He became a hero to his fellow mine workers when he fought against The Ocean Coal Company at Treharris who were anxious to opt out of the new Compensation act which came about following the strike.
The Ocean Company wanted the miners to contribute towards a fund with the employers, out of which compensation would be paid. The miners Federation were against this and Alderman Wilson became plaintiff in an action against the company to prevent them from deducting money from the miners to fund this scheme.
The case went to the High Court and the decision went against the company who then had to repay to the miners the money that had been deducted against their wishes, this also brought an end to companies contracting out of the Compensation Act across all of South Wales. Mr Wilson was elected a member of the education committee when the school boards went out of office in and he opened Webster Street School in , he also supported the conversion of Cyfarthfa Castle into a free secondary school.
Mr Wilson was very popular in the town and it was no surprise when he was returned as a member of the Urban District Council of Merthyr in April , when Treharris and Merthyr Vale were one ward. He supported the incorporation of the whole parish in the new borough during the great struggle for incorporation, and was elected as a member of the first borough council in He was made an Alderman at the first meeting and became mayor of the Borough in , the same year that Merthyr became a county borough and he was the last person to be appointed High Constable of Caerphilly higher.
During his year in office Mr Wilson achieved many things and he was proud to open Cyfarthfa Castle to the public but closer to home he was delighted to open the new Library in his home town of Treharris in Hardie moved an amendment to this address, crying out that over two hundred and fifty men and boys had been killed on the same day in a mining disaster, and claiming that this great tragedy needed the attention of the House of Commons far more than the birth of any baby.
He had been a miner himself; he knew. The House rose at him like a pack of wild dogs. His voice was drowned in a din of insults and the drumming of feet on the floor. He later criticised the visit by the Russian Czar because Russia had recently treated trade unionists savagely, shooting demonstrators. In reply Keir Hardie and two others were removed from the list of Members invited to Court functions. In the Merthyr Express Keir Hardie seemed amused not to be invited to the Royal Garden Party, an invitation he would not have accepted, as he could not return the compliment by inviting the Court to tea in his small terraced house in Lanarkshire.
In when Miss Arscott of Merthyr Tydfil, daughter of the Brecon Road grocer, was imprisoned in London for taking part in a demonstration outside the Houses of Parliament Keir Hardie visited her in prison to offer his support and encouragement. Asked to write a motto, he would choose Votes for Women and Socialism for All. Keir Hardie devoted his life to the working class and, contrary to the lies of the Conservative Party, he accepted no money for himself.
Hard work wore him out, in some photographs he looked like Old Father Time but he was only 59 when he died. His socialism was a great human conception of the equal right of all men and women to the wealth of the world and to the enjoyment of the fullness of life. He had a touching sympathy for the helpless. I have seen his eyes fill with tears at the news of the death of a devoted dog. He was a firm opponent of all wars.
You have never been consulted about this war. The workers of all countries must strain every nerve to prevent their Governments from committing them to war. Hold vast demonstrations against war, in London and in every industrial centre. Down with the rule of brute force! Down with war! He was concerned about the threat to civil liberties and to the living standards of the working class.
Although seriously ill, Hardie took part in several anti-war demonstrations and some of his former supporters denounced him as a traitor. In December, , Hardie had a stroke and he returned to the House of Commons in before he had made a full-recovery.
His London home, was an attic in Nevill Court and he does not appear to have taken much care of himself. Politics concerned him more than personal comfort. Once when his doctor told him to rest, he went to Belgium to meet other social democratic leaders but was arrested as he was mistaken for an anarchist! There were only a few local people left who had seen James Keir Hardie in person. John recalled him as being of medium stature with white hair and beard. What made him stand out was that he walked firmly and always held his head.
He looked dignified and serene. He was a very strict teetotaller and remained so to the end, but he was not a bigot on the subject and was tolerant of faults in the weaker brethren. Nothing in his address or speech showed his want of education in his youth. His accent was of Ayrshire His voice was high-pitched but sonorous and very far-carrying at that time.
He never used notes at that time, and I think never prepared a speech, leaving all to the inspiration of the moment. This suited his natural, unforced method of speaking admirably. As Kenneth O. Morgan has pointed out: "By the end of Hardie's political outlook had clearly changed from orthodox Liberalism to a kind of socialism Historians have differed on the precise significance of this conversion. Some regard him as an ideological socialist from then on. Most, however, see his socialism as an undoctrinaire outgrowth of advanced Liberalism, and as ethical rather than economic in its basis.
He was never a Marxist. But from he was clearly an apostle of the gospel of socialism and the political independence of labour. Hardie was also getting very disillusioned with the Liberal Party.
One notable amendment of the Bill, secured very largely through pressure by people like Hardie was the prohibition of the employment of boys under twelve.
