Richard Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane
Encyclopedia
Richard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane KT
, OM
, PC, KC
, FRS
, FBA
, FSA
(30 July 1856 – 19 August 1928), was an influential British Liberal Imperialist
and later Labour
politician, lawyer and philosopher. He was Secretary of State for War
between 1905 and 1912 during which time the "Haldane Reforms
" were implemented. Raised to the peerage as Viscount Haldane in 1911, he was Lord Chancellor
between 1912 and 1915, when he was forced to resign because of his supposed and unproven German sympathies. He later joined the Labour Party and once again served as Lord Chancellor in 1924 the first ever Labour administration. Apart from his legal and political careers, Haldane was also an influential writer on philosophy, in recognition of which he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy
in 1914.
, Scotland
, the son of Robert Haldane and his wife Mary Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Burdon-Sanderson. He was the grandson of the Scottish evangelist James Alexander Haldane, the brother of respiratory physiologist John Scott Haldane, Sir William Haldane
and author Elizabeth Haldane
and the uncle of J. B. S. Haldane
. He received his first education at the Edinburgh Academy
and at the Göttingen University
and University of Edinburgh
where he received first-class honors in Philosophy and as Gray scholar and Ferguson scholar in philosophy of the four Scottish Universities. After studying law in London, he was called to the Bar
, Lincoln's Inn
, in 1879, and became a successful lawyer. In 1890 he was made a Queen's Counsel
.
Member of Parliament
for Haddingtonshire
, a seat he held until 1911. In 1902 he was admitted to the Privy Council.
government of Arthur Balfour
fell in December 1905 there was some speculation that Herbert Henry Asquith
and his allies Haldane and Sir Edward Grey
would refuse to serve unless Campbell-Bannerman accepted a peerage, which would have left Asquith as the real leader in the House of Commons. However, the plot (called "The Relugas Compact
" after the Scottish lodge where the men met) collapsed when Asquith agreed to serve as Chancellor of the Exchequer
under Campbell-Bannerman. Haldane was appointed Secretary of State for War
(Grey became Foreign Secretary). The party won a landslide victory in the 1906 general election
. Haldane, a prominent Liberal Imperialist and close associate of Asquith, was persuaded by fellow Liberal Imperialist, Edward Grey, as early as January 1906 to begin planning for a Continental war in support of the French against the Germans. Having reduced the Estimates to £28 million first, Haldane then implemented his reforms of the Army; a wide-ranging set of reforms aimed at preparing the army
for an Imperial war but with the more likely (and secret) task of a European war. The main element of this was the establishment of the British Expeditionary Force, along with the creation of the Imperial General Staff, the Territorial Force
, the Officer Training Corps and the Special Reserve. He was also instrumental in the creation the Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
in 1909, which provided the fledgling aircraft industry in the United Kingdom with a sound body of science on which to base the development of aircraft for the next seventy years (it was disbanded in 1979). This institution was soon copied by many other major developed countries.
In 1911 he was raised to the peerage as Viscount Haldane, of Cloan in the County of Perth.
On Lord Loreburn's retirement in 1912, Haldane succeeded him as Lord Chancellor
. That year saw the unsuccessful attempt of the Haldane Mission
. In 1913 he was made a Knight of the Thistle
. However, he was forced to resign in 1915, after being falsely accused of pro-German sympathies. The accusations were widely believed, even being echoed in a popular music hall song ("All dressed up and nowhere to go") in the revue "Mr Manhattan". As the war progressed, Haldane moved increasingly close to the Labour Party but he was held back by his ties to the Liberal Party and to Asquith. It was not until the general election of 1923 that Haldane formally sided with Labour, and made several speeches on behalf of Labour
candidates. When the Labour government was formed by Ramsay MacDonald
in early 1924, Haldane was recruited to serve once again as Lord Chancellor
. He was also joint Leader of the Labour Peers with Lord Parmoor
. Haldane was a vital member of the Cabinet
as he was one of only three members who had sat in a cabinet before; the other two had sat only briefly and for junior posts.. When the Irish War of Independence
broke out in 1919, Haldane was one of the first British politicians to argue that the solution lay in compromise rather than force.
