REFORMS OF LORD READING

This final draft of project on the afore-mentioned topic has been submitted in the complete
fulfillment of the B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) course in Legal History.

Submitted to : Submitted by :
Dr. Priya Dharshini Ashish Ranjan
Assistant professor of Roll no. - 2721
History B.A LL.B (hons.)
Semester - 2nd

Chanakya National Law University, Patna

February, 2023

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

To list who all have helped me is difficult because they are so numerous and the depth is so
enormous.

I would like to acknowledge the following as being idealistic channels and fresh dimensions in the
completion of this project.

First of all, I am very grateful to my subject teacher Dr. Priya Darshini without the kind support of
whom and help the completion of the project would have been a herculean task for me. I
acknowledge my family and friends who gave their valuable and meticulous advice which was very
useful and could not be ignored in writing the project. I want to convey the sincerest thanks to my
faculties for helping me throughout the project.

Thereafter, I would also like to express my gratitude towards our seniors who played a vital role in
the compilation of this research work.

Last, but not the least, I would like to thank the Almighty for obvious reasons.

ASHISH RANJAN

 DECLARATION

I declare that the Project entitled “REFORMS OF LORD READING” is the outcome of my own
work conducted under the supervision of Dr. Priya Darshini at Chanakya National Law University,
Patna.

I further declare that to the best of my knowledge the Project does not contain any part of submitted
work, which has been submitted for the award of my degree or diploma either in the university or in
any other university without proper Citation. I am fully responsible for the contents of my Project
Report.

ASHISH RANJAN

 INTRODUCTION

Rufus Daniel Isaacs, 1st marquess of Reading, in full Rufus Daniel Isaacs, 1st marquess of
Reading, earl of Reading, Viscount Erleigh of Erleigh, Viscount Reading of Erleigh, Baron
Reading of Erleigh, (born Oct. 10, 1860, London, Eng.—died Dec. 30, 1935, London), politician,
lord chief justice of England, and diplomat.

Called to the bar in 1887, Isaacs built a prosperous practice, representing trade unions as well as
large corporations. In 1904 he was elected to the House of Commons as a Liberal. Appointed
solicitor general and later attorney general in 1910, he became the first attorney general to be given
a cabinet seat (1912). In 1913 a special committee of the House of Commons acquitted Isaacs, the
future prime minister David Lloyd George, and other ministers of charges of corruption arising
from transactions in the shares of the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America, of which
Isaacs’s brother Godfrey was managing director.

As lord chief justice (1913–21), Isaacs presided over the trial for treason of the Irish patriot Sir
Roger Casement (1916). During World War I he worked to strengthen Anglo-American relations,
and he headed an Anglo-French delegation that negotiated a war loan of $500 million from the
United States. Reading (who had been created baron in 1914, viscount in 1916, and earl in 1917)
retained his lord chief justiceship while serving as ambassador to the United States (1918–19).

As viceroy of India (1921–26) during a turbulent period of Indian nationalism, Reading

increasingly resorted to summary measures, although he preferred conciliation. He imprisoned two
Muslim leaders in 1921 and Mahatma Gandhi in 1922. He also used force against the Moplahs
(Muslim separatists in the Madras Presidency) and against Sikh rebels in the Punjab.

Reading’s brief term (August–November 1931) as foreign secretary in James Ramsay MacDonald’s
coalition government was uneventful.

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

S. no Topic Page no.

1. Acknowledgement 2

2. Declaration 3

3. Introduction 4
● Aims and Objectives 6
● Hypothesis 6
● Research Question 6
● Source of Data 7
● Mode of Citation 7
● Limitations 7

4. Content (8 - 17)
● Biography
● Legal career
● Political career
● Diplomatic career
● Marconi scandal
● Significant events under Lord Reading
● Viceroy of India
● Later life and career
● Death

5. Conclusion 18

6. Bibliography 19

 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The main objective of this project is to-

i. Understand the background of Lord Reading.

ii. Understand the reforms brought by Lord Reading.

iii. Analyse the impact of the reforms brought by Lord Reading.

