The Fugitive Slave Circulars, 1875–76

The fugitive slave circular was one of the most prominent issues in British political debate in 1875 and 1876. The agitation over the instructions issued by the Admiralty on returning fugitive slaves to their masters marked the first significant attack on Disraeli's imperialism, setting the agenda for later attacks, including Gladstone's Midlothian campaign. A study of the agitation and the making of policy shows that humanitarianism retained significant popular appeal between the high points identified by historians in the early nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This study of the fugitive slave circular examines the different groups involved in the agitation and shows how humanitarian politics were embedded with other contemporary debates about matters such as international law, geopolitics, party politics, the British constitution and religion.     

Patronage and Professionalism: Manning a Transitional Empire, 1760–1870

While there is agreement that the Colonial Office continued to man an expanding empire in the nineteenth century by the technique of patronage, the reasons for the longevity of this practice, despite ‘reform’ of civil service recruitment in the early 1850s, have been little analysed. This article explores, from patronage records and private papers, the factors sustaining preferment in the gift of secretaries of state and their governors, rather than by resorting to examinations. Its conclusions are that the practice was associated with class status among senior civil servants, gradually mitigated by promotions from within colonial establishments. Patronage was burdensome to manage centrally and had to be devolved to governors, as colonial establishments expanded, creating a pool of talent among senior officials for secretaries of state to draw on. This trend is evident in establishment statistics from the late 1840s to1871. It supports the Colonial Office claim that the service was ‘professional’ according to its own criteria of learning through experience in political accommodation with local notables and dealing with emergencies. Thus, the department justified its opposition to competitive examinations for appointments overseas, while tolerating them for junior posts at home, and the practice survived till the end of the century and after.     

Across the Oceans: development of overseas business information transmission 1815–1875

This article examines the imposed adaptation of Orthodox Finns, who were evacuated from territories ceded to the Soviet Union during the Second World War in the areas where they were settled. It elucidates both the settlement measures taken by the Finnish authorities and the unofficial forms of control, such as labelling and other discriminatory practices, exercised by the local populations. By controlling the behaviour of the displaced persons, the original inhabitants were able to make the newcomers conform to the values, norms and habits of the Lutheran community at both local and national levels.