From this catastrophe the Liberal Party was saved by the raising of the Tariff Reform issue. On this subject Lord Rose bery spoke with an equivocal voice, but Asquith at once became the most formidable protagonist of Free Trade. The discussion of the subject became largely a duel between him and Chamber lain, and the series of speeches he delivered throughout the country were among the most conspicuous triumphs of his career. It restored him to the full confidence of the party, and when Campbell-Bannerman formed his Government at the end of 1905 his appointment as chancellor of the exchequer was a matter of course. The moderation of his temper, and the entirely public spirited motives that always inspired him contributed to the return of harmony within the party, and his achievements as chancellor established his claim to the succession to the premier ship. His record at the Treasury, culminating in his final budget, which inaugurated old age pensions, give him a place among the most illustrious chancellors in history. On the resignation of Campbell-Bannerman, through illness, in 1908, Asquith became prime minister by universal consent, with Lloyd George as chancellor of the exchequer. No prime minister since Pitt had been called upon to face such grave issues as those which con fronted Asquith at the beginning and developed as his long term of office—the longest of any prime minister since Lord Liverpool— advanced. A new mood of revolt filled the labour world with unrest and menace, the long struggle for the enfranchisement of women had passed out of the academic phase into a phase of unprecedented and almost fantastic violence, the sky over Europe was visibly darkening with the naval activity of Germany, and over and above all two capital issues reached a crisis—the issue of the House of Lords and the issue of Ireland. It was the first of these two questions that first tested the stuff of which the new prime minister was made. The budget of 1909, which dealt with the taxation of land, was rejected by the House of Lords. Asquith appealed to the country against its rejection in Jan. 1910, and his Government was reinstated, though only with the support of Labour and the Irish members. He addressed himself forthwith to the question of the abolition of the veto of the House of Lords, and during the summer made efforts to reach a pacific solution of the question by compromise. But the conference with the Opposition leaders broke down, and in the following December he appealed once more to the country and was once more returned —this time with a majority over the opposition of 126.
The opening of the session of 1911 may be taken as the crown ing moment in Asquith's public career. The issue of the consti tutional struggle with the Lords was not yet decided, but it was no longer in doubt. The decisive mandate which the country had given in December dictated the issue that immediately occupied the new parliament. A bill abolishing the veto of the House of Lords was introduced into the House of Commons and passed all its stages by the beginning of the summer. But the final struggle had yet to come. The battle had still to be won in the Lords and there the opposition were entrenched in overwhelming power. Ever since the emergence of the issue it had been evident that the attainment of Asquith's goal depended on whether he could in the last resort invoke the authority of the Crown to dilute the House of Lords with new peers sufficient to change its complexion. The question was answered on July 20. The Parliament Bill, then in the House of Lords undergoing its second reading, was so amended as to deprive it of any utility for the purpose for which it was framed. Asquith therefore addressed to Balfour, the leader of
the Opposition, a letter stating that the Government had decided, if the bill in its essential form could be passed in no other way, the Crown would be advised to create a sufficient number of peers to ensure its passage, and that the Crown had signified its willingness to accept such advice. The publication of this letter aroused an unprecedented storm, and on July 24, on rising in the House of Commons to make a statement, Asquith was greeted with a demonstration without parallel in living memory. For the best part of an hour he stood speechless bef ore the roar of anger that issued from the Opposition benches, and at last resumed his seat without having uttered a continuous sentence. What became known as "the pothouse brawl" inaugurated the last stage of the struggle. The Government was accused of "dragging in the King," and the Opposition organized an uncompromising resistance in the belief that they would not dare to carry their threat into execution. But on Aug. io, when the final debate was taking place in the House of Lords, Lord Morley confirmed the Govern ment's previous intimation of His Majesty's intention. Up to this point the "Die-Hards" seemed to be assured of a majority, but in the division they were defeated. The bill was passed. On Aug. 18 the Parliament Act received the Royal Assent.
From this victory Asquith proceeded to his next great task, with the ground sensibly cleared for action. Gladstone's suc cessive Home Rule adventures had broken on the rock of the Lords' veto; that rock no longer obstructed the channel. But before the Irish issue was fully launched another controversy absorbed the prime minister's activities. Discontent had long been growing prevalent in the mining industry, and at the end of Feb. 1912, having failed to secure the concessions and advances they demanded, the miners' union declared a strike. Vast dis location followed. From the outset the Government endeavoured to bring the conflicting parties to agreement and Asquith took on himself the personal charge of the negotiations. After a month's fruitless efforts, the Government thereupon introduced the Miners' Minimum Wage Bill, which, by providing a half-way solution, forced the hands of both sides and brought the immediate struggle to an end, although the issue incidentally raised—that of the re organization and control of the coal industry—was to perplex parliament and the country for many years to come.
Meanwhile, the Home Rule Bill had been introduced and passed through the House of Commons, while the Parliament Act pro vided adequately against the resistance of the House of Lords. That House fought the delaying action, which was all the Opposi tion now had in its power, by rejecting the bill in two successive sessions. After its next passage through the Commons it would have overridden opposition and automatically become law. By this time, however, the opposition to the measure had taken an extra-parliamentary shape. The Ulster Covenant had been pro mulgated in the previous September and talk of open rebellion, should Home Rule be passed, was already current. In June arms had been discovered both at Belfast and Dublin. As the year wore on the outlook became still more serious and a speech by Bonar Law, the leader of the Conservative Party, at Blenheim, seemed to give encouragement to the idea of resistance by force. On Sept. 25 the Ulster Unionist Council appointed a Provisional Gov ernment and prominent Conservatives openly preached armed resistance; Sir Edward Carson, the leader of the Ulster Unionists, left no doubt that in the last resort Ulster would fight.