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Daily Herald V. Daily Citizen, 1912–15

The Struggle for a Labour Daily in Relation to “the Labour Unrest”*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2008

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The myth or reality of widespread social unrest in Britain in the period immediately before the First World War has attracted increasing attention among historians in recent years. Debate has centred upon two main themes, namely the character and impact of contemporary labour unrest, and the situation and prospects of the Liberal Party. Was British labour fundamentally disaffected from existing forms of industrial relations and from Parliamentary democracy? Was the pre-1914 Liberal Party already in decline and unable to withstand the advance of the Labour Party? Several recent writers have returned sceptical or largely negative conclusions to questions of this kind. In so doing they have sought to dispel a popularly held notion of incipient social breakdown and imminent social change, proposed amongst others by Dangerfield in The Strange Death of Liberal England.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis 1974

References

page 347 note 1 Brown, E. H. Phelps, The Growth of British Industrial Relations. A study from the standpoint of 1906–14 (London, 1959), ch. VIGoogle Scholar; Pelling, H., Popular Politics and Society in Late Victorian Britain (London, 1968), ch. 9Google Scholar; Phillips, G. A., “The Triple Industrial Alliance in 1914”, in: Economic History Review, Second Series, XXIV (1971)Google Scholar; Clarke, P. F., Lancashire and the New Liberalism (Cambridge, 1971)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Morgan, K. O., “The New Liberalism and the Challenge of Labour: The Welsh Experience 1885–1929”, in: Welsh History Review, VI (1973), No 3.Google Scholar

page 348 note 1 Dangerfield refers only once to the Herald, Dangerfield, G., The Strange Death of Liberal England (Paladin ed., London, 1970; first published 1935), p. 194.Google Scholar Most labour historians of the period give the Herald and Citizen a standard routine mention without any serious analysis of their significance. It is surprising, for example, to find that H. Pelling, op. cit., in a general essay on “The Labour Unrest 1911–14”, makes only one minor reference to the Citizen (p. 155), and none at all to the Herald. The most useful surveys of the Citizen occur in biographical studies of leading supporters, notably A. Marwick, Allen, Clifford, The Open Conspirator (Edinburgh, 1964)Google Scholar, and Thompson, L., The Enthusiasts. A Biography of John and Katherine Bruce Glasier (London, 1971).Google Scholar The evolution of the Herald until the mid-1920's is the subject of Lansbury, G., The Miracle of Fleet Street (London, 1925).Google Scholar Subsequent literature on this period has added very little to this account.

page 348 note 2 Roth, G., The Social Democrats in Imperial Germany. A Study in Working-class Isolation and National Integration (Totowa, 1963), pp. 246–7.Google Scholar

page 348 note 3 The Clarion, best-selling of the weeklies reached a circulation of 70,000 at its peak (Clarion, 16 February 1906). The ILP's Labour Leader sold between 40,000–50,000 by 1911 (Fenner Brockway to author, 19 May 1972).

page 349 note 1 The details can be followed in TUC Annual Conference Reports, 1903–1909.

page 349 note 2 Ibid., 1907, pp. 162–3.

page 350 note 1 By mid-February, the paper was available in Manchester, Preston, Leeds, Belfast and Dublin, as well as throughout London and the Home Counties. Daily Herald, 14–15 February 1911.

page 350 note 2 Ibid., 10, 19, 21 and 28 April 1911.

page 351 note 1 The TUC's two representatives were C. W. Bowerman, MP, Secretary of the Parliamentary Committee, and W. Matkin, General Secretary of the General Union of Carpenters and Joiners. Radical editors included Rowland Kenney, who had previously been associated with the Labour Leader and New Age (Kenney, R., Westering (London, 1939), pp. 143ff.Google Scholar), and Charles Lapworth, who had radical journalistic experience in Britain and the USA (Lansbury, G., The Miracle of Fleet Street, p. 32Google Scholar). Lapworth was almost succeeded as editor by Rebecca West, leading woman writer for the Clarion. Eventually, however, Lansbury took over himself. Henry Harben to Raymond Postgate, 13 November 1948, Lansbury Papers, Vol. 28, Appendix b ii, British Library of Political and Economic Science.

