James Arthur Salter
Encyclopedia
James Arthur Salter, 1st Baron Salter GBE
, KCB
, PC
(15 March 1881 – 27 June 1975) was a British
politician
and academic.
boating company Salters Steamers
, and Mayor of Oxford
in 1903. Educated at Oxford City High School and Brasenose College, Oxford
, where he was a scholar, he graduated with first class honours in Literae Humaniores
in 1903.
in 1904 and worked in the transport department of the Admiralty
, on national insurance, and as private secretary, being promoted to Assistant Secretary
grade in 1913. On the outbreak of war, he was recalled to the Admiralty, and became director of ship requisitioning. He was sent to Washington D.C. to press for a US programme of new construction. In 1917/18 he was a colleague of Jean Monnet
in the Chartering Committee of the Allied Maritime Transport Council
, and in 1919 appointed secretary of the Supreme Economic Council in Paris. Salter then worked as head of the economic and financial section of the League of Nations
secretariat, and in the League secretariat at Geneva
, where he worked for stabilization of currencies of Austria
and Hungary
and resettlement of refugees in Greece
and Bulgaria
.
He returned to London
in 1930, and worked as journalist and author. In 1932, he presided over a Conference on Road and Rail Transport tasked with looking at the true costs and benefits of transport, and whose results were known as the Salter Report
. It recommended changes to the way that public roads were funded to account for the growing demands of the motor car and road freight, and to ensure that road and rail were evenly regulated and competed fairly. After some deliberation, and receiving many protests from companies with road interests, government introduced freight licensing and the Road Fund
as a direct result, so that motorists should completely cover the costs of the road network and associated costs across the economy.
In 1934, he was appointed Gladstone professor of political theory and institutions at Oxford University, and a fellow of All Souls College, Oxford
. He was Member of Parliament
(MP) for Oxford University
from 1937-50. He resumed his shipping interests from World War I, being appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Shipping in 1939, and heading the British shipping mission to Washington from 1941–3. He was appointed a Privy Counsellor
in 1941. In 1944 he was appointed deputy director-general of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
. He briefly served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
in the summer of 1945. He was elected as Conservative MP for Ormskirk
from 1951–3, and served as Minister of State for Economic Affairs at the Treasury, and as Minister of Materials
in 1952. In the mid-1950s he was invited by Nuri al-Said to be one of the external members of the Iraqi government's Development Board; while working with this board, he produced what became to be known " the salter report" on industrial development of the Iraqi economy
He was raised to the peerage as Baron Salter, of Kidlington
in the County of Oxford
, on 16 October 1953. He had received many honours during his career, being first appointed a Companion of the Bath
in 1918, a Knight Commander of the Bath
in 1922, and a GBE
in 1944. His peerage became extinct when he died in 1975.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, KCB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
, PC
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
(15 March 1881 – 27 June 1975) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
and academic.
Background and education
Salter was the son of John Henry Salter (1853–1930), head of ThamesRiver Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
boating company Salters Steamers
Salters Steamers
Salters Steamers, formerly known as Salter Bros, is an old family firm based around boating on the River Thames, originally established in 1858. The company runs passenger services in summer along the whole length of the River Thames between Oxford and Staines. They also hire boats from Oxford ,...
, and Mayor of Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
in 1903. Educated at Oxford City High School and Brasenose College, Oxford
Brasenose College, Oxford
Brasenose College, originally Brazen Nose College , is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. As of 2006, it has an estimated financial endowment of £98m...
, where he was a scholar, he graduated with first class honours in Literae Humaniores
Literae Humaniores
Literae Humaniores is the name given to an undergraduate course focused on Classics at Oxford and some other universities.The Latin name means literally "more humane letters", but is perhaps better rendered as "Advanced Studies", since humaniores has the sense of "more refined" or "more learned",...
in 1903.
