BRITISH CONSERVATISM AND THE PRIMROSE LEAGUE ... - ideals

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progress.
The League's registrar, W. Haigh, was sent to Edinburgh to
help organize the office and to ensure its efficiency and uniformity
with general League principles.66
The first meeting of the SGC was held in October, 1885. The
Scottish organization had a slow beginning and consequently failed to
play a role in the November, 1885 elections.
By 20 May 1886, however,
it had established over seventy Habitations and some 8,653 members,
modest when compared to England's dramatic growth, but nevertheless a
foothold in what was traditionally solid Gladstonian territory.
By the
end of the year, the number of associations had risen to 118 with a
total of 21,958 members, 1,948 recruited in the past month.67 Efforts
to establish a Scottish branch of the LGC met with some resistance from
the London office.
However, once the primacy of the Grand Council and
the LGC was assured, a successful accommodation was reached.68
By the end of 1888 the overall organization of the League had
assumed many of its mature features.
A semiprofessional staff had been
established to oversee office, political, and bookkeeping functions.
The Grand Council had expanded its committees to keep abreast with its
ever growing interests.
These included General Purpose, Finance,
66 Minutes of the Grand Council of the Primrose League, 22
July 1885; 5 August 1885; 30 September 1885; 15 October 1886.
67 The Primrose League. Scottish Branch Minute Book, 1885­
1904, 2 October 1885. Minutes of the Grand Council of the Primrose
League, 5 August 1885; 9 December 1885; 7 January 1887. The Morning
Post, 20 May 1886, p. 2.
68 The Primrose League. Scottish Branch Minute Book, 14
December 1887; 14 November 1888. LGC Executive Committee Minutes, 17
February 1888; 27 July 1888; 9 November 1888; 7 December 1888.