Hardie wrote: "What a difference from the time when children were taken into the pit almost as soon as they were out of the cradle. Keir Hardie came to the conclusion that the working-class needed its own political party. With the support of Robert Smillie , the leader of the Lanarkshire miners, Hardie began advocating socialism and in stood as the Independent Labour candidate for the constituency of Mid-Lanark.
Hardie first attempt to enter the House of Commons ended in failure. However, as his friend, Tom Johnson , made clear, this marked a turning point in history: "He had set the idea of political independence before the workers, and although maligned, traduced, and slandered in the Liberal Press with almost savage ferocity, he polled votes.
He wanted a party which would attract radicals, dissatisfied liberals, trade unionists and social reformers concerned about the plight of children. He attended the inaugural Second International meetings in Paris in July, , where he joined up again with Tom Mann , the leader of the Eight Hour League, that was influential in convincing the trade union movement to adopt the statutory eight-hour day as one of its core policies.
Mann commented in his autobiography that "our relations were always harmonious". They joined forces in persuading the conference to allow anarchists such as Peter Kropotkin to address delegates. Hardie also met up with Richard Pankhurst and his wife, Emmeline Pankhurst. Sylvia, who was only seven years old at the time, later recalled: "Kneeling on the stairs to watch him, I felt that I could have rushed into his arms; indeed it was not long before the children in the houses where he stayed had climbed to his knees.
He had at once the appearance of great age and vigorous youth. It was a area much affected by the "new unionism" among unskilled workers. He moved to London in , and resigned as secretary of the Ayrshire Miners.
In the General Election the Liberal Party did not put up a candidate and it was a straight fight with the Conservative candidate. Hardie won by 5, votes to 4, Hardie, the country's first socialist member of the House of Commons , took his seat on 3rd August, The tradition at that time was for MPs to wear long black coats, a silk top hat and starched wing collar.
Hardie created a sensation by entering Parliament in a tweed suit, a red tie, and a workman's peaked cap. John Burns claimed that the check cloth was so broad that "you could have played draughts on it". He said that previously trade union men in the House of Commons had "demonstrated that working men could come like gentlemen". He added that Hardie had outraged the sentiment of Labour and that he did serious injury to his own reputation by going to the House of Commons dressed in the manner he did In the House of Commons Hardie began advocating policies that had first been put forward by Tom Paine in his book Rights of Man in Hardie believed this extra revenue should be used to provide old age pensions and free schooling for the working class.
Hardie also campaigned for the reform of Parliament. He was a supporter of the women's suffrage movement , the payment of MPs and the abolition of the House of Lords. Keir Hardie, helped to establish the Independent Labour Party in It was decided that the main objective of the party would be "to secure the collective ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange".
He used The Labour Leader to develop policy, to give advice on how to conduct meetings, and how to organize groups such as Socialist church groups and Sunday School classes. On Saturday, 23rd June, , there was a massive explosion in a colliery near Pontypridd , Wales.
Two days later, Hardie suggested in the House of Commons that a message of condolence to the relatives of the coal miners that had been killed in the accident, should be added to an address of congratulations on the birth of a royal heir the future Edward VIII. When the request was refused, Hardie made a speech attacking the privileges of the monarchy.
Clynes later commented: "The House rose at him like a pack of wild dogs. His voice was drowned in a din of insults and the drumming of feet on the floor.
But he stood there, white-faced, blazing-eyed, his lips moving, though the words were swept away. In the ILP had 35, members. All the candidates were defeated, including Hardie, who because of his socialist views, had lost the support of the local Liberal Party.
However, the ILP began to have success in local elections. In Emmeline Pankhurst , a member of the Independent Labour Party in Manchester , began organizing Sunday open-air meetings in the local park. The local authority declared that these meetings were illegal and speakers began to be arrested and imprisoned. Pankhurst invited Hardie to speak at one of these meetings.
On 12th July, , over 50, turned up to hear Hardie, but soon after he started speaking, he was arrested. The Home Secretary, worried by the publicity Hardie was getting, intervened, and used his power to have the leader of the ILP released. Although raised as an atheist, Hardie was converted to Christianity in Hardie considered himself to be a Christian Socialist : "I have said, both in writing and from the platform many times, that the impetus which drove me first into the Labour movement, and the inspiration which has carried me on in it, has been derived more from the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth than from all other sources combined.
After a debate the delegates decided to pass Keir Hardie's motion to establish "a distinct Labour group in Parliament, who shall have their own whips, and agree upon their policy, which must embrace a readiness to cooperate with any party which for the time being may be engaged in promoting legislation in the direct interests of labour. Many trade union leaders were, in politics, inclined to Liberalism and their purpose was to strengthen labour representation in the House of Commons under Liberal party auspices.
Hardie and the ILP nevertheless wished to secure the collaboration of trade unions. They were therefore prepared to accept that the LRC would not at the outset have socialism as its objective. As he was financed by his wealthy wife, Margaret MacDonald , he did not have to be paid a salary. The LRC put up fifteen candidates in the General Election and between them they won 62, votes. Hardie promoted the cause of women's suffrage.