, at that time the court of last resort for the Empire. He retained the position even when he was no longer Chancellor. He sat on several cases from Canada dealing with the division of powers between the federal and provincial governments under the Canadian Constitution, particularly the interplay between sections 91 and 92 of the Constitution Act, 1867
. He gave the decision for the Judicial Committee in several of those cases, and showed a marked tendency to favour the provincial powers at the expense of the federal government. For instance, in the case of In re the Board of Commerce Act, 1919, and the Combines and Fair Prices Act
, he gave the decision striking down federal legislation which attempted to regulate the economy. In doing so, he gave very restrictive readings to both the "peace, order and good government
" power of the federal government, as well as the federal criminal law power. Similarly, in Toronto Electric Commissioners v. Snider
, Lord Haldane struck down a federal statute attempting to regulate industrial disputes, holding that it was not within federal authority under either the peace, order and good government power, nor the federal trade and commerce power. He went so far as to suggest that the trade and commerce power was simply an ancillary federal power, which could not authorise legislation in its own right. The effect of some of these decisions have subsequently been modified by later decisions of the Judicial Committee and the Supreme Court of Canada
, but they have had the long-term effect of recognising substantial provincial powers. Haldane's approach to the division of powers was heavily criticised by some academics and lawyers in Canada, such as F.R. Scott and Chief Justice Bora Laskin
, as unduly favouring the provinces over the federal government and depriving the federal government of the powers needed to deal with modern economic issues. More recently, one major study has characterised him as "the wicked stepfather" of the Canadian Constitution.
of social reformers set up in 1902 by the Fabian
campaigners Sidney and Beatrice Webb
. In 1904 he was President of the Edinburgh Sir Walter Scott Club and gave the Toast to Sir Walter at the Club's annual dinner. He also served as second Chancellor
of the University of Bristol
, and was elected Chancellor of the University of St Andrews
shortly before his death.
. He was also involved in the founding of Imperial College in 1907 and in his honour the University contains the Haldane Recreational Library.
's The World as Will and Representation
, published between 1883 and 1886. He wrote several philosophical works, the best known of which is The Reign of Relativity (1921), which dealt with the philosophical
implications of the theory of relativity
. From 1907 to 1908 he was president of the Aristotelian Society
.
, Scotland, on 19 August 1928, aged 72. The viscountcy became extinct on his death.
, the Conservative politician, praised Haldane in November 1923 as an exception to the idealism in Britain before the Great War:
The military historian Correlli Barnett
claimed Haldane had "all-round personal talents far exceeding those of his predecessors" as Secretary of State for War and was "a man of first-class intellect and wide education".
Order of the Thistle
The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is an order of chivalry associated with Scotland. The current version of the Order was founded in 1687 by King James VII of Scotland who asserted that he was reviving an earlier Order...
, OM
Order of Merit
The Order of Merit is a British dynastic order recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture...
, PC, KC
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
, FRS
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
, FBA
British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national body for the humanities and the social sciences. Its purpose is to inspire, recognise and support excellence in the humanities and social sciences, throughout the UK and internationally, and to champion their role and value.It receives an annual...
, FSA
Society of Antiquaries of London
The Society of Antiquaries of London is a learned society "charged by its Royal Charter of 1751 with 'the encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries'." It is based at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London , and is...
(30 July 1856 – 19 August 1928), was an influential British Liberal Imperialist
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
and later Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
politician, lawyer and philosopher. He was Secretary of State for War
Secretary of State for War
The position of Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a British cabinet-level position, first held by Henry Dundas . In 1801 the post became that of Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. The position was re-instated in 1854...
between 1905 and 1912 during which time the "Haldane Reforms
Haldane Reforms
The Haldane Reforms were a series of far-ranging reforms of the British Army made from 1906 to 1912, and named after the Secretary of State for War, Richard Burdon Haldane...