page 351 note 2 Lansbury, G., “Scope for All in Labour's Daily Press”, in: Daily Herald, 16 April 1912.Google Scholar

page 352 note 1 The most serious attempt of this kind involved an increasingly sectarian grouping within the syndicalist movement, represented on the Herald by Charles Lapworth. For circumstances leading to the ousting of Lapworth see Lansbury, G., The Miracle of Fleet Street, pp. 3234.Google Scholar Tom Mann in contrast while “He did not agree with all that appeared in the Daily Herald, […] did not want the views of his own little crowd to be always appearing in its columns”, Daily Herald, 23 November 1912.

page 352 note 2 Postgate, R., The Life of George Lansbury (London, 1951), pp. 138140.Google Scholar

page 352 note 3 Beatrice Webb saw the Herald as “Iconoclastic and inconsistent in the policies it takes up and drops with fiery levity”. Beatrice Webb's Diaries 1912–24 (London, 1952), p. 23.Google Scholar For a somewhat similar Leninist appraisal see Fox, R., The Class Struggle in Britain in the Epoch of Imperialism, I:1880–1914 (London, 1932), p. 93.Google Scholar

page 354 note 1 Belloc and Cecil Chesterton were joint authors of The Party System (London, 1911).Google ScholarBelloc went on to publish The Servile State (London, 1912).Google Scholar This was the central statement of the distributivist philosophy. It developed out of a debate with Ramsay MacDonald held in London, and was published in 1911 under the title Socialism and the Servile State by the SW London Federation of the ILP.

page 354 note 2 See in particular G. Lansbury, letter in New Witness, 5 December 1912; “Is Parliament Useless?”, ibid., 19 December 1912; Edgar Lansbury, “Bow and Bromley Election”, ibid., 13 February 1913.

page 354 note 3 For favourable reviews of the New Witness in the Herald see ibid., 16 December 1912 and 3 January 1913.

page 354 note 4 George Simpson, letter in Daily Herald, 3 January 1913; J. Wills, “An Exposure of Labour Exchanges”, in: Solidarity, September 1913; and “Insurance Revelations”, ibid., December 1913.

page 355 note 1 H. Belloc, letter in Daily Herald, 7 May 1912.

page 355 note 2 Ibid., 15 May 1912.

page 355 note 3 G. Lansbury, “Socialists and Socialism”, ibid., 14 January 1913; speech to Worthing ILP, cited in Liverpool Forward, 27 September 1912.

page 355 note 4 A. O'Donnell, letter in Daily Herald, 28 October 1912.

page 356 note 1 C. Chesterton, review of H. Hyndman's Reminiscences, in: New Witness, 19 December 1912, reprinted in Daily Herald, 20 December 1912.

page 356 note 2 For favourable reception see especially T. Mann, “Is a Syndicalist a Socialist?”, in: Daily Herald, 28 December 1912; L. Hall, “The End of Socialism”, ibid., 11 January 1913; G. Lansbury, “Socialists and Socialism”, ibid., 13 January 1913.

page 356 note 3 R. Smart, “The Cecilian Revolt”, ibid., 4 January 1913.

page 356 note 4 Reckitt, M., As It Happened: An Autobiography (London, 1941), p. 108.Google Scholar

page 357 note 1 Cited in Jones, P. d'A., The Christian Socialist Revival 1877–1914 (Princeton, 1968), pp. 271, 243.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

page 357 note 2 Swan was a regular chairman of Herald meetings, see, for example, Daily-Herald, 6, 13 and 16 December 1912. Also P. d'A. Jones, op. cit., pp. 424–425.