Career
Salter joined the Civil ServiceBritish Civil Service
Her Majesty's Home Civil Service, also known as the Home Civil Service, is the permanent bureaucracy of Crown employees that supports Her Majesty's Government - the government of the United Kingdom, composed of a Cabinet of ministers chosen by the prime minister, as well as the devolved...
in 1904 and worked in the transport department of the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
, on national insurance, and as private secretary, being promoted to Assistant Secretary
Assistant Secretary
Assistant Secretary is a grade in the British Civil Service, now more commonly styled Divisional Manager or Deputy Director. In the grading scheme they are denoted Grade 5....
grade in 1913. On the outbreak of war, he was recalled to the Admiralty, and became director of ship requisitioning. He was sent to Washington D.C. to press for a US programme of new construction. In 1917/18 he was a colleague of Jean Monnet
Jean Monnet
Jean Omer Marie Gabriel Monnet was a French political economist and diplomat. He is regarded by many as a chief architect of European Unity and is regarded as one of its founding fathers...
in the Chartering Committee of the Allied Maritime Transport Council
Allied Maritime Transport Council
The Allied Maritime Transport Council was an international agency created during World War I to coordinate shipping between the allied powers of France, Italy, Great Britain, and the United States. The council was formed at a conference in Paris in November 1917, with each nation appointing its...
, and in 1919 appointed secretary of the Supreme Economic Council in Paris. Salter then worked as head of the economic and financial section of the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
secretariat, and in the League secretariat at Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, where he worked for stabilization of currencies of Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
and resettlement of refugees in Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
.
He returned to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1930, and worked as journalist and author. In 1932, he presided over a Conference on Road and Rail Transport tasked with looking at the true costs and benefits of transport, and whose results were known as the Salter Report
Salter Report
The Salter Report was named after Arthur Salter, who chaired an influential conference of road and rail experts in 1932. The report directed British government policy for transport funding for decades to follow.- Railways :...
. It recommended changes to the way that public roads were funded to account for the growing demands of the motor car and road freight, and to ensure that road and rail were evenly regulated and competed fairly. After some deliberation, and receiving many protests from companies with road interests, government introduced freight licensing and the Road Fund
Vehicle excise duty
Vehicle Excise Duty is a vehicle road use tax levied as an excise duty which must be paid for most types of vehicle which are to be used on the public roads in the United Kingdom...
as a direct result, so that motorists should completely cover the costs of the road network and associated costs across the economy.
In 1934, he was appointed Gladstone professor of political theory and institutions at Oxford University, and a fellow of All Souls College, Oxford
All Souls College, Oxford
The Warden and the College of the Souls of all Faithful People deceased in the University of Oxford or All Souls College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England....
. He was Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Oxford University
Oxford University (UK Parliament constituency)
Oxford University was a university constituency electing two members to the British House of Commons, from 1603 to 1950.-Boundaries, Electorate and Electoral System:...
from 1937-50. He resumed his shipping interests from World War I, being appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Shipping in 1939, and heading the British shipping mission to Washington from 1941–3. He was appointed a Privy Counsellor
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
in 1941. In 1944 he was appointed deputy director-general of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration was an international relief agency, largely dominated by the United States but representing 44 nations. Founded in 1943, it became part of the United Nations in 1945, was especially active in 1945 and 1946, and largely shut down...
. He briefly served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is, in modern times, a ministerial office in the government of the United Kingdom that includes as part of its duties, the administration of the estates and rents of the Duchy of Lancaster...
in the summer of 1945. He was elected as Conservative MP for Ormskirk
Ormskirk (UK Parliament constituency)
Ormskirk was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election. It was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 as a division of the parliamentary county of...
from 1951–3, and served as Minister of State for Economic Affairs at the Treasury, and as Minister of Materials
Minister of Materials
The Minister of Materials was a short-lived ministerial office in the Government of the United Kingdom, in charge of the Ministry of Materials. Created on 6 July 1951, the office was wound up on 16 August 1954. Most of its holders also held another ministerial office.The establishment of the...
in 1952. In the mid-1950s he was invited by Nuri al-Said to be one of the external members of the Iraqi government's Development Board; while working with this board, he produced what became to be known " the salter report" on industrial development of the Iraqi economy
He was raised to the peerage as Baron Salter, of Kidlington
Kidlington
Kidlington is a large village and civil parish between the River Cherwell and the Oxford Canal, north of Oxford and southwest of Bicester.-History:...
in the County of Oxford
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, on 16 October 1953. He had received many honours during his career, being first appointed a Companion of the Bath
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
in 1918, a Knight Commander of the Bath
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
in 1922, and a GBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 1944. His peerage became extinct when he died in 1975.