" were implemented. Raised to the peerage as Viscount Haldane in 1911, he was Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
between 1912 and 1915, when he was forced to resign because of his supposed and unproven German sympathies. He later joined the Labour Party and once again served as Lord Chancellor in 1924 the first ever Labour administration. Apart from his legal and political careers, Haldane was also an influential writer on philosophy, in recognition of which he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy
British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national body for the humanities and the social sciences. Its purpose is to inspire, recognise and support excellence in the humanities and social sciences, throughout the UK and internationally, and to champion their role and value.It receives an annual...
in 1914.
Background and education
Haldane was born in EdinburghEdinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, the son of Robert Haldane and his wife Mary Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Burdon-Sanderson. He was the grandson of the Scottish evangelist James Alexander Haldane, the brother of respiratory physiologist John Scott Haldane, Sir William Haldane
William Haldane
Sir William Stowell Haldane of Cloan was Crown Agent for Scotland.Haldane was the son of Robert Haldane, and his grandfather was the Scottish evangelist James Alexander Haldane. His mother was Mary Elizabeth Burdon-Sanderson, the daughter of Richard Burdon-Sanderson and the granddaughter of Sir...
and author Elizabeth Haldane
Elizabeth Haldane
Elizabeth Sanderson Haldane was an eminent public figure, author, biographer, philosopher, suffragist, nursing administrator, and social welfare worker. She was the sister of Richard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane and John Scott Haldane, and became the first female Justice of the Peace in...
and the uncle of J. B. S. Haldane
J. B. S. Haldane
John Burdon Sanderson Haldane FRS , known as Jack , was a British-born geneticist and evolutionary biologist. A staunch Marxist, he was critical of Britain's role in the Suez Crisis, and chose to leave Oxford and moved to India and became an Indian citizen...
. He received his first education at the Edinburgh Academy
Edinburgh Academy
The Edinburgh Academy is an independent school which was opened in 1824. The original building, in Henderson Row on the northern fringe of the New Town of Edinburgh, Scotland, is now part of the Senior School...
and at the Göttingen University
Georg-August University of Göttingen
The University of Göttingen , known informally as Georgia Augusta, is a university in the city of Göttingen, Germany.Founded in 1734 by King George II of Great Britain and the Elector of Hanover, it opened for classes in 1737. The University of Göttingen soon grew in size and popularity...
and University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
where he received first-class honors in Philosophy and as Gray scholar and Ferguson scholar in philosophy of the four Scottish Universities. After studying law in London, he was called to the Bar
Call to the bar
The Call to the Bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party, and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received a "call to the bar"...
, Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
, in 1879, and became a successful lawyer. In 1890 he was made a Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
.
Early political career
In 1885 Haldane was elected LiberalLiberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
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,...
for Haddingtonshire
Haddingtonshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Haddingtonshire was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1708 until 1918.-Boundaries:...
, a seat he held until 1911. In 1902 he was admitted to the Privy Council.
Secretary of State for War
After the ConservativeConservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
government of Arthur Balfour
Arthur Balfour
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, KG, OM, PC, DL was a British Conservative politician and statesman...
fell in December 1905 there was some speculation that Herbert Henry Asquith
H. H. Asquith
Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, KG, PC, KC served as the Liberal Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916...
and his allies Haldane and Sir Edward Grey
Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon
Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon KG, PC, FZL, DL , better known as Sir Edward Grey, Bt, was a British Liberal statesman. He served as Foreign Secretary from 1905 to 1916, the longest continuous tenure of any person in that office...
would refuse to serve unless Campbell-Bannerman accepted a peerage, which would have left Asquith as the real leader in the House of Commons. However, the plot (called "The Relugas Compact
The Relugas Compact
The Relugas Compact was the name given to the political plot hatched between H. H. Asquith, Sir Edward Grey and R B Haldane to remove Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman from the leadership of the Liberal Party in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom in 1905....
