Francis Wrigley Hirst

Francis Wrigley Hirst (10 June, 1873 - 22 February, 1953) was a British journalist, writer and editor of "The Economist" magazine. He was a Liberal in party terms and a classical liberal in ideology.

Early life

Hirst was born at Dalton Lodge, two miles east of Huddersfield. [F. W. Hirst, "In the Golden Days" (London: Frederick Muller Ltd, 1947), p. 17.] He attended Clifton College, a public school, and became editor of the "Cliftonian". [Hirst, p. 79.] He went to Wadham College, Oxford from 1892 to 1896, where he was Librarian and then President of the Oxford Union Society. [Hirst, p. 87.] He gained a First in Classical Moderations in 1894 and a First in Greats in 1896. [Hirst, p. 87.]

Liberal publicist

In the late 1890s Hirst decided to persuade his Oxford friends to write a volume of essays on Liberalism with him. The group wanted the preface to be written by a prominent Liberal, other than Lord Rosebery or Sir William Harcourt as these were leaders of opposing factions. Their first preference was John Morley but he declined on the grounds that he would be attacked for opinions expressed in the book which he did not hold. Hirst then asked H. H. Asquith who said the essays were likely intended to be "a declaration of war against that section of Liberal opinion, which has of recent years gravitated towards modes of thought and fashions of speech which are called 'Collectivist'". He further said that whilst he did not find himself in "substantial disagreement" with the essays he declined the offer because "exception might not unreasonably be taken to my going out of my way (as it would be said) to herald a militant demonstration, avowedly directed against a section (however small) of the party of which I am (for the time being) one of the responsible leaders". [Hirst, p. 157.] Hirst was "baffled" by this and then asked William Gladstone. Gladstone replied with a handwritten letter:

"I am wholly unable to comply with the requests which so often reach me for the writing of Prefaces, but I venture on assuring you that I regard the design formed by you and your friends with sincere interest, and in particular wish well to all the efforts you may make on behalf of individual freedom and independence as opposed to what is termed Collectivism". [Hirst, p. 158.]

In the end Hirst and his friend J. S. Phillimore wrote the preface. The book was dedicated to Morley. After Morley read Hirst's contribution to Cassell's biography of Gladstone edited by Sir Wemyss Reid, he asked Hirst to spend a few weeks with him at Hawarden Castle (Gladstone's home) to write Gladstone's authorised biography. [Hirst, p. 162.] Hirst was against the Boer War and helped found the League Against Aggression and Militarism. [Hirst, p. 199.]

After he had left Oxford Hirst edited political and economic books for Harper's, including one on Toryism by F. E. Smith and one on Socialism by R. C. K. Ensor. Another was his compilation of extracts from Richard Cobden, John Bright, Joseph Hume, W. J. Fox, William Molesworth, Thomas Farrer and others entitled "Free Trade and Other Fundamental Doctrines of the Manchester School". [Hirst, p. 231.] In 1904 Morley asked Hirst to write a biography of Adam Smith for his "English Men of Letters" series and for the next two years he was writing "The Arbiter in Council", an imaginary dialogue between the Arbiter, an old Cobdenite Radical, discussing the issues of war and peace. Morley recommended it to Macmillan and it was published anonymously but the authorship came to be known. [Hirst, p. 232.]

Morley also recommended Hirst as editor of "The Economist", which held from 1907 to 1916. Hirst was with John Burns when in August 1914 Britain declared war on Germany, and they both wept at the news. [Hirst, p. 238.] He was editor of the journal "Common Sense" from 1916 to 1921.

He stood for Parliament as a Liberal in 1910 and 1929.

Views

J. E. Allen called Hirst "a disciple of Adam Smith" who

:"disliked indirect taxes, except a few on articles of general consumption which are not necessaries, such as tobacco, beer, spirits, and wine". ["F. W. Hirst By his Friends" (London: Oxford University Press, 1958), p. 15.]

In his later years Hirst was

:"more than doubtful about the value of the 'Welfare State', and of what he called 'The Beveridge Hoax'. He did not admit the right of Parliament to take money from one lot of citizens and give it to another lot; in fact he disliked the use of the Budget as an instrument for the redistribution of the national income. Borrowing by the Government or by local authorities seemed to him dangerous". ["F. W. Hirst By his Friends", p. 17.]

