PREFATORY NOTE. THE Editor of the ANNUAL REGISTER thinks it necessary to state that in no case does he claim to offer original reports of speeches in Parliament or elsewhere. For the former he cordially acknowledges his great indebtedness to the summary and full reports, used by special permission of The Times, which have appeared in that journal, and he has also pleasure in expressing his sense of obligation to the Editors of "Ross's Parliamentary Record," The Spectator, and The Guardian, for the valuable assistance which, by their consent, he has derived from their summaries and reports, towards presenting a compact view of the course of Parliamentary proceedings. To the Editors of the two last-named papers he further desires to tender his best thanks for their permission to make use of the summaries of speeches delivered outside Parliament appearing in their columns. In deference to suggestions which have been made on the subject, a Calendar has been added to facilitate reference to dates. THE MINISTRY, 1914. Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury-Herbert Henry Asquith, K.C. Lord High Chancellor-Viscount Haldane, K.T. Lord President of the Council-Viscount Morley of Blackburn till August 4; thereafter Earl Beauchamp, K.G. Lord Privy Seal-Marquess of Crewe, K.G. First Lord of the Admiralty-Winston Spencer Churchill. Secretaries of State : Home-Reginald McKenna, K.C. Foreign-Sir Edward Grey, Bart., K.G. Colonies-Lewis Harcourt. War-Colonel J. E. B. Seely, D.S.O., till March 30; thereafter Rt. Hon. H. H. Asquith till August 5; thereafter Earl Kitchener of Khartoum, K.P. India-Marquess of Crewe, K.G. Chancellor of the Exchequer-David Lloyd George. Secretary for Scotland-T. McKinnon Wood. Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland-Augustine Birrell, K.C. President of the Board of Trade-Sydney Buxton till February 11; thereafter John Burns till President of the Local Government Board-John Burns till February 11; thereafter Herbert Samuel. President of the Board of Agriculture-Walter Runciman till August 5; thereafter Lord Lucas. President of the Board of Education-Joseph A. Pease. Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster-Charles Edward Henry Hobhouse till February 11; thereafter Charles Frederick Gurney Masterman. First Commissioner of Works-Earl Beauchamp, K.C.M.G., till August 5; thereafter Lord Emmott, G.C.M.G. Attorney-General-Sir John Allsebrook Simon, K.C.V.O., K.C. Admiralty: [THE ABOVE FORM THE CABINET.] First Lord (See under Cabinet). First Sea Lord-Admiral H.S.H. Prince Louis of Battenberg, G.C.B., till October 29; thereafter Lord Fisher of Kilverstone. Civil Lord-George Lambert. Parliamentary and Financial Secretary-Thomas James Macnamara. War Office: War Secretary-(See under Cabinet). Parliamentary Under-Secretaries:· Home Office-Ellis J. Griffith. Foreign Office-Francis Dyke Acland. War Office- Treasury: Junior Lords-John W. Gulland; W. Wedgwood Benn; W. Jones; H. Webb. Financial Secretary-C. F. G. Masterman till February 11; thereafter Hon. E. S. Montagu. Parliamentary Secretary-P. H. Illingworth. Paymaster-General-Lord Strachie. Attorney-General-(See under Cabinet). Solicitor-General-Sir Stanley Owen Buckmaster, K. C. Lord Advocate-Robert Munro, K. C. SCOTLAND. Solicitor-General-T. B. Morison. IRELAND. Lord-Lieutenant-Earl of Aberdeen, K.T. Lord Chancellor-Ignatius John O'Brien, K.C. Attorney-General-John F. Moriarty, K.C., till his appointment as Lord Justice of Appeal on June 18; thereafter Jonathan Pim, K.C. Solicitor-General-Jonathan Pim, K.C., till his appointment as Attorney-General; thereafter James O'Connor, K.C. ANNUAL REGISTER FOR THE YEAR 1914. PART I. ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAPTER I. BEFORE THE SESSION. THE year opened amid continuing apprehension for the peace of Ulster, and sharp controversies on subjects so widely different as the discipline of the Church of England and the needs of naval defence. Though conversations were understood to have been resumed between the Liberal and Unionist leaders regarding the possible terms of settlement of the Home Rule question, it was clear that much difficulty would be found in effecting a solution; and the Bishop of Durham advised the clergy of his diocese to make the first Sunday of the year a day of intercession for peace in Ireland-advice which was followed in other parts of the country also. And the dissatisfaction of the Ministerialist rank and file at the shipbuilding expenditure of the Board of Admiralty was expressed by Sir John Brunner, the President of the National Liberal Federation, and powerfully stimulated by an interview with the Chancellor of the Exchequer published on the first day of the year by the Daily Chronicle. Mr. Lloyd George declared that, had British armament expenditure remained at the figure regarded by Lord Randolph Churchill in 1887 as "bloated and extravagant," a saving would have been effected equivalent to 4s. in the pound on local rates, or, on Imperial taxes, to the abolition of the duties on tea, sugar, coffee, and cocoa, and all but 2d. in the pound of the income tax. The question might now be reconsidered for three reasons: (1) Anglo-German relations were far more friendly than for years past; (2) Continental nations were devoting their attention more A and more to strengthening their land forces, so that Germany in particular must be thus precluded from any idea of challenging British naval supremacy; (3) a revolt against military supremacy was spreading throughout Christendom, or at any rate Western Europe. Unless Liberalism seized the opportunity, it would