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Pressing for Reform: the New Liberalism, the New Journalism and Emotion in Edwardian Liberal Newspapers Susanne Christina Stodd

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Pressing for Reform: the New Liberalism, the New Journalism and Emotion in Edwardian Liberal Newspapers Susanne Christina Stodd Pressing for Reform: The New Liberalism, the New Journalism and Emotion in Edwardian Liberal Newspapers Susanne Christina Stoddart Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of History Royal Holloway, University of London August 2014 1 Declaration of Authorship I, Susanne Stoddart hereby declare that this thesis and the work presented in it is entirely my own. Where I have consulted the work of others, this is always clearly stated. Signed: Date: 2 Abstract This thesis explores the representation of the Edwardian new Liberalism and emotion in seven Liberal supporting newspapers. By utilising the burgeoning field of the history of emotion it makes a fresh contribution to our understanding of the new Liberalism, Edwardian political gender identities and the newspapers as historical sources. The main source base is the content of the seven newspapers, which reflect a good range in terms of readership, strength of partisanship and reputation. Between 1906 and 1914 the new Liberal government paved the way for a more socially active state by passing welfare reforms and reducing the House of Lords’ power to obstruct legislation. Acknowledging that emotions are culturally defined and can provide a lens for exploring political power and social status, this thesis uncovers details about new Liberal relationships negotiated between groups including: the House of Lords and the democracy; the Liberals and Conservatives, plus the emerging Labour Party; the state and the welfare recipient; and the welfare recipient, their family and the wider community. Considerable flexibility in these relationships is highlighted. The role and importance accorded to the liberal values of individualism, collectivism, liberty and morality depended upon factors including the newspaper and the relationship or reform in question. Evoking emotions such as anger, shame and gratitude, the communication of the new Liberalism was also both influenced by, and impacting upon, gender identities at all levels, from politicians to welfare recipients. Analysing the newspapers’ use of emotion, at the centre of this thesis is a reassessment of the press polarisation argument that was taking shape by the Edwardian period, distinguishing between the rational debate and sensationalism presented in elite and popular publications respectively. The individual newspapers are investigated as complex ‘emotional communities’ that all utilised popular features of the new journalism, such as political cartoons and human- interest stories, to harness (often rational) emotions and communicate serious political messages. 3 Acknowledgements My first thank you is to my PhD supervisor, Dr. Alex Windscheffel, for his patience, constructive criticism and encouragement. Dr. Jane Hamlett also offered thoughtful comments as the thesis was taking shape. Thanks to Dr. Adrian Bingham and Dr. Paul Readman for providing a stimulating viva. I would like to acknowledge my friend Dr. Anthony Ridge-Newman for his support along the way. I am grateful to the Arts and Humanities Research Council for funding my PhD. Thanks also to the Friendly Hand Charitable Trust for generously providing money for research trips and photocopying. I am grateful for the help of librarians and archivists at the Bodleian Library, Bristol University Library, the British Library, the British Library of Political and Economic Science, the Parliamentary Archives and Senate House Library. Special mention is due to the friendly and efficient staff at the Newspaper Library; it was a pleasure to carry out my research at Colindale. My greatest debt of gratitude is to my parents, and to Joanne, Christopher, Florence, Billy and F.M. – they have all kept me going with their good-humour, love and support. 4 Table of Contents Page Declaration of Authorship 2 Abstract 3 Acknowledgements 4 List of Tables and Figures 6 Chapter One – Introduction 10 Chapter Two – ‘A reader is married to his newspaper’: The Liberal 52 Newspapers and their Emotional Communities Chapter Three – ‘Stirred with a real and serious emotion’: The 76 Representation of ‘The People’ during the Two 1910 General Elections Chapter Four – ‘Careless and greedy plutocrats in coronets and scarlet 116 and ermine’: The Cartoon Representation of the Liberal Opposition during the Two 1910 General Elections Chapter Five – ‘None of that joy of battle which is characteristic of his 166 brilliant lieutenant’: The Representation of the Public Speeches of Asquith and Lloyd George Chapter Six – ‘“Life has been hardly worth living”, he said to me, as a 206 tear trickled down his cheek’: The Representation of Old Age Pensioners Chapter Seven – ‘A matter of indifference whether an Englishman’s 241 house is to remain his castle or not’: The Representation of Adult Men and Women and Social Reform Chapter Eight – Conclusion 279 Appendix 1 – Statistics Relating to Chapter Four 289 Bibliography 290 5 List of Tables and Figures Page Table 1: The Number of Original, Reproduced and Advertisement 289 Cartoons, and the Number of Times that they Raised Each Oppositional Issue, Printed in the Liberal Newspapers During the Campaign Periods for the Two General Elections of 1910 Figure 1: David Wilson, 'When Shall We Three Meet Again?', Daily 89 Chronicle, 2 December 1909, p. 5. Figure 2: David Wilson, 'The Fiery Cross', Daily Chronicle, 3 92 December 1909, p. 1. Figure 3: Claude Hay's January 1910 Election Poster. Reprinted by 105 the Daily Chronicle, 6 January 1910, p. 1. Figure 4: F.C. Gould, 'A Little Parable', Westminster Gazette, 3 112 January 1910, p. 3. Figure 5: F.C. Gould, 'Still Running', Westminster Gazette, 8 116 December 1910, p. 3. Figure 6: F.C. Gould, 'Specious Pleading', Westminster Gazette, 12 117 December 1910, p. 3. Figure 7: [Unidentified Cartoonist], 'Bringing Him Back Alive', Pall 121 Mall Gazette, 13 December 1910, p. 5. Figure 8: A.G. Gardiner, 'Man or Coronet', Daily News, 26 127 November 1910, p. 5. Figure 9: Image Showing the Prominent Positioning of A.G. 127 Gardiner’s Electoral Cartoon (Daily News, 26 November 1910, p. 5). Figure 10: Image Showing the Typical Positioning of an Electoral 131 Cartoon in the Westminster Gazette (18 November 1909, p. 5). Figure 11: H.R. Lock, 'Nobody Loves Me!', Daily Chronicle, 18 135 January 1910, p. 5. Figure 12: [Unidentified Cartoonist], 'It's Work We Don't Want', 137 Daily News, 28 December 1909, p. 7. Figure 13: [Unidentified Cartoonist], 'Unaccustomed Toil', Star, 29 138 December 1909, p. 1. 6 Figure 14: F.C. Gould, 'A Pretty Quartette', Westminster Gazette, 1 139 January 1910, p. 5. Figure 15: F.C. Gould, 'The Hereditary Principle', Westminster 140 Gazette, 16 December 1909, p. 3. Figure 16: Advertisement for Lockyer’s Hair Restorer [Unidentified 141 Cartoonist]. Printed by the Daily News, 31 December 1909, p. 3. Figure 17: David Wilson, 'The Menace', Daily Chronicle, 16 144 December 1909, p. 5. Figure 18: David Wilson, 'Death in the Pot', Daily Chronicle, 14 144 December 1909, p. 6. Figure 19: David Wilson, 'Taxing the Widow's Mite', Daily 145 Chronicle, 13 January 1910, p. 5. Figure 20: Ernest Hasseldine, 'Let Go My Hands!', Daily News, 8 146 January 1910, p. 10. Figure 21: [Unidentified Cartoonist], 'Protection', Manchester 147 Guardian, 3 December 1910, p. 13. Figure 22: F.C. Gould, 'Crises Make Strange Bedfellows', 148 Westminster Gazette, 18 December 1909, p. 5. Figure 23: David Wilson, 'Sanctuary', Daily Chronicle, 29 149 December 1909, p. 5. Figure 24: [Unidentified Cartoonist], 'The Gamblers' Last Throw', 150 Daily News, 23 December 1909, p. 9. Figure 25: F.C. Gould, 'Not His Own Invention', Westminster 152 Gazette, 14 November 1910, p. 3. Figure 26: F.C. Gould, 'The Lost Label', Westminster Gazette, 1 153 December 1910, p. 2. Figure 27: F.C. Gould, 'Mary's Little Lamb', Westminster Gazette, 7 154 December 1910, p. 3. Figure 28: David Wilson, 'The Referen-Drum!', Daily Chronicle, 17 154 December 1910, p. 5. Figure 29: F.C. Gould, 'The Balance', Westminster Gazette, 24 158 January 1910, p. 3. 7 Figure 30: [Unidentified Cartoonist], 'The Cause of the Election - 158 and a Forecast', Daily News, 7 December 1910, p. 2. Figure 31: J.M. Staniforth, 'The Commencement of a New Act', 159 News of the World, 2 January 1910, p. 1. Figure 32: J.M. Staniforth, 'The Great Question - Which Will 160 Outweigh The Other?', News of the World, 12 December 1909, p. 1. Figure 33: Image Showing the Typical Positioning of a Political 161 Cartoon in the News of the World (12 December 1909, p. 1). Figure 34: Advertisement for Ivelcon [Unidentified Cartoonist]. 162 Printed by the Daily Chronicle, 10 December 1910, p. 10. Figure 35: Sketch of Asquith in Parliament [Unidentified Artist]. 177 Printed by the News of the World, 31 March 1912, p. 8. Figure 36: Formal Photograph of Asquith [Unidentified 184 Photographer]. Printed by the Daily News, 18 September 1909, p. 7. Figure 37: Drawing of Asquith at Birmingham [Unidentified Artist]. 185 Printed by the Daily Chronicle, 18 September 1909, p. 1. Figure 38: Image of the University of Birmingham. Printed in the 186 Daily News, 18 September 1909, p. 5. Figure 39: F.C. Gould, 'The Celtic Spirit', Westminster Gazette, 28 195 September 1908, p. 3. Figure 40: Photograph of Typical Pensioners [Unidentified 223 Photographer]. Printed by the News of the World, 3 January 1909, p. 6. Figure 41: Sketch of Pensioners [Unidentified Artist]. Printed by 226 the Star, 1 January 1909, p. 3. Figure 42: Ernest Wells, 'Not At Home', Liberal Monthly, January 229 1910, p. 8. Figure 43: Advertisement for Beecham's Pills [Unidentified 231 Cartoonist]. Printed by the Daily Chronicle, 2 January 1909, p. 2. Figure 44: Advertisement for Zam-Buk. Printed by the Daily 232 Chronicle, 8 January 1909, p. 6. Figure 45: David Wilson, 'Willing to Wound and Yet Afraid to 249 Strike', Daily Chronicle, 20 September 1909, p. 5. 8 Figure 46: F.C. Gould, 'Different Points of View', Westminster 250 Gazette, 7 December 1909, p.
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