page 357 note 3 Mrs Penn-Gaskell at Kilburn, reported in Daily Herald, 10 January 1913.

page 357 note 4 Christabel Pankhurst to George Lansbury, 8 December 1912, Lansbury Papers, Vol. 28, fol. 99.

page 358 note 1 E. S. Pankhurst, “What is the East London Federation?”, in: Women's Dreadnought, 8 March 1914. Also Pankhurst, E. S., The Suffragette Movement (London, 1931), pp. 502ff.Google Scholar, and Lansbury, G., The Miracle of Fleet Street, pp. 7985.Google Scholar

page 358 note 2 Cole, M., “Guild Socialism and the Labour Research Department”, in: Essays in Labour History 1886–1923, ed. by Briggs, A. and Saville, J. (London, 1971).Google Scholar

page 358 note 3 G. D. H. Cole and W. Mellor in Daily Herald, 13 January 1914 et seq.

page 358 note 4 Lapworth had previously been a publicist with Eugene Debs, co-founder of the IWW. Pelling, H., America and the British Left (London, 1956), p. 105.Google Scholar

page 359 note 1 A. D. Lewis, a prominent member of the Industrial Syndicalist Education League, became national secretary of the Daily Herald League. For documentation of rank-and-file syndicalist involvement see below.

page 359 note 2 Arthur Gardiner, former member of Huddersfield Socialist Party in which the syndicalist influence was significant. Interview by Cyril Pearce, letters to author, 5 December 1970 and 8 April 1971.

page 359 note 3 Keir Hardie to Bruce Glasier, 1 January, 8 February and 17 May 1911, Bruce Glasier Papers in the possession of Malcolm Bruce Glasier Esq.; ILP Annual Conference Report, 1911, pp. 88ff.

page 360 note 1 Bruce Glasier, Diary, 5 May 1911, Bruce Glasier Papers.

page 360 note 2 Ibid., 1 June 1911.

page 360 note 3 Ibid., 19 December 1911.

page 361 note 1 Daily Citizen, 8 October 1912. Other testimonials were received from Robert Donald, editor of the Liberal Daily Chronicle, the Lord Provost of Glasgow, and the Bishop of Birmingham.

page 361 note 2 “The Daily Citizen And Its Work”, ibid., 8 October 1912.

page 361 note 3 Fred Jowett, MP, representative of a rival current of thinking within the Labour Party felt that “The editor of the Citizen seems to think that nobody counts in the Labour Party but the Chairman Mr. MacDonald”. Clarion, 29 November 1912.

page 362 note 1 TUC Annual Conference Report, 1912, p. 144; Daily Citizen, 8 March 1913.

page 362 note 2 C. Allen, “Daily Citizen”, in: Labour Leader, 19 April 1912.

page 362 note 3 Especially H. Pickles (Colne), letter in Labour Leader, 3 May 1912.

page 362 note 4 “The Sympathetic Strike”, in: Daily Citizen, 18 September 1913; “Do Strikes Pay”, ibid., 20 September 1913; “Forward”, ibid., 12 November 1913; “The South Wales Strike”, ibid., 5 December 1913; “Union, Municipality and State”, ibid., 18 December 1913.

page 363 note 1 G. H. Roberts, MP, held this view of the paper's role during unrest on the railways. Daily Citizen, 8 March 1913.

page 363 note 2 Bruce Glasier, Diary, 8 October 1912.

page 363 note 3 East Ham ILP, branch minute, 30 October 1912, British Library of Political and Economic Science. For similar criticisms see ILP Annual Conference Report, 1914, pp. 68ff.

page 364 note 1 J. Ramsay MacDonald to Labour Newspapers Ltd. first shareholders meeting, Labour Leader, 27 June 1912.

page 364 note 2 Glasier described Wright as “A commonplace commercial money-grabber”. Diary, 3 October 1912. Arthur Marwick on the basis of Clifford Allen's views saw Dilnot as “A chain-smoking professional journalist […] but not a socialist”, op. cit., p. 16.