" after the Scottish lodge where the men met) collapsed when Asquith agreed to serve as Chancellor of the Exchequer
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...
under Campbell-Bannerman. Haldane was appointed Secretary of State for War
Secretary of State for War
The position of Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a British cabinet-level position, first held by Henry Dundas . In 1801 the post became that of Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. The position was re-instated in 1854...
(Grey became Foreign Secretary). The party won a landslide victory in the 1906 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1906
-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1906*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:***-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...
. Haldane, a prominent Liberal Imperialist and close associate of Asquith, was persuaded by fellow Liberal Imperialist, Edward Grey, as early as January 1906 to begin planning for a Continental war in support of the French against the Germans. Having reduced the Estimates to £28 million first, Haldane then implemented his reforms of the Army; a wide-ranging set of reforms aimed at preparing the army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
for an Imperial war but with the more likely (and secret) task of a European war. The main element of this was the establishment of the British Expeditionary Force, along with the creation of the Imperial General Staff, the Territorial Force
Territorial Force
The Territorial Force was the volunteer reserve component of the British Army from 1908 to 1920, when it became the Territorial Army.-Origins:...
, the Officer Training Corps and the Special Reserve. He was also instrumental in the creation the Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
The Advisory Committee for Aeronautics was a United Kingdom agency founded on April 30, 1909 to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research...
in 1909, which provided the fledgling aircraft industry in the United Kingdom with a sound body of science on which to base the development of aircraft for the next seventy years (it was disbanded in 1979). This institution was soon copied by many other major developed countries.
In 1911 he was raised to the peerage as Viscount Haldane, of Cloan in the County of Perth.
Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
. That year saw the unsuccessful attempt of the Haldane Mission
Haldane Mission
The Haldane Mission led by Richard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane was an effort to quell the friction between the United Kingdom and Germany arising because of their naval arms race. It took place February 8–12, 1912. The mission was a failure because, when he arrived, Germany announced the...
. In 1913 he was made a Knight of the Thistle
Order of the Thistle
The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is an order of chivalry associated with Scotland. The current version of the Order was founded in 1687 by King James VII of Scotland who asserted that he was reviving an earlier Order...
. However, he was forced to resign in 1915, after being falsely accused of pro-German sympathies. The accusations were widely believed, even being echoed in a popular music hall song ("All dressed up and nowhere to go") in the revue "Mr Manhattan". As the war progressed, Haldane moved increasingly close to the Labour Party but he was held back by his ties to the Liberal Party and to Asquith. It was not until the general election of 1923 that Haldane formally sided with Labour, and made several speeches on behalf of Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
candidates. When the Labour government was formed by Ramsay MacDonald
Ramsay MacDonald
James Ramsay MacDonald, PC, FRS was a British politician who was the first ever Labour Prime Minister, leading a minority government for two terms....
in early 1924, Haldane was recruited to serve once again as Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
. He was also joint Leader of the Labour Peers with Lord Parmoor
Charles Cripps, 1st Baron Parmoor
Charles Alfred Cripps, 1st Baron Parmoor KCVO, PC, QC was a British politician who crossed the floor from the Conservative to the Labour Party and was a strong supporter of the League of Nations and of Church of England causes....
. Haldane was a vital member of the Cabinet
Labour Government 1924
See also First Labour Government Members of the Cabinet are in bold face.Source: D. Butler and G. Butler, Twentieth Century British Political Facts 1900-2000...
as he was one of only three members who had sat in a cabinet before; the other two had sat only briefly and for junior posts.. When the Irish War of Independence
Irish War of Independence
The Irish War of Independence , Anglo-Irish War, Black and Tan War, or Tan War was a guerrilla war mounted by the Irish Republican Army against the British government and its forces in Ireland. It began in January 1919, following the Irish Republic's declaration of independence. Both sides agreed...
broke out in 1919, Haldane was one of the first British politicians to argue that the solution lay in compromise rather than force.
