An agreement was arrived at that the Joint Socialist Council should be formed as soon as the British Socialist Party was affiliated to the Labour Party. The B.S.P. confirmed the decision of its delegates, but the Labour Party referred the acceptance of affiliation to the Annual Conference of 1915[39].
Then came the War. The Labour Party Conference of 1915 did not take place, and a sudden new divergence of opinion arose in the Socialist movement. The Labour Party, the Fabian Society, and the leaders of the B.S.P. gave general support to the Government in entering into the war. The I.L.P. adopted an attitude of critical hostility. Amidst this somewhat unexpected regrouping of parties, any attempt to inaugurate a United Socialist Council was foredoomed to failure. The project for Socialist Unity therefore awaits the happy time when war shall have ceased.
[39] The Labour Party Conference held in January, 1916, unanimously accepted the affiliation of the British Socialist Party.
The Minority Report, Syndicalism and Research: 1909-15
The emergence of Mrs. Sidney Webb--The Poor Law Commission--The Minority Report--Unemployment--The National Committee for the Prevention of Destitution--"Vote against the House of Lords"--Bernard Shaw retires--Death of Hubert Bland--Opposition to the National Insurance Bill--The Fabian Reform Committee--The "New Statesman"--The Research Department--"The Rural Problem"--"The Control of Industry"--Syndicalism--The Guildsmen--Final Statistics--The War.
A former chapter was entitled "The Episode of Mr. Wells." The present might have been called "The Intervention of Mrs. Sidney Webb," save for the fact that it would suggest a comparison which might be misleading.
I have insisted with some iteration that the success of the Society, both in its early days and afterwards, must be mainly attributed to the exceptional force and ability of the Essayists. Later in its history only two persons have come forward who are in my opinion entitled in their Fabian work to rank with the original leaders, to wit, Mr. Wells and Mrs. Webb. Of the former I have said enough already. The present chapter will be largely devoted to the influence of the latter.
[Illustration: MRS. SIDNEY WEBB, IN 1909]