To Reason That Lost The Tories Essay Example

traveled back to England, and outraged voters were displeased with the cruelty inflicted upon the Boers. Additionally, the war was further condemned by the Conservatives because they initially believed there was a larger quantity of gold in the Boer mines to offset the tremendous cost of ?250,000,000 used to support the war effort.

The Boer war's failures sparked the national efficiency debate, which was driven by concerns about poverty and Britain's decline as a World power. The aim was to enhance the quality of the workforce so that Britain could improve its efficiency. The main drivers of the debate were the difficulties in finding fit young men to fight in the Boer war. Manchester, for instance, saw 8,000 men out of 11,000 volunteers rejected due to medical reasons. This event cast doubts over the quality of the working class and their ability to undertake work and battle tasks. Subsequently, researchers Seebohm Rowntree and Charles Booth highlighted that poverty levels were higher than initially perceived. 30% of England was in poverty with 10% in chronic poverty.

Despite Germany having the largest army in the world and overtaking Britain's economy, concerns arose about England's ability to go to war due to the poor condition of the working class. Arthur Balfour's adherence to Laisses faire only worsened the situation despite the gravity of the problem. Additionally, the Chinese slave issue emerged as another complication following the Boer war.

Following the Boer war, a significant shortage of labor emerged. To remedy the issue, the British government high commissioner consented to allow mine workers to import 50,000 Chinese workers at low wages. Unfortunately, these workers, who were deemed as "slaves" by liberals, suffered

from poor treatment and resided in dreadful living conditions. As a result, two major concerns arose in Britain regarding these Chinese slaves. Firstly, there was humanitarian distress surrounding their treatment with many of them perishing from starvation. Secondly, the prevalent fear was that this practice of importing cheap slaves would spread to Britain, resulting in job loss for citizens. Undoubtedly, this was a grave mistake on the part of the conservatives, which led to their unpopularity among many people.

The conservatives caused upset among the working class by refusing to reverse the ‘Taff Vale’ case decision, which was a contributing factor to the emergence of the ‘lib-lab-pact’ by the Liberals. This decision also led trade unionists to vote for the Liberal party as opposed to the Conservative party. Protestants who did not conform with the established Church had been primarily supportive of the Liberals before 1900, but then shifted their allegiances to the Tory party after the Liberals attempted to introduce the Home rule for Ireland act. This resulted in a loss for the Liberals in the following election, enabling the Tories to come into power. Additionally, in 1902, the conservatives created further unrest among key voting groups with their introduction of the Education Act.

Prior to the 1902 education act, there were two types of schools: voluntary schools (church schools) and board schools (schools run by an elected school board). Voluntary schools received funding from the Catholic Church and offered Anglican and Catholic religious lessons. Board schools, funded by local rates, only had to teach basic religious lessons, making them a popular choice for non-conformists. However, with the introduction of the 1902 Education Act, voluntary

schools could also receive funding from rates and school boards were abolished. This resulted in Protestants paying higher taxes to fund schools that their children did not attend.

Due to their dissatisfaction with Arthur Balfour's strong affiliation with the Church of England, Protestant non-conformists have decided to switch their votes back to the liberal party. The Liberal party's stance on education has also strengthened public faith in them. Methodists, in particular, were upset by the 1904 Licensing Act under Tory rule due to high levels of alcoholism and the abundance of pubs in every town.

Due to the beliefs of some Methodist-run authorities, pubs were being shut down as they were viewed as encouraging drinking and gambling. This led to pub owners being left with no income or business, often resulting in poverty and homelessness. To address this issue, the government introduced the licensing act, which compensated publicans and brewers for the closure of their pubs. The compensation came from a fund that was contributed to by both brewers and publicans, and run by the government. Some Methodists strongly opposed this act as it was seen as the government supporting and compensating sinners, resulting in non-conformists turning away from conservative ideals in favor of liberalism. Additionally, there was the issue of Tariff reform initiated by Joseph Chamberlain, who believed that cheap foreign imports were damaging Britain’s economy. This movement was further fueled by the Boer war.

Chamberlain proposed that Britain should adopt protectionism, following the lead of countries like Italy, Germany, and France. This would involve levying tariffs on foreign goods, specifically those imported from outside the empire. The aim was twofold: to generate revenue for

social programs, such as old-age pensions; and to cement Chamberlain's power within the government while strengthening Unionist control over the West Midlands. Chamberlain also suggested taxing food, believing it would have little impact on the poor but affect wealthy individuals. In 1903, he delivered a speech on tariff reform known as "The radical bombshell," sparking a heated debate and causing a rift in the conservative party. The controversy undermined public confidence in conservatives overall.

The public favored free trade, which not only increased the variety of goods and made them cheaper, but also facilitated exporting British products to other countries. Imposing tariffs on foreign goods would have hurt the middle and upper classes, who owned the factories producing those products, as foreign countries would retaliate with taxes on British goods. Nevertheless, Prime Minister Arthur Balfour introduced some tariffs, except on food, which proved controversial within the conservative party. Balfour also contemplated implementing a poll tax. Additionally, the growing popularity of the liberal party played a role in the decline of the conservatives.

During the election, the Conservatives promised to avoid an Irish parliament that encouraged Protestant non-conformists to vote for the pro-free trade Liberal party. Some Liberals supported the working class and keeping food prices low. Arthur Balfour's appointment as prime minister proved to be a turning point when his mistakes pushed voters away from the Unionist Alliance towards the stronger Liberal party. Ultimately, multiple factors contributed to the Conservative loss in the 1906 election. However, I believe that the biggest factor was their proposed tariff reform and discussion of taxes on food.

The impact of the Boer war, Chinese slave issue, and efficiency debate on voters

was limited. Although a few may have switched to the liberal party, it did not cause a major swing of voters as it was only the Tories' first mistake. Similarly, the Taff Vale case, which only angered the working class, did not result in a significant shift in voters as they could not vote at that time. However, the Education and Licensing Act caused a considerable shift in voters and is the second biggest factor contributing to the Tories' loss in the election. It swung Protestants and non-conformists over to vote liberal but not everyone.

The biggest factors were the tariff reform issue and tax talks since they affected everyone. Tax on food would have impacted the poor, middle class, and rich alike. Tariffs would have mostly affected the middle class and rich, who owned factories and produced goods. Countries would have retaliated by placing taxes on British-made goods, leading to widespread economic turmoil.

The massive swing towards the liberal party was instigated by two issues - one being the split in the Tory party over tariff reform, which highlighted their disunity to the public. The second issue fueled the already popular liberal party, resulting in the Tories' defeat with a significant margin in the 1906 election.