Sir Henry Page Croft and Conservative Backbench Campaigns for Empire, 1903-1932

Abstract

Sir Henry Page Croft and Conservative Backbench Campaigns for Empire, 1903-1932* Larry L. Witherell In a demonstration that not all has been written on the politics of tariff reform and the empire, Dr Andrew Thompson argues that the characterization of tariff reform as 'a domestic political cocktail' needs balancing: tariff reform was primarily empire-minded and focused on the preferential nature of tariffs for the purpose of 'reorganizing the empire'.1 His consideration of the 'imperial strategy' is confined to the political élite within only the pre-war Tariff Reform League. Accordingly, there is a need to examine the activities of a broader range of participants and the consequential political dynamics within an extended chronological period and the need to examine the extent to which the imperial idea travelled into the ranks of the Conservative party and with what strategies the empire and imperial preference were promoted. The present article examines the strength of the imperial idea among the Conservative party backbenchers from 1903 to 1932, how their empire-first movement developed within and in relationship to the Conservative party, and how the imperial idea translated into political action, producing several ambitious organizations, and eventually contributing to the context within which the Import Duties Act and Ottawa Imperial Conference of 1932 resulted.2 [End Page 357] 1 In May 1902 Joseph Chamberlain asked 'whether the British Empire is to continue strong, powerful, and united or whether it is to fall to pieces by disruption or by tolerated secession' and urged Britain to 'raise [its] thoughts to the transcendent possibilities of a federation of the British race . . . [and] draw closer our internal relations', and 'ties of sentiment, sympathy and interest'.3 He later told an imperial conference in 1902 that the 'paramount objective is to strengthen the bonds which unite' Britain and the empire.4 In his famous May 1903 speech Chamberlain proclaimed that 'now is the time when we can mould the Empire, and . . . decide its future destinies'.5 His vision of cultural, political and strategic unity between Britain and the Dominions founded upon the economic elements of tariff reform and imperial preference was embraced by a band of young Conservatives who were anxious over the empire and for whom the imperial idea promised a new empire for a new century.6 The subsequent empire-first movement 'developed a dynamic of its own which would never quite be brought under control', and gave birth to a sectarian faction within the Conservative party which from 1903 to the 1930s produced a series of backbench organizations and campaigns to promote the empire by attempting to influence and even challenge the party's leadership and policies.7 The next three decades saw the formation of the Tariff Reform League, Confederacy, Reveille, Imperial Mission, National party and Empire Industries Association, all intimately associated with one of those bold young Conservatives, Henry Page Croft, whose back-bench campaigns kept the imperial idea in the forefront of Conservative party politics for 30 years and contributed to the context that produced the Import Duties Act and Ottawa conference of 1932.8 The Tariff Reform League (T.R.L.), the organization to advocate imperial consolidation and development of the empire, was established in July 1903 by 130 [End Page 358] Conservative backbenchers to promote the Chamberlain views. 9 Influenced by this development Croft committed himself to the cause of imperial unity, and in late 1903 he established a large T.R.L. branch in East Hertfordshire and declared there was a moral responsibility to hold the empire together and not permit the colonies 'to slip gradually from all family ties'.10 He prophetically called for British and imperial unity 'so that in time of need, when we had to fight a great war, they should once more be able to come to our aid'.11 Croft did not consider the Conservative defeat in the 1906 general election to be a defeat for the imperial idea. Croft, whose own unsuccessful campaign in Lincoln urged voters 'to look after the future of the British Empire', placed the blame on an ambiguous Conservative party policy and weak leadership.12 Anxiety over the party's inattention to the empire gave birth...