page 364 note 3 Bruce Glasier, Diary, 18 June 1913.

page 365 note 1 Arthur Henderson (Vice-chairman Labour Newspapers Ltd.) to Special Conference on “The Future of the Daily Citizen”, Daily Citizen, 8 March 1913.

page 365 note 2 “An Unsolicited Testimonial”, in: Daily Herald, 20 April 1912.

page 366 note 1 Arthur Henderson to Special Conference on “The Future of the Daily Citizen”, loc. cit.

page 366 note 2 Especially within the ASRS currently reforming as the NUR. See correspondence from the following branches, Colne (ibid., 29 March 1913), Swadlincote (1 April), Gowerton and Bo'ness (2 April), Crumlin (4 April), etc.

page 366 note 3 Correspondence from J. P. Whitaker and “Lucky Sixpence, Walworthr”, ibid., 29 March 1913.

page 366 note 4 Nelson ILP branch launched a local 2,000 shilling fund (ibid., 2 April 1913). Other branches bought shares. Hungerford Hill Baptist Church, Nottingham sent 1 guinea on 4 April 1913, while “Four Quakers from Bristol” sent 10 shillings.

page 366 note 5 The distribution of contributions during March and April 1913 was as follows: Trade Unions (most national) 82%, Individuals 12%, Socialist organisations 6%. Ibid., 30 April 1913.

page 367 note 1 Contribution lists are full of the following kinds of entries: “Twelve Socialist Mill Lads, Keighley” 1/–, “R. N. Torpedo Factory, Greenock” 5/6d, “A Few Sunbeam Motor Employees” 12/6d. Daily Herald, 12 and 15 October 1912 respectively.

page 367 note 2 H. D. Harben to Raymond Postgate, 13 November 1948, Lansbury Papers, Vol. 28, appendix b ii. Harben, son of the chairman of the Prudential Assurance Company, was a key figure in the paper's early management, acting effectively as proprietor.

page 367 note 3 A donation of £150 from Rev. W. H. Paine during a financial crisis in October 1912 comprised roughly 50% of the entire flow of donations to the paper. Daily Herald, 24 October 1912.

page 367 note 4 W. Harris (Bexleyheath ILP) in Daily Citizen, 1 April 1913.

page 367 note 5 “The Daily Citizen”, in: Labour Leader, 5 September 1912.

page 368 note 1 Daily Citizen, 6 March 1913.

page 368 note 2 For Citizen support in the Durham coalfield see ibid., 27 February and 17 March 1913.

page 368 note 3 In the organisation of the 1917 Leeds Convention in support of the Russian Revolution, for example. Lansbury, G., The Miracle of Fleet Street, pp. 109, 115.Google Scholar Several league branches participated in the foundation of the British Communist Party. Klugmann, J., The History of the Communist Party of Great Britain, I (London, 1968), pp. 39, 42, 44.Google Scholar

page 368 note 4 Correspondence from A. W. Bradbrook, P. W. Howard, A. D. Lewis and A. O'Donnell, Daily Herald, 24–28 October 1912.

page 369 note 1 Ibid., 12 November 1912.

page 369 note 2 Coventry DHL included Social-Democrats, Syndicalists and ILP-ers (ibid., 10 December 1912), while in Battersea, the League committee comprised members of the Church Socialist League, Clarion Cyclists and ILP, as well as the Postmen's Federation and the Electrical Trades Union (ibid., 18 January 1913). The Soho (London) branch was launched by Syndicalists, Social-Democrats and Trade Unionists, while its secretary was a former member of the Socialist League (ibid., 7 January 1913). In Derby, the League was closely linked with the Clarion Club, while in Hammersmith, local anarchist influence predominated (ibid., 20 December 1912 and 27 February 1913).

