent negotiator. His appointment as Clerk of the County Council, though a gain to the county, was a serious loss to Liverpool.
With the attitude of Liverpool in regard to the construction of the Manchester Ship Canal I was very prominently identified. I had to conduct the opposition to the Canal Bill through three sessions of Parliament, six enquiries in all. The Dock Board took the labouring oar, but it fell to me to work up the commercial case, to prove from a commercial point of view that the canal was not wanted, and would never pay. I prepared a great mass of figures, and was under examination during the six enquiries altogether about thirty hours. Mr. Pember, Q.C., who led the case for the promoters, paid me the compliment of saying I was the only witness he had ever had who had compelled him to get up early in the morning to prepare his cross-examination.
We defeated the bill in the first two enquiries. At the close of the second enquiry Mr. Lyster, the engineer to the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, completely gave the Dock Board case away. Mr. Pember remarked: "Mr. Lyster, you have told us that if we make our canal through the centre of the estuary of the Mersey we shall cause the estuary to silt up and destroy the bar. Whatwould you do if you had to make a canal to Manchester?" Mr. Lyster jumped at the bait, and replied, "I should enter at Eastham and carry the canal along the shore until I reached Runcorn, and then I would strike inland." Next year the Manchester Corporation brought in a new bill carrying out Mr. Lyster's suggestion, and as Liverpool had no answer they succeeded in getting their bill.
There can be no doubt that the railways had for long years greatly overcharged their Liverpool traffic. The rate of 12s 6d per ton for Manchester goods for the thirty-two miles' carriage from Manchester to Liverpool was a gross overcharge. I had headed deputation after deputation to the London and North-Western Railway to represent this; Mr. Moon (afterwards Sir Richard Moon) always received us with much civility, but nothing was done. The Dock Board had the remedy in their own hands; they could have bought the Bridgewater Canal, and made a competitive route; but the prosperity of Liverpool was great, and they altogether failed to see that Manchester, with its Ship Canal, might one day be a serious competitor to Liverpool.
The promoters of the Ship Canal secured an option over the Bridgewater Canal, and this was really the backbone of their scheme. At the close of the first parliamentary enquiry, when the Canal Bill was thrown out, Mr. Wakefield Cropper, thechairman of the Bridgewater Canal, came to me and said, "The option given to the Ship Canal people has expired; can you not persuade the Dock Board to buy up the Bridgewater Canal, and this will put an end to the Ship Canal project?" I walked across the Green Park with Mr. T. D. Hornby, the chairman of the Dock Board, and Mr. Squarey, the solicitor, and told them of this conversation, and they both agreed with me that the Dock Board ought to make the purchase, but, unfortunately, nothing was done. In the following year the Ship Canal Bill was again thrown out, and Mr. Cropper again urged that we should secure the Bridgewater Canal. I called at the Liverpool Dock office in London and saw Mr. Hornby and Mr. Squarey; they both agreed that the purchase of the Bridgewater Canal ought to be made, but again no step was taken, and the Ship Canal made their third application to Parliament, and succeeded. I have always felt that the Dock Board thus missed a great opportunity, which in years to come may prove to have been the golden chance of securing the prosperity of the port.
One of the most important enquiries in which I engaged was into our system of fines on renewals of the leases of the property belonging to the Corporation.
The Corporation owns a very large estate within the city. The first important purchase wasmade by the Corporation in 1674, when a lease for 1,000 years was obtained from Sir Caryl Molyneux, of the Liverpool Heath, which bounded the then town of Liverpool on its eastern side. This land had been sold on seventy-five years' leases, and as the leases ran out the lessees had the option of renewal on the payment of a fine; and in order to encourage the frequent renewal of these leases the fines during the first twenty years of a lease were made very light. It has been the practice of the Corporation to use the fines received as income in the year in which they are received. The fines received in the fifty years, 1835 to 1885, amounted to £1,762,000. This system of finance is radically wrong. The fines ought to be invested in annuities, and if this had been done these fines would now have returned an income of £66,000 per annum, and would have gone on increasing.
The committee, of which I was the chairman, held a prolonged enquiry, and examined many experts and actuaries, and our report is to-day the standard authority on the leasehold question. Our conclusions and recommendations are as sound to-day as they were then, but unfortunately the Council declined to accept or adopt them, and we still pursue the economically bad system of spending in the first year the fine which should be spread over the term of the lease.
When I retired from the Library, Museum, and Arts Committee in 1908, I was invited to take the chair of the Estate Committee, and found myselfagain face to face with the leasehold question. The revenue of the Corporation from fines on renewal of leases had fallen off to so alarming an extent that something had to be done to stop the shrinkage in revenue and restore the capital value of the estate. We had for so long used the fines as income that the position was a difficult one, and one only to be surmounted by a self-denying policy of accumulating a large portion of the assured income from fines for at least twenty-five years and encouraging leaseholders to extend their leases from seventy-five to ninety-nine years.
Liverpool can justly lay claim to be the pioneer of free public libraries. William Ewart, one of the members for the borough, succeeded in 1850 in passing through Parliament the Public Libraries Act. But before this act had become law, a subscription had been raised in Liverpool for the purpose of starting a library, and a temporary library was opened in Duke Street. This was afterwards transferred to the Corporation, and was the beginning of the great library movement in Liverpool. The Council encouraged by this obtained a special act empowering them to establish not only a library, but a public library, museum, and art gallery—thus from the earliest days these three institutions have been linked together. Sir William Brown provided the funds for erection of the Library and Museum in William Brown Street. In 1851 the thirteenth Earl of Derby presented to the town his fine collection of natural history specimens; in 1857 Mr. Joseph Mayer gave his collection of historical andarchæological objects, and in 1873 Mr. A. B. Walker completed this remarkable group of institutions by building the Walker Art Gallery. Liverpool has thus been most fortunate in possessing a public library, a museum, and an art gallery, which have cost the ratepayers nothing. It would be difficult to find a more unique cluster of institutions, each so perfectly adapted to its work, and all furnished with collections which have not only a local but a European reputation.
Liverpool Free Library and Museum
Liverpool Free Library and Museum.
