In times of expansion the Fabian Society
has held dinners and soirees in London, many of which have been
successful and even brilliant occasions, because the new members come in
crowds and the old attend as a duty. When new members are few these
entertainments cease, for nothing is so dreary as a social function that
is half failure, and a hint of it brings the series to an end. But a
Summer School where members pass weeks together is far more valuable in
enabling the leaders and officials to find out who there is who is good
as a speaker or thinker, or who is a specialist on some subject of value
to the movement. Moreover, gatherings of this class attract those on the
fringe of the movement, and many of our members have come to us through
attendance at the school. Apart from the direct interests of the
Society, a School of this character is valued by many solitary people,
solitary both socially, such as teachers and civil servants, who are
often lonely in the world, and solitary intellectually because they live
in remote places where people of their way of thinking are scarce.
It is not necessary to describe the arrangements of the School, for
these institutions have in the last few years become familiar to
everybody. We do not, however, as a rule make quite such a business of
the schooling as is usual where the term is short, and study is the sole
object.
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