After explaining why he preferred joining the Fabian Society rather than the S.D.F., Mr. Shaw goes on (pp. 4-7):—­

“However, as I have said, in 1885 our differences [from other Socialists] were latent or instinctive; and we denounced the capitalists as thieves at the Industrial Remuneration Conference, and, among ourselves, talked revolution, anarchism, labour notes versus pass-books, and all the rest of it, on the tacit assumption that the object of our campaign, with its watchwords, ’EDUCATE, AGITATE, ORGANIZE,’ was to bring about a tremendous smash-up of existing society, to be succeeded by complete Socialism.  And this meant that we had no true practical understanding either of existing society or Socialism.  Without being quite definitely aware of this, we yet felt it to a certain extent all along; for it was at this period that we contracted the invaluable habit of freely laughing at ourselves which has always distinguished us, and which has saved us from becoming hampered by the gushing enthusiasts who mistake their own emotions for public movements.  From the first, such people fled after one glance at us, declaring that we were not serious.  Our preference for practical suggestions and criticisms, and our impatience of all general expressions of sympathy with working-class aspirations, not to mention our way of chaffing our opponents in preference to denouncing them as enemies of the human race, repelled from us some warm-hearted and eloquent Socialists, to whom it seemed callous and cynical to be even commonly self-possessed in the presence of the sufferings upon which Socialists make war.  But there was far too much equality and personal intimacy among the Fabians to allow of any member presuming to get up and preach at the rest in the fashion which the working-classes still tolerate submissively from their leaders.  We knew that a certain sort of oratory was useful for ‘stoking up’ public meetings; but we needed no stoking up, and, when any orator tried the process on us, soon made him understand that he was wasting his time and ours.  I, for one, should be very sorry to lower the intellectual standard of the Fabian by making the atmosphere of its public discussions the least bit more congenial to stale declamation than it is at present.  If our debates are to be kept wholesome, they cannot be too irreverent or too critical.  And the irreverence, which has become traditional with us, comes down from those early days when we often talked such nonsense that we could not help laughing at ourselves.

   “TORY GOLD AT THE 1885 ELECTION.

“When I add that in 1885 we had only 40 members, you will be able to form a sufficient notion of the Fabian Society in its nonage.  In that year there occurred an event which developed the latent differences between ourselves and the Social-Democratic Federation.  The Federation said then, as it still says, that its policy is founded on a recognition of the existence of a Class War.