I was placed upon the Library and Museum Committee on entering the Council, Mr. Picton, afterwards Sir James Picton, being the chairman. The committee met at nine o'clock in the morning, and seldom rose before twelve. I could not afford so much time, and therefore resigned, but when master of my own time I joined the committee again, and found the work very interesting. Sir James Picton had an extensive knowledge of books, and he is entitled to the credit of building up our splendid reference library, and of making the excellent collection of books on architecture which it contains, but he had little sympathy with lending libraries, and when he died the three branch lending libraries were very indifferent and poor, which was the more extraordinary bearing in mind that the act of parliament instituting free libraries was promoted by Liverpool, and although Liverpool was not the first town to take advantage of it, she was only six weeks behind Manchester in adopting it.
Sir James Picton, the historian of Liverpool, was endowed with an excellent memory, and his mind was a storehouse of knowledge. He took an active part in the various literary societies, and was for many years one of our leading and most enlightened citizens.
After his death the chair of the Library Committee was occupied for three years by Mr. Samuelson, and in 1889 I was elected his successor, and held this chair for nineteen years. There is no public position in Liverpool more full of interest and with such wide possibilities for good as the chairmanship of the Library Committee. I very early decided that the right, and, indeed, only policy to pursue was to make the institutions placed under my care as democratic and as widely useful as possible, and this could best be done by breaking down all the barriers erected by red tape and by trusting the people; and, further, extending the system of branch libraries and reading rooms. In carrying out this work I always enjoyed the sympathy and active co-operation of my committee, and had the valuable assistance of Mr. Cowell, the chief librarian, and his staff. The acceptance of the guarantee of one ratepayer instead of two for the respectability of a reader has been a very popular reform, and the introduction of open bookshelves, containing the most recent and popular books of the day, has been greatly appreciated, and I am glad to say the books we have lost have been very few. Branch lending libraries were opened atthe Central Library, Everton, Windsor Street, Sefton Park, West Derby, Wavertree, and Garston. At several of these libraries we have reading-rooms and special books for boys, which are much appreciated by them.
We were fortunate in inducing Mr. Andrew Carnegie to open the new library in Windsor Street, and he was so much pleased with it that he offered to build for us a duplicate in West Derby. He remarked it was the first time he had ever offered to give a library, making it a rule that he must be invited to present one, and then if the site was provided, and a suitable income assured to maintain it, he gave the necessary funds for the building as a matter of course. Mr. Carnegie subsequently presented us with another library for Garston, and more recently he gave me £19,000 for two more libraries, making his gift to Liverpool £50,000 in all.
Mr. Carnegie's munificence has been remarkable, not only in its extent, but in its method. He has given £30,000,000 for the erection of libraries and other institutions, but all of his gifts have been made after careful investigation, and in conformity with certain rules which he has laid down. When he opened the Windsor Street Library he stayed at Bromborough Hall, and we took him also to the opening of St. Deiniol's Library, at Hawarden. If Mr. Carnegie had not been a millionaire he would still have been a remarkable man. Endowed witha keen power of observation, rapidity of judgment, and great courage, he has all the elements which make for success in any walk in life. He told me that as a superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railway he saw that iron bridges should take the place of their wooden bridges. He formed an iron company to supply these bridges. Another opportunity offered, of which he was not slow to avail, when the iron bridges had in course of time to be replaced with steel. The example of this great railway was quickly followed by others, and the Carnegie Steel Works grew larger and larger. The carriage of the iron ore 400 miles by rail, from Lake Superior, was a costly item, so he constructed his own railway, which enabled him to greatly reduce the carriage. All these things indicate his enterprise and courage, which have made him not only a millionaire, but also a great public benefactor.
The Council entrusted the Library Committee with the administration of the moneys granted for technical education, and as it took some years to lay the foundations of a technical system of education the funds accumulated, and we were able to pay off the debt on the libraries, about £8,000, and to build the extension to the museum, costing £80,000. The foundation stone was laid by me on the 1st July, 1898. Liverpool has always been rich in museum exhibits, and particularly in natural history and ethnography, and we have added recently to our collection by purchasing Canon Tristram's collectionof birds. Out of this great storehouse our director, Doctor Forbes, has arranged the galleries so admirably, both on the scientific and popular sides, that they are the admiration of all naturalists, and Liverpool has every reason to be proud of her museums, which are admittedly the finest out of London. The galleries were opened by the late Earl of Derby on the 19th October, 1906.
I was anxious to bring the libraries, and especially the museums, into closer touch with the University, and have always maintained that co-operation between these institutions is absolutely necessary, if we are to get the best out of each.
The work in connection with the Walker Art Gallery has always been to me one of absorbing interest, and the annual visit in the spring to the London studios a very great treat. It is not merely that one has the opportunity of seeing the pictures of the year, but also to hear the views of the artists; men who lead lives of their own, in their art, and for their art, and whose views upon art matters open up new avenues for thought, and continually suggest new methods of action. Mr. Philip Rathbone was our first chairman of the Art Sub-Committee, and he did a great work in popularising our Autumn Exhibition in London. He was almost a bohemian by nature, and was quite at home in the artist worldof London. He was a genius in many ways; he knew much about art; was a poet whose verses had a charm of their own; he was a delightful companion and inherited many of those remarkable traits of character which have distinguished the Rathbone family and have made them such benefactors of their native city.
We had some interesting experiences during our visits to the studios, and were often asked to criticise and suggest a name for a picture.
On one occasion when visiting Lord Leighton's studio, he was painting a charming picture entitled "Persephone," the coming of spring. He had painted some brown figs in the foreground. Mr. Rathbone remarked that in spring the figs should be green. Lord Leighton replied, "You are right," and dabbing his thumb into some green paint on his palette he smeared the figs with green, and when the picture was finished they remained green; but inasmuch as you see green and brown figs on a fig-tree at the same time, in spring and in autumn, Lord Leighton was not incorrect, and brown figs would, I think, have better suited his colour scheme. Mr. Byam Shaw painted a picture of "the Princes in the Tower" at Ludlow Castle, and looking out of the tower upon the landscape beyond, the eye rested upon a copse of larches, but as larches were notgrown in England for a hundred years after the incident portrayed in the picture, they had to be painted out and other trees substituted.
