ABSTRACT
The approach of democracy evoked both apprehension and excitement, though what it precisely involved was still a matter for speculation. The velvet-jacketed Sheffield seer Edward Carpenter urged his readers to start on the journey Towards Democracy. Empire was ultimately based upon the ability to use force and subdue populations. In a sense, therefore, the United Kingdom was becoming an 'imperial democracy', though there was an inherent tension in the concept. British Conservatism, however, had shown itself to be a remarkably malleable political outlook far less rigid than its European equivalents and more successful. The Conservatives in the 1870s may not have had a comprehensive programme of social reform Disraeli did not believe in comprehensive programmes but their legislative record was important. The Public Health Act, 1875, for example, brought some order to a mass of sanitary legislation. Cross's Artisans' Dwelling Act of the same year allowed, but did not direct, local authorities to demolish slums.
