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University of Southampton Research Repository University of Southampton Research Repository Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis and, where applicable, any accompanying data are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis and the accompanying data cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content of the thesis and accompanying research data (where applicable) must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holder/s. When referring to this thesis and any accompanying data, full bibliographic details must be given, e.g. Alastair Paynter (2018) “The emergence of libertarian conservatism in Britain, 1867-1914”, University of Southampton, Department of History, PhD Thesis, pp. 1-187. UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON FACULTY OF HUMANITIES History The emergence of libertarian conservatism in Britain, 1867-1914 by Alastair Matthew Paynter Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy March 2018 UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON ABSTRACT FACULTY OF HUMANITIES History Doctor of Philosophy THE EMERGENCE OF LIBERTARIAN CONSERVATISM IN BRITAIN, 1867-1914 by Alastair Matthew Paynter This thesis considers conservatism’s response to Collectivism during a period of crucial political and social change in the United Kingdom and the Anglosphere. The familiar political equipoise was disturbed by the widening of the franchise and the emergence of radical new threats in the form of New Liberalism and Socialism. Some conservatives responded to these changes by emphasising the importance of individual liberty and the preservation of the existing social structure and institutions. In fighting against Collectivism they were brought into an alliance with both disillusioned Old Liberals, and the more radical Individualist followers of Herbert Spencer. This thesis will engage with an existing historiographical debate which questions how authentically conservative this form of libertarian politics actually was. William Gladstone’s open support of Irish Home Rule in 1886 was ‘the straw that broke the camel’s back’ for many Old Liberals who had grown increasingly disillusioned with the direction of their party since at least the start of Gladstone’s second ministry in 1880. Naturally many of these émigrés brought much of their Old Liberal principles into the Unionist fold. But was libertarian conservatism merely classical liberalism repackaged? In examining the interaction between political thought and practical politics this thesis will attempt to go beyond the limited scope of politics as ideology, and assess the underlying frame of mind, from and through which political ideas are formed and filtered. It is structured around various lenses—ethics, empiricism, laissez-faire and aristocracy—all of which formed important aspects of the libertarian conservative frame of mind. The final chapter will use Australia as a case study to assess the existence and applicability of libertarian conservatism in an Anglo-Saxon settler colony. The thesis concludes by arguing that while it was certainly bolstered by classical liberal rhetoric and argument, a clear traditionalist conservative mindset formed the basis of libertarian conservatism. i Contents Declaration iii Acknowledgements iv List of Figures v Abbreviations vi Introduction 1 (i) Key terms and concepts 7 (ii) The conservative heritage 15 (iii) A libertarian conservative ‘mind’? 20 Chapter One: Ethics 30 (i) Liberty, virtue and progress 31 (ii) The individual, the Church, and the State 41 (iii) Two views of liberty: conservative and Individualist? 54 Chapter Two: Empiricism 59 (i) The statistics of scientific conservatism 63 (ii) The concept of ability 73 (iii) Mallock’s conservatism in context 79 Chapter Three: Laissez-faire 84 (i) Laissez-faire as free exchange 89 (ii) Two constructive measures: labour capitalisation and ‘People’s Banks’ 94 (iii) Laissez-faire as reaction: the response to Edwardian social reform 102 Chapter Four: Aristocracy 109 (i) Debating the decline: the position of the Whigs 110 (ii) Land 125 (iii) Different concepts of aristocracy 129 ii Chapter Five: The tyranny of distance? Bruce Smith and libertarian currents in 137 Australia (i) The politics of Bruce Smith 140 (ii) Australia in the Anglo-Saxon imperium 153 Conclusion 159 Bibliography 173 iii Academic Thesis: Declaration Of Authorship I, ALASTAIR MATTHEW PAYNTER declare that this thesis and the work presented in it are my own and has been generated by me as the result of my own original research. The emergence of libertarian conservatism in Britain, 1867-1914 I confirm that: 1. This work was done wholly or mainly while in candidature for a research degree at this University; 2. Where any part of this thesis has previously been submitted for a degree or any other qualification at this University or any other institution, this has been clearly stated; 3. Where I have consulted the published work of others, this is always clearly attributed; 4. Where