Lord Qlwang-men

The Hon. Lord L′ong-mjen PC OA (Shinasthana: 通文君, l′ong-mjen-kljur; Mar. 1, 1827 – Jun. 29, 1910) was a Themiclesian civil servant and Liberal politician, Prime Minister of Themiclesia from 1880 to 1885 and again from 1889 to 1891. He was MP for Sng′rja between 1862 and 1897, a disciple of the Lord of Sng′rja, who financed his earlier campaigns and promoted him to be Inner Administrator and Under-Secretary for Revenues. Initially, L′ong-mjen's liberalism was moderate, close to the Lord of Sng′rja′s, believing the state had no role in industry except to remove barriers to the forces of the marketplace; however, he later grew closer to Lord T'jang-mjen, who advocated support to industrialists to maintain international competitiveness. By this time, he had outgrow Sng′rja′s support. He served as Secretary of State for Appropriations under Lord T'jang-mjen, whom he admired; made a titular lord in 1873, he chose his title in imitation of T′jang-mjen's.

As prime minister, his re-established Liberal dominance in government and resisted the growth of sympathy for New Conservatism, promoted by his arch-nemesis the Lord of Krungh, whom he called a "falsifier". In terms of policies, his government abolished the stamp tax and excise duties while raising land taxes and forbidding agricultural leases over 10 years in length, all aimed at migration to industrial areas; the government introduced subsidies for industrialists who built houses around their factories to house workers. In terms of military accomplishments, the Naval Service was formally severed from the Civil Service in 1881 and granted additional autonomy. At the end of his first premiership the Liberal Party's electoral position was considerably weakened by the Lord of Krungh's newfound tactic of speeches to urban non-electors. Krungh attempted to stir up public anger against industrialists to pressure electors to vote Conservative, and L′ong-mjen instead cautioned electors that their ballot was their alone. Due to a public altercation that injured Krungh, L′ong-mjen that came under criticism because Krungh refused to speculate who instigated it, implicitly tainting L′ong-mjen, who was Krungh's most vocal critic. Krungh banqueted marginal constituencies, which he could because he was not a candidate. The election was lost to the Conservatives, under the Lord of M′i.

In opposition, L′ong-mjen worked to undermine M′i's government, making speeches in various constituencies exposing Conservative "deceptions" to acquire the vote of the middle and petty middle classes. Krungh did little to defend M′i, whose tactlessness in the House of Lords quickly undid his support. Attempts to reverse L′ong-mjen's reforms were met with near-unanimous opposition, even from younger peers under Krungh's leadership, threatening the unity of the Conservative Party. The deepening rift between Krungh and M′i compelled Conservative leaders to elect a compromise candidate, the Lord of Snul-lang, who quickly proved unable to bring the two leaders to agreement on many policy questions, and Krungh led a number of Conservative rebel MPs to sit as a third party. Seizing on this issue, L′ong-mjen encouraged many of Krungh's MPs to make budgetary demands in the upcoming fiscal year, which forbade Krungh from negotiating as freely as he liked with Snul-lang's more conservative faction. Unable to pass the budget, Snul-lang resigned, and L′ong-mjen was restored to the permiership in 1889. With three parties in the House of Commons, L′ong-mjen was unable to govern effectively and relied on sporadic support from Krungh's rebel MPs. Krungh realized that breaking rank in the House of Commons was a tactical error and reconciled himself with Snul-lang in the House of Lords. As L′ong-mjen was never confident enough to call an election, fearful of Krungh's popularity, the Dec. 1891 election was virtually forced on him. Promising a united party, Snul-lang and Krungh won the election. L′ong-mjen successfully defended his seat, where he remained as MP until 1897.

See also

• Lord of Krungh
• Lord T'jang-mjen