In Michaelmas 1910, the Union debates indicated a Tory majority, with Lincoln speakers vainly promoting the Liberal cause. This Tory flavour persisted into 1911, though perhaps less heavily. The highlight of 1911 was the event on March 3, when Augustine Birrell KC MP, Chief Secretary for Ireland, supported the motion '..the time has come when the contol of Irish affairs can with safety be entrusted to an Irish Parliament, subordinate to the Imperial Parliament'. The motion was passed by 385 to 394 (2.1)).

Despite this Liberal victory, on March 9 the Union reverted to Tory form and did not '..welcome the passing of the Parliament Bill'. On March 13 elections took place for Union positions; G D H Cole of Balliol stood for the library committee and made it to 7th place with 78 votes. I mention this because JJ was friendly with Cole; the latter came to Ireland in 1946 and I had the chance to observe their interaction. Cole was the economic guru of the post-war Labour Government. This contact must have gone back to their Oxford days and the Lincoln-Balliol Liberal axis; the Balliol component surfaces strongly from here on.]

From the above, and other available evidence, it would seem that in JJ's first year his Lincoln environment was favourable to the development of democratic ideas, although the general Oxford background was Tory-imperial.

In Lincoln there was the College Debating Society and the Fleming Society. The former is the Union in microcosm, while the latter is more philosophical, with papers read on erudite topics, and discussions afterwards.

The earliest recorded presence of JJ is on Feb 1 1911 in the Fleming Society. He attended subsequently all the Hilary term meetings, which were on topics like ancient Greek economics, Jean-Jaques Rousseau and werewolves. He had by then got the flavour of the Fleming Society, and subsequently transferred his attention to the Debating Society, where in the 1911-12 year he developed his skills in political argument, though never making it to the Union.

The 1910-11 session of the Debating Society, which he probably attended but at which did not speak, is not available in full, but in the Trinity Term they called for more humane treatment of criminals, defeated a motion against protective tariffs, defeated a motion calling for restrictions on Mormons, concluded that public opinion was not reflected in the Press or the Commons, decided that slavery was indefensible, and would not welcome the return of Balfour. In the final debate of the year they declined to be alarmed at the increasing power of the yellow press.

Thus in the first year of JJ's period in Oxford he would have been exposed to a vigorous and articulate Liberal intellectual climate, which seems to have had foci in Lincoln and Balliol, and which took on the basically Tory environment in debate, often winning. The key people at student level of the Liberal persuasion with whom he interacted during his first year were, in Lincoln, H Llewellyn Williams, W J Bland, E A Bigsby, R B Beckett, and in both Lincoln and the Union, A H Wall, P G Bestall; also Balliol Home Rulers like P Guedalla, F K Griffith, G D H Cole.

In Lincoln the 1911-12 season opened on October 15 with a call to oppose the occupation of Tripoli by the Italians, passed 26 to 3. Then on Oct 22 by 19 to 16 they advocated war with Germany, although most speakers were against this; a 'silent Tory majority'? On Oct 29 however they supported the Liberal disestablishment of the Welsh Church, an issue which was comparable to, and linked with, Irish Home Rule. Llewellyn Williams and the Liberal group carried the day. A motion deploring the existence of the science school was heavily defeated. Aesthetes were declared to be artists. Then on November 26 it was declared, by a large majority, that European domination of the East was defensible, Beckett proposing; an Imperial component is beginning to appear in a hitherto consistently liberal group.

On January 21 1912 Williams supported the proposal that secret diplomacy was inconsistent with democracy; this was defeated, Bland opposing. Then on January 28 came JJ's maiden speech, in support of votes for women; Williams also spoke for, but the motion was defeated. JJ again spoke on Feb 4, opposing G S Woodhouse's motion 'that in view of recent events ...the party system is a fraud and a failure', in the company of Bland. The motion was carried. It was a dry run for a similar motion proposed by Woodhouse in the Union a few weeks later.

During this period his focus of attention must have been on the Union, though there is no record of his having spoken there. He would have been present, and voted on the issues, in the company of the Liberal Home Rule lobby.

Turning now to the Union, on Oct 19 1911 a motion deploring the excessive intervention by HMG in recent labour disputes was defeated 160 to 92; on Oct 26 the recent foreign policy of the Triple Alliance was decisively condemned, despite Bland's opposition; we are on the eve of the War. The Insurance Act was however welcomed, as were the results of the Canadian election, which was declared '..to benefit Canada and the Empire at large'. Bland spoke against this. This on the whole we still have a largely Tory flavour, with the Liberal elements being on the losing side.

Then on November 16 comes a motion which perhaps is an indicator: '...that special provision should be made, in any scheme for Home Rule, for the government of Ulster'. This foreshadowing of the Partition approach was moved by W T Monkton of Balliol and seconded by G Lockhart of Trinity. The opposition was led by Lionel Smith-Gordon of Trinity, and seconded by J Gilbert of Exeter. There were 9 other speakers for and 9 against. The motion was lost 91 to 141. The Balliol speakers were 4 against, 3 in favour (2.2).