Contribution to Canadian Constitutional Law
As Lord Chancellor, Haldane was a member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy CouncilJudicial Committee of the Privy Council
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is one of the highest courts in the United Kingdom. Established by the Judicial Committee Act 1833 to hear appeals formerly heard by the King in Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is one of the highest courts in the United...
, at that time the court of last resort for the Empire. He retained the position even when he was no longer Chancellor. He sat on several cases from Canada dealing with the division of powers between the federal and provincial governments under the Canadian Constitution, particularly the interplay between sections 91 and 92 of the Constitution Act, 1867
Constitution Act, 1867
The Constitution Act, 1867 , is a major part of Canada's Constitution. The Act created a federal dominion and defines much of the operation of the Government of Canada, including its federal structure, the House of Commons, the Senate, the justice system, and the taxation system...
. He gave the decision for the Judicial Committee in several of those cases, and showed a marked tendency to favour the provincial powers at the expense of the federal government. For instance, in the case of In re the Board of Commerce Act, 1919, and the Combines and Fair Prices Act
Canada v. Alberta
In re the Board of Commerce Act, 1919, and the Combines and Fair Prices Act, 1919 [1922] 1 A.C. 191 - commonly known as the Board of Commerce case - is a Canadian constitutional decision of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council where the "emergency" doctrine under the peace, order and good...
, he gave the decision striking down federal legislation which attempted to regulate the economy. In doing so, he gave very restrictive readings to both the "peace, order and good government
Peace, order and good government
In many Commonwealth jurisdictions, the phrase "peace, order and good government" is an expression used in law to express the legitimate objects of legislative powers conferred by statute...
" power of the federal government, as well as the federal criminal law power. Similarly, in Toronto Electric Commissioners v. Snider
Toronto Electric Commissioners v. Snider
Toronto Electric Commissioners v. Snider, [1925] AC 396 is a famous Canadian constitutional decision of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council where the Council struck down the federal Industrial Disputes Investigation Act, precursor to the Canada Labour Code...
, Lord Haldane struck down a federal statute attempting to regulate industrial disputes, holding that it was not within federal authority under either the peace, order and good government power, nor the federal trade and commerce power. He went so far as to suggest that the trade and commerce power was simply an ancillary federal power, which could not authorise legislation in its own right. The effect of some of these decisions have subsequently been modified by later decisions of the Judicial Committee and the Supreme Court of Canada
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...
, but they have had the long-term effect of recognising substantial provincial powers. Haldane's approach to the division of powers was heavily criticised by some academics and lawyers in Canada, such as F.R. Scott and Chief Justice Bora Laskin
Bora Laskin
Bora Laskin, PC, CC, FRSC was a Canadian jurist, who served on the Supreme Court of Canada for fourteen years, including a decade as its Chief Justice.-Early life:...
, as unduly favouring the provinces over the federal government and depriving the federal government of the powers needed to deal with modern economic issues. More recently, one major study has characterised him as "the wicked stepfather" of the Canadian Constitution.
Other public appointments
Haldane was a member of the Coefficients dining clubCoefficients (dining club)
The Coefficients was a dining club founded in 1902 at a dinner given by the Fabian campaigners Sidney and Beatrice Webb. It was a forum for the meeting of British socialist reformers and imperialists of the Edwardian era...
of social reformers set up in 1902 by the Fabian
Fabian Society
The Fabian Society is a British socialist movement, whose purpose is to advance the principles of democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist, rather than revolutionary, means. It is best known for its initial ground-breaking work beginning late in the 19th century and continuing up to World...
campaigners Sidney and Beatrice Webb
Beatrice Webb
Martha Beatrice Webb, Lady Passfield was an English sociologist, economist, socialist and social reformer. Although her husband became Baron Passfield in 1929, she refused to be known as Lady Passfield...
