BRITISH CONSERVATISM AND THE PRIMROSE LEAGUE ... - ideals

agents, and even the Vice Chancellor were sent to meet with members of
139
the Ladies* executive.
The Council also took into account criticism of
the LGC concerning the unpopular style of the Gazette.
By way of
compromise, it offered to broaden the scope of the "Ladies 1
column,"
but refused to allow the coverage to serve as a pretext for a society
page.
Recognizing that financial contributions were voluntarily
conferred by the LGC, the Grand Council sought to distribute the funds
according to the wishes of that body. 22
The actual sums involved were substantial enough to ensure that
the LGC was accounted for in Grand Council deliberations.
During the
first year of existence (1885), the Ladies 1
executive contributed a
generous £360. By 1889 the figure had increased to £560. Donations in
the amount of £800 began in the Primrose year 1893-94,23
a generous
ten percent of that year's operating Grand Council budget. 2^ They
continued to be regularly featured on balance sheets of the Council in
the period prior to the First World War. 25
Other sources of income for
22
Ibid., 8 March 1889; 14 May 1891; 29 May 1891; 17 July
1891; 3 June 1892; 27 July 1894. Ibid., 21 June 1889; 5 July 1889; 19
July 1889; 27 July 1889; 25 July 1890. Ibid., 3 February 1893; 3 March
1893; 20 May 1898.
2 3 LGC Executive Committee Minutes, 22 February 1886; May,
1890; 2 November 1894.
2 4 The Primrose League Gazette, 1 May 1895, p. 5.
25
Based on Financial Reports prepared by the Grand Council
covering the years 1901 through 1913 exclusive of 1903-04 Primrose Year
when figures were not available. In all of the above named years the
LGC contributed £800 except in 1901-02 when it gave £750. Xeroxed
copies of the reports were obtained courtesy of Michael Wills from the
Minutes of the Grand Council of the Primrose League, vols. 1900-04,
1904-08, and 1908-14. However, the original reports for the year
ending 31 March 1903 and the year ending 31 March 1906 appear to have
been lost. They contained records for the 1901-02, 1902-03, and 1904­
05, 1905-06 Primrose Years, respectively. The Minute book records,