I have quoted from the work of others, the source is always given. With the exception of such quotations, this thesis is entirely my own work; 5. I have acknowledged all main sources of help; 6. Where the thesis is based on work done by myself jointly with others, I have made clear exactly what was done by others and what I have contributed myself; 7. Either none of this work has been published before submission, or parts of this work have been published as: [please list references below]: Signed: …ALASTAIR MATTHEW PAYNTER……………………………………………………………………… Date: 6.3.18………………………………………………………………………… iv Acknowledgements I should like to express my deepest thanks to my supervisor, Dr. Jonathan Conlin, for his constant support and guidance throughout the course of this thesis. Warm thanks must also be extended to my secondary advisor, Professor David Brown, for all his advice and encouragement. This thesis was undertaken with the support of an AHRC studentship, for which I am most grateful. I should also like to thank Professor Gregory Melleuish for his invaluable expertise during my period of research in Australia. Many thanks also to his doctoral student Dr Zachary Gorman for his help and useful suggestions. I should like to express my deepest gratitude to the Old Colstonian Society for their generous support of my research in Australia. I am grateful to the staff of the Hatfield House archives for their permission to look at the Quickswood Papers. I should also like to thank the staff at all the libraries and archives I have visited during the course of this research. Finally, I should like to thank my parents, whose encouragement of me in this endeavour has never faltered. v List of Figures 2.1 Graph showing the changes to different classes of incomes between 1850 and 1881 71 vi Abbreviations Manuscript Collections QP—Quickswood Papers WP—Wemyss Papers Periodicals NC—The Nineteenth Century (and after) QR—Quarterly Review Organisations ASU—Anti-Socialist Union BCA—British Constitution Association COS—Charity Organisation Society LPDL—Liberty and Property Defence League 1 Introduction In 1884, Herbert Spencer penned a rather gloomy reflection on the condition of British Liberalism, entitled “The New Toryism”, which was subsequently to form the first chapter of the defiantly titled Man Versus the State. In it he argued that many Liberals had lost their way. In attempting to use the power of the State for noble ends, they had become “Tories of a new type.”1 He then listed multiple examples of legislation passed by the Liberal Party which, in their zeal for interventionism, had departed from the pure creed of classical liberalism, and embraced the old Tory doctrines. “Manifestly the implication is that,” he concluded, “in so far as it has been extending the system of compulsion, what is now called Liberalism is a new form of Toryism.”2 However, a note appended to the essay added the following thoughts: A new species of Tory may arise without disappearance of the original species... it is true that the laws made by Liberals are so greatly increasing the compulsions and restraints exercised over citizens, that among Conservatives who suffer from this aggressiveness there is growing up a tendency to resist it. Proof is furnished by the fact that the “Liberty and Property Defence League,” largely consisting of Conservatives, has taken for its motto “Individualism versus Socialism”. So that if the present drift of things continues, it may by and by really happen that the Tories will be defenders of liberties which the Liberals, in pursuit of what they think the popular welfare, trample under foot.3 This passage is especially insightful as a window into the embattled mind of an Old Liberal in a period of sweeping change. It also hints at the repositioning taking place whereby classical liberal doctrines were beginning to find a more receptive home in sections of the Conservative Party. In an 1887 speech to the South Wiltshire Constitutional Association in 1887, the Earl of Pembroke told his listeners, “You cannot trust to the old traditions about parties, because in many most important points they have changed places.”4 Philosophically, 1 Herbert Spencer, “The New Toryism”, Man Versus the State (New York: D. Appleton, 1884), p.1. 2 Ibid., p.17. 3 Ibid., p.17. 4 George Herbert, 13th Earl of Pembroke, “On Party Politics: Speech at Dinton to the South Wilts. Constitutional Association, 1887”, Political Letters and Speeches of George, XIIIth Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery (London: Richard Bentley and Son, 1896), p.79. 2 the changes within Liberalism were due to the influence of the Idealists, such as T.H. Green, who re-interpreted the concept of liberty in positive terms. Whereas previously liberty had been viewed in negative terms, as an absence of State action, or freedom from coercion, positive conceptions of liberty adumbrated a view of society where the State would intervene to ensure each individual could fulfil his potential.
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