HYPOTHESIS

The hypothesis of this project is to prove that Lord Reading brought measures as the taxation of
land values and reforms in the legal standing of unions, education, licensing, and military
organisation.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

i. What is the historical background of Lord Reading?

ii. What significant events occurred under Lord Reading?

iii. What was the impact of the reforms brought by Lord Reading?













 SOURCES OF DATA

The research methodology applied is doctrinal one, where all the referred material has been taken
from various resources such as, historical database and cyberspace, and no practical or field work
has been done.

It will involve secondary data such as various books, articles, published reports and journals.

MODE OF CITATION

The researcher has followed Blue Book (20th edition) mode of citation throughout the course of this
project.

LIMITATIONS

Due to vastness of this topic it is not possible to cover all the aspects within limited time period.
The researcher also has territorial and monetary limitations.

 CONTENT

Biography

Rufus Isaacs was born at 3 Bury Street, in the parish of St Mary Axe, London, the son of a Jewish
fruit importer at Spitalfields. He was educated at University College School and then entered the
family business at the age of 15. In 1876–77 he served as a ship's boy and later worked as a jobber
on the stock-exchange from 1880 to 1884. In 1887 he married Alice Edith Cohen, who suffered
from a chronic physical disability and died of cancer in 1930, after over 40 years of marriage. The
Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar is named after her. He then married Stella Charnaud, the first
Lady Reading's secretary. His second marriage lasted until his own death in 1935.

After his death Stella Isaacs was made Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE)
in 1941, promoted to Dame Grand Cross (GBE) in 1944, and then in 1958 made a life peeress as
Baroness Swanborough, of Swanborough in the County of Sussex.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rufus_Isaacs,_1st_Marquess_of_Reading
8

 Legal career

Isaacs was admitted as a student to the Middle Temple in 1885, and was called to the Bar in 1887.
He set up his own chambers at 1 Garden Court, Temple, and was very successful; within five years
he was able to repay his creditors, and after twenty years at the bar earned the enormous sum of
£30,000 per year. He was appointed a Queen's Counsel in 1898, after only ten and half years at the
junior bar.

Isaacs mainly practised in the Commercial Court, with occasional appearance in the divorce court
or at the Old Bailey. Among his famous cases were the defence of The Star against a charge of libel
by Arthur Chamberlain (at the behest of his brother Joseph), the Taff Vale case (where he appeared
for the union), the 1903 Bayliss v. Coleridge libel suit, the prosecution of the fraudster Whitaker
Wright, the defence of Sir Edward Russell on a charge of criminal libel, and that of Robert Sievier
on a charge of blackmail.

As a barrister, Isaacs was a hard worker, rising early to prepare his cases, although he never worked
after dinner. His advocacy was calm and forensic, and he was renowned for his style of cross-
examination.

Political career

Having earlier contested unsuccessfully North Kensington in 1900, Isaacs entered the House of
Commons as the Liberal Party member of Parliament (MP) for Reading at the by-election on 6
August 1904, a seat he held for nine years until 1913.

In 1910, he was appointed solicitor general in the government of H. H. Asquith and received the
customary knighthood. After six months, he was appointed attorney general. On the resignation of
Lord Loreburn as Lord Chancellor in 1912, Isaacs had expected to succeed him, but was passed
over in favour of Lord Haldane. To apease him, Asquith invited Isaacs to join the Cabinet; he was
the first attorney general to sit in the Cabinet.

As law officer, Isaacs handled many high-profile cases. As solicitor general, he appeared for the
Admiralty in the George Archer-Shee case. As attorney general, he led the prosecutions of Edward
Mylius for criminal libel against King George V (and was appointed KCVO shortly after), of
poisoner Frederick Seddon (the only murder trial Isaacs ever took part in), and of suffragette
Emmeline Pankhurst. He also represented the Board of Trade at the inquiry into the sinking of the
RMS Titanic.

