On September 5th Bernard Shaw was elected a member, and at the following meeting on September 19th his first contribution to the literature of the Society, Pamphlet No. 2, was read.  The influence of his intellectual outlook was immediate, and already the era of “highest moral possibilities” seems remote.  Tract No. 2 was never reprinted and the number of copies in existence outside public libraries is small:  it is therefore worth reproducing in full.

      THE FABIAN SOCIETY

   17 Osnaburgh Street, Regent’s Park
   Fabian Tract No. 2

   A MANIFESTO

   “For always in thine eyes, O liberty,
   Shines that high light whereby the world is saved;
   And though thou slay us, we will trust in thee.”

   London: 
   George Standring, 8 & 9 Finsbury Street, E.C. 1884.

   A MANIFESTO

   THE FABIANS are associated for spreading the following opinions held
   by them and discussing their practical consequences.

   That under existing circumstances wealth cannot be enjoyed without
   dishonour or foregone without misery.

   That it is the duty of each member of the State to provide for his or
   her wants by his or her own Labour.

That a life interest in the Land and Capital of the nation is the birthright of every individual born within its confines and that access to this birthright should not depend upon the will of any private person other than the person seeking it.

That the most striking result of our present system of farming out the national Land and Capital to private persons has been the division of Society into hostile classes, with large appetites and no dinners at one extreme and large dinners and no appetites at the other.

That the practice of entrusting the Land of the nation to private persons in the hope that they will make the best of it has been discredited by the consistency with which they have made the worst of it; and that Nationalisation of the Land in some form is a public duty.

   That the pretensions of Capitalism to encourage Invention and to
   distribute its benefits in the fairest way attainable, have been
   discredited by the experience of the nineteenth century.

   That, under the existing system of leaving the National Industry to
   organise itself Competition has the effect of rendering adulteration,
   dishonest dealing and inhumanity compulsory.

   That since Competition amongst producers admittedly secures to the
   public the most satisfactory products, the State should compete with
   all its might in every department of production.

   That such restraints upon Free Competition as the penalties for
   infringing the Postal monopoly, and the withdrawal of workhouse and
   prison labour from the markets, should be abolished.