Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 2.djvu/227

 fought with untiring energy the battles of his party in and out of parliament. To the liberal cause he had been a pillar of strength. The majority of the liberal party regarded him as their champion. But Harcourt's loyalty to party and his conviction of its value were (in Lord Morley's phrase) 'indestructible instincts,' and he consented to serve under Lord Rosebery in his former office. When parliament met on 12 March 1894 he took his place as leader of the House of Commons.

The next sixteen months were the most strenuous period in Harcourt's political career. As leader in the House of Commons of a party with a small majority and a large and contentious programme, he exhibited unexpected skill, tact, and patience. His opinions did not always coincide with those of the prime minister, and, though for the most part they worked together in harmony, the cabinet councils were not free from friction. Both announced before the opening of parliament (12 March) adherence to the Newcastle programme, and Harcourt promised early legislation on the subject of temperance, to which he deemed himself personally pledged.

On the day after parliament re-assembled with Harcourt at the head of the House of Commons, the government suffered defeat. Henry Labouchere's amendment to the address, praying her Majesty to abolish the veto of the House of Lords, was carried against Harcourt's advice by 147 to 145. On 16 April Harcourt introduced his famous death duties budget. The estimated deficit for the year was 4,502,000l. The main principle of the bill was the abolition of the existing probate duty, the account duty, and Goschen's addition to the succession duty, and the imposition of a single graduated tax called the estate duty, chargeable on the principal value of all property, whether real or personal. The tax was graduated from one per cent, on estate of a value between 100l. and 500l. to a maximum of eight per cent, on estates over 1,000,000l. It proposed that the legacy and succession duties should be made identical in their application to realty and personalty. The income tax was raised from 7d. to 8d., but the limit of exemption increased from 150l. to 160l. The abatement on incomes up to 400l. was raised from 120l. to 160l., and a new abatement of 100l. created on incomes from 400l'. to 500l. An increase of sixpence per barrel on beer and sixpence per gallon on spirits was imposed for one year only. A determined opposition was offered to the measure, and for three months it was subjected to every form of attack. But Harcourt had made himself familiar with every detail, and he met all criticisms with a firmness and conciliation which robbed the debate of much of its bitterness. Despite resistance, he carried his budget through the House of Commons on 17 July practically unimpaired, though by the narrow majority of 20, and without having once employed the closure. The bill was the most important legislative achievement of the year, and established Harcourt's reputation as a financier. Its results fully realised the expectations formed of them. Its main principles were not disturbed when the conservatives returned to power in the following year. During the rest of the session Harcourt helped to pass an evicted tenants (Ireland) bill and a local government bill for Scotland. The former bill was rejected by the House of Lords. The session closed on 25 Aug. During the recess, Harcourt abstained from platform speeches. He made a holiday tour in Italy. Consequent rumours of resignation were emphatically denied in a speech at Derby on 23 Jan. 1895, when amid scenes of great enthusiasm he denounced the House of Lords.

The session of 1895 opened on 5 Feb. under exceptional difficulties for the government, whose original majority of forty had fallen to less than twenty, mainly owing to the defection of the Parnellite group. The party programme included Welsh disestablishment, control of liquor traffic and plural voting. On 8 April Harcourt introduced his local liquor control bill, which mainly differed from that of 1893 by reducing the number of licences on the vote of a bare majority, at the same time as all licences were prohibited by a majority of two-thirds. The bill was read the first time before the Easter recess. On 2 May he introduced his fourth and last budget. He applied a realised surplus of 776,000l. to the reduction of debt and re-imposed the temporary tax of 1894 of sixpence per gallon of beer (yielding 500,000l. ) in order to meet an estimated coming deficit of 319,000l. and provide a surplus of 181,000l. At the conclusion of his speech he declared that a continuation of the rise in national expenditure which had marked the last few years must inevitably lead to grave embarrassments. No serious opposition was offered to the measure, and it was finally passed on 10 May.

Most of May and June was devoted to the Welsh disestablishment bill. But the unexpected defeat of the government,