William Morris, who was
really a free democrat of the Kropotkin type, backed up Lane, and
went for us tooth and nail. Records of our warfare may be found in
the volumes of the extinct magazine called 'To-day,' which was then
edited by Hubert Bland; and they are by no means bad reading. We soon
began to see that at the debates the opposition to us came from
members of the Socialist League, who were present only as visitors.
The question was, how many followers had our one ascertained
Anarchist, Mrs. Wilson, among the silent Fabians. Bland and Mrs.
Besant brought this question to an issue on the 17th September, 1886,
at a meeting in Anderton's Hotel, by respectively seconding and
moving the following resolution:
"'That it is advisable that Socialists should organize themselves as
a political party for the purpose of transferring into the hands of
the whole working community full control over the soil and the means
of production, as well as over the production and distribution of
wealth.'
"To this a rider was moved by William Morris as follows:
"'But whereas the first duty of Socialists is to educate the people
to understand what their present position is and what their future
might be, and to keep the principle of Socialism steadily before
them; and whereas no Parliamentary party can exist without compromise
and concession, which would hinder that education and obscure those
principles, it would be a false step for Socialists to attempt to
take part in the Parliamentary contest.
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