. In 1904 he was President of the Edinburgh Sir Walter Scott Club and gave the Toast to Sir Walter at the Club's annual dinner. He also served as second Chancellor
Chancellor
Chancellor is the title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the Cancellarii of Roman courts of justice—ushers who sat at the cancelli or lattice work screens of a basilica or law court, which separated the judge and counsel from the...
of the University of Bristol
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...
, and was elected Chancellor of the University of St Andrews
University of St Andrews
The University of St Andrews, informally referred to as "St Andrews", is the oldest university in Scotland and the third oldest in the English-speaking world after Oxford and Cambridge. The university is situated in the town of St Andrews, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It was founded between...
shortly before his death.
Influence on education
In 1895 Haldane helped found the London School of EconomicsLondon School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
. He was also involved in the founding of Imperial College in 1907 and in his honour the University contains the Haldane Recreational Library.
Writings
Haldane co-translated the first English edition of SchopenhauerArthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer was a German philosopher known for his pessimism and philosophical clarity. At age 25, he published his doctoral dissertation, On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason, which examined the four separate manifestations of reason in the phenomenal...
's The World as Will and Representation
The World as Will and Representation
The World as Will and Representation is the central work of the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. The first edition was published in December 1818, and the second expanded edition in 1844. In 1948, an abridged version was edited by Thomas Mann....
, published between 1883 and 1886. He wrote several philosophical works, the best known of which is The Reign of Relativity (1921), which dealt with the philosophical
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
implications of the theory of relativity
Theory of relativity
The theory of relativity, or simply relativity, encompasses two theories of Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity. However, the word relativity is sometimes used in reference to Galilean invariance....
. From 1907 to 1908 he was president of the Aristotelian Society
Aristotelian Society
The Aristotelian Society for the Systematic Study of Philosophy was founded at a meeting on 19 April 1880, at 17 Bloomsbury Square which resolved "to constitute a society of about twenty and to include ladies; the society to meet fortnightly, on Mondays at 8 o'clock, at the rooms of the Spelling...
.
Personal life
Haldane remained a lifelong bachelor after his fiancée, Miss Valentine Ferguson, broke off their engagement. He died suddenly of heart disease at his home in AuchterarderAuchterarder
Auchterarder is a small town located north of the Ochil Hills in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, and home to the famous Gleneagles Hotel. The 1.5 mile long High Street of Auchterarder gave the town its popular name of "Lang Toon"....
, Scotland, on 19 August 1928, aged 72. The viscountcy became extinct on his death.
Legacy
Lord BirkenheadF. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead
Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead GCSI, PC, KC , best known to history as F. E. Smith , was a British Conservative statesman and lawyer of the early 20th century. He was a skilled orator, noted for his staunch opposition to Irish nationalism, his wit, pugnacious views, and hard living...
, the Conservative politician, praised Haldane in November 1923 as an exception to the idealism in Britain before the Great War:
In the welter of sentimentality, amid which Great Britain might easily have mouldered into ruin, my valued colleague, Lord Haldane, presented a figure alike interesting, individual, and arresting. In speech fluent and even infinite he yielded to no living idealist in the easy coinage of sentimental phraseology. Here, indeed, he was a match for those who distributed the chloroform of Berlin. Do we not remember, for instance, that Germany was his spiritual home? But he none the less prepared himself, and the Empire, to talk when the time came with his spiritual friends in language not in the least spiritual. He devised the Territorial Army, which was capable of becoming the easy nucleus of national conscription, and which unquestionably ought to have been used for that purpose at the outbreak of war. He created the Imperial General Staff. He founded the Officers' Training Corps.
The military historian Correlli Barnett
Correlli Barnett
Correlli Douglas Barnett CBE FRSL is an English military historian, who has also written works of economic history, particularly on the United Kingdom's post-war "industrial decline".-Personal life:...
claimed Haldane had "all-round personal talents far exceeding those of his predecessors" as Secretary of State for War and was "a man of first-class intellect and wide education".