BRITISH CONSERVATISM AND THE PRIMROSE LEAGUE ... - ideals

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Conservatives were urged to unite to "wipe out the woodchopper's
whim,"
Beaconsfield."
in an effort to preserve the name of "our
The verse closes on a despairing note, calling
for Conservative to resist the onslaught of the "the Radical
Crew."
Sedition now spreads devastation,
And war hurls its pitiless storm;
The outcome of base vacillating,
The cant of so-called Reform!
With Gladstone the shifty to guide us-
Propelled by a Birmingham screw­
'Tis no wonder all nations deride us,
And flout at the Red, White, and Blue.
Conservatives! Pull out together,
And wipe out the wood-choppers whim;
Shall the name of our Beaconsfield whither?
Shall the cause that he fought for grow dim?
The prospects of Britain are blighted-
The work of a radical crew!
For our Queen and our Country united.
We stand by the Red, White and Blue! 6^
While most of the contributions featured were sorely lacking in
meter and rhyme, their messages were clear.
They affirmed common
Primrose themes: a threatened empire, the need for a union of classes,
resistance to "Radical"
(Gladstonian) reforms, and the idealization of
Disraeli's domestic and foreign policies.
a screw-manufacturing business in Birmingham. His "unauthorized
program," espoused while campaigning as a Liberal candidate in the 1885
General Election, was often cited by Conservatives as an indication of
the truly Radical character of Liberal government. The impression was
underscored by a plank on the program advocating "three acres and a
cow" to each agricultural worker.
65
England, 4 April 1885, p. 7.