SPRING 2006 • NUMBER 130 - Winston Churchill

1 2 5 - 1 0 0 - 7 5 - 5 0 Y E A R S A G O125 YEARS AGO:Spring 1881 • Age 6“Make it up, Gorst?”Spring saw the death ofBenjamin Disraeli, LordBeaconsfield, former PrimeMinister and titular head ofthe Conservative Party, who earlierthat year had vetoed a plan by LordRandolph and the Fourth Party toembarrass the Liberal government byseeking to limit its Coercion Bill forIreland to a year’s duration.The other three members of theFourth Party—Wolff, Balfour, andGorst—accepted Disraeli’s decisionbut Lord Randolph did not. As RobertRhodes James wrote in Lord RandolphChurchill: “He was a bad person towhom to offer any advice....So strongwere his feelings about Gorst thatArthur Balfour took care to sitbetween them in the House, sinceboth would speak to him but not toone another.”By Spring, however, the FourthParty was back together. LordRandolph took the first step to healthe breach by supporting Gorst in adebate. Taking his seat, Lord Randolphleaned over Balfour––who was still sittingbetween them—and said, “Makeit up, Gorst?” Rhodes James wrote thatthe episode, so typical of LordRandolph, “publicly proclaimed thereunification of the Fourth Party.”Without Disraeli to dissuadethem, the Fourth Party attackedGladstone’s Land Bill for Ireland.While the Land Bill addressed manyIrish grievances, it did nothing to calmthe troubled island and fulfilled LordRandolph’s prescient warning in mid-March: “...remedial measures whichare planted under the shadow ofCoercion, and watered and nourishedby the suspension of the Constitution,must be from their nature poor andsickly plants of foreign origin, almostforedoomed to perish before theybegin to grow.”“Stalin always kept his word with me. I remember particularlysaying to him when I visited Moscow in 1944, ‘You keepRoumania and Bulgaria in your sphere of influence,’ but he let mehave Greece.” —Churchill to Eisenhower, 1956100 YEARS AGOSpring 1906 • Age 31“A painful impression”Churchill’s loyalty to his new partywas put to the test on the first dayof spring. Lord Milner, the formerHigh Commissioner in South Africa,had admitted to permitting the illegalflogging of Chinese coolies in SouthAfrican mines without a trial or conviction—despiteassurances from theBritish Government to both theChinese Government and Parliamentthat such conduct would not be permitted.Milner acknowledged that hehad made a mistake. While Milner waspopular with British South Africans,the Liberal press in Great Britain wasquick to attack him.As Under-Secretary of State forthe colonies, Churchill was the primaryspokesman for the Colonial Officein the House of Commons. While inSouth Africa, he had met Milner andbeen impressed by him. A Liberal MPmoved to censure Milner, gleaningmuch popular support in theCommons; but Churchill knew itwould not be well received in SouthAfrica, where drafting a new constitutionfor the Transvaal was soon to beon his plate.Churchill persuaded the Liberalgovernment to allow him to introducean amendment which condemnedby Michael McMenaminflogging but did not single out Milnerby name. It was uncertain thatChurchill could persuade the moreradical members of his new party toshow restraint, but he tried. “When wehave so many real things to do whichmust be done in the present and in thefuture,” he said, “why cannot we leavethe past alone?”Churchill’s amendment passed.While it was a good speech, manythought WSC had been too harsh inhis assessment and ultimate dismissalof Milner’s future in public life. EvenChurchill’s friend and private secretaryEdward Marsh deemed it one ofWSC’s “failures.” King Edward agreedand wrote in a letter: “It is a pity thatLord Elgin does not seem to be able tocontrol the violent and objectionablelanguage of his Parliamentary Under-Secretary. It has made a painfulimpression on most people.”75 YEARS AGO:Spring 1931 • Age 56“The ponderous massof teutonic humanity”Churchill continued to lead thenationwide campaign againstdominion status for India in favor ofmore autonomy at the state level. On22 April 1931, he addressed the JuniorImperial League Rally at Chingford:FINEST HOUR 130 / 14