G. P. Gooch said of him that

:"his horror of tariffs, huge armaments, and war was hardly greater than his detestation of the omnipotent State...he remained a 'Manchester' man to the end". ["F. W. Hirst By his Friends", p. 22.]

Hirst was a Cobdenite isolationist who disliked the balance of power theory and feared the League of Nations gave Britain obligations which might lead her into war. ["F. W. Hirst By his Friends", p. 23.] Roger Fulford has noted Hirst's hostility to

:"'Mr. George' and the follies of his economic plans for curing unemployment". ["F. W. Hirst By his Friends", p. 28.]

Maurice Bowra described Hirst as believing

:"the nation's finances were the most serious thing in its politics. He hated to see public extravagance...He thought the expense of war one of its most deadly characteristics. With him expenditure of public money was a moral activity which should be governed by the highest principles and never be prostituted to electoral or party needs. He believed firmly in private enterprise and had little affection for State control...one felt in the presence of a true disciple of Gladstone". ["F. W. Hirst By his Friends", p. 32.]

Another friend of Hirst's, A. F. Thompson, asserted that he was

:"archetype of the stern and unbending Cobdenite...His denunciations of Keynes were particularly memorable". ["F. W. Hirst By his Friends", p. 35, p. 37.]

Publications

*"Essays in Liberalism" (part author, 1897).
*'Mr. Gladstone. I.', "The Economic Journal", Vol. 8, No. 31. (Sep., 1898), pp. 395-402.
*'Mr. Gladstone II', "The Economic Journal", Vol. 8, No. 32. (Dec., 1898), pp. 533-543.
*"The Life of William Ewart Gladstone" (edited by Sir Wemyss Reid, 1899):
**Chapter II: "Mr. Gladstone and the Oxford Union Society".
**Chapter IV: "Mr. Gladstone as a Tory, 1832–1841".
**Chapter VI: "Mr. Gladstone and the reform of the tariff, 1841–1846".
**Chapter VIII: "Mr. Gladstone as a Peelite, 1846–1859".
**Chapter IX: Mr. Gladstone as Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1853, 1859–1865".
**Chapter XI: "Mr. Gladstone as Leader of the House and reformer, 1865–1868".
**Chapter XIII: "Mr. Gladstone's first premiership, 1868–1874".
**Chapter XV: "Mr. Gladstone's first retirement, 1874–1876".
**Chapter XVI: "Mr. Gladstone and the Eastern Question, 1876–18792.
**Chapter XVII: "Mr. Gladstone's second premiership, 1880–1885".
**Chapter XVIII: "Mr. Gladstone and Home Rule, 1885–1892".
**Chapter XIX: "Mr. Gladstone's fourth premiership and final retirement, 1892–1897".
*"Local Government in England" (with J. Redlich), 2 vols, 1903.
*"Adam Smith", 1904.
*"Trusts and Cartels", 1905.
*"The Arbiter in Council", 1906.
*"Stock Exchange", 1911.
*"Progress of the Nation", 1912.
*"Political Economy of War", 1915.
*"From Adam Smith to Philip Snowden: A History of Free Trade in Great Britain", 1925.
*"Life of Thomas Jefferson", 1926.
*"Early Life and Letters of John Morley", 1927.
*"Safeguarding and Protection", 1928.
*"Wall Street and Lombard Street", 1931.
*"Gladstone as Financier and Economist", 1931.
*"Gold, Silver and Paper Money", 1933.
*"Consequences of the War to Great Britain", 1934.
*"Liberty and Tyranny", 1935.
*"Economic Freedom and Private Property", 1935.
*"Armaments", 1937;
*"Free Markets or Monopoly", 1942.
*"Problems and Fallacies of Political Economy", 1943.
*"Foreign Policy, Past and Future", 1944.
*"Principles of Prosperity", 1945.
*"Repeal of the Corn Laws", 1946.
*"In the Golden Days", 1947.

Notes

Further reading

*“The last of the Liberals” - The career and political thought of Francis Wrigley Hirst (1873-1953),Jaime Reynolds: Journal of Liberal History, Issue 47, Summer 2005
*Francis Wrigley Hirst, by A C Howe: in "Dictionary of National Biography" Oxford, 2004-08

External links

* [http://economia.unipv.it/harrod/edition/editionstuff/rfh.4ab.htm] Hirst page at economia
* [http://www.fee.org/publications/the-freeman/article.asp?aid=4401] Hirst biography at the Foundation for Economic Education