Lloyd George and the policy he represents: he assumed that the rich
would grow richer and the poor poorer; that Liberals would unite with
Tories, as they have done in Australia, and would be confronted with a
Socialist Party representing the dispossessed. Possibly the developments
he sketches are still to come, but that is a matter which cannot be
discussed here.
* * * * *
I can find no trace in the records of the Society that the first success
of their publication occasioned any elation to the Essayists, and I
cannot recollect any signs of it at the time. The Annual Report mentions
that a substantial profit was realised on the first edition, and states
that the authors had made over the copyright, "valued at about L200," to
the Society; but these details are included in a paragraph headed
"Publications," and the Essays are not mentioned in the general sketch
of the work of the year.
In fact the obvious results of the publication took some months to
materialise, and the number of candidates for election to the Society
showed little increase during the spring. It is true that great changes
were made in the organisation of the Society at the Annual Meeting held
on March 28th, 1890, but these were in part due to other causes. The
Executive Committee was enlarged to fifteen, and as I happened to be
available I was appointed paid secretary, half time, at the modest
salary of L1 a week for the first year.
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