Visiting the studio of Mr. Greiffenhagen we found him engaged upon a pastoral idyll, a shepherd boy embracing a red-headed girl in a field of poppies. He had as his models an Italian and his boy. Upon my remarking upon this, he explained his only inducement to paint the subject was a promise made by two of his friends, who were engaged to be married, to sit as his models. They came, and appeared to greatly enjoy the situation; but alas! they got married and did not return, and he was obliged to finish his picture with this Italian and his boy. It was a lovely picture, and now adorns our permanent collection. One is much impressed when visiting the studios by the comparative poverty of the profession. I don't suppose the average income of the London artist exceeds £200 to £300 per annum. They paint pictures but do not sell them. Formerly they were able to supplement their incomes by working in black and white, but machine processes have now superseded black and white, and the architect and house decorator have dealt pictorial art a severe blow by introducing styles of decoration which leave no room for the picture.
Lord Leighton was a great friend to Liverpool, but we did not treat him kindly. Whenever we had any difficulty in obtaining a picture for our exhibition he was always ready to take trouble anduse his influence to secure it for us. We bought from him one of the best pictures he ever painted, the "Andromeda"; the price was £3,000, and he agreed to accept the amount payable over two years. The purchase was noised abroad, but unfortunately the Council declined to confirm it. Sir James Picton was not happy in the way he submitted the proposal to the Council. Manchester immediately secured the picture. Meeting Lord Leighton a year or so afterwards I apologised to him for the action of the Council, when he most magnanimously said, "I was not troubled for myself, but for you, and it pained me when I heard that Mr. Samuelson, your deputy chairman, twice came to my house to explain matters, but his courage failed him, and he went away without even ringing the bell."
Sir John Millais was appointed President of the Royal Academy in succession to Lord Leighton. It fell to me to call at his studio only a few months before he died, when he remarked: "You have in Liverpool my picture with a kick in it" (alluding to the picture of "Lorenzo and Isabella," in which the figure in the foreground is in the act of kicking a dog), and he continued, "I well remember that picture." This was spoken evidently with a sad recollection. I knew what was passing in his mind, for the late Sir Henry Tate told me that Mr. Millais painted the picture when quite a young man, for a dealer, and was to receive in payment £50. The dealer failed, and Mr. Millais found himself in great financial difficulty, when astranger called and said, "I understand you have painted a picture for Mr. ——" (naming the dealer), and asked to look at it. He immediately bought it, giving £50, and the painter's difficulties were removed.
Mrs. Fraser, the wife of Dr. Fraser, the Bishop of Manchester, told me a good story of Millais. He was painting the Bishop's portrait, and the picture had reached the stage of the last sitting. Mr. Millais' dog jumped upon the chair upon which the artist had placed his palette. The palette fell on to the floor, paint side downwards. Millais was annoyed and kicked at the dog. The situation had an amusing side which caused the Bishop to laugh heartily, whereupon Millais looked still more angry, and exclaimed, "I have painted the wrong man, I had no idea you had such a sense of humour." The picture, although an excellent likeness, represents the Bishop as a demure ecclesiastic. Those who remember him will recollect how genial and full of humour he was.
When Mayor in 1881, I acted as honorary secretary to a committee entrusted with the painting of a likeness of the late Charles MacIver. We gave the commission to Professor Herkomer, who called at the Town Hall to enquire what sort of a man Mr. MacIver was. I told him that he was a man of exceptionally strong character, a perfect autocrat in his management of the Cunard Company, of which he was one of the founders. Professor Herkomer called at the Town Hall a few days after, and said, "I am returning home as I have been unable to find theMr. MacIver as you described him: he has lost a near relative and appears broken in health." The Professor called upon me again a few months after and said "I have found Mr. MacIver, the strong man you told me he was, and have painted the portrait." The picture hangs in the permanent collection at the Walker Art Gallery.
In 1893, when Mr. Robert Holt was Lord Mayor, he received a telegram from Sir John Gilbert, R.A., saying he wished to present some of his pictures to Liverpool, and desiring that some one should go up to select them. The Council was sitting. The Lord Mayor passed the telegram on to me, and asked me to go up to London. I did so the same day, and called upon Sir John Gilbert, at Blackheath, the next morning. On my entering his room the veteran artist said "I see one of your names is 'Bower,' are you any relation to Mr. Alfred Bower, who married the daughter of my old friend Lance, the fruit painter." On my stating that I was his nephew, he replied, "Well, I intended giving Temple, of the Guildhall, the first pick, but you shall have it for my old friend's sake."
I found the house stacked with pictures from the cellar to the attic. Sir John had been painting and keeping his pictures to present to the nation, together with an art gallery; but he had suddenly changed his mind, and resolved to divide them between the great cities. I selected some twelve or fourteen large canvases, which now adorn our artgallery. Sir John was our greatest painter of historical pictures, and one of our most brilliant colourists.
Mr. Whistler came down to hang our Autumn Exhibition one year. He was mostdifficile, finding fault with every picture brought before him. We could not get on, and should have had no exhibition at all had we not hit upon the expedient of offering him a room all to himself, in which he should hang the pictures of his own choice and in his own way. He accepted the offer. This room has ever since been filled with pictures of the impressionist school.
Upon Mr. Rathbone's death Mr. John Lea became his successor, and he has done yeoman service for our Autumn Exhibition. For many years he gave an annual dinner to the artists in London, and he was honoured by the presence of the leading members of the Royal Academy and their wives. The dinners took place at the Grand Hotel, and were exceedingly well done. They greatly assisted us in our work of collecting the best pictures of the year.
It has been a great pleasure to us to entertain at Bromborough Hall many of the artists entrusted with the hanging of the exhibitions.