In addition, he helped to pilot through the Commons several pieces of key legislation, including the
Parliament Act 1911, the Official Secrets Act 1911, the National Insurance Act 1911, the Trade
Union Act 1913, and the Government of Ireland Act 1914. He was appointed to the Privy Council in
the 1911 Coronation Honours.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rufus-Daniel-Isaacs-1st-marquess-of-Reading
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rufus_Isaacs,_1st_Marquess_of_Reading
10

Diplomatic career

In October 1913 he was made Lord Chief Justice of England, in succession to the Viscount
Alverstone. At the time the Attorney General had the right of first refusal for the appointment, but
his involvement in the Marconi scandal complicated matters. Although reluctant to abandon his
political career Isaacs felt he had little choice: to refuse would be to suggest that the Marconi
scandal had tainted him. Consequently, he accepted the post, and was elevated to the peerage as
Baron Reading, of Erleigh in the County of Berkshire, on 9 January 1914. His appointment caused
some controversy, and led to Rudyard Kipling attacking him in the poem "Gehazi".

As Lord Chief Justice, Reading presided over the trial of Roger Casement for high treason. His
attendance in court was, however, intermittent, as he was frequently called upon by the government
to serve as an advisor. In August 1914 Reading was enlisted to deal with the financial crisis brought
about by the outbreak of the First World War. In 1915 he led the Anglo-French Financial
Commission to seek financial assistance for the Allies from the United States. During the December
1916 Cabinet crisis, he acted as intermediary between Asquith and David Lloyd George.

11

In September 1917 Reading returned to the United States with the special appointment of high
commissioner to the United States and Canada. In 1918 he was appointed British Ambassador to the
United States, all the while remaining Lord Chief Justice. Returning to England for six months in
1918, he frequently attended the War Cabinet and was sent to France as Lloyd George's confidential
emissary. He returned to the United States as Ambassador in 1919, relinquishing the post the same
year. After the excitement of wartime diplomacy, he returned unwillingly to the bench in 1919,
while seeking new appointments.

For his wartime public service he was appointed GCB in 1915, made Viscount Reading, of Erleigh
in the County of Berkshire in 1916, and Earl of Reading as well as Viscount Erleigh, of Erleigh in
the County of Berkshire, in 1917.

Marconi scandal

Isaacs was one of several high-ranking members of the Liberal government accused of involvement
in the Marconi scandal. An article published in Le Matin on 14 February 1913 alleged corruption in
the award of a government contract to the Marconi Company and insider trading in Marconi's
shares, implicating a number of sitting government ministers, including Lloyd George, the
chancellor of the Exchequer; Isaacs, then attorney general; Herbert Samuel, postmaster general; and
the treasurer of the Liberal Party, Lord Murray.

The allegations included the fact that Isaacs's brother, Godfrey Isaacs, was managing director of the
Marconi company at the time that the cabinet, in which Isaacs sat, awarded Marconi the contract.
Isaacs and Samuels sued Le Matin for libel, and as a result, the journal apologised and printed a
complete retraction in its 18 February 1913 issue.

The factual matters were at least partly resolved by a parliamentary select committee investigation,
which issued three reports: all found that Isaacs and others had purchased shares in the American
Marconi company, but while the fellow-Liberal members of the committee cleared the ministers of
all blame, the opposition members reported that Isaacs and others had acted with "grave
impropriety". It was not made public during the trial that these shares had been made available
through Isaacs's brother at a favourable price.

12

 Significant Events under Lord Reading

Moplah Rebellion, 1921

• In Kerala, the Moplah defied government orders to make Congress and Khilafat meetings
illegal.
• It quickly devolved into a communal uprising between Kudiyaan tenant Moplahs and
Jenmis Hindu Landlords.
• The movement was successfully suppressed, but the government was forced to raise a
special battalion known as the Malabar Special Police.

Chauri-Chaura Incident, 1922

• The Chauri Chaura incident occurred on 4 February 1922 in Chauri Chaura, Gorakhpur
district of the United Provinces (modern-day Uttar Pradesh) in British India, when police
opened fire on a large group of protesters participating in the non-cooperation movement.
• In retaliation, protesters attacked and burned down a police station, killing all of its
occupants. Three civilians and 22 police officers were killed in the incident.
• As a direct result of this incident, Mahatma Gandhi, who was adamantly opposed to
violence, put an end to the national non-cooperation movement on February 12, 1922.
• Despite Gandhi's decision, British colonial authorities sentenced 19 arrested demonstrators
to death and 14 to life imprisonment.