be false to its noblest traditions, and those who had its conscience in their charge would be written down for ever as having betrayed their trust. Sir John Brunner, as chairman of the National Liberal Federation, urged that Liberal associations should pass resolutions in favour of reduction of armament expenditure before the Army and Navy Estimates were settled, and he and several Liberal papers urged, as one means of reduction, the exemption of private property from capture at sea. The Chancellor's statement met with little response in the German Press, and caused some apprehension in France. It was said that the First Lord, who was just then visiting Paris, did his best to allay this feeling; but at home it was regarded as indicating a sharp division in the Cabinet, and a suggestion by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Jan. 6) in a speech to his constituents at East Bristol, that a reduction might be agreed on jointly by Germany and England in the size and speed of new battleships, was spoken of as ranging him on the Chancellor's side. The Navy League appealed to the Mayors or chief magistrates of all towns in Great Britain to call public meetings in support of naval defence, and gave reasons for its contention that the actual and prospective naval forces of Great Britain were inadequate to the needs of the Empire. It also arranged other meetings, especially in the constituencies of Liberals favouring reduction. Mr. F. E. Smith told his constituents (Jan. 8 and 10) that the Chancellor was a "bungling amateur," and promised Unionist support to the Government in this matter against its own followers; but the Solicitor-General at Keighley (Jan. 8) declared that there was no Liberal division; the Government policy was to maintain British naval supremacy, but to build no more ships than were required for purely defensive needs. The Chancellor, in the interview in question, had also pointed to the success of his land campaign, and had indicated, as other urgent items in the Liberal programme, legislative devolution, the reform of local taxation, and measures for the promotion of education, housing, and temperance. He had also reaffirmed his faith in women's suffrage, declaring that, but for militancy, he believed the Liberal party would then be pledged to carrying it out. But other subjects competed with it for public attention. The Kikuyu controversy (A.R., 1913, p. 439) had raised the question, not only of the practical necessity of co-operation and intercommunion among the Anglican and Protestant Christian missions in Africa, but of the precise attitude of the Church of England in regard both to the Episcopate and the advanced views. of Biblical criticism among her younger members. The controversy went on actively in the columns of The Times and elsewhere; and the cohesion of the Church was thought to be in grave danger. Even High Churchmen acquainted with missionary work argued that the native churches must not be hampered by restrictions which were the outcome of historical conditions in Europe, or Anglican missions weakened in the face of the progress of those carried on by British and American Nonconformists. Presbyterians and Anglican clergy drew attention to the practice of admitting Scotsmen and other non-Anglicans to the Lord's Supper in the Church of England, and to the neglect of the rite of confirmation in the past. Missionaries and colonial administrators pointed out that an African Nonconformist could not be repelled from communion in an Anglican church when, as often happened, his own form of worship was inaccessible to him, without the risk of estranging him from Christianity altogether; and Lord George Hamilton (in The Times, Jan. 6) urged that division among Christian missions in East Africa would mean the triumph of Mohammedanism. The Archbishop of Canterbury, in a letter published on January 1, had mentioned that he had not yet been informed of the precise question which the Bishop of Zanzibar desired to raise; and, after the matter had been actively canvassed, it was allowed to rest pending a further pronouncement by the heads of the Anglican Church. A subject of more pressing interest was to be found in the various movements among organised labour. The ballots under the Trade Union Act of 1913 as to the establishment of a political fund, which were being taken in the first fortnight of the year, tended to reassure those who feared the growth of a strong Labour party, inasmuch as the vote was generally light (the miners, however, being a notable exception) and substantial minorities were unfavourable to the establishment of such a fund, and therefore presumably wished to keep their unions out of politics. But against this was to be set the marked prevalence of Labour unrest. A national movement was expected for a minimum wage and an eight hours' day for surface workers about mines, which might lead to local strikes, and ultimately to a general stoppage. A lockout was threatened in the London building trade, where the presence of a single non-unionist was now the signal for an instant refusal to continue to work with him. A conflict was expected in the engineering and shipbuilding trade on the expiry in March of the existing working agreement. The abandonment of the Brooklands agreement threatened the peace of the cotton trade. There were signs of trouble among the gasworkers and transport workers in various places; and the railwaymen were preparing for a struggle towards the end of the year on the questions of recognition of the union, an amended conciliation scheme, and a shorter working day. |