BRITISH CONSERVATISM AND THE PRIMROSE LEAGUE ... - ideals

Despite the fact that England was forced to retract its claims
that a permanent body served on the Grand Council, it continued to rail
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against the "clique." 41
The prolonged assault brought about a
counterattack from Vanity Fair on 23 April 1887, mocking England's
natural rights as the League's newspaper and suggesting the basis of
Bartlett's attack lay in his failure to obtain a seat on the Council. 4^
In response England staunchly defended its righteous crusade
against the excesses of the Primrose executive and vigorously attacked
the claims made by Vanity Fair.
The newspaper printed a battery of
letters from readers in an attempt to justify its position.
Letters in
support of Bartlett continued intermittently to grace the newspaper's
pages throughout the controversy.
In addition to the usual charges
levied against the Council, England extended the focus of its attack on
the twenty-third and the thirtieth to include the decision on the part
of the executive to allow only local Ruling Councillors the right to
examine the Central Office fiscal balance sheet upon request.43
Vanity Fair, now heavily involved in the fray, noted with wry
amusement England 1 s inaccurate claim on 30 April 1887 that Bartlett had
served on the Grand Council from 1881-1882, nearly two years prior to
41
Ibid., 23 April 1887, p. 9.
42 "He has persistently sought--and hitherto wholly without
success—to get chosen into the Council." Vanity Fair, 23 April 1887,
p. 264.
43
England, 23 April 1887, p. 9; 30 April 1887, pp. 9-10; 7
May 1887, pp. 9-10; 21 May 1887, p. 14; 27 August, p. 7.