On retiring from the Library Committee in 1908, after nineteen years' service as chairman, I gave an account of my stewardship, which was reported as follows in the local press:—
"In returning thanks Sir William Forwood said it was with very deep regret that he had to takeleave of them as their chairman. He felt the time had come when the trust should be placed in younger hands. On the 9th of next month it would be forty years since he entered the City Council, and his first committee was the Library Committee, of which he was elected chairman in 1890. Much had happened during that time. In 1890 they had only two small branch libraries, and there were no reading-rooms in the great centres of population. Early in that year the Kensington Branch Library and Reading-room was opened. The total issue of books and periodicals at all the libraries was 1,514,545; last year the issue was 4,417,043, an increase of nearly 300 per cent. These figures became more striking when it was remembered that the population during this period had increased only 17 per cent. Not only had the appetite for reading grown, but the growth had been in a very satisfactory direction. Whereas in 1890 76 per cent. of the total issues were of prose fiction, last year this percentage had fallen to 55 per cent. He did not wish to disparage the reading of good fiction; on the contrary, he had always contended that the reading of fiction frequently formed the habit of reading, which would otherwise never be obtained. They had worked upon this view, and gave to the borrower of a work of fiction the right to take out another book of a more serious character. In 1890 the number of our home readers was 7,300; to-day they had 41,000, and during this period they had added 145,672 books to the shelves.The total issue of books, etc., during the past eighteen years reached the enormous total of 47,343,035. In place of forty-nine free lectures, all given at one centre, they now gave 186 lectures distributed over nineteen centres.
"In 1890, out of a rate of one penny in the £, they maintained the Central Reference Library and three branch libraries, the Art Gallery, and the Museum. To-day, with the rate of a penny three-farthings, they maintained three greatly enlarged central institutions, ten lending libraries and reading-rooms, and gave 186 free lectures. They were now completing the erection of a library at Garston, and had secured the land for a library at Walton. The encouraging result of the system of free access to open bookshelves in the Picton and the branch reading-rooms induced him to hope that the new library at Walton might be entirely run upon this principle. They had also done a great deal to encourage juvenile readers and with most gratifying and encouraging results. Juvenile libraries and reading-rooms were provided, and free lectures to the young formed an important branch of their work. They had been very much helped by the handsome gifts made by Mr. Andrew Carnegie, the collection of fine art books and prints made by the late Mr. Hugh Frederick Hornby, to whose generosity they were indebted for the room in which they were now displayed—and the 978 books in the Braille type contributed by Miss Hornby, of Walton.
"The growth of the Natural History Museum had been remarkable. Liverpool received as a bequest from the 13th Earl of Derby a very large collection of natural history specimens, which was enriched from time to time by other gifts. The limited space in the Museum was choked by specimens which could not be properly displayed or scientifically arranged, and the greater part of the specimens remained stowed away in cases in the cellars. In 1899 it was decided to greatly extend the museum by building further galleries over the new Technical Schools. This extension cost £80,000. This additional space had been entirely filled by the zoological collections, which had been most carefully and scientifically arranged by the director, Dr. Forbes, and they now only awaited the completion of the descriptive catalogue to make this department complete and worthy of its high reputation.
"The Permanent Collection of Art had been greatly enriched by the pictures purchased and also by pictures presented to the city. The wall space in the galleries was so limited that the work of the committee was carried on under great difficulty. An enlargement of the Art Gallery was urgently needed. Under the active chairmanship of Mr. Lea, assisted by Mr. Dibdin, the curator, the Autumn Exhibition of pictures continued to grow in excellence; but, notwithstanding this, it was remarkable that the interest of the public in pictorial art appeared to be on the decline. Whereas in 1891 the total receipts oftheir exhibition reached £4,138, and in 1892 £3,609, last year they were only £3,068; and while in 1891 pictures were sold of the value of £7,603, last year the sales only reached £4,446. This falling off was, however, not peculiar to Liverpool. The art exhibitions in London had the same experiences. It was no doubt attributable largely to the beautiful art processes by which pictures were reproduced, which appeared to satisfy the public taste and destroyed the desire to see the originals. Another cause might be attributed to the changes which had taken place in the art decoration of houses, which did not admit of the display of pictures. No doubt in time a reaction will take place. Art might sleep but it could never die. It was not thinkable that a love for pictures could for long be dormant; but in the meantime they must appeal to the Liverpool public for a generous support to the efforts made by the Art Committee to bring to their doors every year the very best pictures produced in this country.
"In looking back over the past eighteen years," remarked Sir William in conclusion, "I feel very proud of the excellent work done by these institutions. We have ministered largely to the education and entertainment of the people. We have carried brightness and sweetness into many a home, and have done not a little, I hope, to refine and elevate the masses of our fellow-citizens, and I think we can also claim to have been faithful stewards ofthe funds placed at our disposal. In taking leave of you I thank you all for your kindness and consideration. To Mr. Holt, our senior member, who has occupied the vice-chair all these years, I tender my grateful thanks for his help always so cheerfully given. I am also greatly indebted to our staff for the assistance they have invariably extended to me, and I wish to especially record my obligations to our veteran chief librarian (Mr. Cowell), who has rendered to me the greatest service in many ways, and especially in keeping a careful oversight upon our finances. If I might take the liberty of leaving behind me a word of counsel and advice, I would say—strive always to popularise these institutions; they belong to the people, and the more they are brought into close contact with the people the more generous will be their appreciation and support, and greater will be the amount of real good accomplished.
"A cordial vote of thanks was tendered to the vice-chairman, Mr. R. D. Holt, on the proposition of Alderman Stolterfoht, seconded by Mr. Crosthwaite."
Of Mr. Robert Holt I could say much. We were for so long, and so pleasantly associated on this committee, where for over twenty years he acted as my deputy-chairman. He was most loyal, most kind and helpful. He had a temperament which shrank from responsibility, and was naturally critical and hesitating. Yet he was kindness itself, and inspired a feeling of love and respect. He had considerable artistic taste and knowledge of pictures.He passed away at the age of 76, deeply mourned by all his colleagues. Up to the last he was the most punctual and regular member in his attendance at the Library Committee.
Some two years after the conclusion of my Mayoralty, in 1883, Mr. Gladstone, the Prime Minister, wrote to me stating that it would give him pleasure to submit my name to the Queen for the honour of a knighthood.
I attended a special Council at Windsor to receive the "accolade." We were entertained at luncheon, and after waiting about in the corridors for some time we were ushered one by one into the oak dining-room. The gentleman who preceded me, being lame, could not kneel, and the Queen knighted him standing. When I entered the room there was no cushion to kneel upon. Her Majesty noticed it at once, and exclaimed, "Where is the cushion?" and A.D.C.'s flew in all directions in search of one. Meantime I was kept standing, feeling not a little nervous; the Queen apparently thought it was a good joke, and laughed, for it appeared from the time occupied in finding a cushion that cushions did not abound at Windsor.