Not all of his fellow socialists shared this commitment, as they believed members of the National Union of Suffrage Societies were primarily concerned with winning the vote for middle-class women, whereas they believed that it should be granted to all adults. Hardie's friend, John Bruce Glasier , recorded in his diary after a meeting with Emmeline Pankhurst and Christabel Pankhurst , that they were guilty of "miserable individualist sexism".
As they pointed out, the WSPU wanted votes for women on the same terms as men, and specifically not votes for all women. They considered this unfair as in only a third of men had the vote in parliamentary elections.
According to the author of Freedom's Cause: Lives of the Suffragettes : "The young student, now aged twenty-four, had fallen for the fifty-year-old politician in a manner which went far beyond mere admiration or friendship. As the relationship developed, the complexity of these feelings became clearer. Sylvia saw Hardie as part political hero, part father-figure and part potential lover. Gradually he began to return her feelings Hardie helped her move into cheaper lodgings, soothed her furrowed brow and took her out for a cheering meal.
Quite how they dealt with the fact that he was already married is not entirely clear. At the General Election thirty-one Labour Party candidates did not have to face a Liberal opponent. In a large number of seats the LRC did not stand against Liberals who had a good chance against the Conservative candidate. The Liberals, led by Henry Campbell-Bannerman , won a landslide victory, winning seats and a majority of 84 over all other parties.
The Conservatives lost more than half their seats, including that of its leader, Arthur Balfour. The LRC won twenty-nine seats. Hardie was elected chairman and MacDonald was selected to be the party's secretary. This success was due to the secret alliance with the Liberal Party. This upset left-wing activists as they wanted to use elections to advocate socialism.
Hardie was elected chairman of the party by one vote, against Shackleton, the trade union candidate. His victory was based on recognition of his role in forming the Labour Party rather than his socialism. Some people in the party were worried about the new dominance of the trade union movement. The Clarion newspaper wrote: "There is probably not more than one place in Britain if there is one where we can get a Socialist into Parliament without some arrangement with Liberalism, and for such an arrangement Liberalism will demand a terribly heavy price - more than we can possibly afford.
Keir Hardie told the party conference: "I thought the days of my pioneering were over but of late I have felt, with increasing intensity, the injustice inflicted on women by our present laws. The Party is largely my own child and I cannot part from it lightly, or without pain; but at the same time I cannot sever myself from the principles I hold.
If it is necessary for me to separate myself from what has been my life's work, I do so in order to remove the stigma resting upon our wives, mothers and sisters of being accounted unfit for citizenship. Women, worn and weak by hunger, are seized upon, held down by brute force, gagged, a tube inserted down their throats and food poured or pumped into the stomach.
Hardie was not very good with dealing with internal rivalries within the party, and in resigned as leader. Hardie spent the next few years trying to build up the Labour Party. He was also committed to international socialism and toured the world arguing for equality. Speeches he made in favour of self-rule in India and equal rights for non-whites in South Africa resulted in riots and he was attacked in newspapers as a troublemaker.
They met there as often as his busy schedule permitted. According to Fran Abrams : "During one of these interludes he begged her not to go back to prison. James Keir Hardie himself was ever too modest to say, but we who were his comrades often thought, that he was a living proof of the truth of the idea that labour could furnish in its own ranks all that was needed to achieve its own emancipation, the proof that labour needed no heaven-sent saviour from the ranks of other classes.
He had been denied the ordinary chances of education, he was sent to earn his living at the age of seven, he had to educate himself in the few hours he could snatch from work and sleep, he was blacklisted by the employers as soon as he gave vent to the voice of labour in his district, he had to face unemployment and starvation in his early manhood and when he began to champion politically the rights of his class he found every prostitute journalist in these islands throwing mud at his character, and defaming his associates.
Yet he rose through it all, and above it all, never faltered in the fight, never failed to stand up for truth and justice as he saw it, and as the world will yet see it. On August 25th. Cunninghame Graham becoming President. Keir was a lay preacher and his political ideas were influenced by his devout religious beliefs.
Havelock Wilson Middlesborough the sailors leader. Keir Hardie was escorted to Parliament by his constituents in a charabanc on which a small brass band was playing. Keir Hardie wore a cloth cap thus breaking with a long standing tradition of MPs wearing top hats and long black coats. He helped form the Independent Labour Party in , and he was elected as its leader and chairman.
June 25th. This action would seem to the casual observer to be a bit severe, until other events are examined. On the very day that the Duchess gave birth, workers were killed in a mining disaster at Cilfynydd.
The following day the French President, M. Carnot was assassinated. Sir William Harcourt, on behalf of the Government, moved that condolences be sent to France. Keir Hardie rose to ask whether some official regrets should not also be sent to those bereaved by the Cilfynydd disaster.
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