page 369 note 3 For the involvement of Cook and Murphy see ibid., 24 February 1913 and 26 January 1914. Cook was currently involved with the Industrial Democracy League in South Wales, a group working closely with the Industrial Syndicalist Education League, South Wales Worker, 7 June 1913; The Syndicalist, March-April 1913. Murphy was Sheffield secretary of the largely syndicalist-inspired Engineering Amalgamation Committee, Solidarity, March 1914. Other syndicalist secretaries of DHL branches included C. P. Robertson (Camden Town), R. L. Wigzell (New Cross), Burdett Ludlow (Coventry), Jonah Charles (Port Talbot). Detailed documentation is available in Holton, R. J., “Syndicalism and its Impact in Britain with particular reference to Merseyside 1910–14” (unpublished D.Phil. thesis, Sussex University, 1973), pp. 486–7.Google Scholar

page 369 note 4 Ann Cobden-Sanderson of the Women's Freedom League was national Treasurer of the Daily Herald League. Daily Herald, 16 December 1912. WSPU speakers often formed part of the platform at DHL meetings, and a few local WSPU branches (especially in East London) also forged close links, e.g., Forest Gate. Ibid., 12 December 1912.

page 370 note 1 Between June and August 1914, 11 new league branches were formed in addition to the 40 or so most active branches already in existence. These figures refer only to individual branches mentioned in the paper at this time. A number of others undoubtedly existed during the period if subsequent internal evidence is an accurate guide.

page 370 note 2 Bruce Glasier, Diary, 6 August 1914.

page 371 note 1 “What Labour Can Do”, in: Daily Citizen, 7 August 1914.

page 371 note 2 Diogenes, “Undelivered Letter to Private Tommy Atkins”, ibid., 4 September 1914.

page 371 note 3 “Those who hesitate to enlist because of what they have heard about trench fighting should look at the picture on the left, which shows soldiers who have just left the firing line, after being up to the knees in mud. They are cheerful and ready for more.” Ibid., 20 January 1915.

page 371 note 4 Bruce Glasier, Diary, 10 and 12 March 1915.

page 371 note 5 In Bennett v. The National Amalgamated Society of Operative House and Ship Painters and Decorators.

page 371 note 6 Bruce Glasier, Diary, 29 April and 23 July 1914.

page 372 note 1 The scale of rank-and-file support organised through a “100,000 Shilling Fund” was considerable. Trade Union branches and Trades Councils played the most important role.

page 372 note 2 Bruce Glasier, Diary, 22 May 1915.

page 372 note 3 “The Ark and the Blood Deluge”, Daily Herald, 10 August 1914.

page 373 note 1 G. K. Chesterton, “The Villain of the Peace”, ibid., 15 August 1914.

page 373 note 2 G. K. Chesterton, “To A Reader of the ‘Daily News’”, ibid., 8 August 1914; also leader ‘Resurgam’, ibid., 19 September 1914.

page 373 note 3 Progress in Scotland can be traced through Weekly Herald between October and December 1914.

page 374 note 1 I. Brown, “The Press Gang”, ibid., 12 June 1915.

page 374 note 2 R. Postgate, “A Socialist Remembers – 1”, in: New Statesman, 9 April 1971.

page 374 note 3 Available circulation statistics are patchy in coverage over time. Useful sources include scattered references in the two papers themselves, contemporary manuscript sources, and autobiographical recollections.

page 374 note 4 The following data are taken from A. P. Wadsworth, “Newspaper Circulations, 1800–1954”, in: Transactions of the Manchester Statistical Society, 1954–5, p. 35.

page 375 note 1 Williams, R., The Long Revolution (Pelican ed., London, 1965), p. 227.Google Scholar

page 375 note 2 Daily Herald, 5 August 1914.

page 376 note 1 Beer, M., A History of British Socialism, II (London, 1929), p. 380Google Scholar; Beatrice Webb's Diaries 1912–24, p. 23.