Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 - Gerald Balfour As Chief Secretary and The Crisis of 1897

Gerald Balfour As Chief Secretary and The Crisis of 1897

Following three years of Liberal government, a Conservative-Liberal Unionist government was returned to power at the 1895 general election. Gerald Balfour, brother of Arthur, and nephew of the new prime minister, Lord Salisbury was appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland on 4 July. He soon made his mark when he clumsily summarised the Irish policy of the new government as "killing home rule with kindness". The government passed three major pieces of Irish legislation in four years: apart from the Local Government Act, these were the Land Law (Ireland) Act 1896 and the Agriculture and Technical Instruction (Ireland) Act 1899.

The local government legislation was not originally part of the government's programme announced in the Queen's Speech of January 1897. It was also exceptional in that there was almost no popular demand for the reforms. It thus came as a complete surprise when Balfour announced in May that he was preparing legislation. While he claimed that the extension to Ireland of the local government reforms already carried out in Great Britain had always been intended, the sudden conversion to the "alternative policy" was in fact a way of solving a political crisis at Westminster. Obstruction by Irish members of parliament and a number of English MPs was causing a legislative backlog. Landlords, already angered by the 1896 land act, were enraged by the refusal of the Treasury to extend the agricultural rating grant to Ireland. In fact the failure to introduce the grant was largely due to there being no effective local government system to administer it. Instead an equivalent sum had been given to the administration in Dublin Castle, who had decided to use the money to fund poor law reform and a new Agricultural Board. On May 18 the Irish Unionist MPs wrote to the government informing them that they would withdraw their support unless the rating grant was introduced.

The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Earl Cadogan, held talks with the Treasury and hit upon the idea of introducing the local government reforms as a way to "break up a combination of unionists with nationalists in Ireland" which he felt was "becoming too strong for even for a ministry with a majority of 150!" The introduction of democratic county councils along with a substantial rates subsidy was felt to be sure to placate all Irish members of the house. The government moved quickly, sending a copy of the English Local Government Act of 1888 to Sir Henry Robinson, vice president of the Local Government Board for Ireland. Robinson, who was on holiday, was instructed to decide how much of the existing legislation could be speedily adapted for Irish use. It was in fact thought that legislation might not be needed at all, as the Lord Lieutenant possessed the power to extend any provisions already in force in England to Ireland by Order in Council. Within a week came the announcement that a bill was to be prepared.