This was before the Tory press campaign threatening Civil War (see appendix) got going. It could be argued (pace Peatling (2.2)) that there was broad-based support for Home Rule, despite the Tory-imperial flavour of the environment; after all was not Home Rule simply a reconstruction of a basically imperial system, from which it could be argued that the Irish were benefiting. The foregoing however was a student debate, without the political heavyweights. It repeated the previous year's consensus expressed at the Birrell event.

On Nov 23 they passed a vote of confidence in the Government, and on Dec 5 debated drama. In the new year 1912 they declined on Jan 25 to '...view with apprehension the policy of the Trade Unions', but on Feb 1 they opposed adult suffrage, despite Smith-Gordon and the Balliol Liberals. On Feb 8 there was a major event, with political heavyweights (R A Yerburgh, President of the Navy League), where they heavily supported the '2 keels to 1' policy of naval expansion. They went on by a narrow majority on Feb 15 to censure the Government for '..showing a restless disregard for the rights of property', with Smith-Gordon and Bland opposing.

Then on Feb 22 they welcomed '...the prospective passing of a Bill granting Home Rule to Ireland in this session of Parliament'. This was moved by W J Bland, and supported by H D Henderson (Emmanuel), H Wright (Pembroke), L E P Smith-Gordon (Trinity) and P Guedalla (Balliol). It was carried 134 to 118. Home Rule is still on course, despite the distant thunder.

G S Woodhouse then on Feb 28 proposed his motion, which he had piloted in Lincoln, against the Party system, which was carried decisively; he was supported by W T Monkton who had introduced the proto-Partitionist motion on the previous Nov 16. The attendance was over twice the average for student debates.

On March 7 however they suported a rapprochement between England and Germany (82 to 64). W J Bland is now Secretary of the Union, with the opportunity to phrase motions in the interests of the Liberal lobby. On March 14 they declined to approve of Socialism, despite the best efforts of Smith-Gordon. On May 2 they declined to condemn Government policy on the coal strike, and on May 9 they declined to support the Government in re-constituting the Second Chamber. On May 16 they declined to welcome a Government enquiry into University affairs with a view to educational reform.

Then on May 23, in a large meeting, they defeated a motion welcoming the Welsh Disestablishment Bill. This was a platform for F E Smith, later Lord Birkenhead, who played such a key role in the Tory Ulster campaign. The unifying factor between this issue and Irish Home Rule is presumably the unity of Church and State in the English 1690 Constitution, to which the Orange lobby is so attached.

Then, after a low-key diversion into cultural activity on May 30 we get on June 6 a very large meeting, at which the star guest speaker was Sir Edward Carson KC MP, supporting the motion '...that the Home Rule Bill...is unworthy of support'. This was proposed by G S Woodhouse, our proto-Partitionist Lincoln Tory, and opposed by G E Dodds (New College). W T Monckton (Balliol) seconded, and Lionel Smith-Gordon seconded the opposition. Carson then spoke; he was billed as from 'CHS, Dublin', which is the Trinity College Dublin Historical Society; this has a mutual recognition agreement with the Oxford Union. Carson's speech is on record; he threw down the gauntlet, and set the scene for the Tory Blenheim rally, which occurred shortly after, at which the arming of the Ulster Volunteers was proclaimed actively as Tory policy by Bonar Law, with the active support of Balfour. This motion was passed 348 to 262.

The 1912 summer term then subsided from this peak; on June 13 they supported British occupation of Egypt, and on June 20 called for the Dominions to have a voice in Imperial affairs.

From the foregoing we can conclude that JJ was active in student politics, though not in the forefront; the people he mixed with were of the liberal and radical persuasion; Smith-Gordon in particular he remained in touch with subsequently, as he became a leading administrator in the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society (IAOS) in support of Horace Plunkett, and was based in Dublin. My father was aware of the potential of the co-operative movement for crossing the religious barriers, and uniting the interests of the consumer co-ops of Belfast with the farmer co-ops of the south and west. He persisted with this right through the war, and up to the 20s and 30s, though he was unable to prevent the IAOS from being partitioned. This however is another story.

Notes and References (Oxford)

2.2 Peatling is sceptical about this, suggesting that '...the motion is rather peculiarly worded for this time. This was before most political observers had started really to consider the genuine possibility of partition, and seems rather a technical motion to debate at this time. And surely some Tories could consistently vote against such a motion, arguing that they didn't want 'special provision for Ulster' in any Bill, because they wanted the whole of Ireland to be treated identically, i.e., kept under the Union? 'No Home Rule' for any part of Ireland was most Unionists' policy until well into 1913 at least. I think this explains why the majority for this motion is much larger than those for Home Rule in March 1911 and Feb 1912.'

Some navigational notes:

Copyright Dr Roy Johnston 1998