Swaraj Party (1923)

• The Swaraj Party was founded by Congress leaders Moti Lal Nehru, CR Das, NC Kelkar,
GS Gharpade, and S Srinivas, who had joined forces with Khilafat leaders such as Huseyn
Shaheed Suhrawardy and some other leaders such as Subhash Chandra Bose and Vithalbhai
Patel in response to Gandhi's decision to withdraw the NCM.
• They shifted their focus to "Swaraj" within the British Raj and decided to run for office,
enter legislatures, and bring "change."

13

 • These elections had to be held in accordance with the provisions of the Government of India
Act of 1919. These leaders were referred to as Pro-changers.
• On the other hand, most Congress leaders abandoned agitation for a time and began
uplifting the poor by teaching them how to use Charkha, denouncing untouchability, and
popularizing nonviolence and Gandhian methods.
• These were known as No-changers. C Rajagopalachari was a well-known No-changer.

Rise of Communal Politics

• The abrupt withdrawal of NCM resulted in a split between Congress and Khilafat leaders.
• On both the Hindu and Muslim sides, fringe communal elements had grown. Hindu-Muslim
riots have become more common than in the past.
• Muslims saw an increase in tabligh and Tanzims, while Arya Samajis established Shuddi
Sangathans.
• Swami Shraddhanad's murder in Delhi in 1926 was one such incident that demonstrated that
communalism is now a permanent feature of Indian politics.
• Maulana Mohammad Ali, the president of the Kakinada Session in 1923, resigned from
Congress citing communal reasons.
• Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya resurrected the Hindu Mahasabha in 1923 to protect and
promote Hindu civilization. Keshav Bahram Hedgewar founded the Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh in Nagpur in 1925.
• Dr. Hedgewar had been a member of the Anushilan Samiti and Yugantar and was a staunch
nationalist. He joined the Indian National Congress at first, but soon left to found the RSS.
• The plan was to educate Hindu youths in order for them to unite the Hindu community and
make India an independent, undivided country. He was greatly influenced by V D Savarkar
and adopted many of his ideals.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rufus-Daniel-Isaacs-1st-marquess-of-Reading
https://www.encyclopedia.com/international/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/reading-lord

14

Viceroy of India

In 1921, he resigned the chief justiceship to become Viceroy and Governor-General of India.
Reading preferred a conciliatory policy: he was determined to implement the provisions of the
Government of India Act 1919 and opposed racial discrimination. He personally received
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and visited Amritsar as a gesture of
reconciliation. However, he ended up using force on several occasions: in 1921 he ordered the
suppression of the Malabar rebellion, and in 1922 he put down Sikh unrest in the Punjab. The same
year, he had Gandhi arrested for sedition. Reading cultivated good relations with the Indian princes,
but forced two maharajas to abdicate.

15

On his return from India in 1926, he was made Marquess of Reading, the first man to rise from
commoner to a marquessate since the Duke of Wellington. The next year he was made Captain of
Deal Castle in 1927, a position he held until 1934. As Viceroy Reading was appointed GCSI and
GCIE ex officio in 1921, and in 1922 was promoted to GCVO.

As a former viceroy, Reading was critical of some of the policies of his successor Lord Irwin. On 5
November 1929 he attacked Irwin in the House of Lords for using the term "Dominion Status" with
regard to India, prior to the report of the Simon Commission.

Later life and career

On his return from India, Reading, who had no pension and was a heavy spender, sat on several
corporate boards, and later became president of Imperial Chemical Industries. The Leader of the
Liberal Party in the House of Lords from 1931 to 1935, he took part in the Round Table
Conferences of 1930–32 on the future of British India as head of the Liberal delegates. He was also
a member of the select committee charged with the drafting of the Government of India Act 1935.

16

 In MacDonald's National Government in August 1931, Reading briefly served as Secretary of State
for Foreign Affairs and Leader of the House of Lords, but stood down after the first major reshuffle
in November due to ill-health.

He was appointed Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports in 1934.