I received through Lord Claud Hamilton a very kind message of congratulation from the Prince of Wales, who had evidently been greatly impressed by his visit to Liverpool.
Although the honour of knighthood was ostensibly bestowed in connection with the visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales, and the opening of the new docks, I was semi-officially informed that it was really a recognition of my work in connection with the Fenian movement.
Much as I valued the honour of knighthood, I still more greatly esteemed the distinction conferred upon me by my fellow-citizens when they bestowed upon me the freedom of the city—the greatest honour any man can receive. Other honours are conferred for political and other services, all more or less meritorious; but to be singled out by those among whom you have lived all your life in order to receive the greatest distinction it is in their power to offer is an honour worth living for, and particularly when its bestowal is so jealously safe-guarded and kept so entirely free from political bias as it is in Liverpool. It then becomes doubly precious. It is easy in a great community to make enemies. Even the very success which may crown one's efforts to do good may produce them. A unanimous vote of a large City Council is, therefore, not aneasy thing to obtain, and is in itself a great compliment. I may perhaps be pardoned if I venture to insert a short account of the proceedings of the Special Council when the Freedom was conferred, taken from theLiverpool Post and Mercury:—
"In the presence of a large and distinguished assembly of ladies and gentlemen, the freedom of the city of Liverpool was yesterday afternoon presented, in the Council chamber at the Town Hall, to Sir William Forwood, the father of the City Council. Sir William was first elected to the Council as a representative of Pitt Street Ward in November, 1868, and nine years later, in 1877, he was promoted to the aldermanic bench, of which he is still a member. He was Mayor of the city in 1880-81. He is also a member of the city bench, of the county bench for Lancashire and Cheshire, chairman of the Liverpool County Quarter Sessions, and a deputy-lieutenant for Lancashire. The Lord Mayor (Alderman Charles Petrie) presided, and, preceded by the city regalia, he was accompanied into the Council chamber by Sir Thomas Hughes, Mr. John Brancker, and Mr. B. Levy (freemen of the city), Mr. R. A. Hampson, Mr. R. D. Holt, and Mr. T. Burke (the mover, seconder, and supporter of the resolution of the City Council in favour of conferring the freedom on Sir William Forwood), Sir William Tate, Sir John A. Willox, M.P., Mr. A. Crosthwaite (ex-Lord Mayor), Mr. John Williamson, and many other prominent citizens. There was also a very large attendance ofmembers of the City Council. Alderman W. B. Bowring sent a telegram regretting his inability to be present through indisposition.
"The Lord Mayor, in opening the interesting proceedings said: I have much pleasure in asking the Recorder, Mr. Hopwood, kindly to read the resolution of the Council conferring the honorary freedom of the city upon Sir William Bower Forwood.
"The Recorder: My Lord Mayor, I read the minute of the Corporation. 'At a meeting of the Council of the City of Liverpool, holden on Wednesday, the 4th day of June, 1902, under the Honorary Freedom of Boroughs Act, 1885, present the Right Hon. Charles Petrie (Lord Mayor), and a full Council, it was moved by Councillor Hampson, seconded by Councillor R. D. Holt, supported by Councillor Burke, and resolved unanimously that, in pursuance of statute 48 and 49 of Victoria, chap. 29, entitled an act to enable municipal corporations to confer the honorary freedom of boroughs upon persons of distinction, the honorary freedom of the city be conferred upon Alderman Sir William Bower Forwood, in recognition of the eminent services he has rendered to the municipality throughout his membership of the Council, extending over a period of thirty-three years, during the course of which he has filled the office of chief magistrate and other public positions with credit to himself and benefit to the community, and especially for the deep interesthe has taken in the establishment of libraries and reading-rooms in the city.'
"The Lord Mayor: Sir William Forwood, ladies and gentlemen, it is not often we meet in this chamber as a Council under such happy auspices as we are met to-day. We are gathered here with one accord to do honour to one of our number whom we are pleased to term the Father of the Council, Sir William Forwood. Not that he is by any means the oldest man amongst us, but he happens to have been in the Council longer than any other member. It is now nearly thirty-four years since Sir William was first returned as member for Pitt Street Ward, on the 2nd November, 1868, and ever since then he has held a seat in the City Council, and, as you all know, he has served upon nearly all the important committees of the Council—for instance, the Finance, Estate, Watch, Water, Library, Museum and Arts, and Parliamentary Committees. As chairman of the Parliamentary Committee he rendered very valuable services in the opposition to the Manchester Ship Canal, and also with regard to railway rates. But for many years past Sir William has unstintingly devoted his time and his great ability to the Library, Museum, and Arts Committee. And I am sure the city is very greatly indebted to him for the valuable work that that committee has done."
The Lord Mayor proceeded to enlarge upon Sir William's services to the city, and in conclusion said:—"I have now great pleasure, Sir William, aschief magistrate of the city, in asking you on behalf of the citizens to accept this illuminated resolution of the Council and also this casket, and I am sure I am only echoing the sentiment of everyone here to-day, and not only those here, but those outside, when I say that we wish you long life, health, and happiness to continue in the honour which you hold. I will now ask you to sign the roll of honorary freemen.
"The scroll on which is inscribed the freedom of the city is designed and illuminated by James Orr Marples (Mr. Rutherfoord), Liverpool and London Chambers, Exchange. The vellum is bound and backed with royal blue silk and attached to an ivory roller. At the top of the composition is the Liver crest and tridents between the arms and supporters of the city, and a view of the Town Hall. Below, on the left side, beautifully emblazoned, are the armorial bearings of Sir William B. Forwood, with the crest and knight's helmet, the steel visor raised. On a scroll beneath the shield is the motto 'Fide virtute et labore.' The civic regalia and the port of Liverpool occupy the bottom of the design. Pendant by a broad blue ribbon from the scroll is the official seal of the city of Liverpool.
"The scroll was enclosed in a handsome silver-gilt box, decorated with panel pictures of the Town Hall, Free Libraries, and Museum, in enamels.
