rthcliffe and the
Harmsworth family.

Of this system of purveying to the public opinions which, by an absurd,
illogical and pernicious tradition, are supposed to be those of the
public, but which, in reality, are those either of a single capitalist
or syndicate, Mr. Belloc is not merely the avowed enemy but the most
active enemy. It was his persistently inimical attitude, ruthlessly
maintained, which evoked the angry personal attack made upon him by Lord
Northcliffe; and we have seen how Mr. Belloc explains, justifies and
maintains his attitude. In this we see his enmity avowed, but we do not
perhaps realize how practical and active is the expression he gives it.

It has been said, indeed, just above, that of this system he is the most
active enemy; and, in truth, we can find no other to equal him in this
respect except such as are working in co-operation with, if not under
the leadership of, Mr. Belloc. We have seen how, in so far as he is
writing on general topics of the day for the public of the day (as he is
doing, for example, in his articles which are concerned with various
phases of the political aspect of the war in the _Illustrated Sunday
Herald_ and other journals and newspapers), Mr. Belloc is a journalist
in the older and more restricted sense of the term. It has been further
shown that the journalist in this sense is a rare figure to-day, it
being the practice of modern journalism to deal with general, as
distinct from special, topics of the day in the form of leading
articles, which, in reality, contain what can only logically be regarded
as the opinions of the proprietors of the newspapers in which they
appear. The journalist who writes what may be called signed leading
articles is so rare among us to-day that we have forgotten he is a
journalist and invented a new name for him. We call him a publicist.

Among the writers of the day the number who rank as publicists is very
small. The names that occur to one are those of Mr. G. K. Chesterton,
Mr. H. G. Wells, Mr. Bernard Shaw, Mr. A. G. Gardiner, Mr. E. B. Osborn
and, possibly, Mr. Arnold Bennett. In addition there are a few
publicists who speak through organs which they personally control, such
as Mr. A. R. Orage, Mr. Sidney Webb, and Mr. Cecil Chesterton. Mr.
Arnold Bennett, indeed, has only occupied the position of publicist
since he has been a regular contributor to the _Daily News_, and we can
only say that, high as Mr. Bennett stands in our estima