The Chartist Movement

The leaders of the Liberals, convinced that reform had proceeded far enough, had no intention of altering further the composition of the House of Commons, or of extending further the right to vote. But the Radicals deemed the reform of 1832 only a stepping stone to universal suffrage. When they found that the government would do nothing for them, they began a series of demonstrations, not as dangerous probably as those that followed the year 1816, but more spectacular.

This agitation is known as the Chartist movement, because those engaged in it presented their claims in the form of a charter. It began in 1837, the year of Victoria's accession, when the House of Commons, by a vote of five hundred to twenty-two, refused to consider further electoral reform. The Radicals, in alliance with the workingmen, who believed that an extension of the right to vote would relieve their misery, organized meetings and processions, and presented to parliament a great petition, which embodied their demands. This charter demanded the following six points: (1) universal suffrage; (2) secret ballot; (3) pay for representatives ; (4) abolition of property qualifications ; (5) annual elections ; and (6) better distribution of parliamentary seats throughout the country. Three times were petitions drawn up, signed by thousands of people, and presented to parliament amid great excitement. The first was presented in 1837-1839; the second in 1842, when the agitation, increased by labor troubles, reached its height; and the third in 1848, when the revolution of that year in France aroused the Chartists to make one more attempt to obtain what they desired.

The Chartists did not form a society, or create an organization of any kind. The leaders found support among the people, because of the hopeless despair and misery that prevailed throughout England. The movement came to nothing, for the great mass of the English people were not ready for the changes that the Radicals demanded, and the conservative classes did not like the methods that the Radicals employed. The agitation was, in a sense, preliminary to the reform movements of 1867 and 1884, at both of which times some of the most important of the points mentioned above were granted by law.

Free Trade: Repeal of the Corn Laws

Behind the Chartist movement lay the discontent of the working classes, who saw in the protective system the reason why rents and prices were high. They wanted the repeal of customs duties, notably that on corn (wheat), which made bread dear. To the same end worked a group of men composing the free trade party, led by Richard Cobden, a Manchester cotton merchant, and John Bright, the orator of the movement. In 1838 this party began a vigorous campaign for the repeal of the corn laws, and were so far successful as to win over to their cause Peel, prime minister and the head of the Conservatives. Peel, in the matter of free trade, as in that of Roman Catholic emancipation, was not convinced, but yielded, believing the poverty in England and the famine in Ireland could both be traced to the system of protection.

Peel began his free trade career by abolishing in 1842 all remaining export duties, and by reducing import duties on seven hundred and fifty articles consumed in Great Britain. He made up the loss in revenue by reestablishing the tax on all incomes of L150 and over. In the same year, turning his attention to the corn laws, he forced his party to reduce the duty on wheat. It was agreed that the duty on foreign wheat should rise or fall according to the price of wheat at home that is, that the duty should increase when the price of home wheat fell and decrease when it rose. This arrangementwas known as the "sliding scale." But during the four years that followed the adoption of this system, bad harvests in Great Britain and a terrible potato famine in Ireland made Peel consider the advisability of abolishing altogether the duty on wheat. In 1845 the Whig minister, Lord John Russell, announced his conversion to free trade in wheat. Peel, counting on the support of the Whigs and of a certain number of his own followers, introduced in 1846 a measure repealing the corn laws. The measure was passed, though more than two hundred Conservatives voted against it.

In securing the passage of the bill, the manufacturing classes secured a victory over the landowning classes, and endangered the future of wheat-growing in England. The serious effects of the measure did not become evident until the competition with American wheat began, twenty years later. The free trade issue destroyed the unity of the Conservative party, and eventually drove the followers of Peel, Gladstone among the number, over to the side of the Liberals, and gave to the Liberals almost unbroken supremacy for thirty years. Not until 1874 was Disraeli able to organize a new Conservative party, and to obtain for it the first clear majority in parliament that it had had since 1842.

Early Struggles for Home Rule in Ireland

The third great agitation of the first decade of Queen Victoria's reign was that of the Irish, who wished for redress of grievances and a parliament separate from that of Great Britain. The leader of the movement was Daniel O'Connell, who, as early as 1828, had begun the campaign for Catholic emancipation.

RICHARD COBDEN.

From an engraving.

JOHN BRIGHT.

From an engraving.

Encouraged by the victory of 1829, O'Connell took up the question of the tithe system, whereby the Roman Catholic peasantry were compelled to pay tithes for the support of the established church in Ireland. The “ Tithe War " lasted for six years (1832-1838), and during that time the peasants refused to pay tithes. Parliament attempted coercion in 1833, and wretched scenes of rioting and outrage followed. Local agitation failing, O'Connell tried parliamentary tactics ; and, with his followers in parliament, known as O'Connell's Tail, joined the Liberals in 1835. This policy succeeded; and, in 1838, the tithe system was abolished.

But a greater issue, that of home rule, lay ahead. O'Connell continued the agitation, and thrilled his countrymen with promises of a parliament for Ireland. The movement reached its height in 1843. A “Young Ireland" party was formed, and enormous mass-meetings were held, where angry and seditious words were spoken. But O'Connell, though a demagogue, was not a law-breaker; and, when the government forbade the Irish to bear arms and ordered their meetings to disperse, he yielded, and declared that he would not lead an Irish revolt. This determination to resort only to peaceful methods, though in the highest degree honorable, undoubtedly hurt his cause with the Irish, and from that time his power over his people began to decline. He was arrested by the British government, and convicted for sedition; but eventually the sentence was set aside. In 1846, broken in health and spirits, he withdrew from the struggle, and the whole Irish movement collapsed. It was revived for a moment in 1848 by the members of "Young Ireland," who were led by Smith O'Brien; but it was effectually suppressed by force of arms, and numbers of the leaders were arrested and transported to the penal colonies. For nearly twenty years the Irish people remained quiet, suffering hunger' and poverty, and constantly liable to eviction at the hands of absentee landlords.