Balfour
ARTHUR JAMES, British statesman, born in Scotland, July 25, 1848; educated at Eton and at Trinity College, Cambridge; entered Parliament in 1874; was private secretary to his uncle, the Marquis of Salisbury, in 1878-1880, and accompanied him to the Berlin Congress; President of the Local Government Board in 1885; Secretary for Scotland in 1886; Chief Secretary for Ireland in 1887-1891; member of the Gold and Silver Commission in 1887- 1888; First Lord of the Treasury in 1891-1892; became the leader of the Conservative opposition in the House of Commons in 1892. He was Prime Minister 1902-1905. He carried through the Education Act (1902) and the Irish Land Act (1904), and created the Committee of National Defense. Chamberlain's res- BALIOL ignation as Colonial Secretary was followed by his campaign for Colonial preference and a protective tariff and led to the defeat of the Unionists in 1906. Bal- ARTHUR JAMES BALFOUR four lost his seat for East Manchester, but was immediately returned from London. In 1911 Balfour resigned to Bonar Law leadership of the opposition. In 1915 he joined Asquith's coalition cabinet as First Lord of the Admiralty, and was Minister of Foreign Affairs, 1916- 1919. In 1917 he visited the United States as a member of the British Commission. He was one of the British representatives at the Peace Congress of Versailles. In October, 1919, he was made Lord President of the Council. His publications include "A Defense of Philosophic Doubt" (1879); "Essays and Addresses" (1893); "The Foundations of Belief" (1895); "Insular Trade" (1903); "Criticism and Beauty" (1909) ; "Theism " (1909); " Theism and Humanism" (1915).