LORD ROSEBERY AND THE COUNTY COUNCIL.
IT is to be hoped that the letter in which Lord Rose- bery announces that he will not again seek to represent the City in the London County Council, need not be taken to mean that he intends to sever for good and all his connection with London municipal affairs. It has always been a subject for grave regret that men of wealth and position have not oftener sought to connect themselves with our municipal life, and the abandonment of an attempt to break down the convention that none but the middle class have a right to rule in towns, be a very great misfortune. In most things, as we poll, t out else- where, we are a very homogeneous nation, class shading off into class without any abrupt division. Municipal life is, however, the exception. No doubt a Peer occasionally becomes a Mayor—Lord Bute was Mayor of Cardiff last year—and if we mistake not, Earls of Derby have on more than one occasion occupied the civic chair at Liverpool. As a rule, however, the notion of a man of title, family, and estate becoming a Mayor or an Alderman has been regarded as essentially absurd. In the Middle Ages this was not so. Then, as the Bishop of Oxford points out in his " Constitutional History," neighbouring Peers and landowners joined freely in the life of the boroughs, and held municipal offices. How exactly the change of feeling in regard to municipal office came about, it is difficult to say. In all probability, the original cause was the jealousy and independence of the burgesses. They saw the government of the country as a whole, as well as public life in the rural districts, monopolised by the aristocracy, and they not unnaturally determined to keep at least the towns to themselves. But the aristocracy, as soon as they were excluded from the offices of honour and consequence in the towns, began to look down upon those offices. An office which, in fact, was never filled by a man of position, soon came to be looked upon as one which it was below the dignity of a man of position to fill. Hence there grew up the notion that it was not fitting for members of the aristocracy, either titled or untitled, to have anything to do with the government of the towns. It became, as it were, a sort of base privilege of the middle class to keep the town governments to themselves. This pernicious con- vention did not, however, stop at keeping the Peers and the landed aristocracy out of municipal life. It has gone further, and hitherto has practically forbidden the older and more respected urban families to take part in municipal life. With a few noteworthy exceptions, the moment a town family becomes rich and conspicuous, its members cease to occupy themselves with the government of the town. The first sign, indeed, that a family of manufacturers, mer- chants, or bankers has risen, is their abandoning all notion of taking part in town elections. How different is this from what happens in Italy ! There it is the commonest thing in the world for men of the highest lineage to take part in municipal affairs, and to become Mayors and Syndics. If we are rightly informed, the present town clerk of Venice is directly descended in tail male from a Doge who held the Ducal office in the year 800,—he has, that is, a pedigree which cannot be matched in England, except by the Queen and those who boast a Royal descent. In England, however, a man of great family too often feels that he would make himself ridiculous by sitting on a Town Council and getting himself made Mayor. An eccentric Peer may become a Mayor, it is true ; but this is only because he stands so far above ordinary municipal life, that his filling the office is obviously not to be taken seriously. It is done " to please the town " or to secure political influence, and is to be looked on in the same light as the great man's de- scent into the servants' hall to assist at snapdragon or the stirring of the Christmas pudding. Yet the people who take up this sort of attitude towards municipal affairs are quite enlightened enough to see no harm in trade, and readily let their sons embark upon any sort of honest business. Oddly enough, the horror of being a Mayor or an Alderman has been acutest in what Lord Rosebery calls the city which has "the proudest record in our political history." London is full of mercantile aristocrats, yet none of them ever think of becoming Lord Mayor. They have consistently refused to join in the municipal life of the City, and probably if they tried now, would be re- pelled. The Lord Mayor invariably belongs to the middle class of even City people. That the existence of this state of things, both in London and the other great towns—Birmingham is an exception, for there it is held a real honour to be Mayor—is unfortunate, we have no doubt whatever. For good or evil, we are a snobbish nation, and the moment any walk of life is marked off as never entered upon by members of the aristocracy, it falls in popular estimation. Unless all classes hold an office honourable, and so desirable, that office ceases to attract the best men. Unfortunately, there can be little doubt that this has happened in regard to municipal office in this country. We have no doubt that in reality the middle class furnish per- fectly efficient, intelligent, and incorruptible Mayors ; but in spite of that, the exclusion of the upper classes has made municipal life unattractive to the more eager spirits in the nation,—to the men, that is, who are most anxious to rise in the world. It is not because we think that upper-class people are better administrators, or more gifted by nature with the power of government, that we want to see the conventions which have divorced them from municipal life disappear. It is simply because we desire to see the town offices made more valuable and attractive. Depend upon it, a middle-class Mayor will feel his office more desirable if he succeeds an Earl or a Marquis. Unquestionably, one of the chief reasons which make men desire a seat in the House of Commons so keenly, is due to the fact that the whole nation holds a seat in Parliament as specially desirable.
It may be said, perhaps, that we have exaggerated the unwillingness of members of the upper class to enter municipal life, and that, as a matter of fact, they are often exceedingly anxious to do so. They are stopped, however, by the jealousy of the " towns- people," who, though they fight among themselves, would all combine to keep out a person whom they would regard as an interloper. Hence, it will be urged, what we want is, not to teach the aristocracy not to despise municipal life, but to teach the townsmen to tolerate the aristocracy. There is a, certain truth, no doubt, in all this. Town politics, except in the very biggest cities, are a matter of cliques, and the well-born and well-edneated outsider would find it very difficult to put himself forward. He would ungueetionably be often bitterly opposed both by political friends and foes. His nominal friends would give him no encouragement to come forward; while his opponents would use every exertion to stop such inter- ference once and for all. The men of position who are inhabitants of towns know this, and they therefore feel it hopeless even to think of entering municipal life. But in taking up this attitude are they not ignoring a very material fact ? They forget that the middle class, who hold the offices, and object to having their manor poached on, are not now the depositaries of power. The real power rests with the small house- holders, and the majority of these are in no way affected by the idea that the man of position is coming where he is not wanted. They are quite as willing to vote for Lord Blackacre as for Mr. Plumm the greengrocer. If, then, the Lord Blackacres will only have the pluck to appeal to the voters over the heads of the rings which now to a great extent control our municipal life, they need have no fear of being excluded because they are " swells." If their views are those of the constituency, they will stand as good a chance of being chosen to sit on the Town Council as any one else. That this is so, was shown in the London County Council elections. The men of position who went to the poll got perfectly fair treatment. We trust, then, most sincerely that Lord Rosebery's retirement will not be regarded as an example that ought to be followed. We want new blood and we want men of leisure on the governing bodies of our towns, and it is therefore of the very greatest importance that men of position should come forward. We have no need to defend ourselves from any charge of desiring to set up aristocratic privilege. We have always combated privilege as politically both im- moral and inexpedient. All we want to do is to break down a disability,—the disability to take part in municipal life which is supposed to attach to persons of position and education.
Previous page