Death

Lord Reading died in London in December 1935 aged 75. After cremation at Golders Green
Crematorium his ashes were buried at the nearby Jewish cemetery. The house where he died, No. 32
Curzon Street in Mayfair, has had a blue plaque on it since 1971.

Honours and commemoration

In addition to five peerages and five knighthoods, Reading received many other honours. In 1925 he
was appointed Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold. He was Captain of Deal Castle and Lord
Warden of the Cinque Ports, received the freedom of Reading and of London, and was a Bencher
and Treasurer of the Middle Temple. He received honorary degrees from Harvard, Yale, Princeton,
Columbia, Toronto, Calcutta, Cambridge and Oxford.

Although he had no apparent link with Canada, his eminence was such that the Lord Reading Law
Society (founded in 1948 to promote the interests of Jewish members of the Quebec Bar) was
named in his honour. A founding chairman of the Palestine Electric Corporation (along with Alfred
Mond (father of his daughter in-law) and Herbert Samuel), the Reading Power Station in Tel Aviv,
Israel was named in his honour.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rufus-Daniel-Isaacs-1st-marquess-of-Reading
https://prepp.in/news/e-492-lord-reading-1921-1926-viceroy-of-india-modern-india-history-notes

17

 CONCLUSION

Reading's term in India ended in early 1926, and in May he was elevated to the rank of Marquees,
the first commoner to do so since the Duke of Wellington. He was appointed foreign secretary in
Macdonald's national government in 1931, but resigned shortly after the general election. During
1942-1944, his son wrote his biography, titled 'Rufus Isaacs, First Marquess of Reading,' in two
volumes. He died in London on December 30, 1935.In addition to five peerages and five
knighthoods, Reading received many other honours. In 1925 he was appointed Grand Cordon of the
Order of Leopold. He was Captain of Deal Castle and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, received
the freedom of Reading and of London, and was a Bencher and Treasurer of the Middle Temple. He
received honorary degrees from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Toronto, Calcutta, Cambridge
and Oxford.Although he had no apparent link with Canada, his eminence was such that the Lord
Reading Law Society (founded in 1948 to promote the interests of Jewish members of the Quebec
Bar) was named in his honour. A founding chairman of the Palestine Electric Corporation (along
with Alfred Mond (father of his daughter in-law) and Herbert Samuel), the Reading Power Station
in Tel Aviv, Israel was named in his honour.

In his approach to politics, Isaacs was, according to Denis Judd,

"no blood-red Radical, and had 'little sympathy with the narrower aspects of the Nonconformist
outlook which constituted so powerful an element in contemporary Liberalism.' Liberalism,
nonetheless, was the natural party for him to support. Within his own father’s lifetime Jews had
been obliged to struggle to obtain full civil rights. Moreover, the Liberal party apparently stood for
the noble principles of liberty, toleration and progress whereas the Tories, although somewhat
disguised with the Unionist coalition, seemed to offer little in the way of enlightened policies. For a
man who approved of social reform, yet wanted to stop well short of revolution, the Liberal party
was the obvious home.”

Indeed, Isaacs championed such measures as the taxation of land values and reforms in the legal
standing of unions, education, licensing, and military organization. Isaacs also gave staunch official
backing to David Lloyd George's initiative on land reform, together with his tax on land values and
national social insurance scheme.

18

 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books referred

• Fowler, Wilton B. British-American Relations 1917-1918 (Princeton University Press,

2015).
• Hyde, Harford Montgomery. Lord Reading; the Life of Rufus Isaacs, First Marquess of
Reading (London: Heinemann, 1967).
• Judd, Denis. Lord Reading: Rufus Isaacs, First Marquess of Reading, Lord Chief Justice
and Viceroy of India, 1860–1935 (Faber & Faber, 2013).

Websites referred

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rufus-Daniel-Isaacs-1st-marquess-of-Reading
https://www.encyclopedia.com/international/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/
reading-lord
https://prepp.in/news/e-492-lord-reading-1921-1926-viceroy-of-india-modern-india-history-notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rufus_Isaacs,_1st_Marquess_of_Reading

19