Many Conservatives had come round to the view that the
breaking up of large town estates and the creation of numerous
freeholders, would strengthen the forces upholding the rights of
property, and there was every prospect that the Bill would be passed. A
few hours before the debate on April 29th, 1891, a leaflet (Tract No.
22) was published explaining the futility of the proposal from the
Fabian standpoint, and a copy was sent to every member of Parliament. To
the astonishment of the Liberal leaders a group of Radicals, including
the present Lord Haldane and Sir Edward Grey, opposed the Bill, and it
was defeated by the narrow majority of 13 in a house numbering 354. A
few years later the proposal was dropped out of the Liberal programme,
and the Leasehold Enfranchisement Association itself adopted a new name
and a revised policy.
But the main object of the Fabians was to force on the Liberal Party a
programme of constructive social reform. With few exceptions their
members belonged or had belonged to that party, and it was not
difficult, now that London had learned the value of the Progressive
policy, to get resolutions accepted by Liberal Associations demanding
the adoption of a programme. Sidney Webb in 1888 printed privately a
paper entitled "Wanted a Programme: An Appeal to the Liberal Party," and
sent it out widely amongst the Liberal leaders.
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