Chief Baron of Sng'raq

The Hon. Lord of Sng′rja PC OA (Shinasthana: 楚侯, sng′rja-go; Jan. 5, 1810 – Feb. 24, 1879) was a Themiclesian civil servant and Liberal politician. He served as Prime Minister of Themiclesia twice from 1862 to 1866 and again from 1869 to 1872.  He is widely regarded as a key leader of the 19th century whose policies have supported industrialization and the pioneer of the Sng′rja Convention, which established the dominance of democratic government in Themiclesia. He made attempts to prevent the use of the lower rungs of the Civil Service as patronage rewards, which gave a considerable political advantage to Conservatives. The modern two-party system was also accepted as a political norm during his permiership.

The Lord of Sng′rja′ first came to prominence as he inherited his father's seat in the House of Lords in 1847, early in the Lord of Rjai-lang's premiership. As a newcomer to politics, with only six years of magisterial service under his belt, he was viewed as an innocent face for Rjai-lang's provocative and volatile government. At the youthful age of 37, he was made the Inner Administrator to replace the uncooperative Lord of Ghwal, who made no effort to collect land tax from the nobility.  However, Sng′rja′ grew in tact during his years serving Rjai-lang, who he never openly contradicted. At the end of Rjai-lang's premiership, deadlock became usual between the Conservative-dominated upper house and Liberal-dominated lower house. Ghwal and Rjai-lang, later Sng′rja′, each sought to breach the structural barriers that predisposed each chamber to their dominant populations. While Ghwal fervently devised a policy for enfranchised commoners appealing to tradition and moderation, Sng′rja′ appealed to peers' sense of leadership and the dangers of a changing world, which he said would "affect the interests of the aristocracy first." Rjai-lang came to regard him as a potent, likeable figure in the upper house and made him Foreign Secretary in 1858.

When Rjai-lang left office in 1859, Ghwal was appointed prime minister because he felt obliged to resign when the public opinion swung towards the Conservatives. Ghwal formed the following government, to very little achievement. As Rjai-lang's next-in-charge, he came to power in 1862 after opinions returned in favour of the Liberals. During this period, Themiclesia had a tense relationship with the Camians and attempted to pry Maverica away from them. Imitating what the Lord of Ran did in 1840, he provided light and heavy weapons to the Kashubians at discounted prices; to ensure that the Camians felt compensated, he adopted his foreign secretary's (Lord Kugh) advice to reduce tariffs on Camian trade. However, the Camians instead issued letters of marque against Themiclesian vessels in the Halu'an Sea and seized those in Camia's ports. The public became despondent at Sng′rja′s treatment of the situation, and the House of Lords turned against his government. Nevertheless, he refused to resign until the elections of 1866, which saw a major Conservative victory under the Lord of Nja-'rjum.

However, Nja-'rjum's government proved ephemeral. The Camians refused to free Themiclesia's ships and instead gifted them to Maverica, in expectation of an anti-Themiclesian alliance. Camia demanded the Isle of Liang in exchange of a non-aggression pact, but Nja-'rjum instead demanded £1,200,000 for the island, which the Camians rejected. Meanwhile, Camian ships from the north and Maverican ships from the south sailed against Themiclesia, while the island was surrendered to Camia in 1867. The two fleets blockaded the Gulf until June 1868, while the navy was ordered not to give battle. Finally, Nja-'rjum was forced to pay reparations and abolish tariffs on Maverican and Camian imports. As both were agricultural exporters, Nja-'rjum became anathema to Conservatives, who generally sought to defend rural productivity. In Jan. 1869, the Liberals returned a majority in Parliament, and Sng′rja′ was soon appointed prime minister.

The effects of Nja-'rjum's disastrous premiership made Sng′rja′s second one appear exceptionally successful. Decreased rural productivity due to competition from imports forced less efficient peasants to sell their land or end their tenancies and move to the cities in search of work. The availability of cheaper, imported food in the cities supported workers more easily at great concentrations, and new-arrivals in cities further suppressed labour prices. This influx of cheap labour is thought to have enabled many industries to industrialize initially, and those already industrialized to expand in scale and become more competitive in the export market. While Sng′rja′s permiership was considered, even by contemporaries, as a boon to industrial productivity, living standards dropped precipitously during this period. There were multiple cholera outbreaks in shantytowns erected out of planks and mud-bricks (nearby wood having long been exhausted) in many cities, smog was widely reported as nuissances, and crimes by desperate urban-dwellers, severed from traditional social structures, skyrocketed.

See also

• Themiclesia