ABSTRACT
We must now go back to the beginning of 1890. Just as he was probably becoming a trifle bored with the India Office, Gorst’s life took a new turn. Lord Salisbury gave him the job of leading the eight-man British mission to the international conference on labour in Berlin in March of that year. The conference, with delegations from 15 European countries, was held under the auspices of Kaiser Wilhelm II to find ways of improving the conditions of work in factories and mines. Salisbury did not rate questions to do with labour very highly. If he had done, someone senior to Gorst would have gone to Berlin. Why Salisbury should have chosen Gorst, well known for his often awkward liberal views and social conscience, is a bit of a mystery unless his predilection for Germany was a factor. And certainly had Salisbury anticipated the effect the conference was to have in directing Gorst’s energies and ideas into new channels, a development viewed by some as inimical to the party’s interests, he might have paused for more thought before making the appointment.
