ABSTRACT
"The Jubilee proceedings must leave lasting consequences behind. The Northern Echo, June 29, 1897, diplomatically hints Radical objections to some aspects of the Jubilee celebrations. On the opposite side of politics, meanwhile, plans for a Diamond Jubilee were being matured which should use the occasion for great demonstration of Imperial power, serviceable both within the Empire and without. In his favour, too, was the mounting Imperialist excitement, called out by the Jubilee preparations and first manifested, perhaps, in the surprisingly fervid commemoration of Trafalgar Day on October 21, 1896. While the excitements of the Jubilee preparations of 1897 had been rising, the Cabinet, apparently under Mr. Chamberlain’s impulsion, had been at pains to demonstrate that, despite Radical attacks on its Education Bill, it was reasonably and sanely “progressive”. For the Workmen’s Compensation Bill of 1897 Mr. Chamberlain claimed the special advantage, over Mr. Asquith’s of 1894, sponsored by employers and trusted by workmen, to continue to function as “certified schemes”.