"Sir William Forwood, having signed the roll, said:—My Lord Mayor, aldermen, councillors, and ladies and gentlemen,—Believe me it is mostdifficult, indeed it is well nigh impossible to find words adequately to convey to you all the gratitude which fills my heart, to tell you how deeply I appreciate and value the very great honour and distinction you have so very generously and graciously conferred upon me, or to thank you, my Lord Mayor, for the very eloquent, kind, but sadly too flattering terms in which you have made this presentation. The honorary freedom of the city of Liverpool, guarded by this Council with so much jealousy, and bestowed with such a frugal hand, is the greatest honour which this city can confer—it is a unique order of merit, it is not conferred by the favour of a monarch or minister, but by the spontaneous and unanimous voice of a great representative assembly, and as such is not surpassed by any similar order in this country. It is justly esteemed and valued by distinguished statesmen and philanthropists, and not less by successful soldiers who in the hour of their country's great anxiety have turned defeat into victory. How much more, then, must I prize it, the freedom of my native city, as one born in Liverpool, and who has spent his life in your midst, and whose only claim to this great honour is that he has endeavoured to be of some use to his fellow-citizens. How imperfect this service has been, how much more I might have done, no one is more conscious of than I am; but you in your great kindness and generosity have been good enough to overlook my shortcomings, and are content to recognise only mylong services and my desire at all times to the best of my ability to promote the welfare of this important community. I thank you most sincerely and with all my heart; my children and my children's children will, I am sure, look upon this beautiful casket and the record which it contains with feelings of pride and gratification. It is an added charm to the presentation which you have made to me that I am permitted to associate with it the memory of my late brother, who gave to this city the best of his life, the best of his thought and work, and died in their service. His memory will be long cherished by all those who witnessed his public spirit, his long and his unselfish devotion to the interests of the people of Liverpool. I remember well the first time I entered this Town Hall. As a boy I had spent my summer holidays at the Edge Lane entrance to the Botanic Gardens, obtaining signatures to a petition to the Town Council asking them to purchase the land adjoining the Botanic gardens for a park. I obtained 62,000 signatures. I brought the petition down in a cab. I remember it was too bulky to carry, and it had to be rolled through the vestibule to the Town Clerk's office, which was then in this building. That petition was successful, and the Wavertree Park was the first of those beautiful parks which now girdle the city. My next appearance within these walls was as the proud representative for Pitt Street Ward. It serves to mark the flight of time when I call to mind that of the members of the Council when Ientered it in 1868 only three now survive—Mr. Samuel Greg Rathbone, Mr. Philip Holt, and myself. Mr. Rathbone is already a freeman, and our roll of freemen would be greatly enriched if we could add the name of Liverpool's anonymous and great benefactor. Of the members who have since entered this Council, many have fallen by the wayside, many have retired into private life, some have gone forward to the Commons House of Parliament to bear their part in the government of the country; but a goodly number have, I am glad to say, remained faithful to the municipal government of the city, recognising that they can undertake no more noble or useful work. Municipal work is many sided: it is full of interests; it is very attractive, and even fascinating; and it brings with it its own reward in the satisfaction of feeling that you are doing good. It may lack the glamour and prestige of the Imperial Parliament, but it has this great advantage: the City Council affords greater opportunities of initiating and carrying into effect measures for the benefit of the people among whom we live, and we have the added advantage of seeing the growth and fruition of our work. Who can compare the Liverpool of to-day with the Liverpool of thirty years ago without feeling thankful for what has been done, and proud that he has been privileged to take part in the doing of it? It seems only the other day we were wrestling with such an insanitary condition of things that the unhealthiness of Liverpool was a byword, and the prevalence ofdrunkenness and crime caused this city to be alluded to as the 'black spot on the Mersey.' Great social and sanitary problems had to be solved, which for years defied all attempts at their solution—it was only when broader and more enlightened views of municipal responsibility and duty came to the front, supported by a healthy and more vigorous public opinion outside, that these problems were grappled with, with such intelligence and determination that the Liverpool of to-day can challenge comparison with any city in the world—not only in the excellence and efficiency of its municipal government and administration but in its enlightened policy in dealing with insanitary property, housing the poor, the treatment of infectious disease, and last but not least, in the suppression and prevention of drunkenness and crime. You have, my Lord Mayor, alluded to the work done by the Library, Museum, and Arts Committee over which it is my privilege to preside. This may not bulk very largely in the public eye, but nevertheless it is very real, and is doing much for the intellectual and moral welfare of the people, and helping to make their lives brighter and happier. When we get those additional funds which I hope the generosity of the Council will give to us at no distant date, our work must progress by leaps and bounds. While the freedom of Liverpool which you have so very generously presented to me is the symbol of the highest honour conferred by a great city, whose shipscover the seas and whose commerce fills every corner of the globe, it is more than all this—it is the kind expression of goodwill and approval of friends with whom it has been my high privilege to work for so many years—an expression which I greatly value and appreciate, and for which I return you once again my most sincere and heartfelt thanks."
Party politics have always been very prominent in Liverpool, partly no doubt due to the old Conservative associations, and partly to the presence in the city of so many Orangemen. Liverpool in my time has been mainly Conservative, and indeed, except for a brief period, this party has held the Town Hall and ruled over the municipal destinies of the town. It is, however, pleasant to recognise the good work done by the Liberals, who have always taken their share of committee work and most loyally helped forward the government of the city. The annual fight for the possession of the Town Hall has not been so much to secure party domination in the city as to control its representation in Parliament. This was an important consideration when the city voted as one unit for its three members. But it is of less importance now that the city is divided up into nine wards, each having its own representative in Parliament. The day may come when politics will happily cease to influence the municipal elections.
My earliest recollection of a general election is of being present on the hustings erected in front of the Town Hall. The nominations took place on the hustings, and the occasion was taken advantage of to ply the candidates with questions, and the proceedings seldom ended without some horse-play, the throwing of rotten eggs and bags of flour, etc. Of those prominent in these early elections I remember Tom Bold, the Tory tactician; Alderman Livingston, always to the front in a political fight; Mr. Alderman Rigby, the Blucher of the party. Money flowed freely, and also beer on the day of the election, and the town was kept more or less in a turmoil. All must rejoice in the quiet and orderly character of an election day under the new conditions which now prevail.
