The civil magistrate: the Scottish Office and the anti-Irish campaign, 1922–1929

Abstract

The Church of Scotland's anti-Irish campaign in the 1920s was largely concentrated in persuading the Unionist government of the merits of legislation to restrict immigration from the Irish Free State. The accepted view has been that this campaign failed in its objectives due to overriding imperial concerns and the indifference, in some cases the hostility, of the Unionist party to the Church's case. This article seeks to re-examine the relationship between the Unionist party and the Church in the 1920s and to demonstrate how successful the Church actually was in persuading influential figures, notably Sir John Gilmour, secretary of state for Scotland and his deputy Major Walter Elliot, of the necessity to restrict immigration. It has also been the view that the Glasgow Herald, in a series of five articles in 1929, was pivotal in the public demolition of the Church's position. It will be shown here that there is evidence to suggest that these articles may have been inspired and possibly materially assisted by figures within the Scottish Office.