ents in the
activities of the Society which must now be described. In the first
place the membership grew at an unprecedented rate. In the year ended
March, 1905, 67 members were elected. Next year the number was 167, to
March, 1907, it was 455, to March, 1908, 817, and to March, 1909, 665.
This was an enormous accession of new blood to a society which in 1904
had only 730 members in all. In 1909 the Society consisted of 1674 men
and 788 women, a total of 2462; of these 1277 were ordinary members
residing in or near London, 343 scattered elsewhere in the United
Kingdom, 89 abroad; 414 were members of provincial Societies and 339 of
University Societies. There were in addition about 500 members of local
Fabian Societies who were not also members of the London Society, and
the Associates numbered 217. The income from subscriptions of all sorts
was L473 in 1904 and L1608 in 1908, the high-water mark in the history
of the Society for contributions to the ordinary funds.

Of course there is all the difference in the world between a new member
and an old. The freshly elected candidate attends every meeting and
reads every word of "Fabian News." He begins, naturally, as a
whole-hearted admirer and is profoundly impressed with the brilliance of
the speakers, the efficiency of the organisation, the ability of the
tracts. A year or two later, if he has any restlessness of intellect, he
usually becomes a critic: he wants to know why there are not more
brightly written tracts, explanatory of Socialism and suitable for the
unconverted: he complains that the lectures are far less interesting
than they used to be, that the debates are footling, the publications
unattractive in appearance and too dull to read. A few years later he
either settles down into a steady-going member, satisfied to do what
little he can to improve this unsatisfactory world; or else, like Mr.
Wells, he announces that the Society is no longer any good: once (when
he joined) it was really important and effective: its methods _were_ all
right: it _was_ proclaiming a fresh political gospel. But times have
changed, whilst the Society has only grown old: it has done its work,
and missed its opportunity for more. It is no longer worthy of his
support.

In 1907 and 1908 the Society consisted largely of new members;
consequently the meetings were crowded and we were driven out from one
hall after another. Moreover the propagandist enthusiasm of Mr. Wells
and the glamo