Very shortly after entering the Town Council I was asked to undertake the duties of "Whip," though we did not then dignify the position by that high-sounding name; in other words I acted as honorary secretary to the Conservative party in the Council. The appointment was probably made at the instance of my brother Arthur, who was already very active in the political world, but for business reasons could not at that time make himself very prominent. "Party" politics were never very congenial to me, although all my leanings were Conservative. I have felt that "Party" makes one acquainted with strange bedfellows, and induces men to do and say things from which they wouldshrink in everyday life; and I think "party" considerations are carried too far, and the best interests of the country are too often sacrificed at its call.
In my early years the parliamentary representation of the borough was divided, Mr. T. B. Horsfall and Mr. Ewart being our members. I knew them only slightly. Mr. S. R. Graves defeated Mr. Ewart in 1865. Mr. Graves had a fine commanding presence and all the address andbonhomieof an Irishman. He quickly became very popular at Westminster and did excellent work for Liverpool. His knowledge of shipping was much appreciated in the House, and it was generally expected that he would be the Secretary or the First Lord of the Admiralty, but his career was prematurely cut off, to the great grief of Liverpool; he died in 1873. His statue stands in St. George's Hall. I was secretary to the memorial committee. After defraying the cost of the statue we devoted the balance of the money collected to the endowment of "Graves" scholars at the Seamen's Orphanage, an institution with which Mr. Graves had been very closely identified.
The parliamentary candidates for the vacancy were Mr. John Torr, a prominent merchant, who stood in the Conservative interest, and Mr. William S. Caine, another Liverpool man, supported by the Radicals and teetotalers. I acted as the honorary Secretary for Mr. Torr. The election was hotlycontested, but Mr. Torr was returned by a majority of nearly 2,000. In those days we paid much court and deference to our members. They were held in high personal esteem, always received the hospitality of our leading men, and were never allowed to stay at an hotel.
Lord Sandon became our member in 1868, defeating Mr. William Rathbone. Naturally a very delicate man with a highly strung nervous system, the representation of such an important constituency as Liverpool was a source of much anxiety to him. Any subject brought under his notice became to him a matter of the first and most urgent importance. Lord Sandon was a true aristocrat, refined in manner and most courteous and considerate to all. He continued to represent Liverpool until 1880, when he succeeded his father in the Peerage and became the Earl of Harrowby.
Upon the death of Mr. Torr in 1880, Mr. Edward Whitley became our member. Mr. Whitley had for many years been the most popular man in Liverpool. An ardent Conservative, a good Evangelical Churchman, and excelling in good works, the name of Edward Whitley was a household word in Liverpool. He was the leader of the Tory party in the Council, and was a frequent speaker, but his speeches, though fluent, were not convincing. Mr. Whitley, although a very diligent member, was not a conspicuous success in Parliament; he failed to catch the ear of the House. Few menhave done more for their native town or were more highly respected in their day and generation. He died in 1892.
In 1885 the party representation of Liverpool underwent an important change, a partition of the city into nine divisions being effected, each returning one member. It has seemed to me that this has involved some loss of individuality on the part of the nine members, and that Liverpool has taken comparatively little interest in their doings, and I am inclined to doubt if the city exercises as much influence in the affairs of the nation, or if our local parliamentary business is as well looked after.
The effacement of the private member is due very much to his inability to initiate legislation. If he introduces a bill it has to run the chances of the ballot, and if it is a good measure and gets a good place in the ballot, it is too frequently adopted by the Government, and in this way the private member loses his individuality and there is little inducement for him to originate legislation.
Mr. Rathbone, when he was our member, had an office and a staff of clerks in his house at Prince's Gate, London, for the purpose of looking after the parliamentary business of Liverpool, and it has never since been so systematically and so well attended to.
The contest for the County in 1868, when Mr. Gladstone and Mr. R. A. Cross (now Lord Cross)were the candidates, is very fresh in my memory. The question of the day was the Irish church. Mr. Gladstone delivered a series of very brilliant addresses, but to the surprise of everyone Mr. Cross's replies were equally brilliant, and we thought very crushing. We took the candidates, Cross and Blackburn, in a coach and four, to canvass Colonel Blundell at Crosby Hall, and Mr. Weld Blundell at Ince.
I was shortly afterwards made chairman of the Waterloo Polling District, and in 1880 became chairman of the Southport Division. The first contest in this division was between our candidate, Mr. John Edwards Moss (now Sir John Edwards Moss, Bart.), and Dr. Pilkington (now Sir George Pilkington). It was an uphill fight; Southport had always been a Radical place, and remained true to her Radical principles. The electors were very fastidious; they took exception to our candidate wearing rings on his fingers, and helping himself while speaking to a little sherry and water out of his flask. We unfortunately lost the election.
When the next election came round, we had to look about for another candidate, and tried for several, but they were not attracted to Southport; in the end we invited the Honourable George Curzon, the eldest son of Lord Scarsdale, of Kedleston. He had lately been defeated at Derby, but he was a young man, only 27, with a record of a very brilliant university career, and had been president of theUnion at Oxford. Mr. Curzon accepted our invitation, and came down to Southport to deliver his first speech, which was very brilliant, and quite took everyone by surprise. He was very boyish in looks, which occasioned one rough Lancashire man to get up in the meeting and exclaim, "Thou art o'er young for us." Mr. Curzon quickly replied, "If you will return me as your member I promise I will improve upon that every day I live."
In moving a vote of confidence in Mr. Curzon I predicted that he would one day be Prime Minister, he so greatly impressed me with his intellectual power and great eloquence.
Mr. Curzon made a splendid and most active candidate. He addressed meetings in every village in the division, every speech was carefully thought out and prepared, and his industry was remarkable. When he stayed, as he frequently did, at "Ramleh," he retired to his room after breakfast and we did not see him again until dinner-time; he had been engaged all day working at his speech. He had the gift of taking pains. We won the election only by a majority of 460. Mr. Curzon remained our member for thirteen years, until he was appointed Viceroy of India. We fought three contests, winning each with an increased majority, until at the last election, in 1895, Mr. Curzon's majority was 804. His opponent, then Sir Herbert Naylor-Leyland, was formerly a Conservative, and as such stood for Colchester. He was made a baronet by theLiberals, and came and fought Southport as a Radical. When he stood for Colchester as a Conservative he had made abundant use of Mr. Curzon's speeches at Southport, delivering them as his own, and we did not fail to make capital of this amusing episode when he stood as a Radical for Southport.
Lady Naylor-Leyland was a beautiful American woman, one of the society beauties of the day, and she created a sensation as she drove about in an open carriage all decked with roses. But Mrs. Curzon was equally attractive; she was a bride, and had most charming and winning manners, and her presence on our platforms was a great help. It was my duty as chairman to escort her to our meetings, and I remember almost the last words she said to me on leaving Southport were, "Sir William, I shall always think of you getting me through crowds." Mr. Curzon occupied a furnished house at Southport during the election, and I stayed part of the time with them; and shall never forget Mrs. Curzon's gracious manner and her loving devotion to her husband. Alas for him and his great career, she died too soon. She gave her life, I fear, that she might support her husband in the splendid discharge of his duties in India.
Lord Curzon has gone into the House of Lords, where he will, I have no doubt, render great and distinguished service to the country; but had Lady Curzon lived I feel he would have entered themore congenial atmosphere of the Commons, and my prophecy that he would one day be Prime Minister would have been fulfilled.
The following incident proves the one great secret of Lord Curzon's success in life has been his remarkable industry. He made a journey to Persia, and wrote a book which is to-day the standard work on Persia. He was anxious to make an index, which he could have had done for him for a small expenditure, but he preferred to do it himself in his own way, and for this purpose he remained in rooms at Croydon for a month hard at work, and I believe I was the only person who knew his address.
The value of Lord Curzon's work in India cannot very well be overstated. Travelling through India some two years after his return home, we found everywhere the impress of his remarkable industry and thoughtfulness.
One day when visiting thecutcherryof a far distant province, we found the entire system of correspondence had been personally revised by the late Viceroy. On another occasion, the engineer of a coal mine to whom I was talking told me that the Viceroy visited his mine and personally interested himself in obtaining improved traffic facilities on the railway. On another day, when visiting a palace at Delhi, we found a number of Italians restoring the mosaics; they informed us they were still in the pay of Lord and Lady Curzon. I could go on enumerating instances of his activity and his abidinginterest in India. In the restoration of the old landmarks and monuments in India, Lord Curzon has done a work which for generations to come will make his name memorable.
After Lord Curzon retired from Southport we had another election; this time Lord Skelmersdale, now the Earl of Lathom, was our candidate, and Sir Herbert Naylor-Leyland our opponent. The fight was a severe one. We missed the great personality of Mr. Curzon, and although Lord Skelmersdale was an industrious candidate, and was very ably assisted by Lady Skelmersdale, we lost the election. After this I retired from the chairmanship of the division, and was presented by the Southport Conservative Association with a handsome silver bowl.
I congratulated myself as a political leader that I was able to accomplish the conversion of the two largest landowners in the Southport Division, Mr. Weld-Blundell, of Ince Hall, and Colonel Blundell, of Crosby Hall. They had been for generations Liberal, and in the 1868 election Mr. Gladstone stayed with Mr. Weld-Blundell; but in 1886, on the Home Rule for Ireland question, they both supported Mr. Curzon, held meetings for us in their villages, and on the day of the election Colonel Blundell rode down to the poll at the head of his tenants. These, however, did not all vote for us. They had always voted Liberal and did not know why they should change because the squire had done so.
Crosby Hall and Ince were pleasant country houses to visit in the days of the old squires. It is strange that although the two estates march together the families have never inter-married since 1401.
The duties of a chairman of a division, in which both parties are evenly balanced, are not light, and can only be successfully accomplished if made personal. The secret of political success lies largely in organisation, and this must be vigilantly carried on in times when there is no political excitement, and when there is apparently no reason to work. A political organisation to be of any value must be continuous and must be thorough; it is not possible to organise a party on the eve of an election; you must have trusty lieutenants who know their work and do it. One of the weaknesses of any party organisation is the number of loafers, men ready to shout, but who are not capable of steady work. The quiet, but not very exciting task of looking after the register, watching removals, and having a careful canvass and cross-canvass of every elector, is the organisation and work which wins elections.
We had in Southport many excellent leaders, Mr. John Formby, Mr. Beauford, Mr. Clinning, and many others I could name, with whom it was a great pleasure to work, and my political association with the Southport Division will ever remain with me as a sunny memory.
I have declined several invitations to stand for Parliament—on two occasions from Southport, one from Walton, one from Everton, and more recently one from Westmorland. When in business it was not possible for me to enter Parliament, as my brother Arthur was already a member; and I have since felt that if a member is to make any position in Parliament he should enter the house on the right side of fifty.
Of late years my Free Trade principles have been a barrier to my taking an active part on the Conservative side. I did my best to prevent my friends delivering themselves up to Tariff Reform, and published a series of letters in theDaily Poston Free Tradev.Protection, which were afterwards published in pamphlet form, and had a very extensive circulation.
Economic subjects have been my favourite studies, and I have seen much of the working of Protection in America. In 1870 I delivered an address on Free Trade before the New York Chamber of Commerce, and at their request I repeated this address before the Chambers of Commerce in Cleveland, Chicago, etc., but with little success. The question of a Tariff had already become "political." I was present in America during some of their industrial crises, upon which I addressed several letters to the LondonTimesandStandard. It is difficult to describe the intensity and the prolonged suffering caused by the over-productionencouraged by Protection, with no outlet save the home market. The only relief was the "scrapping" of the surplus manufacturing power, which brought great suffering to the working people. I have since written many papers on the subject; the controversy does not therefore come upon me as something new. This is not the place, however, to discuss these matters, but one cannot understand Liverpool becoming enamoured with Tariff Reform. Liverpool lives on her shipping and carrying trade, and whatever else may happen, this is at least certain, that Tariff Reform must reduce the quantity of imports and exports, and there must be less freight for our shipping to carry. Tariff Reform may give temporary prosperity to the manufacturer, but if ever adopted will be a serious blow to the trade and prosperity of Liverpool, and indeed of Lancashire, as the cotton manufacturing industry depends entirely upon our ability to turn cotton into yarn and cloth at the lowest possible cost.